I would like to heartily endorse reader Lawrence Wasserman's comments about poor service on U.S. carriers (AW&ST April 29, p. 10). In recent years I have opted to book foreign airlines (Qatar Airways twice and Korean Air once to Asia last year alone) over U.S. carriers because the foreign ones typically provide a lot more “mores,” including comfortable seating, adequate legroom and attentive flight attendants.
The U.S. State Department says Raytheon will pay $4 million in civil penalties and another $4 million to make remedial self-improvements to resolve “hundreds” of civil violations of the Arms Export Control Act and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
The tempo of new turboprop airliner and engine development is, by its very nature, slower than that of the turbofan-powered jetliner. Although confined to a niche market, turboprops have set such a high benchmark for efficiency since the 1990s that they have made themselves irreplaceable. Added to this, the overall lower volume of production and turnover in regional turboprops have made it tough to close the business case for expensive step-change replacements.
“Executive Expectations” (AW&ST March 25, p. 40) notes that the Gulfstream G650 costs about $65 million—a hefty price tag to ensure that an “I want my life back” pond prince can arrive an hour or two behind his ego. Surely there must be a Laureate award in that for someone. Miami, Fla.
The U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) has carried out its first strike in Afghanistan using a General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper flown from a ground control station in the U.K. Defense officials would not provide details on the April 30 strike, but the engagement comes just days after the Defense Ministry confirmed the commencement of Reaper control operations from RAF Waddington. Until then, all U.K. Reaper operations had been flown from Creech AFB, Nev.
Robert D. Starr has been promoted to senior vice president/CFO from vice president/treasurer of the Kaman Corp., Bloomfield, Conn., effective July 1. He will succeed William C. Denninger, who plans to retire.
Space shuttle astronauts Curt Brown, Eileen Collins and Bonnie Dunbar have been inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Brown flew on six missions. Collins is the first woman to pilot and command a shuttle, and Dunbar was a mission specialist and payload commander.
China's aero-engine development effort keeps looking bigger. It turns out that four indigenous high-bypass turbofans are being developed, not two, as previously thought. A major turboshaft, exhibited two years ago, is now revealed as a candidate engine for a new tactical airlifter, the Y-19. And an engine is in the works for a medium-large transport helicopter in the class of the AgustaWestland AW101.
Cameron Dryden and Jamesha Parks (see photos), both Northrop Grumman Corp. Aerospace Systems employees, received top awards at the 39th annual National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) conference. The awards recognize excellence among technical professionals, corporate, government and academic leaders, and university and pre-college students. Dryden received the NSBE Distinguished Engineer of the Year award. He is the systems and services business area manager, developing and manufacturing electro-optical and opto-mechanical equipment for industry and government.
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Composite airframes were important in defense systems before the Boeing 787 made them a household word. The basics of building even 80-ft.-long single-piece composite wingboxes have been conquered. The challenge now is to increase manufacturing process rates and reduce production costs, a subject of interest to everyone working in the field, whether on military or commercial programs.
Honeywell Aerospace expects to grow rapidly in India using a strategy of “manufacturing in India, for India,” to support the country's drive for organic manufacturing. Pritam Bhavnani, president of Honeywell Aerospace India, discussed the company's plans with Aviation Week's Jay Menon. AW&ST: What new initiatives will Honeywell pursue in India?
Daniel Bangs has been appointed general manager of the U.K.-based Doncasters Group's Storms Forge in Farmington, Conn., and New England Airfoil Products division in Springfield, Mass. He succeeds Tony Dalby, who has resigned.
The aborted merger of EADS and BAE Systems last year reignited talks about a long-awaited wave of consolidation among prime aerospace and defense (A&D) contractors. After all, Europe still has four major shipbuilders, four missile manufacturers and three combat aircraft primes, while the larger U.S. defense market has essentially two players in each of those categories. The speculations were underpinned by a basic but deeply erroneous assumption: “Bigger is better.”
Jennifer L. Vogel has been named to the board of directors of American Science and Engineering Inc., Billerica, Mass. She is a former senior vice president/general counsel/secretary/ chief compliance officer of Continental Airlines.
Virtual reality has become a commonplace engineering tool for major aerospace manufacturers, where three-dimensional visualization systems are routinely used to aid design reviews.
The price of EU carbon dioxide allowances (EUAs) under the EU Emissions Trading System hit an all-time low April 17 after the EU Parliament defeated a proposal that would have led to regulatory intervention to curb a supply glut.
Boeing is courting airlines for firm launch orders of its proposed reengined, rewinged 777X derivative, following board of directors' approval on May 1 of the overall design and program plans. The new twinjet is a radical revamp of the 777, more ambitious in scale than even the development of the 747-8, and is designed to open new space in the long-haul, high-capacity market, compete with the Airbus A350-1000 and replace the 747-400.
