Regarding the Viewpoint entitled "Are Personal Electronics a Threat to Aircraft?" (AW&ST Apr. 10, p. 58), the results of the excellent work done by Bill Strauss and his team only strengthen the findings from similar tests conducted by the National Tele- communications and Information Administration, in conjunction with the FAA, in the past four years. These tests included broadband and narrow-band emissions that caused interference to GPS, radars and other navaids.
France, Germany and the Netherlands will cooperate more closely on wind tunnel facilities management. The Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) and German Aerospace Center (DLR) already were working together, and now their French counterpart (Onera) has joined to create the Aero Testing Alliance, which will be based in Noordoostpolder, The Netherlands, where NLR has a site. The three, along with the U.K., already cooperate on the European Transonic Wind Tunnel.
FlightSafety International will use two full-flight, electric-motion simulators for the initial phase of pilot training in the Cessna Citation Mustang jet, plus two avionics training devices for the Garmin G1000 package. One simulator will be delivered to FSI's Cessna Learning Center in Wichita, Kan., in the second quarter of 2007. The second device will be installed at FSI's London Farnborough Training Center, according to the company. A critical part of the overall training program will focus on a proficiency index that will be used to evaluate each pilot.
Nick Geer has been named chairman of Ottawa-based Nav Canada, succeeding R.A. (Sandy) Morrison, who is retiring. Geer is a former president/CEO of the Insurance Corp. of British Columbia. Also appointed were six new board members: Paul Brotto, Ernie Caron, Jim Gouk, John Lawson, Pierre Robitaille and Joel Whittemore.
Japanese space agency JAXA is recruiting Japanese companies and universities to build mini-satellites from 1-50 kg. (2-110 lb.) for launches on the H-IIA beginning in fiscal 2008. Launches will be free for spacecraft that either contribute to Japan's space development efforts or are educational. They won't be available for commercial experiments. The application deadline is Aug. 31, with a list of eligible candidates expected by Sept. 30.
Robert Wall (Paris), Michael Mecham (San Francisco)
After years of often difficult negotiations and several false starts, Russian entities are starting to emerge as productive suppliers to aerospace giants such as EADS and Boeing, fulfilling some of the promises Western companies foresaw when they began pursuing contacts in the region.
A Hybrid Launch Vehicle will be the subject of $2.5 million in studies and analysis programs awarded to Lockheed Martin and Andrews Space Inc. by the U.S. Air Force. The concept will be examined as part of the Operationally Responsive Space Initiative as a way to provide an affordable, quick, reliable and simple-to-operate system for launching tactical space assets and conventional satellites into low Earth orbit. Later, USAF will select two contractor teams to design demonstrators. A full-scale HLV is expected to be operational by 2018.
Jean-Louis Gergorin, vice president for strategic coordination at EADS, has asked to be relieved of his duties so he can defend himself in a graft inquiry scandal that is rocking the French government (AW&ST May 8, p. 28).
Aircraft engine technology efforts in the next couple of years will be instrumental in determining whether Europe will be able to meet stringent performance targets established for future generations of powerplants. The continuous stream of engine enhancements that emerged during the past decade suggests some of the ambitious European targets may be attainable, but maybe not all.
AirTran Holdings Inc. Chairman/CEO Joe Leonard has been named to receive the 2006 Tony Jannus Award by the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society. The award is named for the pilot recognized by the Smithsonian Institution as the founder of the world's first scheduled airline, which began flights on Jan. 1, 1914, and flew round trips daily between Tampa and St. Petersburg, Fla.
Pentagon acquisition chief Kenneth Krieg has signed off on a new program plan for the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), a family of interoperable, software-defined radios capable of mobile ad hoc networking on the battlefield. The program was restructured following technical delays and cost overruns that last year nearly cost Boeing its JTRS "Cluster 1" prime contract.
The start of the investigation into the May 3 crash of an Armavia Airbus A320 was hobbled by continued poor weather around the accident site. All 113 on board, including eight crew, died when the aircraft impacted the Black Sea about 6 km. (3.7 mi.) from the Russian Adler airport at the Sochi resort.
