Sune Andersson suggests giving full authority to the aircraft flight control system (FCS) to "safeguard the structural integrity of aircraft independent of control inputs" (AW&ST Apr. 19, p. 6).
The Italian navy is crafting requirements for two classes of unmanned aerial vehicles--mindful, however, of its funding limitations and the performance of some candidate platforms. While developing cases for both small and medium UAV systems, in the short term the navy hopes to learn from the defense ministry's acquisition of the General Atomics RQ-1 Predator, which will be operated by the air force. The navy also wants to determine how UAVs will fit within its air arm, which has about 100 fixed- and rotary-wing platforms.
France and Belgium have agreed to pool their pilot training resources and to set up joint flying schools intended to improve interoperability and make better use of existing installations. The measures will permit Belgian pilots, who are constrained by tight airspace within their borders, to use French bases.
Commercial transport sales and deliveries remain flat but better times are expected to materialize in the second half of the year, said aerospace executives attending ILA 2004. Confidence in the emergence of a long-awaited upturn was also expressed by top Airbus officials shortly after the opening of huge production facilities at Toulouse-Blagnac to accommodate final assembly of the A380 mega-transport.
NASA is preparing to open bidding on the first contracts aimed at fulfilling President Bush's order to push beyond low-Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond, but until Congress frees some funding for the work, the agency is essentially window-shopping. Managers in the new headquarters Office of Exploration Systems outlined their plans to award $6-million contracts for concept studies of human lunar exploration after 2015, and of the crew exploration vehicle (CEV) that would be the nucleus of the "system-of-systems" approach NASA wants for its deep-space push.
Dean McCaskill has become managing director for Asia for the Watlow Electric Manufacturing Co. of St. Louis. He was president for Latin America of Honeywell Automation and Control Products.
U.S. Army acquisition officials are now asking that surveillance aircraft being bought for use in Iraq be fielded with air conditioning, reversing course after multiple contractors told the service it was courting disaster by omitting the system (AW&ST May 3, p. 32). One bidder told the service that cockpit temperatures could hit 90-105F in summer and fall months, at least while the aircraft is below 15,000 ft. The Army also has made clear it expects the aircraft to be able to operate from short and unimproved air fields.
WORLD NEWS ROUNDUP 18 Space, missile, small military aircraft deals highlight ILA 18 EADS revenue goal heads for 30 billion euros 19 SpaceShipOne doubles alti- tude to 211,000 ft. 19 Restored Ki.43 fighter read- ied for initial flight tests 20 William J. (Pete) Knight dies, set Mach 6.7 record WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS 24 US Airways, Delta will weigh Chapter 11 if plans turn sour 25 New team scurrying to devise strategy to save Alitalia
Chineta K. Davis (see photo) has been promoted to vice president of the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Norden Systems, Norwalk, Conn., from director of strategic sourcing in the Procurement and Material Management organization in Baltimore. She succeeds Ivory E. Tucker, who has been named vice president-Material Program Management Operations for the company's Electronic Systems Sector in Baltimore.
SIA Engineering Co. (SIAEC) is embarking on passenger-to-freighter conversion business in an effort to offer a full line of maintenance repair and overhaul services from its Singapore hub. SIAEC's initial conversions will be performed on five Boeing 747-400s that Singapore Airlines sold to Dragonair in April. (At the same time, SIA sold three other 747-400s to an undisclosed buyer.) The converted 747s are scheduled for delivery to Dragonair in 2006-08.
NASA and the U.S. space industry as a whole may have trouble finding the engineers they will need if President Bush's space exploration plans win congressional approval. Billed as a "system of systems" that will evolve over the next few decades as humans push through a lunar way station toward Mars, the exploration hardware would require a highly skilled cadre of systems engineers to put it all together. But systems engineers are already in short supply nationwide, according to Ralph Roe, director of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center.
