The Kazan Production Assn. has rolled out another Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bomber, completing airframe work that had been frozen since the early 1990s. The air force now has 16-18 Tu-160s operational. The Kazan site also is reported to have subassemblies for a further two Tu-160s.
John Byerly, deputy assistant U.S. secretary of State for transportation affairs, and Daniel Calleja, director of the Air Transport Directorate of the European Commission, led negotiating teams that reached a historic aviation liberalization agreement on Apr. 30, 2007. Effective in March, the agreement allows any European airline to operate between the U.S. and all points in Europe, not just in its home country. The agreement also opens up routes between the U.S. and London Heathrow Airport to any airline from the U.S. and Europe.
Neal J. Keating has been named president/CEO of the Kaman Corp. , Bloomfield, Conn. As CEO, he succeeds Paul R. Kuhn, who will continue as chairman until retiring on Feb. 29. Keating has been president/chief operating officer at Kaman and was managing director/CEO of GKN Aerospace and executive vice president/chief operating officer of Rockwell Collins Commercial Systems.
Steven Ozuna, President (New Bedford Panoramex Corp.)
In October 2006, a commerical jet flying to Newark, N.J., mistakenly landed on a taxiway. Fortunately, there were no injuries or damage. A recent Government Accountability Office report says there were 370 U.S. runway safety incidents in Fiscal 2007.
Keith Halbert has become senior vice president/chief information officer for United Airlines parent UAL Corp. He was vice president/CIO at Electronic Data Systems.
Robert Wall (Dubai, United Arab Emirates), Michael A. Taverna (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
Saudi Arabia’s Nasair, a low-fare carrier, is poised for major fleet growth this year, with an eye on international service. National Air Services (NAS), Nasair’s parent, has set an aggressive plan, not just for its low-fare airline but also for its business jet services operation. And while the flurry of recent aircraft acquisitions has satisfied demand for bizjets for the next five years, in other areas more purchases loom, says NAS CEO Edward Winter.
Boeing’s spacecraft order book is a little bigger with the new year. As 2007 drew to a close, NASA ordered two Tracking and Relay Data Satellites in a TDRS series first fielded in 2000. TDRS-K is to be ready for launch in 2012 and TDRS-L in 2013. With all options exercised, the contract will be worth $1.2 billion. It includes upgrades to NASA’s TDRS system ground terminals. The company also received an order from the U.S. Air Force for a sixth Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) spacecraft to fulfill a cooperative agreement the service signed Nov.
Influence is difficult to measure. Yet there can be no doubt that the individuals profiled in the next seven pages had a major impact on aviation, space and defense in 2007. The question is who had the biggest impact in shaping events—in a positive or negative way. That is what Aviation Week & Space Technology editors considered in selecting the magazine’s third annual Person of the Year.
Although Monday morning quarterbacking has a grand tradition in sports and aviation, the comments of Karl Kettler are counterproductive and misinformed. He would put himself in the captain’s seat at the time of a catastrophic event and say, “I would have done better.”
Qian Xuesen, the man who laid the foundation for China’s major achievements in space in 2007 and who is considered the father of the country’s space program, is Aviation Week & Space Technology’s Person of the Year (see p. 56). Scott Marshall of the AW&ST Art Dept. created the cover illustration, drawing from photos of Qian.
China is developing a nuclear-powered lunar lander/rover that will also raise nuclear-related launch safety issues when the mission is flown sometime between 2015-17.
Regarding the article “Not by Speed Alone” (AW&ST Oct. 8, 2007, p. 54), it is hard to believe Apr. 1 has already arrived. If range and payload are the key criteria, as described herein, these are not first-order caliber targets, and the subsonic platforms exist. They only have to be upgraded for penetration aids and survivability. If that is not good enough, building a new airframe with materials and electronic warfare suites that will allow mission success for these targets is not a technology-driven event.
