U.S. and Russian officials have outlined a plan to dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus plutonium from Moscow’s nuclear weapons program. The U.S. will help Russia convert plutonium into mixed oxide fuel that can be irradiated, say officials of the Energy Dept. The two countries also plan to continue cooperation of development of an advanced gas-cooled, high-temperature reactor.
General Electric has won a contract for an unspecified amount for engineering and design of the Advanced Affordable Turbine Engine, a U.S. Army program to develop a 3,000-shp. engine for the next generation of military attack and utility helicopters. Goals include a 65% improvement in shaft-horsepower-to-weight, 25% reduction in specific fuel consumption, 20% improvement in design life, 35% reduction in production and maintenance costs, and a 15% reduction in development costs.
The FAA’s new FAR Part 60, scheduled for implementation in May, will be aimed at codifying qualification standards for simulators and harmonizing U.S. regulations with those in Europe. FAA officials say plans call for FAR Part 60 to become effective May 30, 2008, with a final compliance date of May 30, 2010. The rule has been co-developed during the past seven years by the agency’s National Simulator Program (NSP) office and the simulation industry, says Bob Davis, manager of the NSP based in Atlanta.
Spacewalkers on the upcoming STS-122/1E International Space Station assembly mission likely will give a full inspection to the solar array joint hobbling power production, now that the ISS crew has recovered time lost on the last mission. Barring problems on the final extravehicular activity (EVA) of the current “stage” between shuttle visits, the Expedition 16 crew was on track to support a launch of the space shuttle Atlantis from the beginning of its Dec. 6-13 window.
Roger Dykmann has been promoted to director of aviation original equipment manufacturer sales for the Americas from OEM sales manager for Garmin International Inc. , Olathe, Kan. Jim Alpiser has been promoted to director of aviation aftermarket sales for the Americas from aviation OEM sales manager. Tim Casey has been appointed sales manager for portables, light sport aircraft and experimental aircraft. And, Dave Brown has become sales manager for integrated flight deck retrofit programs. He was a regional sales manager.
Lockheed Martin is free to start working on detailed design for its Orion crew exploration vehicle, following briefings to senior NASA managers on the latest concept for the vehicle. Designated version 607, the point-of-departure vehicle is within the targeted 50,000-lb. “effective payload mass” to Earth-injection orbit, and continues to support crews of six to the International Space Station and four to the Moon, says Caris (Skip) Hatfield, NASA’s Orion program manager. The basic 5-meter-dia.
The privatization of Chicago Midway International Airport is one step closer after the City of Chicago Aviation Dept. and Southwest Airlines reached a tentative agreement on the process. The privatization effort had stalled after Southwest and other airlines expressed concern about how their operations would be affected. The terms of the deal would provide for a longer-term pricing and use agreement through 2033; the current agreement expires in 2012. It will also transfer the risk of operations and maintenance costs from the airlines to the airport operator.
Bill Moltenbrey (see photos) has been named director of Business Jet Center Ltd. at Dallas Love Field and Oakland (Calif.) International Airport. He worked in finance, administration and business development. Jason Pons has been promoted to manager from assistant manager of fixed-based operations. And, D.J. Korzyniewski has been named manager of the Concierge Services Dept. She was customer service manager.
Virgin Atlantic has partnered with Swiss-based charity myclimate to launch an onboard Global Standard Carbon Offset Program. The program allows Virgin passengers to buy offsets for their flights either on board or through the airline’s web site. Virgin says it is the only airline committed to Gold Standard credits which support renewable energy or energy efficient technologies. The program is specifically aimed at projects underway in India (a powerplant that runs on farm waste) and Indonesia (rebuilding a hydropower plant).
New single-engine piston aircraft fly faster, farther and higher than legacy general aviation aircraft, their glass-lined instrument panels more like flight decks of airliners with resources to match. New trainees will know no other way to fly—but how would a typical general aviation pilot with eyes long focused on analog dials safely transition to a wall of “glass” and a redesigned GA training regime?
The first Diamond Airborne Sensing DA42 Multi-Purpose Platform has been delivered to a customer, Riegl Laser Measurement Systems, for aerial surveying using laser-scanning technology, and to conduct further research into laser measurement systems.
