The Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) Industry Risk Profile, released Apr. 20, identified 26 key safety hazards. The profile, funded by Bell Helicopter Textron, developed by the Aerosafety Risk Management Inc. consultancy, and released by FlightSafety Inernational, takes an additional step. It is inviting industry and regulators to develop plans to mitigate those risks. Those recommendations will be compiled in a HEMS Industry Risk Reduction Plan and are scheduled to be released in August to an industry with a dismal accident record (see p. 28).
Your correspondents who view capping F-22 production at 183 aircraft as a blunder may be failing to take into account the additional savings we will realize by shortchanging the air-superiority mission. For instance, the U.S. Army won’t need any more expensive tanks, trucks and armored fighting vehicles if there is no air dominance; the survivors of Saddam Hussein’s army can provide two recent examples of the success of this approach. Similarly, we can save money on attack aircraft.
The U.S. Air Force is ramping up an effort to work with African air forces to improve the continent’s aviation backbone in the hope of boosting safety. The initiative has a dual purpose: Help Africa’s military and civil aviation sectors cut their accident rates, and reduce the risk for U.S. aircrews flying into the region. In addition, USAF plans to help many African air forces that are also users of C-130-type airlifters. By returning them to operational service, regional airlift capacity would grow, including to aid African Union forces.
The Czech government has eliminated Aeroflot from the second stage of the privatization process of CSA Czech Airlines. The decision means that only Czech travel consortium Unimex-TVS and Air France-KLM remain in the race for a majority stake of the state-owned airline.
The Czech Republic plans to buy four EADS CASA C-295M airlifters to replace aging Antonov An-26s. The country is trading in five of its AeroVodochody L-159 trainers, which will find a new home with the Spanish air force. This could help open doors for the L-159, which has been unable to generate much international interest. Deliveries of the C-295Ms are slated to unfold through 2011. The deal is valued at around $170 million.
Lower fuel prices are helping Japanese airlines promote travel during “Golden Week”—Japan’s busy spring break period. All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) see improvement from 2008 when fuel prices were skyrocketing and they added surcharges to ticket prices. JAL’s international reservations for the nine-day period from Apr. 28-May 6 are up 9.1% over last year with load factors of 77%—an 11.4-percentage-point gain.
A European research project intended to streamline aircraft ground movements and increase the safety of airport operations seems promising, judging from results achieved by a recent Italian trial.
NASA will wait until fall to award study contracts for its planned Saturn V-class Moon rocket and Altair lunar lander due to uncertainty over President Barack Obama’s plans for human-exploration programs. The White House’s budget request “outline” suggests it will stick with President Bush’s back-to-the-Moon goal. But the Office of Management and Budget reportedly wants to trim the agency’s budget by $3.5 billion in the next four years. That’s about what NASA expects to spend on Ares V and Altair during that period (see p. 18).
In a global recession, the state of commercial aviation and the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry are predictably gloomy. But airline executives and maintenance specialists are surprisingly upbeat as they focus on how to emerge stronger. They are studying ways to operate more efficiently, improve the training of their employees and select the best emerging technologies.
A supercruising combat aircraft is a high priority of the Chinese navy, the country’s top admiral says in a revealing official interview that gives strong clues of perceived shortcomings and future directions for the maritime force. Adm. Wu Shengli also says China must step up work on precision missiles that can overcome enemy defenses, and the nation should move faster in developing large combat surface ships—probably meaning the aircraft carrier program that looks increasingly imminent (AW&ST Jan. 5, p. 22).
Airbus will modify an A340 with laminar flow control (LFC) technologies as the European aerospace industry strives to reduce fuel burn 40% through its Clean Sky program. The modified A340-300 is slated to fly in 2012. It will first feature only passive LFC technologies; later, a hybrid approach will be evaluated. The effort is part of the Smart Fixed-Wing portion of the €1.6-billion ($2-billion) European Union Clean Sky program.
Dassault Systemes has developed simulation software for analyzing structural stress in welded joints and other connections. Verity for Abaqus is part of Dassault’s Simulia product life-cycle management suite of software tools. Product Manager Director Steve Crowley explains that mesh sensitivities in finite element models make it difficult for engineers to characterize structural stress in welded joints. To overcome this, Dassault leveraged Battelle’s Verity structural stress methodology.
