Manufacturers are hanging ever-larger engines under the wings of their airliners in the quest for higher bypass ratio and lower fuel burn, and bigger fans lie ahead. Will there come a time in the pursuit of ever-higher efficiency when the trend must reverse? NASA thinks so, and is pursuing research into distributed propulsion, where many smaller fans are integrated into the airframe so as to not only provide thrust, but to reduce drag and potentially augment lift for short takeoff and perform flight control.
Airphil Express, which carried 122% more passengers in 2011 compared to 2010, recently took delivery of three new Airbus A320s from GE Capital Aviation Services. Airphil Express, based in Manila, Philippines, hopes to double its passenger traffic to 8 million this year.
The specter of sequestration is not yet affecting either U.S. Air Force or Navy planning, nor is it slowing down the services' decision to enter contracts, say top commanders. But it is undermining the defense industry and executives making long- range plans must consider whether to buy long-lead items for projects that could be at risk, military leaders contend. Those early decisions could affect the success and shape of new AirSea Battle plans.
Jose Antonio Filippo has been appointed CFO of Embraer, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, effective June 4. An engineer by training, he has worked for Brazilian and multinational groups.
Ron Anderson-Lehman (see photo) is the new senior vice president and chief information officer at Hawaiian Airlines. He held the same positions at Continental Airlines until its merger with United Airlines.
Rick Richardson (see photos) has been promoted to vice president-business development at Yankee Pacific Aerospace, Rye, N.H., from president of the Cabin Innovations Div. He has been succeeded by Harvey Ticlo, who was vice president-business aircraft sector at Standard Aero.
Geoff Roddick has been appointed vice chairman of the Automated Imaging Association's GigE Vision Technical Committee, Ann Arbor, Mich. He was application engineering manager at Pleora Technologies.
With the Pentagon resetting the cost-base-year for the F-35 to 2012 from 2002, prices will now become somewhat harder to compare to the original estimate. However, the Dutch defense ministry has a report that will help to track the price evolution in the period before the new baseline was established. See the chart on the Ares Defense blog. Marcase says:
After years of frustration in the development of cybertools, cyberpolicy and cybercommand and control, both the White House and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency have new initiatives. Plan X is Darpa's concept to improve cyberwarfare weaponry, define operational employment and deflect counterattacks. The program is expected to invest $110 million into research during the next five years to support offensive military operations.
Northrop Grumman has submitted an unsolicited proposal to Canada for three modified Global Hawk unmanned aircraft to provide surveillance of its Arctic territories as the region opens up as polar ice recedes. The Polar Hawk proposal presented to the Ottawa government responds to a long-standing need in Canada for surveillance of the Northwest Passage sea route, says Dane Marolt, Polar Hawk business development director. Northrop Grumman has teamed with Canadian military-aircraft support provider L-3 MAS.
Whether it is highly integrated antennas that reduce drag, certifiable data links for unmanned aircraft or simulation tools for NextGen airspace research, it is not often that a major manufacturer takes the wraps off its internal R&D. But Aviation Week was given a glimpse inside Rockwell Collins' Advanced Technology Center (ATC)—and a look into the avionics company's future—during a visit to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
In my more than 40 years of following space exploration, I find few events as significant as Dragon docking with the International Space Station. SpaceX truly epitomizes everything that the Western world must hope for when facing the daunting challenges of the post-Cold War era, where democratic nations seem unwilling to invest in what it means to stay free. Searching for an equivalent I could think of nothing that could be more comparable than the U.S. production of “Liberty Ships” during WW II.
The ongoing consolidation of fixed-base operations and withdrawal of major oil companies from the “downstream” aviation market is leading fuel distribution companies such as Epic Aviation to transition their operations and look toward international expansion, according to Epic Aviation executives.
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As the first engine maker to attach a fifth-generation civil turbofan to a more-electric aircraft's all-composite primary structure wing, Rolls-Royce says its Trent 1000 experience on the Boeing 787 gives it a significant advantage in the race for ever greater levels of engine-airframe integration.
The first commercial spacecraft to reach the International Space Station approaches its berthing site at the end of the Canadarm2 (see pp. 34-37). SpaceX's Dragon cargo carrier is a true trailblazer, built with a combination of private funds from the deep pockets of dot.com entrepreneur Elon Musk and U.S. government seed money supplied by NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program.
With an eye to what it sees as a growing market for maritime surveillance aircraft, Saab has rolled out its 340 MSA (maritime security aircraft) which it plans to showcase at the Farnborough air show in July. The aircraft would feature one operator workstation, although up to four could be accommodated. Maximum endurance would be around 6.5 hr., although Saab sees an option for auxiliary fuel tanks to boost that to more than 8 hr. Patrol speed would be 140 kt with a maximum cruise speed of 265 kt and a 3-hr., 45-min. on-station time at a range of 200 nm.
For Mexico's airline maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry, this is a time of change, especially given recent developments at Aeromexico and Mexicana MRO Services, the two heavyweights in airframe third-party maintenance in the country. Aeromexico runs a joint venture with Delta TechOps, and Mexicana MRO Services is operating despite the August 2010 bankruptcy and service suspension of Mexicana Airlines, which once accounted for 60% of its business.
