Dayton, Ohio-based PSA Airlines has taken delivery of the first of 25 Bombardier CRJ700 series regional jets ordered by US Airways last May as part of a larger order that included 60 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200s. The 70-seat CRJ700 will be a step up in seating for PSA, which operates 16 CRJ200s.
Joe Walker has been named president of Adam Aircraft Industries, Englewood, Colo. He was senior vice president-worldwide sales for Gulfstream Aerospace and a vice president of parent company General Dynamics.
Donald Majcher has become vice president-collaborative research at the Cleveland-based Ohio Aerospace Institute. He was director of corporate strategy and development for the Lubrizol Corp.
NASA may not have to rely on Russia to fly astronauts to the International Space Station as it transitions to the planned Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) after all. At least, that's what Administrator Sean O'Keefe conceded Apr. 1 in a brief colloquy with Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Democrats led by Sen. Bill Nelson (Fla.) have made an issue of the gap between the shuttle's planned retirement date and the beginning of CEV operations ever since the CEV schedule became public.
Northrop Grumman has dedicated its space gyroscope manufacturing facility in Woodland Hills, Calif., to David D. Lynch (see photo), the "father of the Hemispherical Resonator Gyro (HRG)." This gyro, which uses changes in vibration patterns on a thin-walled glass shell to detect when it is moved, is designed to support space missions extending to 15 years and beyond. A team led by Lynch is credited with the initial development of the HRG.
When we get beyond the inspirational rhetoric about humankind's urge to explore, the public rationale supporting a massive adventure to Mars is sparse.
USAF Col. (ret.) David A. Anhalt has become senior director of special programs in the Advanced Programs Group of the Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, Va. He was chief of the Space Control and Advanced Technologies Div. for the undersecretary of the Air Force.
Masahiko Kurono, a former Japanese deputy transport minister, will be president of the Narita International Airport Corp. in Tokyo, retaining a post he held at the New Tokyo International Airport Public Corp. before its name and corporate status were changed on Apr. 1. Isao Matsuhashi, a director and executive consultant to the Japan Tourism Bureau Corp., has become chairman.
The U.S. and Italy plan to expand their defense cooperation at a governmental and industrial level, but representatives from all parties leave little doubt that large hurdles need to be overcome before the relationship can be considered healthy.
Paul S. Wrenschinsky states correctly that the Fairchild Dornier 328JET flight manual does not explicitly provide reduced thrust takeoff, climb and obstacle clearance data (AW&ST Feb. 23, p. 8).
Despite increases in fuel prices, the International Air Transport Assn. estimates an airline industry profit of $3.2 billion from international operations during 2004. But this reflects a low profit margin, and IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani called for continued cost-cutting and efficiency improvements. IATA reported that February was the sixth consecutive month with year-over-year increases in international passenger traffic.
WORLD NEWS ROUNDUP 22 Qantas looks to Airbus for long-range aircraft 23 Bond payment ruling good for United, bad for creditors WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS 28 Engineers gain design- confidence after X-43 flight 30 Developers of next Mars rover are assessing tradeoffs 31 Despite setbacks, Mars rovers continue across planet 35 U.S. Army starts search for new aviation programs 38 Obstacles loom as Army builds elite helicopter unit
Development work on embedded software, begun by Wind River Systems Inc. of Alameda, Calif., 2.5 years ago for Smiths Aerospace's bid for USAF's C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP), has become a Boeing 7E7 opportunity. Smiths asked Wind River to expand its DO-178B single-partition safety critical operating system to handle multiple partitions to meet Arinc 653 safety critical standards. Arinc 653 partitions time and space for avionics systems while allowing multiple users to co-exist on the same platform whether fully certified for security standards or not.
The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) picketed Boeing's Chicago headquarters last week, protesting outsourcing as more than 35,000 workers lost jobs at Boeing Commercial Airplanes since 2001. They also protested a contract that Boeing offered at its Wichita, Kan., factory; SPEEA says the contract favors non-union members with better benefits.
Northern California Bureau Chief Michael Mecham stands behind Editor Emeritus David M. North during an evaluation flight of the Boeing 777-300ER (see p. 62). Mecham covers Boeing's commercial aircraft operations in the Seattle area as well as many of the company's other projects. The flight from Boeing Field was with 777 Chief Pilot Frank Santoni, Jr. North flew the largest and newest 777, which is powered by General Electric GE90-115B engines, for 2.0 hr. and made several approaches and landings.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Boeing have lost the first of two Canard Rotor Wing prototypes to a flight accident. During the third hover mission, the rotorcraft crashed for undetermined reasons. The aircraft will likely not be rebuilt, but be used instead as a parts supply to fly the other CRW--a role the latter served previously. CRW has yet to conduct its first transition from hover to forward flight, which involves stopping the rigid rotor as the aircraft starts operating in fixed-wing mode.
SES Global officials say the Luxembourg-based operator is interested in expanding cooperation with EchoStar outside the U.S., but they decline to say where. Last year SES signed up EchoStar as an anchor tenant for its new Americom2Home DBS service. The deal included a long-term agreement to use capacity on an interim satellite, AMC-2, and a new one, AMC-15, to be launched later this year. The companies are now said to be looking at cooperation elsewhere, particularly in Latin America.
Alexey Komarov (Moscow), Douglas Barrie (London), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
Russia's combat aircraft manufacturers are jockeying for position as the government continues to signal its interest in merging the remainder of the country's once sprawling defense-aerospace manufacturing base within the next 24 months. The Irkut Corp., a supporter of consolidation, has shifted more rapidly than most to adopt a Western approach to business, raising money through a share offering Mar. 26, as it moves to strengthen its position. It is also forging links with EADS, and has aspirations to take a stake in India's Hindustan Aeronautics.
The Pentagon inspector general's office review of the USAF proposal to lease and buy 100 Boeing KC-767 tankers has something for everyone, but its recommendations would mean more negotiations and delays for a deal that has been in the works for more than two years. Both advocates and detractors of the deal are claiming victory.
The development team for NASA's ambitious 2009 next Mars rover is beginning to assess tradeoffs to the vehicle's weight, electrical power and "Skycrane" landing mode to reduce risk and hold costs. The mission objectives will propel new U.S. technology development in robotics, sensors, nuclear power and artificial intelligence.
Michael A. Taverna's report "Out of the Fog" (AW&ST Mar. 15, p. 54) has two problems. It must be a Eurocentric view. In the U.S., there is no problem with helicopters flying IFR, which I have been doing since the late 1960s and others did before me. The only adoption problem is that instrument approaches do not have lower minimums for helicopters. Also, the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) permits creating off-airfield approaches readily.
