A year and a half after headline-grabbing sabotage on a production line, Boeing and United Aerospace Workers Local 1069 announced Oct. 18 that the 1,789 UAW-represented employees at the Boeing Rotorcraft Systems facility near Philadelphia ratified a new five-year collective bargaining agreement.
U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) has received the Wings of Liberty Award from the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Assn. in recognition of his longtime support of the aerospace and defense industry. Inouye, the No. 2 member of the Senate in seniority, has been a member of the Senate Commerce Committee for 40 years and a member of the Appropriations Committee for 38 years.
Douglas Baldwin is a familiar presence at conferences, explaining and promoting his Mono Tiltrotor (MTR) concept for a vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aircraft. Persistence is paying off—Baldwin Technology has just won a significant contract from the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) to advance the design of a ship-based cargo UAV.
Jos Oude Egberink (see photo) has been appointed general manager of U.S.-based Chromalloy ’s Netherlands operation. He was a unit manager for the IBN Group. Honors and Elections
Dr. A. J. Parmet International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine (Kansas City, Mo. )
Reader Chris Barr proposes tricking a body in space by mechanical longitudinal compression (AW&ST Aug. 24, p. 8). The Russians tested this idea in 1971 as did U.S. astronauts in 2000. Basically it does not work, because gravity creates a gradient of work for muscles, bones, the heart and blood vessels. The distance from heart to eye causes blood pressure to drop from 120/80 at the level of the heart to 90/50 at the brain. External compression does not reproduce this change, and there is no loss in pressure gradient.
To go from white paper to fielded system in just four years is unusual in the defense business, but then it is not often an aerospace innovation has its roots in the making of a Star Wars movie. Hampton Roads, Va.-based EchoStorm Worldwide develops software to archive and disseminate video from unmanned aircraft. Formed by brothers David and Jason Barton in 2003, the company has grown to 65 employees and $15 million in sales on the back of military demand for tools to manage the flow of video and data from UAVs.
The U.S. would install land-based SM-3 interceptors in Poland starting around 2018, U.S. officials indicated last week during Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Poland. Poland previously had agreed to host ground-based interceptors under the Bush administration’s missile defense system, before Washington recently changed course. The U.S. also had indicated it would meet Poland’s long-standing request for Patriot PAC-3 short-range missile defense systems.
Attendance was off sharply at the National Business Aviation Assn. (NBAA) convention last week in Orlando, Fla. But the mood in an industry that has been hammered by the global recession may have rounded a corner, and several new products and upgrades were announced (see p. 28). NBAA drew about 23,000 attendees, and 100 aircraft were on display. Attendance was down from the more than 30,000 in 2008. While 91% of exhibitors returned this year, some key aircraft manufacturers chose not to exhibit on the convention floor.
The Italian defense ministry is performing a high-wire act to protect major defense modernization projects in the face of a new defense spending plan that barely meets the minimum sustainment level.
Regarding a recent U.S. House of Representatives hearing on efforts to improve flight safety, the politicians and bureaucrats delivered their typical responses to an accident: Their previous bazillion rules and regulations actually were ineffective (AW&ST Sept. 28, p. 46). But now they will enact the proper new ones. “Sorry our old regs and rules didn’t work, but pay us to fix it. Trust us (we need the work). Listen to us. Heed us.”
European aviation leaders should perhaps take heed of the Muppet character Kermit the Frog’s tuneful lament, “It’s Not Easy Being Green,” and be careful to avoid making promises in vain or of sounding an excessively optimistic tone when discussing research efforts for a more environmentally friendly airline industry. Recent presentations of green initiatives have been rife with overblown hopes and objectives in terms of meeting a logical time frame.
Boeing reports that RC501, the first test aircraft for the 747-8 Freighter program, is more than 90% complete; the second is past the 80% mark and the third is at 75%. Power-on has been achieved for the first two. For its 787 program, the Everett, Wash., factory complex is assembling the 11th airplane—the fifth destined for customers—and shipments of the 12th are starting to arrive.
