North and South Carolina see the major airframe manufacturers that have established bases within their borders as anchors for an expanding network of aerospace and defense suppliers that can provide a steady stream of jobs for skilled workers.
Turkish Airlines Airbus A340-300 climbs after taking off from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport. Turkish Technic and parent Turkish Airlines are both embarking on independent, aggressive expansion plans that will see Technic expand into interior cabin design and manufacturing, increase its landing gear repair business, attempt to attract more third-party work and double its workforce by 2015. Turkish Airlines, meanwhile, has its eye on increasing services to North America, Central Africa and Asia, and recently updated its brand image.
The Airbus A320 flying testbed, MFS001, will begin testing a CFM International CFM56-5B this month that will bring fuel efficiency ratings for that narrowbody family to parity with the improvements Boeing is set to achieve from its version of the same engine now in test on a Continental Airlines 737-800. CFM and Airbus expect a 0.5% enhancement in fuel burn from the -5B performance improvement package (PIP), says Sam Gilkey, general manager for Airbus programs.
A report in the French newspaper Les Echos claims that first deliveries of the delayed Boeing 787 may be pushed back until June or July 2011 as a result of last month’s electrical fire on ZA002. The report says Boeing engineers have identified “possible solutions” to the flawed response of the electrical system and control software following a short circuit or arc caused by a suspected loose washer or some other small foreign object inside the P100 main power distribution panel.
The defense committees of the upper and lower houses of parliament in the U.K. and France have created a working group to track progress in implementing a treaty signed on Nov. 2 intended to expand defense cooperation between the two countries. The group has decided to meet twice a year, starting in London in mid-2011.
The new 787 series is a family of twin-engine, widebody airliners. Three versions are currently envisioned. The 787-8 will carry 210-250 passengers and have a range of 7,650-8,200 nm. The 787-3, optimized for shorter flights, will carry 290-330 passengers and have a range of 2,500-3,050 nm. The 787-9, a longer-range version, will carry 250-290 passengers and have a range of 8,000-8,500 nm. A fourth possible version, the 787-10, would be a stretched version of the 787-9.
Skyterra-1, earmarked for the Lightsquared hybrid mobile satellite system, has encountered a deployment issue with the spacecraft’s L-band antenna that could threaten startup of the high-speed, coast-to-coast satellite/terrestrial wireless service. However, both Lightsquared and satellite manufacturer Boeing Satellite Systems are downplaying the importance of the event for the time being. Boeing says Skyterra-1, which was launched on Nov. 14, is “stable and healthy” and a team of experts is continuing attempts to deploy the antenna, which was supplied by Harris Corp.
I was fascinated to learn in “Cargo Clampdown” (AW&ST Nov. 15, p. 32) that European ministers, like their U.S. counterparts, consider inspection of all cargo shipments “too expensive and impracticable.” How comforting to know that it is not too expensive or impracticable to hire legions of government agents to fondle every passenger, but it is too expensive and impracticable to inspect inanimate cargo!
The Royal Australian Air Force has reached initial operational capability with its F/A-18Fs and expects to have all 24 in hand by the end of next year. The operational milestone was met with the arrival of the latest four F/A-18Fs. The latest delivery also marks the handover of the first three F/A-18Fs wired to eventually be upgraded with subsystems associated with the U.S. Navy’s EA-18G Growler escort jammer.
Bombardier was the sales star among airframers at the Middle East Business Aviation show, held at Dubai International Airport Dec. 7-9. The company recorded sales for five Learjet 85s, and pairs of Challenger 605s and Global 7000s.
In a recent Market Focus column “A Looming Showdown on Guns Versus Butter” (AW&ST Nov. 29, p. 12), you mention: “Let’s start with critics of military spending, from whom we are going to hear more in the coming months.”
Europe’s Eumetsat is poised to begin work on a new geostationary weather satellite system that will vastly improve weather and climate forecasting, including the monitoring of severe weather situations, while enhancing numerical prediction models.
It is no surprise, really, that the connecting traffic on Southwest Airlines is increasing. But the extent to which the carrier is relying on these connections in many of its new markets might turn some heads—and presents some challenges for a low-cost carrier that built its business model on point-to-point service.
Amy Butler (Los Angeles AFB and Beverly Hills, Calif.)
