Southwest Airlines has shipped a five-crateload "Wright is Wrong" message to Texas's U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) and John Cornyn (R). Southwest organized the petition (shown in photo, stacked alongside airline President Colleen Barrett). It was signed by 214,570 constituents who want to repeal the Wright Amendment. Why a petition? Supporters of repeal, including Southwest, say the 1979 law stunts growth at Dallas Love Field and prevents healthy airline competition.
General aviation won a major battle when it resumed operations at Ronald Reagan National Airport. It's now focused on winning the war--by seeking full airport access, key to the sector's vitality.
Boeing and Lockheed Martin are among U.S. companies that have approached the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) about using the proposed H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) as a commercial resupply craft for the International Space Station. NASA wants to shift ISS logistics to a private commercial venture if possible, and is trying to keep as much as $500 million set aside in its long-term budget plan to pay someone for the service. JAXA Vice President Kaoru Mamiya says his agency has heard from the two U.S. aerospace giants about using the 16,500-kg.
Bell Helicopter Textron and Cessna Aircraft Co., both Textron subsidiaries, reported revenues and profits of $104 million/$30 million and $191 million/ $35 million, respectively, during the third quarter. Bell's gains were driven chiefly by higher international military volume, while Cessna's order backlog increased $236 million during the quarter, bringing its value to $6 billion.
After reading about the Boeing 777-200 software-induced flight control anomalies in "A Wild Ride" (AW&ST Sept. 26, p. 46), and the near loss of control they caused, it seems to me that what these totally, software-layered, fly-by-wire aircraft need is a guarded switch--call it a "PC" switch, short for positive control.
Small mobile phones that insurgents and terrorists use to trigger explosives and organize ambushes are computers; and if there are multiple phones, they have created a computer network. While these wireless network communications--which can use cellular, satellite, PDA and BlackBerry hand-held devices--are low power and offer several layers of encryption, with the right cyber-tools they can be identified, tracked, infiltrated, mined for information and, if desired, attacked.
European Space Agency officials hope the concession bid for the Galileo satellite navigation contract will resolve intergovernmental workshare disagreements that have stalled talks to nail down a contract for the initial batch of spacecraft for the 30-satellite constellation.
DEFENSE ELECTRONICS COMPANIES ARE SCRAMBLING to find enough software engineers even though the dot.com bubble has long since burst. Their requirements are specialized, and there aren't enough systems and software engineers available, according to John Capeci, vice president and director of business development for ITT Industries' Avionics Div. "We can barely keep ahead of the curve for the number of people we need," he said at the Assn. of the U.S. Army annual meeting. And ITT's competitors are in the same boat, he added.
Donald M. Kerr, who has been director of the National Reconnaissance Office, also will be assistant to the Air Force secretary for intelligence space technology.
In the latest step in globalizing the supply chain for the 787, Boeing has tapped Saab Aerostructures for cargo and access doors. Working from its base in Linkoping, the Swedish manufacturer is to build three types of doors--large cargo, bulk cargo and access--for the aircraft, which is now being designed for a first flight in 2007 and delivery in 2008. In all, Saab will build seven doors per aircraft.
After slowly embracing the technology, the U.S. military recently has been talking up its focus on unmanned aerial vehicles. The Pentagon is bragging that in Fiscal 2005 UAV spending for the first time topped $2 billion and has proffered an unmanned aircraft road map for the next 25 years. This plan is full of promise, with glimpses of a visionary future of how the technology can be used to foil even well-hidden and clever foes. But the UAV situation is far from rosy and plenty of questions remain.
Stealthy unmanned air vehicles powered by highly efficient fuel cells appear to be increasingly feasible, based on collaborative research conducted by the the U.S. Air Force Academy (AFA), Ball Aerospace & Technologies and Hydrogen Components Inc. (HCI). Ball has been focusing on fuel-cell development, while AFA cadets and faculty are working with HCI on the chemistry and hardware associated with a hydrogen generator.