In the avalanche of bad publicity following the use of corporate jets by auto executives seeking federal bailouts, some of the best uses of business aircraft have been overlooked. As a former manager and captain on the shuttle operated by Intel using seven aircraft, I saw the positive impact of corporate aircraft. Intel’s fleet is airline-configured and serves employees from technicians to senior officers on a first-come basis using a computer-based reservation system.
The U.S. is exploring the use of commercial satellites to enhance ship identification and communication for the battle against piracy. Long before the U.S.-flagged container ship Maersk Alabama was attacked by Somali pirates this month, a sister vessel, the Maersk Iowa, was plying the sea lanes between the U.S. East Coast and the Indian Ocean, testing a device that combines the information obtained from shipboard radar and identification transponders to give authorities a better overview of who is on the water and what they are up to.
Ron Kato (see photo) has been named vice president-global sourcing and manufacturing for Crane Aerospace & Electronics , Lynnwood, Wash. He was vice president/general manager of the Crane site in Burbank, Calif.
Doron D. Grosman has been named president of the Hexcel Corp. , Stamford, Conn. He succeeds William Hunt, who will be retiring. Grosman was president of Quebecor World’s Magazine Printing Solutions Business. Honors and Elections
Reducing fuel consumption, eliminating hazardous materials and chemicals, and recycling aircraft content activities have gained traction in the aviation industry, as it pursues ways to become more environmentally friendly.
The Microgage 2D system laser transmitter is a testing, measuring and alignment tool for commercial and military helicoptors, used for positioning and aligning engine mounts, long shaft sections and gear boxes. The laser transmitter, on an adjustable mount, connects to engine mounts on commercial helos. The laser reference beam points backward on the rotorcraft to set the position of shaft mounts and other assemblies. The mount has full adjustment capability for the laser transmitter, the company says. Pinpoint Laser Systems Inc., 56 Pulaski St., No. 5, Peabody, Mass.
J. Thomas McKinnon, professor of chemical engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, and Tim Feaver, president of Porous Power Technologies, have been appointed to the Business Advisory Council of Bye Energy Inc. , Highlands Ranch, Colo. Christopher Naro, former chief financial officer of Adam Aircraft Industries/AAI Acquisition Inc., has become biofuels program director.
Astrium Space Transportation CEO Alain Charmeau says his company is seeking funding within France’s new 2009-13 defense plan to demonstrate a high-altitude kill vehicle that, together with elements of France’s new M51 ballistic missile, could serve as a basis for a European ballistic missile defense system. The M51 is due to go into service in 2010 and remain in production at least through 2015-20, when a new warhead, known as the TNO, is to be introduced.
Southwest Airlines is offering buyouts to employees, implementing a hiring freeze and suspending raises for officers and senior management after the perennially profitable carrier reported its third quarterly loss in a row. The first-quarter loss was $91 million and—unlike the losses of the previous two quarters—remained a $20-million deficit even with the exclusion of special items. But it’s not so much the loss as it is the short-term outlook that has Southwest taking more actions to cut costs.
U.S. Air Force planners are kicking off studies into advanced training aircraft and simulators to help determine the type of system they will need to replace the Northrop Grumman T-38C. “We’re doing an analysis of alternatives right now that will shape that answer,” says Maj. Gen. Greg Feest, who heads the 19th Air Force at Randolph AFB, Tex., where the Air Education and Training Command is headquartered. “We need a replacement for the T-38 because it is aging and it has single-point failures in that aircraft,” he adds.
Rubicon Technology plans to offer larger sensor windows for UAVs and targeting pods after growing what the Illinois-based company believes is the world’s largest sapphire crystal. The 200-kg. “super boule” will allow production of optical windows with dimensions exceeding 12 in., Rubicon says, adding that the 85-kg. crystals currently grown in volume can produce window sizes of up to 10 in. Sapphire is a durable material that is transparent to IR, making it ideal for sensor windows.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems completed the first three flights of its new, all-jet, increased-stealth Predator C, which is named the Avenger (see p. 50). The name, also carried by the World War II-era TBF and TBM torpedo bombers, is one of several clues—including a tailhook and provisions for folding wings—that indicate a possible nautical future for the design. The swept wing allows for greater speed than previous Predator models, while the leading and trailing edges of the wings and tails are lined up to control radar reflections.
