Kuwait Airways is evaluating its fleet requirement as part of a large restructuring plan that includes network planning. Its fleet of 17 aircraft--three Airbus A320-200s, three A310-300s, five A300-600s, four A340-300s and two Boeing 777-200ERs--is a mix that "creates severe commonality problems," according to an aviation official. Kuwait may look at an increase of 30-35 aircraft and is said to be considering either Boeing 7E7 or the Airbus equivalent, A350.
Northrop Grumman has completed first-phase flight testing of its new medium-altitude endurance UAV demonstrator. The aircraft is a prototype of the company's Hunter II, which is designed for ground surveillance and longer-range missions in which it can serve as a communication relay node. In the longer term, the UAV is being eyed for a precision-weapons carrying capability.
The FAA swiftly issued an airworthiness directive for all Embraer 170-series aircraft, prompted by reports of "drop outs" or loss of cockpit display units. The Dec. 30, 2004, AD--released without the agency's customary notice/ public commentary period--became effective the same day. Operators by Jan. 3 were to revise the airplane flight manual with operational procedures related to the loss of modular avionics units (MAU) and prohibit flight with an inoperative integrated electronic standby system (IESS).
Embraer has launched two "Advanced Range" versions of the 100- and 110-seat Embraer 190 and 195 on the back of the JetBlue Airways' order for 100 190s. The order was converted from the LR (Long Range) version to the AR (Advanced Range). Reinforcements to the fuselage, wings, pylons and flight control surfaces allow for higher maximum takeoff and landing weights and add about 300 naut. mi. to the ranges, says Embraer. The 190 will fly 2,300 naut. mi. in standard conditions, while the larger 195 achieves up to 2,100.
It is the end of the line for Commander Aircraft Co. Two years after it suspended production of Commander 115 and 115TC single-engine aircraft and filed for bankruptcy protection, the Bethany, Okla., subsidiary of Aviation General Inc., is being liquidated.
United Airlines posted a net loss of $664 million in the fourth quarter of 2004, battered by intense domestic fare competition and a 52% increase in fuel prices from a year earlier. The carrier, which has been operating under bankruptcy protection since December 2002, said its operating loss for the quarter more than tripled from a year earlier, to $493 million. Operating revenue rose 5% to $4 billion. United ended the quarter with an unrestricted cash balance of $1.3 billion, down from $1.5 billion at the end of the third quarter.
Military helicopter supplier Loud Engineering & Manufacturing Inc. is being acquired by Circor International Inc. for $36 million. The 30-year-old Ontario, Calif.-based company, which specialized in landing gear systems and overhaul services, will become part of Circor's Aerospace Products unit based in Corona, Calif.
Three runway excursions in a three-day period have led air cargo operations onto safety's center stage, again. The Jan. 22-24 incidents follow a rash of cargo accidents late last year, one involving the crash of an MK Airlines Boeing 747-200 that killed seven crewmembers (AW&ST Nov. 15, 2004, p. 47; Oct. 25, 2004, p. 46) and heightened industry concerns about safety. The current incidents involved no loss of life or injuries to crew and minimal damage to the fuselage.
Douglas Barrie (London), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
The British Defense Ministry will use its Harrier GR9 strike aircraft as a fallback should there be--as some believe increasingly possible--a mismatch in service entry dates for its aircraft carriers and the Joint Strike Fighter. A Defense Ministry official says the BAE Systems Harrier GR9 aircraft provides a "contingency option" were a delivery gap to emerge between the first of the new class of aircraft carrier and the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). "The GR9 will be fully compatible with the carrier," he points out.
The Naval Academy's old-boy network claims that Adm. Vern Clark, the chief of naval operations, is out of the running to succeed Air Force Gen. Richard Myers as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff because his vision doesn't match that of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Instead, as long rumored, a Marine will move up to give the corps its first chairman. The question is: which Marine? Gen. Peter Pace, the vice chairman, is a strong contender, but so is Gen. James Jones, credited with a sparkling performance as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.