On Oct. 2, my wife and I arrived at the security screening station at Bangor (Maine) International Airport 1 hr. before the scheduled departure of our flight. The aircraft was at the gate and airline personnel were at the gate, ready to accept boarding passes. Unfortunately, there were no Transportation Security Administration screeners staffing the inspection station.
Two small experimental French infrared early warning satellites are scheduled for launch as auxiliary payloads on an Ariane 5 in 2008. EADS Astrium, prime contractor on the defense procurement agency DGA's Spirale demonstration, picked the Ariane launch. The two 130-kg. (286-lb.) spacecraft, built on the Myriade spacecraft bus developed by the French space agency CNES, will gather data on the infrared signatures of ballistic missiles with the Earth's surface below them.
As songwriter Bob Dylan said: "The times they are a-changin'." It's not the generational upheaval he had in mind, but his anthem is now ringing true for the very underpinnings of the aviation world--air traffic management. The stage is set for development during the next 20 years of an entirely new concept of operation in Europe and the U.S. A whole new way of managing traffic must be created for there to be any hope of tripling system capacity, and that is what the current growth rate of traffic requires.
FAA and China's General Administration of Civil Aviation signed a Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement last week at the agency's International Safety Forum held in Chantilly, Va. The agreement provides the foundation for maintenance, airworthiness, operations and the environment, according to FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey. It is aimed at reducing regulatory and cost burdens for airlines and aviation authorities of both countries, as well as improving coordination of flight safety programs.
ThalesRaytheonSystems has signed a $120-million deal to provide advanced Link-16 connectivity for Swiss air force F-16s. The contract, awarded under Phase VII of the Florako air defense and airspace management system program, will involve installation of multifunctional information distribution system technology and other hardware that will enable pilots to acquire Link-16 before takeoff and remain in contact even in mountainous terrain.
Craig Covault, Frank Morring, Jr. (Cape Canaveral, Fukuoka, Japan)
China will advance to rendezvous and docking and astronaut extravehicular activity (EVA) following the Oct. 17 completion of the five-day Shenzhou 6 mission piloted by two Chinese crewmen. China's second manned space flight in two years concluded as U.S. and Chinese space managers met in Fukuoka, Japan, at the International Astronautical Federation conference. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin congratulated Zhang Wei, director general of foreign affairs for the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
Computer network attack and exploitation are subjects as closely guarded as stealth was 20 years ago. But they are also now the primary tools in combating what senior U.S. Army officials identify as their number-one target--the wireless communications networks used by insurgents and terrorists. With these mobile systems, insurgent leaders command forces that often operate free of any nation's control, moving at will across borders.
Shmuel Fledel has become vice president-maintenance and engineering for El Al Israel Airlines. He was president/CEO of Cyclone Aviation Products Ltd., a member of the Elbit Systems Group.
Boeing expects to begin an ambitious series of FAA-sponsored over-water flight trials aimed at accelerating modernization of oceanic air traffic control and capturing major fuel savings with more flexible routing.
Susan Sloan has been appointed vice president-performance excellence, Kevin T. Neifert vice president-engineering, Dina A. Hyde vice president-supply chain and Robert D. Kern vice president-program management, all for Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, El Segundo, Calif.
Bradley D. Mottier (see photo) has been appointed president/CEO of GE Engine Services, Evendale, Ohio. He succeeds Dan Heintzelman, who is now vice president-energy services for GE Energy. Mottier was president/CEO of Engine Services subsidiary Unison Industries.
Christopher E. Comargo has been promoted to director of the Avionics and Support Systems Dept. from manager of the Integrated Diagnostics Section at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.
James Gilmore, former Virginia governor and chairman of a commission on the domestic response to weapons of mass destruction, heads to U.S. Northern Command (Northcom) headquarters this week to discuss a number of post-Hurricane Katrina issues with top officials there. Northcom is the military liaison and coordinates work with the Homeland Security Dept., an organization Gilmore's commission did not recommend creating. The former governor said Adm.
