General aviation groups are welcoming the news that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is expanding the number of entry points for GA flights into Washington's Reagan National Airport (DCA), but say more needs to be done. TSA is adding Dallas Love Field, Memphis International and Milwaukee's Mitchell International to the list of gateway airports permitting certain pre-cleared GA operations to fly directly into DCA.
Airbus's largest customer for the A380, Emirates, is taking a step back from the freighter variant, saying it wants to see more work done on the massive cargo hauler before committing to it.
NASA awarded $10.4-million to Alliant Techsystems last week for development of a liquid oxygen/methane rocket engine. Early this year, the agency dropped its requirement that a methane-fueled engine would power its Crew Exploration Vehicle service and lunar ascent modules, but clearly is interested in the technology. Separately, a South Korean company has acknowledged that a full-up version of its "Chase-10" LOX/methane engine had been test-fired at maximum power for 10 sec., producing 20,000 lb. of thrust with a non-optimum nozzle.
Imad Bitar (see photo) has become vice president of the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory, Reston, Va. He was operations director.
The European Space Agency has awarded EADS Astrium a contract for a probe to provide a 3-D map of 1 billion stars in the Milky Way--10,000 times as many as ESA's previous star-mapping mission, Hipparcos.
Oslo is trying to signal that its decision to stay in the present phase of the Joint Strike Fighter does not reflect a final commitment to purchase the F-35, as it struggles to keep a semblance of a fighter competition alive. Meanwhile, London is waiting to see if its concerns over the aircraft are addressed. Norway has decried the level of work it was receiving from Lockheed Martin because of its participation in the system development and demonstration phase of the program. It threatened to pull out unless this was adequately addressed.
Ian Massey has been appointed to the board of directors of the Memphis, Tenn.-based Pinnacle Airlines Corp. He is executive vice president overseeing the aviation group of the Republic Financial Corp. and is a member of the board of Vought Aircraft Industries Inc.
Using a single $7-million UAV to patrol the 2,062-mi. U.S.-Mexican border ranks right up there with the proverbial $500 toilet seat. For that same $7 million, the Homeland Security Dept. could purchase 70 Light Sport Cubs and have officers armed with night vision goggles patrol just 30 mi. of border each, and the entire Mexican border would be covered. Predators can and do fail. It is only a matter of time until one is involved in a midair collision and/or comes down in a populated area.
Three French defense industry organizations say Northrop Grumman has fulfilled its offset obligations regarding acquisition of three E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft for aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. The obligation, worth more than $500 million, was primarily met by developing business in the U.S. for French companies, like a Northrop Grumman-EADS deal to market Airbus tankers to the U.S. government.
Air France Industries and Thales have teamed for support of the Top Series inflight entertainment system on Airbus A380s, via Air France Indus- tries' Paris Charles de Gaulle site.
European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Executive Director Patrick Goudou is calling for a change in the agency's board of directors, urging the removal of representatives from national aviation agencies, which are often seen as in conflict with the new European authority. The board should be staffed by professionals with no conflicts of interest, he argues.
The European Regions Airline Assn. is calling for the creation of a European Transportation Safety Board, replacing national bodies. Moreover, aircraft registration in Europe should also be centralized, the airline group argues. Many in industry believe an ETSB is years from being created, especially after the start-up problems experienced in creating the European Aviation Safety Agency.
The beginning of May saw the first meeting of the Russian government industry commission that was established to manage creation of an integrated aviation company, known as OAK. Industry and Energy Minister Victor Khristenko is the commission head. His deputies are MiG Corp. chief Alexey Fedorov and German Gref, the economic development minister.
Larry E. Williams, President/CEO (Ballistic Recovery Systems, South St. Paul, Minn.)
You recently published discussion on the crash of a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle due to mechanical difficulties (AW&ST May 1, p. 35). Because a UAV lacks an onboard flight crew, this has mistakenly led many in the aerospace industry to believe losses will occur, and are acceptable and even perhaps unavoidable.
Kim Gillis has been named acting deputy CEO of Australia's Defense Material Organization. He has been program manager of amphibious vessels. Gillis succeeds Norm Gray, who has become CEO of Thales Australia.
A USAF B-1B was damaged heavily during a forced landing at its forward operating base in Oman. The aircraft, with its crew of four still on board, slid 7,500 ft. before coming to a rest, still on the runway. The bomber had been forced to land with its landing gear retracted. Everyone escaped uninjur- ed. The B-1 was deployed from Dyess AFB, Tex.
British Midland Chairman Michael Bishop has bought out minority interests in the BBW Partnership, increasing his stake in the airline to 50% plus one share. Lufthansa has a 30% minus one share, with SAS the remainder.
"What If Delta Goes Down" took me back about 30 years. By 1978, I had spent $23,000 to earn a bachelor's degree from a well-known flight school. I eventually received my ATP, CFI-you-name-it, accumulated 5,000 hr. and added an aerospace engineering degree. I slowly realized I was all dressed up with no place to go. Deregulation and B-scale salaries made me turn my back on an airline career. It was my most important financial decision. I am now financially secure as a portfolio manager, while my many friends who are flying heavy metal have no retirement to look forward to.
On Mar. 8, I was privileged to address, by telephone, the annual awards banquet of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Here is an excerpt: "I have recently moved over to the slow lane, making the transition from being an active participant in space research to being a fascinated bystander. As an irresponsible bystander and in the lighthearted spirit of this occasion, I decided to offer an iconoclastic suggestion.
Mike Edwards has become Learjet program manager for Stevens Aviation, Greenville, S.C. He was director of maintenance at Alan Ritchey Inc. and had been a Learjet supervisor with Bombardier in Tucson, Ariz.
Raytheon has completed a system design review under a $752-million contract to design and build an early warning radar for Taiwan. The radar will track long- and short-range ballistic and cruise missiles as well as other threats.
Constellation Services International--a startup based in Alexandria, Va., that plans to begin offering open-standard supply-chain management to low Earth orbit in 2008--has signed an agreement with Space Adventures to deliver extra cargo to the space travel agent's customers who reach the International Space Station. The "LEO Express" approach will be offered as a way for space tourists to pre-deliver experiments, multimedia gear and other supplies to the ISS before their arrival in the "taxi seat" of Russian Soyuz vehicles.
EADS Astrium CEO Antoine Bouvier is predicting Astrium will land five telecom satellite awards by midyear as the company emerges from several years of slow satcom sales. Sources in India say one of these is likely to be a new order for a small satellite line being marketed in partnership with the Indian Space Research Organization's Antrix arm, set up in mid-2005. The first order under this alliance, for Eutelsat W2M, was placed in February (AW&ST Feb. 6, p. 32).
