In response to the AviationWeek.com article: F-35B Lands On U.S. Navy Amphibious Ship: Goforride states: If anything should be cut to balance the budget, its the F-35B. The chance it will ever be deployed autonomously, as part of a free-standing Marine expeditionary force, with no help from naval carrier aviation (“C” models), let alone from the Air Force, is very small.
Avianova's bankruptcy leaves Russia without any domestic low-cost carriers as of Oct. 10, when the carrier stops operating. Its bankruptcy also highlights the difficulty of implementing a low-fare airline business model in Russia, with its few high-density populations that can afford to fly located relatively near one another and fought over by airlines. In its official statement to the Russian aviation authorities published Oct. 5, Avianova explained that it decided to stop operating because of its deteriorating financial status.
Commercial air-to-air refueling provider Omega Air is procuring three former Royal Australian Air Force Boeing 707 tanker-transports. The aircraft were converted into tankers in the 1990s but retired from the RAAF in 2008 and have been in storage ever since. The acquisition follows the loss of an Omega-operated KC-707 tanker in a takeoff accident at Naval Base Ventura County, Pt. Mugu, Calif., in May. Frequently chartered to the U.S.
George Puthoff and Glenn Gray have joined the Parts Department at Jet Source, Carlsbad, Calif. Puthoff was parts manager at Air Resorts and Crownair, and Gray is returning to Jet Source with a background in corporate aircraft procurement.
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), the top House science appropriator, wants the White House to suggest what should be cut if it wants to continue NASA's beleaguered James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) program—otherwise he may not be able to help the Hubble successor or other NASA science efforts in House-Senate budget negotiations. “For us to make a truly informed decision . . . we must have the offset information,” Wolf wrote President Barack Obama's budget director Sept. 28.
The fear of additional defense budget cuts has Pentagon brass, lawmakers and industry executives in a chorus, chanting, “Everything is on the table.” There are so many funding exercises in the works, exploring all manner of program terminations, no one is quite sure what cuts are possible and what constitutes paranoia. Lt. Gen. Terry Robling, aviation commandant for the Marine Corps, gave a peek into some of the aviation deliberations going on in his service.
The first of eight P-8 long-range maritime patrol aircraft for the Indian navy has completed a 2-hr., 31-min. checkout flight as part of its transfer between the Seattle-area Boeing 737 and P-8 mission systems installation factories. The flights also allow test pilots to verify the performance of the aircraft's standard airborne systems, airframe and CFM International CFM56-7BE engines. The flight included taking the P-8I to 41,000 ft.
USN Capt. (ret.) Jon McBride has been honored by the NASA Independent Verification and Validation Program, Fairmont, W.Va., for his achievements as a NASA astronaut and contributions to public service and educational outreach by naming its software testing and research laboratory the Jon McBride Software Testing and Research Laboratory.
Oct. 10-14—International Air Transport Association's World Passenger Symposium. Shangri-la Hotel, Singapore. See www.iata.org Oct. 11-14—Inter Airport Europe 18th International Exhibition for Airport Equipment, Technology, Design & Services. Munich Trade Fair. Call +44 (172) 781-4400 or see www.interairport.com Oct. 13-14—Shephard Group's UV India 2011. Manekshaw Center, New Delhi. Also, Oct. 19-20—Heli Power 2011. Five at Farnborough, England. See www.shephard.co.uk
Production of Eurofighter Typhoons is being reduced to cut annual expenditures and help extend the life of the production line while attempts are made to secure export orders. Output across the Typhoon production lines will fall to 43 from 53 aircraft per year by the end of next year. The result is that given current orders, the production line will remain open until at least the end of 2017. The move, along with the slow ramp-up in F-35 production, has prompted BAE Systems to announce the shedding of another 3,000 jobs.
