Danny Milligan has been appointed CEO of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Information Systems Europe business, based in London. He was VP-mission and security systems at General Dynamics. Eckehardt Keip has been named managing director of Northrop Grumman GmbH, Freiburg, Germany. He has held the same title at the company's LITEF division.
Boeing is looking ahead to a 2013 critical design review of USAF's KC-46A refueler after wrapping up a month-long preliminary design review (PDR) in April. The PDR validated that Boeing's design for the KC-46A “meets system requirements [and] establishes the basis for proceeding with the detailed design,” according to an Air Force statement. Maj. Gen.
Phil Fazio has transferred to VP-finance, CFO and treasurer at SRC, Syracuse, N.Y., from the same roles at SRCTec. He succeeds Polly Fuller, who has become executive VP and chief risk officer. Kevin Hair has become VP-strategic corporate development. He was VP-corporate business development and government affairs.
Stacey Bechdolt has been appointed director-safety and technical affairs for the Washington-based Regional Airline Association. She was manager of training compliance and AQP coordinator for Comair.
Brian Lindquist (see photo) has joined Dallas Airmotive, Dallas, as Northwest U.S. engine manager. He was maintenance, repair and overhaul sales manager for Western Aircraft, Boise, Idaho.
May 23-24—Airport Council International-North America/Airlines for Americas Airport Deicing Management Conference. Crowne Plaza Hamilton, Washington. See www.aci-na.org/conferences/2012 May 23-24—Shephard Group's Helicopters and Unmanned Vehicles Pacific. RACV Royal Pines Resort. Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Also, June 21-22—Military Simulation and Training India. Air Force Auditorium, New Delhi. See www.shephardmedia.com
The new Berlin airport's operator, Berliner Flughafen, said last week that it will be impossible to meet the projected June 3 opening date. CEO Rainer Schwarz said the delay is needed because the terminal's fire protection system appears unready and cannot be guaranteed to function properly within the next three weeks. The operator plans to announce a new date this week.
Celeste Bynum (see photo) has been appointed West Coast sales manager for Herndon Products, O'Fallon, Mo. She was a sales manager with UFC Aerospace in California.
Fly-by-wire controls are commonplace in fixed-wing aircraft, but a rarity in rotorcraft. Cost is usually cited as the reason for not using FBW, despite its performance advantages, but now Kazan Helicopters is removing fly-by-wire from its light twin-turbine Ansat because of safety concerns.
Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) is following in the footsteps of his father, Bud, as a champion of transportation funding. In many ways, the younger Shuster is dealing with a far different Congress—one stuffed with members who lack legislative experience and were elected as agents of change.
In an article on the Mitsubishi Aircraft MRJ program in the May 7 issue (p. 41), the number of options was misstated; the correct number is 60. The title of Hirofumi Takahashi, president of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. of America, was misstated. Further, the manufacturer now advises that about 1% of the first aircraft needs to be remanufactured.
U.S. and Australian researchers say a rocket-boosted, hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet successfully operated for around 12 sec. while accelerating to Mach 8 from Mach 6.5 during a May 1 test from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii. The flight was the fourth of 10 planned under the Hypersonic International Flight Research Experiment (HIFire) program, started in 2006 to develop technology for long duration scramjet flight at Mach 8. Given that the vehicle reportedly reached an altitude of around 100,000 ft. and clocked up a test time of 12 sec., versus the 8 sec.
As the U.S. looks for ways to reduce an immense budget deficit, planners in the military and intelligence communities appear to be questioning whether they really need two commercial imagery providers to supplement the super-capable government spacecraft. And that has set off a messy dance between two publicly traded satellite operators, DigitalGlobe and GeoEye, about whether they should merge and on what terms.
At first glance, the display looks familiar: rolling computer-generated terrain unfolding to mountains in the distance, a contour-hugging grid providing a sense of depth, while overlaid symbology informs and guides the pilot. The idealized three-dimensional world presented by synthetic vision is becoming known to civil pilots but, “flying” over Salt Lake City in a Rockwell Collins-built military-helicopter simulator, closer examination of the displays reveals a level of detail not seen on the screens in business-jet cockpits.
“Cold Comfort” (AW&ST April 23/30, p. 84) highlights difficulties researchers have had in explaining and predicting the formation and accumulation of ice inside jet engines. It is quite possible this phenomena is biological in origin.
With India last week approving a $700 million contract with Switzerland's Pilatus to purchase 75 new PC-7 basic propeller trainers, the Indian air force (IAF) may also need to look outside the country for a fleet of intermediate jet trainers.
Greg Setter has been named account manager at BDN Aerospace, Mesa, Ariz. He comes from Honeywell Aerospace, where he was marketing communications strategy manager for the commercial aviation businesses.
Chinese regional airline Okay Airways aims at expanding, with an order for 20 aircraft and a new subsidiary carrier for regional routes that would be open to strategic investors. It plans to order 20 Xian MA60s, adding to five currently in its fleet and two more due in the next few months, Deputy President Liu Jieyin tells local media, adding that Okay is preparing its application to the Civil Aviation Administration of China to set up the subsidiary.
Joseph Weiss has been tapped by the Israel Aerospace Industries board of directors to replace retiring Itzak Nissas as CEO and president. Weiss was general manager of the Systems, Missiles and Space Group.
Louis Saint-Cyr (see photo) has joined Hawaiian Airlines as VP-customer services. He was VP-inflight services and also has held senior positions at Air Canada.
