Bell Helicopter of Fort Worth has named 18 employees as winners of the 2012 Lawrence D. Bell Pioneer Award for innovation leadership. The winning teams are: Productivity--Donn Hethcock, Paul Oldroyd, Suvankar Mishra, John McCullough and Michael Mackey; Service--Tom Reilly, Warren Moseley, Daniel Scottiaux, Carlo Capozzo and Joshua Mochache; Innovation--Brad Linton, Travis Yates and Chad Haugeberg; and Growth--Clive Davis, Elvis Luis, Tuan Bui, Jonathan Williams and Gordon Mooney.
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.
Robert M. Ball has been elected to the board of Montreal-based Airports Council International-North America for a three-year term. He is executive director of the Lee County (Fla.) Port Authority.
Tim Paynter (see photo) has become director of communications for international programs at Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems Sector, Redondo Beach, Calif. He was senior manager of corporate communications at EADS North America.
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D), the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, is proposing a framework for how Congress can reach a deal on $4 trillion in deficit reduction next year, but he will not be on Capitol Hill to reach the compromise. Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, tried to prevent last year's budget penalty from taking place, but he will not be around either. And Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio) helped broker deals on two transportation bills in 2011. But by January, he will be gone, too.
Katherine B. Posner, a partner in Condon & Forsyth, has been selected to receive the Dallas-based International Aviation Women's Association's 2012 Aviation Industry Woman of Excellence Award. It recognizes women who have demonstrated a commitment to the advancement of women in the industry.
Thomas Hellwig (see photo) has been appointed senior aviation program manager in the Atlanta office of Parsons Brinckerhoff. He was VP-aviation at the architecture firm, that designed the international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomes the move by India's government to allow foreign carriers to invest in local airlines, but warns it is no solution to the problems facing India's aviation industry. “I think foreign direct investment (FDI) is a good thing. We'd like to see more countries liberalize foreign investment. The reality, however, is that FDI is in no way a panacea,” says IATA Director General Tony Tyler.
The U.S. Air Force boosted Boeing's third GPS IIF satellite into orbit last week, a spacecraft that is the first to include a fix to the xenon bulb in the cesium clock that is designed to address a problem found on the second IIF, while operating in orbit. Boeing built the satellite for a 12-year design life, and it is slated to be turned over to USAF controllers for testing next month after initial on-orbit checkout, says Paul Rossnock, Boeing vice president for government space systems.
Susan L. Main has been promoted to senior VP and CFO from VP and controller of Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based Teledyne Technologies, succeeding Dale A. Schnittjer, who is scheduled to retire in November. Main will be succeeded by Wajid Ali, who is CFO of Teledyne Dalsa.
President Barack Obama's widely panned debate included criticism for his lack of interest and intensity. The lackluster performance extended to the few areas in which aerospace and defense entered the discussion, as Obama opted to ignore messages that resonate with Americans in favor of dusting off an old battle that never took off. And his attacks on Mitt Romney's proposal to spend 4% of GDP on defense during a time of tight budgets went nowhere.
Last week's first KC-130J refueling for F-35B pilots was a step forward as the Marine Corps plans to field its first squadron of the stealthy fighters in Yuma, Ariz., in November. Two U.S. Marine Corps F-35B pilots executed the first two aerial refuelings for the stealthy aircraft from a KC-130J on Oct. 2. Instructor pilot Maj. Ty Bachman,and student Maj. Paul Holst each connected with the KC-130J and took on fuel, a first for the 33rd Fighter Wing, which handles F-35 pilot training at Eglin AFB, Fla. The aircraft took on only about 2,000 lb.
This week, Aviation Week & Space Technology publishes two editions. On the cover far left, Boeing's EcoDemonstrator passes by Mount Rainier, Wash, (Boeing photo). The aircraft represents a new approach to evaluating and fast-tracking fuel-saving and other technologies (see page 40). That report, along with a special package on the upcoming U.S. election (see page 46) and feature story on the Iron Dome missile defense system (see page 31) are in both editions. Our MRO edition includes additional features beginning after page 30.
With a 60-aircraft order for GOL Airlines, the formal signing for 75 from GE Capital Airplane Services (Gecas) and another 22 for unidentified customers, Boeing says its new-engine 737 MAX program has accumulated 821 orders. In addition, Gecas ordered 10 737-800s from the current Next Generation series. The order was announced at the Farnborough air show but signed on Oct. 3. The GOL order is the first for the MAX in South America. MAX is now in design and is to enter service in 2017 with Southwest Airlines.
A new mid-year report from Aviation Week's Top-Performing Companies (TPC) study reveals that the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry remains resilient, even as potentially deep cuts to Pentagon spending draw closer. Boeing held on to its top ranking of 10 publicly traded contractors with revenues of more than $20 billion, raising its TPC score two points in the first half of 2012, to 89. And the next three companies, all pure-play defense contractors, also managed to boost their performances, reversing declines in 2011.
Ukrainian aircraft maker Antonov has resumed flight trials of its An-70 medium military transport aircraft. The first three test flights performed Sept. 27-30 involved the only existing prototype with improved powerplants and avionics. According to Antonov, the latest improvements include the installation of low-noise propfans, a new engine and propfans control system and better auxiliary power unit. Almost all components of the aircraft's avionics have been modernized under the requirements of the Russian air force, which plans to purchase up to 60 An-70s through 2020.
Liz DeCastro has been appointed senior director of corporate communications at MTN Satellite Communications, Miramar, Fla. She was public relations manager at Iridium Communications.
It may be one of the most isolated, loneliest flight-test outposts in the Northern Hemisphere, but that is exactly why Boeing prefers to perform flight-testing at the former Glasgow AFB in the northeast corner of Montana.
