In a move expected to speed the adoption of Required Navigation Performance approaches and departures by U.S. airlines, the FAA has approved the first third-party provider to design these custom procedures.
Bush administration officials believe the danger of a terrorist attack on airlines has not receded since a plot to blow up a dozen airliners on the same day was thwarted in Britain eight months ago, according to the Associated Press.
As Lufthansa Technik sorts out the details of handling the Airbus A380, it's eyeing the next challenge--getting set for the Boeing 747-8 and GEnx engine. The German maintenance, repair and overhaul operation committed to the General Electric powerplant even before its sister airline group, Lufthansa, opted for the 747-8, which uses the turbofan. Spare engines have already been ordered to ensure that technicians are trained and supplies in hand once work begins.
The U.S. Air Force is considering whether its newest space-based ballistic missile warning sensor can be declared operational earlier than the planned mid-2008 milestone, according to Program Executive Officer for Space Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel.
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The European Commission is unhappy with the implementation of passenger rights rules in the European Union and threatening to take action if things don't improve in the next six months. The EC says passengers are still not being properly notified of their rights, and implementation of rules isn't consistent. The passenger rights legislation in Europe is about two years old. If airlines and member states don't improve their behavior in the next six months, the EC is threatening to pursue punitive action.
Scott Horowitz, NASA's exploration systems honcho, starts very preliminary talks with potential commercial and military users of the Ares launch vehicles the agency is developing under its Constellation Program. The human-rated Ares I and heavy-lift Ares V, both derived from space shuttle and other heritage hardware, are designed to get humans headed back to the Moon and on beyond into the Solar System (see p. 31). But Administrator Michael Griffin says the more users that can be found for the new vehicles once they start flying in the coming decade, the better.
General Electric is on track to complete ground and flight tests of the GE90-derived GEnx-1B for the Boeing 787 by midsummer in order to finish paperwork for FAA certification by Sept. 15.
Viking Air Ltd. plans to restart production of the de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter this month with first deliveries scheduled in 2009. The Twin Otter was last produced in 1988 by de Havilland Canada.
General Electric's Peebles, Ohio, facility is moving beyond its traditional role as an engine test center to assume responsibility for final assembly of large-fan engines, such as this GEnx. Unprecedented order rates across its product line--especially in large-fan GE90 and GEnxes--has prompted the company to reevaluate production workshares at its factories across the country (see p. 56).
Arianespace affiliate Starsem has set the first Soyuz launch of the year for May 22, with the first of two Globalstar replenishment payloads. It will be preceded by an Ariane 5 mission, carrying Intelsat's Galaxy 17 and the SES Astra 1L communications satellites, in early May. Earlier this month, Arianespace confirmed an order to launch two additional Intelsat spacecraft that had been previously earmarked for Sea Launch's Land Launch derivative.
High-speed wind-tunnel testing is underway of a 1:16 scale model of the European Neuron unmanned combat air vehicle design. Saab, one of the primary partners in the Dassault-led initiative, ran the latest tests at the Forces Research Institute in Stockholm. The test was to assess aircraft handling throughout the flight envelope. Low-speed tests took place last year in Switzerland and last month in France. The full-sized Neuron is to measure 9.3 meters (30.5 ft.) long with a 12.5-meter wingspan.
Joe Bogosian (see photo) has become president/chief operating officer of the U.S. subsidiary of Paris-based Safran. He was assistant FAA administrator for the Office of International Aviation.
Regarding the article on fuel filter failures (AW&ST Mar. 19/26, p. 38), as a fuel system engineer at an engine manufacturer, I have been closely involved with FAA certification of fuel pumps. Filters were certified as part of a pump, but dual filter sourcing was conducted by running additional tests. There are many tests required and by the time the engine is certified, it is pretty certain the bugs have been eliminated.
Officials of Goodrich Corp. and Pemco Aviation Services, two of the world's major players in airline and military MRO, are reaching out to their customers to meet their needs while simultaneously grappling with day-to-day cost and productivity issues.
The International Air Transport Assn. says it gets along with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China better than with any other military service. That's convenient, since the military effectively owns China's highly restricted airspace, but it hardly fits with the traditional view of the PLA as secretive and uninterested in working with foreigners. IATA's director-general, Giovanni Bisignani, points to success in opening new routes across China during the past three years.
USAF Gen. (ret.) John A. Gordon has been appointed to the board of directors of the New York-based EDO Corp. He was homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush and had been deputy director of central intelligence.
Alliant Techsystems will spend about $100 million to buy employee-owned Swales Aerospace of Beltsville, Md., in a move designed to enhance the Minneapolis-based company's capabilities in the small-satellite and operationally responsive space arenas. The deal, subject to Hart-Scott-Rodino review and approval by Swales's employee shareholders, should close in about 30 days. ATK hopes to make itself more attractive to the Pentagon's operationally responsive space push by combining Swales's micro-satellite specialty with its own space-launch capabilities.
U.S. Air Force/Northrop Grumman Defense Support Program DSP 23 missile warning spacecraft is set for launch this summer from Cape Canaveral. The $400-million spacecraft will be the final in the DSP series as USAF transitions to the Sbirs system. But this satellite is to support warning and intelligence operations until about 2022. Infrared telescope is at the center, minus long barrel sunshade. Red-capped Los Alamos/Sandia nuclear explosion detectors are at the base of telescope.
I take issue with your writer Frank Morring, Jr.'s statement (AW&ST Mar. 19/26, p. 93) that reads: "The results provided another data point that the Earth's climate is warming as a result of human activities and the greenhouse gases they produce." The data may indicate the Earth is warming but say nothing about the cause. I request that Morring report facts and spare us the politically correct propaganda. Perhaps you can induce him to write on how the Vikings farmed in Greenland between 700-1000 A.D. until global cooling forced them to leave.
Paul O'Brien has been promoted to manager of product engineering from senior product engineer for Peterborough-based New Hampshire Ball Bearing's Astro Div.
Nine Star Alliance partners and BMI, a big winner in the prospective U.S.-European Union aviation agreement (AW&ST Apr. 2, p. 60), moved quickly to solidify their gains. On Apr. 2, they applied to the U.S. Transportation Dept. for antitrust immunity in operations between the U.S. and U.K., once the agreement takes effect Mar. 30, 2008. The department approved immunity in 2002, contingent on a U.S.-U.K. open skies agreement, which the new EU deal provides, and on a further review by the department, which is what the Star carriers are seeking.
COMP AIR AVIATION'S PROOF-OF-CONCEPT COMP AIR 12 turboprop business aircraft is being prepared to make its debut at the Sun 'N Fun show this month. Plans call for the airplane to be flown to Lakeland, Fla., on Apr. 17 and be on static display at the company's exhibit area throughout the week-long event.
