IBIS AEROSPACE OFFICIALS SAY THE COMPANY is nearing final certification for its Ae270 business/utility aircraft from the Civil Aviation Authorities in the Czech Republic. The flight test program included 672 missions using one airplane and accumulated more than 714 hr. A second airplane logged 164 flights, totaling 192 hr. Another 438 flights were made on a preproduction aircraft that totaled 510 hr.
Timco Aviation Services is taking over the old US Airways facility at Pittsburgh International Airport and transforming it into a CFM56 engine center. The center, to open early next year, has on-wing ramp access and a test cell for conducting engine performance and recertification tests. Timco formerly partnered with Snecma Services at Oscoda, Mich., to perform on-wing support and maintenance, repair and overhaul services for CFM56s. It will continue to provide MRO services on Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines at Oscoda.
American soldiers might someday get newer, better weapons than the 40-year-old M-16 assault rifle and its compact version, the M-4. But such a day won't come soon, despite a 19-year-old Army program that has so far spent $157 million to field a next-generation combination rifle and grenade launcher.
Canadian and U.S. airlines are poised to open new transborder markets and face stepped-up competition come Sept. 6, when their liberalized air services agreement takes effect. The accord under which they have operated since February 1995 allowed many freedoms, but did not include "beyond" rights--the right to operate to and from each other's territory and then on to third country markets. In addition, it severely limited express cargo operations.
The NTSB's 2006 Most Wanted List demonstrates there is room for improved aviation safety on the ground and in the air, from runway incursions to seat restraints for children. The list, first issued in 1990, is a compilation of NTSB recommendations crucial to enhancing safety in all modes of transportation. Currently, 22 of the 60 Most Wanted recommendations are aviation-related.
I found it interesting that Chip Lawson's complaint was non-specific and having to do with "itinerary problems," which even he admitted were not the carrier's fault. As an American Airlines' employee, I can assure you that we continually strive to improve customer service as this aspect is emphasized from the top down.
MD Helicopters has delivered two MD 600N single-engine helicopters to the Turkish National Police. The aircraft are the third and fourth of 10 ordered by the agency and will be based near Ankara. The remaining six will be delivered during the next year. The MD 600N has seats for seven occupants and features the Notar anti-torque system.
Superior performance-based logistics by defense contractors were honored with a new series of awards given last week by the U.S. Defense Dept. Lockheed Martin won the System Level Award for its F-117 system support partnership team. General Electric and the Navy were honored with the Sub-System Level Award for reinventing the F/A-18 logistics supply chain and achieving record readiness for the GE F409 engine.
Ernest Edwards has been named Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based vice president-executive aviation marketing and sales for the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Carib- bean for Embraer. He was president of the Swift Aviation Group. In Brazil, Embraer has named Marco Tulio Pellegrini, Hermann Ponte e Silva and Jose Eduardo Costas as vice presidents-market intelligence, executive aviation programs and contracts, respectively.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board on Nov. 17 issued urgent recommendations that the FAA require operators of Sikorsky S-76 helicopters with 500 hr. since new or an overhaul to conduct an immediate internal leakage test of all main rotor actuators. In addition, operators are to make immediate visual and laboratory examinations of fluid and filter elements in hydraulic systems to detect plasma flakes or other contamination that exceeds the manufacturers' limits of concentration and size.
The U.S. Army isn't calling its Spider anti-personnel land mine alternative a land mine even though that's exactly what it is. The Army prefers "anti-personnel munition" or "networked munition." Unlike conventional land mines, Spider is designed to be remotely controlled by a soldier, who can activate individual munitions rather than the whole system or leave the network armed like a traditional land mine. The devices deactivate within 1-30 days (the battery dies) if they don't self-destruct. These are good advancements, but they don't change what Spider is--a land mine.
Two-year-old low-fare carrier Air Arabia is pushing for more liberal air service agreements, hoping to continue its rapid expansion and developing into an even more serious competitor for legacy carriers in the Persian Gulf region.
