Following its recent decision to pursue large geared-turbofan designs for next-generation engines in the 2020s and beyond, Rolls-Royce has announced plans to expand its aerospace research and technology capabilities in Dahlewitz, Germany, with construction of a new testbed for power gearboxes.
The U.K. government has selected Honeywell's SmartPath ground-based augmentation system to complement a standard ground-based instrument landing system (ILS) at a new airport being built on St. Helena island. The British territory is in the South Atlantic Ocean, 1,100 mi. from the African mainland and 700 mi. from the nearest diversion airport. St. Helena is in the process of building its first airport, slated to be operating in 2016 and opening the island to tourism. The facility will have a single 5,085-ft.-long, 150-ft.-wide runway.
The board of Finmeccanica has approved plans for a new organizational and operating model for its companies. Finmeccanica, which is saddled with high debts, is looking to divest its transportation units and make aerospace, defense and space its core focus. Companies affected by the changes are AgustaWestland, AleniaAermacchi, Selex ES, OTO Melara, WASS and SuperJet International. Other firms in the group, including DRS Technologies and FATA, will be managed separately.
Assad Kotaite, a Lebanese diplomat who served in key positions at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for more than three decades, died Feb. 27 of cancer in Montreal. He was 89.
Travis Slocumb (see photo) has been named head of the Raytheon Co.'s Electronic Warfare Systems, El Segundo, Calif. He was vice president-strategy and business development for the company's Space and Airborne Systems.
Rostislav Belyakov, who headed the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau from 1969 to 1997, died of an unspecified illness in Moscow on Feb. 28. He was 94. Belyakov joined the bureau in 1941, two years after its establishment, and became its deputy chief designer in 1957. He was appointed general designer after the bureau's founder, Artyom Mikoyan, suffered a stroke in 1969.
March 25-30—FIDAE. Santiago, Chile. www.fidae.cl/portal_fidae.aspx March 29-April 1—Airports Council International's 2014 Air Cargo Conference. Orlando, Fla. www.aci-na.org/event/3204 March 30-April 10—ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-14). Dubai. www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Conferences/WTDC/WTDC14/Pages/item.aspx?ItemID=14 April 1-2—SpeedNews Second Annual Aerospace Manufacturing Conference. The Battle House Renaissance, Mobile, Ala.speednews.com/aerospace-manufacturing-conference
The next SpaceX Falcon 9 to fly will carry lightweight landing legs just above its nine Merlin rocket engines, as the company begins working toward a vertical-takeoff-and-landing variant that could change the commercial launch services game again (page 48). For now, the Los Angeles-based upstart is focused on its heavy launch manifest this year that includes 6+ commercial missions and four space station cargo resupply runs for NASA. SpaceX photo.
Certainly one of the more remarkable business aviation developments of 2013 is behind this statistic: 137 twin turboprops were delivered, a 45% increase over 2012. What happened? Beechcraft happened. All but two of those airplanes were King Airs.
NASA officials say they are not planning for a disruption in the International Space Station (ISS) operations growing out of the U.S.-Russian confrontation over Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, because the partnership that controls the ISS is solid.
As Boeing explores interest in a 757 replacement (AW&ST Feb. 24, p. 28), an obvious solution presents itself—a 757 MAX. The 757 is known for its range, payload and hot-and-high takeoff capabilities. This rugged and reliable airframe is beloved by flight crews and maintenance personnel alike. Restarting production of the 757 with new-generation engines and some modest aerodynamic and systems refinements would produce an economical solution to the 757 replacement issue.
Rachel Ehrenfeld's Viewpoint “Protect Airliners from SAM Threat” was insightful and accurate. I have worked for large aircraft defensive systems for more than 20 years and can readily see that Ehrenfeld has done her homework. Cursory dismissal or deflection of this issue is neither appropriate nor effective. Executive transport (Air Force One and other head-of-state aircraft) are equipped with defensive systems to counter the infrared surface-to-air missile threat, as are a good portion of our airlift aircraft and El Al Airlines.
At least one more iteration of a budget shell game must play out before the Pentagon and industry can feel good about how Congress will fund military investments over the next five fiscal years. The telltale event will be how Capitol Hill receives the Pentagon's $26 billion wish list, which comes on top of its base budget request for 2015. The list includes attack helicopters and two more Joint Strike Fighters, top Defense Department officials said last week in rolling out the request (see page 30).
Slowly, steadily Japan is building its naval aviation strength, and with it a latent capacity for local power projection. A third helicopter carrier, launched in August, is due for commissioning in 2015, while a sister ship is planned and probably under construction. In December, Japan decided to take the first steps toward increasing its amphibious capability, which will likely produce at least two ships larger than the current three, with full-length flight decks.
Tony Osborne's “Fueling Question” (AW&ST Feb. 24, p. 37) underscores that prudent routine mission planning should have had that helicopter safely back on the ground at Glasgow City Heliport within 30 min.—fuel still in the tanks—not flying around at night over a densely populated city with one low-fuel light blinking and the other steady on. If this was a seasoned crew, something else must have distracted them. That is where investigators should be looking.
Scheduling issues at Cape Canaveral, including launch of a classified U.S. government spacecraft known as Clio, may force NASA to delay its long-planned first flight of the Orion deep-space crew capsule from mid-September into October. “We'll probably move a little bit from the September time frame just because of the launch manifest, probably somewhere into October,” says William Gerstenmaier, associate NASA administrator for human exploration and operations.
For several years, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association's (GAMA) annual “State of the Industry” presentation has been a sobering affair. The global fiscal crisis that began in 2008 continued to throttle the industry long after others were well into recovery. The measures are startling. In 2008, GAMA companies delivered 3,970 aircraft—1,313 of them business jets—but by 2012 the totals were down by more than 50%, with just 672 business jets out the door.
Reader Ted Klapka's letter (AW&ST March 3, p. 8) regarding the recent Viewpoint “Protect Airlines From SAM Threats” (AW&ST Feb. 17, p. 58) is insular to the extreme. U.S. airlines (as well as those of other nations) fly all over the world, frequently in the skies of nations that harbor terrorists who would like nothing more than to stage an encore to 9-11. I will grant him that “no one gets out of this life alive,” but the vast majority of us would prefer it to be via natural causes.
Boeing's Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA) demonstrator, a modified Bombardier Challenger 604 business jet, has been flown to Boeing's Yuma, Ariz., facility to prepare for initial certification flight tests following extensive conversion work by Toronto-based Field Aviation. The aircraft forms a prototype platform for development of the MSA, which is designed for nations seeking a lower cost surveillance and patrol capability without the full anti-submarine and surface vessel warfare capacity of the P-8.
Billy Martin has been appointed senior research scientist and director of the Electromagnetic Energy (EME) Lab at the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University. He was principal engineer and EME group supervisor at the Cessna Aircraft Co.