If there is one area in which China has had persistent difficulty catching up with Western aerospace technology, it is aviation gas turbines. Chinese aero-engines are known for poor efficiency and low reliability, and it would well suit China's neighbors and the U.S. if they kept that reputation. So the prospect of MTU Aero Engines and Avio working on a major Chinese commercial turbofan program prompts a critical question: will technology transfer be strictly contained?
Lockheed Martin has delivered C-130Js to four new customers in a week. The first of a planned 37 HC-130J combat rescue tankers were handed over to U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command on Sept. 24 and Air Education and Training Command on Sept. 29. The first of a planned 69 MC-130J Combat Shadow II transports was delivered to USAF Special Operations Command on Sept. 29. Four C-130Js were delivered to the Qatar Emiri Air Force on Sept. 28 at Lockheed's Marietta, Ga., plant.
India's activities in the commercial aircraft sector pale compared to the breadth of its military projects. But there are signs that the fledgling activities to underpin a stronger commercial sector are gaining traction, including increasing reliance on the private sector.
If India continues at today's pace, the modernization plans for its combat aircraft force will have reached unprecedented proportions by the end of the current financial year.
Sometime in the next year or two, a Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo will drop from its unique carrier aircraft, fall to a safe distance and fire up its hybrid rocket engine to take eight humans on a brief excursion beyond the atmosphere. Two of them will be pilots, and the rest will be paying customers.
Trainee Chris Snee gets ready to mount the gondola on the Nastar Training Center's Phoenix centrifuge for a simulated flight to space in the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo. While the big money for commercial crew is focused on the International Space Station—and several years in the future—suborbital reusable spaceflight is almost ready to go. More than 240 would-be space travelers—scientists and tourists—have taken the three-day familiarization course at the suburban Philadelphia center.
Orbital Sciences Corp. has launched the TacSat-4 spacecraft on a Minotaur IV rocket from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska, placing the U.S. Navy satellite in its highly elliptical polar orbit. The satellite separated 28 min. after the Sept. 27 launch into its targeted 115 X 7,415-mi. orbit. From there, it will be able to provide 2 hr. of coverage three times a day over a warfighting theater 2,000 nm in diameter, according to the Office of Naval Research.
Virgin Galactic is close to finalizing the initial flight crews for its space tourism and science operations. Three pilots will make up the first cadre of crew who will fly the SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle and WhiteKnightTwo mothership.
Ginger Wierzbanowski (see photo) has been named Falls Church, Va.-based VP-government relations special projects for the Northrop Grumman Corp. She was legislative assistant to the vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In sharp contrast to the indifference that long prevailed, French politicians have made their voices heard on aerospace matters in recent weeks. Right-wing French parliament member Bernard Carayon and his allies tried hard to convince Air France not to buy Boeing 787s and to plan instead on an Airbus-only fleet.
Stephen Paddy (see photo) has joined ExecuJet Africa, headquartered in Zurich, as regional sales and marketing director. He remains chairman of the Simang Group, which will take a 30% stake in the business aviation company.
Actor and film producer John Travolta has been named business aircraft brand ambassador for Learjet, Challenger and Global jets by Bombardier Aerospace, Dorval, Quebec. Travolta is a pilot qualified to fly 11 aircraft types.
European Union emission allowance (EUA) prices fell back in September amid macroeconomic jitters after rallying through the second half of August. A nervous mood has persisted in the carbon market as EU leaders struggle to find a meaningful solution to the Greek debt problem, which has cast a dark shadow over European stock and commodity markets this year. EUAs for December 2011 delivery fell from a recent high of €13.49 ($18.42) per metric ton on Aug. 30 to €10.76 on Sept. 27, only just above the 29-month low of €10.70 seen on Aug. 5.
To repeat the same action over and over and expect different results is one definition of madness. So it would seem with the U.S. Army's latest Joint Multi-Role (JMR) program study, “Spinning Up” (AW&ST Sept. 12, p. 30). Similar experimental aircraft trials as far back as the mid-1950s have produced pretty much the same results. The tiltrotor design in the article is yet another example.
