In a related move, NATO has agreed to provide technical assistance to a planned 2,000-personnel Polish peacekeeping force in Iraq. Approved without sharp debate, the move mirrors broad support for a U.N.-sanctioned, U.S.-led peacekeeping and rebuilding effort in the country, and lifting of U.N. sanctions. Another 6,000 police and engineers from a half-dozen other European countries, including Italy, are expected to join the Polish-led force (AW&ST May 5, p. 35).
NEW TRAINING EXERCISE Boeing subsidiaries Jeppesen and Alteon (the former FlightSafetyBoeing) will jointly market aviation training services for commercial aircraft operators. The collaboration "is precisely why Boeing has acquired" the two companies, said Vice President Ray Marzullo, who heads Boeing Flight Services.
Air France's last Concorde flight, AF001, is scheduled to depart from New York JFK airport on May 31. British Airways will follow the same path by the end of October. The French Concordes will soon rest in museums, including at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, which is to be inaugurated in December at Washington Dulles International Airport. "We had more requests for donations than we have aircraft," Air France Chairman/CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta acknowledged.
Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani, leader of U.S. Joint Forces Command, is pursuing a vision of the U.S. military's future in which everything from command-and-control systems to operational concepts is "born joint," and where the services can mount joint ops faster in a "plug-and-play" environment.
Charles H. Kaman, founder and former chairman/CEO of the Kaman Corp., Harold Rosen (see photo), a consultant and former 37-year Boeing employee, and Ed Link, who in 1929 developed the first pilot training device, are among the new members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Akron, Ohio. Kaman was recognized for contributions to the helicopter industry. In 1945, he patented the concept of rotor control based on servo-controlled flaps, which were added to the edges of rotor blades to improve stability and ease workload.
Paris-based European Bureau Chief Pierre Sparaco this month took his last supersonic transport trip to New York. The Air France Concorde's flight time from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to New York John F. Kennedy International Airport was 3 hr. 33 min. While at JFK, Sparaco, who has covered the Concorde since the program launch in November 1962, discussed its 27 years of operations with Axel Kuzinsky, who heads Concorde maintenance for Air France at the airport. Arriving in New York 2 hr. 27 min. "before" takeoff time--thanks to the 6-hr.
EYEING HISTORY For the first time, the 1903 Wright Flyer will be on display for close inspection at eye level, when the National Air and Space Museum opens an exhibition on Oct. 11. The historic aircraft has always hung high above the entrance to the museum, but it will be at ground level in the new exhibition. The focus will be on education, showing that Wilbur and Orville were not a couple of bicycle mechanics who got lucky, but the founders of a methodical new field of engineering.
Michael A. Taverna (Milan and Cascina Costa, Italy)
AgustaWestland and Bell are discussing a rearrangement of workshare for the BA609 tiltrotor that is likely to give the Italian company an equal role in the program, further cementing ties with the Textron affiliate and giving it a firmer foothold in the U.S.
Barring yet another last-minute hitch, by the time the Paris air show arrives, Europe may finally have formally launched the A400M airlifter. The A400M will be one of several multinational procurement efforts that will be a focus of attention. The continuing fallout from the Iraqi war, in terms of political implications and weapon system performance, also will represent topics of considerable interest.
The Mars Exploration Rovers are complex spacecraft developed under a tight schedule, a classic recipe for disaster. NASA is fully aware of this, and unlike the agency's prior "Faster, Better, Cheaper" philosophy, is now willing to throw money at the problem. Today's tune might be called "Faster, Better" but not "Cheaper." Can extra resources make up for limited time? The answer will be revealed as the mission unfolds, but since the project is a single data point, there won't be much statistical confidence in the result.
U.S. Joint Forces Command held the first wargame recently at a new facility designed to link simulations from all the military services, allied services overseas, federal agencies and academia in a virtual environment designed to run continuously. This network is expected to play a major role in the Pentagon's efforts to transform the U.S. military--an endeavor that will rely heavily on simulation and experimentation to develop joint operating concepts.
