Nagakazu Sagara (see photo) has been named vice president-Japan and South Korea for AirBridgeCargo Airlines as vice president-Japan and Korea. He succeeds Katsuhiko Sagami, who will continue as mentor and coach for the region until year-end. Sagara was deputy general manager of Mitsui-Soko Express and had been senior vice president-export for Japan Airlines.
Robert S. Span (see photo) is now chairman of the American Bar Association's Forum on Air and Space Law. Span, a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Steinbrecher and Span, succeeds Steven H. Taylor of FedEx Express.
The business-aircraft fractional ownership industry is continuing to reshape with the decision by Bombardier to sell its Flexjet operations to Flight Options parent Directional Aviation Capital in a deal that includes a new order for up to 245 Bombardier aircraft valued at $5.2 billion. The sale is expected to close by year-end. Directional is paying just $185 million for the Flexjet assets, but is agreeing to place firm orders for 85 Learjet and Challenger aircraft valued at $1.8 billion and options for another 160.
Michael D. New has been named vice president-safety, security and compliance for Erickson Air-Crane Inc., Portland, Ore. He was senior vice president, corporate safety, security and compliance for Korean Air. HONORS AND ELECTIONS
Phil Anderson has been appointed senior vice president-defense and contracts of Wichita-based Spirit AeroSystems Inc. He was senior vice president/CFO and has been succeeded by Sanjay Kapoor, who was vice president of the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Div. of Raytheon and had been CFO of divisions of Raytheon and United Technologies Corp.
A lot of Pentagon programs are about to take a major hit to their bottom lines, and some smaller projects seem destined to be delayed or canceled, the Defense Department's acquisition chief warned loudly here last week. But a few futuristic aviation efforts might be shielded as Washington passes through the coming nadir of budgets, according to Frank Kendall, and they include future rotorcraft and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's multiyear air-dominance study toward a post-Joint Strike Fighter aircraft (AW&ST May 20, p. 52).
Several years ago, something jarring and potentially dangerous was happening to airliners on the way into Oakland, Calif. Pilots letting down through the mountains en route to Oakland International Airport were receiving terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) alerts in an area where there were no actual terrain hazards. The FAA learned of the “nuisance alerts” at an InfoShare meeting, a twice-annual closed-door gathering of more than 600 pilots, airline executives, government and industry officials.
The quality of the occurrence data is inconsistent, its integration is not harmonized or structured, member states are allowed to file reports in their own languages and there is too much information.
Recently, I have been finding inaccuracies in your magazine. A photo caption with “Terrain Aware” (AW&ST Aug. 5/12, p. 51) states: “AFDD's JUH-60A Rascal flies . . . through canyon country west of San Jose, Calif.” The mountains west of San Jose are the Santa Cruz Mountains and they are covered with green vegetation, the Diablo Range, as shown, is east of San Jose. I am neither an engineer nor a scientist, so I wonder what I haven't caught. Pleasanton, Calif.
Chelle L. Gentemann (see photo), senior principal scientist at Remote Sensing System (RSS), has been named to receive this year's Falkenberg Award from the American Geophysical Union on Dec. 11. The award is given to a scientist under age 45 who has contributed to the quality of life, economic opportunities and stewardship of the planet through the use of Earth science information. Gentemann's current research at RSS focuses on the extraction of accurate geophysical variables from measurements of imaging microwave radiometers on Earth observation satellites.
Airbus and VSMPO-Avisma, its major Russian titanium supplier, have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop new alloys and manufacturing processes. The deal was signed at the Moscow air show. VSMPO-Avisma has become one of Airbus's most important suppliers of raw materials and semi-finished products since the 1990s. It currently provides 60% of the titanium needed by Airbus and its parent EADS. VSMPO-Avisma builds titanium forgings for all Airbus programs and is delivering the pieces for the A350.
Brian C. Mooney has become interim CEO and Ultan O'Brien has been named sales, marketing and product consultant at Las Vegas-based Allegiant Systems. Mooney succeeds Andrew Kemmetmueller, who has left the company. O'Brien was a sales and marketing director at Retail inMotion.
USN Rear Adm. (lower half) Paul A. Sohl has been named commander of Fleet Readiness Centers/assistant commander for logistics and industrial operations of Naval Air Systems Command, NAS Patuxent River, Md. He has been commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division/assistant commander for test and evaluation of Naval Air Systems Command (AIR-5.0), China Lake, Calif. Capt. Michael T. Moran has been selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half) and to succeed Sohl at Naval Air Systems Command. Honors And Elections
A classified U.S. National Reconnaissance Office KH-11 “Keyhole” satellite was successfully launched into low Earth orbit from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on Aug. 28 by a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy.
Someone in the U.S. Navy intel shop might have had a nasty shock when photos showed up last October of a courtesy formation near Malaysia. Hanging off the wingtips of the Royal Malaysian Air Force's Su-30MKMs (see photo) were Knirti SAP-518 electronic warfare (EW) pods, previously seen only on Russian Su-34 bombers.
As a prospective new entrant to the aviation industry, it's hard to be better positioned than China. The country offers the second biggest national market in the world, one that is growing ever larger and more important and benefits from plenty of engineering talent. It's difficult to believe China will not eventually have some kind of large aerospace industry as long as it stays a national priority.
U.S. Navy Capt. (ret.) Michael V. Rabens (Solomons, Md. )
Bill Sweetman's commentary Commander's Intent belongs in the back pages of your magazine. I subscribe for technically oriented stories—not opinionated, vitriolic ramblings. His musings are better suited in the space usually reserved for editorials. In “Save the JSF. Really?” (AW&ST Aug. 19, p. 19) dragons, stolen gold, civilian goblins and treasure are referenced in just one paragraph.
Demand for Chinese domestic air travel is looking sickly. China Southern Airlines, reporting a surprisingly large 10% drop in passenger yield for the first half of 2013, complains that competition has become all the more fierce because of slowing demand, “rapidly increasing capacity of the airline industry” and expansion of the national high-speed rail network.
Phillip Wade has been promoted to vice president-business development from manager of the quality and R&D groups of Smiths Group company Titeflex Aerospace, Laconia, N.H.
I had little knowledge of—and not even much interest in—aviation when I picked up your magazine by chance. I perused it because of the inherent quality evident on every page. The writing, reporting and presentation all add up to a near-perfect package. Every other publication and periodical I look at these days is rife with errors as copy editors are replaced by computers.