Airbus has delivered its 5,000th commercial transport, a Qantas Airways A330-200. Although there are obviously more important milestones for an aircraft manufacturer than celebrating an “nth” aircraft delivery, the brief ceremony held at Toulouse Airport was highly symbolic. This is especially true for those who recall the late 1960s and 1970s, when the European industry was struggling to devise a realistic strategy to regain a significant share in the airliner market.
Gerald Grinstein was the right man at the right time for Delta Air Lines, taking over as CEO when the carrier was foundering and leading it through a painful—but ultimately successful—recovery.
Mary Glackin has been named deputy undersecretary of Commerce for oceans and atmosphere as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . She was acting director of the National Weather Service.
Airplanes saturate New York’s airways and airports. Southern California is heading for a capacity crunch. Chicago’s modernization of O’Hare will not be enough for the growing Great Lakes region.
A team from the University of North Dakota’s UND Aerospace is developing a resource manual to guide airport and airline employees coping with traumatic events. The team comprises three UND Aerospace professors and representatives of the university’s psychology and medical units. The National Academies selected the UND team over three competitors and awarded a $299,416 contract to it under the Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program.
Boeing and Russian VSMPO-Avisma alloys manufacturer clinched a deal for deliveries in 2011-15 of rolled titanium worth $1.25 billion, which reportedly covers almost 35% of Boeing’s demand for titanium. Earlier last year Boeing and VSMPO established an equally owned joint venture to manufacture titanium components for the Boeing 787 in Russia, in a facility that is to be fully operational by 2011.
Raytheon has completed initial testing of command and control capability for the Navy’s missile-firing, Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter. A single tactical control system can control two dissimilar air vehicles simultaneously. The company is developing the next-generation C2 system for unmanned aircraft, which will control stealthy and non-stealthy UAVs in the same airspace.
Boeing won an $8.7-million U.S. Air Force contract to provide parts for full-rate production of Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems for F-16s in Turkey and Greece and F/A-18s in Australia. Honeywell was awarded a $21-million contract add-on for full-rate production of 354 advanced multi-purpose displays for new and retrofitted U.S. and Australian F/A-18E/Fs and EA-18Gs. Boeing also won a $16.6-million contract add-on for procurement of nine Harpoon lightweight canister rounds for Turkey.
John R. Landon (see photo) has been appointed vice president-missiles within the Northrop Grumman Corp. ’s government relations organization in Washington. He was deputy assistant Defense secretary for command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and information technology acquisition.
The U.S. Navy is exploring alternative ship platforms to host a sea trial of the MQ-8B because of continued delays in the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), which was to house the unmanned rotorcraft. The Navy hopes to reach initial operational capability with the Fire Scout in early 2009. The first two LCS are expected this year, but work by Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics on additional ships was canceled last year, leaving the Fire Scout vehicle without an official landing platform.
The two aviation conglomerates that China created out of its state industry in 1999, Avic I and Avic II, may re-merge their commercial aircraft businesses. An Avic 1 vice president says the two companies probably will “undertake consolidation and cooperation.” The talks are supposed to be exploratory; other officials say an agreement may be announced in March. The aim is to help the industry prepare for the production of a large commercial aircraft, which may turn out to be a small widebody, according to earlier reports.
NASA will skip a launch window for Mars for the first time in a decade in 2011 because of a delay in the selection process for the next Mars Scout mission forced by an undisclosed conflict of interest on the board that evaluates Scout mission proposals. The conflict was discovered in November, when NASA reviewed concept study proposals from the two Scout mission finalists. The evaluation board of members chosen from NASA, industry and the science community was disbanded and an entirely new board formed.
Boeing closed out 2007 with a rush of orders as it headed for what is likely to be a record year. The largest order, for 100 aircraft, was a formal confirmation from Dubai Aerospace Enterprises of a handshake deal announced at the Dubai air show last November. At list prices, the order is worth $10.9 billion and comprises 70 737s, 15 787s, 10 777-300ERs and five 747-8s. The 747-8 order was a milestone for the new airplane, which will debut next year, because it pushes total commitments to 103. All but 20 of them were for freighters.
