British Airways is selling its one-third share in the London Eye Ferris wheel, which overlooks the Houses of Parliament, to the Tussauds Group for 95 million pounds ($165.8 million).
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A Zenit-3SL lifts off Nov. 8 with Inmarsat-4 (I-4) on board, bound for a successful insertion into geostationary transfer orbit by the vehicle's Block DM-SL upper stage. The satellite, which is intended to provide high-speed broadband mobile communications across the Americas from an orbital slot at 53 deg. W. Long., weighed 5,958 kg. (13,108 lb.) at launch. Sea Launch Co. positioned its Odyssey floating pad in the equatorial Pacific at 154 deg. W. Long.
Boeing has validated its claim that the 777-200LR is the industry's longest-range jet by settingf a distance record of 11,664 naut. mi. in a nonstop west-to-east flight from Hong Kong to London. The Nov. 9-10 flight took 22 hr., 42 min., capping a nine-month testing period that's expected to yield FAA certification Dec. 5. First delivery to Pakistan International Airways (PIA) is set for February.
Italy and Germany appear poised to transfer their national space agencies, ASI and DLR, away from the traditional home of space activities in European countries--the education and research ministry--and closer to the center of power. The Italian parliament is considering a new bill that would place ASI under the direction of an interministerial committee, with responsibility for policy, strategy and coordination directly in the hands of the prime minister. The administrator would be selected by the prime minister and named by the cabinet.
Eclipse Aviation has won firm orders for 40 additional Eclipse 500s, bringing the total order book for the very light jet "air taxi" to 1,592 firm orders and 765 options. Charter operator Linear Air of Lexington, Mass., placed 15 firm orders and took 15 options. JetStar Air placed 25 firm orders with 25 additional options for U.K.-based air taxi and shuttle services. The six-seat Eclipse 500, still in flight test, lists for $1.4 million. The Albuquerque, N.M., airframer is aiming for FAA certification in the first quarter of 2006.
Skitch Henderson, founder of the New York Pops, former "Tonight Show" bandleader and World War II aviator, died Nov. 1 at home in New Milford, Conn., of natural causes. He was 87. British-born Henderson enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940 and, after becoming a U.S. citizen, joined the Army Air Corps as a fighter pilot. A self-described "fanatic when it comes to machinery," he kept an extensive collection of aviation memorabilia at his home.
After much soul-searching, Navy officials in Washington said last week they are officially naming the EA-18G electronic attack aircraft the Growler. That's been its unofficial name for several years. But they still have a problem because Prowler (the EA-6B) sounds too much like Growler for use in flight operations where deck noise and radio static demands distinct differences in names. So the search is on for a "ball call" name with Lightning and Thunder both in the running so far, but usually more earthy names like Rhino and Warthog win out.
The International Space Station is ready to receive two more sections of its backbone truss structure, after the two-man crew overcame a misaligned valve to complete the first extravehicular activity (EVA) using U.S. spacesuits in 2.5 years.
Hugh McElroy (see photo) has been promoted to president/CEO of the Dallas Airmotive Inc. subsidiary of the BBA Aviation Services Group, Orlando, Fla. He was vice president/general manager of Dallas Airmotive Millville.
Michael J. Thibault has been appointed senior manager in the Aerospace and Defense Risk Advisory Practice of KPMG, McLean, Va. He was deputy director of the U.S. Defense Contract Audit Agency, Ft. Belvoir, Va.
Northrop Grumman is not planning to enter USAF's Small-Diameter Bomb (SDB) Phase II competition. The company had been closely collaborating with Boeing, designer of the Phase I SDB, which is designed to attack fixed targets. It was thought the two would be a team. However, Boeing announced last month a surprise partnership with rival Lockheed Martin to place a bid for the 250-lb. precision-guided weapon. Lockheed Martin had previously protested Boeing's original contract that included Phase II work to hit moving targets, prompting a new competition.
The Planetary Fourrier Spectrometer on the European Space Agency's Mars Express probe is back in operation, after a malfunction that has kept the unit silent since July (AW&ST Sept. 19, p. 22). The PFS was the first instrument to make direct in-situ measurements of methane in the Martian atmosphere, and the first to indicate the presence of formaldehyde--both among the building blocks essential for life.
In the Viewpoint "U.S. Science & Technology Is on a Losing Path" (AW&ST Oct. 31, p. 70), Norman R. Augustine addresses the declining production of scientists and engineers without considering the underlying fallacies in our economic model.
A new set of problems with the European Space Agency's ATV cargo carrier will delay launch of the first vehicle by another year. But ESA insists this is unlikely to affect flights to resupply the International Space Station, which are still under review.
The U.S. Homeland Security Dept.'s program to see if military missile jammers can be adapted to civilian use is starting to see reality as a Boeing 767 and an MD-11 both began operational tests last week of infrared-guided missile detectors and jammers.
The miracle on Mars continues. Spirit and Opportunity, which landed in January 2004 with a combined roving and lifetime warranty of 4,000 ft. and 120 days, are pushing toward four years of combined life and more than 6 mi. of total travel. Both have made compelling discoveries about Martian water and transmitted images almost beyond belief (see p. 48).
Ground controllers used backup thrusters on the Progress resupply vehicle docked to the International Space Station to raise the station to a circular 219-mi. orbit, setting it up for the Progress docking in December. The Manifold 2 thrusters on Progress 19 fired for 33 min. in two maneuvers, the longest Progress burn yet.
If you've got a mobile phone with an built-in camera, there's a fair chance the basic sensor will have been manufactured by Micron Technology. Such CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductors) devices are now finding their way into an increasingly broad range of military applications, including on unmanned aerial vehicles and munitions. CMOS imaging devices are particularly suitable where weight and power requirements are at a premium, and they are being used with man-portable and hand-launched UAVs. U.S.
Ibrahim Youssef has been appointed president/CEO of Avox-Eros Services, Van Nuys, Calif., in addition to being president/CEO of another Zodiac US company, Intertechnique Services Americas of Milwaukee.
Meanwhile, Airbus has inked a deal with China's AVIC-1, the Aviation Industry Corp., to expand cooperation between the two to the building in China of wing boxes for Airbus narrowbodies. Airbus also says it will boost procurement volume in China to $60 million by 2007 and $120 million by 2010.
Aerospace lags other industries in expanding its supply base to low-cost nations such as China and India, but that's likely to change dramatically in the coming years, according to a pair of new surveys. While aerospace suppliers in the U.S. and Western Europe are reaping the lion's share of today's business, net spending in those regions is on track to decrease as prime contractors farm out more work to reduce costs and gain entry to lucrative new markets.
Neelam Mathews (New Delhi), Michael Mecham (San Francisco)
It is no surprise that competitive pressures are driving many aerospace companies to tap India's high-end engineering services. Perhaps less well known is that India's newest emerging offerings are aeronautical system design, testing services, cockpit equipment support software and composite structuring. With its highly skilled English-speaking labor pool, low costs and economic growth, India is quickly moving up the value chain as aircraft manufacturers look at less expensive options.
Since 1916, Aviation Week & Space Technology has chronicled the evolution of powered flight in thousands of stories, big and small. Throughout, the emphasis has been on hardware and technology innovations that have laid the foundations for future greatness and made aviation and aerospace arguably the most inspiring and visually stunning fields of human endeavor. Aviation Week itself made its debut a mere 13 years after the Wright brothers' history-making flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 1903.
William R. Norman has become senior vice president of UAL Corp.'s United Services. He has been vice president-base maintenance. Norman succeeds Gregory F. Hall, who has resigned. Randall Crain has been named San Francisco-based director of aircraft sales. He was head of sales operations.
