Dec. 11 is close to Christmas and ought to bring tidings of good cheer. But as the new “fiscal cliff” deadline approaches, it could feel a lot more like Halloween.
No longer content with Boeing 737s, WestJet is preparing to fly 767s to Europe. And if all goes well, WestJet could soon place its first real order for long-haul aircraft.
Boeing could have sustained the venerable C-17 line profitably for at least few more years, but several factors dictated that closing it is the smarter way to go.
Wide-area imaging for ScanEagle; parafoil sensor extends ship’s horizon; new look at anti-misting kerosene to prevent fuel explosions; new variable-stability helicopter with train test pilots; hybrid cargo airship nears design freeze.
Sikorsky looks forward to working with Lockheed Martin, post-merger, on defining the next steps for the so-far industry-funded S-97 Raider high-speed helicopter program.
The key challenge to integrating the two systems is to avoid scenarios in which evading one threat might inadvertently put the aircraft in danger from another type of collision.
Airlines such as Air New Zealand realize that long-term success means paying more attention to the well-being of the communities they serve, even beyond standard environmental concerns.
Expansion is rife within the business aviation sector with Textron continuing its broad-swath approach, including new training centers and BBA Aviation consolidating other FBO giants. And NTSB offers light-plane LOC guidance.
As fans get bigger to reduce fuel consumption, so do nacelles, and new designs are needed to reduce drag and weight. Enter UTC Aerospace Systems’ ecoIPS “shrink-wrap” nacelle for future airliners.
A paradigm shift is underway, whereby historical players from the old military-industrial complex are bound to become marginalized and lose out to the new players of the digital economy.
The FAA is expecting as many as one million small UAVs could be sold during the U.S. holiday season. How much of a threat does that pose to airliners? The troubling answer is the agency really does not know because it has not begun testing. Listen to editors from Aviation Week and sister publication Air Transport World discuss the implications.
Space Fence clears critical design review; U.S.-India seal a helicopter deal; U.S. Army launches enormous engine competition; a general hopes for an LRS-B award within months.
The Mars ascent vehicle (MAV) will be very different from the ascent stage of the Apollo Lunar Module, the only craft ever to carry humans off the surface of another planetary body.
Given the success of the five-nation ISS partnership, the new director-general of the European Space Agency is hopeful any successor to the orbiting outpost will be founded on international cooperation. To this end, he has proposed a free-flying science lab that would continue ISS micro-gravity research in low Earth orbit while advancing technologies for orbital-debris mitigation. He has also floated a so-called “Moon Village” mission on the dark side of the lunar surface, offering the potential to further research and technology development in a low-gravity environment using humans, robots, or both.
As Boeing works to repair deficiencies in the KC-46 tanker’s fuel management system design, U.S. Air Force officials are undergoing a major review of the project’s master plan.
