I never cease to be amazed at the perspective of our government officials. The comment from NASA Administrator Michael Griffin in the Industry Outlook column (AW&ST Nov. 6, 2006, p. 16) statement that NASA programs are "designed to make taxpayer-funded (R&D) available on an all-come basis" makes one wonder how U.S. industry can compete on a level playing field in world commerce.
USN Rear Adm. (ret.) James Godwin (see photo) has become vice president-certification and life cycle support for Athena Technologies, Warrenton, Va. He was program manager for the F/A-18.
Sea Launch is set to orbit the SES New Skies NSS-8 spacecraft Jan. 25 on a Zenit-3SL from its floating Odyssey platform in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. The 5.9-metric-ton Boeing-built satellite, equipped with 56 C-band and 36 K u-band transponders, will be the sixth unit to be operated by New Skies, and the first to be launched by Sea Launch this year. NSS-8 will be placed at 57 deg. E. Long. over the Indian Ocean, a slot currently occupied by NSS-703. The older spacecraft will be moved to 340 deg. E.
The U.S. Air Force could still field a standoff jamming aircraft on time--by 2012, say electronic warfare specialists--even though it's a task that service officials have already declared impossible.
Robert Loomis has been appointed senior technical consultant for the Washington-based Ares Corp. He was senior systems safety and reliability manager at the Kennedy Space Center.
U.S.-based Texas Pacific has withdrawn its offer to invest $30 million in Indian startup SpiceJet (photo). The private equity fund says its top management was busy with the ongoing $11-billion buyout deal for Qantas by a consortium. SpiceJet has already obtained approval from its shareholders for receiving $71.34 million in shares to raise funds for fleet expansion. The Tata Group will be allotted shares worth $16.8 million; Ishtitmar, $25 million; BNP Paribas, $15 million; Telemnix, $7 million; Goldman Sachs, $5 million, and the U.K.'s KBC Fund, $2.5 million.
Electronic warfare is becoming less a science of developing new technologies and more a process of sensor fusion, target networking and finding new ways to manipulate existing tools of the trade. A case in point--lasers and high-power microwave devices long have been eyed as competing directed-energy attack options. However, researchers are now combining the two to produce smaller, cheaper, more powerful, nonkinetic weapons.
Claude Martel, Jean-Marc Trottier and David Ze have, respectively, been named executive vice president, vice president-business development and network operations, and vice president-academic affairs of Aviation Strategies International of Montreal.
British Airways and the Transport and General Workers Union are in negotiations to try to avoid a strike by cabin staff. Workers voted overwhelmingly in favor of industrial action over concerns about the airline's sickness absence policies and pay grading.
The Northrop Grumman/EADS North America team is planning not to compete with an A330-based tanker in the Air Force's $200-billion KC-X aerial refueler competition, according to industry officials. The decision has been made within the company, though company officials still await official release of the Air Force's request for proposals. Officially, the company would not directly answer the question of what it will do.
Melding lasers and high-power microwaves is part of a new formula for creating more powerful, operationally flexible, directed-energy weapon designs. The shift in technology is considered comparable to the change from vacuum tubes to transistors in the 1960s. For example, today, a 10-gigawatt high-power microwave (HPM) system--the power needed to produce weapons effects at tactically effective ranges--is about the size of a house. However, a joule of laser light could generate that same 10 gigawatts of HPM in a far smaller package.
The U.S. Air Force's Electronic Systems Center says it will award a contract to Northrop Grumman Corp. to re-engine the entire fleet of E-8 Joint Stars aircraft, which is now powered by Pratt & Whitney TF33-PW-102s (commercial JT3Ds). The TF33-PW-102s are the original engines that were delivered with the 707 airframes more than 35 years ago.
Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
NASA managers hope a new strategy for replacing the aging and ailing Landsat Earth observation spacecraft will hold to a minimum the expected gap in the 35-year-old Landsat dataset. But their problem typifies a much broader shortfall identified in a major study by the National Academies of Science (NAS).
