The Russian air transport industry has had a mere 3.9% growth in air traffic in 2005, after experiencing 14.9% growth in 2004. Total passenger volume reached 35.1 million, compared to 33.8 million the year before, according to Russia's transport ministry. Air cargo fell 3.7%. Russian air transport officials attribute the decline to the high cost of fuel, which drove up ticket prices about 20% and suppressed demand. In addition, they note that the continued use of fuel-inefficient aircraft exacerbates the problem.
ADAM AIRCRAFT OFFICIALS SAY THE COMPANY'S SECOND A700 twin-engine business jet is scheduled to roll off the assembly line late this month, and the eighth piston-powered A500 will be delivered to a customer by mid-month. Adam Aircraft received FAA certification of the A500 in May 2005 and anticipates that the A700 will enter service late this year. The combined A500 and A700 flight test fleet has accumulated more than 2,500 hr.
Ronald Sugar, chairman/CEO/president of the Northrop Grumman Corp., has been elected chairman for 2006 of the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Assn. He succeeds Robert Johnson of Honeywell Aerospace. William Swanson, chairman/CEO of the Raytheon Co., was elected vice chairman. John W. Douglass was reelected AIA president/CEO and Ginette Colot secretary-treasurer. Members of the board of governors' executive committee are: James F. Albaugh, executive vice president of Boeing and president/CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems; David L.
Emirates SkyCargo plans to increase services to South India. On Feb. 1, it will serve Thiruvananthapuram eight times weekly using Airbus A330-200s and Boeing 777-200s. The cargo arm of Emirates also plans to increase flights to Cochin, to daily services from five weekly, and to Chennai, to eight from four weekly. Emirates SkyCargo will offer the cargo customers 135 tons of belly-hold capacity weekly to Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai each, and 120 tons to Cochin.
BLR AEROSPACE IS DEVELOPING WINGLETS for the Beechcraft King Air 90 that will increase effective wingspan and aspect ratio to augment lift at cruise altitudes. The company already produces winglet kits for the Beechcraft Super King Air 200 series. Cutter Aviation, based in Phoenix, was the launch customer in 2005 and the first shipset has been installed by Tulsair on Werco Manufacturing's Super King Air. The winglets help the airplane fly at higher flight levels to take advantage of FAA Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums.
Curt Cannon is correct that NASA is in a sorry state (AW&ST Jan. 9, p. 6). Yet he then goes on to say NASA has no well-defined mission other than to waste money. Yes, it lacks the correct mission--NASA should be a true space agency, with the goal of establishing permanent, self-sufficient colonies on other worlds, along with developing the craft to explore space beyond our solar system. But this much-touted argument of NASA wasting money--please.
The British government's financial watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO), will review whether the government's privatization of most of its defense labs represented good value for money. Qinetiq, as the bulk of the labs are now known, will likely have an initial public offering later this month (AW&ST Jan. 23, p. 12).
THE NTSB ISSUED A REPORT CALLING for the FAA to tighten requirements on operators flying emergency medical services (EMS) missions. The report cites 55 accidents in the January 2002-January 2005 period, and notes that the rate of EMS-related accidents has increased in recent years.
After three months on strike, 1,500 members of the International Assn. of Machinists (IAM) and Aerospace Workers at Boeing Integrated Defense Systems facilities in Huntington Beach, Torrance and Vandenberg AFB, Calif.; Huntsville and Decatur, Ala.; and Cape Canaveral, Fla., ratified a three-year contract. IAM members are to start returning to work Feb. 6.
The Australian Defense Ministry has awarded a further development contract to Canberra-based CEA Technologies to evolve its design for the phased-array radar to allow Anzac frigates to perform missile defense duties. The $9-million award covers additional risk-reduction work and should allow the government to issue a production contract this year, according to the defense ministry.
