Honeywell Aerospace plans to cut 2,000 jobs--about 4% of its worldwide workforce of 43,000--by year-end as part of a sweeping reorganization. The company is being realigned under three business lines: defense and space, commercial and regional, and business and general aviation. A spokesman said details were still being worked out on what facilities would lose jobs and how many cuts could be achieved through attrition. Honeywell aerospace's largest operations are in Phoenix, where it employs 11,000 (AW&ST June 13, p. 194).
The FAA is proposing a $1.5-million civil penalty against Atlantic Coast Airlines, now known as low-fare carrier Independence Air. The reason: operating aircraft for thousands of flights in September and October last year without completing required maintenance and inspections. ACA has taken corrective actions to address the issues, according to the FAA, and is now in compliance with regulations.
The NASA Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility runway is one of several sites around North America being fitted with additional weather equipment to support the Climate Reference Network being established by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The sites are planned to operate for 50 years to provide decade-level climate data. The new sensor site will include solar radiation measuring and infrared surface temperature equipment providing data that Kennedy can plug into real-time weather assessments.
The long-time opposition by local residents seems to have paid off on Okinawa as the Japanese and U.S. governments have agreed not to move U.S. Marine Corps CH-53 heavy lift helicopters from Futema to a new facility at Camp Schwab, according to a Japan Defense Agency official.
Raytheon received its first manufacturing contract worth $124 million for the Standard Missile-3 Block IA, which is used in concert with Aegis ships as a ballistic missile interceptor. The company has delivered six SM-3 Block I missiles to the Missile Defense Agency; the A is an upgrade.
There's something special in the air over Murfreesboro--fledgling flight students setting the pace for next-generation pilot training. The Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) students are participating in a novel program that grew from the NASA Small Aircraft Transportation System project. SATS is aimed at building the future air transportation system--where skies are filled with small aircraft providing point-to-point service at small airports (see p. 50).
Grob initiated flight testing of its SP Utility Jet with a 66-min. flight on July 20 from Allgau Airport in southern Germany (see related story, p. 47). System functionality and handling were the flight's main objectives, with test pilots Gerard Guillaumaud and Tore Reimers reporting no problems. Envelope expansion should be completed by year-end. The company is aiming for EASA certification in early 2007, followed shortly after by FAA approval. An SP Utility Jet carrying six passengers with a single pilot should have a range of 1,800 naut. mi.
Northrop Grumman officials have no plans to protest as the losing team to Lockheed Martin for the Aerial Common Sensor program. Northrop Grumman was teamed with Embraer and bid the EMB-145 for the intelligence-gathering aircraft. Lockheed Martin is now said to be looking at Gulfstream, possibly the 550, and the Embraer 190 as possible solutions.
Ladies and gentlemen, ready to start your jet engines? Albuquerque, N.M.-based Eclipse Aviation has partnered with United Airlines to offer owners of the $1.3-million aircraft a seven-day course that will earn them an Eclipse 500 type rating. "Early on, the FAA said it could likely waive the type rating because the Eclipse 500 is such a light jet--but we felt it something our pilots wanted to have, and we opted for it," says Don Taylor, Eclipse vice president of safety, training and flight operations.
Textron Lycoming has issued Service Bulletin 566 that requires removal of crankshafts from certain engines within the next 50 hr. or within six months, whichever comes first. These crankshafts were not affected by a service bulletin issued in 2002 that required removal of 950 crankshafts in turbo-charged engines because of forging processes. Lycoming and the FAA have determined, however, that the same condition that prompted the earlier bulletins could be adversely affecting the performance of engines outside the scope of those directives.
Germany has joined the European Space Agency's Aurora solar system exploration program, easing a tight budget situation and perhaps enabling a more vigorous Mars program in the near future. Long a holdout on joining the ambitious project, which includes the potential for human exploration of the red planet, Germany's decision to become the 12th ESA member to join Aurora was received "warmly" by the other participating states, according to an ESA announcement.
Peggy Nelson (see photos) has become vice president-mission assurance/chief engineer, Sonya Sepahban vice president-system engineering and David L. Ryan vice president of payloads and sensors, all for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Space Technology Sector, Redondo Beach, Calif. Nelson succeeds Dick Croxall, who is retiring. She was vice president-Prometheus 1 program. Sepahban was vice president/deputy of technology development.
