Ad Rutten has been named chief operating officer of the Amsterdam-based Schiphol Group, effective Sept. 1. He will succeed Marike van Lier Lels. Rutten has been executive vice president-engineering and maintenance at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
The next-generation radar being developed for the E-10 surveillance aircraft is designed to detect small, even stealthy, objects--in particular, cruise missiles--at long distances and cue specially equipped F-15s and F/A-22s about where to find and attack them.
USAF has received its fourth and final C-40B, a specially equipped aircraft to keep combatant commanders connected to the battlefield when in transit. The long-range aircraft is equipped with Connexion by Boeing, which provides secure inflight, broadband communications including the ability to receive and transmit data and video. The aircraft are built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes and modified by Integrated Defense Systems.
Airbus and others need to rethink composite structures. They are going for all non-metal structures. While this may be what is needed for the greatest signature reduction for stealth combat aircraft, it is not a requirement, nor even desirable, for commercial aircraft.
Differing priorities threaten to thwart ambitions to close out a key armaments package for the Eurofighter Typhoon by year- end. While Typhoon Tranche 1 aircraft are being successfully introduced into service, a critical element of the Tranche 2 contract has yet to be inked. This covers the weapons and sensor integration to expand the aircraft's air-to-surface capability.
U.S. force realignment in Europe is reaching into the intelligence community. VQ-2, which has been home-based in Rota, Spain, flying EP-3E signals intelligence aircraft, will move to NAS Whidbey Island, Wash., to join VQ-1, the airborne sigint unit for the Pacific region. The ground-based, long-range sigint collection unit, Naval Security Group Activity Rota, will also be shut down. Its giant elephant cage antenna is a Rota landmark.
The aircraft that will become Japan's first KC-767J tanker has arrived at Boeing's Wichita, Kan., facility to begin modification. The very first KC-767, which was built for the Italian air force, is in France for the Paris air show and will be delivered next spring after completing its flight test and certification program. The KC-767 beat out Airbus designs in Japan and Italy, but the A330 or A310 won in Australia, Britain, Germany and Canada.
Honeywell Aerospace expects to complete a major reorganization by year-end, with two main goals: make it easier for customers to interface with the company and accelerate the transfer of technology initiatives into revenue-generating products. The biggest change will be the reorientation of the company's business units around customers in three core markets: air transportation, including regional airlines; business and general aviation, and defense. They currently are geared toward product niches.
Continental Airlines estimates its unit revenue--revenue per available seat mile, or RASM--increased dramatically in May, leading some securities analysts to speculate the carrier may achieve a profit in the April-June quarter.
Jennifer Hamilton has become marketing director for Extra Aircraft, Lancaster, Pa. She was a senior account executive for McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations, Nashville, Tenn.
Cortec VpCI 374 waterborne metal primer provides superior corrosion resistance for metal and excellent flexibility for increased resistance to cracking, according to the company. The primer is formulated as a fast drying, thixotropic coating with low viscosity that resists sagging. It has been designed for use as a production base using conventional or airless spray, making it well-suited for OEM applications. It can be applied by brush or roller for touch-up and field use.
Casual observers often lump U.S. legacy airlines into one group--a bunch of outdated losers that is slowly being pecked to death by more efficient low-cost carriers. But American Airlines is starting to distinguish itself as a leader among its peers in revamping operations, and investors are taking notice. Shares in AMR Corp., the parent company of the world's largest airline, are up nearly 30% since the start of the year, one of the biggest gains notched by any carrier.
Emerging changes to the Rafale program could alter France's future combat capability even as the military still works on fully fielding the multirole aircraft. The French air force and prime contractor Dassault are in the final stretch of preparing the fighter for operational duty, although the actual "go-to-war" capability is still more than a year off.
Kenneth Krieg has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer. He has been director of program analysis and evaluation.
BOEING HAS DELIVERED THE FIRST 737-800 with a GPS landing system (GLS) consisting of a Rockwell Collins GLU-925 multimode receiver (MMR) capable of decoding both GPS satellite signals and ground-based corrections. The local area augmentation system (LAAS) being developed by the FAA, or similar ground-based augmentation systems (GBAS) being developed overseas, would provide these corrections in VHF radio transmissions to the aircraft. At the moment, however, the FAA is studying technical issues on LAAS before proceeding further.
Claude Luisada asks why the simple solution of installing traffic lights at runway intersections has not been adopted to reduce runway incursions. Perhaps the reason is the NIH syndrome--not invented here. Or perhaps the solution is too simple.
Aviation Fleet Solutions expects FAA/EAA certification of its Quiet MD-80 noise reduction system late this summer. The system, developed in cooperation with Pratt & Whitney, is expected to reduce noise levels up to 6 dB. and allow the aircraft to meet FAA Stage 4 and ICAO Chapter 4 limits, thereby extending the service life of MD-80 series aircraft. Approval of two configurations is anticipated, one for airplanes with a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) below 149,500 lb. and another for MD-80/ -83s with an MTOW up to 160,000 lb.
Ask a U.S. Army or Marine Corps combat commander what he needs, and his list probably will include "better situational awareness." In essence, he wants his own eyes-in-the-sky to reveal the location of enemy forces and what they're doing, day and night, in all types of weather.
John Godsman has been appointed a director of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in New York, specializing in the global aerospace and defense industry. He was a director in Credit Suisse First Boston's London office, heading its European aerospace and defense coverage.
Aermacchi has its hands full with its two trainer programs, the M-346 and M-311, over and above preparing them for their first appearance at the Paris air show at Le Bourget. The Finmeccanica unit is in the midst of an intensive technical and commercial effort to fully develop the two aircraft. Along the way, it is signing up industrial partners in the hope the international ties will lead to informal commitments by various governments to buy the aircraft, which is already in flight testing.
THE NEW PIPER AIRCRAFT INC. HAS DELIVERED the 200th Malibu Meridian. The single-engine airplane is powered by a 500-shp. Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop engine and is certified for flight into known icing, and features a glass cockpit. Piper is making the Avidyne FlightMax Entegra integrated flight deck standard equipment. It includes three 10.4-in., high-resolution displays. Piper delivered the first Meridian in November 2000.
Imaging Technology International announces new features in the Automated Data Acquisition Software (ADAS) for the Drop Watcher III, an analytical ink jet measurement tool, which provides automated, exact and repeatable measurements of ink jet drop formations and flight characteristics of any jetable fluid from a wide range of print heads. Magnification can be adjusted by the viewer. A strobe delay and pulse width are also adjustable for analyzing various stages of a fluid drop formation.
Coming fast on the heels of French voters' decisive "Non!" to the European Constitution, this Paris air show at Le Bourget marks the 20th anniversary of another famous--indeed infamous--French "Non," one that brought about the collapse of the five-nation European Fighter Aircraft program. The rest, as they say, is history, but the ramifications of the failure still shape and shackle Europe's combat aircraft sector. Compare this with the verve with which France has championed Airbus, as a symbol of Europe's collective capacity.
Bernard W. Chau has been promoted to general manager of the Imagery Programs Div. of the National Systems Group of The Aerospace Corp. at its Chantilly, Va., office. He was a member of the senior staff of the group's senior vice president.
