This first of two Eurocopter Multi-Role Helicopters (MRH90s)—the Australian version of the NH90 helicopter—arrived at the Australian Aerospace facility in Brisbane on Nov. 14.
Quang-Viet Nguyen of the NASA Glenn Research Center’s Combustion Branch has received an R&D 100 Award from the editors of R&D magazine for developing a High Speed Electro-Mechanical Shutter for Imaging Spectrographs. The technology uses electronically synchronized slotted wheels (chopper blades) to gate pulses of light at durations as short as 10 millionths of a second. This short time gate permits the accurate measurement of very faint light signals generated by a laser using a technique called Raman scattering.
Your excellent article “Rapid Recovery” (AW&ST Oct. 29, p. 42) addresses major problems that passengers continue to pay for with money and wasted time. The propblems will continue to mount unless the root causes are properly studied. •Not many business passengers can finish their work to avoid rushing to the airport and being stuck in rush-hour traffic before complementing the wasted late afternoon with more wasted time on a rush-hour taxiway. Many passengers probably would rather wine and dine before heading to the airport after the evening rush hour.
“We are in a change mode,” says Markus Buergin, SR Technics’ vice president of group technical training: commercial aircraft with new technology, like the A380, are flying while older aircraft still operate, too, he notes.
Europe’s Ulysses solar observatory will spend another year making observations out of the plane of the ecliptic, following a unanimous decision by the European Space Agency’s Science Program Committee to continue its service life, using it until March 2009. That gives the spacecraft more time to work with NASA’s twin Stereo spacecraft, which move apart in heliocentric orbit to provide 3D views of coronal mass ejections and other solar phenomena as they interact with Earth.
The U.S. Marine Corps is spending $19.3 million on two battlefield air-targeting Micro Air Vehicle (Batmav) systems from AeroVironment Inc. The systems consist of two Wasp III micro air vehicles, AeroVironment’s advanced battery charger, spares and support services.
Jose Castellon (see photos) and Adriana Magana, who are engineers for the Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Space Technology Sector, Redondo Beach, Calif,, have received awards from the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Corp . Castellon won the Professional Achievement Award and Magana was named a Luminary Honoree. Castellon is space segment lead for Northrop Grumman’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series program, while Magana is a software engineer and digital design team member for the Transformational Satellite Communications System.
Unmanned combat aerial vehicle propulsion and future families of anti-air and anti-armor missile programs are emerging as key candidates to potentially reinvigorate U.K.-French defense collaboration in the aerospace arena. The UCAV engine joint work would likely involve Rolls-Royce and Snecma. London and Paris have possible future requirements for deep-strike UCAVs, and both countries are presently developing applicable technologies.
Ugly though it may be to the outside world, the specially modified 747-400 Dreamlifter is viewed as a thing of beauty within Boeing and those associated with the 787, production of which would be impossible without this aeronautical behemoth.
I was concerned by the thought behind your articles “Seed Money” and “Gearing Up” (AW&ST Oct. 15, pp. 48 and 44). The juxtaposition of funding speaks volumes about the lack of congressional interest in U.S. industry, fair worldwide competition, the trade/budget deficit and the American job market.
The satellite industry received a mixed bag of news last week, with the return to flight of Proton M but yet another postponement for Sea Launch. The Proton M, equipped with its Khrunichev Breeze M upper stage, returned to service as expected on Nov. 18 carrying the SES/Sirius 4 telecom satellite, marking the fourth mission of the year for International Launch Services. Sirius 4 is expected to begin operating in January at 5 deg. E. Long.
Raytheon will provide the U.S. Army with an intelligence-gathering payload for manned and unmanned aircraft. The company will design, build, test and integrate a version of its Multi-Spectrum Targeting System and could produce up to 875 units to equip the Army’s Extended Range Multi-Purpose unmanned aircraft, the U.S. Air Force’s Predator and Reaper UAVs, the U.S. Navy’s Sikorsky MH-60R/S helicopters and certain special operations aircraft.
NATO is desperately short of attack and transport helicopters that can support its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, senior sources in NATO Headquarters say. In recent weeks, the alliance has been examining multiple options to correct the shortfall.
Arianespace is in negotiation to purchase an additional 10-15 Soyuz rockets above the eight it has on firm order. The Soyuz is being used to broaden the European company’s portfolio of launch systems. Arianespace’s first Soyuz launch is now penciled in for March 2009 from the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana.
Cessna says it expects to decide early next year whether to launch its new Large Cabin Concept. The company says it received many expressions of interest in the LCC, but declines to name any. Five were made public by Wallan Aviation of Saudi Arabia.
Thales Avionics has introduced a 3D upgrade to its TopSeries inflight entertainment system (IFE) that the company says will triple the capacity of existing IFE equipment. The new version is aimed chiefly at video games, moving maps and interactive destination programs and will accept MPEG 1,2,4 and WM9 formats. The TopSeries will be available in screen sizes down to 8.9 in. and will be installed first on the Boeing 787.
A few weeks ago, in his final meeting with editors and reporters as CEO of the Aerospace Industries Assn., John Douglass discussed proposals from the association intended to make it easier for the Defense Dept. to attract top private-sector talent to appointive jobs.
A spike in helium prices is already hitting the launch systems industry hard, though the worst is yet to come. The cost of the gas has risen 40% just in the past year for the U.S. Air Force, which uses it for satellite launches. Another significant increase is expected next year, Air Force officials say.
Six months ago, with the clock ticking to rollout and a mountain of systems work still due for completion, 787 systems director Mike Sinnett reflected on lessons learned along the way. “They are a lot like those on any program. Number one—airplanes are hard. Two—schedules are too tight. Three—don’t develop new tools and processes while developing a new aircraft. We’ve done that, we did it before, and we’ve always said we’ll never do it again.”
China Southern Airlines Co.’s Zhuhai Helicopter Branch has placed orders for two S-76C++ and an S-92A to support offshore oil exploration in the South China Sea and Bohai Bay. Zhuhai began operating the S-76 series in 1984 and provides support for ExxonMobil, Phillips Petroleum and China National Offshore Oil Corp. In other news, Bell Helicopter Textron has sold four of its Model 429 twin-engine helos to California Shock Trauma Air Rescue. Initial deliveries of the 429 to customers are set to begin late in 2008.
Displeasure with U.S. carriers is growing overall, while international carriers continue to fare far better, according to the Zagat 2007 Global Airlines Survey. The survey includes 7,498 frequent fliers who took 19.7 flights on average in the past year. Since the first survey in 1990, the ratings for American, Delta, Northwest, United and US Airways decreased by up to nine points on the 30-point scale. Midwest Airlines was the top U.S. airline for economy class and Virgin America for premium class.
Officials in the turbulent world of Pentagon acquisition don’t like being boxed in, and Sue Payton, the top USAF procurement official, says she wants to keep both costly strategic airlifter programs alive if for no other reason than to foster lower pricing through competition—or maybe a little desperation—among the contractors. The Air Force isn’t providing funds to keep Boeing’s C-17 production line alive past 2009, though Congress is expected to step in again with supplemental funding, as it did last year.
Anyone looking for a discouraging word need search no farther than page 32 of this issue, in an article that quotes a Canadian NATO official about the alliance’s difficulties in fielding adequate helicopter forces in Afghanistan. “It’s not that NATO nations don’t have helicopters,” the official says. “The problem is that helicopters are very expensive to ship to Afghanistan and to operate and maintain there. I think that there are several nations who prefer to keep their helicopters at home for this reason.”
