Roscoe C. Armstrong has been named chief operating officer of StarPort, a Cambata Aviation International company based at Orlando-Sanford (Fla.) International Airport. He has held key management positions in federal and commercial aviation sectors, including the FAA and L-3 Communications.
Sukhoi has started flight-testing the long-range version of its Superjet 100. But if the SSJ program is to become a success, the company needs to tackle technical flaws affecting the baseline version. The first prototype of the SSJ 100LR version made its maiden flight on Feb. 12. Because of several different technical issues, four of Aeroflot's 10 SSJs are grounded.
Initial components of Russia's new MS-21 narrowbody airliner are starting to be assembled. Ulyanovsk-based Aviastar-SP, a United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) subsidiary, completed the first rear-fuselage section of the MS-21. This section will be used for fatigue testing in Riga, Latvia, according to Irkut Corp., which is developing the aircraft.
Richard Glass (see photo) has joined Kansas City, Mo.-based PAS Technologies as senior VP-aerospace. He was VP-sales and marketing at VAS Aero Services Eurasia.
You mention in “Safety First” (AW&ST Feb. 4, p. 24) that Elon Musk, SpaceX chief and founder of the Tesla electric car, which is powered by lithium-ion batteries, offered to help Boeing with the 787 battery situation. The FAA should require the aircraft manufacturer to accept it. Musk suggests that using many smaller batteries would render a better ratio of volume to surface area resulting in improved cooling.
When Ed Winter decided to accept an offer to become CEO of Fastjet, a new highly ambitious low-cost carrier (LCC) for Africa, the challenges seemed clear: infrastructure constraints, taxation and other regulatory issues, low Internet penetration. It was not exactly going to be easy.
Australian defense procurement is in a strongly aviation-centered phase. In the next few years, the government is due to approve acquisitions of around 60 combat aircraft, a fleet of maritime surveillance drones and complementary force of manned patrol aircraft.
David J. Barger, president and CEO of JetBlue Airways, has received the Transatlantic “Leading Edge” Award presented by the Washington branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society. The award recognizes leadership and achievements that contributed to the advancement of aerospace technology and safety between North America and Europe.
Hope is fading in Washington that Republicans and Democrats will put aside their differences and find a way to head off $490 billion in automatic cuts to U.S. defense spending due to take effect on March 1. But a top official at Ohio-based Eaton Corp., which derives 35% of its aerospace sales from military programs such as the F-35, remains optimistic about a last-minute deal. “We're not banking on across-the-board cuts in military spending that aren't more thoughtful,” says Craig Arnold, the chief operating officer for Eaton's industrial businesses.
Scientists, land-use planners and others who track changes in the Earth's surface could get another decade of data from the newest in a series of Landsat spacecraft, launched Feb. 11 on an Atlas V 401 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Built by Orbital Sciences Corp., the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) separated as planned and deployed its solar arrays 86 min. after launch. That set the stage for a two-month trek to its operational 705-km (483-mi.) Sun-synchronous polar orbit that will include a comparison of data from its two sensors with data from Landsat 7.
It's no secret that business aviation has been enduring hard times for too long. The gloom took hold in 2008, and since then thousands of workers have lost their jobs, companies have gone bankrupt, and flight activity has slowed. Almost no one is happy. Then there's Kenn Ricci, business aviation's not-so-minor mogul with a knack for making business happen.
I was surprised when I first discovered that Boeing used lithium-ion batteries. I am retired from the aeropsace industry and now convert my interest in the field into radio-controlled electrically powered models. My model supply shop has insurance which excludes its stock of lithium-ion batteries from coverage. You can buy the batteries directly from China, but delivery is six weeks by sea. On more than one occasion I have burned my fingers.
Rattled by cold California high-desert winds, and little changed since its days as a Second World War motor pool for the U.S. Marine Corps, the old hangar that Masten Space Systems calls home seems an incongruous incubator for low-cost flights to sub-orbit.
A new, lower noise limit for aircraft and certification procedures supporting the first CO2 standard for aircraft have been recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Committee for Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP). The new level, to be called Chapter 14 by ICAO, is a cumulative 7 EPNdB below current Chapter/Stage 4 limits. After looking at noise cuts of 3-11 dB, analysis ahead of the CAEP/9 meeting in Montreal had indicated a 5-dB reduction taking effect in 2020 was most cost-effective.
Gene Autry's “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” may have helped Santa find his way, but Jackie Autry, the singing cowboy's widow, understands how unwelcome outside illumination can be for passengers trying to sleep, view computer screens or watch videos.
Editor-in-Chief Joseph C. Anselmo recently asked for suggestions and ideas as Aviation Week heads into its 100th anniversary (AW&ST Dec. 31, 2012/Jan. 7, p. 154) Well, I am 62 so I am a “legacy reader,” but one who reads the magazine now almost 100% on my Samsung 7-in. tablet. Until not so long ago I had a clear preference for the paper version even though I have spent a lifetime among computers and avionics.
Two Lockheed Martin F-35As ordered by the Netherlands and due to be delivered this year may go directly into storage, according to a Feb. 8 letter from its defense ministry to a parliamentary committee. The Netherlands ordered the two $140 million aircraft in 2008, on the basis of assurances from Lockheed Martin and the Joint Strike Fighter Project Office that initial operational test and evaluation of Block 3 software would start this year. The ministry now says this will not happen until at least early 2015.
With insurgent-hunting missions in Mali underway, the U.K.'s Sentinel radar reconnaissance aircraft might be making friends in high places, but it still remains on the chopping block after 2015. Three weeks into the deployment, the single Sentinel R1 operating out of Dakar, Senegal, has been flying a series of missions that has helped to counter threats from improvised explosive devices and indirect fire from the Al-Qaeda-linked rebels retreating into the desert from the rapidly advancing French and Malian government forces.
Northrop Grumman officials have begun ground testing for integration of an upgraded Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) with the stealthy B-2 bomber. Pentagon officials are mum on the upgrade, but have previously complained about an unreliable fuze. And, engineers have been working to improve GPS accuracy. Flight-testing of the two systems together is to begin shortly.
Phil Stearns (see photo) has been promoted to general manager of Greenville, S.C.-based Stevens Aviation's Dayton, Ohio facility, succeeding Ron Tennyson, who plans to retire after 25 years with the company. Stearns was technical sales manager. Honors And Elections
Christine Tovee (see photo) has been selected as chief technology officer of Herndon, Va.-based EADS North America. She was the CTO's chief of staff to the CTO.
