Helmut Kappel has been appointed managing director of EurasSpace, a joint venture of EADS and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. He succeeds Klaus Ninke, who has retired.
The TSA is being called on to strengthen the "known shipper" program for air cargo rather than move to 100% screening by the advisory committee formed in the wake of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
The long-awaited turnaround apparently underway in the U.S. economy is setting the stage for a recovery in the demand for business jets, with some tantalizing signs that market conditions are improving. If that is the case--and make no mistake, there are conflicting signals--don't expect a flood of orders or a spike in delivery requests in the near term.
DOOR JAM Even as Defense Minister George Fernandes was telling India's parliament that terrorism is the country's biggest challenge, the Civil Aviation Ministry found that none of the door-frame metal detectors that India installed two years ago at major airports works properly. They cost $2.5 million at the time. Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy has ordered an investigation. Meanwhile, the situation could further embarrass Airports Authority of India as it tries to privatize major airports, beginning with New Delhi and Mumbai.
USAF Brig. Gen. William L. Shelton has been nominated for promotion to major general and would continue as director of policy resources and requirements for the U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt AFB, Neb.
Honeywell is conducting an extensive test program and applying experience gained in developing ETOPS-ready auxiliary power units to ensure a trouble-free service introduction for the company's 6,000-8,000-lb.-thrust AS907, the engine certificated by the FAA in June 2002, for Bombardier's Challenger 300 business jet.
Amy Bondurant, a former U.K. ambassador to the U.S., is one of three new non-executive members of the board of directors of Rolls-Royce. The others are: Carl-Peter Forster, chairman of General Motors subsidiary Opel; and Ian Strachan, former chief executive of BTR.
The Justice Dept., Transportation Dept. and FAA have vowed to crack down on violations of hazardous materials shipment rules in all modes of transportation, using an air cargo criminal case as an example of what to expect.
The Aeronautical/MIL-C Connector Test Kit, designed for probing of small pins in MIL-C connectors, has application in testing avionics equipment within a confined cockpit or other electrical test environments. Engineers now use test lead probes or a collection of loose mating pins for this task. The kit eliminates the need of oversized multimeter test probes that can easily short adjacent pins, resulting in electrical damage, or are too big for small socket pins.
BADLY SHAKEN The air traffic control tower and departure lobby in the passenger terminal at the Kushiro airport on Hokkaido suffered major damage in the magnitude-8 earthquake that struck the region Sept. 26. Radar displays and other ATC equipment were struck by falling debris, knocking them out of service. However, emergency installations were expected to return the tower to partial operation, but full repair of damage to tower and terminal is expected to take longer. Kushiro is one of the two busiest airports on Hokkaido (along with Sapporo).
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Joseph L. Yakovac, Jr., has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as military deputy/director of the Army Acquisition Corps within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology at the Pentagon. He is program executive officer for ground combat systems, also at the Pentagon. U.S. Army Brig. Gens. Jeffrey A. Sorenson and Samuel M. Cannon will exchange jobs.
Business aviation in the U.S. is struggling to expand in the face of security and airport access issues that are suppressing the industry's key asset--mission flexibility. In the past two years, security has had an adverse impact on business aviation flight operations, and the National Business Aviation Assn. (NBAA), working closely with the FAA and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), is slowly making progress in its fight to regain the ability to fly anywhere, anytime, with minimal federal interference (see p. 62).
Claude P. Franco has become Savannah, Ga.-based vice president-business aircraft finance for Orix Financial Services. He was a finance executive for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. and at GE Capital Aviation Services.
Creating a so-called commercial competitor to Navstar (a.k.a. GPS) is a long putt. Notwithstanding the development costs that are typically understated by three times in this community, the marketing study and business case must have run the printers out of red ink. Similar global adventures have gone bust, even though they did their homework. If the European Union wants an independent global navigation system, do it right instead of looking for private industry and customers to pay for services that are essentially free elsewhere.
