British Airways and Rolls-Royce will begin work on validating 10 different alternative fuel programs this year, with the hope of completing work on the initiative by early 2012. The two last year sent out a new call to fuel suppliers to provide 60,000 liters of fuel for testing. A similar initiative failed due to a lack of response, but this time 17 suppliers responded, saying they could meet the criteria, British Airways CEO Willie Walsh tells an Imperial College London green aviation forum.
David Fulghum (Washington), Bill Sweetman (Washington), Robert Wall (London)
With the surprise rollout and high-speed taxi tests of China’s newest J-20 fighter, a stealth prototype, the U.S. Navy’s top intelligence official admits that the Pentagon has erred in its estimates of the speed with which Beijing is introducing new military technology.
Star Navigation Group of Toronto has developed a satellite-based cockpit data recorder (CDR) with built-in GPS tracking software that enables essential flight variables such as altitude, speed and heading, along with avionics and diagnostic information, to be transmitted automatically in real time at regular intervals during a flight, providing fool-proof access in case of an inflight event and for post-flight analysis. Definition of standards for data links that can support satellite-based CDRs and other equipment is a major focus of the U.S.
The Republican majority in the House is going to be focused on national security, new Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) asserts, but that does not mean the Pentagon is spared the budget-cutting knife. “Everybody is going to have to do more with less,” Cantor told Capitol Hill reporters who pinned him down last week over potential cuts to the defense budget. “I think most of us have said everything is going to be on the table.”
Helibras, Eurocopter’s Brazilian subsidiary, has been awarded a contract to upgrade the Brazilian army’s fleet of 36 Ecureuil multirole helicopters. The award, for an undisclosed amount, will add at least 25 years of service life to the single-engine AS350s, which were acquired two decades ago. The upgrade will include installation of a three-display glass cockpit, automatic flight control system with autopilot and improved pilot seats that afford better visibility and protection. Modernization is to begin this year and extend through 2018.
Amy Butler (Hurst, Fort Worth and Amarillo, Texas)
After years of complaints that Bell Helicopter’s military division could not manage its programs, the “new Bell” is emerging with a sharpened focus on delivering on its promises.
For the second time in four years, veteran corporate pilot Ron Henriksen (see photo) is opening a brand new business airport. His own. After plying the airways for 14 years, the Houston native switched roles from business pilot to piloting a business, and at that he was an ace, becoming a telecommunications mogul. He made a pile as owner of Logix Communications and now is investing some of that gain back into business aviation.
Capt. (ret.) Syed M. Husain (Mississauga, Ontario)
Even though I was a pilot, for Pakistan International Airways, I have some reservations about your editorial, “Is Safety a Victim of Justice Awry? (AW&ST Dec. 13, 2010, p. 58). You say: “We do not argue for criminal immunity for pilots, mechanics, controllers, designers and manufacturers. But the need for justice must be carefully balanced with the broader need to be safe. If there is anything criminal about crashes, it is the damage that will be done to aviation safety in treating accidents as crimes.”
Once again, AW&ST has produced an art and photography issue collection of images that are inspiring and convey the wonder of flight and aviation. However, I must take issue with the caption accompanying the Jason Pineau photo on page 50. The text states the photo to be of an Air Tindl DH-7 starting its taxi to the terminal at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. If this description is indeed accurate the time-lapse image would seem to indicate that the airplane is backing its way in, which would be a remarkable piloting feat with no rear-view mirrors!
A reorganization plan that would give control of mobile satellite service operator TerreStar to EchoStar looks set to be approved, following a ruling by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York allowing the plan to be sent to creditors for approval. The court ruled just prior to Christmas against a final objection by Sprint Nextel, one of the claim holders, to disclosure of the plan, after the other creditors withdrew their complaints. The decision clears the way for a creditor vote, which must be completed by Feb.
The new House transportation supremo is wasting no time in diving back into the FAA reauthorization issue. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), the incoming chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, wants to hold two hearings on reauthorization toward the end of this month, industry and congressional sources say. Mica has vowed to make FAA reauthorization one of his top priorities. Meanwhile, on the Senate side, it is still unclear who will head the Commerce Committee’s aviation subcommittee. After the election, it appeared Sen.
