Tammy Knowles has been appointed executive director of Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, Titusville, Fla. She was executive director of the Camaraderie Foundation, Orlando, Fla.
The International Aviation Club of Washington and Aviation Week have honored Andrew B. Steinberg with the L. Welch Pogue Award for Lifetime Achievement in Aviation. Steinberg, a former FAA chief counsel and assistant transportation secretary for aviation and international affairs, is viewed as one of the most influential aviation lawyers of his generation. Career highlights include his efforts to reach an open-skies agreement with the EU and negotiating a pact with China that doubled the number of routes to and from the U.S.
Deliveries of three Pentagon-procured fixed-wing tactical transport aircraft to Yemen's capital of Sanaa in September, coupled with announcements of a newly tendered squadron of light observation planes, marked the culmination of the Obama administration's push to help the Yemeni air force take ownership of an Al Qaeda fight that has become synonymous with American unmanned aerial vehicle technology.
A U.K.-based non-profit organization set up to promote the use of space assets in British industry has some lessons that can be applied by the Center for the Advancement of Science In Space (Casis), the non-profit Congress established to promote use of the International Space Station (ISS) by private-sector researchers. The Satellite Applications Catapult and its predecessor organization have a little more time under their belts, and they are already passing it along to Casis as the U.S. operation begins to get some traction.
Jan. 21-22—MRO Latin America. Rio de Janeiro. Feb. 4-6—MRO Middle East. Dubai. Feb. 10—Air Transport World's 40th Annual Airline Industry Achievement Awards. Pan Pacific Singapore Hotel. March 4-5—Defense Technology and Affordability Requirements. Washington. March 6—Aviation Week's Laureate Awards. Washington. April 8-10—MRO Americas. Phoenix. You can now register ONLINEfor Aviation Week Events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/events or call +1 (212) 904-4682.
Bryan Shelton has been named director of field operations for Zenith Aviation, Fredericksburg, Va. He was senior manager of aviation maintenance operations for the U.S. Marine Corps Presidential Helicopter Squadron.
Uncle Sam's sequestration may accomplish what Chinese and Russian anti-satellite efforts have not: undermining U.S. space capability. That is one of the emerging conclusions of an industrial base assessment by the Commerce Department, shared with Aviation Week.
David Binks (see photo) has been named president of FedEx Express for Europe, Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Africa, effective Jan. 1. He will succeed Gerald P. Leary, who is retiring. Binks has been senior vice president-European operations and will be succeeded by Michael Holt (see photo), who has been CEO of FedEx U.K./vice president-operational integration for Europe.
USAF Maj. Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., has been appointed director of operations, strategic deterrence and nuclear integration at Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein AB, Germany. He has been deputy commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command-Southwest Asia. Brown will be succeeded by Maj. Gen. Jeffrey G. Lofgren, who has been commander of the USAF Warfare Center of Air Combat Command, Nellis AFB, Nev.
Prof. Robert Owen (Daytona Beach Fla. ), Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach Fla. )
Recent writers who advocate retaining A-10s in the Air Force miss the point—the world has changed. The A-10 was designed to kill tanks from outside the range of the main tactical, low-level, counter-air threats of the 1970s. However, in the three-plus decades since, it has become vulnerable to a wider range of modern air-defense missiles.
Marc Bourret has been appointed head of the Toulouse-based Aerolia Group's Quebec subsidiary and François Paynot site director at St. Nazaire, France. Bourret succeeds Marie-Agnes Veve, who has been promoted to the EADS Group, while Paynot follows Arnaud Mayer, who is now chief operating officer of Auvergne Aeronautique.
Mounting budget pressure is forcing France to curb defense spending, slowing deliveries of major military programs rather than killing them outright. Under the nation's new military program law—a €190 billion ($256 billion) budget for the period 2014-19—key aerospace platforms that will see reduced or delayed orders include Dassault Aviation's Rafale combat jet, Eurocopter's Tiger and NH90 helicopters and Airbus Military's A400M tactical airlifter.
The A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat ground-attack aircraft powered by a pair of General Electric TF34-GE-100 turbofan engines rated at 9,065 lb. thrust each. First flight of an A-10 prototype occurred in 1972 and by 1984, 713 A-10As had been built for the U.S. Air Force. Conversion of a portion of the service's A-10A fleet for use in forward air control was subsequently performed, resulting in the OA-10 configuration.
The MD 500 series is a family of 4-6-seat, single-engine, single-rotor military and commercial utility helicopters. The series comprises three models: the 500E, 530F and 520N. Demand for the 500E comes primarily from law enforcement and government operators. It is also well-suited for powerline inspection, which requires a high level of maneuverability and stability. The 530F offers superior hot-day, high-altitude performance over the 500E, increasing takeoff power 18%. The 520N model adds MDHI's proprietary Notar (No Tail Rotor) technology.
Additive manufacturing has captured industry's imagination, but even as the first parts appear inside jet engines, the technology's possibilities are only just being realized.
Marketing of the 767 AWACS, also known as the E-767, began in 1991 as a follow-on to the 707 AWACS. The E-767 is powered by two GE CF6-80C2 turbofan engines rated at 61,500 lb. thrust, and has a crew of two plus 19 AWACS mission specialists. System suppliers include Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. The 767 AWACS competes with Boeing's 737 AEW&C aircraft and the Northrop Grumman E-2D. Only four E-767s have been produced, and all are in service with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Boeing also markets a tanker/transport version of the 767 known as the KC-767.
The Sikorsky S-300C is a piston-powered, 2-3-seat light-utility and training helicopter acquired by Sikorsky when it bought Schweizer Aircraft in 2004. The S-300C has its roots in the Hughes Helicopter Model 269/300 family of helicopters. Schweizer produced its first 300C in 1984 after signing a deal with Hughes in 1983. Specially configured models of the S-300C have been offered for a variety of dedicated military missions, including introductory pilot training and scout/observation.
Jean-Michel Hillion (see photo) has been named corporate senior vice president for Boeing programs for Paris-based Safran. He succeeds Norbert Gaillard, who has retired. Hillion has been head of Safran Electronics and was director of programs for the Hydraulics and Braking Control Divs. of Messier-Bugatti.
A recent In Orbit column (AW&ST Oct. 28, p. 22) touted the potential of a cancer cure developed on the International Space Station (ISS). Nice idea, but first, even if the clinical tests work out, given the cost of getting the raw materials up to the ISS and returning them, will anyone be able to afford the cure?
The E-3/E-6/E-8 series is a family of special-purpose military aircraft based on the Boeing 707. All three models are currently out of production. Some 76 E-3s, 17 E-6s and 20 E-8s were built. The E-3 AWACS platform made its first flight in February 1972. Production E-3s were powered by either four Pratt & Whitney TF33 engines or four CFM56-2 engines. First flight of the E-6A Tacamo II communications platform, which uses four F108-CF-100 (CFM56-2A-2) turbofans, took place in 1987.
