Now it is official. Amid mounting evidence that China is serious about curing its weakness in engine technology, Avic says its highest priority in the coming years will be propulsion. The group has set a budget of 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) for aero-engine work over five years, though that figure is probably only a fraction of actual spending.
Values of older Boeing jets could decline as much as 35% after 2020 as the Boeing 737 MAX assumes a larger share of the airline industry's installed base, according to an analysis by Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Ronald J. Epstein. However, he does not see a dilution of lease rates on current-generation 737NGs when MAX enters service in 2017. Epstein studied order trends, production rates and deliveries after Boeing launched what became the Next Generation 737-600/700/800/900 series in 1993.
The Brazilian air force's requirement that KC-390 tanker/transports serve civil and military markets is underscoring prime contractor Embraer's approach to the airplane's product strategy.
Building and operating a test stand large enough for 150,000-lb.-thrust gas turbine engines for Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce can be challenging, especially when it is erected in a bog where daytime temperatures for three-fourths of the year hover near zero. It turns out that the best way to tackle the task is to create large assemblies and bolt them together on-site. With a crew of six, MDS Aero Support Corp. completed the stand in six days.
A U.S. Air Force cyber- and outer-space wargame at Nellis AFB, Nev., starting April 20 will for the first time include representatives from NATO members Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. Australia, Canada and Britain already are partners of the Schriever Wargame 2012 International Game. The wargame scenario depicts NATO counter-piracy operations around the Horn of Africa.
Maintenance providers have always been forced to adapt when airline fleets and operating models go through a transition phase. The Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co. (Haeco) is no exception, and is responding to the latest airline evolution by broadening its capabilities and looking for new ways to partner with customers.
The second Lockheed Martin Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite is set to launch on an Atlas V rocket May 3 with a backup window of May 5, only days after launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9—both from Cape Canaveral. Operational testing of the spacecraft is set for next year. One of the first two AEHF satellites will eventually be placed in geosynchronous orbit over Europe in order for Washington to fulfill its agreement to share some of the capacity with the U.K., Canada and the Netherlands.
AW&ST Senior Editor Frank Morring, Jr.'s “How Commercial Space Is Paying Off Now” drew a lot of give-and-take, including: Coastal Ron writing: NASA needs transportation for three crew per flight to staff the International Space Station at six, but they want to increase the ISS crew to seven as soon as soon as it can be supported. Commercial crew vehicles can also fly less than full, although NASA will end up flying one or two visitors to the ISS when they are doing crew rotations with two non-Soyuz spacecraft.
May 6—Abingdon Air and Country Show. Abingdon Airfield (Dalton Barracks), Oxford, England. See www.abingdonfayre.com May 6-9—International Air Transport Association's 25th Annual Ground Handling Conference. Hilton Hotel, Prague. See www.iata.org May 7-9—Airport Council International-North America's Airport Economics and Human Capital Conference. Sheraton Nashville (Tenn.) Downtown. Also, May 23-24—ACI-NA/Airlines for America's Airport Deicing Management Conference. Crowne Plaza Hamilton, Washington. See www.aci-na.org/conferences/2012
The prospect of uninterrupted, high-speed Internet access on commercial and business jets moved a step closer to reality April 18 when Honeywell Aerospace announced plans to furnish civil and government aircraft with new Ka-band satellite terminals. The Phoenix-based company's partnership with satellite fleet operator Inmarsat represents a $2.8 billion revenue opportunity over 20 years, says Honeywell.
Gone are the days when Brazil's munitions makers were content with building bullets and projectiles. And as the arms industry's technical expertise grows, more complex precision-weapon projects are under way. The first wave of such initiatives is due to come to fruition in the next two years, with industry poised to then tackle the thornier challenges of developing and building sophisticated cruise missiles, air defenses or long-range air-to-air missiles.
Kenneth E. Gazzola, President (McLean, Va. ), FlightLogix (McLean, Va. )
Business Editor Madhu Unnikrishnan's incisive column “What Shortage of Engineers?” (AW&ST April 9, p. 10) hits home. The volume is there, but the focus has shifted. Salaries are a major criteria, which reflects sector focus. The constant coverage about short- and long-term needs and opportunities in many areas of energy with its related salary advantages, as indicated in the column, make that sector a very attractive career choice.
The hangars are flooded with seawater. Under the water, hundreds of tons of muck washed in by the tsunami cover the floor. All the equipment kept at ground level—which, at aircraft maintenance, is just about all of it—is ruined, some of it swept away. The customers' aircraft are floating about in the hangars and, with one remarkable exception, all wrecked. The buildings have just been thrown about by one of the most powerful earthquakes in recent history. The runway is submerged and, for all anyone knows, may have been smashed up by the earthquake. There is no power.
The Volga-Dnepr Group has long been known primarily for its Antonov An-124-based outsize cargo charter business. But its scheduled operations are growing fast and strategic partnerships are serving to make the Russian logistics group a more serious international competitor.
Amy Svitak (Paris), Robert Wall (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)
The space industry usually takes a crawl, walk, run approach when pursuing new challenges. But flush with cash and hungry to propel itself to the forefront of the global aerospace market, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has no time for baby steps. The UAE is one of a number of Middle Eastern countries that is gradually building a portfolio of space initiatives in response to growing instability in the region, a perceived threat from Iran and a desire to spur local industry.
In Washington, when the administration proposes, Congress disposes. That was certainly the case last week with NASA's $830 million budget request for development of a commercial crew vehicle to provide rides to the International Space Station. Senate appropriators cut the request by about $300 million and provided more funding for NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle and heavy-lift Space Launch Vehicle (SLS).
While the airline world watches the seemingly unstoppable rise of the three big Persian Gulf carriers—Etihad Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways—smaller airlines in the region are hurting like those elsewhere.
Whether it was a long good-bye, a thank-you or just an auld lang syne, the interpretation did not matter much as most people around downtown Washington on April 17 just called it awe-inspiring. The sight of the Discovery orbiter piggybacking on its NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) and flying a loop around the National Mall stopped traffic, drew cheers and applause, and ignited spontaneous discussions about outer space from the sidewalks to social media sites.
“We want to rebuild the general aviation manufacturing industry in Brazil.” Novaer Craft CEO Graciliano Campos confidently announces this bold ambition and, given the large existing global supplier list, it sounds fanciful. But Embraer' success suggests it would be a mistake to write off another startup in this sector. Brazil still has many makers of experimental and light aircraft, but production of certified, piston- and turbine-powered single- and twin-engine aircraft ceased in the 1980s.