NASA has again tested the main parachute for the Ares I and Ares V first-stage rockets, dropping them from an Air Force C-17 Nov. 15 over the Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. Derived from the chutes on the space shuttle’s solid-rocket boosters, they will let Ares boosters be recovered and reused. Measuring 150 ft. across and weighing 2,000 lb., the main Ares chute is the largest of its kind ever tested.
Michael A. Taverna (Dubai ), Douglas Barrie (Kourou, French Guiana)
EADS Astrium Services is aiming to capitalize on its success with Britain’s Skynet 5 military communications system to secure more business outside the U.K., especially in the Middle East and U.S. The Ariane 5 launch on Nov. 15, following two rocket-related delays, orbited Skynet 5B and Star One C1, a Brazilian commercial telecom satellite. Like Skynet 5A, launched in March, and Skynet 5C, to be sent up next May, the new milsatcom spacecraft is intended to provide near-global secure voice and data transmission.
Lockheed Martin is scooping up a $134.2-million contract add-on to continue the design and development of a “Partner Version” of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The idea is to come up with a version of the JSF that can be sold to foreign air forces while remaining common to the variants flown by the U.S.
USAF Brig. Gen. John D. Posner has become director of Air Force Smart Operations 21, at U.S. Air Force Headquarters at the Pentagon. He has been deputy director of operations at the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon. Posner will be succeeded by Brig. Gen. Scott E. Wuesthoff, who has been vice commander of the Tanker Airlift Control Center of Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Ill.
FlightSafety International, a provider of simulation and training to business and general aviation pilots for more than half a century, has an eye on expanding its involvement with the U.S. military. The military is not a new market segment for the company, but current trends are creating circumstances that could fuel substantial growth.
Starting in 2008, CAE will provide training for all AirAsia pilots at the airline’s six-bay simulator training academy at Kuala Lumpur. Under a contract valued at C$50 million ($50.9 million), CAE will manage AirAsia’s Type Rating Training Organization at its academy and conduct initial type rating and cross-crew qualification courses for the Airbus A320 and A330 and Boeing 737.
An Engine Alliance GP7200 of the kind slated to power the Emirates A380 lies torn apart in a cell at GE Aviation’s shop facility in Wales. It will be reassembled in coming months, closing a small chapter in a voluminous tale of test and discovery aimed at producing the most reliable engine ever.
An acute shortage of qualified aircraft mechanics in Delaware has led to collaboration between the Sussex County Council, aircraft modification provider PATS Aircraft and Delaware Technical & Community College (DTCC) to renovate a large hangar at the airport as a training school for airframe mechanics. The school, set to open in 2008, will offer a mechanic’s associate degree through DTCC, feature two classrooms, four laboratories and a technical library. The initiative is the first of its kind in the state.
Don Wetekam, president of AAR Aircraft Services-Oklahoma has been inducted into the Shingo Prize Academy , which consists of individuals who have distinguished themselves in manufacturing and operations. Wetekam was deputy chief of staff for installations and logistics with the U.S. Air Force, and currently leads operations at AAR’s maintenance, repair and overhaul facility at Will Rogers World Airport, and AAR’s MRO facilities in Hot Springs, Ark., and Roswell, N.M.
Japan Airlines, in an effort to reduce waiting times by half, is renovating passenger check-in counters at Terminal 2 at Tokyo’s Narita airport. By Dec. 18, new “user-friendly” counters will be in place for first- and business-class passengers, as well as “priority guests,” such as passengers with disabilities, people traveling with babies and expectant mothers. The counters will be lower and accompanied by chairs, handrails and cane-holders.
U.K.-based airports operator BAA saw its operating profit drop 18% in the first nine months of 2007 to £544 million ($1.1 billion). BAA blamed the drop on a £34-million loss due to currency rates on its sale of Budapest Airport, as well as costs associated with Heathrow Airport’s new Terminal 5 and depreciation on Terminals 1 and 2. The operator also spent £27 million to fund U.K. government security mandates and another £12 million to clean terminals and shorten security lines that plagued all its airports, but especially Heathrow and Gatwick.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center will begin integrating a state-of-the-art seismic imager soon into its planned Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), the first spacecraft in the agency’s “Living With a Star” research effort. Built by Stanford University and the Lockheed Martin Solar Astrophysics Laboratory, this Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) will measure the Doppler shifts of sound waves generated by hot, ionized gas.
