Sebastien Candel of Ecole Centrale Paris and Institut Universitaire de France is among the 30 new fellows named by the Reston, Va.-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
A master negotiator and diplomat, Assad Kotaite has been associated with the International Civil Aviation Organization since 1953. He has been the gentle overseer of aviation technical developments furthering the safety and security of aviation for nearly all of his professional years.
Yevgeny Zvedre (top, right), senior counsel for the Embassy of Russia in Washington, accepts a Laurel Legend Award on behalf of Rostislav A. Belyakov, who oversaw the development of Russian fighter aircraft at the Mikoyan Design Bureau. Former AW&ST Editor-in-Chief David M. North (top, center) presents the award as AW&ST's Anthony L. Velocci, Jr., looks on. America's first women astronauts (center) receive Laurel Legend Awards. They are (from left) Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, Rhea Seddon and Anna Fisher. Not shown are Sally Ride and the late Judith Resnik.
Israel and France are planning a joint multispectral imaging mission intended to expand Israeli know-how in microsatellite technologies while serving as a precursor for Europe's planned Global Monitoring for Environment and Security network.
The Pentagon expects to finish drawing its long-awaited land-attack weapons road map by this summer. Look for it to highlight vulnerability in the ability to hit small, moving targets. The problem could be offset by cutbacks in an overabundance of weapons designed to hit fixed targets. Furthermore, the Pentagon is reassessing its approach to joint weapons. Within the past few years, three joint weapons have either lost their "jointness" owing to a service pullout or been terminated. In December, the Pentagon killed the Army-led Joint Common Missile for financial reasons.
Insurance industry insiders are warning that toughening U.S. arms control regulations could lead to increased oversight of the space insurance industry and further project delays.
John W. McGill argues that the Boeing 787 fuselage cross-section is uncompetitive with Airbus because it provides nine-abreast seating in the back (AW&ST Apr. 4, p. 6). The wider cross-section was selected because of its impact in the front where market share is determined on long-haul routes. The Airbus A350 will offer 3 in. less seat width up front than the 787, making for an inferior first-class product. While McGill is correct that economy passengers don't like middle seats, their spending habits show they will tolerate quite a lot.
London Heathrow this week is scheduled to go live with the Iris Recognition Immigration System (IRIS). Passengers without a European Union passport and who travel regularly through the airport volunteer to have their iris patterns scanned and stored in a security database. The patterns are unique, similar to fingerprints, and serve as positive identification. A registered passenger would stop for an iris scan at special automated gates. If the scan matches the information in the database the traveler proceeds through the gate.
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) May 10-11--Net-Centric Operations Conference 2005. Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington. May 24-25--Homeland Security Summit & Exposition, Washington. Oct. 18-20--MRO Europe. Estrel Hotel & Convention Center, Berlin. Nov. 8-10--MRO Asia, Suntec City, Singapore.
Canadian Forces Gen. (ret.) Jean-Michel Comtois (see photo) has been named vice president-military aviation for Canada-based CMC Electronics Inc. He has been vice president-government and public affairs.
Iraq insurgents, at least some of whom are believed by U.S. military officials to possess sophisticated, Russian-built SA-16s and possibly SA-18 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), shot down an Mi-8 cargo helicopter at 2 p.m. local time on Apr. 21 about 12 mi. north of Baghdad during a flight to Tikrit. The attack killed at least nine people. It's not yet known if the helicopter was shot down by a SAM or an unguided rocket-propelled grenade of the type that destroyed several U.S. military helicopters in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Boeing's wholly owned subsidiary Alteon Training soon plans to break ground on a facility at Singapore's Changi International airport. The three-story regional simulator training center will be constructed on a 2.5-acre site and be ready to open its doors to pilots and flight attendant trainees in first-quarter 2006. The Singapore Training Center is expected to house six full-flight simulators including a Boeing 777-200/300 and Airbus A320 and offer an array of other devices, such as flat-panel trainers.
A long-delayed decision by Germany to join the trinational Meads air and missile defense project is expected to trigger further consolidation among Europe's missile businesses, beginning with EADS' LFK unit and MBDA, the European leaders in the transatlantic program.
The Mars Exploration Rovers continue to surprise their masters, with Spirit making the first direct detection of water by the mission, albeit bound in a crystal, and Opportunity getting the ground truth on a new type of terrain hinted at by satellite images. As Spirit stumbled across a large collection of exposed bedrock, the rover missions have been extended 1.5 years, recognizing their continuing scientific productivity as well as the good prospects for a long life (AW&ST Jan. 31, p. 24).
Barco of Belgium has received a follow-on contract to provide onboard maintenance terminals and terminal processing units for the Airbus A380 under contract to Sagem SA of France.
World News Roundup 18 Flight-testing underway on variant of Russia's Raduga Kh-59M missile 18 Imaging mission goal: Expand Israeli microsatellite know-how 19 Large-scale common defense training program on way for Europe 19 China and Canada sign new bilateral to expand commercial air services 20 Engineers investigating partial failure of DART space mission Laureates 2004 31 Laureates ceremony honors achieve- ments in nine categories World News & Analysis
DGA says development of the AASM air-launched precision-guided weapon, intended for the Rafale and Mirage fighters, will be delayed about a year because of aerodynamic problems that hinder release of the weapon during firing. DGA insists the AASM will begin qualification trials this year and be ready by September 2006.
I have written several times to disparage inelegant travesties of engineering such as the V-22 and space shuttle. But I would like to compliment Boeing on the 787.
What has become a familiar airline story--cost reductions, streamlined operations, labor concessions but widespread industry losses nonetheless--is playing out again as U.S. carriers report financial results for the first quarter of 2005.
Flight-testing is underway on a variant of Russia's Raduga Kh-59M (AS-18 Kazoo) antiship missile (red in photo). The Kh-59MK replaces the TV-seeker with a radar-guidance package.
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Daniel P. Bolger, who has been assistant commander of the 101st Airborne Div., Ft. Campbell, Ky., has been appointed commanding general of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team within the Multi-National Security Transition Command in Iraq. He has been succeeded by Brig. Gen. Rickey L. Rife, who has been director of materiel in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff in Washington. Brig. Gen. James A. Cerrone, who has been assistant commander of the 82nd Airborne Div., has been named deputy commanding general of the Army Cadet Command, Ft.
Supersonic combustion ramjets have been studied for decades, but 2004 was the year these potential hypersonic powerplants received a thorough flight test in the NASA/industry X-43A Hyper-X program. The team released complete integrated engines and airframes into free flight at Mach 7 and Mach 10 in two successful experiments, the first time this has been done. The data from these tests is providing a needed reality check for ground-based research.
The proposed FAA-mandated upgrades to flight recorders ignores simple human-factor improvements that will aid accident investigations. Too often, cockpit voice recorders contain only terse comments by the flight crew as they respond to inflight emergencies. Pilots should be trained to specifically verbalize their perceptions of what is going wrong and how they are responding. This technique will improve flight deck communication and provide valuable clues to investigators trying to reconstruct the actions of the aircraft and crew.
Erturk Yildiz has become station manager for Geneva International Airport operations for PrivatPort. He was managing director of St. Tropez-La Mole Airport in France.
