Italy is overhauling a large swath of its air surveillance radar infrastructure so spectrum can be made available for commercial use. All three military services are affected by the requirement to vacate parts of the S-band spectrum to make room for commercial WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) technology, which operates at around 3.5 GHz. WiMax is designed to be a more powerful form of wireless data transfer.
AgustaWestland is renaming the Future Lynx as the AW159, while the helicopter is to be known as the Lynx Wildcat for the British Armed Forces. The Army and Navy will operate versions to meet battlefield utility and shipborne roles.
Engineers at Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) are working to resolve a suspected compatibility issue with the Malaysian ATSB-built RazakSAT satellite before rescheduling its launch on a Falcon 1 from its Omelek Island facility in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Central Pacific. The original launch window for what is to be the company’s first commercial launch mission was scheduled to open on midnight Apr. 19 EDT.
Cirrus Aircraft Co., following months of evaluation, last week suspended its light sport aircraft program dubbed the SRS (for SR Sport), which is considered the competitor to Cessna’s SkyCatcher. Challenging economic conditions in the market were among the factors leading to the decision.
Last fall, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Congress “the greatest threat to the homeland lies . . . in western Pakistan.” It appears official Washington thinks he was something more than prescient. News of an insurgent takeover in a region only 70 mi. from the capital, Islamabad, has policymakers concerned about what political collapse could mean for a nation with an estimated 100 nuclear weapons.
Virgin Atlantic Airways is charging that British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia have withheld vital information in their filing for antitrust immunity. In March, the Oneworld alliance partners answered U.S. government questions about their December 2008 application, but Virgin, the most vocal opponent, says data still is missing. If regulators demand more answers, a verdict on granting antitrust immunity could easily slide into next year.
Boeing has completed the first wingset for the 747-8 freighter on its Everett, Wash., assembly line. The 135-ft. 3-in. wings use a new supercritical airfoil to advance range and payload for the freighter, which is set for its first flight in the second half of this year.
Cathay Pacific Airways, determined to reduce its rate of cash burn, will cut passenger capacity by 8%, cargo capacity by 11% and ask its workforce to take unpaid leave. The Hong Kong-based airline is negotiating to sell five aircraft, will park two more Boeing 747-400BCF freighters and wet-lease another to subsidiary Air Hong Kong. Another subsidiary, Dragonair, will cut capacity by 13%.
Regarding Pierre Sparaco’s article “Prosecutorial Overreach” (AW&ST Apr. 13, p. 45), what is unfair and where is the injustice when someone is held accountable for 16 avoidable deaths in a commercial aviation accident? Did the passengers who died sign a waiver holding the airline harmless for any eventuality that could have resulted in their deaths? Does Sparaco propose to give flight crews “get-out-of-jail-free” cards with their last check flights?
Is it possible that Airbus and Boeing planners are naively optimistic, or too short-sighted not to monitor their backlogs carefully while reviewing their customers’ ability to pay for aircraft ordered in better times? An underlying mystery is how the two big airframers could have ignored recent warnings about the order cutbacks, especially since these alarms came from respected airline and industry analysts and even the leader of the powerful International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC), Steven Udvar-Hazy.
May 12-14—EBACE. Geneva. June 15-21—Paris air show. Sept. 23-24—MRO Europe. Hamburg, Germany. Nov. 2-4—A&D Programs. Phoenix. Dec. 2-3—A&D Finance. New York. Dec. 8-10—MRO Asia. Hong Kong. May 6-7—Bird Strike Prevention Forum. Chicago. June 4—Business Aviation Security. Roslyn, Va.
The 2018 version of the Next-Generation Bomber is being derailed by a combination of international politics and defense budget pressures. Lt. Gen. Robert Elder, commander of the 8th Air Force with responsibility for nuclear deterrence and global strike, contends that it is not dead, merely the victim of “a postponement” of perhaps only as much as six months.
