Jacques S. Gansler, former senior VP and corporate director of TASC, has been named to the board of the Chantilly, Va.-based company. He holds the Roger C. Lipitz Chair in public policy and private enterprise at the University of Maryland School for Public Policy. Gansler is a former U.S. undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
Richard Hedges, Communications Director (Derby, England), Rolls-Royce, Civil Aerospace (Derby, England)
In “Rolling On” (AW&ST Feb. 6. p. 62), you have inaccurately reflected how the Rolls-Royce Seletar campus in Singapore relates to our operations in England. The Seletar Assembly and Test Unit (SATU) gives Rolls-Royce additional capacity to deliver our record orderbook from a site located in a high-growth region. Clearly there are advantages to designing and building entirely new facilities, but the two sites are complementary rather than competitive.
President Barack Obama has signaled that a new round has begun in the long-simmering dispute over commercial aircraft launch aid. This time, the target is not rival Airbus and Europe's governments. His sights are set on Canada, Russia and China—anyone who might siphon sales and jobs from Boeing's output into the industry's largest market segment, single-aisle jets.
NASA has picked Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc., and Sierra Lobo Inc., as the 2011 winners of the George M. Low Awards for contractor quality and performance. Teledyne Brown, of Huntsville, Ala., provides support services in science, operations and maintenance, space systems engineering and other areas to Marshall Space Flight Center, and payload and cargo integration to Johnson Space Center.
Lee Obst has become managing director for Rockwell Collins Government Systems Canada in Ottawa. He was a fighter pilot and experimental test pilot for the Royal Canadian Air Force. USMC Gen. (ret.) James E. Cartwright has joined the board of Raytheon Co., Waltham, Mass. He was vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and now holds the Harold Brown Chair in Defense Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Ever since Charlie Taylor hand-built the first four-cylinder piston engine for the Wright Flyer in 1903, most of the step-change advances in aviation propulsion have been driven by military-led research and requirements.
“The question is: Can China buy its way into commercial aircraft?” asks a senior Western aeronautical engineer who, thanks to painful experience in the past decade, knows a thing or two about the challenges in developing an airliner. With the Comac C919 now approaching the halfway point of its eight-year development cycle, the answer still seems to be “maybe, since China is not yet aiming at building a world-beater.”
In response to “Turnaround Pro Meets Bizjet Basket Case” (AW&ST Feb. 13, p. 13), please note that the demand for smaller business jets will, of course, rebound; companies still need to travel, and the airlines are the optimum travel solution over only a very limited number of city pairs.
Boeing will activate the 787 surge line at Everett, Wash., in June as it continues to ramp up production to five aircraft per month by year-end. Confirming the decision, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Programs Senior Vice President Pat Shanahan says the additional capacity is for “risk protection.” The surge line is being put together in the former site of the 767 assembly area in Building 40-24.
Airline passengers increasing expect broadband access to the Internet onboard jetliners, similar to what they have at home, in offices, at restaurants and in airline terminals. No longer content with just simple text messaging, they expect the same Wi-Fi connectivity speeds at 35,000 ft. as they have on the ground. New technologies are emerging that will not only make this a reality, but also promise to reduce connection charges, thereby spurring increased demand and revenues for air carriers.
On several occasions in the past, French cockpit crews fiercely disputed the decisions of Air France's executives, both before and after the flag carrier's privatization. This dissension frequently led to walkouts, subjecting travelers to flight cancellations and other disruptions.
Last year proved to be a particularly difficult one for Russia's civil aviation industry, as multiple accidents raised concerns regarding the country's transportation safety culture. For many, last year's challenges beg the question: What is being done to ensure the highest possible level of aviation safety in Russia?
The Trent XWB engine for the Airbus A350 made its first flight from Toulouse on Feb. 18, attached to the wing of an A380 testbed. Airbus says the engine performed “flawlessly” during the 5-hr.-plus flight, which tested the initial operating envelope to 43,000 ft and Mach 0.9. With a fan diameter of 118 in., the Trent XWB is the largest Rolls-Royce engine to have flown. It is mounted in the No. 2 inboard position in place of the A380's standard Trent 900. The A380 used for the engine tests is the original prototype, MSN 001.
The looming French presidential election set against a backdrop of economic turmoil and pressure to reduce spending may in themselves be enough to spark worries in France's defense industry. But government officials are also signaling that regardless of the outcome of the election, the fundamental tenets of France's long-term military spending plans are up for review.
Dennis Tewell has been appointed president and CEO of Apache Enterprises, Grand Prairie, Texas. He has held leadership roles in private industry following 25 years in the USAF.
USAF Gen. (ret.) John Michael Loh (Williamsburg, Va. )
The “Un-extravagant Bomber” (AW&ST Feb. 20, p. 27) cited several excellent reasons for a new bomber but overlooked the most compelling—the deterrent value of a long-range, nuclear, penetrating bomber.
The budgets for at least three air-launched, directed-energy weapons are being fully protected by the U.S. Air Force in fiscal 2013 budget plans, says a senior Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) official. Plans for U.S. Army anti-electronics weapons are less developed, but basic research in associated disciplines continues.
China's aerospace industry is reaching out to Indonesia's state-owned airframer in an effort to further open the Southeast Asian nation to Chinese-made aircraft. This strategic move, if successful, could make it harder for ATR, Bombardier and other Western manufacturers to secure sales in Indonesia.
Byard D. Wood, department head and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Utah State University, has received the Utah Governor's Science and Technology Medal for 2011 from the State Advisory Council for Science and Technology. Wood was honored for his work on developing sustainable, renewable energies, including solar and biofuels.
Reader Comments On Commercial Space Crew Push, Web Readers
Aviation Week's “New Bomber Force May Need 200 Aircraft,” about the requirement for the Long Range Strike-Bomber program elicited: warrant9 opining: With the current USAF program management track record, one can have little faith that a capable stealth bomber can be developed at a reasonable cost. This project will require leadership and vision, not management skills.
With a pared-down fiscal 2013 budget request on Capitol Hill and delays in the massive Joint Strike Fighter program, the U.S. Air Force is having to abandon a decade's worth of modernization plans for its workhorse airlifter and fighter fleets. Instead of buying hundreds of new F-35s early this decade and retiring F-16s and A-10s, the service is trying to avoid a possible gap. And, rather than embracing an ambitious, decade-long $6.4 billion upgrade for its C-130 fleet, the service is taking an appetite suppressant.
