JEPPESEN REPORTS THAT ITS ELECTRONIC CHARTS BUSINESS IS GROWING, but its traditional paper chart business has not declined. This isn't an ideal situation for Jeppesen because it must continue to invest in both its emerging electronic chart business and its legacy paper business. The company believes the latter will begin to wane at some point, but first pilots have to become comfortable using electronic charts without having paper around as a backup. That may take a while, according to Kevin Collins, senior vice president and general manager of Jeppesen, a Boeing company.
Saab is to sell its 27.5% stake in the Nordic Ammunition Co. (Nammo) to Finland's Patria Oyj, which already has the same shareholding, for 400 million Swedish kronor ($49.7 million). The remaining 45% is owned by the Nor- wegian state. Norway has the right to acquire 5% of the shares being sold, and will announce its intent by Dec. 18.
Britain's annual financial physical exam of its Defense Ministry's procurement performance shows the agency is beginning to gain some control over cost overruns and procurement delays. It also makes clear that progress still is required.
Bruno Delile has become senior vice president-industrial and business development, Fouad Attar vice president-marketing and sales and Pierre-Yves Reville senior vice president-materials and services, all for Air France Industries. Ludovic Loisel has been named vice president-strategy for Air France Industries and Air France/ KLM MRO coordination. Delile has been senior vice president-materials and services and Attar director of intercontinental sales. Reville was senior vice president-sales and marketing, and Loisel vice president-business development.
I am surprised that your article "A New Path to Space?" (AW&ST Oct. 24, p. 56) portrays air-launch of an orbital booster rocket as a new concept. I was a member of the Pegasus team at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center when, on Apr. 5, 1990, we flew the first successful air-launched space shot, orbiting the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's SECS experimental communications satellite and NASA's Pegsat magnetosphere science satellite.
Japan's new Aerospace Exploration Agency, the two-year-old combination of three formerly separate organizations now known by the acronym JAXA, has an ambitious vision for the next 20 years. But like its counterparts in other spacefaring nations, its vision is clouded by the uncertainties of domestic politics and international space-exploration planning.
The MDA's sea-based floating X-band radar (SBX) is traveling from Texas to Adak, Alaska, on the Blue Marlin transport ship. Because of its size, the ship will have to go around the tip of South America. SBX, the largest X-band radar, is designed to distinguish decoys from warheads in space.
As it opens a nonstop polar route to New Delhi, Continental Airlines is betting on the strength of its Atlantic hub in Newark, and the size of the Indian-American population living in the carrier's Houston home base as advantages. "Until now, business travelers [coming from the U.S.] had no choice but to fly intermediate destinations" to reach India, Continental President Jeffery Smisek commented during a visit here this month to promote use of Boeing 777-200ERs from Newark Liberty International Airport.
Airbus is starting to talk to airlines about converting A380 options to firm orders and is weighing whether to build A350s at a faster rate than first planned. New Airbus President/CEO Gustav Humbert says that fielding of the mega-transport next year will likely spur companies that have options to start turning them into firm orders. Airbus has about 50 options along with 149 firm orders for the A380, and 10 commitments from UPS are likely to be firmed up soon.
Building on its initial success with enhanced vision, Kollsman Inc. is developing two new forward-looking infrared (Flir) sensors and a compact head-up display for use on a variety of aircraft in addition to a combination enhanced/synthetic vision display.
Management of NASA's Robotic Lunar Exploration Program (RLEP) has been assigned to the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. The assignment anticipates robotic lunar rover missions starting in 2008 to help pick landing sites for manned missions. The rovers are to explore whether resources such as oxygen, hydrogen and metals are available to support long-term habitation. The rovers would follow the 2008 launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft already under development at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Royal Jordanian Airlines subscribes to the philosophy that bigger is not necessarily better when it comes to aircraft size and network. It soon plans to order as many as 15 regional jets as part of a conservative strategy to expand its service within the Arab world and feed key international routes.
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.
