French and U.S. military authorities will jointly seek to determine why a USAF A-10A close-support twinjet on June 27 crashed at about 3 p.m. local time near France's Polygone bombing range south of Luneville, France. The pilot was killed. The 81st Fighter Sqdn. aircraft, which carried no armaments, was based at Spangdalhlem, Germany. The aircraft was on a tactical leadership program training mission with no live munitions on board.
With massive forest fires having burned 2.6 million acres in the U.S. already this year, it's time for the federal government to rethink its rules of engagement for battling fires from the air. The current system is broken, and the nation can no longer afford what has become an expensive, outdated sop to commercialism. On a single day last week (June 26), the National Interagency Fire Center reported 176 wildland fires burning, with 19 considered ``major'' blazes engulfing 901,402 acres. Arizona's Rodeo/Chediski fire had burned 409,000 acres and was only 5% contained.
Thomas R. Andrews has been named vice president-aviation services for the Tucson (Ariz.) Airport Authority. He was deputy manager of engineering and maintenance at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Seaside views may be hazardous to aircraft health. At least that's the conclusion from a review of bird-strike data from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The country recorded 1,103 bird strikes last year, 12.5% more than in 2000. The majority occurred with seabirds struck at low altitudes because so many of Japan's airports face the sea--78 out of 121 civil and military air fields. Tokyo Haneda had the highest strike incidence--109 hits. Increasing flight numbers mean the bird-strike incidence rate is expected to keep climbing.
Thomas Cook AG has completed a contract for two Airbus A320 aircraft, which are expected to be delivered early next year. CFM56-5B4 engines will power the aircraft, which will be configured in a single-class layout and bear Thomas Cook livery, in keeping with the group's new corporate brand strategy. One will be operated by Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium and the other by JMC Airlines, a British holiday carrier.
Scott L. Bowers has been appointed vice president-revenue management, Kenneth I. Feldman vice president-marketing and Randy L. Richards vice president-cargo, all for America West Airlines. Bowers was senior director of pricing, while Feldman was senior director of marketing for America West Clubs. Richards was director of U.S. field operations at AIT Worldwide Logistics.
Talks were expected to intensify last weekend concerning Northrop Grumman's proposed acquisition of TRW Inc., and an announcement could come as early as July 1, officials close to the negotiations said. A deal would not close until September or later, however. Senior Northrop officials were expected to meet with TRW officials in Cleveland to offer up to $59-60 per share to acquire the whole company, a price that institutional investors were advising TRW management is fair.
The emergence of more sophisticated long-range surface-to-surface rockets is raising doubts among Israelis about a planned effort with the U.S. to develop a laser-based air-defense system. U.S. and Israeli negotiators are in the final stages of formulating an agreement to begin development of the Mobile Tactical High-Energy Laser (Mthel). U.S. officials are trying to remain low-key concerning the discussions owing to the tensions in the Middle East, but the deal could be concluded soon.
FedEx Corp. reported record revenue and earnings for its Fiscal 2002, which ended on May 31, as ground and freight operations made up for a decline in volume at FedEx Express. The Express unit increased revenue 4% year-over-year in the fourth quarter as strong growth in U.S. Postal Service work made up for a 3% drop in domestic daily package volume. Its revenue for the fiscal year was down 1%, however, and it cut back capital spending ``significantly.''
Craig Bevington has been named vice president-sales and marketing for new engine programs for Superior Air Parts, Coppell, Tex. He was marketing and sales manager for Teledyne Continental Motors.
If airline and aerospace/defense executives were asked to list the most meaningful criteria for measuring their organizations' success, the answers would vary from one company to the next. In the aerospace world, some managers focus on profit margins or cash generation, while others look to return on invested capital or revenue. Still others zero in on market share or their company's price/earnings ratio; a high P/E usually means the capital markets believe a company has some substantive advantage.
Ken R. Patrick, who founded Canadian Aviation Elec- tronics (CAE) in 1947, died June 1 in Victoria, British Columbia. He was 86. The former Royal Cana- dian Air Force officer employed World War 2-trained technicians who, during the Cold War, developed and built radar systems above the Arctic Circle. CAE now employs 6,000 people and has broadened its offerings into simulation, controls and training.
For many small- and medium-size U.S. aerospace companies, mergers and acquisitions will continue to be a cornerstone of their business strategy as they seek to expand their systems integration capabilities, and thus increase their value as suppliers. And chances are the vast majority of those transactions will go unopposed by the government. But their larger brethren--the platform builders and manufacturers of major systems--are likely to find the deal-making climate much less favorable than it used to be. From the perspective of Air Force Secretary James G.