Malaysia's airline terminal dedicated to low-cost carrier operations will become the first budget terminal in Southeast Asia when it opens at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in the first week of March, three weeks ahead of Singapore's Changi Budget Terminal. AirAsia will shift its base at KLIA to the new terminal, and its subsidiaries, Thai AirAsia and AirAsia Indonesia, will also operate from there. The new facility will be able to handle 4,000 passengers an hour.
Kuwait's Aviation Lease and Finance Co. (Alafco) has leased a fifth Boeing 777-200 to Air India for five years. Alafco signed a $2.9-billion deal with Airbus for 12 A350-800s with an option to buy six more in November last year. It plans to increase its fleet to 50 in the next few years. Kuwait Finance House owns 89% of Alafco and flag carrier Kuwait Airways, the rest.
EADS Military Air Systems is working up to the first flight of its Barrakuda unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator, with a debut now likely no later than around mid-year (AW&ST Mar. 21, 2005, p. 26). A first flight tentatively had been planned for late 2005.
Peter Ingram has been named chief financial officer of Hawaiian Holdings Inc., parent company of Hawaiian Airlines. He will continue as CFO of the airline. Ingram succeeds Randall L. Jenson, who will remain a member of the board of directors.
Litigating the European Union-U.S. trade dispute over aircraft subsidies may be delayed because of recent maneuvering in Europe and the U.S. to expand complaints against each other.
Many aerospace industry and military planners have been looking toward Long-Range Strike as the next major aircraft program that would make up for the major cuts now planned for the B-52 heavy bomber force. But not so fast, Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) planners are saying. The philosophy of the review is about capabilities, not numbers. Planners, despite fewer aircraft, expect to produce an "ever-increasing incline of capabilities" to do even more missions than are currently possible.
Antoine de Chassy has been named president of the Spot Image Corp., Chantilly, Va. He has been vice president-strategy/chief operating officer of Spot Image S.A. in Toulouse. De Chassy will succeed Neal Carney.
British program officials and reconnaissance specialists admit they don't know exactly what's going to happen when the first two Astor (airborne stand-off radar) ground-surveillance aircraft are put in the hands of aircrews later this year. "This is an entirely new capability being introduced into the British armed forces. But whatever you've planned to do, when it comes into service you do a whole lot more, a whole lot differently," says Wing Commander David Norris, Astor's requirements manager.
It's really quite interesting how it sneaks up on you. Reentry from space, that is. Imagine, there you are: unencumbered and weightless, soaking in a peaceful panorama stretching more than 1,000 mi. in each direction. You've just enjoyed the ride of your life--a thundering minute-and-a-half, courtesy of a home-brewed, hybrid rocket motor. As that motor switched off, you were instantly transported to a whisper-quiet realm, immersed in the surprisingly good feeling of weightlessness.
Aircraft inventories are going to be slimmed as a result of the Quadrennial Defense Review, but there will be opportunities for purchasing the first 200 new U.S. Air Force tankers, recapitalizing some larger special forces aircraft and preparing for the next major aviation program--the long-range strike capability, which may or may not be a bomber.
With checkout continuing on its ALOS Earth-imaging satellite, Japanese space agency JAXA announced the upcoming launches of MTSat-2, a meteorological and airline enroute tracking satellite and Astro-F, an infrared imaging observatory. MTSat-2 is set for a Feb. 18 launch on an H-IIA, while Astro-F is scheduled for a Feb. 21 liftoff on an M-V. Meanwhile, JAXA has assigned an investigation team to study data transmission failures of ALOS.
Pratt & Whitney and NASA's Langley Research Center are beginning hot-fire tests of the hypersonic Ground Demonstration Engine (GDE-2) at the Hampton, Va., facility. The firings in a wind tunnel at Mach 5 conditions mark the first test of a hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet propulsion system using a single integrated flow path, fuel control system and closed-loop thermal management system. The GDE-2 engine is aimed at applications in propulsion systems for strike, global reach and space-access programs.
