Snecma Services has acquired a 20% stake in GE Aviation Materials, a provider of serviceable engine parts and refurbished engines. The unit, based in Dallas, has 100 employees and generates $130 million a year in revenues, Snecma officials said. The move is part of Snecma's effort to increase its U.S. market presence. The French company also concluded an on-wing maintenance cooperation agreement with Czech carrier CSA, as part of its European expansion plan.
In a draft environmental impact statement, the Pentagon has made its recommendations for basing 11 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet squadrons on the U.S. East Coast. Two options were offered. The first would station six fleet squadrons (78 aircraft) and one replacement squadron (32 aircraft) at NAS Oceana, Va., and four squadrons (52 aircraft) at MCAS Cherry Point, N.C. The alternative is eight fleet squadrons and the replacement squadron at Oceana and two squadrons at Cherry Point. The Navy also wants to build a new 8,000-ft.
The China Airlines Boeing 747-200 that disintegrated in midair appears to have fatigue cracks up to 9 in. long in the rear fuselage section where the aircraft may have come apart, according to Taiwanese investigators. China Airlines Flight 611 crashed in the Taiwan Strait near the top-of-climb on May 25, killing all 225 on board (AW&ST July 1, p. 42). ``Since the suspicious pieces of wreckage were mostly from Section 46, it is very likely that the aircraft first broke up there,'' said Kay Yong, managing director of Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council (ASC).
Patrick J. Spratt has become chief financial officer of KVH Industries, Middletown, R.I. He succeeds Richard For- syth, who will remain as vice president-finance.
The Senate Commerce Committee had a go at taking up Marion Blakey's nomination as FAA administrator last week, but it didn't work out. The committee scheduled a confirmation hearing for Aug. 2, but had to postpone it until early September when the Senate left town for summer recess on Aug. 1. Although the White House announced Blakey's nomination July 18, the paperwork didn't reach the committee until July 30. Jane Garvey left office Aug.
In a surprise initiative last week, the French government of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin unveiled a plan to sell a major portion of its 54.4%-stake in flag carrier Air France. No schedule has yet been determined, because the sale heavily depends on economic recovery, which has been very slow. The French government is not expected to completely abandon Air France to market forces and could retain a minority 20% of the airline's capital. In the post-Sept. 11 industry crisis, Raffarin's predecessor terminated a plan to privatize engine manufacturer Snecma.
Andrew K. Ellis has been promoted toWashington-based vice president for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems from vice president for Boeing Military Aircraft and Missiles. Shephard W. Hill has been promoted to vice president-business development for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems from vice president-space and communications program in Boeing's Washington office.
While Lockheed Martin ponders three engine options for the FB-22 dedicated long-range strike derivative of the F-22, the emerging issue is whether the U.S. Air Force will propel the study any further. Following a request from the Air Force, F-22 manufacturer Lockheed Martin has spent the past few months refining its concept of the FB-22. However, interest among senior Air Force officials is in a state of flux and appears to be waning. The FB-22 would be larger than the F-22 and able to deliver about three times its air-to-ground ordnance.
The International Air Transport Assn. asked the FAA to push back from Apr. 9, 2003, to Nov. 1, 2003, the deadline for installing secure cockpit doors on foreign-operated transports (AW&ST June 24, p. 33). Airbus and Boeing have run into ``substantial delays'' in getting certification for their flight deck security kits, IATA said, and based on the manufacturers' current schedules, IATA members think significant groundings, which would ``exceed the cost of buying and installing the kits themselves,'' will be needed if the FAA sticks with the April deadline.
Not to belabor the point, but as of Aug. 2 the ``state of national emergency with respect to Iraq'' put into effect by the first President Bush in 1990 was renewed for another year by his son. The edict keeps trade sanctions in place and Iraqi government assets frozen. ``Because the government of Iraq has continued to engage in activities hostile to U.S. interests, the national emergency declared on Aug. 2, 1990. . . must continue in effect,'' President Bush 2 stated in the latest notice.
Jamie Hailer (see photo) has been named manager of alliance development for General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Sytems, St. Petersburg, Fla. He was sales and marketing director for B/E Aerospace in Jacksonville, Fla.
The European Space Agency has picked Astrium to build its second Earth Explorer satellite, dubbed Aeolus (see illustration). The one-metric-ton spacecraft, to be placed in a Sun-synchronous orbit 400 km. above the Earth, will carry the Aladin atmospheric laser Doppler lidar already in early development at Astrium. Aladin will provide global wind profiles and serve as a climate-research and weather-forecasting tool. Astrium also will build a new telecommunications satellite for a consortium led by Greek telecom operator OTE. The 3.3-metric-ton, 7.6-kw.
