Dassault’s Falcon 7X is the first purpose-built business aircraft with a digital flight control system, a technology intended to ease pilot workload, provide flight envelope protection and enable designers to reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency.
W.W. Boisture, Jr., who is chairman/CEO of the Hawker Beechcraft Corp., has been elected to the board of directors of the White Plains, N.Y.-based Corporate Angel Network . It arranges free transportation to treatment for cancer patients using empty seats on corporate aircraft.
International air passenger traffic for March reflects a continued upturn, with volume increasing by 10.3% and cargo 28.1%, compared to March 2009—which, during the recession, registered a low point, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In February 2010, there was 9% growth and 26.3% in cargo. IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani noted that the pace of improvement is faster than anticipated, with 2010 growth in gross domestic product now forecast at 4.3%, up from 3%.
Neil Wallace, chief engineer of the ion propulsion team at U.K.-based Qinetiq, accepted its Sir Arthur Clarke Award as team of the year for its contribution to space exploration during 2009. The year included launch of the European Space Agency’s GOCE spacecraft, which became the first to lift off with Qinetiq’s T5 ion thrusters. The year also saw Qinetiq begin work to supply advanced T6 thrusters for ESA’s BepiColombo mission to Mercury.
While US Airways appears to have been shut out of the latest round of airline consolidation, the carrier still sees improved prospects—and further merger opportunities—if two of its rivals combine. US Airways has been one of the most vocal proponents of airline consolidation, stressing that it is the best way to trim excess supply from the U.S. industry and put it on track for long-term financial health. But after coming close to a deal with United Airlines, US Airways has been replaced by Continental Airlines as United’s preferred merger partner.
A MiG-35 prototype fitted with an active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar has carried out a radar-guided missile engagement using the RVV-AE (R-77/AA-12 Adder). Completing the test is a key element in bidding the aircraft for India’s fighter requirement and was part of the final flight trials of the latest modification of the MiG-29. Two MiG-35 prototypes—the single-seat Bort (side number) 961 and the two-seat Bort 967—were evaluated in April. The Russian air force center at Ahktubinsk managed the weapon tests.
India’s 5.5-ton Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) is expected to complete its first full flight this month following unspecified modifications made after its debut in a hover and slow-speed cyclic maneuver. Developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), the two-seat version of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) made a 20-min. flight March 29 that allowed pilots to carry out low-speed/low-altitude systems checks using hover and basic rotation maneuvers, and fly four loops around HAL’s home base at Bengaluru.
The German defense ministry and propulsion manufacturer Bayern-Chemie will pursue a further phase for their joint gel-propellant missile research, following the first two flight tests of its motor design.
Acquisition reform advances in Congress. The House passed a bill 417-3 last week to reform how the Defense Department organizes its bookkeeping, trains its acquisition workforce and spends on services. The last now accounts for most of the Pentagon’s annual acquisition spending. Bipartisan leaders of the House Armed Services Committee, where the bill grew out of a year-long study effort, say the Improve Acquisition Act (H.R. 5013) could potentially save $135 billion over five years and expedite equipment and support to combat personnel.
Iran appears to be developing a further variant of the reentry vehicle for its Shahab 3 liquid-fueled medium-range ballistic missile, with a revised design on display during the Army Day parade in Tehran last month. “This is the third design that we’ve seen of the Shahab 3’s reentry vehicle,” says Uzi Rubin, former director of Israel’s Missile Defense Organization.
Michael E. France has been promoted to director from manager of regulatory affairs for the Alexandria, Va.-based National Air Transportation Association . He has been succeeded by Dennis van de Laar, who was a graduate assistant at the Southern Illinois Airport Authority. Daniel B. Gurley, 3rd, has become director of membership and business development. He was director of membership and meetings for the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds.
Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) are investigating why telemetry contact was lost with the HTV-2 test vehicle 9 min. after the hypersonic glider was launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., toward Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific on April 22. The HTV-2 was designed to demonstrate technology for high-performance, long-endurance maneuvering hypersonic flight.
USAF Maj. Gen. James O. Poss has been named director of strategy, integration and doctrine/deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon. He was director of ISR capabilities and remains deputy chief of staff for ISR at USAF Headquarters.
China will supply aircraft worth about $300 million to a new Venezuelan airline under an agreement signed by Avic International, the export branch of the Chinese aircraft-manufacturing conglomerate. Avic International says it will supply 33 aircraft, including Y-12E utility transports. Since the Y-12E has a list price of less than $4 million, it is unclear how the Chinese will fill such a large order. Other candidate aircraft would be the Comac ARJ21 and the Chinese MA-60 variant of the Ukrainian Antonov An-24.
After a week of program reviews, NASA says the contracting and instrument teams leading its $5-billion James Webb Space Telescope mission are meeting all science and engineering requirements necessary to support a nominal five-year mission, starting in 2015. Called the mission critical design review (MCDR), the process was centered at prime contractor Northrop Grumman Space Systems’ plant in Redondo Beach, Calif.
The Viewpoint from the Republican gentlemen of Utah begins “Runaway entitlement spending has propelled us toward the moral abyss of forfeiting our children’s future prosperity.”
Sukhoi’s T-50 fighter prototype was flown from the Gromov LII test center at Zhukovsky for the first time on April 29. The T-50-1 had been flown six times from the Knaapo production site in Komsomolsk before being shipped to Zhukovsky. The flight test program is expected to be completed by 2013.
Marty Kuehne has been named chief administrative officer/managing director of human capital and John Kuehne chief financial officer/managing director, both of the New York-based Seabury Group . Marty Kuehne was president/CEO and John Kuehne executive vice president/partner of Organizational Concepts International of Minneapolis before the two firms merged.
As the dust settles from the air traffic disruptions in Europe caused by Eyjafjallajokull’s eruption, European authorities are moving to expedite air traffic reform, overhaul cooperation and set new certification standards to avoid repeating last month’s chaos. For airlines, the focus is on relieving the immediate financial pain of more than a week of disrupted operations, beginning April 14.
Ukraine-based Antonov completed the first flight of its An-158 regional jet, a stretched version of the An-148, on April 28 in Kiev. The 99-seat aircraft (in a single-class cabin), has a 1.7-meter (5.2-ft.) longer fuselage than the standard, 68-seat An-148-100. Antonov expects to reach type certification in the first quarter of 2011. The regional jet could compete with the Sukhoi Superjet 100, at least in the Russian and former Soviet republics market. The An-148 is manufactured in Ukraine and Russia, but only five have been delivered to customers.
A rise in crude oil prices has airline industry executives worrying again. After doubling in 2009 to nearly $80 per barrel, crude prices are topping $85. With peak summer demand about to arrive, the big question is whether prices will reach triple digits, as some energy analysts are predicting. That is igniting fears of a repeat of the 2008 financial crunch, when a spike in oil prices to a record $147 a barrel caught airlines off guard and devastated their balance sheets.
Scott Neal (see photos) has been appointed vice president for the Central U.S. and Ontario, and Brian Miller vice president-Western U.S. and Western Canada for the North American Sales Group of the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. , Savannah, Ga. Miller succeeds Jim Dobbins, who is now vice president for the Eastern U.S. and Eastern Canada. Neal was an Eastern Div. sales director and Miller a Western Div. sales director.
Dassault’s top-of-the-line Falcon 7X is the first pure business jet to feature digital, fly-by-wire controls. The company drew upon its three decades of experience in building supersonic fighters in designing the system, which provides the $48.6-million trijet with both low- and high-speed envelope protection (see pilot report, p. 54). Dassault Falcon photo.
