By Robert P. White Smithsonian Institution Press 186 pp., Hardcover, $24.95 Mason Patrick began his aviation career at the top, as Gen. John J. Pershing's hand-picked nominee to head the Air Service, AEF. Patrick was to whip it into fighting shape, giving it the structure, motivation and infrastructure needed to become a first-class battle force.
Turkish Airlines (THY), staggering from repeated economic blows, is stepping up survival efforts with additional job cuts and reductions in its 69-aircraft fleet. The carrier was in the midst of the country's deepest recession since 1945 when it was hit by the effects of Sept. 11. The carrier now expects the International Monetary Fund to implement economic measures related to a $15.7-billion loan issued in February.
U.S./Russian arms control, enshrined in Cold War liturgy for decades, is said to be entering a treaty-less twilight. Policymakers and analysts differ sharply about whether this development is a birth or a death.
Four B-1 crewmen had to eject last week just north of Diego Garcia shortly after a nighttime takeoff on a mission to bomb Afghanistan. An engine fire continued to burn even after fuel flow was shut off. The flames caused ``multiple malfunctions,'' said the bomber's pilot and mission commander, Air Force Capt. William Steele. ``The aircraft was out of control, and we all had to eject'' at about 15,000 ft. The crew was picked up about 2 hr. later suffering only from bruises and cuts related to the violent ejection.
NOVATEL OF CALGARY, ALBERTA, will develop a GPS receiver for the local area augmentation system (LAAS) ground facility that Raytheon is developing for the FAA. LAAS is a GPS-based system designed to provide precision-landing guidance. In addition to LAAS, Raytheon is developing ground stations for the FAA's wide-area augmentation system; MTSAT satellite-based augmentation system (MSAS) in Japan, and for the U.S. Defense Dept.'s joint precision approach and landing system.
With Congress' mid-January mandate to probe all checked bags for explosives quickly approaching and far too few electronic detection systems in place to do the work, airlines are rapidly investigating substitute strategies offered in the aviation security legislation signed into law by President Bush on Nov. 19.
Bringing together a variety of map formats is often valuable, but can be difficult. For example, laying a street pattern, water system and power lines on top of a satellite image can give a good picture of a town--but these data may be stored in pixel and vector formats with different coordinate systems, labeling conventions and other standards, as well as being spread among different databases.
U.S. Army aviation officials argue that a proposal to restructure the RAH-66 Comanche's development program will do a lot to reduce risk and that a concomitant plan to accelerate production would more than offset any near-term cost increases.
Long-time Airbus customer Vietnam Airlines has chosen the Boeing 777-200ER for European and U.S. routes, marking the first business transaction under a U.S.-Vietnam trade pact that came into effect earlier this month. The four aircraft, valued at $680 million, are to begin arriving in 2003.
Chris Ullman has become vice president-corporate communications for the Carlyle Group of Washington. He was associate director of communications for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications' plan to unload holdings in Inmarsat and other satellite operators is not the only equity realignment underway in the industry. Last week, Telecom Italia announced it would sell its 20.5% stake in Eutelsat, along with minor shares in Intelsat (2.8%), Inmarsat (2.1%) and New Skies (3.9%), to a group of investors led by Lehman Brothers. The shares, valued at 550 million euros ($495 million), will ultimately be transferred to a new company, with Lehman Brothers holding 70% and Telecom Italia, 30%.
The board of directors of the FedEx Pilots Assn. has entered into a merger agreement with the Air Line Pilots Assn. International after a five-year period as an independent union. FPA President David Webb said reconnecting with ALPA was the ``clear choice'' after studying alternatives, including forming a union with pilots at UPS and other cargo carriers or remaining an independent. Polls of members showed a strong preference for ALPA, Webb said.
Sean O'Keefe will take over as the 10th NASA administrator next month, pending his likely confirmation by the U.S. Senate, but any honeymoon with Capitol Hill is likely to be short-lived as he unveils details of his financial cleanup strategy in the Fiscal 2003 budget request. In sometimes-contentious give-and-take with senators who represent states that are home to NASA field centers, O'Keefe made clear at his Dec. 7 confirmation hearing that he will take an accountant's sharp pencil to agency spending without much regard for congressional sensibilities.
Boeing has initiated flight testing its contender to replace the EA-6B jammer and is developing a roadmap to boost the electronic warfare prowess of its F/A-18F derivative to defeat increasingly sophisticated air defenses.
Donald Lopez, deputy director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, has been inducted into the Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame. He was cited for his more than 25 years' service to the museum, which includes participating in the planning for the current building, which opened in 1976, and developing its exhibits.
Gen. (ret.) Robert Aubiniere, the first director general of the CNES French space agency, which was created in the early 1960s, died in Paris on Dec. 7. He was 89. During World War II, he was an influential member of France's Free Forces. Later, his air force assignments included management of a missile test range installed in northern Africa. Aubiniere headed CNES from 1962-71, and from 1968-70 chaired the European Launcher Development Organization, a predecessor of the European Space Agency.
As part of an ongoing effort to broaden the acceptance of CIS civil aircraft, Volga-Dnepr Airlines and Antonov Airlines plan to seek certification of their An-124-100 to European JAA standards and to further modernize the huge freighter.
Art LaFlamme has become Ottawa-based air safety and legislative coordinator for Canadian operations for the Air Line Pilots Assn. He was director general of civil aviation for Transport Canada.
James M. Sinnett, retired vice president-strategic development, and Alan R. Wiechman, director of signature design and applications, both for the Boeing Phantom Works, have received National Defense Industrial Assn. awards. Sinnett won the Combat Survivability Award for Leadership. He was cited for his early grasp of the significance of the nascent low observables (LO) technology and benefits that could be attained from its incorporation into aircraft. Wiechman received the Combat Survivability Award for Technical Achievement.
The ``new'' Crossair expects to break even in 2003 and post healthy profits in 2004, says Chief Executive Andre Dose. Next year, however, Crossair could lose up to 1.1 billion Swiss francs ($671million).
U.S. and French government officials are urging progress on export reform to foster industrial cooperation. But despite talk of an overarching agreement between the governments, there has been little concrete progress on breaking down defense trade barriers.
Once the conflict in Afghanistan is over don't expect the Pentagon to tell how the fight was won. Another victim of the conflict will be the traditional, publicly available ``lessons learned'' document, a senior official says. The services' new mission-needs statements also will be closely held as part of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's larger initiative to keep hidden the details of operational and technical innovations.
Pilot hiring in November continued at a slow pace, with only 250 new positions available at 70 of the 212 airlines/companies reporting to Air Inc. The Atlanta-based airline hiring consultancy says fractional-ownership companies were the most active segment, hiring 93 pilots, followed by jet operators with 63. Nonjet operators and national airlines each hired 43 new pilots. No pilots were hired by the majors in November, but two of 15 on the Air Inc. list are expected to take on new pilots in the next few months. Air Inc.
