After repeated delays in putting a new constellation into orbit, mobile satellite services provider Globalstar launched its fourth and final batch of six second-generation telecommunications satellites Feb. 6 atop a Soyuz launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. European launch consortium Arianespace and its Russian Starsem affiliate said the launcher's Fregat orbital stage injected the six spacecraft into their target orbit after two successive firings following liftoff.
Pres Henne, who led design of the Collier trophy-winning Gulfstream V and G550 and oversaw development of the new G650, is to retire from the business-jet manufacturer on March 31. Henne joined Gulfstream in 1994 from McDonnell Douglas (MDC), where he began his career in 1969. At MDC, Henne was responsible for aerodynamic design of the C-17 wing, and was later vice president and general manager of the MD-90 program. At Gulfstream, he has overseen the introduction of six products and advances such as enhanced and synthetic vision displays.
Gail Mesa Norman (see photo) has been named public relations and promotions consultant for Frederick, Md.-based Women Fly It Forward Frederick. She has been active in the promotion of aviation events in Maryland, including the 2010 Women's Air Race Classic Terminus at Frederick Municipal Airport.
Analysis of the Jan. 31 failure of a Sea Launch Zenit-3S with a big Boeing-built Intelsat communications satellite on board will center on thrust vector control in the Russian-built RD-171 main-stage engine, adding to the woes of Russia's mishap-plagued launch vehicle industry. Efforts by Sea Launch to regain financial momentum after emerging from bankruptcy also will be more difficult. The company has no additional firm missions on its manifest.
USAF Lt. Col. (ret.) John A. Crocker (Tavernier, Fla.)
I was amused to read of four companies vying to build the next-generation training aircraft, the T-X (AW&ST Jan. 21, p. 12). With the expansion of all unmanned aerial vehicle operations, coupled with the extreme cost overruns on the F-35s, plus the specter of sequestration cuts, future U.S. Air Force pilot candidates should be given a Microsoft flight simulator and then strapped into T-38s for years to come. Tavernier, Fla.
Eric Chen (see photo) has become president of Tianjin-based Airbus China, succeeding Laurence Barron, who has been appointed CEO and chairman of EADS China. Chen was senior VP-commercial and external affairs. Rafael Gonzales Ripoll Garzon has been appointed chief operating officer of Airbus China. He was head of the Center of Excellence Empennage/Aft Fuselage of Airbus in Spain.
Demand for pilots is expected to accelerate in the next couple of years as the U.S. economy gets back on its feet. But there are real questions about whether there will be enough qualified candidates to move into the cockpit. Not long ago, I was sure I would be one of them. But I've given up on my dream of becoming an airline pilot. I have run out of money and do not want to add to the debt I have taken on to pay for my college education and flight training for a job that is going to pay me $20,000 a year.
Capt. Nora Burghardt (see photo) has been named program manager for the U.S. Navy's Aircrew Systems Program Office, succeeding Capt. Roger Ligon, who has become military director of the Weapons and Energetics Department at the Naval Air Warfare Center--Aircraft Div. Burghardt was deputy program manager for Air Vehicle Systems in the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G Program Office.
French space agency CNES has tripled its research and technology (R&T) budget to €131 million ($176 million) this year from €42 million in 2005, representing roughly 17% of its budget outside of contributions to the European Space Agency, says CNES's chief, Yannick d'Escatha. By 2015, that figure is expected to grow to more than €150 million, according to figures issued Feb. 4 during d'Escatha's presentation on CNES's estimated €1.6 billion budget for 2013.
Rudolf Schmid has joined Zurich-based Swiss Aviation Training as director of quality and project management, succeeding Karl Spirig, who plans to retire this month. Schmid was lead auditor at a management systems certification company.
For months, Pentagon officials have described the impact of across-the-board budget cuts with gruesome metaphors. The March 1 deadline for those reductions to take effect is now close enough that the military is beginning to drizzle out some long-awaited specifics. In the past two weeks, each of the services has begun to explain some near-term actions and the longer-term impact to weapons systems and deployment schedules.
Charlie Ferraro has been appointed VP for the western U.S. at Houston-based Landmark Aviation. He was general manager of the company's San Diego facility.
Wayne Boggs, air show director and aerial choreographer, has been named the winner of the Oshkosh, Wis.-based International Council of Air Shows' Sword of Excellence award. It was presented to Boggs for his “leadership role in the air show community over the last quarter century.”
William W. Boyle has become CEO of San Diego-based Cubic Corp. He had been executive VP and CFO and also interim president and CEO since the death of founder and former CEO Walter J. Zable in June 2012. Bradley H. Felmann was appointed president and chief operating officer, and John D. Thomas was promoted to executive VP and CFO. Stephen O. Shewmaker, president of the company's Transportation Systems, is now also an executive VP.
Boeing subsidiary Insitu has regained the contract to provide unmanned-aircraft intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services to U.S. Special Operation Command (Socom) after AAI was dismissed from the contract it won away from Insitu last year. Insitu has received a 25-month contract potentially worth $190 million to provide ISR support to Socom with its ScanEagle UAS.
With a key deadline looming in mid-February, negotiators from American Airlines and US Airways raced to seal a merger deal that would create the world's largest airline.
Bill Sweetman's “Commander's Intent” column “No More Time” (AW&ST Jan. 28, p. 12), is spot-on with the exception of the conclusions he tries to avoid. Lockheed Martin's setting a date for the initial operational capability (IOC) now means nothing. The date has been set and moved so often that the company has lost all credibility on the issue. The Pentagon, in cooperation with Congress, should set a program cancellation deadline. If full IOC is not reached by then, terminate the program.
If former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) emerges from an extremely contentious confirmation hearing as the next U.S. defense secretary, he may enter the Pentagon weakened at a time when the military's top civilian needs cooperation more than ever. The Pentagon, which scaled back its fiscal expectations dramatically in early 2012, is facing the prospect of $500 billion in across-the-board budget reductions. It is in the midst of drawing down the war in Afghanistan, guarding against continued tension in the Middle East and pivoting forces to the Pacific.
