EADS has begun flight trials of the Carapas high-speed, tactical reconnaissance unmanned aircraft it is developing with its partner, Italy's Galileo Avionica, for the French military. Flight testing is to run through year-end. The Carapas is seen as a replacement for the CL-289 recon drone. The winged system would retain its predecessor's high-speed potential, but be able to fly at lower speeds for better intelligence collection. Payloads include an electro-optical infrared sensor and electronic intel detection device.
The continuing discussion of the V-22 has left off a couple of important items. One of the underlying fears within the U.S. Marine Corps is that it will be taken over by or made a subservient unit of the Army. Even though the Black Hawk is an adequate replacement for the CH-46, the Marines have pressed for a "Marine-only" aircraft, much as they did with the AV-8 Harrier. The continuing insistence on a difficult-to-maintain, tactically "challenging" concept is partially due to this fear.
Roberto L. Vasquez has been appointed vice president-Defense Dept. space operations for the National Security and Space Unit of the Science Applications International Corp., Torrance, Calif. He was program director for XM Satellite Radio for Boeing.
EasyJet has boosted its foreign ownership limit to 45% from 40% after the earlier threshold was almost reached. A key part of approaching the 40% ceiling has been a move by the FL Group, which also owns Icelandair, to gradually increase its stake in EasyJet. Stock purchases now give the FL Group a 16.18% share in the U.K.-based low-fare carrier. The move by the airline also is seen as providing greater flexibility for investors.
Lars Nygaard has become CEO of SAS Group member Spanair. He was chief financial officer/chief commercial officer. Nygaard succeeds Enrique Melia Soriano, who is now head of Madrid-based Newco Airports Services.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is considering the return of razor blades, small knives and other sharp objects banned from commercial airline cabins since the 9/11 hijackings. That alarms the Assn. of Flight Attendants. The union, which represents 46,000 members at 21 U.S. airlines, says such objects still pose a threat.
The Mars Rover Spirit, high on a Martian mountaintop 50 million mi. from Earth, takes a Navcam self-portrait along with mosaic of the summit terrain and the sides of Husband Hill sloping to the distant Gusev crater floor. Spirit drove for 3 mi. and two years across the distant plains at rear, to reach and climb the mountain (see p. 48). NASA/JPL monochromatic Navcam imagery merged and color-coded by Marco Di Lorenzo, Douglas Ellison, Bernhard Braun and Kenneth Kremer using JPL/Cornell Pancam data.
The first Venus mission in 15 years--and the only one planned this decade--is off on a five-month journey to our nearest planet following a successful launch last week. The 1.2-metric-ton Venus Express, built by EADS Astrium and Alcatel Alenia Space, blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 9 atop a Starsem Soyuz-Fregat booster. Immediate indications were that all systems were functioning normally.
Rover planning between Cornell University and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory involves at least five daily sessions per vehicle. There's a continuous audio and video link at the two sites throughout the day as scientists, engineers and managers act on the results of each session, including:
Delta Air Lines, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, ended the third quarter with $2.6 billion in cash and short-term investments after recording a net loss of $1.1 billion. The carrier's operating loss for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was $240 million, 43% less than in the third quarter of 2004. Passenger unit revenues rose 4.2% and quarterly load factor was 79.2%, an increase of 1.6 points from a year earlier. Operating expenses rose 3.8%, as a 24% reduction in salary expenses was not enough to offset a 53% spike in fuel costs.
Peter Ingram has been named chief financial officer of Hawaiian Airlines, effective Dec. 1. He succeeds interim CFO Steve Jackson. Ingram has been vice president-finance/CFO for American Eagle Airlines. Matt Bernier has become senior director of labor relations. He was manager of labor relations for America West Airlines.
With one quarter left to go, the SAS Group believes it can meet its positive year-end earnings target, if the business environment does not change significantly. In reporting third-quarter results, the airline says operating expenses including fuel fell during the first nine months, albeit at a modest 1%. Operating income in the quarter grew to 703 million Swedish kronor ($86 million), compared to a 629-million-kronor loss in the same period last year. The passenger growth rate so far this year has been 5.2%.
A proposed Transportation Dept. rule that would relax restrictions on foreign ownership of U.S. airlines is having less effect than intended and may even complicate the second round of aviation liberalization talks between the U.S. and the European Union, scheduled this week in Washington. Statutory requirements, including a 25% limit on foreign ownership of an airline's voting stock, would remain. But where the department has discretion, it would relax the rules.
