Domestic travel, propelled by the low air fares of budget carriers flying to secondary airports, has expanded the market for turboprops in India, presenting opportunities for companies such as ATR. The Toulouse-based turboprop manufacturer is prepared to set up training and outsourcing facilities in India.
USAF is continuing its steady stream of funding to Northrop Grumman to provide protection against heat-seeking missiles to its aircraft. The latest is a $12.5-million deal to install the Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures system on 18 C-17s. Installations are to be completed within a year.
Cobham subsidiary FR Aviation and Bristow Helicopters are widening the reach of their helicopter joint-venture, FB Heliservices (FBH), with the award of a contract for helicopter troop transport/support for Brunei. FBH is also acquiring an additional six helicopters previously operated by Bristow, bringing its fleet to 60.
American Airlines will defer by 6-7 years scheduled delivery of 54 of 56 aircraft it has on firm order from Boeing in an attempt to reduce near-term costs and repair damage to its balance sheet. Announcing an agreement with the manufacturer, American said it will take two 777s in 2006, moving up one aircraft scheduled previously for 2007. But the carrier will defer 47 737-800 aircraft by seven years apiece, and each of seven 777s by six years, past their original scheduled delivery dates in 2006-10.
Airbus is in the final stages of negotiating a deal with Britain's Marshall Aerospace to cover a flight program for the A400M's turboprop engine, using a Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules as the test platform. The military arm of Airbus prefers the C-130 option to testing the EuroProp International (EPI) TP400-D6 on either its own A340-300 twin-aisle airliner test aircraft, or an Ilyushin Il-76, although as of last week the decision had yet to be formally ratified by directors.
Astronaut C. Michael Foale has been named deputy associate administrator of NASA for exploration operations. He has flown on four space shuttle missions, the Russian Space Station Mir and the International Space Station. Foale has been chief of the Astronaut Office Expedition Corps and assistant director (technical) of NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Lufthansa on Dec. 1 plans to open a terminal in Frankfurt exclusively for the use of first-class passengers. The new, 19,368-sq.-ft. structure features a fully equipped lounge and bar, a buffet area, cigar lounge, office units, a rest area, bathrooms and a boarding area. Personal assistants will be assigned to premium-class passengers as they arrive. Concierge services are offered along with limousine transfer direct to aircraft and assistance through check-in, security and customs. Lufthansa will assign personal assistants to serve passengers at destination airports.
NASA appears to be easing its longstanding buy-American policy a bit as it gets going on President Bush's deep-space exploration initiative. The U.S. agency has long preferred to work with its non-U.S. government counterparts on cooperative space projects, using barter arrangements instead of direct payments to the foreign companies that supply space hardware to those counterparts.
Launch of the NASA Deep Impact comet intercept mission from Cape Canaveral on board a Boeing Delta II booster is being delayed at least a week to no earlier than Jan. 8, to give the project staff more time to complete work on critical software. The mission is expected to investigate the comet Tempel 1, by blasting a large hole in its nucleus.
Jordan may buy $39 million worth of Raytheon-built Amraam beyond visual range air-to-air missiles. Under the proposed sale, Jordan would get 50 Amraams for its F-16 fleet.
A week after dying, legislation to clarify regulation of suborbital "space tourism" flights is resurrected through a transplant operation. The bill that passed the House in March with only one dissenting vote (HR 3752) is defunct (AW&ST Nov. 22, p. 23). But one section was stripped out, put in another bill, passed and sent to the president. It extends by five years a law that indemnifies commercial launch companies from losses third parties might suffer as a result of catastrophic accidents.
Air Force e-mail Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has released (see p. 39) doesn't just portray USAF hubris, it provides insights into Pentagon deliberations on the defunct proposal to lease 100 KC767 tankers from Boeing. A note from USAF acquisition chief Marvin Sambur reveals, for example, that to pay for the aircraft, the Air Force was considering taking money in 2009 from the Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures program.
