Missing from Joseph C. Anselmo's incisive essay on airline fuel savings, "Desperate Measures" (AW&ST Dec. 9, 2004, p. 54), was some basic information: How many gallons of the precious stuff does it take to move one of these birds across the U.S.? Our crew recently completed a flight from San Francisco to Philadelphia with an Airbus A321. We were dispatched with slightly less than 7,000 gal. to fly 2,220 naut. mi.
Early analysis of the recent Lockheed Martin F/A-22 crash at Nellis AFB, Nev., is, for the most part, producing theories of what did not cause the accident. But Air Force officials fear--that with Congress looking to cut programs in order to finance more ground troops--it is almost certain the mishap will further delay production, and ultimately jeopardize the stealth fighter's future. THE TEST DID NOT involve flying with a heavy ferry-load of fuel, shifting the aircraft's center of gravity or taking off with insufficient speed.
Assad Kotaite of Lebanon has been elected to his 11th term as president of the Council of the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization. He has held the post since 1975.
Raytheon won a $200.4-million contract increase to build 434 Amraam AIM-120 air-to-air missiles with 160 going to USAF, 46 to the Navy, five to the Army and 223 for foreign military sales to Canada and Poland.
Aura, NASA's newest Earth Observing Satellite, has turned up its first mystery: What happened to the carbon monoxide? Scientists have long recognized that a sizeable ozone cloud might exist in the tropics over the Atlantic Ocean. Until Aura was launched they had to depend on aircraft readings to detect it, but aircraft can't provide the continuous monitoring needed to develop year-round models.
Eurocopter will begin building Tiger HAD attack helicopters for Spain and France under an authorization to proceed received last month. This step will allow work to start on 24 Tiger HADs ordered by Spain, and 40 to be acquired by France in place of the now-abandoned HAP escort/combat support model. The value of the award was not divulged, but the Spanish aircraft are expected to cost about 1.3 billion euros ($1.76 billion). A final contract is due to be signed by mid-2005.
The U.S./Russian crew on the International Space Station will be able to continue their stay into April, following the Dec. 25 docking of a critical unmanned Russian Progress resupply spacecraft carrying food and other supplies. The regularly scheduled Progress mission was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome Dec. 23. If the Progress had not safely reached the station, mission commander Leroy Chiao and cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov would have been forced to return to Earth early this month.
World News Roundup 16 Eurocopter gets Tiger HAD award, delivers first EC 225 16 FAA certifies Agusta/Bell AB 139 medium-lift helicopter 17 Huygens probe set to enter atmo- sphere of Jupiter's moon Titan 17 First flight for An-148, Ukraine's entry into regional jet competition 18 World War II-era bomber back in air after 14 years of restoration World News & Analysis 20 Pentagon blindsided by White House demand for billions in defense cuts
Germany has issued Diehl BGT a 1-billion-euro production award for the Iris-T air-air missile on behalf of air forces in Germany and five other European nations. The dogfight missile is intended to replace older Sidewinders on Eurofighter, Tornado, F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft.
The response to my Viewpoint about the "Bumpy Ride for Boeing" was predictable (AW&ST Nov. 8, 2004, p. 70). Equally predictable was that the arguments were all too reminiscent of those that were made in favor of the Sonic Cruiser.
The U.S. Air Force and five European countries are receiving software upgrades for F-16s that are aimed at increasing interoperability and reducing costs, according to Lockheed Martin. These packages, designated M3, will provide capabilities including the Link 16 data link and a helmet-mounted cueing system. USAF F-16s will be equipped to deliver the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and be compatible with the Sniper XR targeting pod. European F-16s will add the capability of delivering the Joint Direct Attack Munition.
As Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf visited Washington last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed 10 agreements with India spanning space, defense and aviation. He cleared the air on intellectual property rights on defense equipment, and agreed to cooperate on use of a global navigation satellite system and development of a fifth-generation fighter aircraft. And, for good measure, he categorically denied any plans to sell arms to Pakistan.
A key award for demonstration/validation spacecraft is expected to facilitate negotiations for deploying and operating the Galileo satellite navigation system, despite restrictions on military use of its signal.
The Transportation Dept. Inspector General is launching an investigation of the holiday hell encountered by thousands of US Airways and Comair passengers. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta on Dec. 27 ordered an expedited review to determine the causes behind US Airways' flight cancellations, delays and baggage handling malfunctions, as well as the reasons for Comair's computer system failure that resulted in cancellation of 1,000 flights (see p. 43).
Tomas Backman of Sweden has been elected president of the Microlight Commission (CIMA) of the Lausanne, Switzerland-based Federation Aeronautique Internationale. He succeeds Tormod Veiby of Norway. Backman also becomes an ex-officio vice president of FAI. Richard Meredith-Hardy and Keith Negal, both of the U.K., were elected CIMA's first vice president and secretary, respectively.
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Raytheon says it has delivered five Standard Missile SM-3 ballistic missile interceptors to the Pentagon to support the Navy's ship-based missile defense system. They represent the U.S. Navy's first dedicated anti-ballistic missile defense capability. Additionally, Alliant Techsystems says it has tested a solid divert and attitude control system to fix problems discovered in an earlier test with the SM-3's kill vehicle.
Charles B. Chitwood has been appointed deputy director at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., and John S. Chapman space shuttle propulsion chief engineer in the Engineering Directorate. Chitwood succeeds Rex Geveden, who is now NASA's chief engineer. Chitwood was head of system engineering and integration for the Schafer Corp. Chapman was the Engineering Directorate's chief engineer.
Aerospace has a lot on its "to-do" list for 2005. While 2004 saw much to praise --examples being a mission to Mars that's regarded as one of the top achievements in all of science, some big technology gains for the U.S. military that will help freedom-loving allies work together and the emergence of discount carriers as a substantial force in Asia--many of the year's biggest issues were left unresolved.
France is set to offer an ambitious military space plan that would boost Europe's forward deployment and homeland security capability. Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie unveiled the essence of the proposal last month after the launch of a new-generation reconnaissance satellite, which she hopes--along with a pair of upcoming milsatcom missions--will jump-start the plan's implementation.
Capt. Jean-Claude Buck has been elected president of France's national air and space academy. He succeeds Jean-Claude Husson, a former Alcatel Space chief executive.
Neelam Mathews (New Delhi), James Ott (Cincinnati)
A large-scale airlift of medical supplies, water and thousands of relief workers is underway to coastal areas from Indonesia to Africa where more than 100,000 people died after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggered tsunami waves on Dec. 26 that devastated beaches separated by thousands of miles.
Continental Airlines, trying to negotiate $500 million per year in pay, benefit and work-rule cost reductions with its employees, reported giveback deals with its top executives. Larry Kellner, the new chairman and CEO, and Jeff Smisek, president, will take cuts of 25% and 20%, respectively, in their base pay, effective Feb. 28, and each will waive his 2004 bonus, if any is earned. Each will turn back the same percentage of his unvested stock options, restricted stock and other benefits.
An era of more than 50 years of state ownership for El Al Israel Airlines has ended with Knafaim Arkia Holdings Ltd. acquiring a 40% stake. The company can exercise options that will give it a 52% share by 2007. Knafaim will sell its carrier, Arkia Airlines, Israel's second-largest, to comply with anti-trust regulations.
The FAA plans to hire substantially more air traffic controllers than it loses through retirement and other attrition each year during Fiscal 2006-12, bringing in 12,500 through 2014, as part of the newly issued controller workforce plan it developed to become more efficient and get through this decade's wave of retirements. At the same time the agency will press labor economies that should make for lively conversation when it starts negotiating a new contract with the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. (Natca), expected in the fall.
