Lynn Brubaker has been elected chair of the board of directors of the Alexandria, Va.-based Flight Safety Foundation . She is a former executive of Honeywell International and the McDonnell Douglas Corp., who started her career at Comair and Northwest Airlines.
Boeing is completing the development stage of a simulator visual display system that provides unvarying resolution wherever the pilot looks, avoiding the problems other back-projected displays have when the target image crosses the join between screens. The Constant Resolution Visual System (CRVS) is made up of curved screens, each with a single high-definition projector rather than the multiple projectors used in the company’s previous displays.
Boeing has identified Panama’s Copa Airlines as the subject of two previously unidentified 737 orders and has formally listed Korean Air as the purchaser of five 747-8 Intercontinental passenger aircraft. The additions give Boeing 98 net orders for the year.
With the 787 finally poised for first flight, Rolls-Royce and General Electric are working to introduce newly developed engine improvements earlier into the program than scheduled.
Lufthansa Technik’s Airframe Related Components in Hamburg has installed a new 5-meter (16.4-ft.) -dia. autoclave that will enable it to cure fairings from the largest jet engines and large flap systems as well as radomes that have been repaired for further use by its airline customers. The facility has also been expanded and its production processes streamlined to provide faster service.
Airbus and Boeing face many unknowns as they ponder the multibillion-dollar question of using open-rotor rather than conventional engines for their next-generation airliners, but at least one critical part of the puzzle—noise—now appears to be falling into place.
United Aircraft Corp. continues to grapple with creating a single structure that will allow it to manage the 100-plus enterprises that come under its aegis. From its establishment in 2006, UAC has been striving to devise an organization plan to simplify management and attract investors. The latest reshuffle came last month, following the melding of MiG Corp. and Kazan aircraft manufacturing plant (KAPO) into UAC’s shareholding setup.
By year-end, Eurofighter partners hope to have integration and cost proposals on two key weapons for the Typhoon, while ongoing work on radar and engine upgrades will conclude about three months later. Service Release Package (SRP) 14 includes the MBDA Meteor rocket-ramjet-powered air-to-air missile and the Raytheon Paveway IV dual-mode precision-guided bomb. The intent is to have Meteor available in 2014-15 for Eurofighter partners Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K.
Air Algerie is scheduled to take delivery of four ATR 72-500s next year to help build its regional network. The order comes in the wake of a commitment announced recently for more Boeing 737s. Air Algerie has been seeking to improve its regional connections, and the latest acquisition increases its ATR turboprop fleet to 12. The new airplanes will be configured with 66 seats.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission gave final approval Dec. 10 to a joint venture between Delta Air Lines and the Virgin Blue Group for U.S.-Australia services, but the carriers still need U.S. Transportation Dept. OK before they can proceed. The commission concluded the joint venture “is likely to result in public benefits” by enabling U.S.-Australia market newcomers Delta and V Australia to “compete more vigorously and effectively” against established carriers Qantas Airways and United Airlines.
The Turkish government is in talks with the Pentagon over the potential purchase of 14 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. The deal could reach a value of $1.2 billion.
Eaton Corp. had used acquisitions to build up its aerospace and defense business, but it now intends to stay on the mergers-and-acquistions (M&A) sidelines as it conserves cash to ride out the global economic downturn. “Right now we’ve got a recovery with zero cost of capital, and that’s not a real recovery,” CEO Sandy Cutler told the Aviation Week/Credit Suisse A&D Finance Conference this month. “We will be back in the market,” he adds, “but not real soon.”
A helium leak due to a faulty valve on the Ariane 5GS vehicle has forced a delay in the launch of France’s Helios IIB imaging intelligence satellite. The launcher, which was on the pad at the European spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, when the leak was detected, will be returned to the final assembly building this week for valve changeout. No new launch date has been set.
Simon Luxmoore (see photo) has become chief executive of the London-based Royal Aeronautical Society . He succeeds Keith Mans, who has retired. Luxmoore was group vice president of Messier-Dowty’s Boeing and Military Business Unit and managing director of Messier-Dowty Ltd.
The Japanese government is considering guaranteeing as much as ¥700 billion ($7.7 billion) in investment in Japan Airlines, including loans, to prevent it from running out of cash. The government will guarantee 80% of loans extended to the embattled airline. The move effectively ensures that the carrier can raise the funds it needs beyond the ¥100 billion already available from the Development Bank of Japan.
As one who was deeply involved in the X-43, I congratulate you on a great editorial that tells it like it is (AW&ST Nov. 30, p. 66). Unfortunately, hypersonics is just one of many areas in aeronautics where the U.S. is giving up its hard won leadership to our international competitors through neglect.
Airship Ventures concluded its first year of commercial operation of the Zeppelin NT “Eureka” in November, having carried more than 5,000 paying passengers in 800+ flights. While it will continue to be based at Moffett Field near the southern end of San Francisco Bay, the 12-passenger, semi-rigid airship will expand its activity in Southern California during 2010 because of the more favorable weather there.
Edward G. Carson has become CEO of Growth Management and Constructive Changes , Laguna Niguel, Calif. He was executive vice president of Hitco Carbon Composites and chief operating officer of its aerostructures programs.
Douglas Barrie (London), Robert Wall (Dubai), Andy Nativi (Genoa)
Technical and financial obstacles appear to be tying up Italy’s attempt to seal the M-346 advanced jet trainer contract with the United Arab Emirates. And there are now indications that one of the losing bidders could actually still be a contender. The selection of the M-346 to meet the UAE air force’s advanced jet trainer requirement was announced in February, knocking out Korea Aerospace Industries’ T-50.
If the National Mediation Board (NMB) implements a new rule on how unions are elected under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), airlines say, it must make it easier to decertify unions. Airlines oppose the proposal—that for a union to be approved, the majority of those voting say “yes,” not that a majority of those eligible to vote actually cast “yes” votes. But if that change goes into effect, the carriers argue, workers must be allowed to vote a union off the property just as easily.
How about global collaboration to hypersonics? The issue is not to recommit to hypersonics, but rather provide continued commitment. Furthermore, real gains can be made from international collaboration in actualizing hypersonic capability. The same issue was found and reported out by the 2000 Air Force Science Advisory Board. The funding peaks every 15-20 years have repeatedly brought the creation and then loss of critical mass and domain knowledge.
Bombardier’s rail business is helping offset a tough environment in the Canadian transportation giant’s business jet and regional aircraft operations. Cameron Doerksen, an analyst at Versant Partners in Montreal, estimates that the rail business will account for 63% of the company’s earnings before interest and taxes in the coming fiscal year, with the aircraft side bringing in just 37%. That denotes a flip from a year ago, when Bombardier Aerospace accounted for 64% of the profits.
Boeing is scouting beyond the unionized Seattle area for second sources for the 787’s vertical stabilizer and other assemblies in an attempt to guarantee a steady supplier base for the final assembly line it is building in North Charleston, S.C.
As the Pentagon seeks to strengthen its industrial base and U.S. allies press for reliable partners in this post-9/11 world, Congress and the Obama administration would do well to keep this in mind: Nearly half of all U.S. aerospace sales come from exports—and those support nearly half of the U.S. industry’s workforce.
