General Electric has received FAA certification of the CF6-80C2 engine for the U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy modernization program. First deliveries to Lockheed Martin are due this month, with flight testing late next year.
Northrop Grumman illustrator Kent Rump portrays an unmanned derivative of the Proteus research aircraft that is just completing a Hunter-Killer mission while a second armed UAV, in the background, arrives as a relief aircraft. The U.S. Air Force is asking for concepts from the aerospace industry for a relatively inexpensive UAV--$10 million or less--that can stay aloft for a day and strike with precision while operating at medium to high altitudes (see p. 46). A key concept for U.S. contractors is that the system be fully exportable as an aid to foreign sales.
Snecma Chairman/CEO Jean-Paul Bechat says the French engine maker does not plan to invest in General Electric's GenX, which is intended for the Boeing 7E7, given large commitments in new powerplants for the Boeing 777 and Airbus A380, A400M airlifter, Russian Regional Jet and other programs. However, Snecma could be a subcontractor, he said.
Four Los Alamos National Labora-tory employees were fired and seven others given written reprimands, demotions, salary reductions or suspensions without pay last week. These actions stemmed from the loss or misplacement of computer disks in July, as well as a laser-related injury (AW&ST July 26, p. 15). Concern about the lab's security and safety "culture" led Director G. Peter Nanos to order a complete shutdown of lab activities. Some have been reinstated, but many critical nuclear-related functions are still on hold.
After last week's display at the U.S. Maritime Security Expo in New York, the CX-3800M, a mobile cargo X-ray screen unit manufactured by L-3 Security and Detection Systems, is starting a showcase tour of the U.S. The mobile scanner is billed as enhancing the ability of screening personnel to identify cargo threats. It provides a high-resolution image of the contents of loaded trucks, automobiles and shipping containers. The company claims a throughput of more than 20 trucks per hour and the capability of penetrating up to 10.6 in. of steel using a 3.8-MeV.
Patricia Luebke, who is editor of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn.'s monthly publication Flight School Business, has received the Jack J Eggspuehler Award from the National Assn. of Flight Instructors for her contributions to aviation education. The award is named for one of NAFI's founding fathers and a long-time past president. Luebke also is a media relations expert for Sporty's Pilot Shop and is a contributing editor for the Aircraft Electronics Assn.'s Avionics News and Women In Aviation's bimonthly magazine, Aviation for Women.
Sandia National Laboratories researchers are analyzing U.S. Navy carrier air wing flight operations, maintenance and support functions, searching for ways to improve performance. The project's goal is to cut personnel by 10-30% via better use of onboard technology, while also lightening overall workload per sailor. Findings would be implemented on the service's next-generation aircraft carrier by 2013-14.
Airbus has completed the first inflight test of GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) personal telephones on board an A320 flight-test aircraft. Functional testing involved simultaneous use of different GSM phones for voice communications and text messaging. Airbus aims to offer personal mobile telephone service on board commercial airlines by 2006.
Russian producers of titanium will have to compete on a more-level U.S. playing field now. President Bush recently eliminated a special tariff exemption that had allowed VSMPO, a Russian supplier of wrought titanium products, to import metal items free of customs duties since 1998. As a result, VSMPO had secured more than 60% of all wrought titanium imported to the U.S., according to Timet, a Denver-headquartered titanium producer. The company had petitioned the government to drop Russia's wrought titanium from the Generalized System of Preferences program.
Michael Caisse, who is engineering director of All Weather Inc., Sacramento, Calif., has been named to the Expert Team on Surface Technology and Measurement Technique of the Geneva-based World Meteorological Office's Commission for Instruments and Methods of Observation. The group evaluates instrumentation in varying environments, recommends observing methods and provides information on new technologies and systems for measurement of surface meteorological variables.
Eutelsat reports strong growth in revenues and earnings for the 2003-04 fiscal year, bucking an industry-wide trend in the satellite operations sector. The Paris-based operator chalked up consolidated revenues of 760.2 million euros ($927 million), a 6.3% increase over the previous year, confirming first-half results. The improvement was smaller than the 8.6% increase a year ago, but larger than the 5% predicted, excluding extraordinary items.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. applauds moves in both houses of Congress to add Fiscal 2005 funds for the FAA to start hiring additional controllers in advance of the expected wave of retirements later this decade, but the appropriations subcommittee that engineered the add-on in the House bill, currently on the floor, isn't fully in sync with the union. The panel considers its addition, $9 million to hire and train about 120 controllers, no more than a short-term move to get things started.
