With the Washington Air Defense Identification Zone, presidential Temporary Flight Restrictions that pop up on a whim and non-aviation imposed TFRs, the user fees proposed by Robert Poole and Doro- thy Robyn will kill the general aviation industry far more effectively than Al Qaeda could've hoped (AW&ST Nov. 3, p. 74).
SITA Information Networking Computing will install its self-service AirportConnect Kiosk, featuring the latest IATA Common Use Self-Service (CUSS) standard v1.0, at Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto; at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in China; and at Miami International Airport. Air France also plans to install the kiosks at airports in Europe. SITA assisted in the development of the IATA CUSS standard, which allows use of multiple applications on a single common-use platform.
The Experimental Aircraft Assn.'s Young Eagles Program has reached its goal of introducing 1 million youngsters to flight by Dec. 31, 2003. Andrew Grant, a 15-year-old high school student from German Valley, Ill., became the 1 millionth Young Eagle to take an introductory flight and will attend EAA's Countdown To Kitty Hawk event on Dec. 17. The Young Eagles initiative began in 1992.
The Crisplant S-3000E tilt-tray sorter for the baggage-handling marketplace is designed for rapid baggage sorting, featuring adjustable velocities up to 688 ft./min. The sorter's design banks the trays in the curves, enabling it to keep the centrifugal force of the package centered on the tray, allowing the system to achieve greater speeds than other high-speed sorters, according to the company, while the programmable electronic tilting mechanism up to a maximum of 45 deg. provides improved discharge accuracy and higher discharge control.
Charles Allen has become vice president/manager of Boeing's Orbital Space Program, Huntsville, Ala. He was vice president/director of the Army Systems Comanche Program Office.
The rate of retirement among pilots at Delta Air Lines has doubled during the past year, and as a result the company will take a noncash charge that it expects to increase its fourth-quarter net loss by at least 50%. The charge, $140 million, will accelerate the recognition, in accounting terms, of actuarial losses in the defined-benefit retirement plan Delta maintains for its pilots. The carrier would have recognized these losses later, except for the higher rate of retirement and the resulting increase in payments.
Congress has held off on imposing stricter "Buy America" rules, but continued U.S.-European sparring over export subsidies, steel tariffs, and poor cooperation on military projects are creating bitterness on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Chinese Communist Party, along with souvenir producers and publishers, continues to celebrate the successful first flight of Shenzhou astronaut Col. Yang Liwei (AW&ST Oct. 20, p. 22). In scenes reminiscent of those in the Soviet Union and U.S. after Yuri Gagarin, Alan Shepard and John Glenn notched their national space firsts, Yang is being trotted to awards programs around China following an initial splash in Hong Kong.
The Oneworld alliance, slow to grow and only beginning to implement a hard-won, tightly regulated code-sharing agreement between its biggest transatlantic partners, has spent most of its nearly five years getting as much out of collaboration as it can. It still wants antitrust immunity comparable to that of its competitors, but how to achieve it isn't clear.
I was disappointed that your comprehen- sive report on the extensive initiatives being applied by Airbus to reduce the weight of the A380, which is planned as the world's largest passenger aircraft, did not mention the company's selection of a 5,000-psi. hydraulic system to remove a metric ton of weight from the platform (AW&ST Oct. 27, p. 48). In addition to the weight saving due to the reduction in size and volume of the aircraft's extensive fluid-conveyance system and primary flight-control components, Airbus' selection of a 5,000-psi.
U.S. forces in Iraq still aren't prepared for a widespread war against terrorism, and there are no refined concepts of operations that would help planners focus on finding and attacking small, armed groups.
Darpa's Rascal space launcher design shows a clever use of rediscovered technology, but leaping from the test cell to a one-off Mach 3-plus aircraft is a riskier and more expensive project than necessary (AW&ST Sept. 22, p. 48). Thermally hardened verisons of the venerable B-1 Lancer with mass injection precompressor cooling (MIPCC) would be more available and more capable. Although the release point would be somewhat lower and at a slower speed, the modified Lancer could carry several times the payload of the Rascal.
Russia's two premier fighter manufacturers are enduring sharply differing fortunes at the hands of the government: Sukhoi's restructuring has been endorsed, but rival MiG has seen its chief executive dismissed.
