Cessna Aircraft Co. executives said at the European Business Aviation Assn. Convention and Exhibit in Geneva last week that the company plans to introduce at least one new Citation model and perhaps another business aircraft in a new market niche, at the National Business Aviation Assn. convention in Orlando, Fla., in September.
There is probably not a more difficult job within the Washington Beltway than designing and implementing a balanced and effective response in aviation security to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. And as we have seen, while the field of homeland security and defense encompasses broader issues, aviation is a large and visible sector of the effort. On one side, you must provide airline crews and travelers an assured means of safe passage within the worldwide aviation network.
Sino-Swearingen has again pushed back FAA certification of its SJ30-2 light jet, which had been scheduled for the end of this year. The one-year delay was attributed to the decision last year to shift production of the wings and fuselages to Swearingen's facility in West Virginia. The company said it has firm orders for 154 of the Williams Rolls FJ44-powered aircraft.
Investigators of last week's top-of-climb disintegration of a China Airlines Boeing 747-209B are engaged in a month-long effort to retrieve 80% of the wreckage. Major pieces of the airplane and the black boxes were located last week in the Taiwan Strait but not immediately recovered because of strong currents and high seas. At least 92 bodies had been found in the water by late last week, and the 209 passengers and 16 crew are all presumed dead.
Piaggio said it has sold five P.180 Avanti advanced turboprops to an undisclosed British operator. The company expects to deliver 18 aircraft this year. Fifty P.180s are in service, and production is expected to nearly double by 2004. Officials said a stretched version could be announced at the National Business Aviation Assn. Convention in September.
The space shuttle Endeavour crew is scheduled to start cargo transfer and robotic arm upgrade work at the International Space Station this week, pending a safe liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center. The launch was scheduled for May 30 but was scrubbed due to thunderstorms. A second launch attempt was set for May 31, but weather remained an issue.
Senate floor action on a $32.1-billion supplemental spending bill is scheduled this week, and final congressional passage is assured despite a partisan divide over raising the national debt ceiling in the middle of an election year. The Senate's version of the Fiscal 2002 supplemental exceeds the President's $28.4-billion request, largely because he sought about $5.3 billion for homeland security, while the Senate Appropriations Committee recommended $8.4 billion.
Among the first images released from France's new Spot 5 Earth remote-sensing satellite was this 2.5-meter (8.2-ft.) resolution extract view of central Paris collected on May 16. The satellite was launched May 4 by Spot Image Corp. (AW&ST May 13, p. 20; May 20, p. 62). They recently signed a partnership agreement giving Alberta-based Iunctus Geomatics Corp. exclusive distribution rights for Spot products in Canada, similar to deals with the U.S. and Japan.
Boeing has ordered a series of full mission trainers, weapons tactics trainers and canopy trainers designed to support training of F-22 pilots and mechanics. The simulators will be built by the Link Simulation and Training division of L-3 Communications under a contract worth $29.9 million.
Northrop Grumman's biggest hiring challenge for 2002 isn't the Joint Strike Fighter. It's actually in the Northrop Grumman Information Technology business, which is expected to hire 4,000 people this year. That follows 2001 when 4,000 new hires also joined. Jason Gropper is one of the new breed of IT professionals that Northrop Grumman is seeking. He wasn't lured by the IT industry or fast-wealth offers of stock options.
Elisra has received a $14-million contract from the Israel Air Force to put self-protection equipment on AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. The project includes radar and laser warning systems, a passive infrared missile warning and active countermeasures, along with chaff and flare. There is an option for a second phase, also valued at about $14 million.
The high cost of terrorism insurance is putting aviation jobs and economic growth at risk, and a repetition of Sept. 11 would expose tremendous gaps in coverage, a congressional analysis warns. Total insured damages from the synchronized airborne assaults on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon are projected at $40-70 billion, the single largest economic loss in U.S. history, according to the congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC). The unprecedented cost has resulted in soaring premiums as well as dramatic falloffs in coverage.
Boeing's recent agreement to sell F-15s to South Korea has raised concerns across the board. The company stresses that the arrangement saves 1,000 jobs on the St. Louis assembly line for four more years beyond 2004--when USAF's current order will be completed--to 2008. The $4.2-billion sale of 40 Eagle fighters involved Boeing's military division promising $3.6 billion in ``industrial offset,'' creating at least 30,000 jobs in South Korea. Final assembly would be done in St. Louis.
Arnold Friedman has been named senior vice president-worldwide marketing and sales of Space Systems/Loral, Palo Alto, Calif. He succeeds Daniel E. Collins, who has retired. Friedman was president of ProntoCast Services.
Goodrich Corp. has been selected by Rolls-Royce plc to supply the lift-fan anti-icing system for the short takeoff vertical landing version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Also, Goodrich will install cockpit door video surveillance systems in Virgin Atlantic Airways' Airbus A340 and Boeing 747-400 aircraft this month. The systems will provide real-time video monitoring to the flight crew of cockpit door entry and the forward galley.
Singapore has received its first Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter. Singapore has contracted with the U.S. government to purchase additional AH-64Ds.
Lufthansa Technik plans to reorganize its executive jet service and VIP businesses in a move that's expected to take the German maintenance overhaul and repair provider into the fixed base operator (FBO) business. Business jet life-cycle support/modifications and VIP completion activities are currently located together in a single business unit at LT's large Hamburg engineering facility, where they share a common support staff. However, this structure is no longer suitable to allow the company to benefit from future growth, which is expected to be strong despite Sept.
Airbus received type certification on the A340-600 from the European Joint Aviation Authorities and confirmation of an order for 13 A340-300s from Swiss. Swiss will begin taking deliveries next June, with the 13 aircraft scheduled to be delivered by August 2004.
U.S. Army officials hope to speed development of the RAH-66 Comanche and erase some of the delay a planned restructure means for the program. But while service leaders focus on fixing Comanche, other helicopter projects struggle for funding to remain viable. The new Comanche plan the Army has been developing in recent months would add about $3.4 billion to the $3.1-billion development bill and delay fielding of the aircraft until late 2009. The result would be a more realistic and executable project, program representatives insist.
Lockheed Martin said it would sell its 81% ownership interest in Comsat International to World Data Consortium LLC, a private investment firm in Washington. Comsat International, which provides data and voice service to Latin America, is one of the businesses Lockheed Martin said it would divest in an effort to refocus on its ``core'' businesses (AW&ST Dec. 17, 2001, p. 84).
Supercomputers are expensive machines that require a lot of expertise to run, and require substantial commitment from a company to have one. Delta Search Labs (www.deltasearchlabs.com) has put together the equipment and expertise--drawn from the faculties of Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Arizona State University and University of Portsmouth (U.K.)--and is looking for industrial partners to join in exploiting the capability.
Larry McCracken has been promoted to vice president-communications for St. Louis-based Boeing Military Aircraft and Missile Systems from vice president-public relations at Boeing's Chicago headquarters. He will succeed Doug Kennett, who will be vice president-public affairs at Boeing's Washington office. John Dern, who has been director of media relations at Boeing headquarters, will succeed McCracken.
Larry O. Moore has been named senior vice president-module centers and manufacturing operations for Pratt & Whitney, East Hartford, Conn. He was vice president-operations excellence for the Cummins Engine Co.
Raytheon Systems Ltd. has been selected by Lockheed Martin to supply 104 GAS-1 anti-jam GPS antenna units for several aircraft types including the F-16 and C-130J. The $4-million contract includes equipment, warranty provision and project management.
