Honoring Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta's request that everyone refrain from taking potshots at plans for ATC funding reform that haven't been proposed yet, major aviation interest groups are taking potshots at each other instead.
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on Mar. 8 presented the U.S.'s highest aerospace awards to the Mars Exploration Rover teams and physicist James A. Van Allen. The Spirit and Opportunity engineering and science teams were awarded the 2006 National Air and Space Museum Trophy for Current Achievement, while Van Allen, 91, from the University of Iowa, won the 2006 Trophy for Lifetime Achievement for leadership in space science since the 1940s.
Ryanair is responding to cost increases at Cork Airport in Ireland by reducing its service there and ramping up flights to Kerry, which it describes as "much cheaper." Ryanair is cutting its Liverpool-Cork service to four flights per week from seven and adding three flights to Kerry. The low-cost carrier claims Cork's "Taj Mahal-like" new terminal has led to the price hikes.
The Spanish air force will be facing a difficult choice during the next decade: either exercise its options to buy additional Eurofighter Typhoons, or take the big step and embrace unmanned combat air vehicles. With Spanish industry heavily involved in two UCAV projects, but also in Typhoon production, Spain's decision could signal to what extent UCAVs have matured. EADS CASA has 13% of production workshare on Typhoon, but is also involved heavily in the German-led Barrakuda UCAV demonstrator and the Dassault Aviation-led Neuron project.
EasyJet is adding five cities--including Split and Rijeka in Croatia--to its network as part of a 10-route expansion set for the summer. The airline's increased service into Italy and France is continuing, with Ajaccio, Corsica; Bordeaux and La Rochelle, France; and Rimini, Italy. Starring heavily in the route expansion is Bristol, in the U.K., where EasyJet Chief Executive Andrew Harrison says growth plans call for transport of almost three million passengers in the coming years.
While I agree with many of the thoughts presented in "Griffin's Mistaken Thinking" (AW&ST Feb. 27, p. 8), I'd like to present a different viewpoint on the present approach to the space exploration program.
Carl Walz, Acting Director, Advanced Capabilities Office (Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. )
The purpose of "mining" resources at the Moon is to support lunar operations, including those that will serve as proofs of concept for eventual operations on Mars. We do not mean to imply that we would use the Moon as a refueling station for trips to Mars. In fact, although the plans are under study, our eventual trips to Mars more likely would be direct flights without stops at the Moon. The wording of the article might have been confusing.
EADS and the Netherlands Founda- tion for Research in Astronomy, Astron/Lofar, have agreed to study the feasibility of building a long-wave radio telescope that could be deployed as part of a Moon program. If found to be feasible, the partners will seek to include other countries and propose the mission as a European Space Agency initiative.
FAA MANDATES THAT REQUIRE AIRLINES TO BUY AVIONICS for safety reasons are trailing off. Clay Jones, president and CEO of Rockwell Collins, said earlier this year that one of the financial challenges the company faced last quarter and is facing early this year is a "headwind" from lower regulatory mandate activity. Honeywell officials said much the same thing in the company's quarterly conference call with financial analysts in January, and both companies also cited lower regional jet deliveries.
Kennedy Space Center and lead shuttle contractor United Space Alliance are examining the quality control ramifications of incidents that caused superficial damage to the orbiters Discovery and Endeavour. Discovery's manipulator arm is undergoing ultrasound inspections after an access platform bumped it when technicians were retrieving glass in the payload bay from a shattered ground support light bulb.
The airline sector is once again attracting investors--this time they're headed to India--to finance an estimated $25-40 billion needed over the next 5-7 years for around 450 aircraft. India's aviation sector is growing faster than its gross domestic product, a pace expected to continue during the next few years. Although this growth has made the industry exuberant, a nagging question remains: where will the money come from to fund all the aircraft Indian carriers have ordered?
SINGAPORE TECHNOLOGIES ENGINEERING (ST ENGINEERING) and Adam Aircraft have signed a letter of intent to form a strategic partnership that addresses the emerging very light jet segment of the general aviation market. ST Engineering would be responsible for engineering, logistics, maintenance and repairs supporting Adam Aircraft A500 piston-powered and A700 jet-powered airplanes. In addition, the agreement gives ST Engineering the option to invest up to $50 million in Adam Aircraft.
Britain may have yet to conclude the acquisition of a fifth Boeing C-17, or secure the contract for its long-running Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft, but this isn't stopping Defense Secretary John Reid from pointing out to the rest of Europe the need to improve airlift. Reid, attending an informal European Union defense ministerial meeting, issued a discussion paper on the need for more steps toward "sufficient airlift capacity."
