A story in the July 23 issue (p. 34) incorrectly characterized the landing minimums at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru. The airport's Category-2 instrument landing system allows a decision height of 100 ft., and Cat.-3 operations would allow a decision height of 50 ft.
With commercial aerospace booming and defense markets cooling, business leaders in the sector are searching for a recipe to guide their actions in these uncertain times.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has tapped ATK to modify an “existing U.S.-built, U.S. government-owned geostationary satellite bus” for the agency's Phoenix program, which is set for a 2015-16 launch. Phoenix is a technology demonstrator of the feasibility of harvesting still-usable components from non-functioning satellites in geostationary orbits. The idea is that the usable components can be attached in orbit to mini-satellites, or “satlets,” saving the costs of building those components on the new spacecraft.
Air Madagascar has chosen Ameco Beijing to provide line maintenance for its Airbus A340 aircraft at the MRO's Guangzhou station in China. Air Madagascar operates two flights to Guangzhou each week and is Ameco Beijing's eighth international customer at Guangzhou.
Regarding the tragedy of Air France Flight 447: I say, blame the pitot, not the pilot. Even we low-time pilots of Cessnas had it drummed into us to “trust your instruments; not your senses.”
It's harder than it looks to build a small perch-and-stare UAV, even with the help of a crowd. That's the conclusion of Darpa's UAVForge competition, which failed to produce a winner for the $100,000 prize. Graham Warwick covers the contest on Ares. Naysay notes: Interesting, but not surprising that no winner emerged. It's a good start.
Qatar-based Rizon Jet has received new maintenance approvals from the Bermuda Civil Aviation Department for its Doha facility, allowing the company to maintain and repair Bermuda-registered aircraft at its Middle East facility as well as at its London base at Biggin Hill Airport. The private aviation company recently also expanded its line and base maintenance capabilities to include the Learjet 45 and Bombardier Challenger 300.
Chromalloy has found a launch customer for its General Electric CF6-50 engine teardown business in San Diego and is dismantling two Boeing 747 powerplants. This means the facility has the capability to tear down a CF6 and then manage, inspect and repair the parts. Chromalloy plans to add other engines to its portfolio later in 2012 and in 2013.
Some 13% of the $6.7 billion the Pentagon is slated to spend between fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2017 for combating improvised explosive devices (IEDs) is still up for grabs, with no contractor chosen, according to an Aviation Week Intelligence Network analysis of data provided by Avascent. Countering IEDs became a major thrust for the U.S.
On July 23, NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) celebrated the 40th birthday of Landsat, the Earth-observing satellite series most closely identified with building a continuing data stream about how population growth, climate change, natural events and man's activities are influencing the planet.
The problem with five-year plans is that they come around only once every five years. That can be a long time in commercial aviation. As available production slots for reengined Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies move rapidly to the right, China is under pressure to set aside its usual stately planning process and hurriedly sign a round of big airliner orders.
Nina Ward has joined the finance and acquisitions department of Denver-based law firm Davis Graham & Stubbs as an associate representing aircraft owners, lessors, lessees and lenders. Derek Vanstone has been named VP-corporate strategy, industry and government affairs for Air Canada, effective Sept. 10. He is deputy chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Ignacio Mataix (see photo), who has been CEO of the ITP Group, has been appointed president of the the Hegan Aeronautics and Space Cluster Association, Bilbao, Spain, succeeding Jorge Unda, who has been CEO of Sener, and now will be Hegan's VP. Pedro Fuente of Aernnova is the new secretary. New members of the board of directors are Armando Jimenez of Alfa Precision Casting and Angel Alonso of Novaltis.
Gregory Taylor (see photo) has become VP-corporate strategy and business development at Harris Corp., Melbourne, Fla. He was VP-sales, marketing and business development for UTC Automation and Controls Solutions.
Prabu Natarajan (see photo) will become corporate VP and treasurer of the Northrop Grumman Corp., effective Jan. 1. He will succeed Mark Caylor, who has been named corporate VP and president of the company's Enterprise Shared Services. Natarajan will continue as VP-tax, a position he held at the AES Corp. Thomas E. Vice will become corporate VP and president of the Aerospace Systems Sector and Gloria A. Flach corporate VP and president of the Electronic Systems Sector. Vice and Flach will succeed Gary W. Ervin and James F. Pitts, who plan to retire. Linda A.
A U.S. court upheld new Transportation Department rules that require airlines to include all government-imposed taxes and fees in their advertised fares and let most customers cancel a reservation without penalty for 24 hr. after booking. But the ramifications of the court's decision extend beyond those new requirements, which already have been implemented. By upholding the scope of the department's authority, the U.S.
France and the U.K. have yet to sign an agreement affirming cooperation on a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), but the two countries did take a step toward closer defense ties during bilateral talks in London last week. During a meeting between French defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his U.K. counterpart, Philip Hammond, France agreed to conduct operational trials of the Thales-built Watchkeeper tactical UAV through mid-2013, at which point the French are likely to purchase the multi-sensor, all-weather system.
Operators and OEMs are lining up against the FAA over a proposed Boeing 757 airworthiness directive (AD) that they see as an unsubstantiated shift in the agency's view on the likelihood of fuel tank explosions on older freighters—a change that could have broader rulemaking ramifications.
Aerojet and Rocketdyne trace their roots to the dawn of the space age, with both companies building the engines that powered multiple generations of ICBMs and manned space vehicles. But the long-term outlook for both suppliers became clouded in recent years with the sharp decline in the demand for government launch services and the advent of new, lower-cost rivals, such as Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).
“Where the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) faltered, can private enterprise succeed?” asks Senior Editor Graham Warwick. He reports on Flight Of The Century's (FOTC) flight of a modified Rutan Long-EZ with which it plans to set electric-aircraft speed and altitude records en route to its goal of developing an “infinite-range” aircraft and attempting an all-electric transatlantic flight to demo its technology.