New Jersey officials and FAA representatives broke ground Oct. 19 for a proposed Next-Generation Aviation Research and Technology Park near Atlantic City International Airport. Plans call for the 55-acre complex to include seven buildings with 408,000 sq. ft. of research facilities. The project is a joint effort by the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center near Atlantic City, the South Jersey Economic Development District and Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.
Lee E. Rhyant, who is executive vice president/general manager of the Lockheed Martin Corp.’s Marietta, Ga., facility, has been named 2009 Executive of the Year by the Dayton, Ohio-based National Management Assn. The award recognizes a senior executive for managerial and leadership accomplishments, the conduct of personal and business affairs in accordance with NMA’s Code of Ethics, and contributions to preserving and advancing the free enterprise system. He also was vice president-production operations at Rolls-Royce Aerospace in Indianapolis.
Ocean Sky, a private London-based charter and maintenance management operation, has taken the space at London Luton Airport that airline SilverJet vacated when it went out of business. The spot offers parking and minimal taxi time to the ramp, and passengers can clear U.K. customs and immigration there. Luton provides line maintenance, but will grow its capabilities to provide major inspections. Ocean Sky says it is evaluating at least 10 other fixed-base operations that it hopes to acquire by the end of 2010.
Carey Miller has been named Western U.S. marketing manager for the Universal Avionics Systems Corp. , Tucson, Ariz. He was an account manager for Rockwell Collins.
Business aviation manufacturers are investing in new products and facilities in anticipation of the hard-hit industry’s recovery. Although business aviation is in the same deep economic trough that is inflicting so many sectors—marked by massive layoffs, slowed sales of new and used aircraft, and declines in operations—many airframe, engine, avionics and services companies are making heavy investments in preparation for the industry’s expected rebound.
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI)is funding a technology acquisition effort in anticipation of a future combat drone program. The company’s work extends to building a scaled version of its design, which it has already put in the air. KAI’s concept, called K-UCAV, would conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, including suppression of enemy air defenses. The stealthy airplane would also operate as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft with an “excellent sensor system,” the company says.
SimCom, which is marking its 20th anniversary in the training business, is expanding its Falcon 20 and Westwind II simulators from CAE-SimuFlite, and a King Air 350 simulator built by SimCom and equipped with Pro Line avionics, to provide pilots with advanced training.
The first Saab Erieye airborne early warning and control aircraft destined for the Pakistani air force is beginning the final stage of tests in Sweden. The aircraft will be delivered later this year, with testing to continue in-country.
The global recession is putting pressure on Italian aerospace giant Alenia’s ability to fund an F-35 final assembly and checkout (FACO) facility and prompting the Pentagon to slice C-27J buys. But parent company Finmeccanica’s ambitions to expand sales in the U.S. appear undeterred.
Honeywell’s Illinois-based UOP unit is developing second-generation biofuels, reports Andrea Bozzano, manager of renewable process development. “The goal is to have drop-in fuels that can be made in existing refineries and be moved using existing infrastructure,” he said. Jatropha- and camelina-based fuels could receive ASTM approval as early as next year, he says, while algae-based fuels, which are preferable, are probably a decade away from commercialization.
Federal rule makers are tightening requirements for defense contracts. Under congressional and White House guidance, the Civilian Agency Acquisition and Defense Acquisition Regulations councils have announced moves to tie award fees closer to acquisition objectives in the areas of cost, schedule and technical performance, and minimizing “pass-through” charges by prime contractors.
A computational tool that can estimate how long a component will last even before it is produced promises to revolutionize engineering, but illustrates the hurdles innovations must overcome to earn a place in the heavily regulated aerospace industry. Brentwood, Tenn.-based Vextec developed its Virtual Life Management (VLM) simulation tool with aerospace in mind, but the early adopters have been in the industrial equipment and automotive supplier industries, where warranty costs from premature failures eat directly into the bottom line.
Shawn Vick has been named executive vice president of the Hawker Beechcraft Corp. , Wichita, Kan. He was president/CEO of Landmark Aviation. Matthew Liu has become Beijing-based sales director for China and North Asia. He was an executive in product development and U.S. government sales at Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems.
