Robert Rainey continues Airbus bashing (AW&ST July 17, p. 10) by asserting that Boeing never lost an airplane on account of the tail coming off resulting from control inputs. Airbus certainly is not perfect, but if I recall correctly, a couple of Boeing 737s were lost as a result of uncommanded rudder inputs. As a result, Boeing had to redesign the complete rudder servo. Why not bring that into the argument as well?
Steven Markhoff has been promoted to senior vice president/chief operating officer of Dallas-based Kitty Hawk Cargo Inc. from vice president-strategic planning. Randy Smith has been appointed vice president/chief human resource officer of Kitty Hawk Inc. He was managing director for team resources.
A Rannoch Corp. multilateration and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system is now providing en route ATC coverage over the Taiwan Strait and at Kinmen Island. Kinmen (Quemoy) is part of Taiwan but is about 1.5 mi. from mainland China at its closest point. Rannoch's "AirScene" system can handle en route, terminal area and airport-surface surveillance of aircraft. It monitors Kinmen and traffic between that airport and Magong on Taiwan's Penghu Island, with 100-naut.-mi. coverage.
GOLD AVIATION, BASED IN FT. LAUDERDALE, FLA., PLANS to buy five Embraer Phenom 100 very light jets for charter operations. The company holds an option for another 10 jets, either the Phenom 100 or the larger Phenom 300.
The National Guard is showing its bureaucratic flexibility in operations along the border with Mexico, says its chief, Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum. Some Air National Guard (ANG) units are transitioning to unmanned aircraft, and he has identified some special problems they will face. Civil liberties statutes will prevent them from collecting information on individuals using military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) equipment. "It's totally illegal," Blum says. However, there is a loophole.
Labor disputes between flight attendant unions at Northwest Airlines and Comair are coming to a head. The airlines have bankruptcy courts on their side, but flight attendants are outraged at the depth of cutbacks. While negotiations may continue, strikes cannot be ruled out.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has delivered the first production UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter to the U.S. Army. Compared with earlier versions of the Black Hawk, the UH-60M features higher payload, increased range, digital avionics, active vibration control, composite spar, wide-chord main rotor blades, more powerful GE T700-GE-701D turboshaft engines and improved handling qualities, according to Jeff Pino, president. The cockpit features Rockwell Collins multi-function displays with a fully integrated digital map, and dual Canadian Marconi flight management systems.
Boeing last week rolled out its EA-18G "Growler," which will complement and later replace the EA-6B Prowler electronic jammer fleet. The U.S. Navy will procure 90 Growlers at a cost of $9 billion, including development. The aircraft builds off of the existing F/A-18F Super Hornet design. First flight is this month and initial operational capability is set for 2009.
A California company flew an unmanned aircraft equipped with a wing that changed shape--morphed--while in flight. The NextGen Aeronautics wing was mounted on a 100-lb. remotely controlled MFX-1 UAV, and it was first flown Aug. 1 at Camp Roberts military flight test range, San Luis Obispo County. Three years of research produced a design that can change area, chord, sweep and aspect ratio. The work was done with support from Boeing, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force Research Laboratory.
I read with some considerable interest and concern about the incorporation of aluminum wiring in the A380 as a weight-saving measure (AW&ST July 24, p. 27). There is more than the bend radius to worry about. I am old enough to remember the numerous house fires that occurred in the '70s and '80s as a result of deteriorating crimp terminations in wall outlets when aluminum wiring was legal in U.S. home construction.
The Experimental Aircraft Assn.'s (EAA's) AirVenture 2006 sport aviation exhibition last month in Oshkosh, Wis., drew about 650,000 people and was covered by 868 media representatives from six continents. In addition, there were 1,074 international attendees from 65 countries. EAA President Tom Poberezny says the week-long event featured "more new aviation announcements than any EAA fly-in in history," including the U.S.
A RECENT STUDY SPONSORED BY THE GENERAL AVIATION Manufacturers Assn. (GAMA) found that the general aviation industry contributed more than $150 billion to the U.S. economy in 2005 and employed more than 1.2 million people. GAMA is citing the study, conducted by transportation economists, to counter the proposed user fees favored by the U.S. airline industry.
Former astronaut Charles E. Brady, Jr., a physician and retired Navy captain who had flown on one of the longest space shuttle missions, died July 23 near his home on Orcas Island, Wash., from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 54. Brady had been suffering from clinical depression and rheumatoid arthritis.
