Most often, military technology is kept secret for the same reason that Mycroft Holmes cited when he enlisted his brother Sherlock's help in the little matter of the Bruce-Partington plans.
Arik De has been appointed vice president-airline strategy for InterVistas, based in Vancouver and London, effective Aug. 19. He has been manager of the network planning team at WestJet.
An Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle lofted satellites for Inmarsat and India July 25, bringing the number of consecutive successful launches for the big European rocket to 56. At liftoff from Kourou, French Guiana, the vehicle was carrying 9,674 kg (21,282 lb.) of payload—8,710 kg for the two satellites, Alphasat and Insat-3D, and the remainder for the Astrium-built Sylda dual-launch system and related integration hardware.
Juan Alvarez (see photo) has become director of special operation forces and Latin America business development for Commuter Air Technology of Oklahoma City.
Todd Hattaway has been appointed vice president-technical services for BBA Aviation's Flight Support Div., which provides ground support equipment maintenance and repair services for ASIG. He was sales director for Beechcraft Corp. for India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
Cyber analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington estimate the economic cost of malicious cyber activity, such as stolen intellectual property (IP), to the U.S. falls within 1% of gross domestic product (GDP), and may reach only $100 billion. “To put this in perspective, annual expenditures on research and development in the U.S. are $400 billion a year and $100 million in stolen IP does not translate into $100 million in gain for the acquirer,” says a CSIS report last week.
Regarding “Knife Fight,” Sweetman is spot on. Mega defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin are quick to remark that the days of the dogfight are over and that fighter plane technology marvels like the F-35 Lightning II (which Lockheed manufactures) will engage multiple threats far beyond visual or even adversarial sensory range; and win the day without the need of the pilot (now known as a cockpit systems administrator).
Travis Christ has been appointed chief commercial officer of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Silver Airways. He was chief marketing and sales officer for Row 44 and had been vice president-sales and marketing at US Airways.
There were more than 2,000 exhibitors at last month's Paris air show, and my guess is that at least one-third were involved in metal forming or cutting. And all of these companies depend on “subtractive” manufacturing techniques such as turning, milling and cutting to produce their aerospace parts. It was clear that many senior executives are acutely aware of and talking about the emergence of “additive” manufacturing (AM)—sometimes known as “3-D printing”—as the next major change-and-disruptive technology in aerospace manufacturing.
William W. Sihler has been named lead director for a one-year term on the board of directors of the Curtiss-Wright Corp., Parsippany, N.J. He has been a board member and is a Ronald E. Trzcinski Professor of Business Administration at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration of the University of Virginia.
Making arrivals more efficient has been a key target of air traffic management activities for years. Paris is now introducing a new procedure for Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) that may go a long way toward reaching that target. The Paris area control center (ACC) is preparing to implement a new sequencing procedure for arrivals, called Point Merge. So far it has been in active operation at three smaller airports around the world—this marks the first time it will be used at a major hub.
Bill Sweetman used Manfred von Richthofen's aggressive attack philosophy in “Knife Fight” (AW&ST July 15, p. 15) to justify his argument that “USAF doctrine is headed in a different direction.” The U.S. Air Force air combat doctrine, developed in the post-Vietnam era, is based on the concept of gaining total situation awareness (SA) before attacking. Total SA for the blue forces and zero SA for the red forces—meaning you see the enemy first and deny him the advantage of seeing you. This is the reason for stealth, electronic warfare, jammers, etc.
U.S. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is using his renomination by President Barack Obama for another two-year term as the nation's top military officer to warn Congress and the public of the dangers of long-term automatic budget cuts known as sequestration. Dempsey and the rest of the Pentagon want Congress and the White House to backload cuts under the 10-year timeframe of the 2011 Budget Control Act and to give the Defense Department more flexibility to meet any overall reduction.
Hat's off to all concerned with “Human Power” (AW&ST July 15, p. 28). The benefits derived from the American Helicopter Society's challenge will enrich all participants. Contests such as these kindle even greater future accomplishments. Thanks AHS, and congratulations AeroVelo team. Georgetown, Texas
Bombardier has pushed back first flight of the CSeries once more, from the end of this month, and now says the aircraft will fly “in the coming weeks.” The first flight-test aircraft, FTV1, originally was planned to fly at the end of last year, but this was postponed because of assembly delays. The company says integration of software upgrades and overall systems validation is taking longer than anticipated. The last delay, from late June, was attributed to incorporating additional software upgrades to improve system maturity and functionality.
The NTSB is working to determine why the nose gear on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 collapsed rearward into the fuselage as the aircraft landed on Runway 4 at New York LaGuardia Airport on July 22. Amateur video of the incident shows the lower portion of N753SW's fuselage skidding along the runway for 2,175 ft. amid a shower of sparks before the aircraft exited the right side of runway. The video also captured one of two nose gear tires rolling along pavement adjacent to the runway after the aircraft came to a stop.
The United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority is calling on the FAA and European regulators to install new technologies in cockpits and cargo holds on passenger and cargo aircraft to prevent onboard smoke and fire from disabling pilots and systems. The recommendations are included in a 322-page final report on the fatal September 2010 crash of a UPS Boeing 747-400 freighter in Dubai (see page 26).
Prospects for abundant and inexpensive natural gas have aircraft manufacturers reassessing the options for future fuels, particularly for the military where both energy security and affordability could trump any desire to reduce emissions by moving away from fossil fuels.
