Airbus has boosted its orderbook to 640 net orders at the half-year point, driven by a large intake at the Paris air show, but the aircraft maker continues to suffer cancellations, which have now reached 137 units—58 last month, including all 45 that leasing company DAE Capital ordered in 2007. Another lessor, CIT, trimmed its A350 commitment, canceling A350-800s but adding three A350-900s to the two already on order. Also gone from the order book are three A318 orders for VIP customers. The backlog for the A319 also has shrunk, by 15 units, including two VIP aircraft.
U.S. air traffic controllers can request to take leave if they are too tired to work and could take naps during work breaks, under an agreement reached by the FAA and National Air Traffic Controllers Association (Natca).
Long commutes by U.S. pilots could contribute to safety-reducing fatigue while flying aircraft, a National Research Council report says. But the authors of the report, ordered by Congress, also say there is not enough data to determine the extent of the safety risk. Instead, the report leans toward more study to fill in the numerous holes in available data, and voluntary efforts by airlines and the government to enhance pilot education and fatigue risk management. The authors found that more than 20% of U.S. pilots live more than 750 mi.
British regional carrier Flybe is pressing forward with expansion plans and has teamed with Finnair to buy Finnish Commuter Airlines. The deal, which requires regulatory approval, makes good on Flybe's commitment last year to expand its business to the European continent. The jointly owned business will be called Flybe Nordic, with Flybe controlling 60% and Finnair 40%.
Airbus and the German aerospace center (DLR) have conducted fuel-cell tests to validate the use of the technology in aircraft taxiing that promises big reductions in carbon dioxide production. Both Airbus and DLR have already conducted various fuel-cell research efforts to assess the utility of the devices on airliners with an eye to reducing fuel burn. One potential application is replacement of auxiliary power units. DLR and Airbus note that such a technology would not just yield a reduction in carbon dioxide output, but also noise.
Mexico has chosen the Alenia Aeronautica C-27J Spartan as its new tactical airlifter. Under a package deal worth $200 million, the Mexican air force is to receive four C-27Js, the first slated for delivery in September with more following by the end of 2012. Alenia is also to provide initial logistical support and spares for several years. These are the first of 11 C-27J orders Alenia says were sealed at the Paris air show.
The U.S. Air Force's first Space-Based Infrared System satellite, designed for ballistic missile warning, has been activated. The satellite carries staring and scanning infrared sensors. The payload will now undergo calibration tests.
A pivotal U.S. House panel recommends killing the Northrop Grumman-built James Webb Space Telescope, calling the Hubble successor “billions of dollars over budget and plagued by poor management.” NASA's future telescope is $1.5 billion over budget while its launch date has slipped at least three years.
A majority of Americans—even in the midst of a battered economy—believe it is essential for the nation to stand at the summit of space exploration, according to a new Pew Research Center poll. The survey, released July 5, suggests U.S. public support largely cuts across economic and educational boundaries, as well as political affiliation. The survey also found that a small majority of citizens believe NASA's 30-year shuttle program has been a good investment.
Minsheng Bank of China and Gulfstream Aerospace have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding for the purchase of 50 Gulfstream aircraft. Minsheng apparently intends to make the aircraft available for lease. The bank already is a Gulfstream operator, having taken delivery of a G450 last month. There are three dozen Gulfstreams operating in China today.
With Europe's new Vega rocket slated to debut before the end of the year, prime contractor ELV is pushing a plan to evolve the small-satellite launcher for deep-space missions to the Moon and beyond. Vega prime contractor ELV, a joint venture between Italian rocket propulsion manufacturer Avio and the Italian space agency (ASI), is studying a Vega derivative that could carry relatively heavy payloads to the tune of 700 kg (1,540 lb.) to near-Earth bodies, including the Moon, Mars, Venus and Jupiter.
James Hoblyn, president of Bombardier Customer Services & Specialized and Amphibious Aircraft, died on July 3 in Montreal of an apparent heart attack while training for a marathon. He was 46.
