Michael T. Strianese, who is chairman/president/CEO of L-3 Communications, has been elected chairman of the board of governors of the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Association for 2014. He succeeds Wes Bush, who is chairman/CEO/president of the Northrop Grumman Corp. The new vice chairman is David L. Joyce, president/CEO of GE Aviation. The board reelected Marion C. Blakey as AIA president/CEO and Ginette C. Colot as secretary-treasurer.
Were thousands of commercial airline flights in the U.S. canceled last week due to 1) the “polar vortex” that plunged most of the country—especially the eastern half—into a deep freeze, 2) the long-awaited implementation of a new FAA flight-time/duty-time regulation for air carriers operating under Part 117 or 3) both? Regardless, at least one regional carrier was quick to blame the new pilot rest rule. On Jan. 6, Northeast-focused JetBlue Airways imposed a 17-hr. shutdown, canceling more flights than any other carrier.
Lawmakers and regulators in the U.S. capital are spitting out new laws and regulations affecting aviation, aerospace and defense in rapid-fire fashion these days. After a year of seemingly nothing to show for their salaries but the bad effects of their inaction—think air traffic controller furloughs and the October 2013 federal shutdown—legislators this week could pass a $1.01 trillion, so-called omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal 2014 that keeps the government open and reintroduces some stability to Pentagon, NASA and FAA budget-making.
In “Fight and Train” you say “the F-35 remains the world's leading combat aircraft” (AW&ST Dec. 30, 2013/Jan. 6, 2014, p. 58). This is a bit of a stretch for an aircraft that has not yet reached squadron service, much less flown in combat.
Bombardier's second CSeries airliner joined the flight-test program on Jan. 3. The flight from Mirabel, near Montreal, lasted 2.15 hr., the aircraft reaching 13,000-ft. altitude and 180-kt. airspeed. In addition to validating data collected by flight-test vehicle FTV1, which has been flying since September, the crew of FTV2 will be responsible for testing aircraft systems and avionics. FTV1 is being used to expand the flight envelope.
Craig Lee (see photo), an electronic warfare systems architect for the Northrop Grumman Corp., has received the 2013 Joseph W. Kearney Pioneer Award from the Association of Old Crows. He was honored for “his notable pioneering activities in, and long service to, the discipline of electronic warfare.” Lee has been a lead systems engineer/architect for more than 25 years.
South Korea has selected Rafael's Spike NLOS (Non-Line Of Sight) missile as the primary weapon for its new fleet of AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat helicopters. AgustaWestland will be responsible for the integration, testing and clearances for the Spike and is expected to work with Rafael on the program. Flight trials with the weapon will be undertaken in 2015.
Emirates President Tim Clark, Aviation Week & Space Technology's Person of the Year, was selected for his outsized influence on the airline industry and aircraft manufacturing. Clark has played a major role in building Emirates from a tiny startup to the world's fourth-largest airline, in the process buying a lot of airplanes. On a single day in 2013, Emirates shored up the Airbus A380 program and helped launch the Boeing 777X. The airline has also leveraged its clout to influence the designs of next-generation airliners such as the 777X.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Michael A. Hamel has been appointed president of the Newtown, Pa.-based commercial ventures unit of the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. He succeeds Linda Reiners, who has become vice president-corporate ventures. Hamel was senior vice president-corporate strategy and relations for the Orbital Sciences Corp.
A pushback collision between an Etihad Airways Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 777-300 at Abu Dhabi in May 2012 reveals the complexities involved in solving the ramp damage problem, and in its final report on the incident, the United Arab Emirates' General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) focuses largely on non-technical solutions.
Singapore's Tigerair will sell its struggling Philippine affiliate to competitor Cebu Pacific, which will replace Tigerair's direct presence in the Philippine market. Tigerair's retreat follows the expansion into the Philippine market by the largest of the franchising low-cost groups, AirAsia, which bought Zest Air last year and rebranded it as AirAsia Zest. Cebu Pacific will buy 40% of the equity of SEair—which also uses the brand Tigerair Philippines—from Tigerair of Singapore, and the remaining 60% from local shareholders. The total price is $15 million.
Kevin Dutton (see photo) has been appointed vice president-operations finance for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga. He has been director of materials and production finance. Scott Clarey has been named sales director for the Southwest U.S. and Kevin Brink for the Northwest U.S. Clarey was Western U.S. and Western Canada sales director for Piaggio America; Brink was sales director in that same area for Dassault Falcon Jet.
BAE Systems has begun flight trials of three-dimensional printed metallic components on the Panavia Tornado combat aircraft, as the company explores the potential benefits of the method. A one-off component—a bracket made from printed stainless steel and designed to carry a fixed thermal-imaging camera—has been fitted to a U.K. Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 the company uses for flight testing. The bracket was produced in a fraction of the time and cost that similar items would have previously taken.
“Again and Again” on the importance of the Northrop Grumman unmanned X-47B's recent repeated carrier landings (AW&ST Aug. 5/12, 2013, p. 50) states: “unmanned technology advocates say autonomous landing systems such as that used for the X-47B could be retrofitted onto other manned aircraft, reducing the cost of hours of training for pilots, while increasing safety.”
Michael Ryschkewitsch has been selected to lead the Space Sector at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md. He has been chief engineer at NASA and had been deputy director for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and director of its Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate.
