A U.S. Navy pilot guides his MH-60R “Romeo” helicopter onto a virtual aircraft carrier in this photo by Chris Stellwag of CAE. Synthetic training for the Navy is becoming increasingly immersive and mission-oriented, with crews using tactical operational flight trainers (TOFTs) to prepare for deployments. At the Jacksonville, Fla., MH-60R training facilities, the CAE-built TOFT links pilots in a cockpit simulator to a back-seat sensor operator in a separate simulator. That trainer can then be linked to other TOFTs and simulators for a large-scale virtual mission.
I am glad Aviation Week is helping to build a pipeline for technical talent into the aerospace and defense (A&D) world (AW&ST Nov. 11/18, p. 68). I have realized how important magazines have been to opening my eyes to careers, technology, hobbies and special interests.
The price of EU carbon-dioxide allowances (EUAs) under the EU Emissions Trading System sank to a three-month low in November, coming under pressure from the sale of surplus permits by the European Investment Bank (EIB) that started mid-month. The price of EUAs for delivery in December rose to an intra-month high of €4.80 per metric ton ($6.49) on Nov. 7, a day before a meeting of EU diplomats where carbon market intervention was on the agenda.
Lawrence E. “Ed” Dickinson has been appointed president of the LMI Aerospace subsidiary Valent, Kansas City, Mo. He has been St. Louis-based LMI's chief financial officer. Dickinson will be succeeded by Cliff Stebe, who has been LMI's corporate controller and was a senior manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Robert Kernahan has become London-based vice president-charts and navigation data production/general manager in the U.K. for Navtech Inc., Waterloo, Ontario. He was Frankfurt-based head of dangerous goods and special solutions for Lufthansa Cargo.
MiG Corp. has delivered the first MiG-29K ship-based fighters to the Russian navy under a contract for 24 aircraft signed in February 2012, the Russian defense ministry announced Nov. 25. The first batch included two single-seat MiG-29Ks and a pair of MiG-29KUB two-seat variants. The deliveries will last until 2015. The MiG-29K is an updated version of the Soviet-era fighter with the same name.
Airbus Military has retired Grizzly 1, the first prototype A400M airlifter, from flight tests. MSN1 made its final flight early last month, having completed 1,448 flight hours in 475 flights, manned by the same crew as on its maiden flight on Dec. 11, 2009. The aircraft is now in storage at Toulouse while Airbus decides what to do with it, with discussions about a final display site ongoing. Airbus has also placed MSN3 in long-term storage, although it will be retained in flyable condition.
Andrew Palowitch has been named CEO of Tenax Aerospace, Ridgeland, Miss. He was chief technology officer/vice president of the Center for Innovation and Technology Development and Corporate Planning at ITT Exelis Geospatial Systems. Appointed to the board of directors have been former CIA director and USAF Gen. (ret.) Michael V. Hayden, USAF Gen. (ret.) Charles Holland and John Young, former undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
David Green's summary of the abject failure of the European cradle-to-grave entitlement, with the U.S. rapidly following that trajectory, is spot on. However, the groundswell of anger at the assault on the “American Dream” that he suggests as the way out of the slide to Third-World status requires sufficiently informed voters to make that assessment and to act on it. And that is something we sorely lack. Oro Valley, Ariz.
Airline and travel association representatives are mounting a furious offensive to fight potential passenger tax increases from being part of any budget deal on Capitol Hill. The second so-called super committee of lawmakers established to end the October government shutdown and debt-ceiling fight reportedly has been considering doubling the Transportation Security Administration passenger security tax, paid every time flyers step aboard, from $2.50 to $5.
Jim Kirschbaum (see photo) has become a principal airfield engineer in the Dallas office of Parsons Brinckerhoff. He was a vice president and aviation market segment leader at the Aecom Technology Corp.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and US Airways are seeking to close on their merger on Dec. 9, following last week's approval of the Dallas/Fort Worth-based American's reorganization plan by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court overseeing its Chapter 11 restructuring. The close will be months ahead of a schedule contained in a recent settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, which in August delayed a previously planned merger.
Cathy Rice (see photo) has been named vice president-contracts, pricing and program business operations for Redondo Beach, Calif.-based Northrop Grumman Corp. Aerospace Systems. She was director of contracts for the company's Military Aircraft Systems.
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Daniel MacLellan (see photo) has been promoted to vice president-operations for New York-based FlightSafety International's Learning Centers from regional operations manager. He will succeed Greg McGowan, who plans to retire Dec. 31.
Jim Mathews in his Up Front column predicts the disappearance of four-engine widebody aircraft except as curiosities (AW&ST Nov. 4, p. 12). That is an accountant's viewpoint because maintaining two large engines is cheaper than for three or four smaller ones.
Launch of a Minotaur-1 rocket cobbled together from surplus ICBM stages and carrying a record 29 satellites underscores—again—the growing importance of nanosatellites in the overall spaceflight endeavor.
