Russia launched its new Angara-1.2 light launcher from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome July 9, after a technical glitch postponed a planned June 25 debut. Lifting off on a ballistic trajectory at 12:00 UTC, the two-stage Angara carried a mass simulator weighing 1,430 kg (3,150 lb.), according to Angara prime contractor Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. Khrunichev said the suborbital demonstration mission ended as planned when the Angara second stage and its dummy payload landed 21.28 min. post-launch 5,700 km (3,600 mi.) from Plesetsk.
Air New Zealand has become the first airline to take delivery of the Boeing 787-9, and plans to debut the aircraft on revenue flights from Auckland to Sydney in early August. A celebration to mark the handover was held in Everett, Washington, on July 8, almost 10 years after the orders for 10 aircraft were placed. The first aircraft was flown back to New Zealand on July 10. The carrier will spend about three weeks preparing the aircraft for revenue service, conducting proving flights and additional training.
Tucked into President Barack Obama’s request for $3.7 billion to address the increase in children migrating across the border into the southwestern U.S. are a few dollars for the growing unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry. Of the total, $39.4 million is requested to fund 16,526 additional border security flight hours in fiscal 2015 and 16 additional UAS crews. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol uses Predator B UAVs.
The FAA is revising its guidance on air cargo ops in response to last year’s fatal Boeing 747-400 freighter accident at Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield. In April 2013, a National Airlines freighter operating for the U.S. military, crashed on takeoff from Bagram, killing all seven crew. The converted passenger aircraft was carrying five military vehicles.
The composite backplane structure designed to support the 18 beryllium mirrors that will give the planned James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) a 21-ft. primary aperture has completed static testing, clearing the way for its integration with the deployment mechanisms that will unfold it in deep space and the mirrors themselves. ATK, which designed and built the backplane structure, joined JWST prime contractor Northrop Grumman in the test, which determined that the 2,180-lb. structure can support loads totaling 12 times its weight during its 2018 launch.
The Textron AirLand Scorpion made its international debut at last week’s Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in the U.K.; it sat a mere several feet from the F-35B mockup brought in by Lockheed Martin in place of the F-35Bs that were no-shows, thanks to a fleet-wide grounding. The twin-engine jet made seven stops en route to its appearance July 10 at the event; it arrived at the air field July 9. The aircraft flew 4,607.9 mi., logging a cumulative 15.7 hr. for the journey; it was accompanied by a Cessna Sovereign+ business jet.
Japan has delayed entry into service of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries C-2 airlifter by two years to 2016 following an airframe failure in a strength test. Concentrated loads around the frames near the cargo door caused the failure, the ministry of defense says. The strength of the wing has evidently been verified. When the program was launched at the beginning of the last decade, the first delivery was due in 2011. More recently, the type was supposed to be in service this year. Japan has ordered six C-2s.
Boeing could face “long-term credit risks” if the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the official export credit agency of America, is not reauthorized before October, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said July 8.
French lawmakers said July 8 that the nation’s €190 billion ($258 billion) military spending plan for 2014-19 is short €1.5 billion for next year, owing to an anticipated gap in revenue expected from the sale of radio-frequency spectrum allocated to the nation’s military. These exceptional resources, gleaned from the one-time sale of real estate, spectrum allocation and other state assets, will be used to fund €6.1 billion of the France’s defense budget, including €1.77 billion in 2014, €1.77 billion in 2015 and €1.25 billion in 2016.
There was an error in an item in The World section ( AW&ST June 30, p. 12). The revised search area for Malaysia Airlines’ missing Flight 370 is listed as 60,000 sq. km.—the “conversion” is given as 37,300-sq.-mi. The ratio of km to statute miles is in fact 0.62, but the units are area, not length, so the factor should be squared. The conversion should be 23,160-sq.-mi. (The reader is correct—Ed.)
Reader Finbar Constant was correct with respect to the Lufthansa dual registration ( AW&ST July 7, p. 8). Yes, Lufthansa has reused the registration D-ABYC that is now on one of its Boeing 747-8s. It was used on the airline’s first-generation Boeing 747-200s.