Joe Mills has been named head of Boeing's effort on the NASA Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter program. He was vice president/program manager for Boeing NASA Systems for the International Space Station. Mills has been succeeded by John Elbon, who was manager of Boeing Checkout, Assembly and Payload Processing Services at the Kennedy Space Center.
WIDER SUPPORT Airod, a Malaysian maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) supplier based in Kuala Lumpur, has signed a memorandum of understanding with BAE Systems to establish a joint venture to support retrofits and upgrades for the Royal Malaysian Air Force's 23 Hawk jet trainers. Airod Chairman Ahmad Johan said the partners' goal is to bring regional businesses into their venture. Besides Airod, another Malaysian firm, Zetro, provides MRO for the Hawk. Zetro specializes in avionics and components.
The two teams bidding for the Royal Air Force's Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft program have begun bickering in earnest in the run-up to a decision on selection, expected later this year. The latest topics of debate are: the relative safety margin with regard to the position of the wing refueling pods on the Boeing 767 and Airbus A330, and the risk associated with re-plumbing a wing.
Boeing said it delivered 65 commercial aircraft in the third quarter: 41 737s, eight 777s, five 767s, four 747s, four 757s and three 717s. Deliveries for the year stand at 210. Its Integrated Defense and Systems Programs unit delivered one F-15, four C-17s, 14 F/A-18E/Fs and four T-45TSs.
EUROPEAN STEADINESS Airbus is reiterating an early plan to maintain a steady production rate this year and, most probably, in 2004. The European manufacturer's executives have reconfirmed a short-term outlook enabling 300 commercial transport deliveries in 2003. For 2004, although no final numbers have been determined as yet, Airbus foresees deliveries "in the same order of magnitude."
Lawrence Fetters has been promoted to federal security director from deputy director at Los Angeles International Airport. He succeeds David Stone, who has retired.
The Royal Malaysian Air Force is pushing ahead with ambitious acquisition and upgrade plans, which, if implemented, are expected to bring substantial improvements to both its counter-air and strike capabilities. Alongside a deal signed in August for acquisition of 18 Sukhoi Su-30MKM fighter-bombers, the plan to purchase at least a dozen Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft continues to be touted. This would be predicated on returning the eight F/A-18D Hornets now in the RMAF fleet.
VANDENBERG SURGE The U.S. West Coast launch site at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., is entering an unusually busy period, when the U.S. Air Force's 30th Space Wing and its 2nd Space Launch Sqdn. will launch four missions in the next three months worth several hundred million dollars. Vandenberg will support the planned Oct. 16 launch on a Lockheed Martin Titan II of a USAF Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft that has suffered at least 10 delays since 2001. The DMSP flight is to be followed by the Nov.
CARGO PORTAL Ezycargo, the new Internet-based cargo portal formed by Singapore Airlines Cargo, Qantas Freight, Cathay Pacific Cargo and Japan Airlines Cargo, has been launched in Hong Kong and will be extended to Singapore this month, Australia in November and Japan in December. Founders Global Logistics System Hong Kong (GLSHK) and Cargo Community Network (CCN) of Singapore operate the portal. Formerly called Air Cargo Exchange, Ezycargo is intended to expand the e-business applications of the four carriers.
Christopher Doan has been named president of the Triumph Precision Castings Co., Chandler, Ariz. He was senior vice president-maintenance operations for US Airways. Doan succeeds William Hinz, who will continue as president of the Triumph Components Group.
Powervamp Ltd. has acquired the Portapump aircraft refueling system. Used for refueling at remote sites, Portapump is a purpose-designed pump that can be run from a portable ground power unit or an onboard 24- or 28-volt power supply from an aircraft or road vehicle. It removes water and solid contaminants from fuel to prevent in-line filter blockages, which can occur in air ops from poorly equipped or remote bases. It can be used both to fuel and defuel, so even fuel that has already been uplifted can be filtered. The company recently reengineered the product.
