Dec. 5-6—Airports Council International Aviation Issues Seminar. Washington. See www.aci-na.org/event/2421 Jan. 13-17—22nd AIAA/ASME/AHS Adaptive Structures Conference, 52nd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Conference and AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference. All at National Harbor, Md. See www.aiaa.org/EventDetail.aspx?id=18410, 18405, 18406 Jan. 22-24—Fifth Decennial AHS Aero-mechanics Specialists' Conference. Holiday Inn at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco.
China is taking new steps to liberalize its airline sector by relaxing minimum fare rules and further encouraging the growth of budget airlines and new market entrants. Following moves to free up the industry announced earlier this year, the latest measures confirm suspicions that a wider government push to increase competition in the economy has spread to commercial aviation, to the detriment of the major incumbents.
A focus on realistic requirements has helped Swedish industry and government teams integrate weapons on the Gripen faster and at lower cost than similar efforts elsewhere.
Airbus is offering a new regional variant of the A350 to be used for routes of up to 6,800 nm. The aircraft will feature derated engines and a lower maximum takeoff weight than for the standard A350-900, and its range will be almost 1,000 nm shorter. The version has been selected by Etihad Airways as part of an order for 40 A350-900s, 24 with the lower takeoff weight of around 250 tons, down from 268 tons of the standard long-haul version. Engine thrust is expected to be at around 70,000 lb., compared to 85,000 lb. for the standard -900 and 97,000 lb.
Democrats in the House and Senate are at odds over how long to extend government indemnification, or compensation, for any third-party damages resulting from commercial space launches. Democratics on the House Science Committee want a “clean” one-year extension of indemnification provisions, which expire at year-end. That will give the panel time to hold hearings on the issue, without blurring the liability that commercial launch providers would face if the law is allowed to lapse, explains Rep.
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.