Michael Rogers, Project Manager, Carolina Unmanned Vehicles Inc.
The photo accompanying Bill Sweetman’s commentary ( AW&ST June 30, p. 18) is an Allsopp Helikite, not the aerostat he writes about. We opt to build our Lightweight Aerostat System using the Helikite. The aerostat described as the RT Skystar unit is probably LTAS Corp.’s Kingfisher. I am sure they would appreciate the credit. (The reader is correct—Ed.)
With regard to “Unambiguous Upset” ( AW&ST June 16, p. 51) I have a suggestion that could be an effective and extremely cheap means to drill home upset training: First, all pilots should read Stick and Rudder by Wolfgang Langewiesche; second, they should undergo 10 hr. of dual training in a high-performance glider. With this background, pilots will know what makes an airplane fly, how to safely fly it—and they will be less involved in “systems management” issues.
As reported in “Change Agent” ( AW&ST June 30, p. 41), the NTSB recommended enlisting a panel of experts to develop a “context-dependent low-energy alerting system.” The NTSB and Boeing should look to Airbus, where such a warning has been in place on its fly-by-wire aircraft for decades. The warning announces “Speed-Speed-Speed” when the current thrust is not sufficient to recover a positive flightpath with pitch control.
The Delta Air Lines CEO’s recent Viewpoint, specifically his comments about the Export-Import bank, had me snickering. Richard Anderson calls for transparency into the bank’s business dealings. He wants complete information on intended transactions involving parties that may be affected economically (i.e. the airlines). And he wants Ex-Im to provide public justification for its activities.
USAF Maj. Gen. Leonard A. Patrick has been appointed vice commander of Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. He was commander of the command’s Second Air Force, Keesler AFB, Mississippi. Brig. Gen. Mark A. Brown, who has been selected for promotion to major general, has been named to succeed Patrick. Brown has been director of financial management at Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Brig. Gen. John P.
Charles Buckland has been named general manager of Landmark Aviation’s Asheville (North Carolina) Regional Airport facility. He was general manager at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport for Atlantic Aviation.
Lisa Ellman has joined Washington law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge’s public policy and regulatory practice. She was head of the U.S. Justice Department’s Working Group on Domestic Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson’s Viewpoint “Stop Subsidizing My Competitors” ( AW&ST June 30, p. 66) wavers when it focuses on widebody aircraft without a line of context. Why aren’t narrowbodies a concern? To make his point, Anderson cites a two-aircraft deal with Boeing versus a four-aircraft arrangement with Airbus that took place in 2012. Is this the only example available? Were there more in 2012, or in 2011 or in 2013? If so, he should strengthen his case.
Mark Salzano (see photo) has been appointed executive director of government contract training for New York-based FlightSafety International. He was director of training at the LaGuardia Airport Learning Center and succeeds Bill Nugent, who has retired. Paul Kuchta (see photo) has been appointed director of training operations. He was an assistant manager of the company’s Dallas Learning Center and is succeeded by Robert Standley (see photo), who has been promoted from director of maintenance training.
Europe may not have a single NASA-like organization to act as a focal point for aeronautics research, but it does have Clean Sky. Now entering its culminating phase of demonstrations, and with a follow-on program starting, Clean Sky is having a powerful structuring effect, aligning not only European Union (EU)-funded research but also national programs with common aviation goals.
When announced in March 2013, plans to create the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) backed by more than £3 billion ($5.1 billion) in U.K. government and industry investment in research and development were heralded as a resounding endorsement of the U.K.’s continued major role in commercial aviation manufacturing.
First, Japan decided in April to drop its arms export ban in order to join international weapons programs. Then, July 1, it loosened its military operations policy, so its armed forces could fight to defend an ally. Now it is building a strategic relationship with Australia, which is reacting warmly to Tokyo’s approach. The common factor behind all of this is, of course, China.