Steve Wallace has become vice president-aircraft remarketing for the AeroCentury Corp., Burlingame, Calif. Glenn Roberts, who has been controller, now will also be a vice president. Jane Luther has been promoted to director of marketing services from manager of contracts.
The regional aircraft market appears set for further changes, after Canadian manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace indicated it might fill the gap left by the collapse of Fairchild Dornier's 728/928 regional jet program. The company's president, Pierre Beaudoin, said at the Farnborough air show that ``there is a need for a five-abreast product,'' but Bombardier would have to figure out if an aircraft in the category provided satisfactory financial returns.
Researchers at Australia's University of Queensland flew a second hypersonic scramjet from a rocket last week, and they are studying telemetry to determine if the shot was successful. The first flight attempt in the ``HyShot'' program failed on Oct. 30 when the upper stage rocket started corkscrewing before the scramjet could be activated (AW&ST Nov. 5, 2001, p. 22). But the July 30 shot at the Woomera Prohibited Area in south central Australia was stable and the initial data assessment suggests the test was successful. The 2-ft.
As a new shuttle launch schedule is being formed, NASA has been forced to bump an astronaut from the next long-duration station crew. Astronaut Don Thomas, a veteran of four space shuttle flights, trained for more than a year to spend several months on board the ISS as a member of the Expedition 6 crew expected to arrive on Endeavour in November. But flight surgeons have determined Thomas has a medical condition that will disqualify him, at least temporarily, from long-duration missions. Medical privacy laws prohibit NASA from releasing the nature of the problem.
Civil and military flight safety is coming under scrutiny as investigations get underway to determine the causes of dramatic crashes in Ukraine and Russia. A Sukhoi Su-27UB military fighter/ trainer crashed in a devastating explosion on July 27 during an air show near Lviv, Ukraine, killing 83 spectators and seriously injuring an additional 116. Both pilots ejected seconds before the impact and sustained only minor injuries.
Alcoa plans--within the next 24 months--to introduce a new family of alloys that it claims provide the same strength as composites but cost less. Boeing and Airbus have been given samples for testing. The materials are intended for use in the production of fuselage structures and wings. ``Traditional, built-up structures do not appear capable of meeting the cost targets and performance improvements of future aircraft,'' Alcoa Executive Vice President Patrick Hassey said.
Although Airbus' and Boeing's long-term market forecasts remain largely similar, the archrivals increasingly disagree on the airline industry's short-term capacity needs and the pace of the recovery. The two civil transport manufacturers last week continued to quarrel in public about evolving market shares, both in terms of units and dollar value, as well as the relative merits of aircraft size and speed, but nevertheless focused on the damaging effects of the ongoing crisis.
Congress is starting to set its own directions for the U.S. space program as it approaches the final act in NASA's Fiscal 2003 funding process without a clear idea of the Bush administration's long-term plans for the agency. The Senate Appropriations Committee rejected a big piece of the Bush plan for robotic space exploration last week, adding $105 million for a mission to Pluto that Administrator Sean O'Keefe would rather see killed.
Attendees of a conference in Washington next month will be able to watch simulated cyber-attacks being launched, and then discuss them with experts from academia, government, and industry. The Global Summit Exploring Cyber Terrorism and the Targets of Critical Infrastructures is to be held on Aug. 21-23, and include representatives from the transportation, utilities, financial, communications, and health and emergency services sectors. Network and software security experts are to provide data showing that the attacks are plausible.
Competition will soon get tougher in the northeast shuttle corridor. Starting Sept. 24, American Airlines' regional affiliate, American Eagle, is to begin operating 10 round-trip flights each weekday between Boston Logan and New York LaGuardia (LGA) airports and, beginning Oct. 1, 10 round trips between LaGuardia and Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA). American Eagle's ``Business Express'' shuttle service will operate 7 a.m.-7 p.m. with 37-seat Embraer 135 and 44-seat Embraer 140 regional jets. It will be taking on Delta and USAirways.
Piasecki Aircraft Corp. is aiming to demonstrate that modern compound helicopter technology can significantly boost speed, range and handling characteristics of existing rotary-wing aircraft, but differences over flight-clearance requirements are threatening to sideline the program.
Stephen B. Peth (see photo) has been promoted to vice president-air and missile defense programs from director of business development within the Washington operations segment of the Raytheon Co. John Barnes has been named vice president-government relations for defense programs. He was head of legislative activity for Raytheon's Army programs.
