The chairman of the Senate aviation subcommittee says it's time to get tough with the European Union over launch-aid subsidies to Airbus. It's time to "quit talking and to make a decision on this issue. Airbus is not backing off," says Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.). Burns says he doesn't want to get into a trade war, "but I can tell you this, this market is pretty important to Airbus." And if trade reps reach an impasse? "Then we'll have to do the same thing we've done in any other trade disputes; in other words, there has to be countervailing duties or whatever."
In 1975, Boris Popov was flying his hang glider when the wing suddenly collapsed. As he fell toward the ground 400 ft. below, Popov remembers being angry at his inability to do anything about the situation. Seven years later, he founded Ballistic Recovery Systems to develop products aimed at the emerging market for ultralight aircraft. In 1993, BRS was issued the first FAA approval to install a ballistic parachute in a certified airplane.
Whether your crystal ball tells you the defense market is going into decline or simply experiencing a decelerating rate of growth, it is clear that the next wave in the defense industry cycle is upon us.
Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley is seen as the top candidate to succeed Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is believed to have made his choice weeks ago. Picking Moseley would fit Rumsfeld's pattern of promoting leading officers from the Iraq war. Moseley ran the air war during that operation. Retired Air Force Gen. Ed Eberhart is also considered a potential candidate; Eberhart most recently was the first chief of U.S. Northern Command, which was established after Sept. 11, 2001, to guard against attacks on U.S. soil.
Saab has begun flight tests of its Bol chaff-and-flare countermeasures system on Australian air force F/A-18s. The trials are slated to lead to an order to improve the fighter's protection against radar and infrared-guided missiles. The dispenser holds 160 self-protection cartridges. The wing-mounted dispenser uses the vortices to disperse the countermeasures. It's the first F/A-18 application of the system, already in use on F-14s, F-15s, Harriers, Tornadoes, Gripens and Typhoons. U.S.
Aerospace and defense companies posted double-digit profits during the quarter ended Mar. 31. General Dynamics' net earnings rose 25% from a year earlier to $336 million, but came in lower than Wall Street had anticipated because of weaker than expected sales in information systems and combat systems. Revenue rose 4% from a year earlier to $4.8 billion. United Technologies Corp. announced net income of $651 million, an 18% rise, on revenue of $9.4 billion, a 9% rise. Honeywell announced net income of $359 million, a 22% rise, on revenues of $6.5 billion, a 4% increase.
EADS officials are gradually putting into place the final elements of their bid for the U.S. Army's future cargo aircraft, with a decision to be made soon on which transport to offer and what industrial partnerships to establish.
The Indian air force will add another 125 MiG-21 Bisons to its avionics upgrade list this year, continuing an effort begun last year on 125 aircraft. Some 75 have been completed. Additionally, the air force is expected to seek tenders this year for simulators to improve pilot training. Human error has been cited as the cause of 45% of India's MiG-21 accidents, which began a sharp upturn a few years ago, although leveled off last year.
Jahid Fazal-Karim has been appointed senior vice president-new aircraft sales and Saul Arceo as Dallas-based director of new aircraft sales for Bombardier Business Aircraft. Fazal-Karim was vice president-international sales.
The article "Building Better Black Boxes" describes upgrades to flight recorders to permit better determination of accident causes, to prevent recurrences (AW&ST Mar. 7, p. 42). Prevention of the first accident would obviously be more desirable. This is possible by using a system of reporting and analyzing anomalies in aircraft manufacture, operation and maintenance. Anomalies related to the cause often precede accidents.
With sub-meter panchromatic imaging capability and global hyperspectral coverage, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) mission should provide revolutionary views of the planet. The mission certainly will be remarkable without needing to resort to hyperbole: The orbiter is not "the largest" ever sent to Mars nor is it "2-3 times larger . . . than any previous Mars orbiter" (AW&ST Apr. 11, p. 13; Jan. 31, p. 48).
