Joseph Hough is the new program manager for HTF7000 service and support operations at Dallas Airmotive. He was director of new business, sales and customer services for Consolidated Turbine Support.
XCOR Aerospace will use its planned two-seat suborbital Lynx spaceplane to train crewmembers for missions the Excalibur Almaz startup hopes to fly to low Earth orbit and beyond with surplus Russian hardware. Under an agreement signed in London June 20, XCOR will tailor flight profiles for Almaz crews. Based on the Isle of Man, the company plans to use Russian reentry vehicles and larger Salyut-type to mount human space missions.
As NASA mission planners wait with bated breath for the Mars Science Laboratory to scream into the Martian atmosphere at hypersonic speed on Aug. 5, deploy its braking parachute, fire its retro-rockets and lower the Curiosity rover by tether to a soft landing, thoughts are again turning to exploring the red planet from the air.
USAF Lt. Gen. Mark F. Ramsay has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as director of force structure, resources and assessment for the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. He has been commander of the Eighteenth Air Force of Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Ill. Ramsay will be succeeded by Maj. Gen. Darren W. McDew, who has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general. He has been commander of the Air Force District of Washington, Joint Base Andrews, Md. Maj. Gen. Thomas W.
NASA has opened a new technology transfer web portal where entrepreneurs, managers and others can look for new publicly funded technology to commercialize. The site, at http://technology.nasa.gov, includes a searchable database of NASA patents available for transfer to the private domain, and links to agency specialists trained to help make the shift.
The Russian fleet of commercial helicopters is still a Soviet legacy, consisting mostly of outdated and aging models. Russian models will most likely continue to dominate the heavy-class category, but foreign rotorcraft manufacturers will gain market share with lighter models.
Consolidation in the aerospace and defense supply chain can be big news when it involves publicly traded companies as prominent as United Technologies and Goodrich.
NASA plans to launch an exterior Earth-observation platform to the International Space Station under a cooperative agreement with Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc., which builds the flight releasable attachment mechanism manufactured by Huntsville, Ala.-based subsidiary Teledyne Technologies Inc. The Multi-User System for Earth Sensing (Muses) is due for delivery by the end of 2014 and expected to provide precision pointing and other accommodation for high-resolution digital cameras and other Earth sensors.
“Sagas of Valor” by Anthony Velocci, Jr., is excellent. The article postulates that due to the changing dynamics of combat flying, it is less likely that an aviator will be in a situation that meets the criteria for MOH consideration. One might also speculate that changes in rules of engagement (ROE) have unfavorably impacted aviators, although I believe trained and motivated aviators will do whatever is necessary, regardless of the ROE.
It was refreshing to read about the Medal of Honor aviators in “Sagas of Valor” (AW&ST May 28, p. 54). However, at least one MOH awardee was conspicuous by his absence—U.S. Navy Vice Adm. James Stockdale from the Vietnam War era. In addition to being awarded the MOH, Stockdale received two Distinguished Flying Crosses. The DFC was established in 1926 to recognize military aviators who distinguished themselves by heroism or extraordinary achievement in flight.
Despite an appeal to protect the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS), the mission is a casualty of NASA's efforts to squeeze its astrophysics budget. The explorer, slated for a November 2014 launch, was intended to study the origin of polarized X-ray emissions in the strong magnetic fields around black holes, neutron stars and supernova remnants. But GEMS's $119 million cost was projected to grow by up to 30%, and NASA opted to kill it this month.
Simone Menne (see photo) has been appointed to the executive board of Deutsche Lufthansa as CFO, effective July 1. She succeeds Stephan Gemkow, who will become CEO of the Haniel Group.
By Bradley Perrett, Adrian Schofield, Jens Flottau
As international pressure mounts against Europe's attempt to make airlines pay for emissions, progress is being made on a global plan that offers the best hope of preventing a political standoff from turning into a full-blown trade war. The inclusion in the European Union's emissions trading system (ETS) of non-European carriers that operate in the region has raised the ire of governments around the world. And as the first deadline to buy emissions credits draws closer, Europe's refusal to back down is giving all parties less room to maneuver.
The nomination of Michael Huerta, the acting director of the FAA since last December, may finally advance. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has scheduled a hearing for June 21. Huerta was the agency's deputy under Administrator Randy Babbitt, who resigned after being charged with driving while intoxicated. Those charges were later dismissed.
Manin bin Khalifa Al-Said (see photo) has become general manager for quality and safety of Oman Air. He was an IOSA-qualified auditor and consultant with Aviation Services.
Tom Chambers has been appointed director of aviation services at Solomon Cordwell Buenz of Chicago. His architectural portfolio includes the design of the United Airlines Terminal One at Chicago O'Hare International Airport and work at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok.
Josh Salzman has been tapped to become VP-global government affairs at Washington-based Airlines for America. He was an aide to Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas).
J. Bruce Hoffman, DFCS Director (Upper Jay, N.Y. )
Your article on the Medal of Honor awarded to aviators was a wonderful tribute to the heroism of those who have received the U.S.'s highest award for valor. U.S. Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz talks about the roles that subjectivity and judgment play in making the tough call between an Air Force Cross and an MOH. He notes that does not diminish the heroism that occurred to earn the lesser award, but only draws attention to the conclusions that were reached by the particular review board as they dealt with “shades of gray.”
May 10, 2012, was a big night for Boeing, whose 787 Dreamliner was awarded the Collier trophy during a black-tie dinner at Reagan Washington National Airport where Signature Flight Support's hangar was transformed into a glittering, grand hall. The star of the evening was the 787 itself, which dominated the ramp in floodlit glory just beyond the open hangar doors.