New Skies Satellites and the Indian Space Research Organization have signed an agreement for multiple high-powered 36 MHz. K u-band transponders on the Netherlands-based operator's NSS-6 satellite. The capacity will support launch of the world's largest free-to-air DTH service for Doordarshan, India's national broadcaster. The DTH service, expected to begin in June, will provide an initial offering of 30 free channels--15 from Doordarshan and 15 from private broadcasters--as well as 20 radio channels throughout India.
NTSB investigators are unraveling what chain of events led to American Eagle Flight 5401's hard landing at San Juan, Puerto Rico, which caused substantial wing damage and injuries to 13 of 26 people on board. On May 9, the ATR 72-212 twin-turboprop aircraft (N438AT) landed on Runway 8 at San Juan's Luiz Munoz International Airport at about 2:50 p.m. local time. Four crew and 22 passengers were on the flight from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
It was a red-letter quarter for aerospace manufacturers. But did any of that black ink wash over second- and third-tier suppliers and manufacturers? Seems it did.
A service life extension program now being explored by the U.S. Air Force and General Electric for about 850 F110 fighter engines could eventually save the service $1 billion, over and above program costs, if implemented. Two engines demonstrating the potential improvements will be on test by the end of the month, one at the Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center near Tullahoma, Tenn., the other at GE facilities in Evendale, Ohio.
Sune Andersson wants to see Airbus and Boeing give full authority to the FCS, which would take over when the pilots operate out of the envelope. He should review the accident report where the pilot asked his right-seater "What's it doing now?" about his FCS or the Paris air show incident in which an Airbus test pilot couldn't take control and the plane flew itself into trees.
In further confirmation that the 7E7 may be in the "sweet spot" of the market for new commercial aircraft, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President/CEO Alan Mulally last week said more than 400 orders are being considered by customers worldwide. That's in addition to the record launch order of 50 of the midsize jets Boeing recently received from All Nippon Airways.
Robert Wall and Douglas Barrie (Eglin AFB, Fla., and Nas Patuxent River, Md.)
U.S. weapons builders are weighing which direction to take as they develop upgrades to existing weapons and design new ones, setting the stage for potentially significant shifts in how the military fights. Among major topics under review are whether to invest in speed or persistence and whether to network munitions or fit them with sensors. Military imperatives, legal considerations and cost concerns are only some of the factors influencing the deliberations.
Ben Minicucci has been named staff vice president-maintenance for Alaska Airlines. He was vice president-aircraft maintenance for Air Canada in Vancouver.
ScanEagle, a long-endurance fully autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle developed and built by Boeing and The Insitu Group, completed an autonomous flight launched from a ship. The 40-lb. UAV took off via a pneumatic wedge catapult launcher mounted on board a 58-ft. fishing boat. ScanEagle then flew pre-programmed and operator-directed waypoints over Puget Sound (Wash.) waters doing area surveillance with its standard electro-optical camera. The milestone flight ended with an autonomous landing on the boat as well.
John Murphey, the new chief executive of the AgustaWestland/Bell Helicopter joint venture that is working with Lockheed Martin to sell the US101 as the next presidential helicopter, hasn't always been a fan of European efforts here. "European products manufactured in the U.S. do not do anything to develop or enhance our nation's capability in the engineering and manufacturing technologies that are so important to sustained viability of [the helicopter] industry," he told lawmakers when he headed Bell Helicopter.
As it completes its absorption of domestic carrier Japan Air System, Japan Airlines is sticking to a long-held maxim that passengers prefer large, twin-aisle aircraft. But not too large. The combined JAL and JAS fleets of 276 aircraft are spread over 13 fleet types and 17 models, from Bombardier Dash 8-Q400s, Saab A340s and Nihon Y-11s through Airbus A300B2/B4 and A300-600Rs, DC-10s and MD-11s, Boeing 767s, 777s and 747 classics and -400s.
Mark Barclay has become managing director of the Avionics Services Worldwide unit of Thales Avionics, Toulouse, France. He was CEO of Thales Telecom Services.