Germany's OHB-System has successfully flight-tested the Cosmos-3M booster modification that will be used to orbit five German SARLupe radar surveillance spacecraft. The upgraded booster was sent aloft Jan. 20 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome with a twin Russian military satellite payload. The modification, designed by Russia's Omsk-based Experimental Design Bureau Polyot, for OHB subsidiary Cosmos International, consists of a larger fairing to accommodate the three-meter-wide SARLupe radar antenna.
The Royal Australian Air Force Roulettes aerobatic demonstration team lost one of its Pilatus PC-9As to a midair collision on Jan. 21. The mishap occurred during a practice session near RAAF Base East Sale in southeast Australia. One aircraft failed to slow adequately during a formation rejoin following a previous maneuver, hitting a second PC-9A. The rejoin-pilot ejected safely and the other landed without incident.
Kathryn Mikells has been named vice president/treasurer and David Wing vice president/controller for United Airlines parent UAL Corp. Mikells has been vice president-corporate real estate. Mikells succeeds Jeff Kawalsky, who is retiring. Wing was executive vice president/chief financial officer of ATA Airlines. He succeeds Lynn Hughitt, who is now vice president-compensation and benefits.
Whatever the parochial interests underlying the creation of Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system, the commercial interest it is generating is truly global. Final proposals from the two teams bidding for the concession to deploy and operate the system, submitted on Jan. 25, each feature an array of more than 40 partners from countries around the world. Team members cover telecommunications, information technology, air traffic control, railway/road transport, cartography, security and government, among other interests (see p. 45).
Nissen Davis (see photo) has been elected president of the Los Angeles-based Southern California Aeronautic Assn. for 2005. He is founder of Davis & Chang Communications International and previously worked for Flying Tiger, McDonnell Douglas and Hughes Electronics. Davis succeeds Keith Mew, professor of computer science and technology at California State University, Los Angeles.
With an unexpected budget boost and savings from reduced overhead streaming in, the European Space Agency is looking to initiate a range of new programs.
Boeing has cut final assembly times for the 737 by 50%--to 11 days from 22--since 1999, the company says. The aircraft is assembled on a moving line in a redesigned production facility in Renton, Wash.
Russian engineers working on the International Space Station program are studying images of a brownish residue found on vents for the Russian segment's oxygen-generation and carbon dioxide-removal system during an extravehicular activity Jan. 25 by astronaut Leroy Chiao and cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov. The finding could aid investigations into recent problems with the environmental system.
William Arkin, who successfully challenged a number of Air Force claims about its bombing results during the 1991 Persian Gulf war, is continuing his role of informed critic and irritant with the book Code Names. It is a gold mine of brief descriptions of classified military and government programs, including Panther Den, a special access program to develop information warfare weapons with the ability to penetrate enemy computer networks. Panther Den is run by the AF's reclusive Big Safari program, long renowned for its black Cold War reconnaissance.
NASA has picked a $134-million satellite designed to study the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space as its next Small Explorer project. Set for launch into a highly elliptical orbit in 2008, the Interstellar Boundary Explorer will carry two special cameras designed to image energetic neutral atoms produced by plasmas beyond the termination shock at the outer boundary of the heliosphere.
World News Roundup 15 ESA looking to initiate range of new programs, thanks to budget boost 16 Italian air force to receive first of 55 upgraded AMX aircraft in 2006 16 FAA issues AD on Embraer 170 due to avionics malfunction 17 Bombardier revamping international business jet charter operation World News & Analysis 20 NASA seeking bids for industry effort to develop Crew Exploration Vehicle 22 Huygens data, questions to guide Cassini on future Titan passes
The Mars Exploration Rovers are both near the start of new phases in their missions, even as each has made fresh discoveries. The rover Spirit has encountered what appears to be a new type of rock with unusual chemistry, though scientists last week were still seeking confirmation of their measurements. And Spirit should, within a few weeks, if not sooner, reach a vista point that will require major decisions on how to proceed.
Rockwell Collins Inc. reported a net income of $90 million (50 cents a share) for the quarter ended Dec. 31, a 32% increase from a year earlier. Sales rose 21% to $763 million.
