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.
Embraer has received type certification for its Embraer 190 regional jet from Brazilian authorities. U.S. authorities are expected to follow as early as this week.
The Estonian government says it has asked MBDA and Raytheon to submit bids to provide the country's armed forces with new air defense equipment. The system would be used by the 1st Infantry Brigade. Estonia has identified helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft as the primary target set. The modernization program also aims at fielding equipment that is interoperable with western militaries. Procurement funds are secure for 2006-08, with first unit delivery expected in 2007. The government wants the equipment to be operationally ready in 2009.
Precision Castparts Corp., a leading supplier of metals used in aircraft engines, is winning kudos from investors for its $540-million deal to buy Special Metals Corp., the world's leading supplier of high-performance nickel-based alloys. The company's stock climbed more than 6% after it announced the acquisition on Aug. 26.
In a surprise move, the Pentagon will open up the field for a full competition of the second phase of the Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) effort, leaving Boeing to fight to maintain its grip on a program it won two years ago. The Pentagon's civilian leadership has opted to conduct a competition for the entire weapon--bomb body, round, navigation system, seeker and data link--rather than sticking with incumbent Boeing's bomb design and purchasing seekers and communications links. The leadership overruled this approach by the Air Force.
Despite receiving some good news with the recovery of the cockpit voice and data recorders from the Aug. 6 crash of a Tuninter ATR 72 off the Sicilian coast, accident investigators remain worried as to whether the devices suffered serious damage during the crash that killed 16 of 39 on board.
Johnny Gardsaeter (see photo) has become general manager of Aviareps in Stockholm. He has been managing director at TMS-Target Marketing of Scandinavia.
Thomas W. Horton has been named to the board of directors of Houston-based ExpressJet Holdings. He succeeds Thomas E. Schick, who has resigned. Horton is vice chairman/chief financial officer of the AT&T Corp. and was senior vice president/CFO of the AMR Corp.
Icelandair Cargo has taken delivery in August of a Boeing 757-200PCF, the second 757 freighter converted for the cargo operator by Precision Conversions of Beaverton, Ore. The first was delivered in June after more than a year's delay in the conversion process (AW&ST Apr. 11, p. 50). Icelandair operates three 757 freighters. A fourth will be converted by SIE/Alcoa at Cascade Aerospace, with delivery expected in April 2006.
As its largest-ever real-world operation, Northern Command is coordinating U.S. military support to Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. So far, that support has been focused on logistics, communications and medical care. Among its Katrina-related activities, Northcom is coordinating U.S. Transportation Command's medical airlift of about 2,500 patients from New Orleans International Airport, and securing air-staging bases to expedite movement of relief supplies and personnel.
BAE Systems has received a U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command contract to produce spare electronic control units (ECUs) for the General Electric T700 engines installed on UH-60A Black Hawk helicopters. The 400 spares are valued at $10.6 million. Production will be managed from the company's Fort Wayne site. The contract follows the initial $4.9-million order for 135 spare ECUs, which was completed in September 2004.
Russia's military is poised for a strong boost in spending, with parliament considering adding to the budget increase proposed by the executive branch. The government's budget submission aims at reversing some of the deep cuts the military has suffered in recent years. In addition to an overall boost in public spending, the military and other elements of the national security apparatus face double-digit funding increases.
Marc Duvall has been named president of the Engine Control Systems business of the Goodrich Corp., Charlotte, N.C. He was vice president/general manager for Honeywell Process Solutions in the Americas. Duvall succeeds Ron Hodges, who plans to retire in March.
Kyle Farley (see photos) has been promoted to vice president-operations from director of manufacturing of Meggitt/S-TEC, Mineral Wells, Tex. Trevor Palmeri has been named vice president-programs and customer support. He was director of the CV-22 program for Bell Helicopter Textron of Fort Worth.
Concerned about job security, retirement and health-care benefits, the 18,500 aerospace machinists at Boeing Commercial Airplanes were poised to reject a three-year contract offer and head to the picket lines late last week. Results of the Sept. 1 vote were not complete at press time, but Dick Schneider, coordinator for the 98 contracts held nationwide by the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, called Boeing's Aug. 30 best and final offer "insulting" and predicted a high turnout to vote for a strike.
A 96-person strike in the test department at Rolls-Royce's military engine facility in Bristol is continuing. Production of engines is moving ahead, but deliveries are stalled.
Officials from EADS and French civil aviation authority DGAC are to appear this month and next at the judicial investigation into the 2000 Concorde crash. Prosecutors are examining whether enough was done to try to fix known Concorde problems. Meanwhile, Judge Christophe Regnard has issued an international arrest warrant for a Continental Airlines welder who worked on the DC-10 that lost a component believed to have struck Concorde on takeoff, eventually leading to the crash.
The mechanics' strike at Northwest Airlines pits a stubborn union against a management determined to survive at the lowest cost in a low-fare world. The dispute is likely to play out until either some form of surrender by the union, an end of the relationship through bankruptcy, or an unlikely government intervention.
USN Rear Adm. Melvin G. Williams, Jr., has been appointed director of global operations for U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt AFB, Neb. He has been deputy commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Space and Global Strike at Offutt. He is being succeeded by Rear Adm. (lower half) David L. Philman, who has been head of the Appropriations Matters Office in Washington.
World News Roundup 18 Investigation continues into Peruvian Boeing 737 crash 18 F135 engine for Joint Strike Fighter undergoes altitude tests 19 Two USAF Thunderbird F-16s make contact during air show 19 Predator B to patrol U.S.-Mexico bor- der for illegal aliens, smugglers 20 Chinese in midst of twin-spacecraft military recon operation 20 Obituaries for Philippe Poisson- Quinton and Robert F. Scott World News & Analysis
The decision by several European aviation authorities to publish "blacklists" of banned airlines has caused a split in Europe that will have to be bridged as the European Union struggles to devise rules covering all 25 members.
Accident investigators continue to search for clues to the Aug. 23 crash of a Tans Peru Boeing 737-200 at Pucallpa, Peru, that killed 37 of the estimated 95 people on board.
A South African air force Rooivalk attack helicopter crashed last month during a routine flight from air force base Bloemspruit. A technical malfunction was cited as the cause. The defense ministry had recently petitioned parliament for at least another $92 million to complete development of the project.
THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA'S Institute for Aerospace Research will be flight testing an experimental millimeter-wave radar imager next summer on a Falcon 20 to evaluate single- and multi-sensor enhanced vision system head-up guidance in low visibility. Millimeter-wave radar can see through fog, heavy rain and snow better than passive infrared sensors used now for enhanced vision in business jets.
