Paul Chun has become managing director of KLM UK Engineering, based in Paris and Amstelveen, Netherlands. He held the same role at Epcor, where he will be succeeded by Romain Helmer, who headed KLM Engineering & Maintenance's Boeing 737 unit. Ton Dortmans was named executive VP-engineering and maintenance of KLM E&M, succeeding Peter de Swert.
Andreas Knoepfel (see photo) has joined Swiss Aviation Consulting of Huenenberg/Zug as managing director of Swiss AeroRisk Management and a board member of Swiss AeroHoldings. He was a senior aviation manager for an insurance broker.
Abu Dhabi-based Falcon Aviation Services is retrofitting its fleet of Bell 412EP helicopters with BLR Aerospace's FastFin tail rotor enhancement and stability system, becoming the first offshore oil operator to go for the upgrade. The package includes two tailboom strakes along the left side and a reshaped vertical fin. The modification alters the airflow around the tail boom, increasing tail rotor efficiency and yaw control. BLR says the upgrade expands the Bell 412's useful load by up to 91%.
In a sharp turn of policy, Turkey has decided to develop a 2,500-km-range (1,560 mi.) ballistic missile within the next two years. Yucel Altunbasak, head of Turkey's State Scientific Research Institute, said the missile is being developed under a request from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey will test-fire a 1,500-km-range missile this year, according to Altunbasak. Publicly, officials have not explained why Turkey needs an intermediate-range ballistic missile.
The European Aviation Safety Agency has granted a type certificate to the Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet, following last year's Russian partial certification that cleared the way for Aeroflot and Armavia to operate the aircraft. The milestone means EASA-regulated airlines may use the Russian aircraft.
U.S. Army Gen. (ret.) Rick Lynch and Paul McDuffee have joined the board of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, Arlington, Va. Lynch commanded the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Div. at Fort Hood, Texas. McDuffee is Insitu's principal interface with the FAA on the commercial viability of unmanned aircraft.
Although Airbus is projecting a roughly flat book-to-bill ratio for 2012, it began the year with 91 new orders last month, more than doubling the number of aircraft built during the period. Airbus delivered 37 aircraft in January, ahead of last year's 33 and reflecting its objective to boost output across its product range. Airbus ended the month trailing Boeing in net orders and deliveries.
As sure as the cherry blossoms are set to bloom around the Tidal Basin, so too are statements from lawmakers that President Barack Obama's fiscal 2013 budget request this week is “dead on arrival.” Forget the fact that the vast majority of any president's request in almost any year makes it into law eventually, since the executive branch does the heavy lifting when it comes to planning and budgeting. But admitting as much would be tough for lawmakers even in a good year.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the management of Dassault are elated, as Rafale is the apparent winner of the $10.4 billion Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft order for India's air force. France also has an order backlog with India that includes the Scorpene submarine and $2.4 billion in retrofits to the Mirage 2000 fleet.
The U.S. Army is not expected to issue final requirements for its planned Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) helicopter until after evaluation flights scheduled for the second quarter. Essentially, these flights are intended to allow the competing manufacturers to show what they have, what it will cost, and to help the Army decide what it can get for what it can afford.
The move is largely an administrative step after Airbus determined the entire fleet would likely suffer component cracking due to a manufacturing process flaw.
Boeing and CFM have completed definition of the configuration for the Leap-1B on the 737 MAX, which is due to enter service in 2017. GE Aviation President David Joyce says “We've finished all the installation studies, and for all practical purposes, it's done.” Boeing selected a 68-in.-dia. fan for the Leap-1B in November 2011
David Russell has joined Gogo, Itaska, Ill., as senior VP and general manager of Europe and the Middle East for commercial aviation. He was VP-strategic programs for SITA Group.
The true meaning of Dassault Aviation's highly publicized victory in India extends well beyond a major combat aircraft commitment. In the third quarter, the Indian air force is expected to sign an order for 126 Rafale multirole fighters and could buy 40 additional aircraft at a later date. Eighteen will be manufactured in France, and the remaining 108 are scheduled to be assembled by Bengaluru-based Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
It's amazing how much can be packed into a single, seemingly throwaway line when the context is a president's State of the Union address. President Barack Obama didn't even devote a full sentence to rural broadband service in his Jan. 24 speech, but his few words covered a lot of ground.
United Launch Alliance engineers have taken the company's Atlas V launcher through two more milestones on the way to human-rating the Russian-powered rocket for human spaceflight. Working with NASA's Commercial Crew Program, the company completed a Tailored System Requirements Review intended to demonstrate how the vehicle meets the intent of NASA's requirements for human-rating certification, and a Probabilistic Safety Analysis Review of potential failure modes.
The spacecraft, which imaged its shadow against the type-S asteroid as it approached in the fall of 2005 (see photo), returned more than 1,000 asteroid particles.
Leithen Francis (Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, Philippines)
The South China Sea dispute has suddenly led the Philippines to move to strengthen its military and try to do it quickly. Discussing the upgrade program on Jan. 27, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the Philippines is in a race against time to improve its military air capability. “Without a deterrent force, we can be easily pushed around, our territories will be violated,” he declared.
Congratulations on another great photo/art issue! The cover is superb, as is the brilliant first-place commercial photo (AW&ST Dec. 19/26, 2011, p. 40). But I do have a complaint about the “From the Web” portion of the Feedback page. I find that the brief, shoot-from-the-hip barbs included in this sidebar add no value to the information content of the magazine. The space would be better utilized by running well-thought-out, well-written traditional letters.
An article on 747-8 certification in the Jan. 23/30 issue (p. 12) misidentifies the Boeing 747-8 variant with range of 4,390 nm. That aircraft is the 747-8 Freighter.
