Airbus is considering enlarging the size of its industrial footprint in Britain through an additional design-engineering center, among other options. Noel Forgeard, EADS co-CEO, says Airbus's "strategy has been developed because of the pool of highly skilled systems engineers based in the Midlands [of the U.K.]. In addition to these recruits we are also seeking several hundred engineers for existing Airbus [U.K.] sites." EADS owns 80% of Airbus, with BAE Systems holding the remainder.
Ground controllers ran a successful 114-sec. test on Oct. 26 of four backup thrusters on the Progress cargo vehicle docked to the International Space Station, raising the ISS altitude by about 400 meters. Still under consideration was a similar test of the primary Progress thrusters that shut down early during a station-reboosting maneuver Oct. 18. Also to be determined was the date for reboosting the ISS by about 6 mi. to position it for the planned Dec. 23 docking of the next Progress resupply mission.
A retired Northrop Grumman engineer who helped design parts of the B-2 stealth bomber's low-observable propulsion system was arrested in Hawaii by the FBI on Oct. 26 for allegedly faxing a top-secret document on the aircraft's infrared technology to a foreign official in 2002, according to the Associated Press. The AP also reports the FBI says Noshir S. Gowadia, 61, allegedly provided classified information to two other nations. He is being held without bail.
Airbus is making another run at the much-coveted Japanese market where its rival, Boeing, dominates. Airbus CEO Gustav Humbert and his chief operating officer for customers, John Leahy, held an executive forum for airline, government and other industry representatives last week in Tokyo. Humbert told the gathering: "We consider Japan to be a key country for Airbus, both in terms of a potential buyer of aircraft and as a partner in industrial co-development and co-production. . . .
Robert Musgraves and Christian Leonhard have been named co-presidents of the Denver-based Titanium Metals Corp. (Timet), to succeed J. Landis Martin, who will be retiring Nov. 15 as chairman/president/CEO. Musgraves and Leonhard have been chief operating officers for North America and Europe, respectively. Harold C. Simmons, the controlling stockholder of Timet and parent company Valhi Inc., will become chairman/CEO. Steven L. Watson, president/CEO of Valhi, will be vice chairman.
Garrett/Piedmont Hawthorne/Associated is shedding its cumbersome name in favor of what it hopes is the catchier Landmark Aviation. The group anticipates announcing two more acquisitions during the National Business Aviation Assn. convention Nov. 9-11 in Orlando, Fla.
I read the interview with Gerard Arpey, president and CEO of American Airlines, with amusement and amazement (AW&ST Oct. 10, p. 60). He was not talking about the same American that as a resident of Dallas, I am often relegated to fly. This is thanks to the Wright Amendment, which gives American a near-monopoly for air travel in Dallas.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) plans a new round of hearings in November on spiraling procurement costs and discoveries of contracting improprieties at the Defense Dept. McCain told an audience at the conservative Heritage Foundation that military buying has reached "a crisis situation." Meanwhile, growing hurricane-recovery bills are sparking "serious discussions about restricting spending," McCain says. Even so, congressional earmarks continue to increase--from 4,126 items worth $26.6 billion in 1994 to 14,040 worth $47.9 billion last year.
The Paris airports authority says that in a year it will offer an intra-airport link at Charles de Gaulle, connecting three terminals and the local and long-distance train station. The project will replace bus service and allow passengers to reach each facility in no more than 8 min. Each train can shuttle 60 passengers. About 60% of the construction is complete. Deliveries of the new trains are scheduled for early 2006, followed by trial runs in March and public access in autumn.
The European Union has named former Commissioner Karel Van Miert to mediate a dispute with Germany, Spain and the U.K. that has blocked signature of a contract for the first four Galileo navigation satellites. The European Space Agency had hoped that proposals in the final Galileo concession bid, submitted on Oct. 21, could bring removal of the stumbling block (AW&ST Oct. 24, p. 30).
Congressional staffers are beginning to lay the foundations for lawmakers to iron out the final details of the Pentagon's Fiscal 2006 budget, and space programs are expected to take the brunt of cuts.
