Engine-makers General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce are moving quickly to certify their powerplants for the Airbus A380 mega-transport, which is scheduled to begin flight test early next year.
With an expanding domestic market and demand exceeding capacity on regional routes, Malaysia Airlines plans to phase out its Boeing 737-400 and Fokker 50 fleets, but the preferred replacement is not yet clear. MAS' 39 737-400s are 10-12-years old and are flown in a 146-seat configuration on eight regional routes, such as Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, Jakarta and Yangon, and on domestic routes on the Malay peninsula and to Sarawak and Sabah. The 15-year-old Fokker 50s work domestic routes.
A new U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin GPS IIR spacecraft (shown) is set for launch from Cape Canaveral this week after concerns over a hydraulic pump in the first stage of the satellite's Boeing Delta II booster triggered a delay. Liftoff had been planned for June 4, but has been rescheduled for June 9-10 pending installation and checkout of a new pump in the booster.
To submit Aerospace Calendar Listings, Call +1 (212) 904-2421 Fax +1 (212) 904-6068 e-mail: [email protected] June 12-13--Wings 'n' Wheels Air Show. St. Lucie County International Airport, Fort Pierce, Fla. Call +1 (800) 804-5445 or see www.slcwingsandwheels.com June 14-15--Technology Training Corp.'s Surveillance & Reconnaissance Conference. Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites, Washington. Call +1 (310) 563-1223, fax +1 (310) 563-1220 or see www.ttcus.com
With a membership of 16,000 in Washington State alone, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (Speea) took to the streets in Everett and Renton on June 2 and 3 in support of 3,400 Speea workers at Boeing Wichita (Kan.) who have been without a contract since late February. Approximately 250 Speea members participated in the rallies. Speea represents about one-quarter of Boeing Wichita's total employment.
With the summer travel season barely underway, one airport is already experiencing the sort of trouble many are worried about: long security lines. At the Airport Council International-North America spokeswoman Pam Shepherd said many of its members are concerned as traffic closes in on levels not seen since 2000. "Right now 25 airports are reporting an uptick in passenger traffic but we are not expecting to see an uptick in TSA [screener] numbers," she said.
The Homeland Security Dept. awarded the biggest contract in its young history to Accenture, tapped to complete the fledgling USVisit program. Accenture, one of the largest management consulting and technical services companies in the U.S., received the contract on May 28. Subcontractors include AT&T, Dell Inc., Deloitte Consulting and Raytheon, Sprint Communications Co. and the Titan Corp.
Can a management team repair a company in three years? Bombardier President and CEO Paul Tellier thinks so. His agenda since taking the helm in December 2002 includes reducing the company's risk from financially weak airline customers, reversing a negative cash flow and launching development of a new aircraft--all at the same time.
Living in San Diego, we witnessed the wildfire devastation last fall. Some suggest it might have been minimized if a helicopter drop could have been made after the 5 p.m. curfew the evening before the blaze grew out of control. Your articles on firefighting have pointed out the disjointed approach used to keep our forests safe.
Civil aviation has taken a wallop in the economic downturn of the last few years, but now it's finally beginning to show signs of recovery. However, it is a fragile one and could easily lose steam, depending mostly on the strength of the U.S. economy in coming months.
Scaled Composites is opening its first attempt at a 100-km. (328,000-ft.) suborbital flight, inviting the public to view the June 21 event from its Mojave, Calif., airport home base, from which the SpaceShipOne craft will take off and land, and the rocket boost will be visible.
NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel wants some answers on how the agency plans to meet a key Columbia Accident Investigation Board recommendation, and it wants them, well, ASAP. In its first recommendation since it was reconstituted under the original ASAP charter (AW&ST Oct. 13, 2003, p. 19), the panel of outside safety experts asks for a report by July 1 from Chief Engineer Theron M. Bradley, Jr., on how NASA is setting up an independent technical authority (ITA) outside the space shuttle program that would "own" requirements for human spaceflight.
