I can't help but think that $691,390 for a reciprocating single-engine personal aircraft with little change in performance after being manufactured for 38 years epitomizes everything that's wrong with the aviation industry in this country.
editorial director Anthony L. Velocci, Jr. editor-in-chief Sharon Weinberger managing editor Pat Toensmeier assistant managing editor Michael Stearns contributing editors Michael Dumiak Nicholas Fiorenza David A. Fulghum Glenn Goodman Catherine MacRae Hockmuth B.C. Kessner Ramon Lopez Rich Tuttle art director
Last July, as a student at the Oklahoma School of Science and Math, I had the privilege of meeting Scott Crossfield. I was instantly impressed with the man behind the legend. At 83 years old, his handshake was still strong and his mind still sharp. I remember thinking "that's exactly how I want to be in 60 years"! I got the impression that Scott loved to fly more than anything else. A pilot at heart, is there any better way to go? He will be sorely missed and forever remembered.
If the STS-121 flight is extended 24 hr. to a 14-day mission, the Discovery crew will test wing leading-edge repair material under more controlled conditions than on the last flight when results were compromised by cold temperatures. The extension will be dependent on whether the orbiter has fuel-cell oxygen and hydrogen margins for electrical power to sustain an extra day aloft. Mission controllers at the Johnson Space Center here believe the margins should allow the extension (AW&ST Apr. 24, p. 32).
Boeing is still playing the magic "8" game in China. During a promotional tour last week in Beijing, Vice President Randy J. Tinseth said Boeing named the stretch of the 747-400 the 747-8 "because eight is a lucky number in Asia and we expect over 50% of the demand for the aircraft will come from Asia." The company also told the Chinese something similar when they placed orders for 60 of its new 200-300-seat twinjets--the 787. There was no comment about the "4" in 747 being an unlucky number.
European Space Agency engineers will decide by the end of July, at a final commission review, whether they can recover full use of a scanning mirror on the PFS spectrometer on board the agency's Venus Express probe. Tests following the probe's arrival into final orbit around the planet on May 9 showed the mirror to be blocked at the calibration point, and hopes that the changing temperature regime might release it have not materialized. However, engineers say there is enough overlap among the probe's instruments to minimize data loss.
Allegiant Air, the flying arm of the leisure travel company, is attracting attention by its profitability and for doing something different. As an example, on a recent flight a cabin attendant initiated the prescribed safety message with the comment, "Ladies and gentlemen, a billfold has been found in the aisle." Once he had passengers' attention he gave a creative rendering of the routine instruction instead of the typical stale spiel.
HOWEVER, NEIL PLANZER, VICE PRESIDENT of strategy for Boeing Air Traffic Management, weighs in as a "devil's advocate." Planzer, a 25-year veteran of the FAA, says JPDO is more involved in "conversation and debate" than anything else. So far, the organization has focused more on "process than output," he asserts. In his view, a revolution is needed in how the ATC system is redesigned and run. And this will take dynamic leadership by someone capable of bringing a diverse group of people to the table to get the job done.
Marsha Bell has been appointed vice president-first officer programs for Seattle-based Boeing subsidiary Alteon Training. She was director of marketing.
Researchers will analyze isotopes of oxygen and other elements found in the tiny fragments of the comet Wild 2 returned by NASA's Stardust mission to determine which originated in the Solar System, and which formed around other stars. Preliminary data presented at a three-day workshop near San Francisco this month suggest the samples returned Jan. 15 contain grains of refractory materials formed at high temperatures near both the Sun and other stars.
Russia and China are at the heart of Airbus's future plans for the A320 family--the aircraft maker has signed with Russia for freighter conversion and is nearing a deal with China to open another A320 final assembly line there. Airbus expects to convert A320s and A321s into freighters near Moscow starting around 2011. The work will be done cooperatively between Airbus's EFW facility in Dresden and Russian aircraft makers MiG and Irkut.
The STS-121 shuttle vehicle will be launched using an ascent trajectory with 6-7% lower maximum aerodynamic loads than most shuttle missions since the late 1990s.
Saab has submitted an offer to Norway for 48 Gripen N fighters. This Gripen variant would be fitted with an active electronically scanned array radar, and have greater internal fuel capacity. It would also be able to carry two large fuel tanks on fuselage stores points. Oslo is also considering the Lockheed Martin F-35, Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale to meet its future fighter program.
