Eurocopter has delivered its first “haute couture” helicopter aimed at tapping into the business-jet industry’s VIP clientele. The inaugural rotorcraft, known as “L’Helicoptere par Hermes,” will be operated by Falcon Aviation Services in the United Arab Emirates, catering to customers in the Persian Gulf region. The VIP version is based on the twin-engine EC135 and features a spacious four-passenger cabin equipped with luxury furnishings designed by the Paris fashion house Hermes.
Jeffrey Pino, a veteran Army aviator turned helicopter marketing whiz, was summoned to the phone one night in March 2006 with a flattering offer. His boss, Sikorsky Aircraft President Steve Finger, was being moved by parent company United Technologies (UTC) to run sister unit Pratt & Whitney. The top job at Sikorsky was Pino’s if he wanted it.
The FAA has distributed more than $1 billion—94% of its grants-in-aid for airport improvement funding—for 301 projects, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood tells a congressional hearing on the effectiveness of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Of the $200 million provided for facilities and equipment projects, the FAA has been working on contract awards for air traffic control facility improvements, power system upgrades, new runway lighting, and navigation systems and other infrastructure projects, LaHood tells the House Transportation Committee.
Dwight J. Gibbs has been named senior vice president-technology for Input , Reston, Va. He was chief technology officer for Legg Mason Capital Management.
Russia’s Space Forces used a Soyuz-U launch vehicle to orbit a military reconnaissance satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on Apr. 29. Designated Cosmos 2450, the spacecraft is believed to be a Kobalt-class photo-reconnaissance satellite that returns film in recoverable canisters.
Airbus Military has completed testing of receiver flight control laws demonstrating the ability of the manufacturer’s A330-200 multirole tanker transport (MRTT) to be refueled by French air force Boeing KC-135 tankers. Twenty contacts were involved, using the first of five KC-30A MRTT earmarked for the Royal Australian Air Force as the receiver aircraft.
Boeing is to deploy and operate Insitu ScanEagle unmanned aircraft on behalf of SOC under a contract potentially worth $250 million over five years. The company says it has 132 ScanEagles in theater under similar service contracts with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.
As chairman/CEO of the old Martin Marietta Corp., Norman Augustine played an instrumental role in the great consolidation that reshaped the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry after the Cold War. So it’s worth soliciting his views on what’s likely to happen to the industry if President Barack Obama’s administration succeeds in its push to reshape U.S. military priorities.
French aerostructures provider Aerolia has secured additional workshare on the Airbus A350XWB twin widebody. Aerolia—the business created out of EADS facilities that will be put on the block when markets rebound—will provide the hydraulic and cabin systems tubes and pipes for the new widebody. The company also performs nose-fuselage section work.
North Korea has threatened a new nuclear arms test and more ballistic missile tests if the United Nations Security Council does not reverse and apologize for tightening sanctions following the Apr. 5 test of a missile that Pyongyang claims launched a satellite. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, testifying last week before the Senate Appropriations Committee, said it is “implausible” that North Korea will return to the six-party disarmament talks.
Lockheed Martin will build a prototype high-flying radar-equipped airship for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Air Force under a contract worth almost $400 million. Northrop Grumman was the losing bidder. Scheduled to fly in Fiscal 2013, the unmanned airship will have Raytheon X- and UHF-band active electronically scanned arrays built into its structure.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says former FAA Administrator Jane Garvey has been tapped to oversee negotiations on a new air traffic controller contract. LaHood told a joint Aeroclub of Washington/Wings Club luncheon last week that Garvey, who was criticized by the Bush administration for being too pro-controllers union, will lead two mediators in negotiations with the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. The union has been in a bitter dispute with the FAA, and earlier in the day President Barack Obama announced that a team of mediators was being appointed.
NASA’s Messenger probe already has provided a global view of Mercury with two close flybys that show extensive volcanic activity probably has concealed evidence of the planet’s early history. The spacecraft won’t reach orbit around the planet closest to the Sun until 2011, but new findings based on the Jan. 14 and Oct. 6, 2008, flybys—combined with Mariner 10 data collected in 1974—show smooth plains cover about 40% of the planet’s surface.
A move by Australia to piggyback a military payload on an Intelsat spacecraft could spark increased demand for dual use of satcom capacity while providing a showcase for a new-generation Boeing telecom satellite.
The number of aircraft accidents increased, but fatalities declined in 2008 compared to 2007, according to the International Air Transport Assn. Safety 2008 report. Last year, 23 fatal accidents occurred, resulting in 502 fatalities, compared to 2007, when 692 people were killed in 20 fatal accidents. The report indicates a 2008 worldwide accident rate of 0.81 Western-built jet hull losses per million sectors flown, which compares to 0.75 the previous year. IATA member airlines, however, surpassed industry with an accident rate of 0.52.
For a couple of years, the Pentagon has been searching for devices—small and light enough to be carried by unmanned aircraft and small ground vehicles—that could locate and identify underground tunnels, facilities and activity. At least two have surfaced this spring from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa). One uses laser radar to measure vibrations and the other records minute changes in gravity.
General Electric is in the midst of its biggest civil engine certification ramp-up for two decades as it prepares the GEnx-1B and -2B for first flights on the Boeing 787 and 747-8, respectively.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiao Bao and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso have agreed to allow flights from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to Beijing Capital Airport beginning in October, opening a second venue to Tokyo Narita Airport.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Space Tracking and Surveillance System Advanced Technology Risk-Reduction (STSS ATRR) mission is set for a May 5 launch from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Formerly known as the Space-Based Infrared System-Low, the STSS prototype is slated for a launch window of 3:24-3:52 p.m. EDT on a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7920-10C rocket from Space Launch Complex-2 West. Spacecraft separation will take place 58 min. after launch, and the missile-tracking spacecraft will fly a polar orbit. STSS ATRR “serves as a pathfinder for future . . .
Dassault’s wingletted Falcon 2000LX large-cabin business jet has received U.S. and European certification, with deliveries to begin early this month. The LX is based on the Falcon 2000EX EASy, with the addition of winglets developed by Seattle-based Aviation Partners that extend range to 4,000 naut. mi.
Dutch investigators of the Feb. 25 Turkish Airlines 737-800 landing accident at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport have determined that the aircraft’s left-hand radio altimeter—the focus of their probe—malfunctioned on two of the 737’s previous nine flights. The accident aircraft’s right radio and pressure altimeters fed correct information to the first officer’s display, but the left radio altimeter provided faulty altitude readouts on the captain’s display, according to the safety board’s preliminary report released Apr. 29.
Like most businesses, aerospace and defense (A&D) companies are battling some broad economic headwinds. They also are being buffeted by powerful industry-specific downdrafts as governments tighten budgets, defer or cancel new programs, and revamp acquisition practices. The steady military budget spending increases of recent years are giving way to managers’ concerns about how best to deploy assets and position their companies against further turbulence.
Greg Hyslop (see photo) has become vice president/general manager of Boeing ’s St. Louis-based Missile Defense Systems. He succeeds Scott Fancher, who is now head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ 787 Dreamliner program. Hyslop was head of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program.
An improved turbine being developed for the GEnx-1B engine on the 787 should bring it in line with Boeing’s initial specific fuel consumption (SFC) goals, according to GE program managers.
