Industry officials caution that a proposal to dip into a planned French government bond issue to help finance technologies for future European civil aviation projects, including the next-generation narrow-body air transport, will have to beat out a bevy of other projects vying for the €10-billion ($14.8-billion) honey pot. Among them are undertakings from within the aerospace industry itself, including a follow-on Ariane 6 satellite launcher, a space-based CO2 monitoring system and more Ka-band broadband satellite capacity (AW&ST Oct. 12, pp. 24, 34).
Nov. 2-4—A&D Programs Conference. Phoenix. Nov. 4-5—Lean Six Sigma for MRO. Miami. Dec. 2-3—A&D Finance Conference. New York. Dec. 8-10—MRO Asia Conference & Exhibition. Hong Kong. You can now register ONLINE for Aviation Week Events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or call Lydia Janow at +1 (212) 904-3225/+1 (800) 240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada Only)
The Link Simulation and Training Air Traffic Control Academy is in the final phase of a 10-month course of instruction that will qualify 40 students for FAA control-tower certification when they graduate in November. Located at North Texas Regional Airport in Denison, the academy began operating in January and provides 510 hr. of on-the-job tower training, says David Williams, L-3 Link’s vice president of training services. The curriculum is approved under FAR Part 65, and the courses of instruction are taught by certified air traffic controllers.
Jeremiah Farmer suggests U.S. military forces undergo additional reductions because he wants to live in a society that inspires its children to be astronauts and explore space and not be fighter pilots. He also believes we should have the “. . . ability to instantly ramp up to wartime production levels.”
Much attention was focused on DigitalGlobe Inc. when the company successfully orbited its third imagery satellite on Oct. 8. But things have not been quiet at the other end of the high-resolution remote-sensing duopoly.
The passenger rights battle has taken another strange turn. Kate Hanni, a passenger rights crusader lobbying for federal legislation on ground delays and facing airline opposition, filed a lawsuit in a federal court last week alleging that Delta Air Lines illegally obtained access to e-mails hacked from her private accounts. Hanni and her group sued both Delta and Dulles, Va.-based Metron Aviation, which provides analytical, design and software development services for air traffic management.
Following last month’s first flight of an upgraded South African Air Force Pilatus Astra PC-7 Mk.II, Pilatus and its South African industrial partner are looking to undertake further modifications starting next month. The first of 35 PC-7s being upgraded with new avionics flew on Sept. 23 after the aircraft was modified in Switzerland. The work will now transition to South Africa.
Major changes are underway at the top of two of the aerospace and defense industry’s largest companies. United Technologies Corp. (UTC) Chairman George David will retire at the end of 2009, completing a leadership transition that has been underway for nearly four years at the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, Hamilton Sundstrand and Sikorsky Aircraft. Louis Chenevert, who was appointed president of UTC in 2006 and CEO two years later, will add the title of chairman on Jan. 1.
The Lehman Brothers collapse that set off the global economic crisis occurred on Sept. 15, 2008. But it is a date two months later—Nov. 19— that will live in infamy in the business aviation sector.
As the U.K. government ponders whether to create a space agency, following the end of a consultation period on the question, the minister responsible for space has spelled out the benefits he believes an agency would bring. The British science minister, Paul Drayson, who is responsible for space within the Business, Innovation and Skills Dept., indicates that the lack of an agency disadvantages the U.K. within the European Space Agency. Its absence also complicates funding and planning issues within government.
Honeywell will unveil this week—at the National Business Aviation Assn. (NBAA) show—upgraded Primus Epic-based cockpits developed for Dassault Falcons as the EASy II and, as the newly approved Cert Foxtrot update, for Gulfstream’s PlaneView flightdeck. The EASy II and Foxtrot updates both center around Honeywell’s SmartView synthetic vision system, which projects a daytime, head-up display (HUD)-like view on the pilot’s primary flight display.
Bucking current market turbulence, EgyptAir is eyeing West Africa for its next round of route expansions as it focuses on growth. Whereas other airlines have been cutting capacity and deferring orders, Hussein Massoud, the new chairman of EgyptAir Holding Co., says the time is ripe to build up the fleet faster than forecast. The airline is taking advantage of open slots at Airbus, for example, to accelerate the fielding of A330-300s. The first aircraft is now due in August 2010, a year ahead of schedule.
