Aeronautical Engineers Inc. is set to start a second Boeing 737-400 passenger-to-freighter conversion for Turkey’s MNG Airlines. The first conversion of the same aircraft type is slated to be delivered to the all-cargo carrier this week. The second conversion should be completed in May.
Crewmembers on the International Space Station will be a lot less cramped after the upcoming STS-130 mission by the space shuttle Endeavour. Endeavour’s all-NASA six-member crew will plug the Italian-built Tranquility node into the side of its sister-node Unity. That will add more space for life-support gear—an oxygen generator and other air revitalization equipment, and the balky U.S. water-recycling system—and a new treadmill named after political satirist Stephen Colbert.
Barry Kohler has been promoted to president of Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Ltd. , Mirabel, Quebec, from vice president-commercial programs of Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth. He succeeds Eric Cardinali, who has been named senior vice president-Integrated Supply Chain for Textron’s Cessna Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan. Cardinali, in turn, follows Ron Alberti, who will oversee Cessna 162 Skycatcher production in Shenyang, China, and the transition of work from Cessna’s Columbus, Ga., and Wichita facilities to one in Mexico.
French aerospace contractors are developing an automated high-pressure forming technique they hope will make lightweight composites competitive with metals for small-sized aircraft and missile parts.
Former astronaut Scott Parazynski has been named chairman-elect of the Alexandria, Va.-based Challenger Center for Space Science Education , succeeding former astronaut William F. Readdy. Parazynski is scheduled to become chairman in late 2010. Parazynski is a physician and physiologist with expertise in human adaptation to stressful environments. He was selected for NASA’s astronaut corps in 1992, and flew five space shuttle missions with seven spacewalks. He is director of business development for Wyle’s Integrated Science and Engineering Group in Houston.
Marv Vander Weg has been appointed vice president of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle EELV Customer Office of Space Exploration Technologies , Hawthorne, Calif. He was vice president of the Customer Program Office for the United Launch Alliance.
Joseph Franco has been named quality and environment health and safety manager for the Circor Aerospace Inc. Aerodyne Group , Ronkonkoma, N.Y. He was operations manager for Unison/General Electric.
A crash investigation committee and veteran Russian test pilot V.G. Pugachev have begun to review the contents of the flight data recorder (FDR) from the Russian air force Su-27SM that crashed Jan. 14 and killed Lt. Col. Vladimir Sobolev. The crash has resulted in the grounding of the air force’s Su-27 fleet.
Katherine O. (Kory) Abbitt has been named vice president-sales and marketing for the Americas for the Park Electrochemical Corp. , Melville, N.Y. She was global sales manager for carbon fibers for the Hexcel Corp., Stamford, Conn. Anthony W. DiGaudio, who has been corporate vice president-sales and marketing, now will be vice president-sales and marketing for Asia and Europe.
Lockheed Martin is ready to go with its new Space Vehicle Integration Laboratory (SVIL) at its Denver facility. This lab can use a commercial-based plug-and-play architecture, which Lockheed Martin managers say will better posture the company to simulate the development and testing of modular space vehicle components before flight-qualified hardware is available. Pentagon officials have begun to explore whether the use of commercial standards for some interfaces on satellites could hasten their development processes and reduce cost to the government.
Becky Emerle, an engineer for Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo., is among winners of the Women in Aerospace Achievement Award . She was honored for her contributions to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) programs. Emerle’s ACS and STIS repair teams’ efforts resulted in newly designed power supplies that proved to be more robust than the originals. Emerle also is credited with helping to develop the tools and training for astronauts to replace the hardware while in orbit.
Thomas F. O’Toole has become senior vice president/chief marketing officer for United Airlines . He was chief marketing officer/chief information officer for the Global Hyatt Corp.
Delta Air Lines says it will invest $1 billion in service improvements through mid-2013. Enhancements include installation of full flat-bed seats in business class on 90 aircraft: 14 Boeing 767-400ERs, 52 767-300ERS, 16 747-400s and eight 777-200ERs. Delta plans to equip 16 747-400s and 52 767-300ERs with in-seat audio and video-on-demand in economy class, and install first-class cabins on 66 Bombardier CRJ700s operated by Delta Connection carriers ASA, Comair and SkyWest.
The Indian Space Research Organization soon is expected to name two astronauts to train for its first human spaceflight, a seven-day orbital mission set to launch in 2016. Chairman K. Radhakrishnan says the government has approved plans for development of a human spacecraft and ground infrastructure, including a launch pad on Sriharikota Island in the Bay of Bengal and astronaut training facility in Bangalore. Total cost for the mission is estimated at 124 billion rupees ($2.7 billion).
A little-noticed set of engineering experiments at Langley Research Center could be a harbinger of things to come at NASA, as the U.S. space agency adjusts to tight-money times with a greater focus on technology development for commercial applications.
There’s more change afoot in the leadership at SR Technics—this time at the top. CEO Bernd Kessler stepped down Jan. 31, just two years after taking the job, and CFO James Stewart took over.
NASA is taking advantage of chance scheduling to conduct interferometric ground-deformation studies with its airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) over the island of Hispaniola, following the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake in the Haiti portion.
Douglas Barrie (London), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
European missile manufacturer MBDA is now planning the initial test firing of its Scalp Naval cruise missile in the first or second quarter of this year. A test shot had originally been slated for 2009. Despite the shift in dates , the French defense ministry asserts that delivery of the long-range cruise missile remains on track to begin in 2013. Neither the manufacturer nor ministry are willing to discuss the reasons behind the change in the firing schedule.
Regarding letters on crew rest and fatigue in the Jan. 11 issue (p. 8) , there is no question that crew duty periods and rest requirements need to be revisited and revised. The gentleman who wrote “Current Fatigue Rules Just Fine” obviously has not flown a 14-hr. duty day with 8-plus hr. of solid IFR approaches to maybe 10 airports. To make it more interesting, add a fast-moving cold front with squall lines of thunderstorms.
The advance of Asian aerospace industries is seemingly relentless, driven by factors that include national ambition, abundant engineering talent, competitive costs and government money.
While most carriers are reducing fleet capacity, AirAsia plans to add service to eight Indian destinations. The Malaysian budget carrier, which now serves four cities in India, plans to start daily Chennai-Penang service on Apr. 28. In May, it will offer flights between Kuala Lumpur and Chennai, Mumbai and Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore). In July, the airline plans to launch daily Hyderabad-Kuala Lumpur service, and on Aug. 1, daily flights to New Delhi. The carrier will operate Airbus A320s on the new routes except for Mumbai and New Delhi, where it will fly A330s.
After a recent transmission failure on the X-2 Technology Demonstrator, Sikorsky says it will be ready to return the aircraft to ground test in March. During ground test work on the hub faring, the X-2 experienced a transmission failure that was not due to an X-2 technology process, according to Steven Weiner, director of engineering sciences. A manufacturing process error occurred, he said. “They didn’t prep the gear properly.” The gear box has been repaired and was shipped to Sikorsky’s facility in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Charles Champion has been named head of engineering of Airbus , effective Apr. 1. He will succeed Patrick Gavin, who will retire. Champion has been executive vice president-customer services
