A Rolls-Royce and British Airways request for proposals to alternative-fuel suppliers is expected to close in about two weeks. The two companies have offered to run tests of second-generation biofuels and compare them with the performance of kerosene. BA is providing the engine and Rolls the test cell and analysis. A team will select fuels, and the tests would be conducted next year. One of the biggest questions is whether suppliers can produce the 50,000 liters of biofuel considered necessary for testing.
When Vueling Airlines management decided to drastically curtail network growth and instead focus on profitability, there was some question as to whether the about-face would work. For now, the strategy seems to be paying off, as evidenced by third-quarter results. Gross revenue for the Spanish carrier was up by 30.7%, well ahead of the 9.3% increase in costs, which were largely associated with the fuel bill. Per-unit nonfuel costs reached a record low for the airline, management reports.
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Japan is moving ahead with preliminary plans to build an operational stealth fighter after the ATD-X Shinshin program demonstrates much of the necessary technology in the next decade. The operational aircraft would be larger and powered by engines in the 22,000-lb.-thrust class, double that of the IHI Corp. XF5-1 engines that will propel the ATD-X. Accordingly, it would be about the size of a Eurofighter Typhoon or Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet. The ATD-X is closer to the dimensions of the Saab Gripen.
Operators of the first Zeppelin in the U.S. since the 1937 crash of the Hindenburg are introducing commercial flights from historic Moffett Field, Calif., for aerial tours of San Francisco Bay and the wine-producing region of Napa and Sonoma counties north of the Bay Area.
U.K. participants in the Autonomous System Technology Related Airborne Evaluation and Assessment (Astraea) program want to leverage a recent autonomous technology demonstration to support the second phase of the project in early 2009. The Astraea program is looking at developing the ability to operate unmanned aerial vehicles in non-segregated airspace. Two UAV missions were flown in a synthetic environment. The first simulated a search-and-rescue mission, the second a flight from Wales to the north of Scotland.
NASA Ames Research Center will use its small-spacecraft technical expertise in collaboration with Odyssey Moon Ventures to develop lunar landing technology that may help Odyssey Moon’s pursuit of the $30-million Google Lunar X-Prize but isn’t restricted to it. Ames will be reimbursed for providing technical support, which will include data from its Common Spacecraft Bus, a modular design applicable for lunar landers or orbiters. Based in Henderson, Nev., Odyssey is a sister company with Odyssey Moon Ltd.
As elsewhere in Europe, France’s aerospace industry is approaching a risky crossroad. The global financial crisis will likely pummel the civil side, with potentially dire consequences for both Airbus’s backlog and Falcon business jet sales. Major space programs such as telecommunications satellites and the Ariane 5 heavy-lift booster could suffer, too, just as new competitors are appearing on the horizon.
Armadillo Aerospace is developing a suborbital space-tourism vehicle based on the vertical takeoff/landing techniques it used to win the $350,000 Level One prize in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. The Rockwall, Tex.-based company is proposing a $100,000 flight to the edge of space for well-heeled adventurers. That would be half the $200,000 ticket price for a ride on Virgin Galactic’s air-launched SpaceShipTwo, under development at Scaled Composites in Mojave, Calif.
Qantas and British Airways have agreed to pay hefty fines to Australian authorities over alleged cargo price-fixing, with other carriers expected to follow. Qantas will pay A$20 million ($13.4 million), and BA A$5 million. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says it’s continuing to “investigate other airlines, some of which are assisting voluntarily, while others are not.” It believes it can soon resolve investigations with other cooperating airlines.
Phil Boyer, who is president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn. (AOPA), has received this year’s Donald D. Engen Aero Club Trophy for Aviation Excellence from the Washington Aero Club . The trophy is named after the late Admiral Engen and recognizes a lifetime of achievement in aviation, or a single event or series of events that reaffirms the Wright brothers’ standard of excellence in aviation. Boyer has led AOPA since 1990 and is only the third president since AOPA began in 1939.
The Pentagon is conducting an assessment of threats to U.S. space systems, including those from Earth and in space. This topic has taken a high priority as Washington tries to work through a way to posture its systems to counter the threat posed by antisatellite weapons. The findings could lead the Air Force to direct the engineering of protective systems for satellites or for their ground-based hubs. Threat analyses already have prompted Gen.
