Tone Deaf to Risk? I disagree with the editorial “Commercial Space Still the Way to Go” ( AW&ST Nov. 3/10, p. 74), which contends: “We must resist the idea that space is inherently difficult, expensive and risky. Aviation once seemed so, too.” The editorial fails to differentiate between the users of aviation and space (airlines, passengers, space services providers) and the people that design, build, test, manufacture and maintain aviation and space products. For users, aviation and space have indeed become less risky.
Virgin America reiterated in an updated prospectus filed this month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it will focus much of its attention in the near future on five airports—Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York LaGuardia, Washington National and Dallas Love Field—but it is not clear that this strategy will pay immediate dividends.
Pierre-Olivier Bandet (see photo) has become executive vice president-public affairs for Air France. He remains vice president of the chairman’s office.
Customer deferrals, trade sanctions and a deteriorating economic outlook have forced Rolls to accelerate a planned restructuring, which will mainly affect its U.K. civil aero-engine workforce, even though many of the issues are afflicting the company’s Land & Sea division, which produces nuclear energy and power systems.
Orbital Sciences remained mum on a replacement engine for its ISS cargo carrier last week, but Russian news outlets have identified the new kerosene-fueled RD-193 developed by NPO Energomash as the chosen one.
Dec. 8-10—Middle East Business Aviation. Dubai. See www.meba.aero Feb. 1-3—Routes Americas. Denver. See www.routesonline.com/events/172/ routes-americas-2015 Feb. 3-6—National Business Aviation Association Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference. San Jose, California. See www.nbaa.org/events/sdc/2015
Nov. 19-20—A&D Programs, Litchfield Park, Arizona. Jan. 13-14—MRO Latin America, Buenos Aires. Feb. 2-3—MRO Middle East, Dubai. March 5—Laureate Awards, Washington. April 14-16—MRO Americas, Miami.
A pair of Lockheed Martin F-35Cs have successfully completed their first series of arrested landings and catapult takeoffs from the carrier USS Nimitz this month, marking the start of the developmental test program for the U.S. Navy’s first stealthy piloted aircraft.
The so-called Third Offset, a new Pentagon strategy for pursuing and developing military technologies to overcome the likes of China and Russia, could accordingly provide a blueprint for industry to focus on and make business moves such as acquisitions, divestitures and research spending. Advance technologies highlighted by defense officials in recent years include hypersonic weapons; unmanned; cyber; long-range strike; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; “big data,” and “cloud” computing.
Recent developments in the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter program have convinced some analysts that the nearly $400 billion multirole stealth jet has seen its worst days. For instance, a key credit-rating analyst covering the Western aerospace and defense industry says the eighth low-rate initial production contract for the F-35 signals definitive long-term viability of the program after years of doubts.
Manohar Parrikar, a graduate in metallurgical engineering, has become the new defense minister of India, which is in the midst of a $100 billion military modernization program. Parrikar, who replaces part-time Defense Minister Arun Jaitley, is faced with the onerous task of expediting the country’s pending defense deals as the new right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party government in India, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tries to establish a speedier acquisition system.
China’s Xiaofei testbed collected this image of the Moon’s far side, with the Earth beyond, on Oct. 28 during a lunar loop-around flight aimed at validating the reentry technology for the Chang’e-5 sample-return mission scheduled to launch as early as 2017.
A Chinese airlifter as big as the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules will go into service in the 2020s if the factory behind the project, Shaanxi Aircraft, is given a go-ahead, as expected.
While the SpaceShipTwo crash investigation continues, the full impact on the vehicle’s design and operations, as well as the effect on Virgin Galactic’s schedule, remains unclear.
“We carried nearly a quarter more [long-haul] passengers compared to last year while increasing our load factor and revenue per seat,” CEO Christoph Mueller says. “We target further profitable growth of our long-haul business into 2015.” Aer Lingus’s long-haul revenues rose 34% in the three months through September compared to the same period last year, while short-haul revenue rose 5.5%.
Three words best describe a suite of new software tools Honeywell is building for its Primus Epic integrated flight decks: seamless situational awareness.
