Boeing would be wise to consider the McDonnell Douglas DC-9/MD-80/90 design formula for its next-generation narrowbody. Placing engines behind the wing with a “T” tail provides advantages such as high elevator authority at low speeds, and it de-couples the fan diameter from landing gear length, as currently constrained by the Boeing 737. Elbridge, N.Y.
LAN Airlines' order of five 767-300ERs doubles Boeing's count for the civilian version of the twin-engine jet this year and helps boost the company's total net orders to 127 through May 17. Boeing has now taken 13 767 orders in 2011, 10 more than last year.
As F-35 Joint Strike Fighter development regains stride, program managers are beginning to be more upbeat about the flight-test effort. But questions regarding per-unit cost are likely to continue casting a shadow over the $380 billion project for some time to come.
Jeroen Koot (see photo) has been appointed president of Fokker Aircraft Services, Woensdrecht, Netherlands, succeeding Edwin Schilling. Koot was managing director of Stork RMO.
The first Space-Based Infrared System (Sbirs) satellite bound for geosynchronous orbit, GEO-1, is ready to begin checkout operations after reaching its orbital slot 22,000 mi. over Earth last week. The missile warning satellite deployed its solar arrays, antennas and a light shade designed to protect the infrared sensors from the Sun on May 18. Program manager Col. Roger Teague says the satellite is continuing to perform well. Sbirs executed six liquid apogee engine burns to gradually increase perigee and reach the proper orbit after its May 7 launch.
James Rankin, the president and CEO of privately held Air Wisconsin since August 2006, is the current chairman of the Regional Airline Association. His carrier operates 70 Canadair CRJs for US Airways as US Airways Express, and is a ground handler for United Express at more than 30 locations. It accounted for 3.5% of U.S. regional airline passenger enplanements in 2010and is one of the largest privately held regional carriers in the country. In this interview with AW&ST Transport Editor Andrew Compart, Rankin talks about the status of the U.S.
A potential new executive order from the Obama administration will require federal contractors to disclose certain political donations made in the two years before they bid for work. It would further mandate disclosure of contributions to third-party entities—those include non-profit organizations and so-called Super PACs, which are political action committees (PACs) borne of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling—that can raise unlimited amounts of money.
In “Loss of Vigilance” (AW&ST April 25/May 2, p. 72), Pierre Sparaco states that the Air France A380 involved in a recent runway incursion at New York JFK Airport had nearly 500 passengers onboard but he doesn't mention the full load of fuel. I would have liked to have seen a mention of the extreme hazard that could have occurred if fuel had spilled. New York, N.Y.
Intelsat is struggling to deploy the west antenna reflector on its New Dawn satellite, and has postponed deployment of the east Ku-band antenna reflector until the problem is fixed. The spacecraft's solar arrays deployed after its Ariane 5 launch April 22 along with the Yahsat 1A satellite. Intelsat and satellite manufacturer Orbital Sciences Corp. are investigating the antenna issue and assessing possible corrective actions. New Dawn is the first-ever African private sector communications satellite.
With about 150 aircraft under management and a growing network of fixed base operations facilities (FBOs), ExecuJet Aviation has been in the center of the storm that has beset business aviation in Europe and beyond. CEO Niall Olver spoke with AW&ST International Editor Robert Wall about the current state of the industry, the implications for ExecuJet, and what new areas of business growth the Zurich-based organization—with more than 800 staff around the globe—has set its sights on.
With the Pentagon facing yet another round of budget cutting, or “finding efficiencies,” there are hints that the U.S. Air Force's new bomber program is popular and the increasingly expensive F-35 is not. “The [new] bomber is incredibly important to us,” says Erin Conaton, undersecretary of the Air Force. “To remain a world-class power, we need a penetrating bomber force that can touch difficult-to-reach areas of the globe.”
Private space companies can expect at least 44 paying passengers for trips to orbit in the next 10 years, NASA says, but the price per seat could be higher than the U.S. government already is paying for rides on Russia's Soyuz capsule.
NASA crews are starting work on underwater simulations of what it might take to explore an asteroid with astronauts. U.S. space agency engineers and “aquanauts” will dive to the seabed around the Aquarius Underwater Laboratory near Key Largo, Fla., to prepare for an asteroid-landing experiment there in October. The long lead time is necessary because so little work has been done on the idea of sending humans to asteroids, a target set by President Barack Obama for NASA's human-exploration efforts beyond low Earth orbit.
A Northrop Grumman microsatellite launched as a secondary payload on the first orbital flight of the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Falcon 9/Dragon stack last year met its test objectives, paving the way for future microsatellite developments. Dubbed Mayflower, the microsat rode the Falcon 9 to an elliptical orbit averaging 285 km (180 mi.) in altitude, validating an “advanced solar cell deployment system” and collecting baseline design data for future flights at higher altitudes, according to Northrop Grumman.
The stealth-modified H-60 Black Hawk helicopters used in the May 1 raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, were likely produced at Sikorsky's facilities in Elmira, N.Y. But imagery of the facilities and the Elmira Corning Regional Airport on Google Earth is not up to date and has been modified.
Another shake-up, record sales and disillusionments are likely in store for the “middle” of the commercial air transport market—the 150-220-seat segment. But don't count on next month's Paris air show to provide a long-overdue clarification. Boeing is no longer expected to announce anything, Airbus executives may just stress how good they are, Bombardier may have no CSeries orders to unveil, Comac and Irkut may remain mute, as usual, and Embraer is expected to stay in a cautious waiting mode.
Kimberly Murdoch has been appointed vice president of operations at Phoenix-based ACSS, an L-3 Communications and Thales company. She came from Honeywell Aerospace, where she was senior director for Electrical Global Planning-Integrated Supply Chain; prior to that she held key positions at Boeing and Pratt & Whitney. Honors And Elections
Selex Galileo is bolstering its unmanned aircraft capability with the purchase of Unmanned Technologies Research Institute, a small Italian operation. In particular, the deal will help expand the company's product range into smaller systems, including a 6.5-kg mini vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aircraft system, a ducted fan system called Spyball and a 2-kg-micro fixed-wing Crex-B.
Turkey is exploring whether it would be feasible to launch an indigenous fighter program, even though the government recognizes that such a move might be a step too far and that the country might have to be satisfied with another off-the-shelf procurement.
David Soaper has joined Southern Air Holdings, Norwalk, Conn., as chief operating officer. He was senior vice president of aircraft operations for Comair.
Two Hawker Beechcraft AT-6s, kitted out for light-attack, precision-targeting and intelligence-gathering missions, are put through their paces. The aircraft are being tested as a less-expensive alternative to armed unmanned aircraft. The photo shoot was conducted over southern New Mexico following earlier machine-gun and rocket-pod testing at Gila Bend, Ariz. Photograph by Jim Haseltine/HIGH-G Productions.
Dave Johnson has been hired as senior vice president of sales and marketing at Willis Lease Finance Corp., Novato, Calif. He was vice president of marketing and corporate counsel at International Lease Finance Corp.
The April 11 collision between an Air France Airbus A380 and Comair Bombardier CRJ700 (AW&ST April 18, p. 15) seems like another case of gadgets getting in the way of good sense.