The Airbus A300-600 is what the politically correct would call "An Axis-Challenged Aircraft." Airbus deleted the outboard ailerons for the A310 and transferred them to the B2/B4 upgrade, which was the A300-600. The takeoff and landing crosswind performance leaves a lot to be desired, also known as lateral axis deficiency.
It's official: Robert J. Stevens will succeed the retiring Vance D. Coffman as chairman of Lockheed Martin Corp. in April. Stevens succeeded Coffman as CEO in August. Norman R. Augustine, who was CEO from 1996-97 and chairman from 1997-98, also will retire from the board in April. Elected to the board was USN Adm. (ret.) James O. Ellis, Jr., who was commander of U.S. Strategic Command until last July.
G. Peter D'Aloia has been appointed to the board of directors of AirTran Holdings Inc. He is senior vice president/chief financial officer of American Standard Companies Inc. and had been vice president-business development of Honeywell.
Beijing-based Air China plans to raise $1.1 billion in an initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange to buy aircraft and repay debt, according to Hong Kong media reports. The IPO's credibility received an assist from Cathay Pacific Airways when the Hong Kong airline agreed to take a 9.9% interest in Air China. China Southern and China Eastern, the nation's other two network carriers, are listed companies. But until recently, Air China has not had sufficiently transparent financial records to attract outside investors.
Canadian air transport authorities and Bombardier representatives are working with Chinese investigators to determine what caused the second crash in five weeks of a CRJ200LR regional jet. On the morning of Nov. 21, China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210 departed Baotou Airport in the Inner Mongolia region. The 47 passengers and six crew on the flight operated by the China Yunnan Airlines arm of China Eastern were bound for Shanghai-Hongqiao Airport.
Boeing is seeking ways to reinforce its links with Russia and to enter, potentially, the country's capacious commercial aircraft market, which is still protected by high import taxes. CEO Harry Stonecipher concluded a recent trip here by signing a memorandum of understanding with Industry Minister Viktor Khristenko that listed work packages that may be assigned to Russian contractors for the 7E7 development.
Today's complex, highly integrated weapon systems present daunting challenges for the global flight test community (see p. 54). The USAF/Lockheed Martin F/A-22 Raptor test program faltered a few years ago, because planners did not fully appreciate that myriad software-intensive systems must be tested simultaneously. Unmanned platforms, hypersonic vehicles, complex electronic warfare systems and directed-energy weapons also demand new testing techniques and facilities. F/A-22 Combined Test Force photo by Kevin Robertson.
Shimon Eckhaus (see photo) has been named executive corporate vice president-marketing and business development. Menahem Shmul has been appointed corporate vice president-quality management. He was corporate vice president/general manager of the Military Aircraft Group. Shmul has been succeeded by Brig. Gen. (Res.) Miki Bar. David Dagan, who has been general manager of the Lahav Div. within the Military Aircraft Group, has become deputy general manager of IAI's Bedek Aviation Group and general manager of its Aircraft Div.
The Garmin G1000 integrated avionics system has received a supplemental type certificate for installation on the Mooney Ovation2GX and BravoGX, both of which will use dual 10.4-in. high-definition liquid crystal displays. The XGA standard resolution (1,024 X 768 pixels) display provides data in sunlight-readable color from a variety of viewing angles. The multifunction display boasts aircraft systems and flight planning functions. Garmin also is providing an attitude and heading reference system to interface with the primary flight display in these cockpits.
Frank Hatfield, director of systems operations security for the FAA Air Traffic Organization, has received the War on Terrorism Medal from Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta. And the War on Terrorism Ribbon was awarded to James N. Arrasmith, manager of the National Airspace System defense and security office; and Douglas B. Gould, acting manager for NAS strategic operations security. All were cited for their volunteer service in rebuilding the air traffic control system in Iraq.
India is moving a step closer to developing a reusable launch vehicle with a decision to proceed on the Space-capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE), a 500-kg. (1,100-lb.) recoverable capsule that will build on atmospheric drop tests already carried out (AW&ST Nov. 22, p. 46). The Indian Space Research Organization expects to have the SRE ready for launch within four years as it develops the technology needed to cut the cost of orbiting satellites by about 60%.