Andrew Stein has become vice president-marketing, product and business development for Raindrop Geomagic, Research Triangle Park, N.C. He held a similar position at Leica Geosystems HDS.
Anne McGinley has been named director of the Airports Council International bureau in Montreal. She has been head of the Air Navigation Services Div. in Ireland's Public Enterprise Dept., Irish representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization Council and chair of ICAO's Air Transport Committee.
U.S. Special Operations Command is planning upgrades for its MH-47 helicopters. The command issued a $19-million contract to Rolls-Royce for the purchase of up to 100 infrared suppressor kits, which help to mask the heat signature of helicopters in flight.
A recovery in the commercial aerospace sector is fueling growth in sales and profits at U.S. contractors, which have begun rolling out financial results for the quarter ended June 30. Summaries are listed below. Due out this week are earnings from B/E Aerospace, Boeing, EDO, Goodrich, L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Rockwell Collins.
Road warriors. For some, that moniker is a little too literal. Take Hugh Dykes, a composite materials salesman based in Mobile, Ala. He makes good money. His company lets him arrange his own travel and doesn't second-guess him on the expenses. On average, he is on the road once a week, fully armed with cell phone and laptop computer with a wireless link. There's just one thing that doesn't fit the stereotype of the hard-charging business traveler--typically, he's sitting behind the wheel of his own car.
To submit Aerospace Calendar Listings, Call +1 (212) 904-2421 Fax +1 (212) 904-6068 e-mail: [email protected] Aug. 1-4--Fatigue Concepts' Short Course: "Fatigue, Fracture Mechanics and Damage Tolerance." Hartford (Conn.) Graduate Center. Call +1 (916) 933-5000 or see www.fatcon.com Aug. 7-11--American Astronautical Society/American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Astrodynamics Specialist Conference. Lake Tahoe, Calif. Call +1 (703) 866-0020, fax +1 (703) 866-3526 or see www.astronautical.org
Noah Rifkin has been named director of legislative affairs for CUBRC, Buffalo, N.Y. He remains director for strategic planning and partnerships for the affiliated Center for Transportation Injury Research.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory controllers on July 20 changed the course of their Deep Impact spacecraft to fly by the Earth in December 2007, positioning it for a possible gravity assist to encounter another comet or other solar system body. Deep Impact observed the comet Tempel 1 on July 4 as it was struck by an impactor released by the flyby spacecraft (AW&ST July 11, pp. 28 and 66). NASA Headquarters had not approved a follow-on mission at the time of the successful encounter, and now is soliciting proposals for further science investigations. They are due by Sept.
Early this year, General Dynamics Corp. Chairman/CEO Nicholas D. Chabraja lectured financial analysts who were projecting the company could earn $7 a share in 2005. "I'm trying to slow you guys down, you're getting too far ahead of me," he complained. "It almost doesn't matter what I say any more--people add on to it." Last week, after announcing second-quarter financial results that beat Wall Street's expectations, Chabraja rolled out his new earnings estimate: $7.05 a share. "I'm embarrassed," he allowed.
Airbus A380 fuel-burn efficiency is being decreased to meet airport noise regulations. This is just one of myriad balancing acts manufacturers are facing in addressing environmental concerns. The British Royal Aeronautical Society last week spelled out the challenges to the commercial air transport sector in grappling with "green" issues. At the top of the list is "establishing a more robust understanding of the impact of aviation on the atmosphere and climate," says John Green, chairman of the science and technology subgroup.
Bravo, Rolls-Royce, for its increasing concern over the environmental impact of commercial aviation (AW&ST June 6, p. 24). But why doesn't the industry realize that the cost of fuel-burn on the ground is as expensive as in the air, the former yielding inches, feet or yards per gallon; the latter, miles. We must move aircraft from the Jetway to the runway by energy-efficient, environmentally friendly methods. Anyone who has exited JFK at 7 p.m. in that transatlantic parade should understand fuel waste and the effects of ground emissions.
BAE Systems Chairman Dick Olver recently spoke on economic globalization and export controls at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. This is adapted from his speech.
