China will accelerate the development in 2009 of increasingly capable microsats and smallsats for military and other space missions, according to the country’s launch schedule for next year and U.S. Defense Dept. and university analysis of Chinese work in this field. China could also reveal more test activity with the secret Shenlong (Divine Dragon) air-launched booster designed for drop from a Chinese H-6 Badger bomber for smallsat launch operations.
A U.K. Competition Commission report calls for BAA to divest itself of three of its seven U.K. airports: Gatwick, Stansted and Edinburgh. “Under the common ownership of BAA, there is no competition,” Christopher Clarke, chairman of the BAA airports inquiry, says. The report recommends legislation and regulatory remedies aimed at improving relationships among airports and client airlines and passengers.
NASA has halted work on the GOES‑R weather satellite program following Boeing’s protest to the U.S. government Accountability Office of the $1.09-billion award to Lockheed Martin to build two satellites with options for a third. Boeing said it learned “very little” from a Dec. 10 contract debriefing on why it lost. Based on what it did hear, Boeing concluded, “We offered a superior proposal under the disclosed evaluation criteria.” The GAO has 100 calendar days to review the protest.
Virgin Galactic’s Scaled Composite WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft has been conducting high-speed taxi, braking and spoiler tests at Mojave, Calif., in the run-up to first flight, which is expected by the end of this month. Flight testing was originally expected to begin in the third quarter, but development issues and recent winter storms have held up the start of what is expected to be an 18-month program. The 140-ft.
France is embarking on a technology demonstration program using a Boeing rotary-wing UAV to determine if such designs can meet naval tactical requirements. On Dec. 16, the French armaments agency (DGA) awarded Thales Aerospace and DCNS a three-year, €22-million ($31.7-million) contract for the project. The team will use a vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) UAV, or VTUAV, to perform automatic takeoffs and landings on ships in all weather conditions while meeting stringent surveillance demands.
The Army is looking for private armed guards to handle security at U.S. bases in Afghanistan, and for a contractor to oversee other contractors in Afghanistan, to be based at Bagram. But former Army colonel and author Pete Mansoor says there shouldn’t be any role for private security contractors in combat zones.
Adding another candidate to the industry’s list of “energy crops,” Japan Airlines says it will demonstrate a kerosene substitute from American wheat fields. The hour-long, non-revenue flight on Jan. 30 will use a Pratt & Whitney JT9D-powered Boeing 747-300 operating from Tokyo Haneda Airport. The fuel will be a 50-50 mix of “second-generation” biofuel and Jet-A kerosene. JAL has selected camelina, a so-called false flax known for a high oil content, as its principal biofuel feedstock.
The European Satellite Operators Assn. (ESOA) fears that reservations of some EU countries, in particular the U.K. and Sweden, could scuttle an agreement that would force the EU to ensure that its licensing actions are consistent with the work of the International Telecommunications Union and European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administration. The agreement, reached on Nov. 27 by the EU Telecoms Council, must still survive a second reading at the European Parliament in early 2009.
Obama’s choice of veteran Illinois congressman Ray LaHood to be the next Transportation secretary bolsters his vow to include Republicans in his cabinet. The president-elect has already asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to stay on. But LaHood’s selection mystified many in the aviation industry, since his profile on transportation issues wasn’t as high as those of other contenders for the post. LaHood’s selection focuses even more attention on who will be nominated for deputy secretary and FAA administrator.
The International Air Transport Assn. is preparing initiatives to achieve a further jump in the level of aviation safety, both in the air and on the ground. For instance, carriers will be pressured to upgrade aircraft with enhanced ground proximity warning systems (EGPWS) and phase out airliners that can’t handle the equipment.
The FAA’s controversial plan to auction slots at the New York metropolitan area’s three major airports appears dead in the water now that a federal appeals court has issued a stay. The appeals court in the District of Columbia blocked next month’s first auction until lower courts rule on a pending case challenging the plan’s legality. But with the stay, the plan is unlikely to move ahead before the White House changes hands. “This decision should buy enough time for the next administration and Congress to put slot auctions on the shelf for good,” says Sen.
