Two letter writers in the Aug. 3 issue bemoan airline industry deregulation and suggest it be reinstated to “provide economic stimulus” to small communities that have lost air service and to “generate decent, reliable incomes for its (the industry’s) employees.” I don’t suggest the correspondents are wrong, but the reduction in air fares since deregulation has benefitted travelers with a 40% cut in real dollar terms, according to two studies.
A new private space venture hopes to send commercial customers into orbit for a week at a time starting as early as 2013, using updated hardware based on 1970s-era Russian Almaz reusable reentry vehicle (RRV) and space station hardware.
In the late 1990s, Korean Air (KAL) flights were crashing at 17 times the industry average. The pilots were well trained and individually proficient. The root cause was the importation of Korea’s social context into the cockpit. The crews were so deferential to the captain that he essentially flew the plane alone. Modern big jets require two or more active crewmembers for safe flight.
A generation of engineers is retiring and the number of math and science graduates from Japanese universities is dwindling as more students opt to pursue better-paying careers in finance. The trend is occurring across the U.S. and Western Europe as well.
The U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory has whittled down prospective bidders for its unmanned cargo lift contract to two finalists: the Boeing A160T Hummingbird (left) and Lockheed Martin/Kaman K-MAX helicopter (see p. 20). Eliminated were the Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout and MMIST SnowGoose unmanned aircraft.
Institutional investors have filed a class-action lawsuit against Textron, alleging that the company violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by making “false and misleading statements” about business jet backlogs at its Cessna unit. The suit claims Textron accepted orders from startups and distressed fleet operators “who neither intended nor possessed the financial resources to pay for or take delivery of aircraft during 2008-09 and beyond,” thus inflating the company’s financial position and future prospects. The suit was filed in U.S.
Pacific Aerospace Resources & Technologies (PART) has bought out Victorville (Calif.) Aerospace’s assets, finally anchoring that company after it filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code last September. PART plans to grow its new Victorville base, where it will offer maintenance, repair and overhaul; modifications including passenger-to-freighter conversions, and other services to military and commercial customers from a hangar large enough to hold an Airbus A380.
The European Aviation Safety Agency on Aug. 10 issued a proposed airworthiness directive that would mandate operators of Airbus A330/A340-family of aircraft to remove all Thales P/N C16195-AA pitot probes from service, and to replace them and certain Thales “BA”-version probes with Goodrich P/N 0851HL probes. EASA says it issued the proposed directive as a “precautionary measure” following reports of airspeed discrepancies on aircraft operating at high altitudes and in inclement weather.
Boeing has kicked off flight trials for the aerospace industry’s largest fighter jet procurement battle—India’s choice for 126 Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA). Boeing is competing with the F/A-18. The trials are to be wrapped up by next March and are being held in Leh for altitude testing, Jaisalmer for hot operations and Bengaluru (Bangalore) for humidity. Five other contenders are participating in trials lasting three weeks each. The Lockheed Martin F-16 is expected to begin in early September and the Dassault 3+ Rafale later that month.
Aug. 22-23—Royal Air Force Assn.’s Shoreham Air Show. Shoreham Airport, West Sussex, England. Call +44 (127) 344-1545 or see www.shorehamairshow.com Aug. 22-23—Roskilde Airshow 2009. Copenhagen Airport. Call +45 2543-1897 or see www.airshow.dk Aug. 22-23—Colorado Sport International Air Show/30th Annual Rocky Mountain Regional Fly-in. Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport. Call +1 (720) 323-6784 or see www.cosportaviation.org/airshow.htm
A new group has formed under the leadership of former NASA science directorate chief Alan Stern to try to further the research and education potential of the current crop of suborbital reusable launch vehicles under development by industry. “The innovative vehicles being developed by a wide range of commercial suborbital companies—including Armadillo Aerospace, Blue Origin, Masten Space Systems, Virgin Galactic and XCOR Aerospace—represent valuable new capability for scientists, engineers and educators,” Stern says.
While I was a senior engineer at Boeing in Seattle in 1986, I learned that 747s were not equipped with ram-air turbines (also known as wind-driven turbines) to provide emergency hydraulics for primary flight controls and electrical power in the event of total engine failure or fuel starvation, including the auxiliary power unit.
