American Eurocopter pilot Dave Burchill (left) explains proper preflight inspection of the Fenestron tail rotor on the EC130 to Southwest U.S. Bureau Chief Edward H. Phillips prior to his flight in the aircraft from the company's facilities in Grand Prairie, Tex. The EC130 is designed chiefly for aerial tour operators and law enforcement agencies. Phillips' pilot report on the single-engine helicopter begins on p. 48.
READY FOR ACTION The Italian airworthiness authority has certified the Agusta/Bell AB139 helicopter, completing a 1,600-hr. flight test program. FAA approval is scheduled to occur in the next few months, according to Agusta. The first production aircraft will be delivered to an Italian operator later this year, and the company has a two-year backlog to build the twin-engine helicopters for 25 customers. The AB139 is aimed chiefly at the corporate, VIP, emergency medical service, law enforcement and offshore oil platform transportation markets.
John D. Harris has been named vice president-contracts for the Raytheon Co., Lexington, Mass. He succeeds Richard Foley, who will be retiring. Harris was vice president-contracts for Raytheon's government and defense businesses.
Wolfgang Mayrhuber has become chairman/CEO of Lufthansa AG. He succeeds Juergen Weber, who is now chairman of the supervisory board. Frank Bsirske remains as deputy chairman.
European industry has put in place the final element in the Ariane 5 recovery plan, and moved a step closer to getting a large satellite bus to market. On June 20, Arianespace concluded a preliminary contract for a follow-on batch of 30 Ariane 5 launchers to cover its needs during the second half of the decade. Deep cost reductions and reorganization of the industrial setup for this batch were prerequisites for the European Guaranteed Access to Space program approved last month (AW&ST June 2, p. 34).
PERILS OF PRIVATIZING The FAA is pressing forward with its analysis of government-vs.-private operation of 58 flight service stations--all but the three in Alaska--despite what might turn out to be converging political forces against privatization. The Senate's FAA reauthorization bill forbids it, and lawyers aren't sure what to make of the House bill, which rules out privatizing anything that involves keeping aircraft separated. President Bush has threatened a veto if the Senate-House compromise should remain anti-privatization, as it almost certainly will.
China Southern Airlines, home-based in Guangzhou, one of China's hardest-hit areas for severe acute respiratory syndrome, said it is relaunching flights into Southeast Asia that were suspended during the height of the outbreak.
CHILD RESTRAINT Safety belt manufacturer AMSAFE Aviation of Phoenix has developed a restraint system for children ages 1-4 who weigh less than 45 lb. CEO Larry Williams said the restraint system interfaces with the standard lap belt in an airline seat. It supports the child against the seat back with two shoulder straps and a chest clip similar to many automobile restraint systems. The child can be removed from the seat by unbuckling the seat belt. Williams is marketing the system to airlines. It is expected to be available in the fourth quarter.
WHAT A DRAG Advanced aerocapture technology could help NASA trim the fuel needed to get scientific probes into orbit around targets like Neptune and Titan that have atmospheres. To that end, the agency has picked Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. to explore ballutes--a combination of balloon and parachute--as a cost-effective aerocapture tool. The devices produce atmospheric drag, which reduces the propellant required to slow a deep space vehicle into orbit. Fuel savings translate into reduced launch costs and more room for science payloads.
The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee last week approved a $369.2- billion defense spending bill, which, due to budget deficit concerns, is about $3 billion less than the administration requested.
INLAND SPACEPORTS Oklahoma, which set up a spaceport authority in 1999, sees a potential suborbital space tourism industry growing out of the $10-million X-Prize competition, and hopes to land the business for a deactivated Strategic Air Command base in the western part of the state. Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin, the new chair of the Aerospace States Assn., says her state is pushing to win an FAA license for suborbital operations at the Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark in Burns Flat, which boasts a 13,502-ft.
