Pilatus expects a difficult year after two years of record profit and turnover. Last year, strong military business helped Pilatus offset a further drop in sales of the PC-12 business aircraft. The company delivered 44 PC-12s last year and 16 PC-21s to the United Arab Emirates. Military business accounted for 60% of revenue. However, the backlog has now dipped to 63 PC-12 orders.
The U.K. saw defense exports drop in 2011, but growth in security-related shipments helped offset those declines to keep total defense and security exports flat at £8 billion ($13 billion) year-on-year. The security business grew to £2.6 billion from £2 billion in 2010, with defense down £400 million to £5.4 billion. The numbers do not reflect a recent deal between Saudi Arabia and the U.K. for 48 more Eurofighter Typhoons.
Additive manufacturing—producing parts layer by layer direct from digital models—is moving into aerospace. Three-dimensional printing is widely used for rapid prototyping with polymer materials, but technologies for additive manufacturing with aerospace metals are maturing.
The Airbus Military A400M has cleared an important certification milestone even as developers are exploring vibration believed to be linked to the engines. The European Aviation Safety Agency issued the restricted type certificate for the military airlifter. Airbus is pursuing both civil and military certification of the four-engine turboprop, which is due to be delivered to its launch operator, the French air force, next year. Full-type certification is due mid-year, Airbus says.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) plans to conduct its second intercept attempt with a Raytheon SM-3 IB missile this week. The first attempt, in September, failed owing to a solid-rocket fuel burn through the missile casing, according to industry officials. This resulted from a specific flight profile, which they say will be avoided by a change to the missile's software. Two more SM-3 IB tests are slated for this year, and MDA is also planning to conduct a “fly-by” attempt with its Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system in December.
Northrop Grumman has received a $262 million U.S. Navy contract for development and initial production of the improved MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned aircraft, based on the Bell 407 light commercial helicopter.
Regarding “Promises to Keep” (AW&ST April 9, p. 44), both ideas—the continuing development of proprietary inflight entertainment (IFE) systems and the commercial airlines racing to install them in their fleets—are ridiculous. Most passengers own IFE devices such as laptops, MP3 players, smartphones and/or tablets. Paradoxically, airlines struggle to cut costs yet continue to pursue pricey IFE systems, which can increase fuel and maintenance outlays.
USAF Col. (ret.) Michael R. Gallagher (Hillsboro, Ore. )
Back-to-back articles (AW&ST April 16, pp. 25-26) outlined drag-reduction programs for the Lockheed Martin C-130 fleet and the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, respectively. While drag-reduction packages need to be tailored to specific airframes, the approach and general techniques are applicable across many airframe families. The Defense Department should have a single program office to manage all these programs to ensure there is a maximum crossover of lessons learned, testing protocols and evaluation parameters.
Jeff Curry (see photo) has become the managing director of Business Jet Access of Dallas. He was business unit manager at Pratt & Whitney's Grand Prairie, Texas, facility.
China plans to add three more satellites for its Compass positioning system this year, following the successful launch of two by a single Long March 3B rocket on April 30. These launches will contribute to a service covering part of Asia this year, with the objective of completing the 30-satellite system “around” 2020, says the government's China Aerospace Science & Technology Corp. The satellites lofted to orbit this week were the 12th and 13th of the Compass network.
European Union emission allowance (EUA) prices rebounded in April, after cheaper prices attracted buyers back into the market. EUAs for December 2012 delivery under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) fell as low as €6.23 ($8.27) per metric ton on April 4, an all-time closing low for the 2012 contract. The weakness in early April reflected ongoing slowness in European economic growth, as government figures showed that countries including the U.K. slipped back into a double-dip recession in the first quarter.
NASA will contract with Boeing for an interim cryogenic propulsion stage to power at least the first two flights of its planned heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS), based on the company's Delta Cryogenic Second Stage used on the Delta IV. After reviewing other upper stages, the U.S. space agency picked the Delta unit because it meets most of the requirements for lofting Orion multi-purpose crew vehicles in 2017 and 2021 atop a NASA-developed SLS main stage with strap-on boosters.
