The space shuttle Discovery will be moved back to Launch Complex 39B this week as the program advances toward critical reviews aimed at clearing the shuttle's return-to-flight in mid-July. Discovery is to roll out of the Vehicle Assembly Building back to the pad as early as June 14 after being restacked on the external tank and solid rocket boosters originally planned for use by Atlantis on the second mission this year.
EADS is expanding its military transport facility here in anticipation of final assembly of the A400M. As part of the construction project, EADS CASA will also relocate production for its current stable of transport projects, the C-212, CN-235 and C-295. The new, 600,000-sq.-meter facility that will house final assembly of all the transport aircraft should be inaugurated late next year. The bill is about 284 million euros ($347 million), excluding tooling.
Susan E. Mullen (see photo) has been named group vice president-human resources at Carlyle Group subsidiary Firth Rixson Ltd., East Hartford, Conn. She was senior human resources process executive for the United Illuminating Holdings Corp.
Christopher S. Bryan has been named vice president-finance for the North American Airport, Post and Parcel Div. of FKI Logistex, Frederick, Md. He held the same position at affiliate company Harris Waste Management Group Inc.
The Asia-Pacific Div. of Arinc is setting up a joint venture with China's Aviation Data Communication Corp. to develop new products and services for the global aviation market. One of the first projects will be airport tarmac management services to provide real-time monitoring and oversight of aircraft while they are on the ground. Arinc will help ADCC distribute its products worldwide, and ADCC will assist Arinc in adapting its offerings for the market in China.
France, Portugal, Spain and the U.S. are joining the ranks of countries relying on commercial satellites for defense and government communications needs.
Last week's Senate hearing on the derailed Air Force-Boeing tanker lease proposal could leave Michael Wynne without a job (see p. 36). He is out of work now, replaced recently as Pentagon acquisition chief, but he clearly has been pushing to get back into the Pentagon's inner circle. Senators seemed to go easy on him--the Defense Dept. inspector general found only that he was "tacitly" responsible for pushing the $23.5-billion KC-767 program forward--but questions remain whether the White House will nominate him to be Air Force secretary.
The Transportation Dept. Inspector General is calling for improvements in FAA safety oversight of an airline industry in transition. The June 3 IG report sought to determine if the FAA's risk-based oversight and data analyses systems are effectively monitoring financially distressed network and low-cost carriers during times of growth and change.
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.