Mac Jeffery has become vice president-global public relations for the Raytheon Co., Waltham, Mass. He was senior vice president-global public relations for the Samsung Group of Seoul and New York and had been senior communications director for Loral Space and Communications.
CAE will build a simulator for the AgustaWestland AW139 medium-lift helicopter to be installed at the company's training center in Philadelphia early in 2008. It will be the second AW139 device built by CAE. The first is scheduled for delivery late this year to the Rotorsim Training Center in Sesto Calende, Italy. Rotorsim is owned by CAE and AgustaWestland.
Korean Air's Aerospace Div. has officially begun the process of converting a Boeing 747-400 passenger aircraft into a freighter. The carrier has seven firm orders and 14 options in the Boeing Converted Freighter program. The first will be satisfied in a matter of weeks with an aircraft delivered from Taikoo Aircraft Engineering Co. (TAECO) in China, which is Boeing's official conversion center. The rest will be completed from kits provided by Boeing. Korean Air Cargo expects to boost its current fleet of 18 dedicated freighters to 30 aircraft by the end of 2010.
David Craig has been appointed senior vice president-sales for North America for Atlanta-based Servigistics. He was vice president of the retail planning and optimization solution unit at Oracle.
U.S. Air Force E-8C Joint Stars ground-surveillance aircraft are getting a startling boost in capability with refinements to its APY-7 phased array radar that allows it to follow the movement of humans at walking speed.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Alteon Training are partnering on pilot and maintenance training. The pairing opens a door for ANA to gain revenue from outside customers and gives Boeing subsidiary Alteon access to an important Asian region without a big real estate investment. The Alteon name was added last week to ANA's flight training center near Tokyo's Haneda Airport, which already has 13 full-flight simulators in operation and is to receive a Boeing 787 simulator in the first quarter of 2008. ANA, the 787 launch customer, will take first delivery in mid-2008.
USAF Maj. Gen. Ronald J. Bath has been named special assistant to the vice chief of staff at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon. He has been director of Air Force strategic planning/deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and programs. Bath will be succeeded by Maj. Gen. (select) Paul J. Selva, who has been director of operations, for the U.S. Command, Scott AFB, Ill. Selva, in turn, will be succeeded by Maj. Gen. Winfield W. Scott, 3rd, who has been commander of the Tanker Airlift Control Center of Air Mobility Command (AMC), Scott AFB. Succeeding Scott will be Maj.
The leadership of the House International Relations Committee blistered the State Dept. in a recent hearing for not notifying lawmakers soon enough about the Bush administration's latest plan to sell F-16 fighters to Pakistan, along with Amraam and Sidewinder missiles and other munitions. But the deadline for the House or Senate to raise objections to the plan passed without a resolution of disapproval from either legislative body. As a result, Pakistan will be getting 36 F-16 Block 50/52 fighters in a $5-billion deal announced by the Pentagon in early July.
United Space Alliance and NASA Kennedy Space Center personnel are beginning final preparation of Atlantis on Launch Complex 39B following rollout to the pad from the Vehicle Assembly Building Aug. 2. The rollout was delayed 1.5 days by thunderstorms at Kennedy, but that will not affect the timing of launch for as early Aug. 27. Shuttle managers last week also looked at the possibility of launching the mission to the International Space Station as early as Aug.
Market Focus 14 Niche aircraft parts supplier TransDigm quietly went public News Breaks 22 Boeing rolls out its EA-18G 'Growler' in St. Louis 23 Preliminary NTSB report issued on July 25 Spectrum 33 VLJ crash 24 NextGen Aeronautics' UAV with in-flight morphing wings test flown 26 Boeing reaches firm configuration on its Boeing 777 Freighter World News & Analysis 28 Assault of Hezbollah unrelenting; more lethal weaponry looms
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT SERVICES (RAS) HAS EXTENDED its maintenance contract with International Flight Training Academy (IFTA) for three more years. IFTA provides pilot training for All Nippon Airways and uses a fleet of 17 Beechcraft Bonanzas and eight twin-engine Barons. The 25 airplanes fly about 14,000 hr. annually and have been used to train more than 750 pilots since operations began in 1992. RAS handles inspection, repair and maintenance of the fleet and provides technicians and management of the FAA Repair Station at IFTA's base in Bakersfield, Calif.
