The third annual European Business Aviation Assn. Conference & Exhibition (EBACE) opens this week in Geneva. Organized in collaboration with the Washington-based National Business Aviation Assn., the event will highlight continued executive aviation growth in Europe, the stimulus being provided by security and health concerns, and other business aviation issues. At least 33 aircraft will also be on display.
It was appropriate that you debuted Burt Rutan's new endeavor in your Laurels edition. I can only imagine what Kelly Johnson must be thinking. Regarding 328KF, I am reminded of what Sir Arthur C. Clarke once said: "Not only is the future stranger than we ever have imagined, it is stranger than we ever can imagine." Congratulations to Scaled Composites.
Douglas Barrie (London), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
France and Germany are touting a fast-track path to bolster Europe's limited military capability, against the backdrop of continued fractious relations between Washington, Paris and Berlin, and amidst growing aerospace industry concerns over the political rift.
CUSTOM FIT As a paying member of the Joint Strike Fighter team, Norway wants to know whether the multinational fighter will be able to handle some unique ordnance. Oslo has been funding Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace to develop the 160-km. (100-mi.)-range Naval Strike Missile with a planned in-service date around 2005. Now the Norwegian government is asking JSF-prime contractor Lockheed Martin to determine what the technical feasibility is of carrying the missile externally or in the stealth fighter's internal weapons bay.
The rapid defeat of Iraqi Republican Guard forces at a very low cost in terms of coalition casualties provides powerful evidence that warfare is being transformed. The speed of the military victory clearly surprised a number of military "experts" who had been quick to criticize the war plan for using too few heavy land forces. Attempting to understand why they were surprised can provide critical insights into what must be done to keep transformation on track.
Kaye Ebelt of Missoula, Mont., has been named the A. Scott Crossfield Aerospace Education Teacher of the Year, an award granted under the auspices of the Civil Air Patrol. She also was inducted into the CAP's Crown Circle for Aerospace Education Leadership. Ebelt received the award from Crossfield, the pioneer aviator who was first to fly at twice the speed of sound, during the 36th annual National Congress on Aviation and Space Education Apr. 5 in Cincinnati. Crossfield established the award to recognize and reward outstanding aerospace educators.
Under growing market and government pressure to rationalize its space business, Alcatel is planning to enter talks with European rival Astrium on combining their satellite activities. Alcatel Chairman/CEO Serge Tchuruk last week broke with the telecommunications equipment maker's traditional independent stance, saying it would begin discussions with Astrium in the near future. Astrium parent firm EADS has been making overtures to Alcatel ever since it was formed in an initial round of industry restructuring three years ago, each time to no avail.
Bill Boisture has resigned as chairman of the General Aviation Manufacturers Assn. board of directors. He pushed GAMA to respond to the globalization of general aviation, including opening its membership to international companies. Rockwell Collins President and CEO Clayton M. Jones will assume the responsibilities of GAMA chairman.
Boeing's first 777-300ER flight test aircraft and General Electric's 747 propulsion testbed fly in formation over Washington state. The 777-300ER is powered by two 115,000-lb.-thrust GE90-115B engines, and the flying testbed is fitted with one of the powerplants on its port wing. Flights of the GE90-115B on the 747 concluded last week (see p. 50). Certification of the GE90-115B-powered 777-300ER is expected in early 2004. Boeing photo by Joe Parke.
NICMOS NEWS A team of European and U.S. scientists has used the revived Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrograph (Nicmos) on the Hubble Space Telescope to reinforce recent findings about when the first stars formed. A team headed by Germany's Wolfram Freudling examined three quasars some 12.8 billion light-years distant with Nicmos and found large amounts of iron, which is formed when stars explode as supernovas.
HOLD UP Defense Minister George Fernandes has told a U.S. House of Representatives delegation of India's concern that two years after approving Israel Aircraft Industries Phalcon airborne early warning and control system radars for sale, Washington has yet to give clearance for the supply. Washington gets into the act because the Phalcon uses U.S.-made components. Last year, the Indian air force completed specifications for the project--a joint venture between Israel, Russia and India--that includes mounting the Phalcon and Greenpine radars on an Iluyshin IL-76 platform.
