Reader William Mangan's reaction to UAVs being a menace to society “Aiming at UAVs” (AW&ST July 1, p. 8) is a classic example of “straining at gnats while swallowing camels.” He raises concerns about UAVs monitoring the populace but ignores the real privacy invasion menace posed by commercial and criminal entities already present within our society. Blaming UAVs for all of these ills strikes me as a popular press-inspired smokescreen.
Talk of composites tends to focus on the materials in the forms used by aircraft manufacturers—tows, tapes and fabrics. But work is underway to reduce the cost and improve the performance of composite structures by looking at the carbon fibers that give the material its strength and stiffness.
I feel confident many readers have sent notes about the height of the Airbus A380's tail as cited in “Mixed Feelings” (AW&ST July 8, p. 22). Although it's fun to imagine the size of a behemoth carrier with a nearly 1,000-ft.-high tail, I'm betting the writer meant that the aircraft sports a 24-meter (78.7-ft.)-high tail. Middleburg, Va.
Three organizations may get a chance to fly their electrospray microthrusters on a future orbiting testbed, following their selection for “game-changing” development grants from NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. Picked to negotiate for grants are projects proposed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Busek Co. of Natick, Mass., and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Concerning Pierre Sparaco's commentary on the future of one-person cockpits (AW&ST June 24, p. 20), one pilot will never be sufficient until the capability is available to also remotely fly the aircraft. This could easily be implemented in almost any fly-by-wire system today with just a little software. The radios to communicate with the airline headquarters exist, as do flight computers capable of flying an aircraft autonomously.
Frederick J. Piccolo, president/CEO of the Sarasota (Fla.) Manatee Airport Authority has been elected chairman of the Airports Council International World Governing Board, for a two-year term beginning in January. He succeeds Yiannis Paraschis, CEO of Athens International Airport, who will become immediate past chairman. Elected vice chairman was Declan Collier, chief executive of London City Airport. Piccolo has been vice chairman, and Collier was president of ACI Europe.
Finally, a key House panel is backing legislation aimed at putting congressional weight behind an FAA effort to spur general aviation business and activity. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved the proposed Small Airplane Revitalization Act on July 10. A companion bill in the Senate has 11% of the upper chamber's support even before being voted on by the counterpart committee there.
Arianespace will loft the Eutelsat 25B and Indian G-Sat 7 satellites together on an Ariane 5 by the end of August, following the launch of Europe's Alphasat I-XL and India 's Insat 3D atop the heavy-lift rocket scheduled for July 25. The missions will mark the third and fourth of a planned five Ariane 5 launches in 2013, followed by the Astra 5B satellite for Luxembourg-based fleet operator SES this fall.
When George W. Bush's administration approved a proposal in 2005 by a Dubai ruling family-owned company for an acquisition that would have given Dubai Ports World control over shipping operations at six major U.S. ports, the American public and Congress rightly raised sharp concern that the U.S. government had failed to recognize the national security risks. Ultimately, public opposition sank the deal. Now, it appears that the Obama administration is poised to make a similar misjudgment. This time, the U.S.
Pierre Sparaco's “The End of Redundancy” described the European Commission's Advanced Cockpit for the Reduction of Stress and Workload research project, aimed at upgrading automation to allow single pilots in airliners. Should that pilot become incapacitated, the automation would presumably take over and land.
NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman's frank, revealing press briefings following the July 6 crash of Asiana Flight 214 have gained her some supporters, as evidenced by a fan club on Twitter, and touched a few nerves. Two days into the probe, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) declared it was “stunned” by the “unprecedented” amount of data released by the NTSB so quickly, such as the aircraft's airspeed and altitude as it sank toward a crash-landing. Absent broader context, ALPA said, such data can be misconstrued, leading to premature conclusions about a crash's cause.
Todd Reichert pilots the Atlas human-powered helicopter on the June 13 flight that won Canada's AeroVelo team the long-unclaimed $250,000 Sikorsky Prize offered by AHS International, while his progress is monitored by chief structural designer Cameron Robertson (right) and team member Trefor Evans. Atlas flew for 65 sec., reaching a height of 3.3 meters (11 ft.) and staying within a 10 X 10-meter box, to win the prize. Photo by Martin Turner of Visiblize.com
Engineers at NASA's Glenn Research Center have tested a rocket engine injector made with additive manufacturing (AM), the 3-D printing process that allows complex shapes to be crafted in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional machining. Aerojet Rocketdyne produced the injector assembly, which fired liquid oxygen and gaseous hydrogen in the test series, using high-energy lasers to melt metallic powder in a build-up process.
Matthieu Louvot (see photo) has been appointed head of support and services within Eurocopter, Marignane, France. He was an adviser in different French ministries before joining the company.
USAF Lt. Gen. Frank Gorenc has been nominated for promotion to general and assignment as commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe/commander, U.S. Air Forces Africa/commander, Allied Air Command/director, Joint Air Power Competence Center, Ramstein AB, Germany. He has been assistant vice chief of staff and director of the Air Staff at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon.
“A fighter pilot patrols the area allotted to him in any manner he sees fit. When he sees the enemy, he attacks and kills.” What makes it likely that Manfred von Richthofen really said that is the sentence that follows it: Alles andere ist Unsinn. Anything else is nonsense.
Steve Kisor has been named president in the Americas for London-based Willis Aerospace. He was executive vice president based in Los Angeles. John Rooley has been named Vancouver-based CEO and will remain president/CEO of Willis Aerospace in Canada.
Technicians at Cape Canaveral will spend the next several months preparing the third Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-3) military communications satellite, after the U.S. Air Force and builder Lockheed Martin Space Systems delivered it on a C-5 Galaxy flying out of Travis AFB, Calif. Launch from Complex 41 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V is scheduled this fall.
A proposed acquisition rule from the Pentagon that is designed to combat counterfeit parts is drawing the U.S. technology industry's ire, according to a statement from its lobby association.
The low-cost carrier phenomenon is transforming the airline industry all over the globe, but it is proving slow to catch on in Japan. The demise of one of Japan's three new LCCs is the clearest sign yet that the challenges they face in this market are larger than they bargained for. However, the stakes are still high enough to keep several major players in the game.
ST Aerospace will provide a range of Boeing 787 nacelle system maintenance, repair and overhaul services based on a long-term agreement signed with UTC Aerospace System.
