David Davenport (see photo) has been promoted to VP and regional operations manager of New York LaGuardia Airport-based FlightSafety International from manager of the Savannah (Ga.) Learning Center. Fabio Miguez was promoted to manager of the Columbus (Ohio) Learning Center from manager of the Detroit Metro/Toledo Center. He succeeds Chip White, who moved to the Gulfstream Learning Center. Daniel MacLellan has been promoted to regional operations manager and will continue as manager of the Dallas/Fort Worth Learning Center.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) battle over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing drags on. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) office maintains in a Sept. 23 filing that NASA and U.S. Defense Department funding to Boeing that the WTO found to be illegal subsidies has been removed. The USTR added that the State of Washington is modifying tax credits to Boeing to bring them into line with the WTO ruling and that the City of Wichita is also changing industrial bond rates to comply.
Mark C. Cherry has joined Aurora Flight Services, Manassas, Va., as president and chief operating officer. He succeeds Aurora founder John S. Langford, who will continue as chairman and CEO. Cherry was VP-corporate strategy and synergy at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
Roger Sherrard (see photo) has been promoted to president of Irvine, Calif.-based Parker Aerospace, succeeding Bob Barker, who is scheduled to retire at year-end after 39 years with the company. Sherrard has been president of Parker Hannifin's automation and instrumentation groups. Greg Crowe has been promoted to VP-operations from VP and general manager of the Fluid Systems Div. He has been succeeded by Guy Martin, who was general manager of the Seal Group's Engineered Polymer Systems Div. Frank Dubey has become VP and general manager of the Control Systems Div.
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is advancing development of a reusable first stage for its Falcon 9 launch vehicle with the first “hop” of its Grasshopper vertical-takeoff-and-landing test vehicle. The modified Falcon 9 first stage is validating plans to fly that stage back to the launch site for an autonomous vertical landing, using the more powerful Merlin 1D engine still in development. In the Sept.
Orbital Technologies Corp. (Orbitec) tested a lightweight rocket-engine nozzle extension Sept. 20 as part of a series of technology demonstrations for the 30,000-lb.-thrust VR-3A Vision engine it is developing under the U.S. Air Force Advanced Upper Stage Engine Program. The company also has demonstrated vortex/cold-wall combustion chamber cooling and an acoustic igniter in preparation for a subscale sounding-rocket flight demonstration Oct. 20 in Mojave, Calif.
Sir Martin Sweeting, executive chairman of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. and director of the Surrey Space Center at the University of Surrey, England, has received the International von Karman Wings Award for his contributions to aerospace, presented by the Aerospace Historical Society and the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
As concerns about privacy and security begin to weigh on the launch of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in civilian airspace, the Senate is forming a bipartisan UAS Caucus to help smooth the industry's takeoff. Aviation enthusiast Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) are heading the push to move the industry out of the civilian world and into the hands of businesses and state and local governments.
Women in Aerospace has recognized nine women for their contributions to the aerospace industry and the advancement of women in the field with its 2012 awards. The Outstanding Achievement Award went to Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX; Aerospace Awareness Award to Susan Anderson, public affairs specialist at NASA's Johnson Space Center; Aerospace Educator Award to Shella Condino, advanced-placement physics and chemistry teacher; Leadership Awards to Simonetta Di Pippo, ASI European Space Policy Observatory, and to U.S. Sen.
EU carbon dioxide allowances declined in September, in line with German power prices for 2013 delivery and on jitters over the extent of possible opposition to the European Commission's proposals to delay future carbon auction volumes. December 2012 EU Allowances (EUA) hit a six-month peak of €8.37 per metric ton ($10.80/mt) on Sept. 7, according to Platts' assessments, taking support from bullish sentiment in the wider financial markets after the European Central Bank announced new economic stimulus measures.
Lockheed Martin Chairman and CEO Robert J. Stevens is the recipient of the 2012 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, an award established in 1948 by the National Aeronautics Association to honor the memories of Orville and Wilbur Wright. Stevens, a Marine Corps veteran, was selected for his “dedication, leadership and major contributions to the security of the U.S.” Past winners include former astronaut Neil Armstrong, Charles Lindbergh and Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher.
Michael Merk has been named manager of real estate and business development at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. He was director of real estate for BAX Global.
Tom Roche (see photo) has been appointed VP-customer support at Tempe, Ariz..-based StandardAero. Alain Berube succeeds Roche as VP-turboprops and fleets from his previous role as VP-operations.
With an additional order for 11 aircraft, Boeing 787 launch customer All Nippon Airways is boosting its fleet total to 66—36 787-8s and 30 787-9s—while extending its ranking as the largest airline buyer of the twinjet. Deliveries are scheduled in 2018-21. Boeing says pilots for the Japanese carrier have gained so many flight hours with the 14 787-8s ANA has in service that they have more experience than Boeing's own flight-test crews. Starting Oct. 1, ANA adds its second international service from Tokyo for the 787-8 to Seattle and on Oct. 28 to Beijing.
Von Gardiner (see photos) has been named senior manager for Defense Department programs, and John Wallace VP-market management of Vienna, Va.-based NJVC. Gardiner was director of communications and information with USAF Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla., and Wallace has been sales director for capital markets and banking corporate accounts, as well as VP-financial services industry at Hewlett-Packard.
Academic exercises about whether Congress will allow a nearly $1 trillion in across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration to take effect in January are taking on an entirely new reality. Aerospace and defense companies are already beginning to announce plant closures, layoffs and cutbacks, and at least one of them is citing sequestration specifically.
Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser lifting-body spaceplane dangles from a helicopter in a captive-carry test leading to an atmospheric drop test later this year. The Colorado company is one of three working with a total of $1.1 billion in NASA seed money to develop commercial crew vehicles for reaching the International Space Station. The AW&ST space team reports on human spaceflight developments worldwide beginning on page 38. Sierra Nevada photo.
Boeing's decision to make radial tires standard for main and nose landing gear on the 737 MAX is a welcome upgrade for airlines that have compared radials' performance with the alternative—the bias-ply tires that have been an industry standard for decades.
The deal has been in the making for more than a year, and now—after this lengthy process—the Lufthansa board of directors has finally approved what is a pretty dramatic breakthrough for the carrier's modus operandi: The group is setting up a subsidiary for European direct services, operating a fleet of around 90 aircraft. The unit will be headquartered at Cologne/Bonn Airport in Germany.
Oct. 9—MRO IT Europe. Amsterdam. Oct. 9—Aircraft Composite Repair Management. Amsterdam. Oct. 9-11—MRO Europe. Amsterdam. Oct. 30-31—Engine MRO Europe. Paris. Nov. 6-7—A&D Programs. Phoenix. Nov. 13—Engine MRO Asia. Singapore. Nov. 14-15—MRO Asia. Singapore. Jan. 22-23—MRO Middle East. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. You can now register ONLINEfor Aviation Week Events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/events or call +1 (212) 904-4682.
It's official: President Barack Obama last week signed into law a measure that confirms full ownership rights to artifacts received by Apollo-era astronauts from their missions. According to the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, NASA managers routinely allowed astronauts to keep mementos, pieces of hardware and personal equipment from the spacecraft during the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. But beginning in the mid-2000s, NASA began to challenge the ownership of these artifacts.
Dean Foley has become sales manager of the aerospace division of West Springfield, Mass.-based Atlantic Fasteners. He has more than 25 years of experience in aerospace metals distribution.
