Paul Neary has been promoted to maintenance, repair and overhaul market segment manager from senior account representative for the 3M Aerospace and Aircraft Maintenance Div., St. Paul, Minn.
Douglas E. Lavin has been appointed Washington-based regional vice president-North America for the International Air Transport Assn., effective May 1. He has been assistant FAA administrator for international aviation. Lavin succeeds David O'Connor, who has resigned.
In a long-awaited move, USAF gave General Atomics Aeronautical Systems a $68.2-million contract for development and demonstration of the MQ-9 Hunter-Killer Aircraft, a variant of the new turboprop-powered Predator-B. The program involves retrofitting four aircraft with weapons carrying and targeting capability.
Boeing snagged a $609.3-million contract from the U.S. Air Force's Air-to-Ground Munitions Systems Wing at Eglin AFB, Fla., to provide 30,072 Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kits for 500-, 1,000- and 2,000-lb. bombs. The work is to be completed by February 2007. The company also won a $216.7-million contract for design and development of a Combat Network Communication Technology system for the B-52H by 2010.
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has two new contracts to build instruments for NASA spacecraft. NASA Ames Research Center awarded Ball an initial $13.4-million contract to design and build a photometer for the Kepler mission, which will search for Earth-sized planets in other solar systems. Total value of the five-year contract is $75.1 million. Meanwhile, the Goddard Space Flight Center tapped Ball to build the Global Precipitation Measurement-Microwave Imager for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) spacecraft.
The 100-ton space shuttle orbiter Discovery is hoisted near the top of the 525-ft.-high Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for stacking on its 155-ft. Lockheed Martin external tank and 3-million-lb.-thrust ATK Thiokol solid rocket boosters (bottom of photo). Techni-cians oversaw the transfer of Discovery from its Orbiter Processing Facility into the VAB on Mar. 29 for the mating that should result in rollout to Launch Complex 39B by early this week.
Reacting to the recent dash for the door by a spate of Air Force leaders, the Pentagon's acting procurement chief, Michael Wynne, has stripped the service of buying authority in its most important programs. Twenty-one of the Air Force's top procurements will now fall directly under Wynne's authority, bypassing the service's major milestone decisions. Among them are the $32-billion Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, the $11-billion C-5 reengining effort and a host of weapon projects.
Lynn Juengel has been named technical services manager and Bill Garghill director of customer service for the Banyan Air Service, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
James F. Gerwien has been promoted to president from general manager of Ontic Engineering & Manufacturing Inc., Chatsworth, Calif. He succeeds Ted Allred, who is now chairman.
Lufthansa Cargo, Deutsche Post World Net and DPWN's Danzas logistics unit have created a joint venture in Miramar, Fla., dedicated to providing end-to-end, temperature-controlled transportation services for life sciences applications. The venture, LifeConEx, was to start operation on Apr. 1 as part of Lufthansa's strategy of building up high-value-added, time-definite freight services and deemphasizing general cargo. DPWN also owns parcel express carrier DHL.
Michael Cleary has been appointed general manager and Paul Krog director of aircraft services for Galvin Flying Services Inc. of Seattle. Cleary was president/chief operating officer of Western Aircraft Inc., Boise, Idaho. Krog was a program manager for Bombardier Aerospace Services in Dallas and Denver.
U.S. lawmakers are demanding a plan from the Pentagon to dismantle a key initiative from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's Space Commission--naming one individual to oversee billions of dollars of space work, including classified efforts at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the unclassified work of the Air Force space program.
Flight trials of BAE Systems' Striker helmet-mounted display system have begun on the Eurofighter Typhoon. The trial sorties marked the first flights of a binocular, visor-projected, night-vision-capable helmet on a fighter. Additional tests are planned throughout 2005, and production-ready versions of the helmet will fly in the latter part of the year, clearing the way for production for Typhoon Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 aircraft. Prior to the flight trials, the helmet design passed a series of tests, including impact and penetration to U.K.
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Israel's flag carrier El Al plans to roll out a new strategy midyear, bolstered by a five-year profit high in 2004 and growth in traffic. Although profit growth continued last year, reaching $33.1 million, it was constrained by high fuel prices and a strong shekel-to-dollar exchange rate that hurt the airline, particularly in the fourth quarter.
Terry Wesley-Smith has been named general manager of the Jeppesen facility in Canberra, Australia. He was general manager of Pilatus Australia Pty. Ltd.
Boeing has selected Diehl of Germany to supply the cabin lighting system for its 787 as part of its policy of globalizing the supplier chain. The system will feature solid-state light-emitting-diode technology to provide lower maintenance costs and longer intervals between unscheduled repairs.
In the race to connect aircraft passengers to the Internet at higher speeds and lower cost, Arinc is gearing up to capture a major share of the business jet market with its K u-band SkyLink service, which starts operations this month.
Chris A. Davis has been appointed to the board of directors of Dallas-based Aviall Inc. She is chairman/CEO of McLeodUSA Inc. and a former member of the board of the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.
British big-ticket procurements may be safe--at least for the next two years--but the Defense Ministry is being forced to slow, or defer, acquisitions.
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) Apr. 19-20--MRO Military Conference. Also, Apr. 20-21--MRO USA Conference & Exhibition. Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, Dallas. May 10-11--Net-Centric Operations Conference 2005. Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington. May 24-25--Homeland Security Summit & Exposition, Washington.
James Gidlow has been appointed worldwide sales development manager and Scott Warne sales development manager for the U.K. for London-based Air Cargo Partners Worldwide.
The playing field in the regional jet market is continuing to evolve, and Embraer is betting that it has a near-term advantage with key milestones looming for its 170/ 190-series aircraft. The Brazilian manufacturer expects relatively flat deliveries in the near term--roughly 145 aircraft in both 2005 and 2006, after placing 148 last year. Those two years should also see a steady rise in revenue, as the share of deliveries of lower cost ERJ 145s drops to 15% in 2006 from 60% in 2004. The family of 70-95-seat airplanes will then dominate.
Thai Airways International has begun nonstop services from Bangkok to New York JFK International Airport. The first 17-hr., 8,711-mi. flight is set for May 1. Thai will use the Airbus A340-500 in a three-class configuration of 215 seats.
Laurie Marshall (see photo), an aerospace engineer at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, has been selected to receive the 2005 Golden Torch Award as Outstanding Woman in Technology of the Year from the National Society of Black Engineers. Most recently, she was chief engineer for the third flight of the X-43A hypersonic vehicle in November 2004.