ROSOBORONEXPORT IN PARIS Russia's defense export agency is coordinating the country's 37 aircraft and system manufacturers for the upcoming air show. Sukhoi is expected to display the Su-27SK, MiG will feature the upgraded MiG-29M2 and Yakovlev plans to bring the Yak-54 and Yak-130 trainers. Kamov and Mil helicopters, missiles and engines will also be spotlighted, in a clear indication that efforts are underway to woo the export market.
EXPANDING SERVICES Mesa Air Group is negotiating with Frontier Airlines to extend its services when the existing agreement ends in July. Using 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200s, Mesa has been operating as Frontier JetExpress serving Denver, Boise, Oklahoma City, Wichita, Tucson and Ontario, Calif. In addition, Mesa is scheduled to begin operating 10 Bombardier/de Havilland Dash-8 turboprop transports in July under a new code-sharing agreement with United Airlines.
CF-18 UPGRADES Canada's National Defense Dept. has taken delivery of the first production aircraft in the nation's CF-18 modernization program, which includes avionics configuration upgrades for NATO compliance. Eighty CF-18s are to be upgraded.
HAWAIIAN RESTRUCTURING The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Hawaii approved a recent motion by Boeing Capital Corp., Hawaiian Airlines' major aircraft lessor, and appointed a trustee to oversee the carrier's restructuring under Chapter 11. Hawaiian, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Mar. 21, was accused of misusing about $30 million in Air Transportation Stabilization Board funding. This month, Hawaiian filed a motion objecting to appointment of a trustee, seeking to appoint an examiner instead.
TOMAHAWK TEST The U.S. Navy and Defense Threat Reduction Agency have completed their advanced concept technology demonstration of a Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile equipped with a penetrator warhead. The second of two tests involving a Tactical Tomahawk and WDU-43 warhead was completed May 16 at the Army's White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The weapon was fired from a ground test stand simulating a ship's vertical launch system. The Navy hopes to field the baseline Tactical Tomahawk next year, with the penetrator version likely to follow several years later.
The Pentagon is nearing a production decision for its next-generation electronic attack system, which military officials hope will allow them to suppress modern surface-to-air missiles with the same effectiveness as older-generation air defenses. The Navy recently completed a month-long operational assessment of the EA-6B's improved capability (ICAP-3) hardware and software, which also serves as the building block for the future EA-18G. The final report on the critical test phase is soon, with a production decision to follow.
JAMMING GAUNTLET THROWN The U.S. Homeland Security Dept. (HSD) will be issuing a challenge to two as-yet-unidentified companies to build prototype missile defense systems for civil transports, and is also soliciting proposals from high-tech firms on how best to protect against Man Portable Air Defense Systems (Manpads), according to U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). She is a sponsor of legislation that would require all 6,800 U.S. commercial jets to have missile protection systems at a total cost of $7-10 billion.
Ray Hughes (see photo) has become Los Angeles-based customer service manager for the Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. He has been manager of hangar operations for Garrett Aviation in Los Angeles.
British Airways is arguing that the U.K. should, as its priority, build a third runway at Heathrow airport. BA submitted its response to the government's future airport strategy plan, May 22.
EXPRESSJET SLOWS DELIVERIES ExpressJet, of which Continental Airlines owns 51%, is slowing deliveries of Embraer ERJ 145XR jets for the remainder of this year and into 2004, but still plans to accept 36 airplanes by Dec. 31. The airline is using the aircraft to fly longer routes, including a 1,335-naut.-mi. flight from Newark to Oklahoma City that takes 3 hr. 50 min. to complete, and a 1,266-mi. trip from Houston to Palm Springs, Fla., that lasts 3 hr. 42 min.
As Europe prepares to vote on proposals to reinvigorate its faltering space program, industry officials are reiterating concerns that longer term measures needed to ensure space-sector vitality may fall hostage to economic pressures. The European Space Agency last week detailed a nearly 1.8-billion-euro ($2.1-billion) spending package that will be put before the agency's ministerial summit on May 27 for approval.
RETURN FLIGHT Art Stephenson's departure as director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center marks another step on the way back to shuttle flight operations. Administrator Sean O'Keefe wants people on deck "for the long haul" when the shuttles fly again, and has tapped David A. King, Stephenson's deputy, to take over the Alabama center. King earned his stripes with O'Keefe by organizing the Columbia debris-recovery effort in Texas, and spent most of his career at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
