Susan Sloan (see photo) has been tapped by Northrop Grumman Corp. to become vice president-space systems within the Navigation Systems Division. She has been a program manager for Intelsat in Cannes, France.
While the exact appropriations Congress passes for Fiscal 2011 still remains to be seen, one thing is becoming clear: Some people are going to have really bad holidays, even if nobody knows who. As lame-duck lawmakers rush to get out of town by Dec. 18, Congress must settle on whether to continue 2010 funding levels and programs, potentially with major tweaks, or to pass an omnibus spending bill, which would be more like the normal appropriations process. Depending on the outcome, the executive branch could have more or less leeway in running the government through Sept.
As investors weigh the implications of Airbus’s decision to develop a re-engined A320 narrowbody family, they are beginning to map out how competitors will respond. The next moves in this game of chess will have huge implications for the industry’s competitive landscape, from Boeing Co., Embraer, Comac and Bombardier Inc. to engine and systems suppliers. Airbus’s “A320NEO”—designed to offer a 15% improvement in fuel burn—is the starting gun in a single-aisle revolution, observes Morgan Stanley analyst Heidi Wood, and starts the dominos falling.
The MA60 twin-turboprop transport is a stretched version of the Xi’an Y7-200A. It can accommodate 52-60 passengers and is powered by two 2,750-shp. Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127J engines. Initial flight and deliveries of the MA60 took place in 2000. In addition to the passenger model, the MA60-500 freighter version is marketed. In May 2010, the MA600 variant was awarded certification by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. As deliveries begin in 2010, it is likely that the improved and more advanced MA600 will supplant the MA60.
Jan. 4-7—49th Annual American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Aerospace Sciences Meeting. Orlando (Fla.) World Center Marriott. Also, Feb. 9-10—14th Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference. Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington. Call +1 (703) 264-7500, fax +1 (703) 264-7551 or see www.aiaa.org Jan. 17-19—Civil Air Navigation Services Organization’s Middle East Conference. Park Rotana Hotel, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. See www.canso.org
When the husband-and-wife engineering team of Philip and Rebecca Ufkes decided to trade the snow of the U.S. Northeast for Charleston’s charms, they had no way of knowing that Boeing would locate the biggest aviation opportunity in South Carolina’s history in their new backyard.
This single-turboprop-powered utility/passenger aircraft first flew in December 1982 and, through 2009, Cessna produced 1,919 Caravans of all types. Designed with the small-package-delivery segment in mind, the two models currently in production—the Caravan 675 and 208B Grand Caravan—have maximum useful loads of 1,898 kg. (4,175 lb.) and 2,041 kg. (4,490 lb.), respectively. Power for both aircraft is provided by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A turboprop engine rated at 675 shp. Cessna is forecast to deliver 841 Caravans during the 2010-19 period.
North and South Carolina see the major airframe manufacturers that have established bases within their borders as anchors for an expanding network of aerospace and defense suppliers that can provide a steady stream of jobs for skilled workers.
Turkish Airlines Airbus A340-300 climbs after taking off from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport. Turkish Technic and parent Turkish Airlines are both embarking on independent, aggressive expansion plans that will see Technic expand into interior cabin design and manufacturing, increase its landing gear repair business, attempt to attract more third-party work and double its workforce by 2015. Turkish Airlines, meanwhile, has its eye on increasing services to North America, Central Africa and Asia, and recently updated its brand image.
The Airbus A320 flying testbed, MFS001, will begin testing a CFM International CFM56-5B this month that will bring fuel efficiency ratings for that narrowbody family to parity with the improvements Boeing is set to achieve from its version of the same engine now in test on a Continental Airlines 737-800. CFM and Airbus expect a 0.5% enhancement in fuel burn from the -5B performance improvement package (PIP), says Sam Gilkey, general manager for Airbus programs.
A report in the French newspaper Les Echos claims that first deliveries of the delayed Boeing 787 may be pushed back until June or July 2011 as a result of last month’s electrical fire on ZA002. The report says Boeing engineers have identified “possible solutions” to the flawed response of the electrical system and control software following a short circuit or arc caused by a suspected loose washer or some other small foreign object inside the P100 main power distribution panel.
