USAF Lt. Cols. Ted Fordyce and Robert Monroe As soldiers and Marines on the ground continue to wage an increasingly complex war against terrorist elements in Iraq and Afghanistan, they daily depend more on air support from the Air Force's deployed AC-130H/U gunships and their crews. The special operations community often says of the adversaries on the wrong side of its gunships: "You can run, but you'll only die tired."
Joanne Smith has been promoted to senior vice president-inflight service and global product development from vice president-marketing at Delta Air Lines, following the retirement of Paulette Corbin. Succeeding Smith will be Tim Mapes, who is being promoted from managing director for marketing and cultural transformation. Sandy Gordon has been promoted to vice president-inflight service and training from managing director for inflight service.
Robert Rozek has become global director of perishables for Netherlands-based Martinair and Colombia-headquartered Tampa Cargo. He was sales director for Latin America for Martinair.
Raymond J. Wilson has been appointed to the board of directors of Innovative Solutions & Support Inc., Exton, Pa. He is an independent aerospace manufacturing consultant.
French defense minister Michele Alliot-Marie is still in a position to approve the purchase of long-lead items for a second aircraft carrier, PA2, despite the approach of presidential elections next month, defense officials say. In a recent meeting with her British counterpart, Des Browne, the two ministers expressed satisfaction with progress on building the PA2 and Britain's two new CVFs on a cooperative basis.
Benjamin Burton has been named Washington-based staff vice president-compliance and regulatory affairs and John Van Maren director of the Simulation Operation Support unit for New York-headquartered FlightSafety International. Burton was senior director of safety and compliance for America West Airlines, while Van Maren was FSI's director of program management.
Boeing will offer several options for wheelchair access to lavatories on its 787, plus features to make it easier for disabled people to use lavatories. Partnering with Oregon State University's National Center for Accessible Transportation, Boeing designed interior and exterior door handles that are easier to use for people with limited hand agility. They took a cue from public restrooms to include "touchless" controls for faucets, toilet flushing and waste flaps. All are activated by infrared sensors. U.S.
Blaine A. Salvador (see photo) has become vice president of the Mission Support Solutions and Integrated Range and Installation Solutions product lines for the Raytheon Technical Services Co., Reston, Va. He was director of logistics solutions for Lockheed Martin Information and Technology Services.
Bangkok's 90-year-old Don Muang Airport reopened Mar. 25 to ease congestion at the new $3.8-billion Suvarnabhumi International Airport, where operations will be reduced while cracks are repaired in the runways. Don Muang will handle 140 domestic flights a day for Thai Airways, Nok Air and One-Two-Go, according to the Associated Press.
Bombardier's CSeries seems stuck in limbo as the airframer continues to put off committing to the aircraft's launch. Last week company executives said they did not need to make a launch decision before sometime in 2008 to meet a targeted 2013 entry-into-service date. The CSeries emerged in 2005, and last year Bombardier opted not to commit to a launch after potential customers pointed out it would be hard to wait for the company's original entry-into-service date of 2010.
Boeing will be the first airframer to use Crane Aerospace and Electronics' new weight and balance system. "AirWeighs" will be on the 777F and utilize the aircraft's landing gear struts as scales, which allows it to determine the load-bearing pressure at each strut precisely. The payload can then be shifted to achieve the proper center of gravity. The traditional method relies on the load master calculating the weight based on poundage of individual pieces of cargo.
When it comes to airline capacity, not all world regions are equal. But while there is often enormous disparity between population and capacity share, there is a much closer correlation between GDP and capacity. Combined in different ways, these indicators can all give important clues about untapped demand. There are many factors that contribute to airline capacity within each region. Among these are population, geography, economics, infrastructure and political stability.
Months in the making, EADS and Russia's United Aircraft Corp. (OAK) have finally clinched a broad-based partnership deal in conjunction with Aeroflot's commitment to purchase 22 Airbus twin-widebody A350XWBs. As part of the arrangement, long talked about but delayed as Aeroflot held off announcing its fleet decision (it may also buy Boeing 787s), Russian industry will be offered up to 5% airframe participation in the A350 as a risk-sharing partner.
Stork Aerospace has completed another step in its effort to expand its U.S. presence--its acquisition, through its Fokker Services unit, of Aerotron AirPower in LaGrange, Ga. Stork management notes that building up its U.S. MRO activities is a critical element of its strategy. Airinc was purchased last year.
An article on development of the Airbus A320 (AW&ST Mar. 5, p. 46) mischaracterized the effects of a series of aerodynamic enhancements. They are to provide a 1% improvement in fuel burn in cruise.
Air Berlin is trying to establish itself as a long-haul carrier following its takeover of LTU International Airways, and is an even more serious competitor for Lufthansa in the German market.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. (ret.) Walter E. Buchanan, 3rd One of the lasting problems in the history of warfare is knowing where people are--precisely--on the battlefield and who they are. That need is growing daily as combatants abandon uniforms and embrace new technologies such as wireless communications networks that permit them to operate flexibly, in small, lethal groups and often from a distance.
Rosemary Vassiliadis, Deputy Director of Aviation (Clark County Aviation Dept., Las Vegas, Nev.)
Contrary to claims made in a letter from an unnamed pilot, the ramp control system at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas has been a great success in helping to manage ground traffic at one of the world's busiest commercial airports (AW&ST Mar. 5, p. 6).
The U.S. Marines want to pay less for their F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and the corps' aviation planners say costs can be slashed if the Air Force and Navy bought some of their F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing (Stovl) variants.
Galileo Avionica will provide India with Mirach 100/5 target drone services under a year-long, €5-million arrangement. This set-up could be a precursor to New Delhi buying the system outright or signing up for a long-term service agreement.
Members of Congress say they are often contacted by constituents frustrated over whom to see about gadgets or concepts they've developed to help secure the homeland. Jay Cohen, head of the Homeland Security Dept.'s research and development arm, says he may have a solution soon. Cohen's science and technology directorate is in discussions with search engine company Google to develop a web-based technology clearinghouse.
The eight-member Galileo Operating Consortium should be in a better position to negotiate an agreement to deploy and run the planned European navigation-satellite constellation, now that it has created a single legal entity to negotiate with the European Commission (EC). The absence of such a body--and a CEO to run it--was a chief reason cited by EC Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot for the current deadlock in negotiations for an EC concession with the consortium for the 30-satellite system. On Mar.
