The Pentagon is starting to come to grips with the massive maintenance demands that last year's combat operations in Iraq have placed on its force, but it will take months or years to get aircraft fleets back to acceptable levels.
Federated Services Solution (FSS) solves the problem of sharing and synchronizing product-related data between disparate PLM/ERP systems. FSS employs a federated architecture to feed selected, up-to-date product/plant content information at regular intervals to target data servers based upon user-established business rules. These rules control data movement and security according to how the originating site intends to share information. Target sites contain rules based on information they are willing to accept.
A federal air marshal accidentally left her gun in a rest room at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport on Apr. 9, according to the Associated Press. She put the gun on a shelf while washing her hands, then forgot it. An airport employee noticed the gun, and airport police picked it up even though the agent returned a few minutes later looking for the weapon. A Federal Air Marshal Service official said the agent probably would be suspended.
Pick a global trend and watch airline revenue and operating expenses react. War sends load factors plummeting, along with revenue, as it did in 1991 and again recently. The booming economy of the go-go '90s bounced revenues into the black. And oil production cut-backs and political uncertainty typically send jet fuel costs skyrocketing.
COMMERCIAL AIR TRANSPORT Joe Leonard, chairman and CEO, AirTran Airways. AERONAUTICS/PROPULSION Ken Hyde, A. Scott Crossfield, Kevin Kochersberger and Terry Queijo and the other members of the Wright Experience; and Noel Forgeard, chief executive, and the men and women of Airbus. GOVERNMENT/MILITARY Senior software engineer Kimberly Tran of Boeing Satellite Services and former BSS engineer C. Steven Griffin. SPACE Chinese air force Col. Yang Liwei, his country's first astronaut.
David Miller has been appointed senior vice president-fleet management for NetJets Inc., Woodbridge, N.J. He was senior vice president/general manager of L-3 Communications/EMP Systems, Simi Valley, Calif.
Leesburg, Va.-based AvCraft announced that the Dornier 328JET wing will be built in-house at its Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, facility by former Dornier engineers using tooling supplied by Fulda, Germany-based EDAG Engineering + Design. AvCraft plans to complete the first new-build 328JET by the fourth quarter of this year while work is advancing on five semi-finished aircraft (part of the assets) it purchased from Fairchild Dornier receivership in 2002.
The termination of Delta Air Lines' code-share agreement with Atlantic Coast Airlines might mean the mainline carrier will be stuck with 30 Fairchild Dornier 328JET aircraft it doesn't necessarily want. The Delta termination announcement starts the clock on a 180-day notification period in which ACA can require Delta to assume leases on some or all of the aircraft that ACA had been operating in the Delta Connection program.
Each Laureate Award winner from 1988-2003 automatically has become a member of the Laureates Hall of Fame (see pp. 58-59). But what about the Laurels winners selected prior to 1988? To ensure the Legends of the past are remembered in Aviation Week's Hall of Fame, each class of inductees now includes the current year's winners and a number of legendary achievers selected by Aviation Week & Space Technology editors. This year, the following have been selected for induction into the Hall of Fame. Andre Turcat and Brian Trubshaw
With inbound and outbound traffic going up and a two-year delay in government approval for its five-year fleet expansion plan, state-owned Indian Airlines is leasing six Airbus A320s to meet its winter schedule beginning in November. The airline board also approved leases of five A319s for its Alliance Air subsidiary, to replace five 737-200s. The airline is set to buy 43 A319/A320/A321s.
Cessna Aircraft took orders for 50 new single-engine airplanes last week during the Sun n' Fun fly-in at Lakeland, Fla. Air Orlando Sales signed up for Skyhawks, Skylanes and Stationairs. The four-seat Skylanes and seven-seat Stationairs will come with the new Garmin G1000 glass cockpit displays.
General Electric expects to begin detailed design of its GenX engine for Boeing's 7E7 transport in January, after completing extensive rig and component tests later this year. By 2005, GE will conduct a variety of investigations, including 11 rig tests, some of which are already underway. As part of those evaluations, GE engineers will explore designs for the engine's fan blades, compressor, combustor and low- and high-pressure turbine blades.
