NASA has set aside "billions" of dollars to develop a new heavy-lift launch vehicle if it decides one is needed to realize President Bush's goal of sending humans beyond low-Earth orbit. The agency is using a blue team/red team approach to set some broad-brush requirements in what promises to be a laborious process of turning Bush's space exploration directive into detailed plans and programs.
Space shuttle engineers have uncovered another problem that, in the worst case, could delay the next flight until late 2005 from the planned Mar. 6, 2005, date.
An independent review of Boeing's hiring policies for current and former government employees found no instances of wrongdoing, but said the company needs to be more consistent in implementing its own policy and procedures. Boeing's board commissioned an outside audit led by former U.S. Sen. Warren Rudman (R-N.H.), after then-Chief Financial Officer Michael Sears and Darlene Druyun, former head of the U.S. Air Force's acquisitions office who was hired by Sears, were dismissed for allegedly conducting improper talks during her hiring process.
Nikhil Koratkar, who is assistant professor of mechanical, aerospace and nuclear engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y., has won a Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation. He is expected to apply the $400,000 grant to developing a class of nanostructured materials that will be used to reduce vibrations in mechanical equipment and electronic devices.
Royal Brunei Airlines has concluded an agreement with Lufthansa Technik for the support of IAE V2500 turbofans that are expected to power the carrier's Airbus A320-series twinjets.
J. Christopher Nielson and David A. Brown have received the Jay Hollingsworth Speas Airport Award, co-sponsored by the American Assn. of Airport Executives, Airports Consultants Council and American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics. Nielson is deputy director of the Cleveland Port Control Dept., while Brown is vice president/program manager of the Parsons Transportation Group Inc. They were honored for planning and designing a new runway and several enabling projects at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
CAE has received a subcontract from Northrop Grumman valued at $8.5 million (C$11.3 million) to upgrade combat mission simulators on two more U.S. Army AH-64A Apache helicopters. This will be the fifth and sixth AH-64A Apache CMS to be upgraded by the CAE- Northrop Grumman team. Both will be ready for training in 2005.
The Australian Defense Force has contracted with Boeing to provide Harpoon Block II missile retrofit kits, under a supply order valued at up to $20 million.
The sluggish U.S. helicopter industry could rebound in the next few years as an increasingly stable economy generates demand for advanced aircraft, more pilots and new business opportunities. Roy Resavage, president of Helicopter Assn. International (HAI), said the industry faces a number of challenges as it struggles to regain momentum lost in the wake of terrorist attacks in 2001. These include:
I had high hopes when given the opportunity to support the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program with one of the design companies working on the program. All I can say is the program is the worst managed one on which I have worked during my 20-plus years of aerospace experience with McDonnell Douglas and Boeing.
Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne rocket glider returned to flight last week following a hard landing on Dec. 17 that broke the landing gear. The Mar. 11 test was a glide flight and did not fire the rocket engine. Observers at the Mojave, Calif., airport said a thermal protection coating had been applied for the first time and that the landing by pilot Pete Siebold went well despite strong crosswinds.
Latecoere, a Toulouse, France-based aerostructure producer, expects to obtain a significant work package in the proposed Boeing 7E7 package. In preparation, it acquired a 25% stake in Corse Composites Aeronautique, a Corsica-based composite materials supplier. The company's other shareholders are Airbus' French arm, Dassault Aviation, and Snecma. Airbus' share in Latecoere's 680-million-euro ($832-million) annual revenues last year was a record 62%, prompting the company to diversify and acquire new customers.
As for your interview with Harry Stonecipher and the Boeing brain drain (AW&ST Feb. 16, p. 40), you get morale problems: *When you have an organization where senior leadership made their bones with wins that turn out to be unexecutable. *When you have program managers who fail, are promoted and repeatedly place connected subordinates--who have failed --in positions where they can fail again. *When you have an organization that puts winning over preparation of proposals that pass a smell test.
Bell Helicopter Textron's Eagle Eye unmanned aerial vehicle has completed a Preliminary Design Review in preparation for the program's Critical Design Review scheduled for November. A Bell representative said the UAV is in the detailed design and long-procurement phase and is funded through the Coast Guard's Fiscal 2004 budget. If the CDR is completed successfully, the program would transition to the fabrication and demonstration phase using a full-scale aircraft.
IN NOVEMBER CESSNA AIRCRAFT CO. IS SCHEDULED TO DELIVER two T206 Turbo Stationairs equipped with Garmin G1000 electronic cockpits to China. The airplanes will be operated by A&P Light Aircraft Service Co. in Henan Province. The G1000 avionics feature two 10.4-in., XGA color displays that integrate primary flight, navigation, communication, weather and engine information to ease pilot workload.
The Wayne County Airport Authority is seeking a design for the North Terminal Redevelopment Project that will replace the Davey Terminal and its pier-style concourses at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Architects and engineers have until Mar. 30 to respond to the airport authority's request for qualifications. The selected company or team will conduct a site survey and design the new building, the concessions and all of its systems including baggage handling, fueling and security. The authority estimates the 29-gate project will cost $428 million.
Gen. Michael Moseley, who commanded the latest air war against Iraq, is less than successful in deflecting an attack by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) during a Senate hearing. When berated about recommending the 767 tanker, Moseley said, "I took that as a request for my personal opinion." McCain fired back, "I've been on this committee for 18 years, General, and I've never heard of someone volunteering their personal opinion.
Rockwell Collins has received a $3.8-million contract from Boeing's Long Beach, Calif., facility to upgrade the cockpit displays for U.S. Air Force B-1B aircraft.
THE NATIONAL AERONAUTIC ASSN. HAS AWARDED the 2003 Collier Trophy to the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. and its G550 for developing the long-range business jet and its safety systems. NAA cited the airplane's Enhanced Vision System (EHS), that allows pilots to see more clearly in conditions of limited visibility, as a key safety improvement for situational awareness. The EHS uses a Flir camera that projects an image on the pilot's head-up display.
Bell/Agusta Aerospace Co. has delivered the first AB139 to Elilario, an Italian transportation company, and is gradually increasing production of the medium-lift, twin-engine aircraft.
Comair, which was left out of the distribution of regional jets by owner Delta Air Lines, will focus on additional cost reductions to better position itself for future opportunities. Though President Randy Rademacher regards being left out as a setback, Comair is still the big operator with 158 regional jets in the fleet, and six more coming this year.
The Air Force also is funding another look at hypersonic deep-strike and reconnaissance hypersonic cruise missiles for time-critical targets and directed-energy weapons platforms. Johns Hopkins University snagged a five-year, $9.9-million contract to conduct R&D into analytical and evaluation tools for military space systems, command and control, and weapons.
ROBINSON HELICOPTER CO. built 422 aircraft in 2003--a record for the Torrance, Calif., airframe manufacturer--and production is sold out for the first five months of this year. According to Robinson, the company delivered 294 of its four-place R44 Raven I and Raven II models and 128 two-place R22s, and rebuilt 46 R22s. Robinson is building new facilities to double existing floor space; it added more than 300 workers last year and expects to exceed 1,000 employees by year's end.
