Shipments in 2003 of U.S.-built general aviation airplanes decreased 3.2% to 2,137 units compared with 2,207 aircraft in 2002, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Assn. Deliveries of piston-powered aircraft, however, increased 6.3% last year to 1,590 units. By contrast, the number of deliveries of new turboprops and business jets declined by 12.8% and 26.7% to 163 and 384 units, respectively, chiefly because of the ongoing downturn in demand. Billings fell 16.7% to $6.4 billion from $7.7 billion in 2002.
D. Lee Forsgren has been named assistant NASA administrator for legislative affairs. He succeeds Charles T. Horner, 3rd, who will become special assistant to the Office of NASA Administrator. Forsgren was a partner and special counsel with the Government Relations Team in the Washington office of the law firm of Adams and Reese.
The U.S. desire for ever-increasing amounts of intelligence-gathering and surveillance of the vast expanses of Iraq and Afghanistan is driving growth of the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance UAV force with additional reservists and Air National Guardsmen. That need has triggered the surprise activation of the first Air National Guard Predator UAV unit that will become operational this year, with overseas deployment to follow soon after. In addition, a National Guard Military Intelligence battalion is being equipped with the Shadow UAV.
Simon Draper has become chief executive of Wellington (New Zealand) International Airport. He was general manager-commercial at Integral Energy in Australia and had been chief executive of that country's Northern Territory Airports.
The recession in the technology sector eased the U.S. aerospace industry's problem in recruiting and retaining engineers, but a return to the pre-2000 crisis situation may be looming. "That lull is likely to end here soon," so defense contractors will face stiff competition for talent, says Northrop Grumman CEO Ronald Sugar. Efforts should be pursued to get some of the large element of foreign engineering students to become U.S. citizens, Sugar suggested, and the government should support engineering studies. But BAE Systems Executive Vice President Walter P.
SkyWest Airlines has converted conditional orders and options to firm orders for 10 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200s and two 70-seat CRJ700s, valued at $293 million. The St. George, Utah-based airline will add the aircraft to the fleet it operates as a United Express carrier. SkyWest now holds orders for 100 CRJ100/200s, with 10 more to be delivered, and a single CRJ700, with 31 pending delivery. It holds options on 39 CRJ200s and 80 CRJ700s.
The Feb. 10 crash of a Kish Air Fokker F-50 at Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, was the fourth landing accident since 1995 involving the aircraft type. According to preliminary information released by Iran's Civil Aviation Authority, the aircraft, Serial No. 20273, EP-LCA, which departed the Persian Gulf island of Kish, was on final approach to Sharjah, when it crashed at about 11:30 a.m. local time about 2 mi. short of the runway. Reports that the crew requested an emergency landing were unconfirmed.
Almost from the day Boeing purchased McDonnell Douglas in 1997, the Chicago-based aerospace giant has been beset by one setback after another: commercial aircraft production snafus, anemic profits, billions of dollars in charges against earnings, a precipitous drop in market share to rival Airbus, allegations of serious ethical lapses, management shakeups. There also has been the perception of indecisiveness in the executive suite. It's been a tumultuous, and by some accounts, very disappointing six years.
U.S. Navy Adm. (ret.) Thomas Moorer, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1970-74 and chief of naval operations from 1967-70, died Feb. 5. He was 91.
Ronnie Crouch has become general manager and Traci Fremin director of customer development for the New Orleans International Airport and New Orleans Lakefront Airport fixed-base operations of Atlantic Aviation. Crouch was director of operations for the General Aviation Corp. Brenda Smith has been appointed customer service manager for Atlantic's Lakefront location. Fremin was customer service manager and Smith a customer service representative at Million Air's Lakefront FBO.
A gizmo built into his vehicle to jam electronic signals to ignite an anti-IED (improvised explosive device) is being credited with thwarting one attempt to assassinate Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf. Other countermeasures can trigger such explosives prematurely, explain Israeli industrialists visiting town recently. They've been active in these systems for years, especially since renewed conflict with Palestinian insurgents began in 2000. Most new ideas for foiling IEDs have come from small start-up companies, they say.
Canada will develop a hybrid research satellite for launch in 2007 designed to push the state of the art in data delivery and study space weather. The C$140-million (US$105-million), 350-kg. (770-lb.) Cassiope satellite will include the first phase of a new information delivery system called Cascade that will handle very large amounts of data. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) hopes the work will lead to a commercial digital package delivery service.
