This week, Aviation Week & Space Technology publishes two editions. The articles cited on the far left cover—innovation (p. 56), Neil Armstrong (p. 32) and aerospace in Germany (p. 48)—are in both editions. In that photo, Epner Technology Assistant Quality Manager Adam G. Drew polishes the gold-plated interior of a large chemical-reaction vessel. The Defense Technology Edition contains additional coverage. In its cover photo, the French naval cruise missile MdCN epitomizes the revolution in maritime strike munitions.
House appropriator Frank Wolf (R-Va.) writes NASA Administrator Charles Bolden “urging vigilance” in deciding how many NASA employees should go to Naples, Italy, for the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in early October. Wolf cites a blog report that asserted that NASA was considering sending 50 or more employees to IAC, arguably the biggest annual space conference.
Activation of a third Boeing 787 final assembly line is intended to help ensure a smooth startup of production of the 787-9 as manufacturing rates increase to five aircraft per month by year-end. The 80th 787-8, destined for LAN Airlines, on Aug. 24 became the first fuselage to enter a “surge line” in the 40:24 bay at Boeing's main widebody campus in Everett, Wash. The main 787 assembly hall is the nearby 40:26 bay. The primary alternate line is 88:30 at Boeing's 787 factory in North Charleston, S.C.
USAF Brig. Gen. Balan R. Ayyar has been appointed rule-of-law deputy for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, U.S. Central Command in Kabul. He has been commander of the Air Force Recruiting Service/director of recruiting at Air Education and Training Command Headquarters, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph AFB, Texas,
Gerassimos D. Corakianitis (La Tour de Peilz, Switzerland )
In “Restructure or Shrink” (AW&ST Aug. 13, p. 20) Jens Flottau correctly states that Swiss is one of the most profitable European carriers. He does not mention, however, that this was achieved with German funds. Swiss is now affectionately called Swisshansa. There may be no such thing as Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Europe, but Swissair was bailed out twice in a Chapter 11 manner, the first time by UBS and the Swiss government, the second by Lufthansa.
If the big question here ahead of the last presidential election was who will be the defense secretary, now it is who will be secretary of state. Enter the elder statesmen. Democrats and the Obama campaign say Senate Foreign Relations Committe Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) will deliver a key national security speech on the last night of their convention in Charlotte, N.C. According to the Washington Post's well-connected foreign policy blogger, Josh Rogin, Kerry is a main contender with U.N.
I agree with many of the premises in Frank Morring, Jr.'s “High Hurdles” (AW&ST Aug. 6, p. 19). The last working breeder reactor in North America was in Canada and made medical isotopes. It shut down for routine maintenance several years ago, and I do not know if it was restarted. But we do know that Russia, Indian, Pakistan, Iran, Great Britain, Israel and even North Korea have breeder reactors. Only the reality of pollution and contamination at Hanford, Wash. [a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex] stops us.
After reading the enthusiastic and emphatic comments on Alaska Airlines customer service made by airline analyst Raymond Neidl in a recent Up Front column (AW&ST Aug. 6, p. 12), I must ask when was the last time he flew on that carrier? My lengthy trip from San Francisco-Seattle-Anchorage-Kodiak last May was a nightmare due to the complete lack of customer service.
Huntsville company specializes in high-performance optical systems, including sensors and seekers, that exploit the phenomenon behind three-dimensional movies.
Graeme Shanks has joined CIT Business Aircraft as vice president-sales. He was senior vice president/head of marketing for AMS Aircraft Ltd. and had been a customer support account manager for Thales Aerospace.
The fall of the Syrian government would not be good news for Israel. It could, among other perils, trigger another massive dump of arms—including ballistic and air defense missiles as well as chemical weapons of mass destruction—onto the black market. “What will happen to Bashar [Assad, Syria's president] is very interesting to us, but it is also a great mystery,” says Col. Erez Viezel, a conceptual planner for Israeli Defense Intelligence (IDI). “We want to know how much control he has over the things that threaten us.”
Republican delegates to the party's convention in Tampa, Fla., last week made it clear they favor rebuilding the military in the likes of an earlier Republican president. “More than a century ago, Republican President Theodore Roosevelt predicted that America's future was in the Pacific,” states the party's platform. “That future is here today, but it can develop peacefully only under the shield of American naval and air power.” Not surprisingly, the platform also goes on the offensive against Democratic President Barack Obama.
