Group Vice President, Aviation Supply Chain, AAR Corp., Age 35 John Holmes left investment banking and joined AAR Corp. in 2001 to focus on mergers and acquisitions, reporting directly to CEO David Storch at just 24 years old. Today, after a decade of successes and increasing responsibilities, he is a member of AAR's senior leadership team, charged with heading the company's aviation supply chain group.
Senior Editor Graham Warwick writes about China's first fully autonomous flights of a vertical-takeoff-and-landing tactical unmanned aircraft—the SVU-200—designed for Hunan Sunward Science and Technology of Changsha, China, by Dennis Fetters, a self-described “gypsy rotorcraft designer.” Several photos and a video are included. Illlini Rob notes:
Luke Chiang (see photo) has joined Dallas-based BBA Aviation Engine Repair and Overhaul as Singapore-based regional sales manager. He was regional director of sales at Jet Aviation Singapore. Grant Boast (see photo) has been named sales manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, and Wayne Thomson has become field service engineer for Australasia.
Reader Dale Jensen's statements about kerosene/oxygen engines are off the mark (AW&ST Oct. 1, p. 10). Almost all kerosene/oxygen engines operate at a mixture ratio of approximately 2:25 ratio of oxygen to kerosene, which produces the best overall vehicle performance. Running rocket engines at higher mixture ratios to “burn all the fuel” (stochiometric) actually results in lower performance and introduces higher temperatures and material problems. The high ISP figures he cites are for hydrogen/oxygen engines, not kerosene/oxygen powerplants.
Senior Engineer, Mechanical Systems, ITT Exelis, Age 35 After joining ITT Exelis as a mechanical engineering intern in 2002, Robert Hammerquist began a quick rise through the ranks. He earned his master's degree in mechanical engineering in 2005 while working full time, and four years later was promoted to his current position as senior engineer-mechanical systems, ahead of the normal requisite years of experience.
I was hired to design a helicopter for power-line patrolling and agricultural use such as spraying and seeding. That is what I did, and China was the place that needed it. This helo has no hardened components for military use; you can knock it out of the sky with a rock.
Jeff Poole has been appointed director general of the Amsterdam-based Civil Air Navigation Services Organization, effective Jan. 1. He is director of government and industry affairs of the International Air Transport Association.
Program Manager, Colony II Bus, Boeing Phantom Works Advanced Space and Intelligence Systems Age 34 Described by Boeing leadership as a “dynamic, innovative young professional,” Wong is responsible for cost, schedule and technical execution of 20 small 3U nano satellites to support cost-effective access to space for multiple customers and payloads. So far, she has delivered 10 space-qualified nanosats, with the rest scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2012.
James Curtis (see photo) has been named sales director at Independence, Kan.-based Kansas Aviation. He has held managerial roles ranging from direct aircraft maintenance to aviation sales and maintenance, repair and overhaul business development.
While the severe falloff in sales has been disastrous for Mooney and other lightplane makers, a supplier integral to their products seems better, ahem, propped, for the downturn.
Phil Saunders (see photo) has been named to receive the 2011 Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson Aerospace Vehicle Design and Development Award, presented by the San Diego-based Society of Aerospace Engineers International. A retired Northrop Grumman chief engineer, Saunders drove innovations used in the B-2 stealth bomber and X-47B unmanned combat aircraft.