U.S. Air Force officials are reviving proposals to buy short-takeoff and vertical-landing F-35C versions of the Joint Strike Fighter and a bomber derivative of the F/A-22. The FB-22 has a larger diamond-shaped wing and could carry 30 or more small-diameter bombs. Both aircraft are being promoted as improving support to ground forces, according to Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper and Air Force Secretary James Roche. The new mix of F-35Cs and conventional takeoff F-35As has yet to be decided, Roche said.
Jerome F. Lederer, who was considered the father of aviation safety, died on Feb. 6 of a congestive heart attack at a hospital near his home in Laguna Hills, Calif. He was 101. Aviation Week & Space Technology honored Lederer in 2002 as a Laurel Legend for his dedication to the ideal that no lives need to be lost unnecessarily while involved in space or flight activities.
French space agency CNES is preparing to cede a portion of its 32.2% holding in launch firm Arianespace, probably in conjunction with a 150-200-million-euro ($189-252-million) recapitalization set for the second half of this year. CNES Director General Yannick d'Escatha said it had received signs of interest from Italian firms Finmeccanica and Avio, which want to increase their combined share from 8% to 15%; EADS and Snecma, which own 24% and 7.7%, respectively; and smaller shareholders, who together hold 25% of Arianespace stock.
Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter team is reducing development risk for individual sensor packages and their integration into the F-35 as the aircraft nears transition from the concept demonstration phase to low-rate initial production.
US Airways, falling nearly $300 million short of 2003 operating results it forecast last winter, is scrambling to reduce costs further and preserve cash during what is usually its worst quarter of the year. The reward for success? Competition from Southwest Airlines at its Philadelphia hub, starting in May, and a liquidity test in June.
Aerospace industry Internet exchange Exostar has reported its very first operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2004. The exchange supports more than 70,000 transactions a week, or 2.2 million during the past year. The most recent big customer for its online procurement and sourcing services is AMS, the radar and command, control and management systems manufacturer that is a joint venture between Italy's Finmeccanica and the U.K.'s BAE Systems. BAE Systems is a founding member of Exostar along with Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Rolls-Royce.
Despite its tanker woes, Boeing and the U.S. Air Force are in final discussions to lift suspensions on the company's space business. Boeing is hiring a special compliance officer to oversee the administrative agreement that governs lifting of the suspension. The censure was triggered by Boeing's possession of Lockheed Martin proprietary EELV documents. The company's board also has received the final report from a panel headed by former Sen. Warren Rudman that examined the company's ethic issues. It largely absolved them of systemic wrongdoing.
Douglas Barrie (London), Michael A. Taverna (France)
British scientists and industrialists are beginning to consider options for a follow-on mission to the Beagle 2 Mars lander, which could see up to three lander vehicles sent to the red planet by 2007. With scant chance the Beagle 2 will be found in an operational state, scientists and industry are now beginning to argue that the effort needs to be built on, even though the final element of the mission is almost certainly a failure.
Richard F. Ambrose has become president of Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors Tactical Systems, Eagan, Minn. He was vice president/deputy program manager at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver.
Embraer plans to boost delivery numbers this year and next, as the Embraer 170 finally reaches certification and the 100-seat 190 is rolled out on the back of a huge order from JetBlue Airways.
With defense contracting on the rise, the Aerospace Industries Assn. has begun an "awareness campaign" of ethical conduct, including discussing ways that its smaller associate members can adhere to the spirit of the Defense Industry Initiative (see p. 40). DII was one of the reforms that grew out of the 1986 Packard Commission that President Ronald Reagan initiated. It requires an ongoing formal compliance process. Many of AIA's 80 regular members are signatories.
Spirit Aviation Services, the Fort Worth-based maintenance, repair and overhaul subsidiary of Spirit Airlines, has given Avexus Inc. a commercial breakthrough. Avexus, a San Diego-based MRO software specialist, has found success selling its Impresa MRO management software to the U.S. military and independent MRO shops, but not directly to airlines--a hard market to crack for everyone in terms of MRO procurement planning. Impresa has a contract management services module that helps in third-party MRO operations, which Spirit Aviation Services is emphasizing.
As shuttle mission STS-87 cleared the launch tower in November 1997, our cheers and shouts of joy were lost in the roar of solid- and liquid-rocket thunder. Our audible exhilaration as observers may have been overwhelmed by the overpowering liftoff, but mentally and spiritually, each of us was on that flight deck, flying again with our friend Kalpana Chawla.
