Roland Steffen (see photo) has been named head of the Test and Measurement Div. of Munich-based Rohde and Schwarz. He was director of the division's mobile radio subdivision. Steffen succeeds Michael Vohrer, who is now president/chief operating officer.
Kelly Lanpheer has become corporate communications manager for Air Wisconsin. She was a communications strategist for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.
CHAPTER AND VERSE U.S. Bankruptcy Court is threatening to liquidate Raleigh, N.C.-based Midway Airlines by Sept. 24 unless the carrier submits a satisfactory reorganization plan. The airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 2001 and suspended flight operations July 17, 2002, to adjust its business model. At the time, it eliminated its Boeing 737 services and entered an agreement with US Airways, under which it began operating Canadair RJs as a US Airways Express carrier (AW&ST Aug. 20, 2001, p. 54).
Allen L. Pomerance, who has been executive vice president of A. Epstein and Sons International Inc. of Chicago, now is also director of its aviation group and principal-in-charge for the new passenger terminal and parking facility project at Chicago Midway Airport.
FLEXIBLE RESPONSE To provide a surge capability in a heightened terrorist threat, the Homeland Security Dept. will cross-train some of the 5,500 armed special agents in its Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to serve as air marshals. The government doesn't disclose how many air marshals it has on duty, but those personnel will be moved from the Transportation Security Administration to ICE so all the law enforcement personnel in the department will be together.
WORLD NEWS ROUNDUP 19 Nose-down landing for American MD-80 at JFK WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS 24 Indian jet trainer order bolsters BAE production line 25 Greece becomes ninth coun- try to buy NH-90 helicopters 26 Australia unveils testbed with modern imaging sensors 27 Changes in JSF requirements eyed to ease weight problems 29 Senate's truncated lease plan alters KC-767 debate terms 30 Testing concludes for Hunter UAV antiarmor weapon
READY TO GRUMBLE Vietnam is buying Russia's S-300 air defense system, with an in-service date expected sometime after 2005. The deal, estimated at $250-300 million, would provide equipment for two air defense battalions. Vietnam would buy the PMU-1 version (NATO designation SA-10C Grumble), which entered service in Russia in 1992 and has been sold to China and Cyprus.
Has the Columbia Accident Investigation Board reviewed the Russian Buran orbiter wing leading-edge design for applicability? Planform and mission profile were similar to that of the U.S. shuttle. Russian engineering is generally robust, and their reentry protective solution may have relevancy to the current shuttle tragedy.
EXPANDING FLEET India's second largest private domestic carrier after Jet Airways, Air Sahara, has acquired two Boeing 737-700s and one Bombardier CRJ200, increasing its fleet size to 16 and its daily services to 103 from 79. The addition of 3,000 seats now takes the total to 11,300. The Air Sahara fleet comprises 737-400s/-700s/-800s and CRJ200s. The nine-year-old carrier, which competes mainly with Jet Airways and state-run Indian Airlines in the domestic market, said it aims to increase market share to 19% from 14%.
BLUE IPO Blue Panorama, a Rome-Fiumicino-based charter airline, is planning an initial public offering on the Italian stock exchange in 2004. The carrier is in preliminary discussions with financial advisors. It was founded in 1998 and operates a fleet of five Boeing 737-400s and two 767-300ERs, and soon plans to add a third 767-300. In 2002, the airline incurred a net loss of 1.1 million euros on 80.6 million euros in revenue. Shareholders covered the loss and increased the company capital to 1 million euros.
Neelam Mathews (New Delhi), Douglas Barrie (London)
Bringing to an apparent end years of protracted negotiations, India has finally approved purchase of the BAE Systems Hawk advanced jet trainer, a deal worth $1.3 billion. The decision to acquire the Hawk concludes India's tortuous efforts to find a replacement for its obsolete Hindustan Aeronautics HJT-16 Kiran and Polish PZL-11 Iskra. The selection reflects the government's intention to remain strategically independent of a single-supplier state, and to attempt to address increasingly strident domestic clamoring over air force attrition rates.
Gary W. Qualmann has been appointed chief financial officer/treasurer/secretary of AirNet Systems Inc., Columbus, Ohio. He succeeds William R. Sumser, who has resigned. Qualmann was the CFO/treasurer of Metatec Inc.
One can only applaud the Viewpoint of Capt. Robert L. Sumwalt, 3rd: "The New Last Line of Defense Against Aviation Accidents"(AW&ST Aug. 25, p. 66). Clearly, the accident data he cites has been a fact of aviation life for many years. During my career, which spanned 42 years as a pilot and navigator and encompassed more than 25,000 hr. of flying, I witnessed many an instance of poor flight discipline which, though it did not lead to a mishap, in many cases led to an incident from which the crew recovered.
Integration of the German-led IRIS-T short-range imaging-infrared guided air-to-air missile has begun on the Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft. The flight test campaign started Aug. 27 with Typhoon development aircraft 1 (DA1) being used to begin captive carry trials of the weapon, with two missiles fitted on the outboard tip stub stations of the aircraft. Integration of the missile on the Typhoon will culminate in five firing trials later this year to qualify IRIS-T on the aircraft.
Former astronaut Jan Davis has become director of safety and mission asssurance for the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. She succeeds Amanda Goodson, who has resigned. Davis was director of the Flight Projects Directorate.
George J. Torres (see photo) has been appointed director of communications for The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, Calif. He was vice president-communications for Boeing Satellite Systems, also in El Segundo, and had been vice president-corporate communications at the Hughes Space and Communications Co.
Don Kenny has been appointed senior vice president-national aviation practice of the U.S.I. Holdings Corp., Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. He was a senior managing director at Frank Crystal & Co.
DSCS DEPLOYED The last of 14 U.S. Air Force DSCS III Defense Satellite Communications System spacecraft (shown) lofted over the past 22 years was undergoing checkout in geosynchronous orbit after launch Aug. 29 from Cape Canaveral on the third Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle. The EELV placed the satellite into a highly elliptical transfer orbit. A television camera on the Delta upper stage showed the nozzle of the vehicle's Pratt & Whitney RD10B-2 upper stage engine glowing bright red during two firings to achieve the transfer orbit.
U.S. District Court in Memphis, Tenn., has ruled that FedEx Corp.'s tax treatment of jet engine maintenance costs were deductible--contrary to what the IRS claimed. As a result of the favorable decision, the company's financial results for the first fiscal quarter ended Aug. 31 will include a one-time benefit of 8 cents per diluted share.
The FAA has proposed an airworthiness directive for Boeing 737-200 series aircraft that would require the removal of the inflight entertainment system installed per supplemental type certificate ST00516AT. According to the FAA, such action would help eliminate the crew's inability to remove power from the IFE system in a non-normal or emergency situation. If IFE power could not be turned off, a flight crew might be rendered incapable of controlling smoke or fumes on the flight deck or cabin.
SEEN AND UNSEEN The Pentagon's unacknowledged use in Iraq of a single UAV modeled on the super-stealthy Lockheed Martin DarkStar has rekindled debate about whether to invest in very low-observable (VLO) reconnaissance aircraft that could gather intelligence before a conflict begins. Some military planners seem convinced of its value. "What we need to be looking for is quantum leaps in capability [including] unprecedented levels of stealth," said a senior Air Combat Command official. But some UAV builders are skeptical.
Large, stealthy, high-flying unmanned aircraft and specialized small UAVs should feature more prominently in the U.S. Air Force's future, argues a new Air Force Scientific Advisory Board review.