After scoring a bull’s-eye Oct. 9, the science team here at NASA Ames Research Center for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (Lcross) says it is confident the myriad data from satellite and ground observatories will show whether water or other useful substances were present in the lunar dirt kicked up by the satellite’s impact. The task now is to look for the clues. That is likely to take weeks or months. An early report of the results may come in December at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
The third Boeing Wideband Global Satcom (WGS-3) spacecraft for the U.S. Air Force’s military communications network was shipped last week to Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., in anticipation of a Nov. 18 launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV. When placed in a geostationary orbit over the Atlantic Ocean, WGS-3 will complete USAF’s initial constellation and bring with it nearly global satellite coverage. Boeing has been tasked to build three WG spacecraft, all of which are under development at its El Segundo, Calif., factory.
Carriers face losing passenger confidence and doling out millions in FAA proposed penalties—such as the $9.2 million slapped on United Airlines and US Airways—if they continue to operate aircraft that are not fully compliant with airworthiness directives. The FAA last week proposed a $5.4-million civil penalty against US Airways for operating eight aircraft that were not in compliance with directives and for violating its maintenance guidelines, and a $3.8-million penalty against United for violating its engine maintenance procedures.
Struggling business aviation manufacturers will be facing more pain in the near term, but the industry will eventually recover and even thrive, albeit not as spectacularly as was predicted last year. Moreover, the recovery will begin in Europe.
Universal Weather and Aviation’s UVdatalink has enhanced “Fleet Status,” its online flight tracking application, to help flight departments track and manage aircraft more efficiently, according to the company. UVdatalink provides Global VHF and satcom data link communication services for Acars-equipped aircraft. The maps sport improved graphics that are more interactive. Other enhancements include improved capabilities for managing larger fleets, the ability to overlay North Atlantic tracks and automatic map refresh.
Northrop Grumman has extended its U.K. facilities for the design, manufacture and technical support of unmanned ground vehicles. Located at the company’s Remotec site in Coventry, the plant handles a range of vehicles in the legacy Wheelbarrow category, as well as Cutlass, the next-generation vehicle being developed for the Defense Ministry. The U.S.-based manufacturer has been established in Coventry for more than 20 years.
The Qatar government is targeting commercial production of gas-to-liquid (GTL) kerosene for 2012 as part of national carrier Qatar Airways’ push to use the fuel as a partial substitute for regular, oil-based kerosene. The carrier last week completed its first revenue-generating flight—an Airbus A340-600 from London Gatwick to Doha—using a 50-50 blend of GTL and regular kerosene, dubbed GTL Jet Fuel. The environmental benefits of GTL are seen as mixed.
Thales Alenia Space executives say they see limited commercial interest to date in active telecom antennas such as one being developed for Hispasat AG1, planned to go into orbit in 2012 as the first application of the European Space Agency’s SmallGeo telecom satellite program. However, they anticipate considerable demand from military users, for whom heightened flexibility and security can largely offset lower antenna efficiency.
The Pentagon is using PayPal software that was devised to thwart cyber-criminals in Eastern Europe and Russia to gather intelligence. The software makes connections between seemingly unrelated attempts by crime networks to defraud the on-line bill-paying system. Now, the software is being turned to spying and intelligence analyses. “We cannot talk about this domain,” says a veteran National Security Agency cyber-warrior. “It’s surprising to see this information in the open.
Boeing says it is helping employees of AlmexA, a Danish machining company in Odense, learn high-speed machining techniques for aluminum and titanium components as part of a technology transfer agreement tied to Denmark’s competition for new fighter aircraft. Boeing is competing its F/A-18E/F. AlmexA is seeking a 10% improvement in efficiency and a 30% reduction in machine operation time.
As a U.S. taxpayer, I am less than happy to read that yet again Congress has told off the White House and reinserted funding for the F136 engine, the alternative powerplant for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (AW&ST Oct. 12, p. 21).
NASA scientists are still analyzing data from the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensor Satellite (Lcross) impact at the Moon’s south pole on Oct. 9, but it turns out that the European Space Agency’s Smart-1 lunar orbiter apparently produced a bigger plume than its larger NASA cousin when it plowed into the lunar surface. The angle of incidence seems to be the reason, says Bernard Foing, ESA’s Smart-1 project scientist. While Lcross hit the bottom of the Cabeus crater at the Moon’s south pole at a relatively steep angle, Smart-1 came in at a shallow angle and bounced.
Trelleborg’s VCT11 sealing compound is a low-temperature fluorocarbon (FKM) material, well-suited for aerospace engine applications requiring high-temperature performance and low-temperature capabilities, the company states. Seals are available as O‑rings and in a variety of geometries and gaskets. Operating below -40F, VCT11 is one of a few materials that meet AMS 7379 requirements—specifications for low-temperature FKMs. VCT11 also is resistant to high thermal stability oils.
