David George has been named sales and service manager for military programs for the Vector Aerospace Corp., Huntsville, Ala. He was director of technology and business development for an aerospace manufacturing company.
Alitalia CEO Rocco Sabelli confirms he intends to resign before year-end on the assumption his mission to return the airline to profitability will have been met. Alitalia is on schedule to achieve operationally neutral results this year, notwithstanding the effects of fuel-price increases and turmoil in the Middle East, both of which are affecting results in medium-haul markets. The carrier has seen traffic slow in many of its Mediterranean and North African destinations.
The operational success the Royal Air Force has had with MBDA's dual-mode Brimstone is driving U.S. and French interest in the munition, says the RAF assistant chief of the air staff, Air Vice Marshal Baz North. The dual-mode weapon (with semi-active and millimeter microwave laser) has been among the main munitions the RAF Tornado GR4 has been relying on during Libya operations. Initial discussions with the French have begun, although they are at an early stage. Still unclear is which French and U.S. platforms would launch the weapons.
Delays in fielding new equipment are undermining the traditional superiority of the Indian air force's ratio of combat aircraft over neighboring rival Pakistan.
I cannot understand NASA's fixation with aircraft exterior noise “NASA Era Objectives” (AW&ST April 18, p. 38). I understand the need for a 50% increase in fuel efficiency or a 75% reduction in NO2, but a 42% reduction in Stage 4 noise levels? Why? Are we afraid we will scare the seagulls asleep in the middle of the runway? Today's newest commercial aircraft are already very quiet and a modest improvement, say 10 db, should be more than enough to satisfy every near-airport dweller. But -42 db is ridiculous.
Boeing and its unionized machinists, who have struck three times in the past 15 years, are locked in a new round of labor strife over whether the airframe maker can open a second 787 final assembly factory in South Carolina, where workers already have voted to push the union out.
Russia plans to send an Indian cosmonaut into orbit in 2015, as the South Asian nation prepares to become the fourth country that can launch humans into space on its own rocket as early as 2017. Alexey Mzareulov, Russian deputy consul-general in Mumbai, announced the upcoming flight—probably to the International Space Station—during celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's historic orbital mission.
President Barack Obama and his family are set to attend the last launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, which is scheduled for 3:47 p.m. EDT April 29. Also expected, as she recovers from an assassination attempt, is Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), whose husband Mark Kelly commands Endeavour's mission to the International Space Station. After Endeavour returns from its 14-day mission, it will be prepared for permanent display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles (see p. 26).
Executives at China Great Wall Industry Corp. find it hard to believe that U.S. Space Exploration Technologies Inc. (SpaceX) is offering lower launch prices than they can. But they concede privately that it's true. China Great Wall, the marketing arm of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CAST), is opening a one-person office in Washington this summer to push Chinese space products, including solar arrays.
Indonesia will pay $10 million to cover 20% of the cost of concept definition of South Korea's proposed KF-X Generation 4.5 fighter and send 30 researchers to work on the project. Korea Aerospace Industries and missile and electronics systems maker LIG Nex1 are the preferred South Korean candidates for the program, while Indonesian Aerospace will also participate, says the South Korean defense acquisition program administration.
While most Western aircraft makers weigh the costs and benefits of ordering more parts from China, a defense factory in the country's northeast is busily turning out three complete airplanes a week for one U.S. company. And the customer, Cessna, is looking at how it might take another step in the relationship, even while supplier Avic Defense is still ramping up production of the current product, the 162 Skycatcher light sport airplane.
Turkey has opted for the Sikorsky Black Hawk over the AgustaWestland AW149 in the Turkish utility helicopter program. The initial buy, valued at around $3.5 billion, is for 109 rotorcraft (with options for 12 more), although the inventory is expected to grow significantly over time.
And while his wife was becoming the latest victim of controller error, President Barack Obama publicly expressed his support for FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt and reaffirmed the safety of the U.S.'s air traffic system, as another series of embarrassing incidents involving sleeping or distracted controllers continued to damage the agency's reputation.
France should be applauded for orchestrating the military campaign to stop Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi from butchering his own citizens. And U.S. President Barack Obama should be commended for having his nation take a back seat in the conflict. Libya, a former Italian colony, sits in the European Union's back yard.
The trend lines have been familiar for more than two decades: China is the world's largest potential market for everyone making nearly everything. In air travel, national growth rates are so strong that they are typically broken out from the rest of Asia, as if China is a separate continent.
Commercial aircraft suppliers, led by U.S. companies, are pouring into China to stake their claims in the world's most dynamic aviation market. But they must balance the appeal of the fast-growing market with China's appetite for technology transfer as it seeks to create its own aerospace supply chain. Meanwhile, Airbus and Boeing are taking markedly different approaches as they pursue sales and brace for the arrival of a new Chinese competitor.
The Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet program is entering a new era now that commercial operators will start testing the robustness of the in-service support network and the Russian manufacturer's ability to ramp up output. After many delays, Sukhoi achieved a major milestone on April 19 with the first Superjet 100 delivery to launch customer Armavia. The Armenian airline quickly put the aircraft into revenue service with a flight carrying 90 passengers from here to Sheremetyevo Moscow International Airport April 21.
Australia wants to show the world it is serious about space and is using years of well-honed hypersonic know-how to prove it by developing technology for a scramjet-based system for access to space.
Flight safety encompasses multiple aspects and requires lots of imagination to achieve further improvements. The latest event on April 11 at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport was much more than a minor taxiway incident. The nighttime collision—in which the left wing of an Air France A380 spun a small Comair Bombardier CRJ700 90 deg.—will certainly be carefully investigated as it could reveal a new form of “loss of vigilance.”
Mitch Snyder has been promoted to executive vice president for military programs from vice president and V-22 program manager for Bell Helicopter of Fort Worth. Snyder succeeds Robert Kenney, who has retired.
Brent Hornbeck has become manager of Dallas Airmotive's regional turbine center in Phoenix. He was customer project manager at Hawker Beechcraft Services, Mesa, Ariz.
The U.S. has been falling behind in the arena of electronic warfare—a key element in defeating enemy air defenses—for perhaps the last 20 years. That may explain why the Obama administration—while it is looking for further military cuts—has chosen electronic warfare (EW) as one of the few areas slated to receive a spending boost, says Frank Kendall, deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition and technology.
Predator unmanned aerial systems are now required for low-level, detailed observations of Libyan government troops as they dig in close to civilian areas to avoid NATO air attacks. Predators were reintroduced to operations April 21 strictly for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) gathering at low altitudes where the Libyan government's advanced, Russian-made SA-24 man-portable anti-aircraft missiles create a zone of lethality. U.S. Marine Corps Gen.
China's emergence as a dynamic aviation marketplace and its aspiration to become a leader in aerospace have altered the competitive dynamic in this fast-growing economy. For U.S. companies, success will mean more than simply competing against other Western suppliers for a share of the market. As in many parts of the world, Pratt & Whitney has embraced “co-opetition”—cooperation and competition—with key Chinese aviation entities. Often, leveraging collective resources to achieve common interests proves more effective than going it alone.
Sven Lepschy (see photo) has joined Kansas City, Mo.-based Executive AirShare as its program manager, at Dallas Love Field. He comes from CAE SimuFlite, where he oversaw the global training program for Embraer Phenom aircraft.
