I want to commend Los Angeles Bureau Chief Guy Norris on his coverage of the crash of an Asiana Airlines' Boeing 777 at San Francisco International Airport on July 6. After watching various talking heads on the “news” networks trying vainly to explain in a cogent manner anything about aircraft and aviation, it was a welcome relief to read Norris's clear, factual reporting on Aviation Week's various web portals.
Peter Aarons (see photo) has become Parsons Brinckerhoff's client relations manager for Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). He was program manager on the Green Build Terminal Development Program for the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. He has been a deputy program manager and technical consultant for LAWA's infrastructure master plan for another consulting firm and was a project construction manager for the San Francisco International Airport Commission.
Shawn Schmitz has been named turbine engine technical representative for Honeywell and Rolls-Royce for Duncan Aviation, Lincoln, Neb. He was the team leader of the Duncan Aviation Engine Line shop
Sikorsky has flown the first MH-60R Seahawk destined for a foreign customer. The maiden flight for the Royal Australian Navy took place late last month in Stratford, Conn. The aircraft will later be transferred to Lockheed Martin's facility in Owego, N.Y., where it will be fitted with the aircraft's mission system and sensors. Australia selected the MH-60R in June 2011, ordering 24 aircraft to replace its fleet of 16 S-70Bs.
Chantal Gresillion has become vice president-continuous improvement of Turbomeca, another Safran company. She was manager for progress initiatives and had been head of the Combustion Industrial Competence Center.
Martin Sion has been named chairman/CEO of France-based Aircelle. He succeeds Vincent Mascre, who has become chairman/CEO of Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, another Safran subsidiary. Sion was head of Snecma's Space Engines division.
John Canzio has been appointed vice president-finance of Aerojet Rocketdyne, Sacramento, Calif. He was vice president-finance for Pratt & Whitney Military Engines.
The potential for a protest is looming as losing bidders react to the U.S. Navy's selection of Raytheon to develop the Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) pod for its Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic-attack aircraft. Losing bidders BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman, teamed with Excelis, indicate they are considering their response while waiting to debrief the Navy on its decision to award Raytheon a $279.4 million contract for the 22-month technology development phase of the program.
Ellen Torbert, who is vice president-diversity and inclusion for Southwest Airlines has received the Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Award from the Women's Transportation Seminar San Francisco Bay Area. It honors women who have made a major contribution to promoting diversity and cultural awareness within their organizations, the transportation industry or in a project/activity that supports the seminar's goals and mission.
Having recently flown for the first time in a Robinson R22—a gift flight from my AH-64 student-pilot son—I am now viscerally informed as to just how diminutive a best-selling flying machine can be. With a cabin measuring 3.6 ft. across, rising not quite 6 ft. tall from skids to its cabin top, and weighing in at a max gross of 1,370 lb., or roughly equivalent to a well-stocked freezer, it is a decidedly compact, no-frills machine for two. Which is exactly what a lot of vertically minded people wanted.
Italian defense and aerospace group Finmeccanica has appointed Giovanni de Gennaro as chairman to succeed Giuseppe Orsi. Gennaro, who is a former head of the Italian state police, was voted in during shareholders meeting of Finmeccanica on July 4. Adm. Guido Venturoni was selected as vice chairman. Gennaro succeeds Orsi only as chairman. Orsi, who was also CEO, departed the company in February following his arrest on charges of graft over the sale of 12 AW101 VIP helicopters to the Indian air force in 2010.
The European Aviation Safety Agency on July 9 certified a series of interim fixes for the Eurocopter EC225. They include a series of precautionary and preventative measures which the manufacturer hopes will allow operators to return the aircraft to operations over hostile environments. Some 80 aircraft worldwide have been affected by the nine-month grounding following two controlled ditchings into the North Sea in May and October 2012.
As we analyze reasons for the recent airline tragedy in San Francisco, keep the observation from World War II in mind. As British aircraft were returning from bombing runs over Germany, the RAF experienced an abnormally high incidence of on-approach crashes. This psychological phenomenon is now known as the “relaxation response” in which a pilot, feeling he was “home safe” after a harrowing flight, would lose focus on the mechanics of landing, resulting in a crash. After an 11-hr. flight, this may have been a factor for the Asiana Airlines' pilot.
The power of carbon fiber is bringing engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce back to composites more than four decades after it learned one of the harshest lessons in aerospace about the risks in being first with a new technology.
The European Commission (EC) has unveiled a formal proposal for a 10-year, €4.05 billion ($5.2 billion) follow-on to Europe's Clean Sky civil-aviation research program. Draft regulations for the investment packages for Clean Sky 2 and similar public-private joint technology initiatives (JTI) in four other industry sectors will now go to the European Parliament and European Council for approval. Objectives of Clean Sky 2 include reducing carbon-dioxide, nitrogen-oxide and noise emissions by 20-30% compared to those from aircraft entering service in 2014.
Xavier Tardy has been appointed CFO of Airbus Military, succeeding Christian Pechmann, who has been named chief financial and commercial officer of Eurofighter. Tardy has been CFO of EADS North America and Airbus Americas.
India is proceeding with a long-delayed plan to develop an indigenous regional civilian aircraft in the 70-100-seat range. The plan is to build a composite airframe, powered by two next-generation turboprop engines, officials say. Other features may include a fly-by-wire control system and advanced avionics. Design and development of the aircraft is expected to cost 43.55 billion rupees ($728 million), and series production would entail another 32 billion rupees, according to the proposal.