Disaster managers will continue to use satellite imagery to mitigate the effects of severe flooding in eastern Australia, where the Fitzroy River peaked at 9.2 meters (30.1 ft.), more than 2 meters over its flood stage, Jan. 5. In this image of Rockhampton, Queensland, collected that day by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (Aster) on NASA’s Terra Earth Observation System spacecraft, floodwaters have isolated the city to the north and sound.
The French defense ministry has outsourced management of services at Creil air base, outside Paris, to a team led by Defense Environment Services, a venture of Veolia and naval systems house DCNS. The Creil facility is responsible for transportation, canteen, maintenance and other support services at five different bases, including Creil itself. The €10-million ($14-million), five-year award is the first multiservice contract of its kind to be outsourced by France.
Despite their less than breathtaking bid, Kansas political leaders convinced Hawker Beechcraft to stay put and keep building airplanes in Wichita, thereby once again using the public purse to perpetuate the city’s continuing claim as Air Capital of the World.
Andrew Warner has been appointed president/chief financial officer of specialty airline Pet Airways , Delray Beach, Fla. He was CFO of EnergyConnect Group.
Robert Lee has been named general manager of Million Air Houston , succeeding Brad Primm, who will return to his full-time role as executive vice president of Aircraft Technical Services.
The widespread introduction of Western airliners into Russia’s air transport system should limit the operational impact caused by the grounding of parts of the country’s Tupolev Tu-154 fleet over safety concerns. Russian air transport authorities have temporarily grounded the fleet of Tu-154Bs after the Jan. 1 fire of a Kogalymavia Airlines (also known as Kalavia) aircraft at Surgut Airport, in which three persons died. The cause of the accident is still under review.
Aviation Week, continuing a decades-old tradition, presents the nominees for Laureate awards for 2011. These individuals and teams have been nominated for their extraordinary achievements in operations and technological advancements. The nominees are grouped in eight categories listed on the following pages. Winners already have been selected for two additional honors: the Aviation Week Heroism Award and the Philip J. Klass Lifetime Achievement Award. Nominations were open to industry and government, but the finalists were selected by Aviation Week editors.
Fabio Miguez (see photos) has been promoted to manager of FlightSafety International ’s Detroit Metro/Toledo Learning Center, succeeding David Glass, who has moved to the Houston Learning Center. Miguez has been an avionics instructor, program manager and director of programs for Dassault Falcon Jet Training, while Glass has been director of standards and an FAA-designated training center evaluator for the Embraer 170.
The U.S. Air Force first demonstrated the ability to create a focused datastream with its EC-130 Compass Call aircraft that could be filled with invasive algorithms and fired into the antenna of an integrated air defense system and its detached missile launching vehicles in a series of Suter programs. Now the Navy acknowledges that its Next Generation Jammer (NGJ)—designed for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler and F-35—will carry the network invasion capability. “I think [Suter] is a good description of NGJ [capability],” says Vice Adm. David J.
Airlines can expect insurance premiums to increase this year, following a sharp rise in the number of accidents in 2010. “The number of fatal accidents during the year increased 22%, going from 23 in 2009 to 28 in 2010,” says London-based research firm Ascend. This pushed up the fatal accident rate to one per 1.3 million flights compared with one per 1.5 million flights for 2009, it says.
The chaos that disrupted operations at Paris airports around Christmas has sparked the ire of French Transport Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, who is set to review all aspects of the weather-related travel fiasco. One key question to be answered: Why were there insufficient supplies of deicing glycol when heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures diminished runway capacity?
USN Vice Adm. (ret.) John G. Morgan has joined Toffler Associates as senior global strategist. Morgan spent 36 years in the Navy and earned a Bronze Star for his decisive move of the USS Enterprise carrier battle group into the theater of operations against Al Qaeda and the Taliban following the Sept. 11 attacks.
The first personnel from 51 Sqdn. are starting to undergo training at Offut AFB, Neb., this week as the U.K.’s Royal Air Force gradually gears up for fielding of three RC-135W Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft. The foreign military sales agreement for the three Rivet Joints, to be based at RAF Waddington, was finalized last year. The U.K. Defense Ministry says up to four RAF crew will undergo training at Offut. As part of the work up, the British military personnel will begin operating on U.S. RC-135 Rivet Joints starting this summer.
Brad Hicks has joined Lockheed Martin ’s Mission Systems and Sensors business in Washington as vice president-radar programs. He has been a consultant for the Monitor Group after retiring from the U.S. Navy.
