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.
Alcoa is counter-attacking the rising use of composites in aircraft structures. The global aluminum giant will invest more than $90 million to build a new plant in Lafayette, Ind., capable of churning out 20,000 metric tons a year of advanced alloys that it says will allow airframers to build lighter and lower-weight aircraft. Production is slated to begin in 2014. The company also will expand output of the patented third-generation aluminum-lithium alloys at facilities in western Pennsylvania and the U.K.
Jennifer Michels (see photo) has become communications director of the Transportation Trades Department of the Washington-based AFL-CIO. She was editor of Aviation Week group's Aviation Daily.
Abdoulaye N'Diaye (see photo) has been named secretary general of the European Organization for Civil Aviation, based in Malakoff, France, succeeding Gilbert Amato, who will act as adviser until his retirement. N'Diaye has held senior management positions at the Thales Group and Rockwell Collins Co.
The NextGen air traffic modernization system and the makers of unmanned aircraft for the civilian market were two big winners in the deal reached last week on a version of a bill to authorize $63.6 billion over the next four years. Although negotiations to pass a reauthorization of long-term spending for the FAA—which endured an astounding 23 short-term extensions—bogged down chiefly on matters rife with political ramifications, lawmakers had quietly agreed to modernization policies.
Greg Setter has joined BDN Aerospace Marketing, Mesa, Ariz., as account manager. He comes from Honeywell Aerospace, where he was marketing communications strategy manager for the commercial aviation business.
EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois recently was asked to reflect on his legacy as he prepares to step down, but the self-effacing aerospace chief took a pass. It is too early, he said, to render a verdict on his impact on the sprawling enterprise he has led since 2007.
It may seem a stretch to look for similarities between a C-17 or 737 assembly line and a satellite factory. The atmosphere in the two places is so different—literally. Airplane hangar doors are opened when it gets hot and machinists wear T-shirts and jeans. A satellite factory's temperatures are carefully controlled and particulate contamination is a big deal, so assemblers wear hair nets and “bunny suits” over their street clothes.
The strategy employed by Boeing to win $3.5 billion worth of missile defense work late last year reveals a willingness on the part of the aerospace giant to embrace highly aggressive pricing and low margins to hedge against the uncertainty ahead with waning Pentagon spending. And, the company's rivals are taking notice.
Gulfstream Aerospace's remarkable end-of-year performance in 2011—delivering 35 aircraft, including a dozen G650s, in the fourth quarter—serves to mask the true condition of the business aviation manufacturing industry, which remains unwell. On Feb. 22, when the General Aviation Manufacturers Association reveals the tally of aircraft its members built last year, the reaction is likely to be pained. Again. It's been that way since the market collapsed in late 2008.
Rolls-Royce is a brand that it synonymous with Britain, but from 2012 on, half of the engine-maker's Trent engine production capacity will be in Singapore. The manufacturer has built an assembly plant, a wide-chord hollow titanium fan-blade factory, and a training center and research laboratory at Singapore's Seletar Aerospace Park. It is the company's first such fan-blade factory outside Britain and its first engine assembly plant outside Europe.
Marchelle Franklin has been named deputy aviation director for community development and government relations at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. She was senior assistant to the mayor, deputy chief of staff and co-chief of staff.
Fifteen new F-35 aircraft are grounded owing to the backward loading of parachutes in their Martin Baker ejection seats. Included in the grounding are six aircraft at Edwards AFB, Calif., used in the flight-test program, which is critical to keeping the program moving forward, and nine at Eglin AFB, Fla.
Pat Camacho (see photo) has been appointed VP-integrated command, control communications and intelligence systems for Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Defense Systems Div. in the company's Information Systems Sector. He was director of the critical infrastructure and force protection unit.
Deals for mergers and acquisitions in global aerospace and defense hit a new high in 2011, reaching $43.7 billion, according to a new study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
A week that included a rare debate on space policy among presidential candidates finished with some notable space hands endorsing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Campaigning along Florida's “Space Coast,” Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had proffered an admittedly “grandiose” idea of colonizing the Moon, mainly via incentives to private industry. Opponents said the idea is unrealistic and pandering. Gingrich even envisioned statehood for the Moon. “It may be a big idea, but it's not a good idea,” Romney retorted in a debate televised from Jacksonville.
Cathay Pacific and AviancaTaca are bolstering their commitment to Airbus. Cathay Pacific is adding six A350-900s to its backlog that already lists 30 of the Rolls-Royce-powered aircraft ordered in 2010. Those 30 were to be delivered in 2016-19; the additional six are to be handed over in 2016-17. Meanwhile, AviancaTaca has finalized a previous commitment for 33 A320NEOs and 18 classic A320s. Deliveries of the NEOs are due to begin in 2017.
The high profile Airbus has given the A380 magnifies any of its problems in the public eye. The mega-transport's latest setback, cracks in a wing component that must be repaired in much of the fleet worldwide, may end up as little more than a footnote, however. Airbus has put in place changes to its A380 wing assembly process to address the occurrence of component cracks as it becomes apparent that most A380s already built require fixes to deal with the issue.
The British might have once ruled the Indian subcontinent, but the French are taking over its skies. The Indian government late last month named Dassault Aviation's Rafale the lowest-cost bidder against the rival Eurofighter consortium's Typhoon in the long-running and fiercely contested competition to supply at least 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) to the Indian air force (IAF).
EADS board of directors has approved a planned management reshuffle after naming former European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet to the board in a bid to appease the French government. The leadership transition will now unfold as initially planned, with Airbus CEO Tom Enders succeeding retiring EADS CEO Louis Gallois this summer, and Fabrice Bregier moving into the top job at Airbus. Arnaud Lagardere takes over as EADS chairman from Bodo Uebber. The arrangement reflects the complexities of balancing French and Germany interests in the company.
Europe may be mired in financial austerity, but that has not derailed the region's effort to duplicate GPS with the Galileo satellite navigation and timing constellation. Instead, it is changing the economic equation underpinning the program.