Australia is shifting some of its modernization plans as a result of an update to its 2000 defense white paper. The F-111s will be retired early, around 2010, because other sensors and upgraded F/A-18s with laser and GPS-guided weapons are deemed adequate for the strike role. The approximately 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters Australia expects to buy remain in the plan, as does the acquisition of Global Hawk unmanned aircraft.
Embraer has received provisional type certification for its 170 commercial transport. Final certification of the 70-seat aircraft is expected in the first quarter of 2004. Certification of the General Electric CF34-8E turbofan-powered transport has been delayed by almost eight months over issues concerning the Honeywell Primus Epic avionics and digital fly-by-wire systems. Alitalia Express will now start receiving its 170s in 2004 and Embraer will not deliver eight aircraft in 2003, as originally planned.
USN Rear Adm. Walter B. Massenburg has been nominated for promotion to vice admiral and assignment as commander of the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. He is assistant commander for aviation depots. Rear Adm. (lower half) (selectee) Richard W. Hunt has been named deputy director for strategic plans and policy of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. He has been executive assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Rear Adm. (selectee) Matthew G. Moffitt has been appointed commander of the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, Fallon, Nev.
William B. Scott (Missoula, Mont., and Colorado Springs)
Remote-sensing and information technologies are slowly entering the aerial firefighting arena, primarily aimed at improving safety and operational efficiencies. There has been no shortage of good ideas, but a lack of consistent funding has been the primary hurdle to technology adoption.
This year's 56th International Air Safety Seminar, a joint meeting of the Flight Safety Foundation, the International Federation of Airworthiness, and International Air Transport Assn., drew more than 500 members from 35 countries to Washington to discuss the continuing challenges of air safety. They include lowering the risk of "the big three" (controlled flight into terrain, approach and landing, and loss of control accidents) as well as the growing need to protect sources of safety information. Next year, the IASS will be held on Nov.
BDLI German aerospace industries association for the first time concluded a cooperation agreement with regional authorities. BDLI and Bavaria will seek to further sustain local research centers and other aerospace-related institutions as well as manufacturers such as MTU Aero Engines and EADS' Bavarian units. Their combined annual revenues is 5.8 billion euros ($6.67 billion) with 26,500 employees.
Testing of a precision-guided, 10-ton glide bomb designed to maneuver into narrow valleys to attack the well-hidden entrances of caves and tunnels with a massive blast wave will resume next month.
As part of the Thai government's bid to turn Chiang Mai, a beach resort area, into the northern aviation hub, national flag carrier Thai Airways International plans to offer nonstop flights from Europe, starting with Frankfurt. Plans are being finalized to launch the service on Nov. 28 to coincide with the three-day "Wonders of Three Cultures Festival" involving Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, which starts in Chiang Mai on the same day.
NATO is examining what it might be able to do in Iraq, with options ranging from taking over the Polish division, which is made up of contingents from many countries, to controlling military operations for all of Iraq. Said George Robertson, NATO's outgoing secretary general, "Getting people to focus on what they can do and how they might do it is one of the big tasks" in preparing for NATO-led operations in Iraq. As to involving NATO in Iraq as an organization, a decision may be "on the table next year" after operations in Afghanistan have stabilized.
Nearly a third of Nice-Cote d'Azur airport's 10 million annual passengers are traveling with low-cost carriers, a trend further reinforced by multiple startups. Moreover, exclusive of Aeris, a Toulouse-based new entrant that ceased operations on Nov. 7, all the no-frills, low-fare operators that are transforming Nice's customer base originate from the U.K., Ireland and other northern European countries.
EADS executives hope to complete a comprehensive effort to streamline the group's newly formed Defense and Security Systems Div. by year-end. The restructuring initiative was kicked off last spring to improve the profitability of the division, which has lagged behind corporate benchmarks, and provide a platform for internal and external growth (AW&ST Apr. 21, p. 54).
MYFLIGHTSAFETY IS A NEW, PASSWORD-PROTECTED portal in the FlightSafety International home page (www.FlightSafety.com) that allows entry into customer training portfolios. According to FSI, all information is sequentially protected and permits various levels of individual and management access. A training management system tool has been added, and plans call for provision of electronic training records during the next six months. About 3,000 FSI customers are using the portal.
