It's the survival of the fittest in a highly competitive air transportation arena. And today, with few exceptions, Europe's legacy carriers are struggling to adapt. While this is not a radically new situation, uncertainties and tensions have never been so high, especially since the economy is weak and low-cost carriers are more aggressive than ever.
Key portions of the U.S. Navy's most sophisticated electronic attack weapon are emerging from the laboratories. At least two candidate elements—a reduced-signature pod and an advanced power generating system from Northrop Grumman—are flying. The $2 billion Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) program—that would allow combat aircraft to penetrate sophisticated air defenses—is expected to be awarded to a single contractor almost exactly a year from now.
No doubt the pilots onboard Air France Flight 447 suffered “a profound loss of understanding,” as Pierre Sparaco says in a recent column. But I disagree with the assertion that Pitot's invention is out-of-date.
Johannes Bussmann (see photo) has been appointed chief executive-human resources, engine and VIP services of Hamburg-based Lufthansa Technik and a member of Lufthansa Technik's supervisory board. He was senior VP-engine services. Christoph Franz, CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa, has been elected chairman of the board.
“We need more Europe, not less.” So exclaimed Angela Merkel recently when elaborating on how tighter integration of the EU's banking could prevent future financial crises. She just as easily could have been talking about defense.
Frustrated by years of false starts, high-speed-propulsion researchers no longer find humor in the old joke that hypersonics is the future and always will be. Yet, just as shrinking budgets and moribund projects threaten the U.S. hypersonics community with that familiar feeling of deja vu, a newly announced Air Force high-speed-strike weapon offers an unexpected beacon of hope.
Brazil's TAM Airlines is set to become the first carrier to offer daily non-stop flights between Orlando, Fla., and Rio de Janeiro, beginning Nov. 12. The airline will use an Airbus A330. TAM already offers two flights each day between Orlando and Sao Paulo.
Having endured more than its fair share of test failures in the early days of the GE90, General Electric has enjoyed a relatively problem-free run with the GEnx-1B engine for the Boeing 787—until now.
India's defense research agency has developed its first submarine-launched ballistic missile and plans to develop a new range of missiles to boost the country's military. The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is working toward surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles with ranges of 300 km (186 mi.) and air-to-surface missiles with ranges of 400 km, according to DRDO's chief controller of research and development. India currently has SAMs with 50-km ranges.
Sharly Ben-Chetrit (see photos) has been named corporate VP-marketing at Israel Aerospace Industries. He has acting in that capacity since 2009. Yoav Turgeman has become general manager of the MLM Div. in the Systems Missiles and Space Group. He has been head of the division's Arrow Anti-Theater Ballistic Missile Directorate. Opher Doron has been appointed general manager of IAI's Space Group. He was head of the Israeli navy's Weapons Branch.
I enjoyed reader Jonathan Gaffney's letter (AW&ST July 30, p. 8). I would like to point out, though, that the moniker “Whisper Jet” was coined by Eastern Air Lines, not United, and that it applied to the former airline's Boeing 727s and DC-9s. Eastern called their Lockheed L-1011's “Whisperliners.” And although I don't live in Del Boca Vista, Phase II, Fla., I do happen to be a retired airline captain and I flew the 727 for most of the 20 of my 30 years with United Airlines.
Scott E. Kuechle has been apppointed to the board of directors of Wesco Aircraft Holdings, Valencia, Calif. He has been executive VP and CFO of Goodrich Corp.
Katie Pribyl has been named VP-communications for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Frederick, Md. She was director-communications at the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.
Gulfstream Aerospace has delivered its 600th aircraft equipped with the company's PlaneView cockpit. The PlaneView cockpit, first delivered on a G550 in 2003, is a modular system that includes Honeywell Primus Epic avionics and Gulfstream's Cursor Control Device, which allows pilots to point and click, scroll and use push-button operations.
An article in the July 16 issue incorrectly identified the sponsor of the first U.S. space-station utilization conference (p. 50). The conference was sponsored by the American Astronautical Society.
Lockheed Martin's AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff missile (Jassm) passed a milestone last week with the successful launch of an all-up round from a U.S. Air Force Boeing F-15E. The test, in which the armed missile navigated to its target and destroyed it, marked the completion of integration tests on the F-15E, the sixth platform cleared to carry the stealthy cruise missile.
Small satellites have grown more capable, sparking an expanding new industry as customers—still principally governments, and the U.S. in particular—find them increasingly attractive in a time of tight budgets, as discussed in a special report beginning on page 36. Orbcomm is paying just $6.5 million a copy for its 18 next-generation low-Earth-orbit spacecraft, and tiny cubesats can now be built from kits available on the Internet. Dynetics Inc.
The Pentagon Inspector General's Office (IG) says it started an audit in June of the U.S. Navy's P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (see photo), which is set to replace the service's P-3Cs. “Our objective is to determine whether the Navy is effectively preparing the P-8A Poseidon program for the full-rate production decision,” the IG says.
Colin Black has joined Kratos Defense & Security Solutions of San Diego as chief information officer. He has been chief information officer at Cymer, and VP and CIO of Mindspeed Technologies.
I feel I must comment on Pierre Sparaco's column about “Henri Pitot's Legacy” (AW&ST July 23, p. 19). I regret that the French aircraft accident bureau BEA's recommendations do not included implementation of the “synthetic airspeed” feature that is already in the cockpits of Boeing 787s. An enhanced stall protection algorithm was also developed for the 787. Automation needs to be pursued further to enhance safety. The system must assist the pilot in all situations, including the case of an unreliable airspeed indication.
Boeing has selected two more Canadian-based contractors to support Royal Canadian Air Force CH-147F Chinook helicopters. Mirabel, Quebec-based L-3 Communications MAS was among three support contractors announced in January; it has not been tapped to provide technical publications. General Dynamics Canada of Ottawa will provide a maintenance training suite and contractor maintenance training support. Boeing's support contract is valued at $2 billion over a 20-year period.
Jeff Baum, president and CEO of Wisconsin Aviation, has been named vice chairman of the Air Charter Safety Foundation, Alexandria, Va. He succeeded Bill Haberstock, president of Keystone Aviation, whose term expired June 30.
