Raymond Jaworowski (Forecast International/www.forecastinternational.com)
The business jet market has experienced tremendous growth since 2004, but a downturn is on the way. Deliveries will likely hit the peak of the current growth cycle this year and then begin declining.
Feb. 11–15Society of British Aerospace Companies’ Aero India 2009. Yelahanka AB, Bangalore. See www.sbac.co.uk Feb. 19-20Aerial Firefighting Conference & Exhibition 2009 Incorporating Fixed & Rotary Wing Aircraft and Unmanned Air Vehicles. Crowne Plaza Hotel, Anaheim, Calif. See www.tangentlink.com/event.php?ekey=AFF%20California
Army Air Wing Aerospatiale SA330C (1) Aerospatiale SA330G (1) Bell Helicopter Textron 206L II (2) British Aerospace HS.748-2A (1) Britten-Norman BN-2T (2) Eurocopter AS332 (1) HAL Dhruv (2) HAL SA316B (2) Mil Mi-17 (5) PZL M-28 (2) Shorts SC-7 (1)
The Irish government has rejected Ryanair’s offer to purchase its 25.12% stake in Aer Lingus. Transport Minister Noel Dempsey last week said: “The Ryanair offer greatly undervalues Aer Lingus. There were a number of other issues considered by the government in coming to this decision. Competition was a major consideration.” Aer Lingus is also broadening its relationship with United Airlines by cooperating on new transatlantic routes. The airlines will begin daily operations between Washington and Madrid in March 2010.
Mar. 3—Aviation Week Laureate Awards Dinner. Andrew Mellon Auditorium, Washington. Mar. 11-12—Defense Technology & Requirements. Washington. Apr. 21-23—Aviation Week MRO and MRO Military Conferences. Dallas. Oct. 1—Green Europe. Hamburg, Germany. Dec. 8-10—MRO Asia. Hong Kong. Feb. 24-25—Lean Six Sigma for Military. Washington/San Diego.
A prototype lightweight synthetic aperture radar supplied by NASA has generated its first data from the bottom of a permanently dark crater at one of the Moon’s poles. The Mini-SAR rode India’s Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter to test its ability to search for water ice and other volatiles that might help support a human presence. The instrument produced this image of the never-before-seen floor of the south polar Haworth crater, here overlaying an image of the region collected with the Arecibo Observatory radar telescope in Puerto Rico, on Nov. 17, 2008.
Air Force Aerospatiale SA316B (32) Aerospatiale SA365 (6) Antonov An-32 (94) BAE Systems Hawk 100 (6) BAE Systems Hawk 132 (2) Boeing 737-200 (3) Boeing 737-700BBJ (1) British Aerospace HS.748-100 (64) Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000H (36) Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000TH (11) Embraer ECJ-135 Legacy (5) Gulfstream III (3) HAL Dhruv (22) HAL Do 228-201 (28) HAL HJT-16 (85) HAL HPT-32 (82)
Brisk sales of new airline and business aircraft during the past few years have created an order backlog for commercial avionics companies that should help sustain them through 2009, even though economic uncertainty is darkening the horizon.
104-240 Terence Matthews Crescent Kanata, Ontario Canada K2M 2C4 Tel. (613) 599-4400; Fax (613) 599-4455 www.cielsatellite.ca Ciel-2 Developed with Alcatel Alenia Space using the Spacebus 4000 C4 platform. Orbital location is 129° W. Launched Dec. 10, 2008. 16-year design lifetime. Echostar 5 Direct-to-home TV broadcasting. Orbital location is 129° W. Leased to Ciel Satellite. 2011 EOL.
ACeS ASIA Cellular Satellite CYBER Building 5th Floor, JI. Kuningan Barat No. 8Jakarta 12170, IndonesiaTel. (62-21) 520-9810; Fax (62-21) 520-9811www.acesinternational.comACeS 1/Garuda 1 Mobile communications. Orbital location is 123° E geosynchronous. Carries 140 spot beam transponders, C-band and L-band. Satellite is jointly owned with Jasmine International Overseas Ltd., Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications, Philippines Long Distance Telephone Co. and PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara.
Thank goodness Capt. Chesley B. (Sully) Sullenberger, 3rd, of US Airways Flight 1549 had things that are totally or almost missing from the new generation of pilots on which the airlines are draping the four gold bands (AW&ST Jan. 19, p. 16): •A military background. A stint in the military teaches and/or reinforces crucial values when things go badly. Discipline, calm and courage matter as much or more than anything else. Lose these and everything will get worse.
