Aviation Week & Space Technology

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Belinda Jones has become director of human resources of Empire Airlines, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Raytheon Aircraft is developing the newest version of its T-6 turboprop trainer in the hope that the T-6B will be accepted by military services as a partial replacement to satisfy training requirements of their more advanced aircraft.

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In the next few years, annual production of commercial and military aviation engines should reach 9,500 powerplants, an increase of about 2,000 units and a leap forward from sales during the past decade. Those were the years that saw production rise by as many as 1,000 powerplants only to lose all that gain. Starting in 1995 with about 6,750 engines, production rose each year to a peak of 7,750 in 2001 before declining back to 6,750 in 2004.

Jim Agee has been named vice president-sales and marketing for Bearing Inspection Inc., Los Alamitos, Calif.

Alain Garcia (see photo), Airbus' executive vice president-engineering, has won a SAE Aerospace Engineering Leadership Award for lifetime achievement. In the 1990s, Garcia was chief engineer of the A330/A340. He was cited for showing "the highest engineering capability and leadership, initially contributing to the development of Concorde . . . and then through his prominent participation in every Airbus program."

The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and military operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere have helped to raise the profile of unmanned aerial vehicles to heights undreamed of just a few years ago. U.S. program managers report that for the first time they are receiving more money than requested. Worldwide, funding for UAVs is skyrocketing and more production contracts are being awarded than ever.

Deliveries of fighter/attack aircraft will fall off through the rest of this decade but will rebound around 2011 and gather momentum as the world's major air armed forces initiate a new reequipment cycle. In the near term, "last call" orders for legacy types such as the Lockheed Martin F-16, Boeing F-15 and Dassault Mirage 2000 are buoying output, while the new Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon are rolling off the lines and the F/A-22 and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) edge closer to production.

In what it called "a strong year" that reflected improved conditions among the world's airlines, Boeing saw its sales list make a 14% gain to 272 orders in 2004, while it delivered 285 aircraft. It expects to deliver 320 in 2005.

The European Union and U.S. face a complex task as they try to bridge deep differences while forging a new accord concerning financial assistance for commercial aircraft. Still, all parties involved express relief that, for now, a trade war has been averted.

Low-cost airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. announced plans to build a maintenance facility for its Boeing 737s at Tancredo Neves International Airport in southeast Brazil. Gol, which has captured 24% of Brazil's domestic airline passenger market, operates 27 aircraft and has firm orders for 31 737-800s and options for another 22. c EUROPE

Although the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was launched in 2003, the effects of this conflict on the worldwide missile market continue to reverberate but have yet to be fully realized. The most notable effect has been felt within the strike/stand-off segment. The total worldwide tactical missile market is expected to be worth $69.3 billion from 2005-14, with suppliers in the U.S. and Western Europe accounting for nearly half of the total or about $34 billion. The top producers will be Raytheon ($10.3 billion) and MBDA ($7.2 billion).

Lobbying of accident investigators is one of the National Transportation Safety Board's biggest headaches, Chairman Ellen Engleman Conners says. It's not a new problem, but it has intensified in recent years as society becomes more litigious and potential awards escalate. Although the safety board is always open to accepting new accident data, Engleman says, parties to recent probes have gobbled up an overworked staff's precious time by rehashing previously submitted arguments and data.

The U.S. Navy is trying to harmonize its unmanned aircraft plans and is preparing to tweak its intelligence system in the coming months in response to guidance issued by the service's top officer. In a message to troops, Adm. Vernon Clark addresses a wide range of topics, from operational concerns to basing questions and personnel issues. Strengthening intelligence collection stands out as a recurring theme in the latest directive by Chief of Naval Operations Clark.

The accusation by Clark Robbins (AW&ST Nov. 29, 2004, p. 12) that Airbus was negligent in its design of the A300 rudder is absurd. The tails do not "easily" rip off. Have any other A300s lost their tails? Each airplane is unique in its design and flight characteristics and it is up to the pilot and the operator to ensure proper training based on data supplied by the manufacturer.

Slow but steady recovery is the byword for the business jet manufacturing industry, with many executives declaring that the 2002-03 downturn is over. And while those tough times may well be over, the current state of the business jet market is nevertheless best described as tenuous. The mood at many manufacturers seems to be one of cautious optimism, as seen at the National Business Aviation Assn. (NBAA) convention and exhibition last fall.

Thomas F. Vande Hei (see photo) has been named senior vice president-industry relations at Minneapolis-based Laser Data Command Inc. He was director of information services at Northwest Airlines and sat on the board of directors of Geneva-based SITA.

After implementing drastic cost cuts, Scandanavian Airlines (SAS) intends to generate higher yields by enhancing inflight service. Still Scandinavia's largest airline (and Europe's No. 5), SAS is on its way to installing three types of cabin arrangements, instead of two, on European and long-haul services. The airline is introducing lie-flat beds to business-traveler destinations and is creating an intermediate class, between business and economy, with more legroom and upgraded inflight service.

FLYI, the parent company of ailing Independence Air, and GE Commercial Aviation Services (Gecas) last week agreed on the early termination of leases on 10 50-seat regional jets. The aircraft will be taken out of service in the first quarter, after Feb. 1.

The biggest space story in 2004 was the October flight of SpaceShipOne, winner of the $10-million Ansari X Prize. It may be many years before the true historic impact of this flight is realized, but one thing is certain: The X Prize team led by Paul Allen and Burt Rutan proved that spaceflight is no longer the exclusive domain of large government programs. A private company and a small handful of individuals put a man into suborbital flight, and it's only a matter of time before the same can be said for Earth orbit.

World News Roundup 388 FAA releases advisory on laser warning reporting system 388 Greece to receive first of its 12 C-27Js by end of month 389 GlobalFlyer is poised to begin round-the-world flight next month 390 Penetration trials of Raytheon Paveway IV wrapped-up recently World News & Analysis 394 WTO case, A350 aid temporarily on hold, averting trade war, for now 396 Airbus anticipates A380 as one road to profits

Britain's Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. has bought a 10% stake in the U.S. commercial launch services startup SpaceX, which it hopes will be able to provide low-cost launches for its small satellites. SpaceX has a contract to launch a U.S. Defense Dept. satellite on the first flight of its Falcon I rocket, now slated for the early part of this year, while Surrey would like to find a way to crack the U.S. government smallsat market (AW&ST Dec. 8, 2003, p. 46). Surrey currently relies primarily on Russian launch vehicles.

Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd. is reaping benefits from legacy carriers' growing demand for MRO outsourcing: it has beaten market expectations with a 36.5% increase in quarterly earnings. In the past, the 55% state-owned company generated about half its revenues from the Singapore military. Now its focus is shifting to non-defense business. In 2004, its aerospace division accounted for more than half of the group's net profits--with U.S. contracts contributing 45% of the division's revenues, up 2% or $16 million compared to 2003.

I was both bemused and disturbed by Gerald Barrett's resentment over not having a "level playing field" for arms sales to China (AW&ST Dec. 13, 2004, p. 10). Was he trying to suggest the U.S. should have offered to sell F-15s to China? Or perhaps some MX missiles to go along with the nuclear warhead blueprints already pilfered from U.S. labs?