The Single European Sky (SES) initiative has been touted as the largest climate-protection project undertaken in the European aviation sector. The full implementation of both pillars of the project—airspace consolidation and technology upgrades—could reduce fuel consumption and carbon-dioxide emissions by 10% per flight, according to the European Commission.
Mike Parra has been appointed CEO of DHL Express U.S. He was senior vice president-network operations for DHL Express Americas and succeeds Ian Clough.
The Czech Republic government has given the green light to a renewed deal to lease Saab JAS 39 Gripen combat aircraft. Prague will continue to lease 12 single-seat and two twin-seat Gripens until 2027, with an option for two extra years. The new lease will begin in September 2015. The aircraft will be progressively upgraded during the term of the lease adding the capability to engage ground targets along with Link 16 data-link capability.
The first of two MC-235 gunships, modified from Airbus Military CN235 transports by Alliant Techsystems (ATK). and Jordan's King Abdullah Design & Development Bureau (KADDB), has completed its U.S. testing, including gun firing, and will be delivered to Jordan this month, according to ATK. The second is due to follow in April, and the aircraft will enter service following missile-firing tests and crew training.
Advancements in the Chinese air force, along with a proliferation of technologies that could be converted into electronic weapons, have analysts and officials warning that the U.S. may not be keeping pace.
US Airways Capt. (ret.) John A. Crocker (Tavernier, Fla. )
Reader Alan E. Diehl's premise that the 1,500-hr. requirement to qualify to fly for a regional airline is the cause of the severe pilot shortage is short on substance and long on hyperbole (AW&ST March 10, p. 8). His idea to have an Airline Transport Copilot Rating would only create another cottage industry and add more to the debt of a fledgling pilot.
This week, Aviation Week publishes two editions. On the far left cover, Boeing's prototype for a Challenger 605-based Maritime Surveillance Aircraft sits on the ramp at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Toronto's Field Aviation, a partner with Boeing, installed a radome, a retractable electro-optical/infrared camera turret and other electronic systems on the former bizjet. Photo by Andrew Cline. A package of articles on special-mission aircraft begins on page 48.
Virgin America has obtained FAA authorization for required navigation performance (RNP) 0.1 operations, making it the first U.S. operator to gain approval at the 0.1 level for the Airbus A320 family. The “0.1” figure defines the lateral containment limits (+/- 0.1 nm) on the charted course within which the aircraft must fly. The smaller the RNP number, the better the access to airports and routes.
After 13 years at war and an emergency doubling in the size of the U.S. Army's special mission intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) fleet, the service is finally pondering a reconciliation of its specialized air forces with an eye toward retaining less than half of the platforms operational today.
Rachel Ehrenfeld says Manpads can be purchased for “as little as $5,000 apiece on the black market.” This figure has persisted for years and is now a part of Internet lore. But to my knowledge, no one has ever actually been able to buy a missile at this price.
The political situation in Ukraine may force the U.S. to reconsider its airborne supply route into Afghanistan. Tensions on the Crimean peninsula have remained high since Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych was ousted from government in February. Last week, Russia announced it was sending troops and attack helicopters for new exercises near the border with Ukraine. The U.S., meanwhile, is assisting NATO training efforts, deploying 12 F-16s and 300 personnel to Poland and six F-16s to Lithuania.
Spectacular new results from NASA's Kepler planet-finding space telescope have raised scientists' hopes that Earth-like planets in the “Goldilocks zone” where conditions are “just right” for life are fairly common in the Universe.
Wes Hurless has become quality assurance manager of Superior Air Parts Inc., Coppell, Texas. He was senior manufacturing engineer/continuous improvement integration lead for Jet Aviation in St. Louis. Honors And Elections
By Sean Broderick, Jens Flottau, Guy Norris, Adrian Schofield
The story of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 reads like bad fiction—a perfectly safe aircraft disappears from radar on a scheduled flight, and the extensive international search-and-rescue effort that ensues finds few clues. It is not fiction, but it should be in light of the technology to monitor aircraft and the massive amounts of operational data available.
The Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) plans to launch a one-off rocket in 2017 to test its Woorae-1 engine, the key technology of its forthcoming KSLV-II space launcher. The KSLV-II, a largely indigenous successor to the much smaller Russo-Korean KSLV-I launched between 2009 and 2013, is due to make its first flight in 2020. With a payload of 1.5 metric tons to low Earth orbit, the three-stage KSLV-II will be comparable with the Arianespace Vega and the fully developed E-1 version of Japan's new Epsilon launcher.
The Senate aviation subcommittee let the commercial sector air its desires last week about congressional action. For the most part, commercial representatives agree about what they want: maintain higher, earlier funding levels for the FAA's NextGen ATC modernization effort and keep pressure on the agency to provide results to industry. They also want Congress, the White House and even the American public to stop eyeing commercial aviation as an automated teller machine, or “piggybank,” and treat it more like a national asset.
Sonja K. McClelland has become interim vice president/secretary/treasurer/CFO of the Hurco Companies of Indianapolis. She has been corporate controller and principal accounting officer, and follows John G. Oblazney, who has resigned.
Northrop Grumman Corp. executives Dwight Yamada and Linh Dang (see photos) have received top awards at the annual Asian-American Engineer of the Year festivities, recognizing their leadership, technical achievements and public service in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Yamada, director of indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts for Northrop Grumman Information Systems, received an Executive of the Year award. Dang, an automated production line manager for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, received an Engineer of the Year award.
In its rush to prove the business case for airlines to buy and use next-generation air transportation system (NextGen) avionics, the FAA faces a quandary: What happens if trials designed to show positive results reveal the opposite?
ViviSat, a satellite-servicing startup developing life-extension vehicles for end-of-life commercial communications satellites in geostationary orbit, has signed up three customers and expects to begin building its specialized spacecraft by the end of 2014. Bryan McGuirk, chief operating officer of the ATK Space Systems/U.S. Space joint venture, says ViviSat plans to gather final financing and begin building its first Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) this year. The first flight should come about three years later, according to CEO Craig Weston.
