The global aviation industry will be watching Australia this year as it prepares to impose the first nationwide equipage mandate for automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B), years ahead of the deadlines proposed by European and U.S. regulators.
The problem with batteries in the Boeing 787 makes me wonder what could be different when using them in aircraft. Were these batteries tested for pressurization and depressurization problems? Even within the pressurized section of an aircraft, the pressure is lower in flight.
Brian Anderson has become aftermarket sales manager for the Americas at Arlington, Va.-based Cobham Satcom. He joins Cobham from partner Avionics Support Group.
The woman in charge of the National Transportation Safety Board is now among the top contenders to replace Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. If Deborah Hersman is nominated and confirmed, she will have to temper her approach to ferreting out problems in the transportation system to align with the confines of a limited budget.
The U.S. government spends more on weapons development than any other nation on the planet, but its plans for doing so are caught up in a larger financial debate.
Amanda Brownfield has joined Chantilly, Va.-based TASC as VP of the Mission Analysis Business Unit. She was VP of a business unit supporting intelligence, defense and law enforcement customers for SAIC. HONORS AND ELECTIONS
It is a standing joke that business aviation recycles its own, referring to the frequent movement of executives, sales people and managers from one company to another, but always within the community. This, I submit, is a result of the demanding nature of the segment's high-octane users and the infinite flexibility of its missions. Not many individuals thrive in that kind of environment, so there's a steady demand for those who do. All that came to mind when I learned of Jim Christiansen's new position.
Israel's Rafael will spotlight its Iron Dome counter-rocket system at Aero India 2013. India has been showing interest in the combat-proven active defense system, which can intercept short-range artillery rockets. Rafael also will showcase David's Sling, the multi-mission, multi-platform interceptor; the Spyder short- and medium-range air defense systems; Python-5 air-to-air IR and air defense missiles; Derby beyond-visual-range range air-to-air and air defense missiles; and Modular, Integrated C4I Air & Missile Defense System, the company says.
Central Florida's Lake County is well named since it comprises 1,400 lakes and countless ponds, pools and puddles. This water wealth, combined with the region's abundance of sunshine and warm air year-round, make the place a magnet for fisherfolk, boaters, kayakers and other wet-setters. And that very much includes floatplane fliers.
Your Person of the Year feature “Frau Nein,” fails to grasp the historic underlying tension among the participants of Germany, France and the ever-vacillating U.K.! Approving the EADS/BAE merger could have placed Deutsche Airbus and its employees in a potentially vulnerable position vis-a-vis France and Britain, since it could have lost control of its very survival in Germany.
The European Commission (EC) in November proposed to temporarily exempt non-European flights from the European Union's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), but the 27 member states and the European Parliament (EP) must endorse the deal. More worrisome is that many airlines operating to Europe might have misinterpreted the buoyant “stop the clock” message of EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard and wrongly believe that they are no longer required to comply with the system at all.
I wonder why Michael Dyment, author of a recent Viewpoint (AW&ST Jan. 14, p. 54), did not mention the savings that would be realized by taking the money from the little-used WAAS (Wide-Area Augmentation System) and putting this toward NextGen. WAAS has not been used at all by commercial aviation in spite of the FAA trying to “hook” every system possible to it.
George Kelemen has joined Washington-based Airports Council International-North America as senior VP-government and political affairs. He was senior director-external affairs for the American Cancer Society.
Poland has set its sights on a new fleet of heavy transport and attack helicopters as it renews its rotary-wing assets over the next decade. On top of plans announced by the Polish ministry of defense in 2012 to purchase 70 medium utility helicopters beginning in 2014, Warsaw is planning to purchase a further 130 helicopters to replace its aging fleet of Polish and Russian-built rotorcraft. This helicopter procurement program will be the largest in Europe in more than a decade.