NASA's decision to slip launch of the space shuttle return-to-flight mission to no earlier than May 22 will provide engineers more time to complete final, rigorous assessments before the orbiter Discovery's final Flight Readiness Review (FRR). That FRR is now planned for May 10-11. It will be used by NASA and contractor managers to reaffirm the readiness of all program elements to support the new target to return the U.S. space program to manned launch operations.
After hitting the skids early in the decade, Orbital Sciences Corp. has staged an impressive rebound. The company, which has focused on its core launcher and satellite businesses, has generated more than $1 billion in orders during each of the last three years--but its stock isn't keeping pace. Part of the problem appears to be investor misperception.
A NASA, Wyle Laboratories and University of Texas Medical Branch partnership is using a new short-radius centrifuge to conduct physiological studies aimed at mitigating the detrimental effects of weightlessness during long space missions (see p. 62). William B. Scott, Aviation Week & Space Technology's Rocky Mountain bureau chief, prepares for a 17.3-rpm., low-g "spin" on the Wyle-built centrifuge at the UTMB Galveston campus. Wyle Laboratories photo by Peter Rogers.
As a U.S. Air Force pilot, I was taught to respect failures of engines, fuel and flight control. The Mar. 14 issue had articles on two of these (pp. 68 and 73): the cases of the British Airways Boeing 747-400 that was flown most of the way from Los Angeles to England on three of its four engines and the Air Transat Airbus A310 that suffered inflight rudder separation.
When the first manned mission to Mars is launched, its crew could be accompanied by a short-radius centrifuge designed to create artificial gravity. Astronauts would "spin" a few hours a day on the machine to avoid bone and muscle loss, reduced cardiovascular performance and other physiological functions attributable to prolonged weightlessness.
Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Wynne has approved Lockheed Martin's F/A-22 stealth fighter for full-rate production. The decision follows initial operational test approval of the fighter's combat effectiveness by both the Air Force and Defense Dept. Initial operational capability of the first F/A-22 is slated for December at Langley AFB, Va. c
An Apr. 14 fatal crash has prompted the Japanese air force to ground all four of its Mitsubishi MU-2 search-and-rescue aircraft and throws into question whether the aging aircraft are needed. Most SAR missions are carried out by Sikorsky/Mitsubishi UH-60J and other helicopters, so the air force's SAR operations will not be affected. The crash, the first of the year for any Japan Defense Agency aircraft, occurred in clear skies with only light wind on a training mission operating out of Niigata airport in northeast Japan. The aircraft struck a mountain at the 4,500-ft.
Orbital Sciences Corp. will build a C-/K u-band satellite for PanAmSat for fixed telecom and direct-to-home broadcasting applications. The 34-transponder, 2.8-metric-ton PAS-11 is to be launched in early 2007 to a mid-Atlantic orbital location.
A key member of Congress wants to eliminate the army of federal airline passenger and baggage screeners he helped create, replacing it with more high tech equipment and "private screening under federal supervision." Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, says two classified government reports on airport screener effectiveness he has been briefed on "show virtually no improvement in overall screener performance" since they were examined two years ago.
State-owned Ecuadorian airline TAME Linea Aerea del Ecuador has confirmed its November 2004 letter of intent to purchase two 76-seat Embraer 170s and one 104-seat Embraer 190. The aircraft are to be delivered in 2005-06. The 42-year-old carrier holds options for four aircraft in the same family.
The Vice Adm. Donald D. Engen college scholarship and award was presented to Namrata Pancholi, a top student at Aviation High School in New York. She is flanked by (left to right) Mary Engen, FlightSafety International's Bruce Whitman, The McGraw-Hill Companies' Harry Sachinis and AW&ST's Kenneth E. Gazzola. Special awards were presented to outstanding cadets (left to right) French Air Force Academy Aspirant Julien Molard, U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet First Class Nicholas Jurewicz, U.S. Naval Academy Midshipman First Class Clifford Mabrey, U.S.
The Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile is ready for follow-on operational testing and evaluation flight testing after garnering recertification from the Air Force Apr. 4. Jassm was grounded after a June 2004 drop from a B-2. The Lockheed Martin cruise missile discontinued communications as it was approaching the target, and it fell short. The program also recently got the nod for full-rate production after suffering a tough year.