Required Navigation Performance (RNP) can tailor arrivals and other procedures (such as departures) to trim distances flown, cut fuel burn and emissions, and shift noise from residential areas (in some cases) at a wide variety of airports. This is a change from the early years of RNP when Alaska Airlines began using it to provide safe access to airports near mountains. This became RNP’s forte, but now there are wider uses for the technology. Naverus illustration.
Pilot seniority lists of Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines are integrated as a result of binding arbitration only weeks after the two airlines merged. The new list is based on a staffing formula and aircraft flown by each pilot group and not by date of hire. With 12,434 pilots under the single collective bargaining agreement, the Delta group became the largest pilot union in the world. The final list became effective Dec. 8. The arbitration panel restricted bids on the Boeing 787 and 747 to Northwest pilots and on the Boeing 777 to Delta pilots for five years.
EADS expects a new process certification for its military aircraft division to help secure additional U.S. defense business. The Capability Maturity Model Integration Level 3 (CMMI 3) is a standard for improving aircraft, systems and software process management. EADS North America Chairman/CEO Ralph Crosby says CMMI 3 is “recognized” and “highly valued” by the U.S. Defense Dept.
Responsible withdrawal of our combat forces from Iraq and resetting NATO’s posture in Afghanistan are at the top of your national defense priorities, and justly so. But along with these priorities is another realm that warrants urgent attention from your new team at the Pentagon: myriad dysfunctions in the management of the defense establishment. Aggravated by the imperatives and distractions of war, these problems have reached crisis proportions.
Sustainable Aviation, a coalition of British commercial aviation companies and lobby groups, contends that by 2050, carbon-dioxide emissions could revert to their levels in 2000, even if passenger numbers triple. Its CO2 Roadmap, published last week, argues that improvements in airframe and engine design, along with the introduction of blended wing-body designs and open-rotor engines, offer a potential reduction in emissions of up to 62% compared with a “constant technology” baseline.
Also, the Army is fielding 50 new digital data links for the hand-launched Raven UAS made by AeroVironment, Gonzales adds. The new data links are useful in providing control over the system in areas like Iraq that have high radio-frequency traffic and a higher chance of interference. The Army has lost a number of Ravens due to radio interference in Iraq.
The aerospace industry’s bull run is over, but a large backlog of commercial aircraft orders and set funding for military and space programs should keep sales growing next year through a brutal economic downturn.
The wider economic turmoil is transforming the global airline industry in ways that seemed improbable just a few months ago. U.S. airlines are now expected to eke out a profit next year while all other regions plunge into the red, a remarkable departure from the trend since 2000 of European and Asian carriers outperforming their U.S. counterparts.
The Army is also planning to field three new and 12 refurbished MQ-5B Hunter UAS, made by Northrop Grumman, Gonzales says. These aircraft will have the new Greendart signals intelligence collection system.
European aerospace leaders seek to extend their long-term research agenda to 2040-50, but also want accelerated action now on such areas as alternative fuels.
Regarding the article “Energy On Call” (AW&ST Nov. 10, p. 45), the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in the late 1980s initiated development funding for the “all-electric” aircraft. Reasons for moving away from hydraulic flight controls were: excessive logistics for ground support equipment; fire potential, leakage and servicing; and vulnerability to battle damage. The SAE A-6 Committee helped to evaluate the all-electric concept and cautioned against abandoning fluid-powered controls.
Having developed a dual-rotation propeller toward the end of World War II that was test-flown extensively on a P-47 at Republic Aircraft and used in the Allison “W” engine in an escort aircraft for B-29s, I question incorporating dual rotation into the current open-rotor development at Rolls and GE. For the marginal gain in efficiency by eliminating the downstream swirl, the cost, complexity and reliability of the resulting propulsion system is not worth the effort over single rotation.
Alan M. Dias has become executive director of Angel Flight West , Santa Monica, Calif. He has been one of the organization’s pilots and was vice chairman of its board of directors.
