Justin von Hagel has been named director of Aerospace Parts Programs for Sedro-Woolley, Wash.-based Janicki Industries. He was director of engineering at Triumph Composite Systems.
The German government has unveiled its armed forces restructuring plan. Troop strength is to be cut to 185,000 from 220,000. The air force will undergo restructuring into two commands, one for support and another for deployable forces. The navy will be organized into two deployment flotillas, a naval aviation command and training and support elements.
It appears House and Senate conferees have reached a compromise on the FAA reauthorization bill to keep the Essential Air Service (EAS) program, possibly by cutting $30 million from the $200 million per year in federal subsidies by knocking out cities that are within 90 mi. of a decent-sized airport. That's what Chuck Howell, president of the largest subsidized carrier, Great Lakes Airlines, is hearing. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says the Obama administration and several congressional conferees are solidly behind EAS.
Philip Lear has joined the sales department of intelligence technology company Envitia, Horsham, England. He held a business development position at Commerce Decisions, which became Qinetiq Commerce Decisions.
With much attention on Russia's efforts to revive its combat aircraft fortunes, the country also is more quietly making inroads in reviving its military transport aircraft activities. Russia's United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) is completing assembly of the first prototypes of the new Ilyushin Il-76MD-90A military transport, also known as Il-476 or Item 476. The first flight prototype and the aircraft to be used for static testing are being built at the Ulyanovsk-based Aviastar-SP facility, a UAC subsidiary.
General Electric says a newly-defined performance improvement package (PIP) will bring the Boeing 747-8 engine to within 1% of fuel-burn targets, but acknowledges additional upgrades will be needed to close the final gap with a follow-on upgrade package.
EADS and Boeing are poised to start booking record revenue from their commercial aircraft businesses, but their underlying aggressive production plans are not without risk. After curtailing output in 2009 because of the global economic slowdown, both Airbus and Boeing have been moving rapidly to ramp up and set production targets that exceed pre-crisis plans. Output of both single-aisle and widebody airplanes is increasing rapidly and the two largest aircraft makers are on track to deliver more than 1,200 aircraft in 2013 and 1,400 in 2014.
Madhu Unnikrishnan (Waltham, Mass. ), Anthony L. Velocci, Jr. (Waltham, Mass.)
William H. Swanson has spent nearly his entire career at Raytheon, starting as a mechanical engineer in 1972. He was appointed chief executive in 2003 and chairman in 2004. During his tenure, Raytheon has expanded its footprint globally, with a full quarter of its sales abroad. In an interview at Raytheon's headquarters in Waltham, Mass., with Aviation Week & Space Technology Editor-in-Chief Anthony L.
The photograph that accompanied the Washington Outlook column May 16 (p. 21) actually depicted Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), while it should have shown Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.).
Bill Meehan has been appointed to succeed Wake Smith as CEO of Pemco World Air Services, Tampa, Fla. Meehan was senior vice president of airports services at Continental Airlines and had been president and chief operating officer of Continental Micronesia.
The oil price uncertainty and its effect on airline managers and industry in general as a result of the political upheaval in the Middle East reminds me of articles that I have read in Aviation Week & Space Technology and similar reports in other weekly news magazines during the winter. These articles addressed the use of coal-derived jet fuel being used to refuel jetliners at Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. A 40-60 mixture of the coal-derived jet fuel blended with regular JP-8 was used.
Tobin Shackleford (see photo) is the new director of Cincinnati-based Field Aviation subsidiary Special Mission. He was director of special mission sales at Raisbeck Engineering.
Andrew Watterson (see photo) is the new vice president of planning and revenue management and ticket pricing at Hawaiian Airlines. He was a partner in Dallas in the aviation, aerospace and defense practice of consulting firm Oliver Wyman.
Forget the engine, how about an alternate fighter? Shocked by a potential $1 trillion price tag to sustain the JSF over its life span, senators have started asking the Pentagon whether it has an alternative to the next-generation fighter. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says contractor Lockheed Martin should begin to absorb some of the program's cost overruns after its “abysmal job” of managing the contract.
Unmanned aircraft are moving closer to the fight, teaming with manned helicopters and ground troops in a major demonstration planned by the U.S. Army and providing close air support in a program launched by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Both the Army Manned Unmanned Systems Integration Concept (Music) and Darpa's Precision Close Air Support (PCAS) project focus on demonstrating architectures enabling information to be shared between manned/unmanned aircraft so targets can be rapidly engaged.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Robert Wall (London)
The biggest deterrence to computer network invasion—pinpointing the origin of a cyberattack or other foul play—may be waiting in the wings. A technology of interest—a forensic tool dubbed “cyberexhaust”—is described as the digital equivalent of a trail of bread crumbs through the forest.
Look for the House to begin debating a defense authorization bill for fiscal 2012 this week, including one measure to ensure that the GE-Rolls Royce engine for the Joint Strike Fighter receives no government funding. The companies have already agreed to pick up the tab for further development of their alternate to Pratt & Whitney's JSF engine, but Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) wants to make sure that, if the companies have access to government facilities, there is no back-door government spending toward the effort.
GE Aviation has completed a $3 million, seven-acre solar power field that is expected to produce 700 kw of power for its Durham, N.C., engine facility, which makes GE90s and GEnxs. Operations are to begin this month. The field includes more than 9,000 thin-film panels. GE Aviation Durham Plant Manager Mike Wagner says the panels will reduce the plant's electricity bill by 30% and cut its C02 emissions by more than 400 million tons a year.
Aviation Week's recent profile of the strategies used by top foreign aviation manufacturers in China (AW&ST April 25/May 2, p. 42) included a map of current and pending joint ventures that we knew might get us in trouble by being outdated or incomplete. China can be a tough market to research accurately.
New members of the board of directors of the International Air Cargo Association are: Oliver Evans, chief cargo officer of Swiss International Airlines; Neel Shah, senior vice president and chief cargo officer of Delta Air Lines; Vladimir Zubkov, vice president of Volga-Dnepr Group of Companies; and Jason Foote, vice president-international air and charter operations for UPS Airlines.
June 2—American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Executive Symposium: “Aerospace Today and Tomorrow.” Kingsmill Resort and Spa, Williamsburg, Va. And, June 27-30—41st Annual Fluid Dynamics/20th Annual Computational Fluid Dynamics/29th Annual Applied Aerodynamics/42nd Plasmadynamics and Lasers/42nd Annual Thermophysics/Sixth Annual Theoretical Fluid Mechanics Conferences. Sheraton Waikiki and the Hawaii Convention Center, Honolulu. Call +1 (703) 264-7511, fax +1 (703) 264-7551 or see www.aiaa.org
The U.K. government has approved early design activity for the future submarine that will take over the role of the country's nuclear deterrent, replacing the Vanguard Class starting in 2028. The so-called initial gate approval was made last week, with formal program go ahead, or main gate, planned in 2016. The new submarine will carry fewer warheads and Trident II missiles. The government projects the program to cost around £11-14 billion.
Exports will hold the key to whether Europe's A400M military airlifter program will ever make money. But past missteps are causing prime contractor Airbus Military to tread carefully as it decides how to approach the global market.
Senators who pushed NASA's three-year reauthorization act last year want biweekly briefings on how the agency is doing in meeting its requirements to build a heavy-lift rocket and develop government and commercial cargo and crew capsules. They fear the agency is dragging its heels (see p. 36).
