Overbearing safety and environmental regulations, the imposition of questionable security measures and a crumbling infrastructure are strangling the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, according to laboratory executives.
IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, ``THE BE A PILOT'' program has received more than 18,400 requests from consumers for a certificate entitling them to an introductory flight for only $49. A key part of the initiative is a new series of learn-to-fly ads being aired on select cable TV channels. In addition, the organization is revising its Web site (www.beapilot.com) to include more content and a virtual flight scenario.
A student team from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., took first place in the annual National General Aviation Design Competition sponsored by the FAA, NASA and Air Force Research Laboratory. The winning design featured a Cessna 182 Skylane retrofitted with a turbocharged, reciprocating diesel engine that burns jet fuel. Second place went to a Pennsylvania State University team for its four-place turbofan-powered ``Defiance'' and third place went to a University of Virginia group for its ``Vector Evolution'' design.
Steve D'Onofrio (see photo) has been named director of design engineering for the ITT Industries Avionics Div., Clifton, N.J. He was manager of digital design engineering.
Bush Administration reviews of U.S. national strategic policies and plans may produce a startling recommendation later this year: develop, build and deploy a new nuclear weapon, according to Energy Dept. and Pentagon officials.
GAO scolds the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command for buying and fielding large numbers of information technology systems, sometimes more than 50% of the planned buy, during low-rate initial production. One aim of LRIP is to acquire equipment for operational testing, so problems can be found and fixes devised before too many units get into the field and the cost of retrofits gets high. SPAWAR officials said high LRIP quantities are OK when the equipment uses proven, low-risk commercial technology.
Saab Bofors Dynamics has signed a $9.01-million contract with Thales Netherland B.V. for the RBS 15 missile AD system to be mounted on Polish naval vessels.
Raytheon Aircraft Co.'s Hawker Horizon business jet made its first flight on Aug. 11, paving the way for a two-year certification program aimed at delivering airplanes to customers early in 2004. Tom Carr, Raytheon Aircraft's chief test pilot for the Horizon, said the airplane flew well, and ``performance and handling qualities were exactly as expected.'' During the 2-hr. 29-min. flight he and copilot Hans Betz flew the Horizon to a maximum altitude of 14,500 ft. and a speed of 225 KTAS. The third crewmember was test engineer Andy Collier.
Cargo operators have a ``disproportionately high number of accidents'' during takeoff and climb and at night compared with passenger airlines, according to a report on a study conducted by the Netherlands' National Aerospace Laboratory and the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority. The report, published by the Flight Safety Foundation, states that night flying and the use of aging aircraft are factors affecting the safety of freight operations worldwide.
Jason 1, the French-built replacement for the Topex-Poseidon ocean circulation spacecraft that expanded scientists' understanding of the El Nino and La Nina phenomena, is returning to France for more work. The satellite was delivered to Vandenberg AFB, Calif., July 31 in preparation for a Sept. 15 launch. But the flight was delayed 4-6 weeks after low-level vibration testing raised concerns about the spacecraft's solar arrays.
COMAIR JET EXPRESS HAS ADDED four Gulfstream IV-SP large-cabin jets to its business aviation fleet based at Cincinnati, and has made the twin-engine airplanes available for charter worldwide. The jet has a range of 4,900 mi. at 530 mph.
The governor of Osaka prefecture, Fusae Ohta, has proposed merging administration of Japan's two largest international airports, Tokyo's Narita and Osaka's Kansai. But in Tokyo, her proposal is being read as a win-lose solution--a win for the financially ailing Kansai at the expense of Narita. The $15-billion Kansai has not been profitable since its 1994 opening while Narita's financial health is steadily improving, especially with a second runway to open next spring.
Ailing Sabena Belgian World Airlines, in a note of optimism, expects to restore profitability in 2005 after instating one more far-reaching survival plan. European analysts, however, last week adopted a skeptical attitude toward Sabena management's wishful thinking while unions criticized the need for 1,600 job cuts, fleet downsizing and disposal of multiple noncore businesses.
Joseph Haddock has been named Washington-based vice president-government business development for the Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. He was director of international programs for Canada.
MBDA has begun early definition of a navalized version of its Scalp/Storm Shadow cruise missile intended to allow deep strikes at land targets from submarines and surface ships. Europe's answer to the U.S. Tomahawk, the Naval Scalp is intended to fill a gap in Europe's precision-weapon capability, which--except for Tomahawks on U.K. submarines--is currently confined to the air-dropped Scalp/Storm Shadow and the German-Swedish Taurus KEPD, still in development (AW&ST June 25, p. 35).
Having just set a new altitude record of more than 96,500 ft., the Helios solar-powered aircraft team is preparing to integrate an energy-storage system that should enable the flying wing to maintain altitude at night for multi-day missions. During a 17-hr. mission on Aug. 13 near the Hawaiian island of Kauai, Helios surpassed the 85,069-ft. absolute altitude record for sustained horizontal, nonrocket-powered flight set by a Lockheed SR-71 in 1976. On a previous mission, Helios flew to 76,271 ft. (AW&ST July 30, p. 48).
BBA Aviation and Executive Jet have expanded their support agreement for fuel and engine services. Under terms of the pact, BBA's subsidiary Signature Flight Support will become Executive Jet's exclusive supplier at airports served by Signature's facilities. In addition, Executive Jet has made a commitment to expand its engine overhaul and repair work with BBA's Dallas Airmotive business unit to include Raytheon Hawker-series jets. Dallas Airmotive provides support for Executive Jet's fleet of Cessna Citations at Love Field and nine Regional Turbine Centers.
AS PART OF THE FAA'S PLAN TO UPGRADE the nation's airspace system, the agency is enlisting help from the RTCA's free flight steering committee to develop a time-sequenced plan for equipping aircraft, airports and FAA facilities. The FAA's Operational Evolution Plan lists 15 initiatives during the next five years that will affect the airlines and their aircraft. The key is developing a plan that will keep all installations in synchronization with as little disruption as possible.
Eight years into the U.S. Energy and Defense departments' Stockpile Stewardship Program, scientists and laboratory managers are cautiously optimistic that they can extend the life of the nation's nuclear arsenal for several years, although doubts remain.
What a surprise: F-22 Raptor quantities are down, costs are up, and Congress is in recess. What better time to move the program into production? After 20 years of development work, the Air Force finally got the Defense Acquisition Board's go-ahead to begin low-rate initial production (LRIP) of its stealth fighter. Instead of a program total of 331 aircraft, only 295 were authorized, however--down considerably from the Air Force's original plan to buy 750, which became unaffordable long ago. Costs remain a concern as the Air Force and Defense Dept.
Edward N. Smith (see photo) has been appointed president/chief operating officer of the Royal Lubricants and Anderol Specialty Lubricants subsidiaries of the Kaufman Holdings Corp., Fords, N.J. He was president of the Thermoshell Inc. subsidiary of Shell Canada.
The first Airbus A318 prototype recently entered final assembly at Airbus' Hamburg facility. After the front and rear fuselage sections are joined, the wings, landing gear and engine pylons will be added, followed by horizontal and vertical tail planes and tail cone. The A318's stabilizing stringers are not riveted to parts of the fuselage shells but are laser-welded, which Airbus claims speeds manufacturing and lessens danger of corrosion.
Bombardier Transportation has won a work order from Atlanta's department of aviation to supply 24 CX-100 automated airport people movers and equipment for Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. The contract is worth $34 million.
After two contentious years of negotiations, Air Wisconsin pilots reached a tentative agreement with management on a potential contract. The move avoids a strike that could have occurred at midnight, Aug. 12, at the end of an official 30-day cooling-off period.
