Steven R. Peterson (see photo) has been named vice president-wholesale marketing for the Truman Arnold Cos., Texarkana, Tex. He was general manager of refined products for Seminole Refined Products Inc.
Arianespace executives say customer skittishness may make it necessary to plan a second qualification flight to validate the main stage nozzle redesign on the higher power Ariane 5 EC-A booster, which failed on its maiden launch in December. The decision could hinge on the extent of the design changes. Several potential options are being evaluated, according to European Space Agency launch director Jean-Jacques Dordain, who said a final redesign plan should be ready by month's end.
Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines is completing plans for what is described as a "major order" for Airbus A320s and A330s. China's largest carrier, CSA already operates 20 A320s and expects to reap substantial training benefits through the addition of A330s to the fleet because of their common cockpit training applications. While confirming the talks, airline officials declined to say how many aircraft are involved or when they are to be ordered. If the order comes it will be Airbus' first for the A330 in China.
Regarding the letter from Frederick Boltz, "Shuttle Can Be Downsized" (AW&ST Jan. 20, p. 6), I disagree emphatically with his assertion that the technology "of trying to recover booster propellant tanks and multiple liquid rocket engines" is beyond the reach of existing technology.
Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce and diversified engineering group GKN reported markedly different fortunes for the latest fiscal year, based on preliminary results. Both companies cautioned that the outlook in the commercial sector remains weak through 2004 and beyond. GKN saw pre-tax profit in 2001 rise by 68% to 180 million pounds ($288 million). Rolls-Royce, meanwhile, saw its pre-tax profit drop by 45% to 105 million pounds, "primarily from the predicted difficult conditions in the civil aerospace market," a company statement noted.
To say the performance of U.S. defense stocks year-to-date has been disappointing would be an understatement. In fact, "disappointing" wouldn't even begin to capture the frustration of investors and sell-side equity analysts--not to mention the defense contractors.
WORLD NEWS ROUNDUP 18 AT-802s help combat Colom- bian coca industry 19 Mars Exploration Rover readied for late-May launch WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS 24 Clouds hang over Canada's largest aerospace company 24 Rolls, GKN warn of weak commercial sector outlook 32 Legal cloud lifted for Boeing Satellite Systems 33 Frustrations, backlogs in preparations for war vs. Iraq 36 Lockheed Martin to show F/A-22, F-35 advanced capabilities
Peter Murnane, who has been executive vice president of the Mesa Air Group Inc., also will be chief financial officer. He succeeds Rob Stone, who was CFO/treasurer and is now senior vice president/treasurer. Carter Leake has been named senior vice president for the US Airways Express operation. He was president of Mesa Air Group subsidiary CCAir. Scott Lyon has been promoted to vice president-planning from director of marketing development.
Dassault Aviation and Sagem will jointly form Dassault Sagem Tactical UAV to further strengthen a partnership established in April 2002. The French combat aircraft manufacturer and defense electronics group plan to jointly develop next-generation uninhabited air vehicles such as a long-endurance derivative of the Sperwer and a fast, stealthy platform (AW&ST Apr. 29, 2002, p. 59).
Dozens of U.S. Air Force C-17s and contract carrier aircraft are leaving here every day carrying soldiers and supplies to Middle Eastern bases for the showdown with Iraq. When included with continuing operations into Afghanistan, this airlift is already the third largest in history, behind Berlin and Desert Shield/Storm.
Amid the apparent squabbling and bickering, it's often difficult to see whether the defense element of Europe's great political experiment is advancing at all. Regardless of the discord--of which there has been much recently--and the seemingly endless deliberations, some of the European defense agenda is progressing, albeit at a pace alien to those inside the Washington beltway.
In the face of growing complaints on Capitol Hill that the U.S. is losing its competitive edge in the international air transport marketplace, the Bush administration is reviewing spending levels for aeronautics research and development with an eye to increases in its Fiscal 2005 budget.