The U.S. Air Force and Arnold Engineering Development Center have signed a 25-year lease with NASA to reopen and operate the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. (see photo). The NFAC is the primary national asset for full-scale rotorcraft testing and will be used chiefly for U.S. Army rotorcraft research. The complex has two test sections: One is 40 X 80 ft. and capable of velocities up to 250 kt., and the other is 80 X 120 ft. for velocities up to 80 kt.
SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT CORP. HAS SOLD AN S-76C++ HELICOPTER to LG International for use as a VIP transport. Delivery is scheduled for 2007. The S-76C++ is the latest version to receive FAA certification and is powered by Turbomeca Arriel 2S2 turboshaft engines. The powerplants are 6% more powerful than previous versions of the Arriel and allow a gross weight increase of up to 450 lb. for Category A operations. The aircraft also features a new interior, a health and usage-monitoring system and a gearbox that reduces noise in the main cabin.
UNITED STATES Editor-In-Chief: Anthony L. Velocci, Jr. [email protected] Managing Editor: James R. Asker [email protected] Assistant Managing Editor: Michael Stearns [email protected] Senior Editors: Craig Covault [email protected], David Hughes [email protected] NEW YORK 2 Penn Plaza, 25th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10121 Phone: +1 (212) 904-2000, Fax: +1 (212) 904-6068 Senior News Editor: Nora Titterington
Concepts for future long-range strike and long-range reconnaissance aircraft are merging. Some elements--well into a period of secret development--also appear to have received a big funding boost in the U.S. Air Force's most recent budget request.
Everett H. Pratt, Jr. (see photos) has been appointed vice president-business development for the Rolling Meadows, Ill.-based Defensive Systems Div. of the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Systems Sector (ESS). He was vice president-radio frequency combat and information systems (RFCIS). Pratt has been succeeded by Gregory A. Schmidt, who was the division's vice president-engineering and manufacturing. Succeeding Schmidt is Carl R. Smith, who was director of systems engineering and engineering for RFCIS programs. Carl A.
Northwest Airlines and its pilots' group have reached a tentative agreement that splits regional aircraft flying into two parts. Under the agreement, the mainline carrier would operate jets starting at 77 seats, and a new subsidiary, SJET, would operate aircraft with 76 or fewer seats. Pay scales at industry competitive levels are proposed. The agreement would keep mainline carrier salaries at the level established late last year, when Northwest pilots accepted a 23.9% pay cut. The Northwest unit of the Air Line Pilots Assn. will review the agreement Mar. 14-17.
What? The International Space Station has ". . . returned far more value" than the B-2 or SR-71 (AW&ST Feb. 6, p. 6)? Recently I have come to question just what are all those things of "value," especially when looked at on a cost-per-item basis. I mean, did it take NASA to develop Velcro and freeze-dried ice cream? Two letters in a row said we must prepare to live on another planet. Yes, we tend to be "far out" here in the "far West," but it's time to come back to Earth financially.
The FAA has issued another airworthiness directive (2206-04-13), this one for Gulfstream IVs and Vs after all four Planeview (Honeywell Primus Epic system) displays went blank on one aircraft on Jan. 13 during a flight from Seattle to Philadelphia. The displays blanked or blinked for a matter of seconds, according to Honeywell. Gulfstream noted these aircraft also are equipped with head-up displays with enhanced vision (forward-looking infrared) and the pilots were able to continue flying safely during the only incident.
Thomas Juengling has become chief technology officer of Ceradyne Inc., Costa Mesa, Calif. He oversaw the company's research and development efforts in North America and at Ceradyne ESK Ceramics' laboratories in Germany.
Scientific evidence that global warming is melting ice at Earth's poles continues to stream out of NASA like fast-flowing glacial runoff, now that the agency's leadership has ordered political public affairs functionaries to lay off the spin. In the past two weeks NASA has reported dramatic melting in Antarctica, based on data from the twin Grace gravity probes it is operating with Germany (see p. 17). And a new Goddard Space Flight Center study synopsized in a NASA headquarters press release finds corresponding losses in Greenland.
Cargolux is buying two more Boeing 747-400 freighters to help fill capacity needs and bridge the period until it takes delivery of the 747-8, for which it is a launch customer. The additional 747-400Fs could be the last to come off the production line, with deliveries slated for July 2007 and July 2008.
France's influence in Europe has been weakened significantly in the last few years by the course of events as well as by a lack of judgment and political mistakes. National defense--and European defense--are no exceptions to this decline, and are being increasingly questioned by would-be policy-makers, think tanks and public opinion. In simple terms, the country's largely outdated military policy needs a full-scale review and, ultimately, a major overhaul.