The comments and quotes from Albert F. Myers of Northrop Grumman in William B. Scott's retrospective on the B-2 rang true from my own experience with this aircraft. Many of the Northrop flight control system design engineers were first-class. Unfortunately for Northrop, many were scattered when the program imploded to produce only 21 aircraft as part of the "peace dividend" following the Cold War.
Delta Air Lines, with an eye toward international route expansion, has launched service from Atlanta to Copenhagen with Boeing 767-300ER aircraft in a two-class configuration. Copenhagen is the third of 11 new transatlantic routes the airline intends to launch by June. It follows Atlanta-Dusseldorf service initiated in March and Atlanta-Tel Aviv service started in April. This month the airline plans to begin service from Atlanta to Nice, France, and from New York JFK to Budapest.
Airline fleet planners looking to buy new Airbus and Boeing single-aisles in the next decade are likely to have an abundance of engine options as propulsion makers, eager to be part of this promising market, prepare for the boom. Business strategies at several engine makers make clear that unless circumstances change, three engine offerings are likely to vie for Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies, which are expected to enter service by the middle of the next decade.
Also looking for a Russian partner is Bombardier's Skyjet International charter network. Skyjet agreed last week to add Global Wings of Tokyo to its network, which includes 24 charter partners in Europe and 35 worldwide. Global Wings signed up to become the Asian launch customer for Bombardier's Challenger 605, and ordered a pair of Learjet 45XRs to go with two already in its fleet. Comlux Aviation of Zurich became the European 605 launch customer. It also took a pair of 850 executive shuttles, for delivery in 2006-07.
Seven Washington-based trade associations want an immediate reversal of the Defense Security Service's decision to stop processing security-clearance applications and periodic reviews of existing clearances. DSS suspended work on industry clearances Apr. 28, saying it has exhausted its Fiscal 2006 funding. In addition to unclogging the clearance pipeline, the groups want Pentagon officials to review Fiscal 2007 funding requests to prevent another shortfall next year. Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), a longtime critic of Defense Dept.
A group of regulators, pilots, air traffic controllers and airport operators participating in a Eurocontrol runway safety seminar is adopting a three-pronged approach to improving runway safety. Prong No. 1 is continued implementation of Eurocontrol's European Action Plan aimed at preventing runway incursions. "Tremendous progress has been made in [the plan's] implementation," says George Paulson, director of Eurocontrol ATM programs.
The U.S. Navy has continued to upgrade its EA-6B Prowler fleet, by awarding BAE Systems a $24.3-million contract to produce 13 more low-band transmitter-antenna groups for the Prowler. Low-band jamming is vital to the protection of stealthy aircraft and to decrease the effectiveness of enemy long-range radars that also operate at low frequencies. The Navy is now buying a total of 30 antenna sets. Navy officials also are worried about being the victims of electronic attack. Airborne Tactical Advantage Co.
Bruce A. Peterson, a NASA research pilot involved with lifting body and other flight tests, died May 1 in Laguna Niguel, Calif., after a long illness. He was 72. He made the first flight of the NASA/Northrop HL-10 lifting body in December 1966 at NASA's Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, and flew the earlier M2-F1 and M2-F2 lifting bodies. Peterson's skill brought the almost unflyable HL-10 to a safe landing. Based on his flight data, the aircraft became one of the best-handling lifting bodies and a crucial piece of space shuttle development.
Thales will provide the Integrated Electronic Standby Instrument system for Embraer Phenom 100 and 300 very light and light jets. Thales also works with Embraer on the company's regional jets.
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The U.S. Defense Dept.'s acquisition of military space systems has been notoriously dysfunctional lately. The Senate Armed Services Committee's strategic forces panel recently held a hearing to delve into the reasons and remedies. The Government Accountability Office's Cristina T. Chaplain, acting director of the acquisition and sourcing management team, appeared. This is adapted from her testimony.
TO MODERNIZE THE U.S. AVIATION SYSTEM, the federal Joint Planning and Development Office is targeting five near-term priorities: Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), System-Wide Information Management (SWIM), trajectory-based flight operations research, required total system performance (RTSP) and weather. It's important to get started on these key issues right away, says JPDO Acting Director Robert Pearce. In the Fiscal 2007 budget request for the FAA, there are two proposed new program starts: $80 million for ADS-B and $24 million for SWIM.
