CESSNA AIRCRAFT CO. HAS FLOWN a Pratt & Whitney Canada PW615F engine for the Citation Mustang business jet on a CitationJet flight test aircraft. The 1.9-hr. flight followed 3 hr. of ground runs at Cessna's Wichita, Kan., facilities. "This is a milestone for the Mustang program," says manager Russ Meyer, 3rd. The PW615F is flat-rated to 1,350-lb. takeoff thrust at sea level to ISA +10C and is controlled by a dual-channel full authority digital electronic control. P&W officials expect certification of the engine in the fourth quarter of 2005.
EasyJet's share price took a 25% tumble when the low-cost carrier used its interim first-quarter results to warn about the outlook for the rest of the financial year. Chief Executive Ray Webster said "unprofitable and unrealistic" pricing was negatively affecting the market. Previously "cautiously optimistic" about its full year results, he said EasyJet was now "cautious."
Airline Pilots' Security Alliance, an ad hoc group with 40,000 members who are mostly pilots, said last week that the daily United Airlines Flight 200 from Los Angeles to Washington Dulles International Airport was receiving extra security scrutiny. A United official confirmed this was the case. Capt. Dave Mackett, president of the alliance, said pilots and flight attendants were being checked again by security screeners before boarding the aircraft after they had passed through security checkpoints.
Robert J. Vilhauer has been named vice president-public policy and analysis for Boeing's Washington Operations. He succeeds Bob Bott, who has retired. Vilhauer has been Washington Operations director for Boeing Air Traffic Management.
Boeing's acquisition of unmanned aircraft developer Frontier Systems could be a boon to the company's A-160 Hummingbird long-endurance helicopter UAV. Frontier, which was headed by UAV pioneer Abraham E. Karem, has been developing the A-160 under contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, but Army officials indicated they would prefer dealing with a larger aerospace company with proven production capacity if the service were to buy the system, according to one insider.
Michael A. Taverna (St. Cloud, Seclin and Argenteuil, France)
Of the various manufacturers already using Dassault Systemes' Product Lifecycle Management system, which will serve to manage design and production processes for Boeing's 7E7 Dreamliner, one that has gone the furthest in implementing the concept, Dassault Systemes says, is Dassault Aviation.
Bowing to congressional pressure, the White House last week submitted a downpayment request for $25 billion to pay for Fiscal 2005 operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The total bill is expected to top $50 billion. The White House wanted to wait until early next year to submit the request, covering costs early in the fiscal year by borrowing against accounts for later months. But Senate and House members voiced concern about the original funding strategy, prompting the White House to reverse course.
German travel giant TUI will increase the size of a planned senior note issue, to 625 million euros from 350 million euros, in response to investor demand. The bonds, which mature in 2011, carry a 6.625% coupon.
Avantair has ordered 29 Piaggio P.180 business aircraft for use in its fractional ownership operation. In addition, Avantair, which holds options on another five aircraft, already has 10 of the twin-engine, turboprop-powered airplanes.
CAE has signed a $40-million, 10-year contract to provide Boeing 737-200 and Airbus A320 pilot training in Santiago, Chile, for LAN this year. The contract includes provisions for 767-300ER training to begin next year.
DirecTV 7S, built by Space Systems/ Loral for DirecTV of El Segundo, Calif., was launched by a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL booster from the Odyssey Launch Platform on May 4. The 13-kw. satellite uses highly focused spot beam technology. It's the third satellite built by SS/L for DirecTV; two others are under construction at its Palo Alto, Calif., facility. The launch was switched from Arianespace under a mutual backup agreement with Boeing.
Rolls-Royce Deutschland is actively developing the technology for a new engine core to spawn a family of powerplants in the 20,000-30,000-lb.-thrust class. The goal is to achieve a double-digit improvement in specific fuel consumption for this thrust class while meeting any emissions and noise standards that can be foreseen through 2020. Narrow-body transports would be the main application for engines based on the new technology.
NATO's selection of a European team to provide a major portion of future satellite telecommunications capacity shows the increasing maturity of Europe's satellite industry, and the Alliance's desire to increasingly rely on supply from both sides of the Atlantic.
DELIVERIES OF NEW GENERAL AVIATION AIRPLANES in the first quarter exceeded those during the same period a year ago, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Assn. (GAMA). Shipments increased 9.7% and billings rose 21.1% as demand for piston-powered, turboprop and business jets surged. During the quarter, 541 airplanes were delivered, including 394 piston, 32 turboprop and 115 business jets worth $2.38 billion, compared with 493 last year.
William C. Bodie (see photo) has been appointed vice president-armed services programs at DFI Government Services of Washington. He has been director of Air Force communications at the Pentagon.
Saturn is looming in the headlights of the Cassini spacecraft, which has gotten so close that its narrow-field camera can no longer fit the entire planet and its famous rings in a single frame. The NASA probe sent back this final whole-Saturn image on Mar. 27 and is now closing in on Phoebe, the first of the planet's moons it will encounter. The tiny (137 mi. dia.) moon's average 8-million-mi. distance from the planet, and its unusual elliptical orbit, which is retrograde and inclined 30 deg.
Riding a traffic boom that is transforming the Russian airline sector from rags to riches, Transaero is planning a major expansion of its fleet and flight network that could propel the privately owned carrier to the top of the industry--provided a looming political battle over import surcharges can be avoided.
The approach for how new slots are being added to Reagan Washington National Airport is flawed as it does not greatly improve the ability for travelers to get to our nation's capital.
This week, Southwest Airlines makes Philadelphia, the fifth-largest U.S. city, its 60th destination. As the carrier put the finishing touches on its preparations, CEO Jim Parker answered questions from Editor-In-Chief Anthony L. Velocci, Jr., and Senior Transport Editor David Bond. Aviation Week & Space Technology: You're increasing your fleet by a net of 29 aircraft this year and 29 aircraft next year, to a total of 446. What will you do with all that capacity?
Alexey Komarov (Moscow), Neelam Mathews (New Delhi)
Snecma/Turbomeca's Larzac engine was considered a shoo-in for India's new HJT-36 trainer, but circumstances now indicate otherwise. India has placed a $200-million order for Russia's AL-55 engine for the intermediate jet trainer being built by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL).
Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS), a Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman joint venture, issued a broad industry announcement on May 5 seeking suppliers with technologies and products relevant to the U.S. Coast Guard's $11-billion Integrated Deepwater System procurement. ICGS will be looking for new suppliers to bring innovative technology into the program that is expected to last two decades.
The U.S. Air Force is expanding the fleet of transport aircraft fitted with laser-based infrared countermeasures systems. In what is likely to be a move popular with the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the Alaska Air National Guard C-130s will get Northrop Grumman's larger aircraft infrared countermeasures system. The company will receive $23 million for hardware and support, of which $11.6 million has already been obligated.
USAF Brig Gen. (ret.) Steven A. Roser (see photo) has been appointed vice president-business development for the Huntsville, Ala.-based Defense and Aerospace Systems Div. of Sanmina-SCI. He was St. Louis regional manager for Pratt & Whitney.
Members of United Auto Workers Local 1542 are back at work at Dassault Falcon Jet's facility at New Castle County (Del.) Airport after ratifying a new three-year contract. According to General Manager Todd McGahey, approximately 100 of the roughly 170 workers on strike had returned to work several weeks ago, so many of the maintenance shops have been up and running. The facility was acquired from Atlantic Aviation in late 2000, at which point Dassault inherited the union issues, which had gone back a decade.
