India's first C-17 has entered flight acceptance testing by the U.S. Air Force at Edwards AFB, Calif., as part of a fast-track foreign military sales (FMS) program that will see four other deliveries to India's Hindon Air Force Station near New Delhi this year.
USAF Lt. Gen. Larry D. James, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and Douglas L. Loverro, executive director, Space and Missile Systems Center, Air Force Space Command, have been named to receive the Stellar Award for Government Service, presented by the New York-based Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI). The two leaders are being honored for “their dedication to unifying the requirements and capabilities of he commercial and military space ventures,” SSPI says.
In “Electric Shock” (AW&ST Jan. 14, p. 19) about Japan Airlines' Boeing 787's lithium-ion auxiliary power unit (APU) battery explosion incident at Boston Logan International Airport, there appears this comment: “The fire caused 'severe fire damage' to the aft electrical/electronics bay in which the battery—one of two on the 787—is located, states the NTSB.” However, consider that when fire broke out inflight in the rear electronics bay of a flight-test 787 in 2010, it triggered loss of some aircraft system functions.
Steven Udvar-Hazy, chairman and CEO of Air Lease Corp. and former head of the International Lease Finance Corp., has been named the recipient of the 2012 Howard Hughes Memorial Award, presented by the Los Angeles-based Aero Club of Southern California. The award honors an aerospace leader whose accomplishments over a long career have contributed significantly to the advancement of aviation or space technology.
Michael McCann will become CEO of U.K.-based GKN Aerostructures. He has been senior VP-business development and strategy, a role that will be filled by Charles Paterson. Paterson was general manager at the company's facilities in Filton, England.
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Feb. 14-15—Civil Air Navigation Services Organization's Global ATM Operations Conference. Madrid. See www.canso.org/opsconference2013. Feb. 17-21—Gulf Defense Conference and Official Conference of IDEX. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. See www.idexuae.ae/page.cfm Feb. 26-March 2—Australian International Airshow and Aerospace and Defense Exposition. Avalon Geelong Airport. See www.airshow.com.au/airshow2013
Richard Hildenbrand has been promoted to president from executive VP of Burbank, Calif.-based Avjet Corp., succeeding Mark Lefever, who has become chief operating officer.
Michael Kurth (see photos) has been named VP and general manager of Boeing's Unmanned Airborne Systems Programs, based in St. Louis. He is currently managing director of Boeing Defense U.K. Ltd. David Pitchforth, managing director of U.K. Rotorcraft Support, a division of Boeing Global Services & Support, will succeed Kurth.
When design work began on the Eclipse, the original very light jet, the key to keeping its purchase price low—it was originally advertised at around $750,000, if you recall—was to build them in high volume. And, as the original backers saw it, the only way to get production numbers high and fast was to put them into service as high-cycle air taxis.
In 1970s, then-Swissair moved its pilot training from the U.K. to Vero Beach, Fla. I remember Al Ueltschi being keen to sign up the airline as a customer since his ancestors came from Switzerland! When we made the transition from the U.K. (CAE) to the U.S., I enjoyed a few years of working closely with the flight-instructor group of FlightSafety International, under the leadership of his son Jim. I also admired Al's acumen in helping to treat blindness around the globe. Your tribute was well-deserved (AW&ST Oct. 29, 2012, p. 20).
Aviation Week's Laureate Awards honor remarkable individuals and teams in aviation, aerospace and defense in the preceding year. They range over technology, operations, business and public policy and include both individual feats and organizational accomplishments. Hopefully, they will inspire others to new levels of their own achievements.
Boeing is upgrading software for electronic flight bags to make it less costly and easier for airlines to standardize systems across their fleets without expensive hardware upgrades. The first application will become operational in the second quarter on Air France's 747-400 fleet. The upgrade applies only to software and focuses on third-party Class 2 installations, which Air France uses extensively.
