China's main rocket engine maker appears to have begun deliveries of production-standard YF-100 engines, the key powerplants of the forthcoming Long March 5, 6 and 7 launchers. A propulsion system for the Long March 5 heavy launcher, comprising two main engines and two auxiliary thrusters, was “recently” delivered by the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology (AAPT), also known as the Sixth Academy, says national space group China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC).
When pictures emerged last year showing Afriqiyah Airways aircraft destroyed in fighting in Libya, it was emblematic of the enormous toll that the war exacted on the region's air transport sector. A year later, industry officials at the Marrakech air show tell Aviation Week that they are starting to see signs of the market settling and the groundwork being laid for new orders. Deals themselves may still be months off, but the relatively quick turnaround is nonetheless striking even as carriers are also struggling with high fuel prices.
Goodrich has signed a five-year, Prime Solutions nacelle services agreement with LOT Polish Airlines for support of its nacelles and thrust reversers on the GE CF34-10E engines that power its Embraer 195 aircraft. Goodrich is expected to provide nacelle MRO services for thrust reversers, inlet cowls and other components. The deal also includes access to large nacelle components for lease or exchange.
Canada's CAE and Israeli manufacturer Aeronautics have completed initial flights of a Dominator XP twin-engine unmanned aircraft from Alma Airport in Quebec under Project Miskam. The flights from the UAS Center of Excellence at Alma constitute the first phase of an R&D project aimed at demonstrating how unmanned aircraft can be used for civil applications such as inspecting pipelines and hydroelectric installations, monitoring forest fires and natural resources, and assessing disasters.
Embraer may wait until 2013 to select a new engine for its family of E-Jets as it talks with airlines about what upgrades are needed to keep the aircraft competitive.
Jeff Davis has joined the Public Safety and Security Div. of San Diego-based Kratos Defense & Security Solutions as VP and general manager of the Southwest U.S. region. He comes from Stanley Convergent Security Solutions.
Michael Mecham (San Francisco), Amy Svitak (Paris)
A hosted payload agreement between Space Systems/Loral and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center offers the U.S. the chance to catch up with Europe's leadership in the use of optical systems, which hold the promise of faster data transmission for space communications and lower power demands.
USAF Maj. Gen. Anthony J. Rock has been appointed vice director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. He has been special assistant to the deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and requirements at USAF Headquarters. Brig. Gen. Jon A. Norman has been named director of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-U.K. of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, RAF Mildenhall, England. He has been vice commander, of the Twelfth Air Force (Air Forces Southern) of Air Combat Command, Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. Honors And Elections
Joseph Mack has been named chief operating officer of Hong Kong-based Sino Jet Management Ltd. He is a former pilot proficiency examiner and designated check airman.
The “Tanker Teaming” item in the The World section (AW&ST April 2, p. 16) reports that the European Defense Agency (EDA) is eliciting support for the idea of pooling air refueling tanker resources. If so, EDA need look no further for an operational model than the jointly operated C-17s at Papa Air Base in Hungary under the aegis of NATO. In this day of defense spending rollbacks, I predict the teaming idea will cascade into other weapons platforms as well. Brookfield, Wis.
The ability of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor to fly farther, as well as faster, than helicopters has been a key factor in its fight for survival for more than a decade.
Brien Bluhm makes a good case for air crews' wages being commensurate with their responsibilities. I made a somewhat similar argument in the early 1980s, when Boeing was developing the 757. The aircraft—designed as a replacement for the 727—would be flown by a crew of two rather than three, and it was widely touted that elimination of the flight engineer (FE) would save airlines tons of money.
Briana Nansen (see photos) has been appointed executive flight solutions representative and Rudy Morin service planning coordinator at Dallas-based Business Jet Access. Nansen was an international recruiter for Real Foundations in Australia, and Morin was aircraft records auditor for Omniflight Helicopters.
Aerospace executives' skepticism about the prospects for implementing the NextGen air traffic control system is fading. With Congress finally having passed an FAA reauthorization bill that allows for new methods of financing the overhaul of air traffic management—the primary hurdle to persuading the airline industry to invest in NextGen equipment—execs are increasingly pointing to the potential payoff. In fact, the campaign now has so much momentum that it will be difficult to block implementation, says Fedex President and CEO David Bronzcek.
Airbus and Boeing face a common problem, with so much interest in their new narrowbodies, the A320NEO and 737 MAX—how to fill production gaps as existing products are replaced.
Reader Capt. Brien Bluhm says in a recent letter (AW&ST April 2, p. 10) that he is worth the price he is asking and that pilots are always blamed for the airlines' financial problems. I too am a pilot, but I have a different take on the situation. I see unions as the problem. They forced airlines into unproductive contracts that let pilots work less that the FAA minimum while being paid as if they had worked the maximum allowable hours. These unproductive work rules allow pilots to be paid for not working.
For EgyptAir, it will be crucial that the country's June presidential elections bring greater political stability if the airline is to have any hope of seeing passenger traffic returning to normal. The Star Alliance carrier has been through a tumultuous 14 months following the civil unrest and violence that toppled the nearly 30-year regime of President Hosni Mubarak. Then in August, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was toppled from power.
Robert Tavares has been appointed president of the Electronics Group of Lynnwood, Wash.-based Crane Aerospace & Electronics and David Bender president of Crane's Aerospace Group. Tavares was president of e2V, and Bender was president of both the Aerospace and the Electronics groups.
The government of Saudi Arabia has given the green light to BAE Systems to build 48 additional Eurofighter Typhoons even as the two parties continue to work out contractual details associated with changes in the program. The company notes that the contract for final assembly of the 48 additional aircraft—on top of the 24 bought initially—now has been signed. In January, the company reported the money for the aircraft had been allocated, but no contract had been completed. The program has changed over time.
AgustaWestland North America has delivered two U.S.-assembled AW139 search-and-rescue helicopters to the Egyptian air force under a foreign military sales contract from the U.S. Army. The medium twin-turbine helicopters were assembled at the European manufacturer's Philadelphia plant. The Army operates a small number of AW139s overseas under its non-standard rotary-wing aircraft program.
Three months after its launch, the U.S. Air Force has accepted control of Wideband Global Satcom-4 following Boeing's in-orbit testing of the spacecraft, which is based on the 702HP commercial payload. WGS-4 will be the first Block II in operation following USAF acceptance testing. Block II spacecraft include a radio-frequency bypass that allows three times faster data rate transmissions of airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance imagery than the Block I series for the first three WGSs. WGS-5 is in production and due for launch in 2013.
Canada's government has stripped its Department of National Defense of the lead role in the country's planned acquisition of the Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, placed a cap on the program's cost and directed the DND to evaluate alternative ways to sustain Canada's fighter force, in the wake of a scathing report from the country's auditor-general, Michael Ferguson.
