Greg Crowe has become general manager of the Parker Aerospace Nichols Airborne Div., Elyria, Ohio, succeeding Mark Seidel, who has been appointed general manager of the Gas Turbine Fuel Systems Div., Mentor, Ohio. Crowe was general manager of the Aircraft Wheel and Brake Div., Avon, Ohio.
The French air force has performed the first firing of the AASM air-launched precision-guided munition from a Mirage 2000. Drop tests began in February. The 250-kg. (550-lb.) guided bomb is to enter service with the Mirage 2000 and Rafale/F2 strike aircraft in 2006 in its 10-meter accuracy version, and in 2008 in the metric variant (AW&ST July 19, p. 124).
The last of the original General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin Atlas-Centaur boosters powered by Rocketdyne MA-5A engines rocketed into history here Aug. 31. The mission marks the passing of the torch to a much different and newer Atlas design powered by Russian engines.
Japan Airlines will expand its links with Hainan Airlines, China's largest "independent" carrier, on Oct. 31 with code-share flights between Kansai International Airport in Osaka and Haikou, the provincial capital of Hainan Island. Hainan Airlines is regionally and privately owned rather than being controlled by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Last November, JAL and Hainan opened the West China Express, a series of daily flights that connected JAL's services to Beijing with Hainan's flights to Chengdu, Chongqing and Xian.
A U.S. court has ruled that Air New Zealand is not responsible for a passenger's development of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) on board a September 2000 flight. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said documents indicate Adriene Rodriguez, a passenger on a flight segment from Los Angeles to Auckland, did not eat or leave her seat during the 12-hr. leg and slept for the 12-hr. duration. She collapsed on arrival and was diagnosed with DVT resulting in a pulmonary embolism.
Suzanne D. Patrick is the U.S. deputy undersecretary of Defense for industrial policy. She began her career in the Naval Air Systems Command and has had experience on Wall Street in aerospace finance. Warnings of the demise of the U.S. defense industrial base have been frequent, overstated--and false. It is time to dispel these myths.
Most Homeland Security Dept. visa security officers assigned to U.S. facilities in Saudi Arabia under 2002 legislation are untrained and lack needed skills, and their main activities involve entering visa application data uncritically into Homeland Security databases and duplicating State Dept. consular officers' work, the Homeland Security inspector general reports. One reason cited for the shortcomings is that Homeland Security made the work temporary duty instead of a permanent assignment, so training was minimal and turnover high.
The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon a $440-million contract for the extended-range anti-air warfare missile, designated the Standard Missile SM-6. The money will go to developing a weapon that combines the Standard Missile SM-2 Block 4 missile with a derivative of an Amraam seeker. The initial target set includes helicopters, fighters and land-attack cruise missiles.
I read the aviation security and safety articles in the Aug. 23/30 issue and wondered why the U.S. has this compulsion to share information with terrorists. They are smart and innovative and don't need help. Some information should not be shared. For example, I suspect the article, "Big Head- ache" (p. 57), which cites the success rate and limitations of the SA-7, and the increased kill probability of the Grail, would be of interest to terrorists. In "Cargo Conundrum" (p. 62), it was stated that the U.S.
ITT Industries has received $63.4 million for the first full-rate production contract for the ALQ-214(V)2 Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures radio frequency countermeasures system. The terms specify that ITT will deliver 19 units and spares for Navy F/A-18E/Fs. Deliveries should be completed by August 2007.
ROBINSON HELICOPTER CO., WHOSE R22 AND R44 HELICOPTERS are powered by piston engines, continues to gain market share against turbine-powered helos. In the first six months of the year, Robinson sold 80% of all piston- and turbine-powered helicopters produced in North America. In that period the Torrance, Calif.-based airframe manufacturer built 343 aircraft--a 54% increase compared with the same period in 2003, according to the Aerospace Industries Assn. Of these, 115 were R22s and the balance were four-place R44s.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN IS WORKING with the U.S. Air Force to fuse data from a variety of sensors as a basis for collision-avoidance systems for unmanned aerial vehicles. The concept is to create an autonomous "see and avoid" system that would permit UAVs and manned aircraft to operate safely in the same airspace. Work under this contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, aims to verify, through simulation, a sensing architecture designed under a previous award.
Carter A. White has been appointed vice president-portfolio management for Seattle-based AWAS. He has held similar positions with the Transamerica Finance Corp., Fleet Capital Leasing and the Sanwa Business Credit Corp.
The Smart Material Actuated Rotor Technology (Smart) system developed by Boeing and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is projected to reduce vibration in helicopter main rotor systems by up to 80%. Also, Smart would provide a smoother ride compared with existing helos and cut noise by 10 dB. during takeoff and landing. The system uses a series of electrically controlled flaps on the trailing edge of rotor blades that react to sensor signals, modifying the rotor's vibratory and acoustic signatures.
Northrop Grumman and NASA have completed a nine-month test series designed to demonstrate that the composite cryogenic tank flaw that brought the old X-33 program to a halt has been solved, making the technology available for future spacecraft including the proposed Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). Using the test facility at Marshall Space Flight Center where the X-33's composite liquid hydrogen tank failed, a subscale composite liquid hydrogen tank completed 40 test cycles without a failure. In each cycle, the tank was filled with liquid hydrogen, pressurized to 113 lb.
Lockheed Martin has received a $14.8-million contract for systems integration on eight MH-60R multimission helicopters. The award represents the third low-rate production buy of the MH-60R. Nine MH-60Rs have been delivered so far.
EADS Astrium says it is too early to predict the impact of a fuel leak suffered by Amazonas-1, a large K u-/C-band telecom satellite launched on Aug. 5 for Hispamar, a joint venture of Spain's Hispasat and Telemar of Brazil (AW&ST Aug. 9, p. 15). Astrium CEO Antoine Bouvier said engineers had detected a slight pressure drop in one of the oxidizer tanks, but did not yet have enough information to ascertain its effect on satellite life.
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) 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 Dec. 15-16--Shephard UV North America 2004, Washington.
US Airways, facing a major pension-fund payment this week and end-of-month financial tests it can't pass, clung last week to fading hopes for concessions from its employees.
The FAA is cautiously optimistic about meeting its latest challenge--holding runway incursions down as passenger traffic rises to the forecast 1 billion-plus mark by 2014.
Qantas and Singapore Airlines, preparing to introduce Airbus' A380 to service in Asia in 2006, are exploring how to share maintenance and training costs. Shared hangars and flight simulators is one idea.
Capt. Thomas Peter Heidenberger (Chevy Chase, Md.)
Post-Sept. 11, 2001, there have been countless articles, editorials and letters to the editor concerning terrorism, homeland security and, in particular, aviation security. Your knowledge of the "real" world of aviation security is on par with that of U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.): giving lip service to travelers, politicizing this issue with minimal results and sparse accomplishments to improve aviation security. What changes have been made are mostly cosmetic, comprise the bare minimum and are not enough to prevent another Sept. 11.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. has initiated assembly of the first wing for the CTOL (conventional takeoff and landing) version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Prior to the beginning of assembly operations the wing fixture was moved into place automatically using one of three automated guidance vehicles. The fixture allows workers to install aluminum alloy frames and intercostals. When assembly is complete, the structure will be placed in a precision milling machine to remove sacrificial fiberglass shims to obtain the wing's correct inner mold line.