Dassault Systemes of France has completed a $408-million deal for Westford, Mass.-based MatrixOne, a supplier of 3D modeling and product life-cycle management software. Dassault Systemes plans to use its latest acquisition's business process technology to strengthen its Enovia collaborative environment software, being used by Boeing and its global network of suppliers as well as other aerospace and defense prime contractors.
An important capability for combat is information warfare. Many of the AESA arrays are expected to play a role in finding, identifying and invading enemy communications networks even if that network is little more than a handful of slightly modified, handheld telephones or similar communications devices. The radar arrays could also be used to collect intelligence and insert disabling worms, viruses and Trojan horses into enemy-communications networks, for example.
The Eurofighter Typhoon program is nearing some long-delayed development milestones that would clear the way to upgrade the aircraft's basic combat capability. But a promising radar replacement effort remains out of reach for now. Teething problems also continue to affect the aircraft. Customers have stopped taking delivery of Typhoon while industry fixes flaws that have crept in as part of the latest software update. The interruption should last only a few weeks, says Eurofighter CEO Aloysius Rauen, as the fixes are developed.
When I first heard about the plagiarism troubles of Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson, I had an uneasy feeling that there was something eerily familiar with his booklet "Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management." Then I read your Washington Outlook (AW&ST May 8, p. 19) which revealed Swanson's source as "a dead engineering professor," W.J. King and his The Unwritten Rules of Engineering, written in 1944. The irony struck me hard.
James G. Gee (see photos) has been promoted to principal director of the Strategic and Developmental Planning Directorate in the Office of the Corporate Chief Architect/Engineer of The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, Calif., and Lubo B. Jocic to principal engineer in the directorate. Gee was principal engineer for systems engineering in the directorate, while Jocic was its director for space concepts. Don T. Clark has been promoted to principal staff adviser to the general manager of the Facilities Div. from director.
Pete Pedicino has become San Jose, Calif.-based Western U.S. vice president-mangement and charter sales for Executive Jet Management. He was the region's vice president-business development.
C/KC-17 proponents (AW&ST May 1, p. 8) need to address some palletized fuel tanks and exchangeable aft cargo door issues. A KC-17 lands overseas and the crew is ordered to reconfigure to a C-17. Can you forklift the tank(s) off or is a K-loader required? Can't leave it on the K-loader, so where is it stored? What's involved in dropping a boom cargo door and hanging a "slick" door? Is there a pre-positioned slick door and are two cradles handy?
The Science Applications International Corp.-led study of NATO missile defense feasibility, four years in evolution, is now in the hands of alliance leaders. The 10,000-page report sets the stage for NATO political leaders to decide how to proceed. They will meet at the end of November in Riga, Latvia. The study concludes that a threat exists and it would be "advisable" and to address it. The question, says a NATO representative, is: Does the political leadership regard pursuit of such a program as desirable?
Since the Iraq war began, the U.S. military has been engaged in controversy over insufficient armor for vehicles and troops. The Defense Dept. says shortfalls are over, but soldiers in the field continue to find offbeat ways to add protection. Among the latest reports from Iraq is that troops are outfitting gun turrets with what they call "pope glass." Reminiscent of the "popemobile" used by John Paul II, the glass is fashioned out of 2-in.-thick windshields and welded around the turret.
European aerospace giant EADS continues to forecast solid expansion despite a wholesale housecleaning at its Sogerma MRO affiliate. But internal friction over how to get Airbus back on solid footing--coupled with a French government scandal involving high-level company employees--is raising questions about the sustainability of the current growth surge.
William Bain has been named senior vice president-consulting of the Input Consulting Group, Reston, Va. He was vice president-management consulting for Exeter Government Services. David Borland, former deputy chief information officer for the Army, also has joined Input as has David Nelson, who was director of the White House National Coordination Office for Information Technology Research and Development and NASA's deputy chief information officer.
Ron Stotz has been appointed president of Victorville (Calif.) Aerospace. Other new executives are: Dave Graham, vice president-operations; Carla Cunningham, director of contracts; Warren Gauthier, director of quality; and Lin Roberts, director of sales and marketing.
