Aviation Week & Space Technology

Flight-Test Engineer, Boeing, Age 34

President, Logistic Gliders, Age 33

Director of Maintenance, STAjets, Age 25

Vice President, Business Development & Strategy, Vector Aerospace, Age 39

Founding Partner, Avia-Tek, Age 28

Dan Berkenstock Chief Product Officer, Executive Vice President, Age 35 Julian Mann Vice President-Product Management, Age 28 John Fenwick Vice President-Flight Operations, Age 37 Ching-Yu Hu Director, Marketing & Customer Relations, Age 29

MRO Operations Systems Lead, Lockheed Martin, Age 30

Director-Network Operations Control, United Airlines, Age 38

Head of Aviation Infrastructure Management and Development, Avia Solutions Group, Age 36

Director, Dumont Group, Age 29

CEO, Universal Asset Management, Age 31

Chairman of the Board, Avia Solutions Group, Age 37

CFM Leap development intensifies as first NEO engines begin assembly and -1C nears flight-test

NTSB members at odds over Asiana Airlines safety recommendations

A resurgent Ryanair ups the pressure on full-service rivals

Damage to the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) is hindering efforts to discover why a Spanish-registered MD-83 airliner crashed in Mali last month. French investigators from the country’s BEA safety board, who are leading a multinational team of experts, say damage to the magnetic tape in the CVR has made the recordings from the final minutes of flight AH5017 unusable.

An article on page 49 of the Aug. 4 issue twice incorrectly named the builder of the “Dove” spacecraft. It is manufactured by Planet Labs.

Subs, missile defense and Scotland

Abolish the U.S. Air Force? Perhaps one could look at Robert Farley’s Viewpoint ( AW&ST July 28, p. 50), which espouses two important policy aims of folding the Air Force back into the other two services, from a different perspective.

Robert Farley’s recent Viewpoint was thought-provoking. Just the money saved by not duplicating individual air forces within five military branches would be huge. He states: “Airpower enthusiasts made dramatic claims for the ability of air forces to win wars without resorting to significant land or naval combat.”

Prof. Robert Farley expressed an important point of view about our national security. We do have too many air forces. Airpower is needed, but not the way it is constructed now. But good luck finding any politician willing to say a separate air force is unnecessary.

“TRDI’s Baby” ( AW&ST July 21, p. 32) states: “The solution was to develop . . . a set of radial vanes or battles . . .” Shouldn’t this be “baffles”? (The reader is correct—Ed.)

Robert Farley’s count of five air forces is too low by a factor of 10. He should have added in all the reserve and state guard air forces. However his basic point has merit, and I hope it engenders a serious debate about the structure of the U.S.’s military aviation resources. Based on my experience, the defense budget could be reduced by 20% with no loss in capability if the remaining 80% was spent more effectively.

Northrop Grumman will continue supporting the U.S. Air Force’s Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) gateway on its modified Global Hawk Block 20s and on Bombardier Global Express business jets under a new $89.7 million modification to the company’s existing contract, which is worth about $1.2 billion. The BACN payload was developed in 2005 and is used to allow systems in Afghanistan to communicate despite operating on different frequencies or waveforms. Four of the business jets and three of the Global Hawks are outfitted with BACN.