It's time for a thorough, unbiased study of the recirculated air demands for trans- and intercontinental flights. Years of complaints from passengers and flight attendants about air quality on long-range flights have been dismissed as trivial or proven inconsequental to health problems.
STICKY PROBLEM NASA and Boeing are studying whether the post-Columbia delay in International Space Station assembly might ultimately hamper deployment of the station's big solar arrays once they reach orbit. At issue is whether to return the remaining sets of 240-ft.-long arrays to Boeing facilities in California for deployment tests, or keep them at the Kennedy Space Center where they have been awaiting launch to the station.
The trend that began with the U.S. quickly emptying Turkey and Jordan of its warplanes and troops after the end of fighting in Iraq is accelerating as part of the effort to solve two nagging Pentagon problems--local opposition to U.S. troops abroad and the associated cost of keeping them there.
Eric A. Mendelson, president of the Flight Support Group of the Heico Corp., Hollywood, Fla., has received the Outstanding Achievement in Aviation Maintenance Award from Aviation Week's Overhaul and Maintenance magazine. He was cited for his "innovation in growing the acceptability and availability of aftermarket replacement parts" to help the commercial airline industry reduce its maintenance costs. Also, Jurgen Weber, chairman of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, was honored with the L.
CAUTION AND WARNING The Pentagon should consider delaying continued low-rate production of a key helicopter electronic warfare program, says the Defense Dept.'s inspector general (IG). The Army and Special Operations Command (Socom) have been developing the Suite of Integrated Radio-Frequency Countermeasures (SIRFC) to protect various rotorcraft against radar-guided air defense missiles.
BANKRUPTCY COURT A U.S. bankruptcy judge has cleared ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Ltd. to buy a 54% stake in the Globalstar L.P. low-Earth-orbit communications satellite network for $55 million, pending regulatory approval, as the Loral-led "Big LEO" emerges from Chapter11 protection. Loral Space & Communications, Qualcom Inc., Globalstar bondholders and other creditors will split the remaining equity in the company, which fell victim to the same inflated market expectations that claimed fellow LEO pioneer Iridium (AW&ST Feb. 25, 2002, p. 95).
Leif Andersson has been appointed vice president-sales and customer service of the Aircraft Service International Group, Orlando, Fla. He was operations director for North America of SAS Scandinavian Airlines. Andersson succeeds Kevin Worley, who is now vice president-marketing and business development. And, Worley succeeds Dan Sellas, who has become vice president-operations.
William B. Scott (Colorado Springs), William B. Scott (Olney, Tex.)
The U.S. Forest Service and other government agencies are facing the imminent 2003 wildfire season with 25% fewer retardant-delivery large air tanker aircraft than in 2002, and a diminished budget for helicopter and single-engine air tanker contracts. The agencies have formulated a skeletal plan to modernize the nation's aerial firefighting fleet, but funding remains questionable.
Jeff Scime has been appointed vice president-operations for Avexus Inc. of San Diego. He was director of North American professional services for Sybase Inc.
NASA's Galex ultraviolet telescope is sealed into the nose shroud of its Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL during preparations that led to successful launch of the $71-million spacecraft Apr. 28 off Cape Canaveral. The 609lb. Galex spacecraft is the first NASA satellite designed to survey the formation of galaxies in the ultraviolet wavelength. Total cost of the spacecraft and booster is $94 million. Orbital Sciences' Stargazer L-1011 launch aircraft dropped the satellite over the USAF Eastern Range about 100 mi.
NASA managers and space shuttle engineers are beginning to work on some of the tasks they expect the Columbia Accident Investigation Board will recommend, hoping to get a leg up on the board's report for as quick a return to flight as possible.
Jim Amador (see photos) has been named Southeast U.S. sales director for narrow-body business jets and Jeff Loichinger mid-Atlantic sales director for Bombardier Aerospace of Montreal. Jim Bunke has been appointed Midwest U.S. sales director for wide-body aircraft.
William D. Hall, former editor of Aerospace Daily, died Apr. 14 from lung cancer, at home in Alexandria, Va. He was 77. Hall retired in the early 1990s after leading the newsletter since the late 1960s. He had worked at United Press International at several locations before moving to Washington. Aerospace Daily is a product of the Aviation Week group and The McGraw-Hill Companies.