The defense committees of the upper and lower houses of parliament in the U.K. and France have created a working group to track progress in implementing a treaty signed on Nov. 2 intended to expand defense cooperation between the two countries. The group has decided to meet twice a year, starting in London in mid-2011.
The new 787 series is a family of twin-engine, widebody airliners. Three versions are currently envisioned. The 787-8 will carry 210-250 passengers and have a range of 7,650-8,200 nm. The 787-3, optimized for shorter flights, will carry 290-330 passengers and have a range of 2,500-3,050 nm. The 787-9, a longer-range version, will carry 250-290 passengers and have a range of 8,000-8,500 nm. A fourth possible version, the 787-10, would be a stretched version of the 787-9.
Skyterra-1, earmarked for the Lightsquared hybrid mobile satellite system, has encountered a deployment issue with the spacecraft’s L-band antenna that could threaten startup of the high-speed, coast-to-coast satellite/terrestrial wireless service. However, both Lightsquared and satellite manufacturer Boeing Satellite Systems are downplaying the importance of the event for the time being. Boeing says Skyterra-1, which was launched on Nov. 14, is “stable and healthy” and a team of experts is continuing attempts to deploy the antenna, which was supplied by Harris Corp.
I was fascinated to learn in “Cargo Clampdown” (AW&ST Nov. 15, p. 32) that European ministers, like their U.S. counterparts, consider inspection of all cargo shipments “too expensive and impracticable.” How comforting to know that it is not too expensive or impracticable to hire legions of government agents to fondle every passenger, but it is too expensive and impracticable to inspect inanimate cargo!
The Royal Australian Air Force has reached initial operational capability with its F/A-18Fs and expects to have all 24 in hand by the end of next year. The operational milestone was met with the arrival of the latest four F/A-18Fs. The latest delivery also marks the handover of the first three F/A-18Fs wired to eventually be upgraded with subsystems associated with the U.S. Navy’s EA-18G Growler escort jammer.
Bombardier was the sales star among airframers at the Middle East Business Aviation show, held at Dubai International Airport Dec. 7-9. The company recorded sales for five Learjet 85s, and pairs of Challenger 605s and Global 7000s.
In a recent Market Focus column “A Looming Showdown on Guns Versus Butter” (AW&ST Nov. 29, p. 12), you mention: “Let’s start with critics of military spending, from whom we are going to hear more in the coming months.”
Europe’s Eumetsat is poised to begin work on a new geostationary weather satellite system that will vastly improve weather and climate forecasting, including the monitoring of severe weather situations, while enhancing numerical prediction models.
It is no surprise, really, that the connecting traffic on Southwest Airlines is increasing. But the extent to which the carrier is relying on these connections in many of its new markets might turn some heads—and presents some challenges for a low-cost carrier that built its business model on point-to-point service.
Amy Butler (Los Angeles AFB and Beverly Hills, Calif.)
With lean fiscal years ahead and its credibility in procuring military satellite systems eroded, the U.S. Air Force is reluctant to propose new space programs. So senior leaders are pushing industry to squeeze more capability out of systems being fielded in the coming months, starting with the service’s premier missile-warning constellation.
Launched in July 2008, Bombardier’s CSeries family will include two basic models: a CS100 version carrying 110 passengers and the larger CS300 seating 130. Each will be offered in standard and extended-range versions and, additionally, the 130-seater will be available in an extra-thrust version. The CSeries will be powered by the new geared turbofan engine from Pratt & Whitney. CS100 service entry is planned for late 2013, and the CS300 will arrive about a year later.
Maintenance, repair and overhaul provider Turkish Technic, which has a foothold where East meets West in Istanbul, has ambitious plans over the next five years to firmly plant itself in traditional MRO markets, while also dipping its toe in some surprising non-core areas. Its success, while separate in theory as well as practice from parent Turkish Airlines (THY) because of their distinct managements and boards, is still operationally linked as the expansion of the airline certainly increases Technic’s MRO business.
The Twin Otters are all metal, nonpressurized, high-wing, twin-turboprop utility aircraft. Viking Air owns the rights to a number of out-of-production de Havilland aircraft, including the DHC-6, which was canceled in 1988. In April 2007, Viking Air launched a program to restart production of the 19-passenger Twin Otter with the updated Twin Otter Series 400, which incorporates more than 800 changes to the Series 300. The Series 400 is now powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34s or the optional PT6A-35.
