When it comes to the fiscal 2015 budget request from the Obama administration, if you like your current major aerospace and defense program, you can keep it—for now. With the politically charged nature of final 2014 appropriations and their late-cycle passage Jan. 17, and next month's release of the 2015 request and accompanying long-term budget blueprint, more than the usual high-level information is already known about the White House's formal request as far as 2018.
Jonathan Baliff has been appointed to succeed Bill Chiles when he retires July 31 as president/CEO of the U.K.-based Bristow Group and from its board of directors. Baliff is senior vice president and CFO.
To paraphrase an old joke, everybody likes to monitor weather from space, but nobody does anything about it. Now comes a Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher with training in aeronautical engineering and atmospheric science, pushing a $3 million experiment to determine if jet engines on the ground can generate enough updraft to start rainfall in drought-stricken areas.
Iran claims to have successfully flight-tested two ballistic missiles as the U.S. continues to struggle with technical problems with its Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) missile shield (see p. 34). Tehran test-fired a long-range ballistic missile with penetration aids, according to Turkish Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehqan. Such aids are designed to fool missile defense radars and guide interceptors to false targets. Iran also flew a laser-guided, air-launched “Bina” missile capable of destroying targets such as bridges.
I have been active in the aviation maintenance sector since 1958 when I worked for Pan Am, cleaning aircraft as a summer job at the heavy maintenance base at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. My career spans hands-on in-the-trenches experience as well as high-level executive positions, and I've learned from and loved all of it.
I would like to see more coverage and follow-up of incidents (and note I mean more than crashes). One can always search out such information on the websites of national safety regulatory agencies, but this would not provide the commentary and insight of your skilled reporters. Also, I would like to see more focus on civil aviation and aerospace, including an in-depth look at all aspects of satellites. Less emphasis on military aviation would be appreciated.
Three failures in a row often bode ill for a program's funding at the Pentagon. No so for missile defense. On the heels of last year's humiliating third failure of the U.S.'s Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system in what was billed as a fairly simple flight trial, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is doubling down. He plans to add more than $4.5 billion to the Missile Defense Agency's coffers, much of it for GMD, from fiscal 2015-19, says Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance.
It is clear that preventive maintenance can bring reliability and predictability to a fleet, but can it position a diligent carrier above the mean? Delta Air Lines is testing—and perhaps proving—the hypothesis.
USAF Brig. Gen. Jerry D. Harris, Jr., has been appointed director of programs in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Programs at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon. He has been vice commander of the 5th Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, Yokota AB, Japan. Brig. Gen. Scott F. Smith has been named inspector general at Air Mobility Command Headquarters, Scott AFB, Ill. He was deputy commander of the Combined Joint Task Force, Horn of Africa, U.S. Africa Command at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti.
USMC Reserve Brig. Gen. William T. Collins has been nominated for promotion to major general. He is commanding general of the New Orleans-based 4th Marine Aircraft Wing. Honors And Elections
Israel Aerospace Industries brought an unmanned air system to the air show, inaugurating a new class that it calls the “super-tactical” UAS. The Super Heron is about 50% larger than the basic Heron or the General Atomics Predator, in order to carry a high-performance multi-sensor suite on long-endurance missions. Flight tests have been completed for the UAS, according to IAI, and it is now “a fully operational system.”
Stephen Ray (see photo) has become financial director of Dunlop Aircraft Tires, Birmingham, England. He was group chief financial officer of the turnover business for the Linpac Group.
Laura J. Schumacher has been named to the board of directors of General Dynamics, Falls Church, Va. She is executive vice president-business development and external affairs/general counsel for AbbVie.
Brendan Conlon has been named to the board of senior advisers of the Silverline Group aerospace and defense advisory firm, McLean, Va. He is CEO of Vahna Inc. and was deputy chief of integrated cyber operations within the Information Assurance Directorate of the National Security Agency.
Sikorsky has begun ground runs of the U.S. Marine Corps' CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter and is aiming for a first flight by the end of the year. The ground test vehicle (GTV), which will never fly, achieved “bare head light off”—engines running and rotor hubs turning, but no blades attached—on Jan. 24 in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Chris Collins has become vice president-programs and product development for Phoenix Logistics Inc., Tempe, Ariz. He was senior procurement manager for the Apache AH-64D program at the Boeing Co. in Mesa, Ariz.
I have been a subscriber for more than 45 years. I read your magazine from cover to cover—starting with the table of contents—and therein lies my complaint. The TOC is on two pages, with almost always an impediment between them. The photographs on the first page are for articles listed on the second page, and vice versa. If you must have photos and article listings on separate pages, at least have them on facing pages.
Please continue to emphasize technology and limit political editorializing. High-quality print editions are valuable. Digital has a useful role, but there is a place for both. Avoid sensationalizing events, for example: “Boeing's 787 program was thrown into chaos . . .” (AW&ST Dec. 30, 2013/Jan. 6, p. 34). Actually, the program was seriously disrupted.
Burkhard Andrich (see photos) has become president/CEO of Manila-based Lufthansa Technik Philippines. He has been senior vice president-aircraft component services at Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg. Succeeding Andrich is Harald Gloy, who has been vice president-engine overhaul. Andrich follows Gerald Frielinghaus, who will return to Germany to manage the paperless maintenance project in Frankfurt.
Delaying the CSeries entry-into-service by at least 12 months has increased development cost for the new narrrowbody airliner to $4.4 billion, says Bombardier. The previously stated figure was $3.4 billion, but was calculated under earlier accounting rules and so is not directly comparable, says CEO Pierre Beaudoin. Delays in flight testing have pushed back entry-into-service of the initial 110-seat CS100 to the second half of 2015, from mid-2014, with the 130-seat CS300 to follow six months later.
The U.S. Navy has conducted the first flight of its second MQ-8C Fire Scout, which is based on the larger Bell 407 airframe. The MQ-8B baseline, made by Northrop Grumman, is based on the Schweizer 330 and offers half the 12-hr. endurance and one-third the 1,000-lb. internal payload. The first MQ-8C flew Oct. 31, 2013. Program officials intend to do ramp-up flight testing to prepare for deployment on the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers by year-end.