Electronic flight bag technology continues to advance rapidly, and some of the latest offerings are filling in gaps between low- and high-end systems for business aviation and the airlines. For example, CMC Electronics of Canada is offering an avionics-grade, Class 2 hardware system, the CMA-1100, designed for uses in all phases of flight. Low-end (Class 1) systems are more limited, and higher end (Class 3) systems are just arriving on airline flight decks.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration reported that bomb threats were investigated on two flights last week, and in a separate incident a hijacking code was sent in error. On June 2, a caller to a hotel at Philadelphia International Airport said a bomb was on board American Eagle Flight 4543, which was about to leave for Boston Logan International Airport. The regional jet was taken out of service, passengers were deplaned, and police K-9 dogs found no explosives.
Mary E. Lacey (see photo) has been appointed program executive officer for the U.S. Defense Dept.'s National Security Personnel System and Paul A. Tibbits director of the Business Modernization and Systems Integration Program Office. Lacey succeeds Peter F. Brown and has been technical director of the Naval Surface Warfare Center. Tibbits was lead consultant to the Presidential Task Force on Health Care Reform for Veterans and had been commanding officer of the U.S. Navy Medical Information Management Center.
Finland's Tampere University of Technology (TUT) and the European Space Agency will begin recruiting engineers and researchers soon to develop an "intelligent" spacesuit that will keep track of the health and position of human explorers on other planets. The project, initiated under ESA's StarTiger technology research and development program, will draw on experience developed over the years at TUT's Institute of Electronics. Possible parameters that the "Starsuit" would monitor in real time include heart rate, respiration and temperature.
American Airlines has agreed to pay $2.5 million and Boeing Commercial Airplanes has paid $824,800 in civil penalties to settle FAA claims involving aircraft operations and quality assurance, respectively. American, American Eagle and Reno Air (acquired by American in 1998) were accused of violating FAA maintenance, flight operations, training, safety and record-keeping requirements, sometimes operating aircraft that didn't comply with regulations, during 1997-2003. American didn't admit wrongdoing.
Cessna's Model 680 Citation Sovereign received its type certificate June 3. The aircraft has a new wing and a fully integrated avionics system utilizing Honeywell's Primus Epic technology. The new Sovereign is the largest cabin Citation jet and has a 459-kt. cruise speed with 47,000-ft. ceiling and a range of 2,730 naut. mi. Cessna has 100 firm orders for the aircraft valued at $1.5 billion. First delivery is scheduled for the second half of this year.
Mars Exploration Rover engineers have reversed course of the Opportunity rover at Endurance Crater, to gather more data on what appears to be the most promising spot to enter the 132-meter-dia. (433-ft.) crater to investigate a new type of bedrock.
The Italian air force is nixing the idea of leasing a further batch of F-16s in favor of a life-extension program and capability improvements for its AMX and Tornado strike aircraft. The service has already signed up for 34 Lockheed Martin F-16s, with 23 of the type already delivered. However, it wants to avoid, if possible, any more "interim solutions," according to Gen. Sandro Ferracuti, air force chief of staff.
The FAA has issued an airworthiness directive calling for Boeing Model 234 helicopter operators to inspect for cracks in the upper shaft extension of the aft vertical shaft assembly. A crack could result in catastrophic failure of the assembly and lead to loss of control. Under the AD, inspection is required prior to first flight of the day; the assembly must be replaced if a crack is discovered.
Final assembly of the first F-15K Strike Eagle fighter aircraft for the South Korean air force has begun at Boeing's St. Louis plant. The F-15K forward, center and aft fuselage assemblies are being joined, to be followed by wing assemblies and installation of mechanical and electrical. The aircraft is scheduled to begin ramp operations this October. First flight is slated for March 2005; the first two aircraft are marked for delivery in October 2005. Boeing will deliver 40 F-15Ks with associated weapons in 2005-08 under a contract valued at $4.2 billion.
Spot Image will market 1-meter-resolution satellite radar images and services supplied by Germany's TerraSAR-X radar imaging satellite under an agreement with Infoterra, the satellite's commercial data provider. French-based Spot Image--which like Infoterra is controlled by EADS--will sell the products and services on an exclusive basis within certain undisclosed territories and markets.
Homeland Security Dept. Secretary Tom Ridge promises improvements in airport screening after being summoned to Capitol Hill for a closed-door grilling by Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the aviation subcommittee. Mica called the meeting after a hearing that highlighted poor performance by federal and private-sector airport screeners.