NASA is seeking regulatory clearance to collaborate with the X Prize Foundation on two Centennial Challenge competitions aimed at future space operations. The "Lunar Lander Analog Challenge" would reward the first team to build a vertical-takeoff/vertical-landing suborbital vehicle capable of landing on and launching from the Moon. The prize for the "Suborbital Payload Challenge" would go to the first team that demonstrates a reusable rocket to speeds or altitudes of interest to science researchers.
The Pentagon's interest in protection of forces has moved beyond the obvious threats of lethal weapons and computer attacks to include insects. The Air Force Research Laboratory has demonstrated a prototype unmanned helicopter, which has been modified for pesticide applications in areas where there is both disease and hostile fire that could jeopardize manned aircraft operating at low altitude. The Air Force's 757th Aerial Spray Flight uses C-130s for the mission.
In 1997, the Boeing Co. suffered a supply-chain meltdown when it tried to ramp up commercial aircraft production too quickly, forcing a shutdown of its 747 line for 20 days and delays in 737 deliveries. The company's new CEO, W. James McNerney, Jr., is hell-bent that won't happen on his watch.
In anticipation of the burgeoning Chinese market, DHL has established in Shanghai the DHL Logistics Management University (LMU), with the goal of building a pool of logistics specialists in the region. LMU opened last month and is targeted at DHL employees and corporate customers in junior, middle and senior management across the Asia-Pacific. The university intends to have fully trained 2,000 employees by the end of 2006, with the majority of graduates coming from China, initially. Fudan University is one of the partners for the initiative.
Iran is a new member of the space club, following the successful launch of a multinational payload last week from Plesetsk, Russia. The launch, on a Cosmos 3M booster, carried aloft small reconnaissance spacecraft Sina-1 and Mesbah, an experimental satellite that was built under a fledgling space program launched in 1998.
A report from the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) claims that a newly-built Boeing CV-22 flew into a cloud on Oct. 18, suffered stalls in both engines and had to make an unplanned landing in Prescott, Ariz. The U.S. Navy denies most of the report's claims but says the aircraft's engines were indeed damaged by ice and needed to be replaced before the tilt-rotor design could finish its ferry flight from the manufacturing site in Amarillo, Tex., to Edwards AFB, Calif., where it will be involved in a test program.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. is complaining that the FAA has added 15 new north-south air routes to alleviate congestion for flights headed to Southern Florida, but left controllers in the dark. The FAA says this isn't so and the changes, most of which went into effect in August and last week, were developed in coordination with controllers. Natca has been participating "since the very beginning" of this seven-month redesign effort, according to Doug Molin, FAA manager for tactical operations for the Southeastern U.S. in the Air Traffic Organization.
The Indian air force is to acquire six Il-78 midair refueling aircraft. It currently has six Il-78s. The procurement will strengthen the air force ability to act as an "expeditionary force" while responding to natural disasters and emergencies in the region, a senior military official said.
With the price of oil not falling appreciably, it's time to reconcile design goals with those of aircraft operators. Current aircraft are not designed for maximum fuel efficiency--they have opti- mized engines and equally perfected airframes. However, the whole is merely equal to the sum of its parts. The fuel economy and ownership cost of transport aircraft of all sizes can be improved markedly by exploiting synergistic interactions between airframe and powerplant. While there are many, I'm writing about "pressure thrust."
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Czech Deputy Prime Minister Martin Jahn says the government will liquidate aerospace and defense contractor Aero Vodochody if a planned sell-off of the state-owned company is not completed by mid-2006.
Three USAF/Lockheed Martin F-16Cs from the 64th Aggressor Sqdn. at Nellis AFB, Nev., prepare for an attack during a recent Red Flag exercise (see p. 46). Camouflage paint schemes help blue-force aircrews identify the F-16Cs as "bad guys" during aerial engagements. Wingtip-mounted data/tracking pods carried by each of the squadron's aircraft enable detailed postflight reviews of each mission. USAF Master Sgt. Robert W. Valenca photo.
