George R. Carruthers is among 17 inventors, whose ideas have advanced the fields of aviation and aerospace, that have been inducted into the Washington-based National Inventors. He was honored for the far electrograph ultraviolet camera. The other inductees and their work are: Frank Cepollina, satellite servicing techniques; Glenn Hammond Curtiss (posthumous), hydroaeroplane; Maxime Faget, space capsule design; Leroy Grumman (posthumous), retractable landing gear and the folding wing; Charles H.
The Robert J. Collier Trophy for 2002 has been awarded to the Sikorsky Aircraft Co.'s S-92 medium-lift helicopter program, by the National Aeronautic Assn. NAA officials cited the aircraft's many technical and safety advances including flaw and damage tolerance, performance with one engine inoperative, as well as being certified to the latest amendments of FAR Part 29 for transport category rotorcraft.
Spot Image has signed its seventh strategic partner under a plan intended to set up a global supplier network to handle marketing and distribution of the company's imaging products worldwide, and in particular those supplied by its new Spot 5 satellite. The new partner, Imagem of Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, will have exclusive rights to market and sell Spot products in Brazilian markets. Previous agreements covered DigitalGlobe and Resource21 in the U.S.; ImageOne (Japan); Iunctus (Canada); BSA (Mauritania), and Raytheon of Australia.
Michael Marino has been appointed CEO of Seattle-based Aviation Partners Boeing. He was vice president-technical services and modifications for Boeing Commercial Aviation Services.
Soren Belin has been named chief operating officer of Scandinavian Airlines and executive vice president of the SAS Group. He succeeds Joergen Lindegaard. Belin was a partner in the consulting firm Carta Booz Allen & Hamilton.
Ryanair is to cut two-thirds of the staff from former rival low-cost carrier Buzz, which it recently acquired. All Buzz flight operations will cease during April to allow for the restructuring, with its aircraft fleet to be reduced from a dozen to eight. Buzz's route structure will be cut in half, with ticket prices on the surviving routes to fall by 50%, according to Dublin-based Ryanair. It also cautioned that Buzz may close altogether if the restructuring package is not accepted. Ryanair claims Buzz is losing 1 million euros ($1.08 million) a week.
The FAA has certified a cockpit display that joins Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) capabilities with the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) on large jets. UPS Aviation Technologies of Salem, Ore., developed the correlated system, incorporating advanced Global Positioning System circuits that work with the FAA's Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) to deliver reliable position reports. The company conducted system tests last month in a UPS Boeing 757.
The calculated risk of meteoroid and orbital debris impact to the space shuttle is higher than generally thought, and it is not surprising that NASA officials were pointing to it as a potential cause of the Columbia accident despite dramatic footage showing the orbiter wing being pummeled by external tank debris during the ascent.
The U.K.'s recent bailout of BAE Systems plc (AW&ST Feb. 24, p. 34) as a result of its poor performance on two highly troubled programs--the Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft and Astute submarine--was a huge relief to the financial and investment community. And for good reason. Under the agreement the company struck with the Defense Ministry, BAE's financial exposure to cost overruns on the programs will be capped.
Osama Bin Laden's taped message last month suggests the possibility of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil or abroad in the event of war with Iraq, and yet the U.S. remains as ill-prepared as it was on Sept. 11, 2001. So far, the U.S. government has closed the door as much as possible on the avenue of attack last used. So security at airports and on commercial passenger flights has been improved greatly with a layered defense that does provide some measure of deterrence.
Swiss International Airlines, effective Mar. 30, will eliminate 700 jobs and reduce its fleet by 20 aircraft. The moves are among the emergency measures approved by the airline's board of directors last week in an attempt to gird against a deteriorating economy, threat of war and deep crisis in the global aviation industry. The carrier said revenues and passenger numbers are in sharp decline on the European network (AW&ST Jan. 27, p. 19).
Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington), Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Alexey Komarov (Moscow)
The International Space Station partners have agreed on a plan that can keep the orbiting laboratory occupied for at least 18 months without support from NASA's three surviving space shuttles, but only if Russia's backup space launch systems keep working.
One out of every five large-cabin business jets delivered in 2002 was a Falcon 2000, according to Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. Company President John Rosanvallon said the twin-engine airplane also is becoming a major player in the fractional ownership market where it competes with jets built by Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. An advanced version of the Falcon 2000--the Falcon 2000EX--is scheduled to begin initial deliveries in the next quarter. Rosanvallon said more than 50 are on order, with 50% slated to serve fractional operator NetJets.
Although there are some harbingers that business is picking up, resignation is growing in the commercial satellite industry that a full recovery from its present sorry state won't begin until 2006, a year later than many in the business were estimating only a few months ago.
Emir Pineda has been appointed Boca Raton, Fla.-based director of North American cargo sales for Netherlands-based Martinair. He was senior associate in Florida for Leigh Fisher Associates and had been director of cargo and trade development for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
European engine manufacturers, struggling with the contraction of the commercial sector, intend to shed jobs over the next couple of years. Rolls-Royce is aiming to cut around 5% of its British workforce--some 1,100 jobs--during 2004-05 as part of a restructuring program which will also see it merge and redevelop some of its sites in Britain. In a similar vein, French state-owned manufacturer Snecma is looking to trim staff.
Frustration is building among U.K. government representatives over the snail's-pace progress the U.S. is making in export control reform, with even the flagship for cooperation, the Joint Strike Fighter, mired in delays.
Along that line, IAI has offered the Arrow II as an anti-ballistic missile defense system, even as the Indian navy is conducting ship trials of the Barak anti-missile system on the guided missile frigate INS Ganga. There was no official response to reports that India is willing to invest $100 million to participate in development of an export version of the Arrow, but an IAI official said several Asian countries have inquired about the system, adding that any exports will require U.S. approval.
I suspect the primary reason that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is so desperate to give itself the power to revoke pilots' licenses instantly is so it can punish any pilot who has the temerity to wise off to, or even question, a TSA screener. I also suspect this is aimed at airline pilots, since most general aviation pilots probably won't have much contact with TSA folks anyway.
Roberto Bianchi (see photos) has been promoted to senior vice president-marketing and sales for North America and Asia for LanChile Cargo from Miami-based vice president-passenger sales for North/Central America and Asia for LanChile. Bianchi has been succeeded by Pablo Montesinos, who was based in Santiago as director of passenger business for countries in South America and Europe.
InVision Technologies Inc., the company that has sold about 800 explosive detection system (EDS) machines to the U.S. government for use in baggage screening at airports, has agreed to acquire Yxlon International Holding GmbH. of Hamburg for 38.6 million euros ($41.49 million).
Pity the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program team. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper says he is taking an intense, personal interest in bringing the aircraft into production without the kind of development problems encountered with other revolutionary aircraft. "It is just now coming out of the brochure stage into the early parts of development, when we will see how things really come together," Jumper says. Stealth will be an early measure of success.
Rolls-Royce and Lufthansa Technik are forming a joint venture (JV) covering the maintenance of the former's Trent family of aero-engines. The venture, to be called N3 Engine Overhaul Services, will begin operations in 2007; a site will not be chosen until 2004. Initial staffing is projected at 250, with anticipated growth to 450 within three years. Some 40% of the expected business will be from Lufthansa's fleet of Trent-powered aircraft.
The Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment (Meidex) flown on the shuttle Columbia during the ill-fated STS-107 mission didn't have much luck imaging large dust storms, its primary target. But among the data collected by the Israeli hardware were the first calibrated images of an Elf in space.
As others shrink, Asian carriers continue to expand their route offerings, fueled by growth in their own markets and a shift--to a certain extent--of tourism traffic away from Europe and the U.S.