PARTING, SUCH SWEET SORROW In another bid to stave off retirement of the Concorde in late October, Virgin Atlantic Airways Chairman Richard Branson last week offered British Airways 999,999 more reasons to keep the Concorde in service--upping his initial offer of 1 pound per aircraft to 1 million pounds ($1.7 million). "Five million pounds gives BA a considerable return on the 5 pounds they originally paid for Concorde," said Branson, who envisions operating Concorde services to New York, Barbados and Dubai. The deal includes spare parts.
PILOT ALLIANCE About 30,000 flight crewmembers from Star Alliance's 14 member airlines have formed the Association of Star Alliance Pilots. Despite the divergent labor agreements of Star partners, flight crews are seeking to speak through ASAP as a single voice on key issues rising from the industry crisis. Last week, for example, ASAP members expressed concerns about Brazil's Varig difficulties and the impact on flight crews. Said Capt.
USAF Maj. Gen. (ret.) Michael D. Pavich has been appointed director of the Space Dynamics Laboratory of the Utah State University Research Foundation. He succeeds Allan Steed, who will be retiring. Pavich was CEO of the Utah Defense Alliance and had been commander of the Sacramento (Calif.) Air Logistics Center. Dr. Garrison Rapmund, who is senior fellow at the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study at the George Mason University, Fairfax, Va., and a former scientific adviser to the FAA, has been named chairman of the foundation's board of trustees. He succeeds Charles K.
Airbus, French defense research agency Onera and German aerospace center DLR have concluded a strategic research partnership. Onera and DLR have long worked together in the areas of aircraft safety and economics and noise/emissions reduction. They have already formed a collaborative venture with Eurocopter, which like Airbus is an affiliate of EADS.
AeroVironment's Helios solar-powered drone crashed in the Pacific Ocean west of Kauai, Hawaii, during a checkout flight on June 26 at about 10:35 a.m. local time, 29 min. after takeoff. The aircraft was at about 8,000 ft. when it broke up while possibly in an unsteady flight path, and data and video should help determine the cause. The 247-ft.-span NASA-sponsored aircraft was preparing for a flight in July, during which it would fly through the night powered by fuel cells.
Network-centric warfare as practiced by the U.S. crushed the Iraqi army within weeks, but is now struggling to adapt those techniques to a conflict with a guerrilla force that is hard to find as it moves in small groups among a large population and urban sprawl.
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Since the late 1990s, Orbital Sciences Corp. (OSC) has gone from being one of the most exciting small-cap players in the aerospace industry to a financial basket case. Now it's trying to complete a turnaround that will allow the company to regain the respect and trust of investors and customers alike--and it appears to be succeeding, suggesting that OSC will be around for the long haul, after all.
Troubled Swiss International Air Lines--successor to Swissair and Crossair--will downsize in a desperate attempt to halt massive losses. According to its original business plan, Swiss was expected to achieve profitability by the end of this year.
Alaska Airlines, which is reviewing its entire operations under a broad cost management program, last week set a goal of lowering cost per available seat mile (excluding fuel) to 7.25 cents by 2005. However, it told investors not to consider the goal an indication of future performance. The airline last week also began talks with union leaders to discuss ways of working together to position the company for future growth.
Donald C. Winter (see photo), who has been corporate vice president/president of the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Mission Systems Sector, also will be lead executive for missile defense business and principal liaison to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency director.
Torbjorn Karlsson has been named Singapore-based Asia-Pacific vice-president-commercial aerospacefor Honeywell International. He was head of business development for Cathay Pacific Aircraft Trading Ltd. in Hong Kong.
KILLER ECONOMICS It's getting cheaper to inflict mass casualties. Trends show that every decade it becomes two-to-three times less expensive to acquire weapons of mass destruction, said Bill Schneider, chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Science Board.
Sikorsky Aircraft President Dean Borgman has been appointed chairman of that United Technologies Corp. unit. Stephen Finger, who currently serves as president of Pratt & Whitney's military engines business, will succeed him. Both appointments are effective July 1.
