Leo F. Murphy (see photo), director of the Okaloosa County (Fla.) School District’s “Community High: Okaloosa Institutes for Career Education” aviation and aerospace education programs, has received the 2008 National Aerospace Teacher of the Year Award at the Air Force Assn. ’s Air & Space Conference in Washington. Murphy is a retired U.S. Navy officer who was director of its aviation training school at NAS Pensacola, Fla., and is an associate professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Rob Nash has become business development manager for FlightVu Video Systems for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for AD Aerospace , Warrington, England.
Alexey Komarov (Moscow), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
Defense spending reductions being considered under a revised federal budget plan threaten key Russian launcher and satellite navigation projects, even though space budgets are not expected to be directly affected by the new plan. Most big Russian space programs are considered strategic and are therefore jointly funded through budget lines for the defense ministry as well as the national space agency, Roscosmos.
Space Systems/Loral continues to dominate the commercial telecom satellite market, but European companies are maintaining their inroads and new market entrants are increasingly making their mark. As in 2007 and 2006, Space Systems/Loral led all geostationary satcom builders with eight orders, accounting for 29% of the open market. SS/L’s continuing domination of the market suggests that changes made after its Chapter 11 reorganization are bearing fruit.
Douglas Barrie (London), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
Deep in key contract negotiations in one of its core domestic markets, European missile manufacturer MBDA is also rekindling ambitions to crack the U.S. arena. The initial funding period for the six projects at the heart of the U.K.’s Team Complex Weapons program is about to conclude. MBDA, the industry lead for Team CW, is in talks with the U.K. Defense Ministry to attempt to secure funding for at least the next 12, if not 24, months of the proposed three-year assessment phase.
Lufthansa, which carried 10.5% fewer passengers in February compared with January, says it is considering reduced work-time rules for ground staff to compensate for declining demand. The move would affect about 1,000 workers in the airline’s passenger business segment, mainly those in support functions at non-hub airports in Germany. Employees involved will be guaranteed at least 90% of their net pay, according to Lufthansa, which plans to work out the final details in coming weeks.
Pratt & Whitney will attempt to break the fan drive mechanism at the heart of its PW1000G geared turbofan (GTF) as part of key tests aimed at proving the engine’s durability.
Hill AFB, Utah, has been tapped to be a depot-level repair site for U.S. Air Force MQ-Predators and MQ-9 Reapers. The Air Logistics Center already handles depot work on A-10s, F-16s and myriad aircraft components. Its tasks for Predator will include inspecting and repairing airframe, ground data terminal, primary satellite link and ground control station systems. For the Reaper, repairs will be performed on airframe, command-and-control communications and landing gear.
When I started flying for the original National Airlines in 1977, many of the Boeing 727 captains with whom I flew would run the radar when arriving or departing heavily populated bird environments. Many swore by the procedure but I never read or heard of any science to back this up. At that time, we were running C-band radars with a relatively wide bandwidth. Today, most modern aircraft use X-band radar with a very narrow bandwidth.
Reader Charlee Smith wrote: “Whether an engine is burning kerosene or a 50-50 mix with alternative fuels, it will still produce essentially the same amount of carbon dioxide” (AW&ST Feb. 23, p. 8).
Fresh from their first high-level talks with the Obama administration, Jacques Barrot, the European Commission’s vice president for justice, freedom and security, and other EC officials are hailing a “new start and a new agenda” in Washington. Barrot pressed the EC’s case with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder to extend the U.S. Visa Waiver Program to all 27 European Union member states. The Bush administration negotiated with individual EU countries, but Barrot and the EU believe those talks should include the entire bloc.
Naverus will design performance-based navigation (PBN) procedures for Air China’s Airbus A330 flights operating at Lhasa Gonggar airport in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, under an agreement announced Mar. 18. The procedures incorporate required navigation performance (RNP) technology. The contract marks the eighth Naverus-Air China PBN project. Others include RNPs for the carrier’s Boeing 757s and Airbus A319s.
The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system scored a hit Mar. 17 during its first salvo interceptor test at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii. The first of two Thaad interceptors hit a separating, medium-range ballistic missile target. The second interceptor, launched seconds after the first, was destroyed in flight by range safety officers. Missile Defense Agency officials are hailing the demonstration as successful.
Wind farms, and the radar interference they can cause, are worrying the head of U.S. Northern Command. Air Force Gen. Victor E. Renuart, Jr., tells the Senate Armed Services Committee that wind-farm interference is among the challenges facing the regional command, which is charged with defending the U.S. homeland. “We need to identify mitigation techniques that will allow wind turbines and radars to coexist,” Renuart says in his written statement to the panel. The problem is the Doppler signals generated by radar returns from rotating wind-turbine blades.
Jon P. Conlon (see photo) has become market analyst for Gulfstream and Global Express aircraft and Diane Saldo head of East Coast aircraft charter and management sales for the Avjet Corp. of Los Angeles.
The Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority has approved Qantas’s use of the Honeywell SmartPath Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS) at Sydney International Airport for Airbus A380 satellite-based landings. The system uses GPS data to support precision approach and landings and transmits digital guidance signals to the aircraft. Navigation provider Airservices Australia has been operating the GBAS ground station since November 2006. Qantas previously won approval to fly GBAS approaches with its Boeing 737s.
Regarding the article “Raising the Standard” (AW&ST Mar. 2, p. 37), about the US Airways Flight 1549 ditching and related bird safety threat, in 2000-01 under the FAA/Joint Aviation Authorities harmonization program, I co-chaired a task force that defined upgraded engine certification requirements to address large flocking birds specifically and Canada geese in particular. The following statement is in the explanation portion of the European document in which the new rule was submitted for comments:
The British Parliament’s Accounts Committee is cautioning that the U.K. will have to manage challenging procurement issues if it is to deliver the country’s future nuclear deterrent on time and on cost. The U.K. needs to introduce a successor to the Vanguard class ballistic-missile submarine by around 2024. In its report released last week the committee also claimed that: “collaboration with the U.S. on the Trident D5 missile life extension program presents significant risks to the U.K.’s future nuclear deterrent.
As carriers in the U.S. slash capacity to stay ahead of collapsing demand for air travel, airports are seeking to replace lost revenues through novelties such as pet hotels, zeppelin docking and light industrial facilities located on airport land.
South Africa says that by the end of March it plans to approve a space policy implementation plan that will permit the country to develop space activities in a coordinated and coherent manner. The agenda will be based on a space policy paper issued in July 2007.
Operators are sprinting to enter the maritime mobile satellite service market—a reflection of strong growth forecasts across the MSS sector. The interest in maritime MSS, driven by the growing need for shipping companies to closely monitor vessel operations and provide crews with a low-cost means to keep in touch with the outside world, doesn’t appear to be affected by the global downturn in shipping. Market leader Inmarsat, for instance, posted a 7.2% rise in maritime revenue in 2008. Iridium also reported rapid maritime growth.
The head of U.S. Strategic Forces Command says the Defense Dept. needs to take cyber capability seriously—as a necessity, not just a convenience. Meanwhile, the country faces numerous virtual attacks from a range of sources, from bored teenagers to organized nation-state aggressors, says Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton. “I’m worried about all of them,” he tells lawmakers, adding that the U.S. is vulnerable across the spectrum.