Airbus in 2003 delivered more commercial transports than Boeing, a milestone in the European aerospace industry's quest for long-term parity with its U.S. rival. Airbus Chief Executive Noel Forgeard is recognized as being instrumental in achieving this formidable goal while further strengthening the Toulouse-based company's product range and progressive views to complete a three-decade-long effort to restore Europe to a prime position in the world market.
The Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies is forming a committee to study the feasibility of building a next-generation Earth-observation satellite for conducting resource surveys, natural disaster preparations and the like. The SJAC's goal is to outline the scope of such a project by year-end so they can invite other Asian and Pacific nations to join the planning team next year. The society includes the NEC/Toshiba group, Mitsubishi Electric and a number of academics. The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry and the Environment Ministry are to provide backing.
India will sign a contract with Aerostar Aircraft Factory in Bacau for engines and avionics for its MiG-21 squadrons, according to a senior defense official accompanying a delegation to Romania. He did not give details. This follows talks held with the Romanian deputy minister of national defense on cooperation between the two countries that mutually enjoy the most-favored-nation status. India has experienced a spate of MiG-21 accidents that have often been attributed to faulty spares bought from states of the former Soviet Union.
Alcatel Space has been awarded a 2-year, 2-million-euro contract to study the feasibility of an emergency rescue service based on the Galileo satellite navigation system. The project, called Score and jointly financed by the Galileo Joint Undertaking, will use Europe's Egnos wide-area augmentation system, the precursor to Galileo.
Delta Air Lines' chief financial officer, M. Michele Burns, is leaving to take on the same job for energy company Mirant Corp. of Atlanta, which is now in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. She is the second top executive to leave Delta this spring. Delta President Fred Reid left in March to lead the formation of Virgin USA.
Travel agents have joined privacy advocates in worrying about how the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the airlines will handle passenger privacy when handling data for the Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System 2 (Capps II). TSA is developing Capps II to ferret out terrorists. Richard M.
The Engineering Software Dept. of Singapore Technologies Aerospace (ST Aero) has committed itself to advancing along the capability maturity models of the Software Engineering Institute. It's currently pursuing SEI Level 4, a measure of statistical analysis, in support of the engineering development work it has underway for Talus Avionics, its own unmanned aerial vehicle (MAV-1), and upgrade work for major customers of its maintenance, repair and overhaul operations, such as FedEx.
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is beginning a year-long program to reduce runway incursions. DFW's "I Brake For Runways" campaign includes 35,000 of the airport's employees, all airlines operating at the facility, FlightSafety and Bombardier flight training centers located on the premises, airline and general aviation pilots and air traffic controllers. "Our airport's complexity of seven runways and taxiway areas means nearly 1,800 runway crossings per day," said Allen Para, vice president of operations.
Companies that are "betting" on zero point energy for vehicle propulsion are betting against the First Law of Thermodynamics again, a wager that no one has won (AW&ST Mar. 1, p. 50).
A $200-million cut in its Fiscal 2004 budget request will hamper NASA's work with its international partners to expand the International Space Station crew beyond three, the U.S. space agency complains. In its operating plan for the current fiscal year, NASA says the cut, and an across-the-board rescission of 0.59%, will mean the ISS program will have to use reserves to get by on $1.494 billion instead of the $1.707 billion requested.
Robert Lyle has been named government marketing manager for the Products Div. of the Air Methods Corp., Englewood, Colo. He was a regional manager with the Aircraft Interior Products Div. of the Goodrich Corp.
Isn't it time for Airbus and Boeing to give full authority to the flight control system (FCS), to safeguard the structural integrity of aircraft independent of control inputs (AW&ST Mar. 8, p. 20)? Coupled with an automatic ground collision avoidance system, the FCS should disconnect the pilots when they try to fly outside the certified envelope or below minimum altitude, and not give the controls back until the aircraft returns to normal flight conditions. With today's computers, this is feasible and should not cost many man-years to achieve.