Christopher A. Hart was sworn in Aug. 12 as an NTSB member. Hart, a licensed pilot, comes to the U.S. safety board from the FAA, where he had worked since 1995, most recently as deputy director for air traffic safety oversight. He is no stranger to the safety board, having served from 1990-93. Hart’s new term expires Dec. 31, 2012.
Call it a case of bad news that could be worse. A new “Global Aerospace Update” from Credit Suisse predicts the large commercial jet industry is heading into a slowdown, but one that will be less painful than the sector’s last downturn. The forecast sees Airbus’s deliveries peaking at 500 this year and declining a total of 21% during the next two years. Boeing Co.’s deliveries are projected to peak at 482 this year and decline 14% by 2011.
Airplanes are made to be flown by pilots, not engineers. We have witnessed the failure of automation too often. Pilots are trained to decelerate safely after touchdown, instead of pushing a few more buttons on final approach. This may sound a little old-fashioned, but a pilot’s judgment should not be overlooked. This means: Avoid maximum braking when possible and do not use up the whole runway to stop the aircraft while increasing taxi time and fuel burn. Leaving this task to a computer is dubious.
Assembly line workers at the former Vought 787 factory in Charleston, S.C., are set to vote Sept. 10 on a petition to decertify the International Assn. of Machinists in Aerospace (IAM) as a bargaining representative for about 300 of 600 employees. Boeing took ownership of the factory July 30 in a $1-billion deal intended to consolidate production of the new long-range jet. South Carolina is a “right-to-work” state, which means workers cannot be compelled to join a union. Nonetheless, the IAM began representing machinists shortly after the factory opened in 2006.
Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), the House’s top defense appropriator, relents on an earmark that would have forced the Air Force to buy more VIP-transport jets. “If the [Defense Dept.] does not want these aircraft, they will be eliminated from the bill,” Murtha said after the issue grabbed headlines earlier this month and embarrassed lawmakers across the country (AW&ST Aug. 10, p. 23).
The 11-month-old Afghan National Army Air Corps has pilots who average 45 years of age and have only flown Russian-built aircraft. It is being reassembled and re-trained by the U.S.-led Combined Air Power Transition Force. The corps has 36 aircraft and plans to grow to 139 by 2016. So far, its fleet includes Russian-built Mi-17 cargo helicopters outfitted with machine guns and Mi-35 attack helicopters for escort missions. The Mi-35s are about to reach initial operational capability, says U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen.
Large-scale slot trades at Northeast airports show that U.S. airlines are becoming more selective in choosing their battlefields, increasing their focus on core markets instead of beating each other up across the board.
Austrian Airlines is meeting the 5% fuel savings goal it planned for the four Boeing 767-300ERs that received winglets this year. This equates to 1,000 tons of kerosene per year per aircraft. Most of the fuel savings results from reduced flow resistance and lower takeoff weight due to the need to carry less kerosene. Austrian says Timco Aviation Services completed the wing modification—which included strengthening the wing, installing sensors and adding winglets—in 21 days per aircraft.
The UAV developmental and operational boom continues across the U.S. services, a trend illustrated by the fact that the Air Force is now training more unmanned aircraft pilots than manned ones.
The blue-ribbon panel reviewing human spaceflight has found no good options for returning astronauts to the Moon by 2020 within the constraints set by the Obama administration’s Fiscal 2010 budget plans for NASA. Says panel member Sally Ride: “It’s very difficult to find an exploration scenario that fits within this very restrictive budget guidance we’ve been given.” Panel chief Norman Augustine was able to expand the group’s charter to include analysis of options requiring more money.
Southwest Airlines said Aug. 13 that its $170-million bid to acquire bankrupt Denver-based Frontier Airlines was rejected in favor of one by Republic Airways Group. In Dallas, Southwest Chairman Gary Kelly said “a key reason” the airline’s bid was rejected was its refusal to remove a clause requiring the two carriers’ pilots unions to reach agreement. Southwest’s pilots insisted that an integration plan with Frontier’s 600 pilots be reached before a deal went through. They feared that their negotiating leverage would be reduced under a two-union deal.
The technical performance of NASA’s Kepler planet-finding spacecraft is so positive that its mission span could be stretched beyond a nominal 3.5 years to 6 years, says John Troeltzsch, program manager for prime contractor Ball Aerospace. “It really looks [like] we are poised for a long-duration experiment, which is the whole idea of Kepler,” he says. The 15-ft.-tall, 9-ft.-dia.