The British government is rejecting calls that it review its decision to ax a long-running Serious Fraud Office investigation into alleged corruption involving BAE Systems contracts with Saudi Arabia. Contracts with South Africa and Tanzania continue to be investigated.
A Jan. 15 article (p. 419) incorrectly described the rocket engine selected to replace the LOX/methane powerplant originally baselined for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. The one that was picked is a hypergolic engine like the one chosen to replace the LOX/methane engine on the ascent stage of the lunar surface access module.
Russia launched a Progress resupply capsule to the International Space Station Jan. 17, setting up an automatic rendezvous and docking on Jan. 19. The unmanned vehicle--designated Progress 24--carried more than 2.5 tons of food, fuel and other supplies.
NASA'S New Horizons Pluto probe is getting an early workout in the Jupiter system as it uses the gas giant's gravity for a 9,000-mph. boost in speed for the final leg of its journey. The probe will coast to within 1.4 million km. (87 million mi.) of Jupiter on Feb. 28, and already is executing a series of some 700 pre-programmed scientific observations designed to wring out any problems that might otherwise arise when New Horizons flies past Pluto in 2015.
Beijing Capital Airport handled 48.65 million passengers in 2006, which, by its own reckoning, makes it one of the world's 10 busiest. The other nine had better watch out, because Beijing is forecasting continued powerful growth in coming years. It says it will handle 55 million passengers this year and 66 million in 2008, when the city is due to host the summer Olympic Games. A third terminal is scheduled to open this year to relieve pressure on the first two, which are now operating far beyond their designed capacity of 35 million passengers a year.
Horizon Air plans to capitalize on lessons learned with Required Navigation Performance procedures in Oregon to start RNP operations with its Dash 8 turboprops at nearly a dozen other airports. Like its larger affiliate, Alaska Airlines, Horizon pioneered the use of area navigation (RNAV), head-up guidance and other avionics innovations. And Alaska has shared its extensive expertise with Horizon to bring the benefits of RNP to the carrier's Bombardier Q400 Dash 8s (AW&ST June 13, 2005, p. 172).
In the Airline Outlook item "Wayports" (AW&ST Jan. 1, p. 15), former FAA Associate Administrator William F. Shea was quoted as saying: "Constructing new airports is the only way to build additional capacity in the U.S. air transportation system, and new facilities such as wayports offer a viable long-term remedy." The issue under discussion is an apparent lack of capacity in the U.S. air transportation system.
Richard J. Millman has been named president and CEO of Bell Helicopter Textron, succeeding Michael Redenbaugh, who has resigned. Millman was president of Textron Systems. In turn, Frank Tempesta has been promoted to succeed Millman. Tempesta was executive vice president and COO of Textron Systems.
The European Aviation Safety Agency has certified the Turbomeca Arrius 1A1 turboshaft engine. Rated at 463 shp., the Arrius 1A1 will power the Eurocopter AS355 NP helicopter. The first production engines are scheduled for delivery soon, and company officials expect to provide up to 30 throughout the year. The engine features a new high-pressure turbine that increases emergency power under one-engine-inoperative (OEI) conditions, a higher OEI thermodynamic rating for improved Category A performance in high, hot and heavy scenarios and a longer time between overhauls.
Brandon Pedersen has become vice president of finance/controller and Andrew Harrison managing director of financial planning and analysis for Alaska Air Group. Pedersen was staff vice president of finance/controller. Harrison was managing director of internal audit.
Reading Lee Ann Tegtmeier's article, I was surprised by FAA Maintenance Div. Manager Dave Cann's comment on why aviation maintenance students are going to school for two years and then taking jobs at the local Chevy dealer. Where has Cann been the previous five years? A new technician can go to work at the Chevy dealer after school for higher pay and not have to work nights, weekends and holidays, and in horrible weather.
