May 1-2—SpeedNews 11th Annual Aerospace & Defense Industry Suppliers Conference. Charleston (S.C.) Place. See www.speednews.com/ConferenceInfo.aspx?conferenceID=22 May 6-9—Regional Airline Association Annual Meeting. Montreal. Contact Cheryl Goldsby of Emerald Media at [email protected] May 13-14—65th Naval Helicopter Association Symposium. Town and Country Hotel, San Diego. See regonline.com/nhasymposium2013 May 14-16—Imdex Asia. Singapore. See www.imdexasia.com/media--coverage.aspx
David Ashton has been promoted to executive vice president-business development and technology at Wimborne, England-based Cobham plc from vice president of the company's Tactical Communications and Surveillance unit. Julian Hellebrand has been promoted to executive vice president for life-cycle management and program management from chief of staff to the CEO and group director of communications. James Barber has been named vice president of Cobham Defense Electronics-East, Lansdale, Pa.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is slowly nearing the issuance of the Airworthiness Directive (AD) that will include the guidelines on how operators have to modify wings of the in-service Airbus A380 fleet.
A final word of warning: Don't think your summer holiday travel plans survived sequestration just because you make it through the airport security line in time for takeoff. You also have to hope each flight arrives on time, or does not suffer other hiccups caused by an expected increase in air traffic congestion.
The U.S. Navy is assessing whether the Bell/Boeing MV-22 can operate as a potential Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) vehicle, in advance of a competition to replace the aging C-2C Greyhounds, which now perform that role. The tiltrotor was slated April 19 to conduct “palletized cargo and cyclic operations” using the deck of the carrier USS Harry S. Truman, as the first phase of the assessment. In June, the second phase will begin with Navy operational testers evaluating the aircraft's integration into “cyclic operations” on deck for six days.
John Croft (Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Phoenix and Tucson)
New technologies focusing on the sense of sight will boost the utility and efficiency of the cockpit within the next few years. From advanced synthetic-vision applications to unique head-up devices and enhanced-technology head-down displays, avionics makers are perfecting a palette of designs in the laboratory and on the flight-test fleet that aircraft makers will likely choose from for their new and upgraded products.
Richard C. Beaird, former senior deputy U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy at the U.S. State Department, has received the 2013 Satellite Leadership in Government Award from the Washington-based Satellite Industry Association. The award honors a government official or member of Congress for leadership and dedication to public service in working on issues affecting the satellite industry.
Lt. Gen. Robert Schmidle, deputy U.S. Marine Corps commandant for aviation, says the service plans to declare its first F-35C squadron operational in fiscal 2015, with the first deployment to Japan in fiscal 2017. The service will be the first to declare operational use of the single-engine, stealthy aircraft. Government auditors estimate “rework” costs for the first 10 lots of F-35s will total $1.7 billion.
NASA's Kepler planet-finding space telescope has found three “super Earths” orbiting in the habitable zone of two distant stars, including one only 40% larger than Earth. Kepler-62f is believed to have a rocky composition. It and its larger habitable-zone companion, Kepler-62e, orbit a star dimmer and older than the Sun called a K2 dwarf that is 1,200 light years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. A third exoplanet—Kepler-69c—has been confirmed in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star in the constellation Cygnus 2,700 light years from Earth.
Simon Morris has become vice president of Fairfax, Va.-based ICF International's SH&E aviation practice. He was principal of A.T. Kearney's airport practice and has been a director of Birmingham (England) International Airport and Aeroporti di Roma Handling. Honors And Elections
Greg Arend (see photos) has been promoted to director from manager of commercial programs and George Brady to director of product support and simulator operations from director of simulation operations support, both at FlightSafety International's simulation design, manufacture and support facility in Tulsa, Okla.
Thomas C. Moore has joined the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies as senior fellow and deputy director of its Proliferation Prevention Program. He has been on the professional staffs of Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees.
Though more than $1 billion in government-backed loans for FAA NextGen avionics could soon be available, airlines remain cautious about investing in the technologies even as the first milestone—equipping with automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B)—approaches.
Eric Radtke, president of Sporty's Academy, Batavia, Ohio, has been named distinguished alumnus for 2013 for the University of Cincinnati's Clermont College. The award is given to individuals for professional accomplishment and community contributions. Radtke has been head of the Sporty's Pilot Shop flight school and director of the the university's Professional Pilot Program. He also is a director of the National Association of Flight Instructors.
Diego Rodriguez (see photos) has been named director of defense within the Aerospace Strategic Business Unit of Madrid-based Sener. He will remain director of space. Rodriguez also is a member of the boards of the Space Commission of the Spanish Association for Defense, Aeronautics and Space Technologies and Hisdesat. Guido Casanova has become Sao Paulo-based general manager in Brazil.
May 7-8—Civil Aviation Manufacturing. Charlotte, N.C. May 14-15—MRO Eastern Europe. Vilnius, Lithuania. Sept. 9-11—NextGen Ahead. Washington. Sept. 24-26—MRO Europe. London. Oct. 29-31—MRO Asia. Singapore. Nov. 12-14—A&D Programs. Phoenix. Jan 21-23—MRO Middle East. Dubai. You can now register ONLINEfor Aviation Week Events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/events or call +1 (212) 904-4682.
An airliner's vertical tail is hardly used in normal flight conditions, its size instead determined by one rare, worst-case scenario: the loss of an engine on takeoff. If the power of the rudder could be increased on demand, then a smaller tail could be fitted across an entire family of aircraft—from the shortest fuselage to the longest—to reduce weight, drag and fuel burn.
Jim Swickard, a 40-year aviation communications veteran and contributor to Aviation Week's Business & Commercial Aviation (BCA) magazine, died April 14 from a heart attack at home in Tucson, Ariz. He was 68. Swickard most recently edited the Intelligence column for BCA, and had edited Aviation Week's Business Aviation Bulletin (BCA eBulletin) email. He operated his own marketing and communications company for 17 years after being director of marketing services for FlightSafety International and manager of corporate advertising for Rockwell International.
Bill Sweetman's Commander's Intent commentary “Boot-Centric Warfare” (AW&ST April 1/8, p. 12), states that “Iraq and Afghanistan can be called a strategic success.” In those wars, roughly 5,000 Americans have died in combat and 42,000 have been wounded. The direct cost of those wars is $1.4 trillion and climbing. The ultimate cost, including medical care for veterans, could surpass $4 trillion.
Let's hope whoever put together the depiction of the two F/A-XXs for “Leading Edge” (AW&ST April 1/8, p. 13) is a better artist than a pilot. It appears that the wingman is doing a high-g pull directly into his flight lead! Southlake, Texas
The Maldives are internationally renowned for their pristine natural environment spread across 1,192 coral islands and an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of around 920,000 sq. km (355,214 sq. mi.). Protecting it is a mammoth task.