The financial outlook for the global airline industry is rapidly deteriorating due to a precipitous decline in traffic and despite a ray of relief by way of reduced oil prices. The drop in traffic in September for the airline industry has International Air Transport Assn. Director General Giovanni Bisignani worried that the projection of a $5.2-billion industry loss this year is no longer accurate. “The result could be worse for this year,” and, he adds, “we will have a very difficult year ahead of us.”
AAI Acquisitions (AAIA), which purchased the assets of bankrupt very-light-jet developer Adam Aircraft, has suspended development and flight testing of the A700 after its Russian backers cut back monthly payments. Except for a core engineering team, workers have been laid off to cut expenses while a new schedule is developed. AAIA had planned to certificate the A700 in 2010. AIAA CEO Jack Braly declines to speculate when a new schedule will be announced, saying worldwide economic conditions need to play out.
Perhaps an old-fashioned duel might be the best way to untangle the Air Force’s botched attempts to buy a new refueling tanker fleet. Pentagon acquisition czar John Young’s team suggested such a plan before Defense Secretary Robert Gates terminated the competition, punting the $35-billion program to the next administration. Young’s team called for a price shootout, which he says wasn’t welcomed by either contractor team. Both proposals—Northrop Grumman/EADS North America’s A300-200 and Boeing’s 767-200ER—exceeded the basic threshold requirements.
The fortunes of U.S. airlines and their counterparts in Asia-Pacific and Europe are diverging and for the first time in a long time, it’s the American carriers that are better positioned to weather the onset of turbulent times.
Performance-Based Logistics, a strategy for making sure warfighters have the equiopment they need when they need it, works. Government, industry and academic studies show PBL contracts regularly improve availability 20-40% and costs by 15-20%. Caught in the pincer of escalating military risks and increasing budget pressures, one might expect military leaders to be clamoring for PBL, but there are pockets of outright resistance. Some counterarguments are solid, but three are paper tigers:
Jim Williams (see photo) has been appointed vice president-avionics sales and the Defense Avionics Group of Stevens Aviation , Greenville, S.C. He was director of operations.
Malaysia has suspended its proposed order for Eurocopter EC725 Cougar helicopters pending stabilization of the global economy or 2011, whichever comes first. The price is 1.679 billion ringgit ($470 million) for 12 helicopters. There is no suggestion that the competition will be reopened for such rivals as the AgustaWestland AW101 or Mil Mi-17. But, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency is acquiring three AW139 twin-engine helicopters for search-and-rescue, patrol and policing roles. The agency also has options for an unspecified number of AW139s.
The European Commission is proposing that ADS-B “out” avionics be installed on airline aircraft and business jets five years earlier than the FAA’s plan. Full airborne coverage in Europe will let any nation there move ahead with ground infrastructure at will.
Phoenix Mars lander ground controllers are restoring limited science operations as they recover from cold weather-related events Oct. 28 that switched the lander to its “B side” redundant electronics and shut down one of two batteries. Winter temperatures are plunging to -150F at night and climb to only -50F during the day, at places such as the north polar landing site 200 million mi. from Earth (see photo).
The creation of a second large hub-and-spoke carrier based at London’s Heathrow Airport is becoming more realistic after BMI’s majority shareholder, Michael Bishop, exercised a put option to sell his stake to Lufthansa.
The alliance between the Teamsters Union and the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (Patco) will likely mean a stronger campaign to organize controllers in the many privately run towers around the U.S. Patco President Ron Taylor says the time is right to join forces with the Teamsters, which has 1.4 million members and a growing airline division. The controllers group has 270 members. Membership comprises controllers fired by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 after they illegally walked off the job at FAA towers.
Italy’s Telespazio SpA. will serve as the Europe/North Africa commercial regional affiliate for the new GeoEye-1 high-resolution imaging satellite, under an arrangement announced Oct. 29. The deal also gives the Rome-based company access to Ikonos satellite imagery collected after Dec. 31. The U.S. government must approve the imagery-collection, processing and sales rights granted the Italian company for both spacecraft. GeoEye-1 is set to become fully operational later this fall. It was launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on Sept. 6.