Congress could smile on the Air Force plea for new tankers and intelligence aircraft, says Carl Levin (Mich.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Mike Langston has become vice president-worldwide Hawker sales and Don Dwyer (see photo) vice president-worldwide Beechcraft sales for the Raytheon Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan. Langston was domestic vice president-U.S. and Canada jet sales, while Dwyer was vice president-international Beechcraft and Hawker sales. Tom Hilpert has been appointed director of product development. He was director of program management and strategy for Bombardier.
Sino-Swearingen Aircraft Corp. flew a second production prototype SJ30-2 business jet Mar. 6 from its facilities in San Antonio. The twin-engine airplane was flown by Chuck Walls and Carroll Beeler. A third aircraft is scheduled to join the test fleet in the near future. No date has been set for FAA certification, a company official said.
Regarding the efforts to recruit young people into aerospace, I recently read about Boeing's design office in Russia, where designers and engineers work for a fraction of the salaries paid in the U.S. With that kind of trend, who would choose aerospace as a career?
A team led by Contraves of Switzerland is developing a second-generation optical terminal designed for intersatellite data link applications but is also thought to offer spin-off opportunities for combat aircraft interflight links.
Still-growing U.S. low-cost airlines, favorites of investors otherwise turned off by commercial aviation nowadays, are pressing their advantages as larger, network-centered carriers continue in a survival mode, holding their own at best.
Over the years, we as an industry have freely squandered maintenance resources on non-safety items, thus blurring the line between safety and non-safety. Worse yet, maintenance managers wanting to ensure labor peace have allowed institutionalization of many activities that do not necessarily add to safety. So today, you hear the constant clamor that any reduction in the number of mechanics will lead to a decrease in safety. Lost in the noise is the likelihood that a good deal of the mechanics' efforts do not add one iota to safety.
Well over half of the 18,759 new online city-pairs that would be established by proposed American Airlines/British Airways code-sharing between the U.S. and the U.K.--if not half the capacity or traffic--would involve "underserved areas," the carriers told the U.S. Transportation Dept. Providing additional information on their November 2002 alliance application, AA and BA said 2,535 city-pairs would be U.S.-Africa routes and 1,859 would be U.S.-Middle East, all enabled by BA service beyond London. And 6,105 city-pairs would arise from AA service beyond BA's U.S.
European airlines continue in a waiting mode for fleet development and may take significant short-term steps to reduce capacity in the wake of the ongoing economic slowdown and a possible war in Iraq.
France's MBDA and India have signed a memorandum of understanding granting Bharat Dynamics Ltd. in Hyderabad partnership on future projects if India agrees to buy MBDA products such as an Indian air force contract for Mica air-to-air missiles. As part of its sales campaign, a Taiwanese news outlet reported that Taiwan recently fired two Micas simultaneously from a Mirage 2000-5 to test beyond-visual-range combat tactics. Bharat Dynamics had a relationship with Aerospatiale, MBDA's predecessor, concerning technical transfer on the Milan wire-guided anti-tank missile.
The FAA has selected a team led by Lockheed Martin to build ground stations and broadcast services in support of the FAA's proposed GPS-based Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Boeing and Raytheon are the other team members, with Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management assigned as system integrator. WAAS would provide satellite navigation for aircraft conducting non-precision and precision instrument approach procedures at small airports in the U.S.
As we celebrate the centennial of flight, I cannot but help wonder if Orville and Wilbur Wright should have first convened an independent panel at Kitty Hawk to determine if the risk of attempting the first flight was acceptable. Since Dec. 17, 1903, many people have died, risking their lives in the development of flight. We who fly today owe our lives to the risks they took.
Designs for stealthy, long-endurance, reconnaissance aircraft the Air Force has sought for decades are looking a little less fuzzy. The Quartz, Tier 3 and DarkStar UAV programs were all canceled, but now Lockheed Martin officials are taking another look at the need. "We think the government has a clear requirement for persistence and survivability on the battlefield with respect to the collection of [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance]," said Neil Kacena, one of Lockheed Martin's advanced program gurus. "I don't know that it has to be a UAV.
