Last month's surprise visit of a 12-ship F-22 formation to Hickam AFB, Hawaii (AW&ST Feb. 19, p. 23), is prompting lots of questions at the Pentagon. It turns out that when the four lead ships crossed the International Date Line en route to Japan, their navigation computers were rendered unusable, though the aircraft continued to have "thrust and lift," according to Col. Tom Bergeson, operations group commander at the 1st Fighter Wing. The Raptors were directed to Hickam to await a fix, which was delivered via a software update.
Elected AAS Fellows were Mark Craig of the Science Applications International Corp., Jonathan Malay of the Lockheed Martin Corp., Ronald Proulx of C.S. Draper Labs, Robert Tolson of North Carolina State University, David Vallado of Analytical Graphics Inc. and Lyn Wigbels of RWI International.
The Navy is exploring the addition of a radar system and weapons for its MQ-8B Fire Scout UAV, according to Capt. Paul Morgan, UAV program manager for the Navy and Marine Corps. A specific maritime radar and weapons package is yet to be determined. Morgan says the service is interested in developing these items as a spiral upgrade--perhaps for inclusion in the Fiscal 2009 budget--to the four-blade system that will be used on board the Littoral Combat Ship now in development.
Stan Sloane has been appointed president/CEO of SRA International, Fairfax, Va., effective with the Apr. 1 retirement of Renny DiPentima. Sloane has been executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems and Solutions, Gaithersburg, Md.
Flow International of Kent, Wash., has boosted the pressure in its latest waterjet cutting machine to 87,000 psi., up from the 60,000-psi. machines common to aerospace manufacturing of engine components, landing gear parts, aircraft bins and, most recently, the composite fuselage and wing components of Boeing's 787. Flow says this boost in pressure increases cutting speeds by 20-30%.
Edward C. Freni has been named director of aviation, David M. Gambone director of human resources, Danny Theodat Levy director of strategic marketing and communications, and Thomas J. Butler director of external affairs, all for the Massachusetts Port Authority. Freni and Gambone were acting directors. Levy was promoted from director of communications and Butler from director of government and community affairs.
Space shuttle Atlantis and its hail-damaged external tank are to be rolled from Pad 39A into the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center by early this week for inspection of 7,000 divots and blemishes in the tank's foam that have delayed STS-117 to April-May and could push liftoff into June.
American Airlines is thinking about how many new narrow-body aircraft to buy soon and how many to leave to later, to take advantage of new designs from Airbus and Boeing that are expected to enter service around 2015. CEO Gerard Arpey says that if replacements for the current 737 and A320 models offer the same type of cost improvements as promised for the 787, "then obviously that is something that you want to pay a lot of attention to." American is looking for replacements for its MD-80s.
Qantas has handed General Electric an engine deal that may be the biggest of 2007, specifying the company's GEnx for 115 Boeing 787s that it has on order or option. Qantas Chief Financial Officer Peter Gregg says, "The GEnx was chosen because of its superior performance and environmental impact for the type of operation the Group aircraft will perform." CEO Geoff Dixon says the choice between the GEnx and Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 was unusually difficult.
Saudi Arabian low-fare airline SAMA expects to start service this month. The company late last year received its license from Saudi authorities. The carrier will operate Boeing 737-300s.
Russell (Chip) Childs (see photo) has been named president/chief operating officer of SkyWest Airlines, effective Apr. 2. He will succeed Ron Reber, who will remain on the staff. Childs has been vice president/controller. He will be succeeded by Eric Woodward, who has been director of financial planning and analysis.
William Vantine has been appointed president of the Risk and Technology Solutions Div. of the ARES Corp., Burlingame, Calif. He was senior vice president of the Software and Information Technology Solutions Div.
The tempo of the mid-March visit of the Airbus A380 to the U.S. has been doubled by the persistence of Los Angeles officials and Qantas Senior Executive Vice President Wally Mariani, who want to see the big double-decker land at Los Angeles Inter-national, where Qantas will operate it. As a result, two A380s will be dispatch- ed from Toulouse: one from Lufthansa destined for New York's JFK Interna- tional and the other from Qantas for LAX. Both will land Mar. 19.
Airbus will spend the next 18 months or so evaluating technology options before it locks in its A350XWB inflight connectivity offering, but the company has already decided to stick with an evolutionary approach, rather than pursue an aggressive technology leap like the one that caused its rival Boeing to falter.
Joseph J. Ensor (see photos) has been named vice president-surveillance and remote sensing, Douglas J. Norton chief information officer and Teri G. Marconi vice president-combat avionics, all for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Baltimore-based Electronic Systems Sector. Ensor was vice president-combat avionics systems, while Norton was director of operations for electronic systems in the Information Technology Sector. Marconi was director of airborne warning systems.
The F-22 fighter's debut in a Red Flag aerial combat training exercise resulted in the first simulated Raptor loss as well-prepared Red Air and international pilots battled high-flying, stealth opponents. The stealth fighters, flown by the least experienced Raptor pilots, used only rudimentary variations on standard tactics, although they should know all the basic attributes of the stealthy jet. The demonstration did not include trials of its most exotic electronic attack capabilities.
The FAA has adopted an airworthiness directive requiring Embraer 170 and 190 operators to inspect pitot drain holes of certain air data smart probes for blockage and remove accumulated moisture from the probes' pneumatic passages. The move is a result of reports of incorrect airspeed indications caused by frozen moisture in the passages that blocked the pitot sensors. An erroneous reading could reduce a crew's ability to control the aircraft.
The Navy still is undecided how to divide its buy of Joint Strike Fighters between the F-35B short-takeoff and F-35C carrier-catapult versions. "Every year we do a balancing act," says Delores Etter, assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition. "Stovl [short-takeoff/vertical landing] on carriers--that's certainly the plan the Marine Corps has at this point. There's a lot of discussion trying to determine the mix . . . and how Stovl is going to be used." Despite the uncertainty, aircraft recapitalization is not being stripped for shipbuilding, she says.
The FAA's financial bind comes as no surprise to this line pilot (AW&ST Feb. 12, p. 28). The featherbedding programs such as dysfunctional ramp controls such as were instituted in Las Vegas a couple of years back show cost is no object.
Loral Space & Communications has raised $300 million through the sale of convertible perpetual preferred stock to affiliates of its largest shareholder, MHR Fund Management. The agreement allows MHR to nominate a new member to Loral's board.
The Pentagon has corralled the last of its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter partner nations--Denmark--into joining the production and support phase of the program, less than three months after the intended target date.
If initial flight tests scheduled this month for the Civil Aircraft Missile Protection System are successful, they could herald a technology to protect aircraft against terrorist-launched infrared guided missiles, according to developers.
Bill Reznicek has become chief financial officer of First Aviation Services Inc., Westport, Conn. He was vice president-finance and information technology for the Lancaster Colony Automotive Products Div. of the Rubber Queen Corp.
