USAF Maj. Gen. Steven L. Kwast has been appointed commander of the Curtis E. LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education/vice commander of Air University of the Air Education and Training Command, Maxwell AFB, Ala. He has been director of the Air Force Quadrennial Defense Review in the Office of the Vice Chief of Staff at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon. Maj. Gen. Samuel D. Cox has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and appointment as deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services at USAF Headquarters.
The Afghan air force has taken delivery of its first Lockheed C-130H Hercules. The first of two ex-U.S. Air Force aircraft were handed over on Oct. 9 in Kabul as the fledgling air arm is trying to rebuild its airlift capability after the USAF halted support for its Alenia C-27As at the end of 2012. Afghanistan becomes the 70th country to operate the Hercules.
Engineers at Lockheed Martin and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory were downloading data from NASA's Juno probe late last week after the $1.1 billion spacecraft put itself into safe mode during a close Earth flyby designed to sling it toward Jupiter. Early indications suggested the spacecraft was in good shape and could complete its mission to collect data on the gas giant's structure and composition from a polar orbit around the planet.
Three recent space-related articles speak volumes. The first two are in the same issue (AW&ST Sept. 30): “Launcher Leap” (page 22) followed by “What's Next” (page 24). Hot on the heels of this printing, the AviationWeek.com Space Channel (Oct. 3) offered “NASA's J-2X Engine To Be Mothballed After Testing.” The first article outlined China's plans for a more capable Moon rocket than the Saturn V; the second depicted China's planned Mir-class space station. And the third covered the U.S.'s human space exploration program.
This week, Aviation Week publishes two editions, both double issues. The cover at the far left features the first business aircraft to be developed in China—Avic subsidiary Caiga's Primus 150, an all-composite six-seater based on a U.S. kitplane design and powered by single 850-shp General Electric H85 turboprop. The aircraft is set to fly soon, but its market is uncertain as Chinese tastes continue to favor large business jets (page 58). Photo by Bobby Yip for Reuters via Newscom.
Samuel Adcock (see photo) has been appointed vice president/general manager of American Eurocopter's production plant in Columbus, Miss. Earl Walker, who has been senior director/general manager will become senior director for government relations. Adcock has been senior vice president-strategy and business development for parent EADS North America.
Puja Mahajan (see photo) has been named chief operating officer of business aircraft charter and management company Elit'Avia, Ljubljana, Slovenia. She has held management positions with Bombardier Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney Canada.
The second American to orbit the Earth, Mercury astronaut M. Scott Carpenter, died Oct. 10 in Denver of complications following a stroke. He was 88. A naval aviator during the Korean War who went on to become a test pilot at NAS Patuxent River, Md., Carpenter conducted some of the first scientific experiments in space and ate some of the first solid food consumed there.
During a recent visit with a cousin in Greensboro, N.C., the subject of Honda Aircraft came up. He mentioned how important the planemaker was to the community as a source of jobs, tax revenue and pride. Their jets are apparently very popular, he said. To which I responded, “quite possibly.” A comment he found curious. “Well, they haven't actually delivered any yet,” I explained. “None?!” He was surprised, almost flabbergasted.
It wasn't exactly a happy birthday. After 55 years of pushing humankind to places we have never been before—including literally out of the Solar System—NASA's staff got to celebrate the Oct. 1 anniversary of their agency's founding on furlough, sent home without pay while the nation's leaders postured for prime time. Even more upsetting was just how many of them there were, compared to their colleagues at other agencies.
One way to try to escape cataclysmic budget uncertainty is to cover all the bases. Consider EADS's Lakota Light Utility Helicopter, one of the programs that fared poorly in President Barack Obama's long-term budget plans. The Army asked for just 10 this year and no more after that. But members of Congress appear to be persuaded by EADS's pitch of a low-cost, robust platform that delivers on time and is entrenched in the U.S. industrial base. The House's spending committee added funding to procure 31 Lakotas, and its Senate counterpart funded 20.
I found the comments of U.S. Air Force Gen. Mike Hostage in “Life Post-Cuts” (AW&ST Sept. 23, p. 31) in alignment with those of reader Thomas Parker in his letter in the Feedback section of the same issue (page 10).
Avianca Brasil has selected Byogy to supply renewable biofuel and signed an offtake agreement for alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) fuel. The U.S. biofuel developer already has an agreement in place in Brazil to convert ethanol produced from sugarcane into jet fuel. In March 2012, the company announced a feedstock agreement with Brazilian sugarcane ethanol producer Itapecuru Bioenergia. ATJ is expected to be approved for use in aircraft during 2014, and Byogy CEO Kevin Weiss says commercial production is on tap to begin in Brazil between late 2015 and mid-2016.
Graham Maxa has been appointed finance director of Fine Tubes, Plymouth, England. He was group financial controller at the Oxfordshire company Prodrive.
With advanced avionics and mission systems, the 1970s-era delta-winged fighter called Kfir could rank in the same class as contemporary “fourth-generation” fighter jets, say officials from manufacturer Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The company can deliver up to 50 of the Mach 2+ Kfirs, configured to the newest Block 60 standard, using airframes retired from Israeli air force service in the 1990s, IAI officials report. These aircraft were mothballed in the southern Negev desert and are in good condition for refurbishment.
“Introducing ALIS” (AW&ST Sept. 16, p. 45) gave me pause. Here is a $448 million development program with a future value in the billions that will coordinate and manage the logistics and operation of the F-35, the world's most sophisticated and expensive fighter. And yet, those who created and are implementing it believe that the acronym for Autonomic Information Logistics System is ALIS. I hope this is not indicative of additional potential surprises coded into the network.
