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The head of China's manned space program has reaffirmed Chinese plans to develop an Earth-orbiting space station. Wang Yongzhi, the chief designer of China's manned program, told a large student group in Beijing that the station development program would take about 15 years. China has been focusing on station development for at least the past two years (AW&ST Nov. 12, 2001, p. 52). Wang also said China would focus on unmanned exploration of the Moon, and had no plans for human lunar exploration.
Engineers at Eurocopter have begun working on a concept for a heavy-lift helicopter that European industry and defense officials hope could become the basis for a joint transatlantic development initiative.
Germany is again pushing to have its Phoenix experimental reusable launch vehicle (RLV) integrated into the European Space Agency's Future Flight Preparatory Program (FLTP), which was relaunched with additional funding in February. Among the ideas proposed is to drop the vehicle from a stratospheric balloon or from a supersonic MiG-31 so that it can explore the transonic speed range.
High gasoline prices are turning what began weeks ago as an arcane airline-industry complaint into a mainstream political issue. The Air Transport Assn. renews its attempt to persuade the Bush administration to stop stashing oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve while $40-plus-per-barrel prices are driving carriers toward unexpected 2004 losses. The association proposes $30 per barrel as the trigger for a suspension of stockpiling, which it says would keep as much as 10% of U.S.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, speaking before the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. legislative conference in Washington last week, allows that although there are "differences of opinion among us," the air traffic controller retirement bubble is "real"--and the agency's training and hiring practices must be modified to accommodate it. Blakey tosses out a few ideas that might attract recruits and retain the more experienced controllers in tough financial times.
To better equip U.S. troops in Iraq, the U.S. Army has asked Raytheon to more than double the production rates of new AN/PAS-13 Thermal Weapon Sights used by personnel and for crew-served weapons to 1,000 from 400 units per month. The system provides night vision and helps troops see through fog, smoke, dust and sandstorms.
Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce flew its Trent 900 turbofan engine--destined for the Airbus A380--for the first time May 17, using an A340-300 testbed aircraft. The Trent 900 is installed on the port inboard engine station. First flight saw it tested at altitudes of up to 35,000 ft., and at speeds up to Mach. 0.86. The 3 hr. 20 min. initial flight will be followed by a 50-hr. trial campaign on the A340 leading to first flight of the A380 in early 2005. The certification target date is October.
Loss of the shuttle Columbia has triggered such an intense round of engineering at NASA that there may not be enough engineers available to do the work.
David Fox (see photo) has been named president/CEO, John Lawson chairman and Bruce Gowan a member of the board of directors of International Water-Guard Industries Inc., Burnaby, British Columbia. Fox succeeds Bill Coote, who will continue as an adviser and board member. Fox was vice president-business development for Vortek Industries Ltd. Lawson is a former president of Bombardier Business Aircraft Sales, and Gowan is a member of the board of Magellan Aerospace, and its former chief financial officer. Gowan succeeds David Hall, who has resigned.
Kenneth E. Gazzola, executive vice president/publisher of the Aviation Week Group, received an honorary doctor of science degree at the annual convocation of the College of Aeronautics in New York. The college also presented an honorary doctor of science degree, at its commencement exercises, to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe.
A four-engine Ilyushin Il-76 cargo jet crashed on May 18 about 6 mi. from the airport in Urumqi, in the northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang, killing all seven crew on board. Preliminary reports indicate the crash, just 2 min. after takeoff, was caused by overload. The airplane, which was delivering consumer goods, reportedly was owned by a private Azerbaijan company and leased by a Ukrainian operator. China and the Interstate Aviation Committee, which is responsible for aviation safety in the former Soviet republics, have opened an investigation.
The market for surface-to-air missiles will generate $22.6 billion in sales during the next decade, with the production of more than 88,000 SAMs, according to Forecast International. Missile production is expected to peak at 11,100 units in 2004 and decline to 6,900 by 2013. Despite decreased production, the market value is to increase during most of the next 10 years.
Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told the Japanese parliament that the country should consider developing an airborne laser system with the U.S. No program has been agreed to, but should be considered as a missile defense component, he said.
WORLD NEWS ROUNDUP 18 Taurus XL lofts Rocsat-2 into polar orbit 19 EasyJet wants EC to nix Air France-KLM merger 19 European crash linked to pi- lot, traffic control errors 20 7E7 deal is Moog's first sole- source pact from Boeing 20 GKN wants to sell Agusta stake to Finmeccanica WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS 24 F/A-22 backers bare design secrets to fight budget cuts 25 Sweden looks to head off combat aircraft reductions
When Air Canada reached a tentative agreement on cost realignment with the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) Airline Div. last week, it fulfilled outstanding conditions in the Deutsche Bank Standby Purchase Agreement and GE Capital Aviation Services Global Restructuring Agreement. The CAW represents about 5,000 customer sales and service agents and crew schedulers at Air Canada. It was the last of the carrier's unions to reach accord with the airline, and the agreement meets a target set for CAW's share of C$200 million (U.S. $146 million) in labor cost realignments.
Continental Airlines' move to raise fares worldwide on May 19 was quickly matched by other U.S. carriers equally desperate to ease the effects of skyrocketing fuel prices on their shaky balance sheets.
Germany may be close to securing at least one purchase of Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles, U.S. and German government and industry sources said here. EADS and Northrop Grumman are collaborating on marketing the latter's Global Hawk in Europe. Company officials at the Berlin air show said they have been asked to submit information about developing a European version by midyear. They expect a request for proposals by year-end for the EuroHawk, which is earmarked for a high-altitude, long-endurance, wide-area-surveillance requirement.
SITA's Airport Connect software platform, which supports all passenger check-in processes, has completed in-installation testing and is operating at C$4.4-billion ($3.2-billion) Terminal 1 of Toronto Pearson International Airport. Billed as the first operational platform with an open systems architecture designed specifically for airports, the system is expected to improve passenger throughput by 15%.
Peter D. Ferguson has become director of maintenance at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Chris A. Davis has been promoted to assistant director of maintenance from senior project engineer in the Atlanta Aviation Dept.'s Facilities Div. Ferguson was facilities director of Terminal One at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport.
As in real estate, location is a key to success for airlines. Flying to a place travelers want to visit is an obvious advantage. Flying from a busy trading nation works the same for air freight. But if you are not well-organized, others will snatch your nation's parcels from under your nose.
Gary Fishman has been named senior vice president-alliances for Northwest Airlines. He succeeds Doug Birdsall, who is retiring July 31. Fishman has been vice president-customer service planning and security. He will be succeeded by Glenn Woythaler, who has been vice president-Atlantic region.
NASA Glenn Research Center engineers have concluded Phase 2 testing of an innovative, external compression inlet that could be used on manned and unmanned supersonic aircraft. Called the Parametric Inlet, the unit was originally developed by TechLand Research in conjunction with Boeing. NASA Glenn's role has been to conduct extensive amounts of computational fluid dynamics work. Wind tunnel tests of the inlet in 2003 were aimed at verifying its basic performance. The latest trials, totaling some 25 hr., were focused on optimizing inlet design.
Peter D. McDonald has been appointed executive vice president/chief operating officer of United Airlines. He was executive vice president-operations. John Tague has become executive vice president-marketing, sales and revenue. He was executive vice president-customer. Jake Brace, who has been executive vice president/chief financial officer, also will be chief restructuring officer.
