Craig Corey has been named director of marketing for engines for the McKechnie Aerospace Aftermarket Group, Reno, Nev. He was manager of technical support shops for Northwest Airlines.
Flying Through Time: A Journey into History in a World War II Biplane By James M. Doyle Brasset's Inc. 281 pp., Hardcover $27.95 Time: Aug. 18, 2000, San Angelo, Tex. Departure Control: "Say again type of aircraft?"
Chautauqua Airways is scheduled to take delivery in 2004-05 of the 16 Embraer ERJ 145LRs it ordered last week to expand routes operated as a Delta Connection carrier. The Brazilian manufacturer also confirmed that the 98-108-seat Embraer 190 (above), which made a 2.45-hr.-long maiden flight on Mar. 12, is expected to obtain certification in the third quarter of next year.
The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has broken off talks with Space Imaging for a second 0.25-meter-resolution commercial imaging satellite. Digital Globe won the initial NextView contract, but NGA was interested in contracting with Space Imaging, too, to shore up the U.S. commercial space imaging industrial base. Space Imaging officials were disappointed, but noted the company has a healthy business base, including $200 million in revenue last year.
An 80-million-euro ($98-million) cash infusion from three international investors has guaranteed survival of Italy's low-fare carrier Volare. The 40-million-euro contribution from Argentinean investor Eduardo Eurnekian, and 20 million euros each from the Tricolore fund and merchant bank Interbanca, will also allow the carrier to expand operations. Gino Zoccai, who previously owned 69% of Volare Group shares, now holds 32%, and the Eurnekian-led trio another 32%. Private investors hold minority stakes.
General Dynamics, which recently announced plans to purchase U.K. defense contractor Alvis plc, also expects to buy Gilbert, Ariz.-based Spectrum Astro Inc., a privately held space systems integrator for the U.S. government. Spectrum Astro's capabilities include manufacturing and integration of spacecraft subsystem hardware, software and ground-support equipment. It will become part of GD's C4Systems, which is headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Since the end of the feasibility studies stage, and to avoid major airport restructuring, Airbus has kept the A380 wingspan and overall fuselage length within a 80 X 80-meter (262 X 262-ft.) "box." The size of the box was reported incorrectly (AW&ST Mar. 8, p. 40).
Russian titanium maker VSMPO is completing talks on acquiring a titanium smelter facility in the U.S. VSMPO already supplies titanium semi-products to Boeing, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and other U.S. companies for civil aerospace uses and owns part of a U.S.-based titanium fabricator, National Forge & Machining. A stateside site would permit access to the U.S. market for military products.
Riding the 19% growth of the Persian Gulf and Middle East region, Gulf Air is increasingly confident that 2004 will be the year it makes a profit, said President and CEO James Hogan (AW&ST Dec. 15, 2003, p. 84). Year-end figures showed passenger traffic increased 11% to more than 6 million, and January's figures were up 25% over the same month last year. Gulf Air has been whittling down annual losses over the past three years on the back of a $238-million recapitalization plan. On. Mar.
US Airways will have what amounts to an extra year to shed costs and reduce losses under a narrowly won restructuring of restrictive covenants in the $900-million federal loan guarantee through which it emerged from bankruptcy protection last spring.
NASA has chopped two advanced propulsion programs from its portfolio as the agency continues to refocus its efforts on deep-space exploration. Craig Steidle, head of the new exploration systems office at NASA headquarters, tells Congress he plans to cancel the X-43C hypersonic testbed and the RS-84 reusable kerosene-fueled rocket engine. The X-43A testbed will continue with a Mach 10 test if the scheduled Mar. 27 Mach 7 test flight is successful.
John S. Chapman (see photo) has been named chief engineer of the Space Transportation Directorate at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. He was technical assistant to the director of STD.
Paris-headquartered Q International Airlines, an all-new Franco-African carrier, is scheduled to begin operations in September. The proposed startup's strategy will focus on routes between Ghana, European points and, at a later stage, North America, according to company officials. Although no contract has been signed yet, Q International has near-term plans to acquire two 295-seat Airbus A340-300s under a multiyear dry lease, and gradually expand its fleet to about 10 aircraft.
Alexey Komarov (Moscow), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
With passenger traffic continuing to rise, Russian airline leaders are beginning to think the industry may finally have turned the corner--provided unresolved fleet modernization problems can be addressed.
Loral Space and Communications has completed sale to Intelsat of in-orbit Telstar 5/6/7 and 13, and Telstar 8, which is due for launch in the third quarter of this year. The $977-million deal includes rights to the 77 deg. W. Long. orbital slot formerly occupied by Telstar 4.
Most U.S. soldiers and commanders are not prepared to fight modern insurgent groups, according to recent analyses by military academics. "The visualization of authority [and insurgent organizations] by military professionals is a hierarchical pyramid," said a former professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. "When they have to go after a system that operates like [a swarm of] lightning bugs, it's hard for them to grasp the model." Analysts also note the rise of special operations units as the primary operational force in Afghanistan and some phases of the Iraq conflict.
The U.S. this week will mark a full year since Patriot batteries shot down a British Tornado returning from an Iraq mission, killing both crewmembers. But despite the high-profile incident--followed by the shootdown of a Navy F/A-18 a few days later--the Pentagon has refused to formally notify the victims' families or the public about what happened. Army officials were ready to present their accident findings, but the U.S. Central Command squashed that and the details have been held up in inter-service bickering about the wording.
Johann Heitzmann has been appointed head of the EADS Military Aircraft Div. He succeeds Aloysius Rauen, who will become chief executive of Eurofighter. Heitzmann was head of the EADS Defense Electronics Div. and has been succeeded by Bernhard Gerwert.
The unusually blunt sniping between Washington and Spain's new government--led by Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero--may leave scars at the political level, but so far at least, U.S. defense contractors aren't overly concerned they will suffer a backlash in pursuing contracts in Spain. U.S. firms have some "insurance" against drastic action because "there is, in all cases, deep involvement with local industry," says a senior representative of a major U.S. defense company. Canceling a program would cost Spanish jobs, he notes.
Thales has won 100 million euros ($122 million) in awards to provide radar and laser threat warning systems for Eurocopter Tiger and NH90 helicopters. The aircraft are intended for France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Finland and Australia.
Boeing has received U.S. and European certification for the 777-300 Extended Range, its first twin-engine widebody capable of reaching a 747-400's range and competing head-on with Airbus' four-engine A340-600.
John S. Chapman (see photo) has been named chief engineer of the Space Transportation Directorate at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. He was technical assistant to the director of STD.
Pratt & Whitney's F135, here in its conventional takeoff and landing configuration, has generated 39,750 lb. of thrust while operating in full afterburner. The F135 is the lead engine for Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (see p. 52). Pratt & Whitney photo by Greg Roberts.
Your editorial on "zero point energy" (ZPE) describes the research and development situation in unduly restrained terms (AW&ST Mar. 1, p. 50). In fact, this is one field of development in which the U.S. Energy Dept. has deliberately chosen not to serve the public interest. The fossil fuel industry, besides nuclear hot-fusion R&D, is the major player behind this policy. Mainstream R&D communities are, without interference, securing federal funding.