May 3-7—Aerospace Medical Assn.’s 80th Annual Scientific Meeting. Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles. Call +1 (703) 739-2240 ext. 106 or see www.asma.org May 4-6—SpeedNews Seventh Annual Aerospace & Defense Industry Suppliers Conference. InterContinental Century City, Los Angeles. See www.speednews.com May 4-7—12th Annual FAA/Defense Dept./NASA Aging Aircraft Conference. Kansas City (Mo.) Convention Center. Call +1 (937) 426-2808, fax +1 (937) 426-8755 or see www.agingaircraft2009.com
European airlines, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and pilot unions are trying to sort out a bitter dispute over new recommendations on pilot and cabin crew duty times that carriers claim would hinder their ability to fly long-haul routes.
Boeing 787 flight test teams will work to power-up the engines and auxiliary power unit on the first aircraft during the next few days as the frenetic pace of preparations for first flight continues.
For Aurora Flight Sciences, the path from developer to producer of unmanned aircraft is proving elusive, but it is not preventing the company from pursuing ever more advanced designs.
A Boeing 777 Freighter more expensive than an Airbus A380F? That’s what United Parcel Services President Bob Lekites says he was hearing from the Seattle-based manufacturer when it became clear Airbus could not meet its obligation to delivery 10 A380s in March 2007 and the carrier dropped its order. Though impressed with the 777F’s operating costs, sticker shock ensued. The price subsequently dropped, but UPS decided to go with a known entity. It ordered four used 747-400 passenger aircraft for reconditioning and conversion.
Thales says the RBE2 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar has successfully completed a new series of tests on the Rafale fighter. The tests, carried out at the Cazaux flight test center in southwestern France, jointly with French armaments agency DGA, provided functional validation of the radar’s operating modes. The first two RBE2s are to be delivered to Dassault Aviation in early 2010. Installation is to begin in 2011, with delivery to the French air force in early 2012.
Europe’s Herschel-Planck dual telescope mission has been delayed yet again, this time due to discovery of an anomaly on a subassembly identical to one that equips the mission’s Ariane 5 ECA launcher. No new date has yet been set for the launch, which had been scheduled for May 6.
One of two F-35 test aircraft planned for the Netherlands may be transferred to the U.S. after the Dutch parliament refused to approve the purchase. A decision on transfer has been deferred to 2010, with any approval for the purchase of 85 production F-35As delayed to 2012. Lockheed Martin, meanwhile, has flown the first F-35A to Eglin AFB, Fla., for noise tests to counter local opposition to siting the JSF integrated training center there.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Graham Warwick (Washington)
Reports that cyberattackers penetrated the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program will add impetus to efforts to improve the aerospace industry’s information security and weight to calls for more government resources to combat cyberwarfare. The claims that unknown attackers used Chinese Internet hosts as a conduit to break into the JSF program and scoop up terabytes of data drew circumspect denials from the U.S. Defense Dept. and Lockheed Martin. Others say there was a raid, but it did not score much of value for the raiders.
In a rare public statement on flight tests, Scaled Composites says a thrust asymmetry caused a tail scrape on the fourth test flight of its WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) mothership for Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo space tourism venture at Mojave, Calif., on Apr. 20. The twin-boom WK2 was performing a touch-and-go when it experienced a large yaw as it was lifting back off the runway. Scaled says the yaw occurred because not all of the throttles on the aircraft’s four Pratt & Whitney Canada PW308 engines were closed at touchdown.
A bellwether for the economy, the airfreight market is showing signs of life, with the traffic drop in March stabilizing after three consecutive quarters of declines of more than 20%. But a full recovery may be more than a year away, as world trade is not expected to begin growing until the first half of 2010, industry experts say.
Boeing and Finmeccanica are trying to patch up strained relations as they consider whether to re-engage and then jointly bid on the U.S. Air Force T-38 replacement program.
Swiss International Air Lines has introduced the first of nine Airbus A330-300s into service on its New York route. The airplanes are configured with 236 seats in three classes. The carrier, which used the entry to present its latest inflight product—new first-class accommodations—plans to accept delivery of three more A330-300s this year. The jets will replace A330-200s during the next three years.