Capt. (ret.) Rick Bauer (Flemington Island, Fla. )
It seems that the American Airlines bankruptcy has brought out those in the media who would “sanitize” the process of dumping the pilot pension programs and making AA's management out to be “good guys” for paying the others. Since all major carriers have—or will have—filed for bankruptcy protection and no one in my generation or forward will have reaped the benefits of “rich” pension programs, I have to wonder where this will end. The European Union is apparently implementing flight-/duty-time rules considered dangerous by experienced pilots.
Etihad has acquired almost 3% of Aer Lingus in its latest move to buy into Europe's airline market after taking a 29% stake in Air Berlin. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates-based Etihad does not appear to plan a further expansion of its holding in Aer Lingus in the short term, although the Irish government, which controls 25% of the carrier, has expressed interest in selling its share. Ryanair owns 29.8%.
The United Arab Emirates is nearing a deal with Bell-Boeing that will make it the first international customer for the V-22 tiltrotor. The UAE is eyeing the Osprey for its special operations forces, and interest was bolstered after a U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 picked up downed F-15 pilots during the air war over Libya, according to industry sources. The deal could be signed by year-end, and the sources suggest the UAE's interest has sparked Israel to consider a buy sooner than previously thought.
Lufthansa formally received its first 747-8 Intercontinental passenger aircraft from Boeing, marking the initial delivery of the type to an airline. The aircraft was delivered to Frankfurt on May 2, and is the first of 20 ordered by Lufthansa. The airline's acceptance comes as Boeing announces a ramp-up in planned 747-8 deliveries for 2012. The manufacturer expects to deliver 35-43 747-8 passenger and freighter aircraft this year, compared to just six 747-8Fs in 2011.
Engineers on Boeing's CST-100 commercial crew vehicle project are turning their attention to a forward heat shield jettison test and a hot fire of the capsule's orbital maneuvering/attitude control engines, following a successful landing test May 2. An Erickson Air Crane helicopter dropped a dummy capsule from 14,000 ft. over Delamar Dry Lake Bed, Nev., to validate its system of three parachutes and six airbags.
Ramon S. Ang, president of San Miguel Corp., has been appointed president and chief operating officer of Philippine Airlines (PAL), succeeding Jaime Bautista. Ang will remain chairman and CEO. Joining Ang as San Miguel representatives on the board of PAL Holdings are Inigo Zobel, Robert Ongpin, Aurora Calderon and Ferdinand Constantino. Daniel Ang will follow Jose Gabriel Olives as CFO; Harry Tan will replace Domingo Chua as treasurer; and Estelito Mendoza will succeed Cecilia Pesayco as corporate secretary.
Space Shuttle Enterprise flies past the Manhattan skyline while making its final voyage April 27, from Washington to New York, where it will be placed on permanent exhibit July 19 as one of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum's major attractions. En route to John F. Kennedy International Airport, tens of thousands of spectators on the New York and New Jersey sides of the Hudson River were treated to dramatic views of the prototype test vehicle and the NASA Boeing 747 that transported the orbiter.
European legacy carriers have tried hard to get costs under control, with limited success. And now an increasing number of them are reverting to the more radical option of outsourcing.
United Airlines' fierce opposition to a Southwest Airlines proposal to start “near-international” service from Houston's Hobby Airport might suggest a larger issue: the potential for a glut of services from the U.S. to the Caribbean and Latin America that could force some players to pull out or reduce their services in the lucrative markets.
Mark J. Nappi has been named senior VP and program manager of the engineering services contract at NASA's Kennedy Space Center by Qinetiq North America, McLean, Va. He was VP-aerospace services and site director with United Space Alliance. Honors and Elections
Finmeccanica is showing the first positive signs from its ongoing restructuring, as first-quarter 2012 results were generally above what the company was expecting,. In issuing results last week, Finmeccanica reiterated its plan to complete the merger of its European electronics entities by January, and is proceeding to remake U.S. unit DRS Technologies into a local powerhouse. The company also continues plans to dispose of roughly €1 billion ($1.32 billion) in assets.
Boeing and its vast international supply chain are within weeks of delivering 787s that require none of the long retrofit sessions that have added billions of dollars in costs to the program since the company hosted a splashy launch party in 2007 for a jet that turned out to be unflyable.
