Many MRO providers have shied away from VIP completions in the past, concerned about the complexity involved and skills needed. But lately, several companies have determined that this potentially lucrative sector will prove worth the effort. Ameco Beijing, ST Aerospace and SR Technics are prominent examples of MRO specialists now in the process of entering or growing in the sector. All face long-established competitors such as Lufthansa Technik or Jet Aviation, which have held quasi-monopolies in this niche market.
In yet another sign of Western aerospace's interest in cementing ties with the industry in China, Cessna is teaming with state-owned aerospace conglomerate Avic. The U.S. aircraft maker signed two separate agreements with Avic and its related companies in ceremonies in Beijing's Great Hall of the People on March 23. The first pact is to establish joint ventures “that will pursue various activities pertaining to the development of general aviation businesses in China, including the establishment of an aircraft service network in China,” states Cessna.
April 8-9—Sofema Aviation Service's Dubai Training. Jet Aviation, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. See www.sassofia.com April 12—Ninth Annual Aerolink Wales 2012. Chepstow (Wales) Race Course. See www.aerolinkwales.co.uk April 13—Society of Experimental Test Pilots' East Coast Symposium. NAS Patuxent River, Md. See www.setp.org/table/east-coast
Jason Gossett has received the Superior Achievement Award, presented by the Institute of Navigation in Manassas, Va. Gossett was recognized for his “ingenuity and airmanship leading to revamped airdrop procedures.”
The annual U.K. budget presented to Parliament by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osbourne late last month had at least one unexpected announcement: a new virtual center for aerodynamics, to be funded over the next two years with £60 million ($94 million).
In 1981, during the space shuttle's maiden voyage, co-pilot Robert Crippen proclaimed, “We are really in the space business to stay.” Last week, another veteran astronaut, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, made a similar pronouncement, but under quite different circumstances.
In response to “Limiting Factor” (AW&ST March 19/26, p. 26), how is it that more than 50 years into the Space Age, we have yet to try out tests of “artificial gravity” using centripetal force? The idea goes back to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Indeed, most proponents of deep-space flights (even in fiction) have assumed that providing a measure of “gravity” for the crew would be required.
Craters are ubiquitous in the inner Solar System. They exist on Earth, where they are obscured by erosion, and on the rocky (and icy) moons of the outer planets. Some are ancient—products of the period of “heavy bombardment” 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago, when the planetary disk of debris around the Sun was coalescing into the bodies we see today. Others are newer, created by the random but inevitable collisions that occur when there is so much material hurtling around in space.
Japan Airlines became the second carrier to accept the 787 following a double-delivery ceremony at Boeing's Everett, Wash., facility on March 25. JAL is also the first to operate the General Electric GEnx-1B-powered version, and plans to inaugurate 787 services with a flight from Tokyo Narita to Boston on April 22. JAL will also use the 787 to open long-thin routes including Tokyo-Helsinki, Moscow and San Diego by year-end. Other destinations planned for the twinjet include Beijing, Bangkok, New Delhi and Singapore.
The German government plans to acquire a 15% stake in EADS, twice as much as previously planned. The German finance ministry set aside additional resources in the 2012 federal budget to enable the move. The government is already preparing the takeover of 7.5% of the shares that have been controlled by Daimler. A further 7.5% have been held by the Daedalus banking consortium. Following the transactions, Daimler will still own another 7.5% in EADS, which it is expected to keep. Once the deal is completed, Germany will own the same percentage as France.
Matthew Sandidge (see photos) has become senior sales manager for Russia for Gulfstream Aerospace, Savannah, Ga. He was business development specialist in the same department, which also hired Trevor Esling as senior VP for Europe, Middle East and Africa. He held the same position at Cessna Aircraft Co. Steven Meng was promoted to sales manager for product support sales in Southern California from senior internal sales manager at Long Beach, Calif.
Aviation Week Senior Editor for Space Frank Morring, Jr., received the National Space Club's 2011 Press Award on March 30 in Washington. The club, a non-profit organization devoted to promoting U.S. space activity and interests, gave the award to Morring at its annual Robert H. Goddard Memorial Dinner.
For almost two centuries, foreign companies have looked to Hong Kong as the key to unlocking the Chinese market. The Qantas group is the latest to follow that path, as it joins forces with China Eastern Airlines to launch a new low-cost carrier (LCC) on mainland China's doorstep.
Gary Dolski (see photo) has been appointed VP and general manager of Zurich-based Jet Aviation's MRO facility and fixed-base operation in Singapore, succeeding Philippe Crevier, who has resigned. Dolski was VP-customer support for Mesa, Ariz.-based MD Helicopters. Judith Moreton (see photo)was named VP and general manager of the company's facility at London Biggin Hill Airport. Before forming her own aviation consultancy, she was managing director of Bombardier Skyjet International.
Australian forces deployed in Afghanistan will have improved tactical UHF satellite links starting in May, when the Intelsat 22 commercial communications satellite reaches its operational orbit at 72 deg. E. Long.
As the U.S. Army continues to simultaneously recapitalize its helicopter fleet and support the war in Afghanistan, talks with suppliers to purchase more workhorse Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters are dominated by a pressure to reduce their price. The Army, which has been hit hard by budget cuts, is thinning the number of soldiers in its ranks and associated ground equipment. Its aviation portfolio, however, is being increased, although at a slower pace than originally planned owing to financial pressure.
Wouldn't it be nice if we lived in a global community in which world leaders all strive to craft and preserve environments of open and fair competition among ideas and industries? This “Alice-in-Wonderland” fantasy, or some variation thereof, would seem to describe the innocent view of the world offered by some opponents to a bill in the U.S. Congress to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Other opponents are less idealistically motivated, to put it diplomatically.
Defense Technology International Editor-in-Chief Bill Sweetman's “Fighter Trends Change For 2020 And Beyond” noted that while combat capability is important, versatility is what makes fighter aircraft unique among military systems. Reader responses include: Matthew Cao saying:
With relentlessly rising fuel prices confronting the airline industry, why don't airlines set up a collectively owned refinery system and get control of their operations? Petroleum by-products that they do not consume, they should sell. How hard is that. Windsor Locks, Conn.
Aviation Week Paris Bureau Chief Amy Svitak's coverage of discussions between ESA and China regarding the latter docking at the ISS sparked these exchanges: anonymous asserting: I hope this doesn't happen. Cooperating with China is a typical French move meant to upset the U.S. Capricorn opining:
To understand the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market, one first needs to understand the worldwide airline fleet. TeamSAI notes in its global MRO forecast for 2012-22 that the airline fleet grew 3.2% in 2011 to 20,840 in-service commercial jet aircraft. Expect the passenger fleet to grow 4.4% and the cargo fleet to increase 3.3% each year in the next decade, predicts TeamSAI in the 10-year MRO forecast it unveils this week at Aviation Week's MRO Americas Conference.
President Barack Obama may be coming under growing pressure for his not-so-sotto-voce promise to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that—assuming Obama wins re-election this November—he will have more leeway next year to pursue further negotiations over missile defenses and reducing nuclear weapons; but he may yet get the last word.
Reader Don Melton's comments regarding his operation of Caribous in Vietnam to reference the current C-27 meltdown was timely (AW&ST March 19, p. 11). Shortly after, Sen. Rob. Portman (R-Ohio) and his colleagues had quite an exchange with U.S. Air Force leadership over “mothballing” the C-27.
