USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Thomas B. Goslin, Jr. (see photo), has been named director of program operations for Raytheon Space Systems, Aurora, Colo. He was deputy commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt AFB, Neb.
David Robinson's response (AW&ST July 11, p. 7) to my letter on the use of traffic lights to prevent runway/taxiway incursions was most interesting. However, it must be pointed out that: *Equipment problems do not invalidate a concept. *The increase in radio communications was not only avoided, but radio communications on the ground--except for flight plan clearances--were basically eliminated in my original paper issued in 1970 and never acknowledged by the FAA.
Lockheed Martin's plan to switch airframes for the U.S. Army's Aerial Common Sensor program will increase the price of development by roughly $400 million, nearly 50%, prompting questions about the ACS' future, according to government and industry sources.
Fast-growing aviation regions will be turning to the U.S.' NTSB's old, experienced hands in record numbers for guidance in building investigative resources. The agency will help in its traditional way, by lending expertise to probes around the world. But it has another resource unique to investigative agencies which are not typically engaged in the education business: the NTSB Academy, aimed at training investigators internationally.
In March, federal agents arrested 14 illegal aliens working as janitors at Boston's Logan International Airport. All 14 had temporary badges allowing them access to secure areas at the same airport from which two of the hijacked 9/11 jetliners departed.
SR Technics has snagged a $1-billion, 10-year maintenance deal with EasyJet to support the low-fare carrier's Airbus A319 fleet. The maintenance provider already works on EasyJet's Boeing 737 fleet, which is being phased out.
DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung, the air navigation service provider for Germany, reports the country is headed for record air traffic this year, in excess of 3 million flights. DFS handled 1.65 million flights in the first half of the year, up 6.2% from 2004. DFS has instituted a two-step collision alert system, which automatically records all intrusions on separation minima. DFS says the electronic system is capturing more events than the manual system of the past. Germany recorded 116 "infringements of separation" in the first half of 2005 compared with 186 for all of 2004.
Robert J. Brown has become vice president-business development for the Command Systems Div. of the Telephonics Corp., Farmingdale, N.Y. He was corporate marketing director of EFW.
A Spanish military Cougar helicopter crashed during a routine mission in Afghanistan last week, killing the 17 troops on board. Investigators are trying to determine if hostile action caused the crash.
Michael S. Kelly (see photo) has been appointed vice president of the X Prize Foundation, Santa Monica, Calif. He has been an executive with Northrop Grumman/XonTech and was founder/chairman/CEO of Kelly Space and Technology.
Forecasts indicate that more than one billion passengers will travel the airways by 2015. This report explores efforts underway in "accident-proofing" air transportation as world traffic mushrooms. It also examines the international leadership role of U.S. agencies and the International Civil Aviation Organization's strategy in building a seamless global aviation system. Some of the new, affordable safety technology emerging in the marketplace is also highlighted.
You can now register ONLINE for Aviation Week Events. Go to www.AviationNow.com/conferences or call Lydia Janow at +1 (212) 904-3225/+1 (800) 240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada Only) Oct. 18-20--MRO Europe. Estrel Hotel & Convention Center, Berlin. Nov. 8-10--MRO Asia, Suntec City, Singapore. Nov. 14-16--A&D Programs & Productivity Conference, Phoenix. PARTNERSHIPS Oct. 10-12--HeliAsia. Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok. Oct. 25-27--ARA '05. Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore.
The International Civil Aviation Organization will hold a symposium on machine-readable travel documents and biometric-enhanced e-passports at its Montreal headquarters on Sept. 29-30. All of ICAO's 188 member nations must begin issuing machine-readable passports by Apr. 1, 2010. About 40 nations plan to upgrade to e-passports with biometrics by the end of 2006 to meet U.S. visa-waiver requirements.
EADS has awarded Saab Avitronics a $132-million production contract for upgrades to the German Tornado's self-protection equipment to take place in 2006-09. Saab had been working on the radar warning receiver since 2001. German air force operators wanted to upgrade the current system to cut latency and make it capable of detecting more modern air defense threats.
The Russian government will likely give the go-ahead in the next few weeks for the long-awaited restructuring of its aerospace sector. But its difficulties are only just beginning. Industry anticipates a presidential decree by late August or early September, formally approving the process to establish a unified aerospace company, or OAK. The aim is to draw together what remains of Russia's airframe manufacturers to form a sustainable industry. The challenges, senior Russian industrial officials admit, are immense.
Embraer is already filling its order book for its very light jet and light jet endeavors, even though the ventures are still in their early phase and detailed configurations for the business jets won't be rolled out for several more months.
Deliveries of an advanced Russian land-attack cruise missile to India are underway, with China likely to follow suit rapidly. Both countries will gain a significant boost in capability with their acquisition of the 3M-14 cruise missile. It was designed by Novator and utilizes a conventional subsonic configuration.
USAF Col. (ret.) Joseph W. Rogers, an absolute speed record holder who flew in three wars and headed the SR-71A/YF-12A Blackbird test force, died Aug. 6 in Healdsburg, Calif., of congestive heart failure. He was 81. Rogers was an Army Air Corps instructor pilot in World War II. Stationed as a fighter-bomber pilot in the Korean War, he shot down an MiG-15 jet while flying a piston-engine F-51D, and went on to fly almost 200 missions, with some in the F-80 jet.
Boeing and its public affairs machine, known as tough competitors, are sparring with a fictitious rival, the Extreme Deep Invader (EDI), a futuristic combat drone that goes rogue in the new movie Stealth. In the company's internal magazine, Boeing Frontiers, a fact/fiction feature appears alongside a large photo of Stealth actor Jamie Foxx posing in front of Boeing's X-45C full-scale model during the movie's world premiere.
Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev and Astronaut John Phillips spent 4 hr. 58 min. outside the International Space Station, collecting science experiments and prepositioning equipment on the Russian side of the station in an extravehicular activity (EVA) cut short when they fell about 45 min. behind on their tight schedule.
After months of a leadership shortage at the Defense Dept., President Bush announced last week the nomination of Michael Wynne, who has been knee-deep in the acquisition investigations related to the defunct Boeing tanker lease, to be Air Force secretary. In March, as the Pentagon's senior acquisition official, Wynne wrested control of 21 major acquisition programs from the service, following discovery of inconsistencies in various contracts, a move many read as a warning to USAF.
Paul A. Jacobson has become vice president/treasurer and Doug Blissit vice president-public affairs of Delta Air Lines. Jacobson was assistant treasurer of the Mirant Corp. and had been assistant treasurer of Delta. Jacobson succeeds Todd Helvie, who has resigned. Blissit has been vice president-network planning. He succeeds Harold Bevis, who has retired.
Israeli-style observation and questioning tactics--widely regarded as the most thorough, but verbally intrusive, screening processes in the airline business--are slowly gaining momentum as a tool to augment the government's technology-centric screening operations at U.S. airports.
The first of a new generation of U.S. geosynchronous orbit weather spacecraft will remain grounded, probably until early October, because of difficulties with its Boeing Delta IV booster.