Robert H. Widmer, a designer of military aircraft who was renowned for his stubborn advocacy of revolutionary over incremental changes in aviation design, died June 20 in Fort Worth. He was 95.
Long gone are the days when the turbofan nacelle was a relatively simple airframer-provided aerodynamic enclosure for the engine and structural support for the bypass duct, accessories and thrust reverser. Now, as designers delve ever deeper to wring out weight, noise, maintenance-cost and fuel-burn reductions, the focus is increasingly on integrated propulsion systems that will provide benefits greater than the sum of their parts.
Air France-KLM last week made changes to its holding structure. Pierre-Henri Gourgeon will focus on his job as the group's CEO and no longer deal with the day-to-day running of Air France. The holding company will also take on additional responsibilities such as alliances, purchasing and financial management. Air France-KLM says the changes are aimed at enabling more airlines to be added to the group.
Astronauts on the space shuttle Atlantis were planning to test space-qualified versions of commercial camping gear as a backup source of drinking water on the International Space Station, with possible applications on future deep-space human missions. Developed at Kennedy Space Center, the test will involve six forward-osmosis purification kits (right) like those already used by hikers, the military and disaster-relief workers.
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center technicians are beginning final testing on the Tiangong-I space station, which reached the launch site in the Gobi Desert from its manufacturing facilty in Beijing on June 29, according to the Xinhua news agency. The single-module station is set for launch later this year on a Long March II-F rocket. It will be followed into orbit by the Shenzhou-8 human spacecraft, flying unmanned for a rendezvous and docking test in advance of the piloted flight of Shenzhou-9 to Tianngong-1 next year.
While Cassini was reaching out and touching the geysers of Enceladus (AW&ST July 4, p. 19), scientists were piecing together lessons from the tiny solar particles gathered by NASA's Genesis probe, which spent 886 days at the first Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L-1) collecting samples of the solar wind. Based on data published in the journal Science, the results suggest a very different evolution for the Sun and planets than originally believed.
Analysis of Neptune imagery collected by the Hubble Space Telescope and the Voyager mission may one day provide astronomers with a better understanding of the inner structure of the gas-giant planets. Erich Karkoschka, a senior staff scientist at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, studied 500 Hubble images of Neptune collected over 20 years in an effort to establish the planet's rotation.
Members of the House Science Committee are likely to have some sharp questions for NASA Administrator Charles Bolden this week over the status of the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) Congress ordered in December. When it passed a three-year authorization then that includes the 130-metric-ton lifter, Congress gave NASA 90 days to develop a plan for the SLS. But now it looks like there may not be a final decision on the vehicle's configuration until late August, according to Bolden's deputy, Lori Garver.
After revelations this spring that Sen. James Inhofe, a private pilot, had landed on a closed runway last year and allegedly “sky-hopped” over ground crew working on the airstrip, the Oklahoma Republican announced that he had attended remedial lessons and declared the issue “over.” But now the firebrand conservative says he wants to help remedy “serious deficiencies” in how the government adjudicates cases of pilot malfeasance.
Meanwhile, the FAA has named Chief Counsel David Grizzle chief operating officer of its Air Traffic Organization (ATO) almost three months after Henry Krakowski resigned over a series of scandals involving inattentive air traffic controllers. Grizzle, who has been acting COO since Krakowski's departure, is the third person to head the ATO. Like his predecessors, he spent most of his career in the airline industry, including 22 years with Continental Airlines.
A crisis in defense spending is “imminent,” says former Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.), and Congress ought to encourage export-control reform and look to boost foreign military sales to support the domestic defense industrial base. “We can carry that industrial base if we add more military sales,” Talent, now an analyst at a conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, told the House Budget Committee last week.
Aircraft builders walked away from the recent Paris air show buoyed by more than $100 billion worth of new orders. But meeting all of those delivery obligations may prove to be a trickier proposition than landing them.
After waiting seven years for what you hoped would be an airliner that would take the world by storm, it would be a shame to find that it did not fit your aerobridges.
