Embraer has begun flight-testing its Legacy 450 mid-light business jet, a smaller version of the all-new mid-size Legacy 500 that is scheduled for certification in the first half of this year. Making its 1-hr., 35-min. first flight from Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, on Dec. 28, the Legacy 450 has the same 6-ft. cabin height, Honeywell HTF7500E turbofans, Rockwell Collins Fusion avionics, fly-by-wire and side-stick flight controls as the 500, but with a shorter cabin.
USAF Maj. Gen. John W. Raymond has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as commander of the 14th Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) of Air Force Space Command/commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Space of U.S. Strategic Command, Vandenberg AFB, Calif. He has been director of plans and policy for U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt AFB, Neb.
Walid Abukhaled (see photo) has become Riyadh-based chief executive for Saudi Arabia for the Northrop Grumman Corp. He was his country's deputy minister for industrial affairs and was president/CEO of General Electric Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Your editorial “The Right Kind of Acquisition Reform” (AW&ST Dec. 2, 2013, p. 54) asks what else is left to be tried when it comes to defense acquisition. Actually, many things.
The price of EU carbon dioxide allowances (EUAs) under the EU Emissions Trading System rallied in early December, as the European Parliament and Council approved the European Commission's (EC) market intervention proposal, but fell back later in the month on recognition of a well-supplied market.
Lawmakers and regulators in the U.S. capital are spitting out new laws and regulations affecting aviation, aerospace and defense in rapid-fire fashion these days. After a year of seemingly nothing to show for their salaries but the bad effects of their inaction—think air traffic controller furloughs and the October 2013 federal shutdown—legislators this week could pass a $1.01 trillion, so-called omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal 2014 that keeps the government open and reintroduces some stability to Pentagon, NASA and FAA budget-making.
The Obama administration has announced final revisions to five U.S. Munitions List (USML) categories as part of its export-control reform initiative. The effort aims to streamline restrictions and boost licensing for less contentious exports by moving toward a more “positive” approach to regulatory controls—instead of defaulting to “no”—and cutting “catch-all” restrictions.
The first of two Boeing C-17 Globemasters destined for the Kuwait Air Force has emerged from the production line at Long Beach, Calif. Boeing has not yet formally announced Kuwait as a customer for the airlifter, but the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency detailed a request from Kuwait for a single C-17 in September 2010. The country registered interest in a second aircraft in April 2013. The aircraft, KAF342, is yet to make its initial flight and first appeared outside on Jan. 6.
“Again and Again” on the importance of the Northrop Grumman unmanned X-47B's recent repeated carrier landings (AW&ST Aug. 5/12, 2013, p. 50) states: “unmanned technology advocates say autonomous landing systems such as that used for the X-47B could be retrofitted onto other manned aircraft, reducing the cost of hours of training for pilots, while increasing safety.”
Now it will be called Airbus Group, instead of European Aerospace, Defense and Space Co. (EADS), a name it used proudly for the last 13 years. This is a formidable rebranding initiative for a global 144,000-employee group headquartered in the Netherlands (for fiscal reasons only). The new title, which is scheduled to be ratified in May by the shareholders, has been in use since Jan. 1.
What promises to be another busy year in space is set to peak in September, when two orbital missions arrive at Mars and NASA launches the Orion crew capsule it hopes to send back to the Moon into an orbit designed to test how well it will withstand high-speed reentry from deep space. The Mars missions—including the first for India—were launched in the November planetary window to continue the robotic exploration of the red planet. Orbital mechanics dictate that they will at least arrive in the vicinity of Mars as scheduled.
As a retired UPS DC-8 captain, I agree strongly with the “startle and surprise” approach to simulator training discussed in “Safety Shut-Up” (AW&ST Dec. 16, 2013, p. 18), but disagree with Wayne Martin's proper [recommended] response to the cargo-fire-warning scenario.
Details of closely held efforts to make the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet more stealthy have been revealed, perhaps inadvertently, by the appearance of a full-scale test specimen at the U.S. Air Force “boneyard” in Arizona. Lacking wings and its forward fuselage, it appears to be part of a radar cross-section (RCS) model to measure the effects of changes to the fighter's structure and engine nozzles.
Kuky Salazar, who is president for Latin America, Europe and Asia of Private Jet Services, will head its new international division in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He has been senior vice president-sales at NetJets for Florida, the Caribbean and Latin America.
Bombardier's second CSeries airliner joined the flight-test program on Jan. 3. The flight from Mirabel, near Montreal, lasted 2.15 hr., the aircraft reaching 13,000-ft. altitude and 180-kt. airspeed. In addition to validating data collected by flight-test vehicle FTV1, which has been flying since September, the crew of FTV2 will be responsible for testing aircraft systems and avionics. FTV1 is being used to expand the flight envelope.
Considering the potential impact of the SpaceX Grasshopper test aircraft, Aviation Week should be devoting more coverage to the company's efforts and its plans to land and reuse the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket. If successful, SpaceX will have accomplished what science-fiction writers have portrayed: Landing a rocket on its tail.