Delta Air Lines' application for a Section 1113 nullification of its Air Line Pilots Assn. contract went to a hearing Nov. 16 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. As testimony continued, the situation remained fluid. Pilots have threatened to strike if the court decides in favor of Delta's request for pay, benefit and work-rule savings totaling $325 million per year, in addition to the $1 billion per year the pilots agreed to last year. The timing of a court decision was uncertain as the hearing proceeded.
The U.S. Air Force has given Lockheed Martin an $89-million contract for six long-range AN/TPS-77 transportable radar systems for Pakistan under the Foreign Military Sales program. The L-band, tactical radar provides continuous 3D surveillance of air targets at ranges up to 280 mi. and at altitudes up to 100,000 ft. The contract includes support equipment, spare parts, training and logistical support services. The radar is the latest version of the AN/FPS-117 system.
Southwest Airlines doesn't hold a monopoly on effective hedging of fuel prices. Ryanair has hedged 90% of its estimated demand for the second half of its fiscal year, which extends through Mar. 31, 2006, at prices corresponding with oil averaging $49 per barrel. The carrier intends to build hedges forward and has the cash position--435 million euros ($508 million)--to succeed. British Airways is hedged at $45 a barrel for 81% of its needs through the end of its 2005-06 financial year, and at $55 a barrel for 50% in the following year.
As director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kohler manages government-to-government weapons sales, which last year reached $13.5 billion, as well as his agency's work on foreign military training and humanitarian assistance. The foreign market for U.S. weapons is big business, and politically charged. Sales are primarily to advance U.S. foreign policy, not make money. In the past year, however, concerns about U.S. allies' sales to China have mixed business and politics and led the U.S.
Israel's first synthetic-aperture "Tecsar" radar satellite for the acquisition of all-weather/night strategic imaging intelligence--a top priority of the Defense Ministry and Israel Air Force--is to be lofted on India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in October 2006. The 220-lb. Tecsar is being developed by Israel's Elta Electronic Industries to provide high-resolution and wide-area coverage of up to nearly 4,000 sq. mi. per minute.
Manufacturers of very light jets are more confident than ever that the new class of aircraft will succeed economically, though none is in service yet and estimates of the size of the market still vary wildly. Confident, too, are the planners of "air taxi" services, though not a passenger has flown on the VLJs they plan to use. And other parts of the traditionally conservative aviation world seem increasingly receptive to the VLJ concept.
The resurrection of a contest to purchase several hundred "third-generation" battle tanks by the Turkish army has confounded skeptics who thought it would never happen. Turkey in 2002 shelved plans to buy tanks to replace the country's aging 1970s-era fleet.
"We are in a revolution," says Israel's southern regional navy commander, standing on the seaside border of the newly evacuated Gaza Strip. Before August's widely publicized withdrawal from Gaza, the Israeli navy had already set a course for radical modernization encompassing new technologies and changes to its command and control structures, according to the commander, who can be identified only as Capt. L. "With disengagement, we had to do what would have taken three to five years and do it in a matter of months," he says.
Carlos Galvan, an engineer for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems for the F/A-18 program in St. Louis, has won the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference's (Henaac) Luminary Award. Henaac is a nonprofit organization committed to motivating students to pursue careers in engineering, science, technology and math, and increasing the role the Hispanic community plays in maintaining America's status as a technology leader.
Airbus put suppliers on notice last week that it has tightened its criteria for contractors with whom it does business--including a requirement that Tier 1 suppliers must outsource a minimum amount of work to companies in Asian countries, such as China and India.
Major adjustments to the Pentagon's conventional land attack weapons programs are not expected, as a recent review of its conventional land-attack arsenal reveals the planned procurements will satisfy future needs.
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In the middle of the night last November, an Israeli sensor operator noticed a dark shape crawling toward the surf in the Gaza Strip. She immediately notified her watch commander and began tracking the figure as it swam toward an Israeli seaside community. There is only one chance to intercept a suicide-bomber laden with explosives.