Embraer has completed the first phase of its new facility at Gaviao Peixoto, near Araraquera in Brazil. The new site includes a completed 16,400-ft. runway, including overrun, a flight test hangar and support facilities. When completed in late 2003, the facility will include additional hangars and construction buildings with some 18.3 million sq. ft. under cover. The Gaviao Peixoto site, some 160 mi.
Christopher L. Chiames has been appointed senior vice president-corporate affairs, Sharon R. Hendry vice president-inflight and Capt. Edward W. Bular vice president-flight operations, all for US Airways. Chiames was managing director of the transportation and tourism public affairs practice at Burson-Marsteller. Hendry was vice president-operations and customer service at Hallmark Aviation Services, and Bular was senior director of flight operations.
Lockheed Martin's F-35 program picked up headway with the Netherlands signing last week to be the first Tier 2 participant (with an $802-million investment) in the 10-year-long System Development and Demonstration phase of the Joint Strike Fighter program. Italy is expected to sign on (at $1.028 billion) as the other within a few weeks. Norway also is expected to join as a Tier 3 member in a few weeks, and Turkey is expected to sign up by July, both at the $150-million investment level. Other Tier 3 members are Canada and Denmark.
Engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center have rigged a special camera mount to take advantage of the high-quality window on the International Space Station for Earth-observation photography. Based on a standard Express station rack, the 900-lb. Window Observational Research Facility (Worf) has already been shipped to Florida for launch in January 2003. Mounted in front of the station window, it can accommodate cameras as large as 20 X 21 X 30 in. with hardware that allows researchers to control their gear from Earth.
The European Space Agency has chosen three projects for the second round of its Earth Explorer Opportunity Missions. The projects, picked from a short list of six missions, are ACE+, an atmospheric and climate explorer satellite; EGPM, a European contribution to the NASA/NASDA Global Precipitation Mission, and Swarm, a constellation of four small polar-orbiting spacecraft to study the dynamics of the Earth's magnetic field and its interactions with the Earth system. Two of the projects will be picked in 2008 for completion and launch.
Gloria Pualani, director of socio-economic business programs for Northrop Grumman Corp. Integrated Systems Sector in Irving, Tex., has been named one of the Fifty Influential Minorities in Business by the Minority Business and Professionals Network. Pualani was nominated for developing and maintaining a socio-economic business program for Northrop Grumman and leadership in support of minority- and woman-owned businesses.
The 28 F-16s--denied to Pakistan due to that country's nuclear arms stance--have been sitting for nearly a decade in the Arizona desert at the U.S. Air Force's Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan AFB. But they may have finally found a home. The Block 15 A and B models are upgraded with HUDs and improved engines for foreign military sales. Half are to go to the Navy at NAS Fallon, Nev., where they will serve in the adversary squadron associated with the Top Gun school, replacing F/A-18A/Bs and F-5s at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center.
United Airlines and Australian domestic low-fare carrier Virgin Blue last week entered a code-share agreement. Ticketing for passengers of both airlines will have a single United Airlines code. The deal is part of VirginBlue's business expansion plans, according to Chief Executive Brett Godfrey, and United's plan to rebuild its Australian business, according to Stephen Pearse, general manager of United Airlines Australia.
Southwest Airlines recently obtained an unsecured revolving line of credit of $575 million, but the carrier is expected to reserve the money for emergency use only. When the entire U.S. airline industry faced a liquidity crisis following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Southwest drew down its entire $425-million line of credit to cover short-term operating needs, and it has since been repaid. Other major airlines also tapped their lines of credit. J.P. Morgan secured the financing facility through a consortium of banks. ``No other airline in the U.S.
As the Bush administration's war against domestic terror unfolds, the aerospace/defense industry almost certainly will play a major role because of its broad systems integration and technology-innovation skills. But don't expect a flood of lucrative contracts anytime soon. The demand for extensive products and services to bolster U.S. homeland security and defense (HSD) remains dormant, according to a current market research report developed exclusively for Aviation Week & Space Technology by Deloitte Consulting.
A Toyota-designed proof-of-concept (POC) single-engine aircraft made its first flight on May 31 at the Mojave, Calif., airport, flown by Scaled Composites test pilot Jon Karkow. The initial test flight was limited to 120 kt., and explored basic stability and control characteristics. Known as the Toyota Advanced Aircraft, the POC vehicle is fitted with a Lycoming engine, but may eventually fly with a new aircraft-qualified diesel powerplant.