With lean fiscal years ahead and its credibility in procuring military satellite systems eroded, the U.S. Air Force is reluctant to propose new space programs. So senior leaders are pushing industry to squeeze more capability out of systems being fielded in the coming months, starting with the service’s premier missile-warning constellation.
Launched in July 2008, Bombardier’s CSeries family will include two basic models: a CS100 version carrying 110 passengers and the larger CS300 seating 130. Each will be offered in standard and extended-range versions and, additionally, the 130-seater will be available in an extra-thrust version. The CSeries will be powered by the new geared turbofan engine from Pratt & Whitney. CS100 service entry is planned for late 2013, and the CS300 will arrive about a year later.
Maintenance, repair and overhaul provider Turkish Technic, which has a foothold where East meets West in Istanbul, has ambitious plans over the next five years to firmly plant itself in traditional MRO markets, while also dipping its toe in some surprising non-core areas. Its success, while separate in theory as well as practice from parent Turkish Airlines (THY) because of their distinct managements and boards, is still operationally linked as the expansion of the airline certainly increases Technic’s MRO business.
The Twin Otters are all metal, nonpressurized, high-wing, twin-turboprop utility aircraft. Viking Air owns the rights to a number of out-of-production de Havilland aircraft, including the DHC-6, which was canceled in 1988. In April 2007, Viking Air launched a program to restart production of the 19-passenger Twin Otter with the updated Twin Otter Series 400, which incorporates more than 800 changes to the Series 300. The Series 400 is now powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34s or the optional PT6A-35.
With two near-perfect Falcon 9 launches and the successful orbital operation, reentry and parachute landing of its first Dragon capsule, Space Exploration Technologies is confident it will join Russian, European and Japanese cargo ships in reaching the International Space Station next year, a critical component of NASA’s plan to maintain a six-person crew after the space shuttles are retired.
In the meantime, House Republican leadership is moving steadily toward lining up committee chairmen for the 112th Congress starting early next year, when the party assumes the majority in the lower chamber. The veteran homeland security appropriator who gave the U.S. Coast Guard, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman a tough time over the Deepwater recapitalization program, Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers (Ky.) is set to chair the powerful Appropriations Committee.
Overfilled upper-stage liquid-oxygen tanks caused by a ground-equipment malfunction are prime suspects in the Proton M Block DM rocket failure that sent three Glonass satellites crashing into the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 5, according to Russian sources. Russian space agency Roscosmos ordered an investigation immediately after the mishap, which prevented the rocket from reaching its intended orbit.
The twin-engine regional transport is designed to serve the 70-80-seat market. First flight took place in 2004, with type certification by Russia and Ukraine following in 2007. Power for the aircraft comes from two MKB Progress D436-148 turbofan engines. Six An-148s were delivered through 2009, and an additional 186 are forecast for production through 2019.
Italy and France have selected Arianespace to launch the Sicral 2 secure communications satellite, ordered early this year to complement the Sicral 1a/b and Syracuse III systems. It was the 11th award of the year for Arianespace.
This series is a family of twin-engine, 44-100-seat regional jets. The initial model was the CRJ100, which is no longer in production. It first flew in May 1991, and deliveries started in October 1992. The CRJ100 was replaced by the 50-seat CRJ200, which is powered by a pair of 9,220-lb. thrust General Electric CF34-3B1 turbofans. Other variants have included the 44-seat CRJ440, which is also powered by CF34-3B1s; the 64-78-seat CRJ700, powered by two 13,790-lb.-thrust CF34-8C5 turbofans; and the 86-90-seat CRJ900, powered by two 14,255-lb-thrust CF34-8C5s.
The C-212, once known as the Aviocar, made its first flight in March 1971, and deliveries began in May 1974. It is built in Spain by EADS CASA (Airbus Military since 2009), and is also built under license in Indonesia by Indonesian Aerospace (IAe). Approximately 474 C-212s (of all versions) were built through 2009. The C-212 is an unpressurized, 21-28-passenger regional turboprop. The C-212-200 is powered by two Honeywell TPE331-10R-511C/512C engines rated at 900 shp. each. The C-212-300 uses two TPE331-10R-513C turboprops, also rated at 900 shp. each.