US Airways, in Chapter 11 again little more than 17 months after its 2002-03 stint, will find the going different this time--more difficult for the most part, but not entirely. Compared with its position in August 2002, when it began its first reorganization as a debtor under bankruptcy protection, the sixth-largest U.S. network carrier faces this scenario: *Its cash position is worse and its time is short. *It thinks it has a much better idea of what its problems are, and how to deal with them.
As the high-definition television wars heat up, PanAmSat, GlobeCast and Scientific Atlanta are joining forces to provide a turnkey HDTV distribution platform. Competitor DirecTV's purchase of three spacecraft from Boeing Satellite Systems has been a highlight so far in a year that hasn't met sales expectations (AW&ST Sept. 13, p. 28). But on the content front, GlobeCast, a satellite services provider, will manage end-to-end HDTV transmissions from its teleport in Los Angeles using Scientific Atlanta's PowerVu HD encoding and digital content distribution system.
Meanwhile, Japan's transport ministry has approved raising the retirement age for airline pilots by two years to 65, albeit with stricter physicals. The extension will be welcomed by Japan's carriers, which are forecasting a significant pilot shortage. In the early 1970s, the airlines went on a hiring spree to keep up with fast-growing demand. Those pilots are now retiring at a rate of 70-80 a year. Japanese carriers expect that number will reach 200 a year by 2007.
Bruce Langsen and Jim Sdoia, president and vice president-sales, respectively, of the Memphis, Tenn.-based Inventory Locator Service, have received the Aviation Suppliers Assn. (ASA) Edward J. Gleuckler Award. It is named for ASA's first president and is presented annually to honor commitment, dedication and contribution to ASA and the aviation industry. Langsen and Sdoia were recognized for "forward thinking that has expanded business opportunities for distributors and the industry."
Steven R. Perkins (see photo) has become vice president-business development and strategy for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Information Technology Sector, Herndon, Va. He was senior vice president of the North American government, education and health care unit of the Oracle Corp.
Experts gathered in Washington last week to plot future USAF strategy say there are now three primary tasks laid out for an air defense suppression role in the joint unmanned combat air system (Jucas) program, in which Boeing's X-45 and Northrop Grumman's X-47 are the concept demonstrators.
Cost pressures are driving service providers and European airlines to push for the increasing use of third-party manufactured components in maintenance cycles, despite resistance from manufacturers, and regulatory fragmentation. With European airlines struggling to eke out profits, the potential for savings offered by so-called part manufacturing approval (PMA) components, is increasingly attractive. PMA manufacturers and third-party maintenance companies claim component cost savings of 30-50%.
Air Canada on Apr. 4 will reintroduce daily nonstop service to Rome from Toronto, the only nonstop between Canada and the Italian capital. Air Canada, which achieved reduced operating costs in its restructuring, is returning to the route it dropped in 2003. The service will use 198-seat Boeing 767-200 ERs. The carrier serves Italy with Star Alliance partner Lufthansa via Frankfurt and Munich.
In a related matter, SkyTeam members Continental and Air France applied to the U.S. Transportation Dept. to resume code-sharing, this time under an agreement reflecting Air France's status as a founding partner of SkyTeam and Delta Air Lines. Under the agreement, signed Sept. 12, Air France would put Continental's code on flights between Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and 76 points in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Continental would carry Air France passengers between two U.S.
Qualification tests for a revised strap-on solid rocket booster motor for Japan's H-IIA medium-lift launcher are about to get underway, the Japanese space agency JAXA reports. Three tests are scheduled by mid-November. The tests are of a new composite nozzle design. A nozzle burn-through is the suspected cause of a launch failure last November that shut down H-IIA operations. JAXA hopes to resume H-IIA launches early next year.
Kaman and BAE Systems avionics group are exploring the potential for upgrades of the former's SH-2G Super Seasprite anti-submarine warfare helicopter. Development areas may include NATO compatible communications and navigation, along with sensor and targeting system modifications.
