Boeing delivered its 800th and 801st 737-800s last week to Ryanair, which operates an all-737 fleet of 76 aircraft. Ryanair, which flies the -800 in a 189-seat configuration, has another 98 737s on order through 2008. Boeing has orders for 1,167 -800s, making it the best-selling of the 737NGs.
In a computing world where speed is measured in teraflops, NASA Ames Research Center had a problem every PC owner has experienced: Not enough speed. It's solving that problem with the installation of 20 interconnected Silicon Graphics Inc. Altix 512-processor systems, giving it a total of 10,240 Intel Itanium 2 Linux processors. The result is an estimated 10-fold increase in NASA's supercomputing capacity.
MBDA has signed an initial production contract for its Saphir-M expendable countermeasures self-protection system for the NH-90 military utility and Tiger attack helicopters.
The Pentagon's inspector general is taking issue with aspects of the U.S. Navy's EA-6B Improved Capability (ICAP-3) electronic warfare upgrade. The IG argues that inadequate information was provided for the low-rate production decision, which could lead to retrofit costs. The report also reveals the system suffered four mission failures during its operational assessment. The Navy says adequate information was provided to decision-makers and that a strategy is in place to deal with residual deficiencies.
Jim AuBuchon (see photo) has become director of Pratt & Whitney Programs for International Turbine Service of Dallas. He was director of the Regional Aircraft Product Group for AAR.
Cecilia Bethke is now managing director for international affairs for Washington-based Air Transport Assn. She succeeds Richard Carlson, who is retiring. Bethke was international and bilateral affairs director for Northwest Airlines.
Russia's military aircraft sector appears to be heading for another political bustup, with the MiG Corp. forcefully pursuing an independent path at odds with the government's consolidation plans. While senior government officials, along with Sukhoi and Irkut executives, are advocating further rationalization, MiG's general director, Vladimir Toryanin, is opposed to the creation of a unified aircraft company, or OAK, as it's sometimes called.
Lockheed Martin delivered the first space payload, which will be launched into a highly elliptical orbit, to a classified host, not Northrop Grumman (AW&ST Aug. 16, p. 11). Lockheed Martin did deliver to its subcontractor Northrop Grumman the geosynchronous orbit satellite Pointing and Control Assembly for integration of the payload sensors.
'One man's subsidy is another man's loan,' is the message Boeing boss Harry Stonecipher likely received when he visited the British Trade and Industry Dept. (DTI) recently. Stonecipher met with DTI officials here Sept. 2, including Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Patricia Hewitt, to discuss trade issues, in particular the vexing issue of what the U.S. sees as subsidization of Airbus.
Tests conducted with borrowed radars during last month's launch of the Messenger Venus probe have raised hopes NASA will be able to launch its space shuttles after dark within safety constraints imposed after the Columbia accident. A 30-ft.-dia. C-band radar dish and a smaller X-band Doppler radar on loan from the Navy tracked major events in the Delta II launch vehicle's ascent, such as booster and fairing separation.
As a stopgap, government-owned Indian Airlines is dry-leasing five Airbus A320s for three years (extendable to five years), and 11 A319s. The A319s will replace the fleet of subsidiary Alliance Air's 12 Boeing 737-200s. An IA official reports the airline's proposal to acquire 43 A319/A320/A321s as replacements for its A300 and 737-200 fleet is at "different stages of negotiation" and might require a rebid from Airbus and Boeing. Boeing's recent offer to slash Airbus' offer by $155 million prompted the rethinking.
Peter Riley has been promoted to senior vice president-six sigma, integrated supply chain and transformation from vice president-integrated supply chain at Textron Inc., Providence, R.I. William M. Ellis has been promoted to president of Textron's Fluid & Power Group from vice president-six sigma and transformation, and Richard Yates to senior vice president/corporate controller from vice president/controller. John Mayers has been appointed vice president of Textron Six Sigma, succeeding Ellis.
