Officials of France's Ministry of Culture say wreckage of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning piloted by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the French aviator who wrote the well-known children's story The Little Prince, has been recovered off Marseille. The ministry's underwater archeological research department reported that the wreckage had been found by a local diver, Luc Vanrell, in the same area where a bracelet thought to have belonged to Saint-Exupery was discovered in 1998.
Hawaiian Airlines, more than one year in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and the subject of two substantial reorganization plans, will attract a third plan during the next two months if the carrier's trustee can secure financial commitments.
Douglas Barrie and Robert Wall (Nas Patuxent River, Md.)
European and U.S. guided-weapons makers are trading blows in their respective backyards as Canada and Denmark move toward choosing dogfight missiles. Canada is on the brink of signing up with European missile-manufacturer MBDA for its Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (Asraam), with Denmark favoring Raytheon's AIM-9X. The pending Canadian decision will come as a welcome fillip to MBDA, which has secured only one export order so far, from Australia.
Prof. A.U. Krishnamurthy (College of Aeronautics, New York, N.Y.)
Your editorial "European Aerospace: Congratulations, But Don't Rest on Your Laurels" (AW&ST Mar. 29, p. 74) was really thought-provoking and required detailed analysis, especially when you said: "One more observation is that the dramatic retrenchment of the U.S. aerospace industry contrasts sharply with the European experience."
Stephen Wilson (see photo) has been named senior vice president/general manager of Jet Aviation U.S. Charter Services, Teterboro, N.J. He was a vice president-sales for former United Airlines subsidiary Avolar.
Paul J. Fanelli has been promoted to president/CEO from senior vice president/chief operating officer of Aerospace Products International, Memphis, Tenn. He had been president for Europe of Brightpoint Inc. Glen Golden has been named vice president-materials and vendor relations.
Robert F. Mehmel has been named to the board of directors of the United Industrial Corp., Hunt Valley, Md. He is executive vice president-business operations and strategy of DRS Technologies Inc., Parsippany, N.J. Mehmel succeeds USMC Gen. (ret.) P.X. Kelley, who has resigned.
A ministerial shakeup announced at the end of March by French President Jacques Chirac appears likely to have a strong impact on aerospace and defense policy issues, beginning with the planned sale of the government's stake in engine-maker Snecma.
The commercial transport orders-and-deliveries pendulum, which has swung toward Airbus in recent years, favored Boeing in the first three months of 2004. As Airbus continued developing the A380 and Boeing sought a launch order for its prospective 7E7, Boeing logged 36 orders for current models during the quarter, the same as in January-March 2003, while Airbus orders dropped to 12 aircraft from 42. Deliveries were more evenly matched--76 for Boeing, up from 71; 67 for Airbus, up from 65.
Pentagon and congressional leaders must clear policy and acquisition system minefields that led to $11 billion in space-related losses during the 1990s, or the U.S. will be hard-pressed to recapitalize its national security space fleet.
Since the turn of the century, working at Boeing Commercial Airplanes has meant living with the possibility of another round of pink slips. From the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which exacerbated an already weak airline market, the jet maker's employment level dropped 38,000 by the end of 2003.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has invited public comment on three information collection requirements it plans to pursue in testing the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. TSA has already evaluated five identify card technologies and now plans to survey airports nationwide, as well as facilities for other modes of transportation. TSA will also interview transportation workers on a voluntary basis and conduct web surveys in some cases.
Navy plans to continue dominating the world's oceans despite tight budgets will require, among other things, strategic aerial tanking that, in turn, will drive experiments with launching KC-130s from large-deck aircraft carriers, Rear Adm. Jay M. Cohen, chief of naval research, says at the annual Navy League convention here.
Lockheed Martin will manufacture airframe components for six additional F-2 aircraft under a contract from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the prime contractor for Japan's long-range fighter. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. builds the aft fuselage, wing leading-edge flaps and stores management systems, and 80% of all left-hand wing boxes, as well as avionics and avionics support equipment. Lockheed Martin already is producing components for 65 airplanes, and the latest order brings to 71 the number of aircraft under contract.
The U.S. military is gradually improving its equipment in South Korea, providing war planners with more options as they map out a strategy for a potential conflict with North Korea (see p. 64). One of the additions in recent years is the AH-64D Apache Longbow, which is shown on the cover in a Boeing photo by Gary Parker.
USMC Brig. Gen. Samuel Helland has been nominated for promotion to major general. He is assistant deputy commandant for aviation at USMC Headquarters in Washington.
The Helicopter Assn. International's recent Heli-Expo convention in Las Vegas set an attendance record of 15,512 people--significantly higher than for shows held during the previous three years, according to the association. In addition, 486 exhibitors attended the event and bought 178,700 sq. ft. of space in the Las Vegas Convention Center. HAI represents 1,350 helicopter operators in more than 73 countries that fly 4,500 aircraft about 2.3 million hr. annually.
Three investment funds controlling 54% of Eutelsat have reportedly reached an agreement with Nebozzo, a Luxembourg firm jointly owned by U.S. investment firms Texas Pacific Group and Spectrum Equity, to limit their holding in the Paris-based satellite operator. The three funds are said to fear that a further increase in their stake could jeopardize the chances of a Eutelsat-led bid to operate Europe's Galileo satnav system. The French government has also said it is keeping a close watch on TPG and Spectrum equity moves (AW&ST Apr. 5, p. 23).
A $700-million scientific spacecraft more than 40 years in the making is poised for launch on a mission to try to measure directly the extremely subtle effects of Earth's passage through space-time predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.
A vote of approval from the European Union on a proposed merger with Air France may come too late to save Alitalia, whose worsening financial performance is bringing the flag carrier to the verge of collapse.
The federal Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy is recommending that the FAA's proposed National Air Tour Standards rule be withdrawn because it is "filled with incomplete or questionable data," according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn. (AOPA). In its comments to the FAA, the Office of Advocacy wrote that the agency did not accurately account for the economic impact of the rule on small businesses, many of which would be forced to close their doors or comply with more stringent regulations.
Add to the recent flurry of applications to serve Cancun (AW&ST Apr. 5, p. 21) three proposals from Frontier Airlines for service from St. Louis, Kansas City and Salt Lake City. Frontier already operates between Cancun and its hub at Denver, where United Airlines, Allegiant Air and Champion Air are competing for a single designation--the U.S.-Mexico aviation agreement limits any city-pair to two U.S. carriers. Frontier's new applications don't entail competition for a designation--yet. American Airlines serves Cancun from St.
James McGehee, Jr., has been appointed to the board of directors of the Memphis, Tenn.-based Pinnacle Airlines Corp. He is chairman of the McGehee Realty and Development Co. of Memphis, Tenn.