Swiss International Air Lines losses for the first nine months have increased to 81 million Swiss francs ($62 million) from 17 million Swiss francs for the year-ago period. Fuel prices eroded the operating performance. In the third quarter, the carrier's strongest, it was in the black by 8 million Swiss francs, but management warned it "expects to post a significant net loss in the fourth quarter."
The commercial aerospace industry rebound is reawakening an old concern: a dearth of skilled workers. A recent survey of aerospace and defense executives by Computer Sciences Corp.'s consulting unit finds that 66% are experiencing this shortage, up from 39% a year ago. The category most affected? Engineers in the aero/mechanical and software sectors. Results are scheduled to be presented this week at Aviation Week's Programs and Productivity conference in Phoenix.
Boeing and GE Transportation/Aircraft Engines expect a spurt of sales of GE90-powered 777s to Asian and Middle Eastern airlines that are finalizing negotiations. The Dubai 2005 air show later this month is the likely venue. Orders for 777s by Air Canada and Air-India have been announced, but contracts for as many as 100 777s, including 10 freighters, are pending. GE has improved the cruise performance of the 777-300ER powerplant by 3.6% from a preflight base. GE officials say twin-engine fuel efficiency is the big draw in these days of high fuel prices.
THE USAF BOEING C-17 HAS BEEN FLYING for a decade, but now new aircraft rolling off the production line are being fitted with the latest radar technology based on a commercial product. The Honeywell RDR-4000M is a derivative of the RDR-4000 technology developed for the Airbus A380. The C-17 uses the RDR-4000M as a stand-alone radar unit, while on the A380 the radar is part of an integrated aircraft environment surveillance system. The radar uses 3D volumetric scanning to capture and update rain and turbulence data up to 320 naut. mi.
OHB Technology posted an EBITDA of 14.7 million euros for the first three quarters, nearly double that of a year earlier, on the strength of the first-time consolidation of MT Aerospace, which was acquired in midyear. Revenues were flat, at 73.4 million euros, but the value of orders zoomed to 393 million euros, from 272 million euros. Troubled MT Aerospace, a major Ariane 5 supplier, reported EBIT of 1.5 million euros, because of restructuring and an increase in Ariane 5 launches.
European space agency heads are debating the merits of a policy change that would give institutional buyers some latitude in using lower-cost non-European launch systems, just as industry executives have renewed warnings of dire consequences if new launcher development projects are not undertaken soon. According to European Space Agency Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain, the two issues threaten to mar what otherwise is seen as a relatively problem-free slate of proposals to be submitted at the agency's ministerial summit in Berlin on Dec. 5-6.
U.S. civil and military officials met in late October to coordinate their respective user-communities' evolving needs as Global Positioning System upgrades come online. The Sept. 25 launch and ongoing checkout of a new Block IIR-M GPS spacecraft with two civilian signals prompted the conference (AW&ST Oct. 3, p. 28). Gen. Lance W. Lord, commander of Air Force Space Command, initiated the "Civil GPS Focus Day" and hosted a team of senior Transportation Dept. executives to review issues of mutual interest.
News Breaks 16 Dassault sues Honeywell over business jet flight deck delays 16 Zenit-3SL launches Inmarsat-4 into geostationary transfer orbit 17 German air force to receive Taurus land-attack cruise missile 18 AW&ST's Covault receives Kolcum News and Communications Award 18 Band leader and WWII aviator Skitch Henderson dies World News & Analysis 20 European probe focuses attention once again on Venus
Those involved in the Quadrennial Defense Review say there are probably more budget surprises coming to the aviation community since U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley is calling for a new road map for every major system the Air Force is buying and operating.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines has begun flights from London's City Airport, with Monday-Friday twice-daily flights to Copenhagen. The weekend will see a single service. The airline is operating the routes using its Bombardier Q400 turboprop regional commuter aircraft. Flight time between London and Copenhagen is around 2 hr. 15 min.
WITH AS MANY AS 6,000 AIRPLANES AIRBORNE OVER THE U.S. at any one time and the prospect of three times as many in 20 years, one thing is clear: "Airplanes can't fly backward," quipped Charlie Keegan, director of the Joint Planning and Development Office. Keegan--who is also the vice president of operations planning for the FAA's Air Traffic Organization--outlined the latest efforts by JPDO to triple air traffic capacity by 2025 at the 50th Annual Air Traffic Control Assn. conference in Dallas. But aircraft are still kept 3-5 mi.
