France has signed off on a long-awaited €1 billion ($1.32 billion) purchase of 34 Eurocopter NH90 utility rotorcraft for its army. Meanwhile, certification of Eurocopter's EC175 medium helicopter is expected to be held up at least four months as the company tries to fix its troubled Helionix avionics system. First customer deliveries are now not expected until early 2014.
Do you remember Michael O'Leary's ironic remark about the envisioned one-pilot flight crew? Ryanair's chief executive last year claimed direct operating costs could be significantly reduced by eliminating the first officer on commercial flights
Reauthorization of the Commercial Space Launch Act (CSLA)—and its federal indemnification coverage and potential mandates over seeking informed-consent waivers from launch participants and crew—could be hot topics as U.S. lawmakers and industry prepare to update the nearly decade-old law. The Republican chairman of the House space subcommittee, Rep. Steven Palazzo (Miss.), says he is eager to work for reauthorization and he knows that industry has a long list of desired changes, including the Federal Communications Commission's regulatory reach into space.
Rolls-Royce may lack the weight of General Electric or Pratt & Whitney in the U.S. military market, with a mixed bag of programs, but its diverse installed base could prove beneficial as defense spending comes down. Accounting for 20% of overall Rolls-Royce revenues, the defense business is split roughly 50:50 between production and services. The majority of revenues come from mature engine programs. Only about 5% stems from development work, so the company's main focus is on upgrading existing engines.
Airbus kicked off the flight-test campaign of its newest clean-sheet widebody, the A350, on June 14. Test aircraft MSN001 took off from Toulouse-Blagnac airport at 10 a.m. local time and remained in the air for 4 hr., 5 min. Chief test pilot Peter Chandler was at the controls along with Guy Magrin, an A350 project test pilot. They climbed to 10,000 ft., then 25,000 ft., reaching 340 kt. at both altitudes. The landing gear were retracted for the first time 33 min. into the flight.
ATR's shareholders appear poised to approve development of a 90-seat turboprop. Officials at the EADS-Finmeccanica joint venture say it will “likely” launch a new generation of turboprops “with increased size, greater comfort and significant improvement in efficiency.” Finmeccanica is pushing for a quick go-ahead, and says it will find “alternatives” if EADS is not interested in developing the aircraft.
NASA will spend $32 million on hardware for an instrument to fly on Europe's BepiColombo Mercury probe in 2015, under an agreement signed in Rome last week by Administrator Charles Bolden and Enrico Saggese, president of the Italian space agency. Switzerland will provide ion to the U.S., which NASA will use to build the Strofio instrument—a mass spectrometer designed to find the sources and properties of Mercury's tenuous exosphere.
Larry Peet (see photo) has been named director of sales for Hangar Ten, Kansas City, Mo. He was director of operations and aircraft sales for Port City Air, Portsmouth, N.H.
This week, Aviation Week publishes two editions. On the cover far left, the crew of a chase plane monitors the first flight of the Airbus A350, from Toulouse-Blagnac Airport June 14 (page 24) (Airbus photo by P. Masclet). Elsewhere in both editions are reports on the HammerHead UAV (page 34) and Embraer's new line of regional jets (page 28) and full analysis of developments at the Paris air show. Our MRO Edition includes additional articles.
Iain Christie has been named executive vice president of the Ottawa-based Aerospace Industries Association of Canada. He was CEO of the Neptec Design Group and has been a member of the association's board of directors.
Ron Clark Ball has become senior vice president-aerospace and defense for the Harry Krantz Co., Edgewood, N.Y. He was a partner in Noka World Energy and founder of Friendly Call Communications. Honors And Elections
Their infighting in the space launch marketplace hurts U.S. companies, says Peter Marquez, former director of space policy at the National Security Council. Reuters reports that the Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Lockheed Martin and Boeing's United Launch Alliance (ULA) violated federal antitrust laws by “monopolizing” a supplier. ULA has an exclusivity agreement with RD-180 engine provider RD Amross, a joint venture of Russia's NPO Energomash and United Technologies Corp.'s Rocketdyne. Orbital Sciences Corp. also covets the RD-180.
“Language Barrier” (AW&ST May 27, p. 26) notes that the U.S. Air Force is developing communications technology to allow fifth-generation tactical aircraft to communicate with fourth-generation types. This shows a failure of imagination. The comm link that will be required in the future is from fifth-generation manned aircraft to unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAV).
Bombardier always faced a challenge convincing skeptics it could enter the narrowbody-airliner sector successfully with the CSeries. Damage wrought to the commercial aircraft industry's reputation by Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 issues has not helped.
Russia's Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional aircraft is being prepared for delivery to its first Western customer—Mexican carrier Interjet—at the Paris air show this week, according to sources at Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. Commonwealth of Independent States-wide AR MAK aviation authorities issued an export certificate for the aircraft on June 11 that allows the start of deliveries. The Mexican carrier has an order for 20 SSJ100s with an option for 10 more airframes.
Following the design freeze for the first version of the MS-21 narrowbody, Russia's United Aircraft Corporation is inching toward starting production of the initial test aircraft. UAC is has opted to work on the biggest variant first. According to UAC subsidiary Irkut Corp., which leads the MS-21 development, configuration of the first variant—the 212-seat MS-21-300—has been frozen and the design for the fuselage has been sent to UAC production sites in Irkutsk and Ulyanovsk.
There's no big surprise in the 2013 edition of Boeing's Current Market Outlook, its 20-year forecast. Aggregate numbers for the total value the market will reach in 2032 and the orders expected by then—$4.8 trillion, and 35,000, respectively—have inched up a bit from the 2012 forecast, by $300 billion and 1,000 aircraft.
Mike Beck (see photo) has become vice president/general manager of the Fort Worth-based Fuel and Motion Control Systems Div. of the Eaton Aerospace Group. He was CEO of GKN Aerospace Engine Systems and had been president/CEO of GKN's Propulsion Systems and Special Products unit.
I have a couple of questions about “Heating Up” (AW&ST May 27, p. 28). If the Sunjammer solar sailplane is going to be “stationed 300 million km (186 million mi.) from Earth,” that's a little farther than 10 light seconds. Also, how large is the sail? At one point the article states 1,200 sq. meters, but later 40 X 40 meters is given. Gibsonia, Pa.
