Eric Martel (see photo) has been appointed president of Montreal-based Bombardier Business Aircraft, effective Jan. 1. He will succeed Steve Ridolfi, who has been senior vice president-strategy and mergers and acquisitions for Bombardier Inc. Martel has been president of Bombardier Customer Services and Specialized and Amphibious Aircraft. Following Martel will be Michel Ouellette (see photo), who has been vice president/general manager for global aircraft programs.
The other day I participated in a great general aviation tradition by lofting into brilliant blue skies with a pal in his Mooney Bravo and galloping eastward in a 220-kt. pursuit of a $100 hamburger. Well, to be squeakily factual, when figuring $6/gal. avgas at 20 gph, engine and maintenance reserve (his budget), and considering our pain d'Avignon spread actually comprised a croque madame, battered chicken, limonata, coffee and two chocolatey desserts (my treat), it was more like a $500 excursion. Fun, but pricey. A serious, industry-wide problem of long standing.
Todd Hauptli has been named president/CEO of the Alexandria, Va.-based American Association of Airport Executives, effective Dec. 1. He will succeed Chip Barclay, who will be retiring. Hauptli has been senior executive vice president.
Kenneth L. Witcher has become dean of the College of Aeronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide. He has been director of academics and a program chair, and is chairman of the Nevada Aerospace and Defense Sector Council and a member of the Nevada Governor's Defense Steering Committee.
Points included in “Beyond Blackbird,” as well as reader Martin Velek's letter “Lessons From The Past” (AW&ST Nov. 4, p. 8), voicing dismay at the retirement of the SR-71, may make the wrong assumption regarding the lack of an obvious follow-on to that intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform. I believe a follow-on to the SR-71 has existed since its retirement, because:
David P. Evans has been appointed global managing director of the Minneapolis-based Navitaire subsidiary of Accenture. He was vice president-products and innovation. Honors And Elections
While investigations are continuing, attention is turning to pilot error as the possible cause of the crash of a Tatarstan Airlines Boeing 737-500 in Russia on Nov. 17. The aircraft was making a second landing attempt under manual control at Kazan International Airport when the crash occurred. Video footage shows the aircraft plunging in a nosedive and then being engulfed in fire when it hit the ground. All 44 passengers and six crew were killed. The leased 737-500 was 23 years old, and was on a flight from Moscow. No technical problems have been identified.
Tammy Knowles has been appointed executive director of Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, Titusville, Fla. She was executive director of the Camaraderie Foundation, Orlando, Fla.
The International Aviation Club of Washington and Aviation Week have honored Andrew B. Steinberg with the L. Welch Pogue Award for Lifetime Achievement in Aviation. Steinberg, a former FAA chief counsel and assistant transportation secretary for aviation and international affairs, is viewed as one of the most influential aviation lawyers of his generation. Career highlights include his efforts to reach an open-skies agreement with the EU and negotiating a pact with China that doubled the number of routes to and from the U.S.
Deliveries of three Pentagon-procured fixed-wing tactical transport aircraft to Yemen's capital of Sanaa in September, coupled with announcements of a newly tendered squadron of light observation planes, marked the culmination of the Obama administration's push to help the Yemeni air force take ownership of an Al Qaeda fight that has become synonymous with American unmanned aerial vehicle technology.
A U.K.-based non-profit organization set up to promote the use of space assets in British industry has some lessons that can be applied by the Center for the Advancement of Science In Space (Casis), the non-profit Congress established to promote use of the International Space Station (ISS) by private-sector researchers. The Satellite Applications Catapult and its predecessor organization have a little more time under their belts, and they are already passing it along to Casis as the U.S. operation begins to get some traction.
Jan. 21-22—MRO Latin America. Rio de Janeiro. Feb. 4-6—MRO Middle East. Dubai. Feb. 10—Air Transport World's 40th Annual Airline Industry Achievement Awards. Pan Pacific Singapore Hotel. March 4-5—Defense Technology and Affordability Requirements. Washington. March 6—Aviation Week's Laureate Awards. Washington. April 8-10—MRO Americas. Phoenix. You can now register ONLINEfor Aviation Week Events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/events or call +1 (212) 904-4682.
Bryan Shelton has been named director of field operations for Zenith Aviation, Fredericksburg, Va. He was senior manager of aviation maintenance operations for the U.S. Marine Corps Presidential Helicopter Squadron.
Uncle Sam's sequestration may accomplish what Chinese and Russian anti-satellite efforts have not: undermining U.S. space capability. That is one of the emerging conclusions of an industrial base assessment by the Commerce Department, shared with Aviation Week.
David Binks (see photo) has been named president of FedEx Express for Europe, Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Africa, effective Jan. 1. He will succeed Gerald P. Leary, who is retiring. Binks has been senior vice president-European operations and will be succeeded by Michael Holt (see photo), who has been CEO of FedEx U.K./vice president-operational integration for Europe.
USAF Maj. Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., has been appointed director of operations, strategic deterrence and nuclear integration at Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein AB, Germany. He has been deputy commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command-Southwest Asia. Brown will be succeeded by Maj. Gen. Jeffrey G. Lofgren, who has been commander of the USAF Warfare Center of Air Combat Command, Nellis AFB, Nev.
Prof. Robert Owen (Daytona Beach Fla. ), Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach Fla. )
Recent writers who advocate retaining A-10s in the Air Force miss the point—the world has changed. The A-10 was designed to kill tanks from outside the range of the main tactical, low-level, counter-air threats of the 1970s. However, in the three-plus decades since, it has become vulnerable to a wider range of modern air-defense missiles.
Marc Bourret has been appointed head of the Toulouse-based Aerolia Group's Quebec subsidiary and François Paynot site director at St. Nazaire, France. Bourret succeeds Marie-Agnes Veve, who has been promoted to the EADS Group, while Paynot follows Arnaud Mayer, who is now chief operating officer of Auvergne Aeronautique.
Mounting budget pressure is forcing France to curb defense spending, slowing deliveries of major military programs rather than killing them outright. Under the nation's new military program law—a €190 billion ($256 billion) budget for the period 2014-19—key aerospace platforms that will see reduced or delayed orders include Dassault Aviation's Rafale combat jet, Eurocopter's Tiger and NH90 helicopters and Airbus Military's A400M tactical airlifter.
Jean-Michel Hillion (see photo) has been named corporate senior vice president for Boeing programs for Paris-based Safran. He succeeds Norbert Gaillard, who has retired. Hillion has been head of Safran Electronics and was director of programs for the Hydraulics and Braking Control Divs. of Messier-Bugatti.
