Boeing has completed operational checkout of the U.S. Air Force's GPS IIF-3 and it is now part of the 31-global-positioning-satellite constellation that serves military and civilian users. The satellite is the third of 12 ordered from Boeing. Six of the nine to be completed are due to be finished by year-end and the other three in 2013.
Jeffrey S. Moorad has been named vice chairman and chief negotiation officer of Tyler, Texas-based CyberSEATS for Entertainment, Arts, Travel and Sports. He was CEO of the San Diego Padres.
After a crash-sprinkled early history of trial and error, the developer of a modern reinterpretation of the autogyro is reporting progress in flight testing. Carter Aviation Technologies says it has achieved lift-to-drag ratios greater than 12—flight efficiencies 2.5 times that of a helicopter—in tests of its four-seat Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) prototype.
China has begun landing J-15 fighters on its first aircraft carrier, Liaoning, following an earlier announcement that pilots had taken off from the ship. Five pilots have landed and taken off from Liaoning in the Bohai, a sea in northern China, state media report. The ship's arrestor gear is of entirely Chinese design, according to the reports, but they also say the J-15 is all-Chinese. The aircraft, built by Shenyang Aircraft, is a copy of the Russian Sukhoi Su-33.
Joseph P. Krolak has joined Waterbury, Conn.-based People's United Bank as VP-sales and aviation finance. He has held executive positions with National Aircraft Finance Co., Webster Capital Finance and Textron Financial.
Engineers do not expect three small cracks that appeared in the Orion multipurpose crew vehicle pressure vessel to delay the planned first flight of NASA's next human spacecraft in 2014. The cracks in three adjacent radial ribs machined into the aft bulkhead did not go all the way through, and the vessel continued to hold pressure after the cracks appeared when pressure reached 21.6 psi, according to a NASA spokeswoman. Orion's normal operating pressure is 14.7 psi.
William C. Kircher (see photo) has been named VP of Pratt & Whitney's Singapore Overhaul & Repair. He was general manager for the company's engine overhaul facility.
Christopher Kelly has been named head of human performance at Symbiotics Ltd., Tewkesbury, England He has been involved in the Human Factors Integration Defense Technology Center Research program.
Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport is denying reports that it has lost Indian air force (IAF) competitions for heavy-lift transport helicopters and refueling aircraft. A senior Indian defense official indicated in October that Boeing's CH-47F Chinook had emerged as the lowest bidder for the helicopter deal, besting an upgraded Russian Mi-26T2 after life-cycle costs were calculated. At the same time, there also were reports that the Russian Ilyushin Il-78MK-90 aerial tanker aircraft had lost to the Airbus A330 MRTT.
Dec. 11-13—Middle East Business Aviation. Al Maktoum International Airport, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Call +44 (208) 846-2740 or +971-4603-3300 or see www.meba.aero Jan. 7-10—AIAA's 51st Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition. Gaylord Texan Hotel and Convention, Grapevine, Texas. See www.aiaa.org/asm2013 Jan. 9-10—Fourth Annual China Aerospace Manufacturing Summit. Post Hotel, Harbin City. See www.galleonevents.com/2013CAMS
Great job on the Hail and Farewell tribute to FSI founder Al Ueltschi. It was a masterful synopsis of the life of this legend, especially considering the single-page constraint. McLean, Va.
James Free has been named director of the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, succeeding Ramon Lugo, who plans to retire in January. Free has been deputy director.
The U.S. Air Force's classified research and development budget is supporting two major programs, according to industry and government sources: an unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Northrop Grumman and a bomber demonstrator from Lockheed Martin. In the last few weeks, an industry executive has told Aviation Week that Lockheed Martin is building a “Next Generation Bomber”—the name NGB was used, although the Air Force's requirement is now known as the Long-Range Strike Bomber—at Palmdale, Calif.
Regarding the “Bigger Bang Theory” about a “a devastating explosive that is safe to handle (AW&ST Nov. 19, p. DT17), I still remember Tritenol-filled, Mk-80-series bombs. I saw reports and ship-board CCTV recordings of the USS Oriskany disaster in which two sailors aboard the aircraft carrier were restoring aircraft flares off-loaded from aircraft returning from a mission over Vietnam on Oct. 26, 1966. I watched a forward munitions dump explode (high-order) at Chu-Lia, a U.S. Marine Corps base in South Vietnam, at the start of Tet Offensive in 1968.
Kevin Markette (see photo) has become Lufthansa's general manager for Ghana, succeeding Yannick Aplogan, who was appointed general manager for Gabon. Markette was regional manager for marketing and business development in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
During the Cold War, it is said that the main concern of the CIA was a merchant vessel sailing up the Hudson River with a thermonuclear bomb in its bilge. A contemporary situation might be the acute vulnerability of civilian nuclear reactors to attack from the air. Low-flying light aircraft packed with high explosives impacting the containment vessel and core could engender a Chernobyl-type meltdown and radiation release.
Moves are afoot to rename NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., as the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center. At the same time, proponents of the move suggest the enormous test area—the Western Aeronautical Test Range—be renamed as the Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test Range. The change is proposed by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who announced legislation for this purpose on Nov. 29.
Sunil Navale (see photo) has been appointed VP-business management for Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Space Systems Sector, Redondo Beach, Calif. He was sector director of financial planning and reporting.
Jim Coon, who has been chief of staff for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, will join the Alexandria, Va.-based National Air Transportation Association as executive VP in January. Amy B. Koranda has been promoted to VP from head of NATA's Safety First program.