The Genesis spacecraft en route back to Earth from nearly a million miles out is set for a 24,700-mph. plunge through the atmosphere and midair helicopter capture this week, to return samples of the Sun tied to the primordial nebula that formed the solar system. The flight is opening a new era in planetary sample return where such missions are both underway and being planned with increased frequency as part of a growing U.S. exploration strategy.
The Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft is being designed to operate autonomously and distinguish combatants from non-combatants. The highly survivable air vehicles could operate in hostile environments and reclaim battlespace in which manned helicopters would not fly (see p. 46). The cover shows designs from both competitors: Lockheed Martin's propulsive anti-torque system and Northrop Grumman's intermeshing rotor system. Cover illustration created for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency by Barclay Shaw of Shaw Graphics.
You can now register ONLINE for Aviation Week Events. Go to www.AviationNow.com/conferences or call Ryan Leeds at +1 (212) 904-3892/+1 (800) 240-7645 (U.S. and Canada Only) Sept. 14-16--MRO Europe. Bella Center, Copenhagen. Oct. 12-14--MRO/Asia. Shanghai Convention Center. Nov. 16-17--A&D Programs. Biltmore Hotel, Phoenix. PARTNERSHIPS Oct. 12-14--Shephard Heli-Asia 2004, Bangkok. Oct. 20--Shephard ARA 2004, Bangkok Nov. 1-7--Air Show China, Zhuhai. www.airshow.com.cn
Look for the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA to trim about $600 million from the agency's Fiscal 2005 budget request this week. For NASA, that's an improvement over the $1.1-billion whack the House panel took, but it won't pay for everything the agency wants, including a host of new hardware for President Bush's deep-space exploration plans and a robot to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
Orders and the intent to place orders from Asian carriers are helping major programs for both Airbus and Boeing, but the mid-summer news isn't all positive.
Lt. Gen. Bruce A. Wright has been appointed commander of United States Forces Japan/commander of the Fifth Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, Yokota AB, Japan. He has been vice commander of ACC. Wright will be succeeded by Maj. Gen. William M. Fraser, 3rd, who has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general. Fraser has been director of operations at Air Education and Training Command, Randolph AFB, Tex. Maj. Gen. Kevin P. Chilton has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as commander of the Eighth Air Force of ACC, Barksdale AFB, La.
Dr. Robert Cleaves has won the Distinguished Volunteer Pilot Award from the Arlington, Va.-based National Aeronautics Assn. He was cited for founding the Wilderness Conservancy's Project CARE in 2000, to fly humanitarian missions to Baja California, Mexico. Other winners are: Wanda Whitsitt, Distinguished Volunteer Award for her work with Lifeline Pilots, which helps carry needy medical patients, medical supplies and transplant organs; and J.
Ohio University has a unique research center here providing Ph.D. candidates with real-world avionics opportunities, as it has for the past four decades. Yet, like most academic programs, the future is never assured. University officials say this is the only facility of its kind in the U.S. that specializes in the research, development and flight test of electronic communications, navigation and surveillance equipment in an academic setting.
A trend among developing nations in recent years to protect their military-industrial bases by limiting foreign arms purchases and placing greater emphasis on joint production of various weapons systems led to a fall in the sales of arms in 2003 for the third consecutive year, according to an annual survey by the Congressional Research Service. Global sales fell 12% to $26 billion in 2003, down from $29 billion in 2002. CRS says developing nations in the Middle East are buying less while those in Asia are making larger purchases.
Edward J. Bergin (see photo) has been named deputy president of Lockheed Martin Aircraft and Logistics Centers, Greenville, S.C. On Jan. 1, he is scheduled to succeed David J. Posek, who plans to retire next year. Bergin has been president of the Kelly Aviation Center in San Antonio, a Lockheed Martin and General Electric Aircraft Engines joint venture. Marillyn A. Hewson (see photo) will succeed Bergin. She has been senior vice president-corporate shared services for the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.
