General Electric and Rolls-Royce have kicked off short takeoff and vertical landing (Stovl) testing of a prototype F136 engine, with the lift fan engaged, for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, at GE’s test site in Peebles, Ohio. The engine is running with lift fan and roll-posts activated, but with the three-bearing swivel duct in the axial position. Full-up Stovl mode tests with the aft duct are set to begin “in a few months,” says the team.
The FAA is evaluating a series of automated systems designed to detect and report foreign object debris on airport surfaces, leading to development and publication of performance standards for these emerging technologies as early as 2009.
The Russians are no closer to solving the continuing dangerous problems with their spacecraft (off target, double deceleration, smoke in cockpit, etc.) than they were five years ago after the first botched Soyuz landing (AW&ST Apr. 28, p. 34). The U.S. dilemma of relying on the Soyuz, coupled with the termination of space shuttle flights two years from now, leaves the world with no safe and reliable options for human spaceflight, unless the Chinese surprise us. Maybe the U.S.
A former Qantas executive could spend eight months in jail for his involvement in an airfreight pricing cartel. In a deal with the U.S. Justice Dept., Barry McCaffrey, who was vice president-freight for the Americas, will plead guilty to manipulating cargo rates from 2000-06. British Airways, Japan Airlines, Korean Air and Qantas already have been fined.
USN Vice Adm. (ret.) Phillip M. Balisle has been named executive vice president/head of Washington operations for DRS Technologies Inc. He was senior vice president-maritime strategic plans and programs. Durwood W. (Skip) Ringo, Jr., has become senior vice president-government relations and Heather C. Sears vice president-trade compliance, both also in the Washington office. Ringo was government programs executive for GE Aircraft Engines, while Sears was a director and counsel on U.S. compliance for U.K.-based Cogham plc.
In response to Timothy E. Rea’s letter “Boeing Blew It Again” (AW&ST Apr. 14, p. 12), the 737-300 first flew three years before the A320. This second-generation 737 had new engines but retained the old wing. The new, and long overdue, wing had to wait until the third-generation 737-700 first flew in 1997.
A round of cold soak tests on Embraer’s fourth Phenom 100 jet were concluded on Apr. 14 at a climate laboratory at Eglin AFB, Fla., and now the aircraft is off to Brazil for the next leg on the road to maturity. The round at Eglin tested the aircraft’s strength and the functioning of its components under extreme conditions. The Phenom 100 remained in a cold chamber for more than 12 hr., subjected to a temperature of -40F. Engines, systems, batteries, doors and internal temperature marks all weathered the ordeal positively.
Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington), Amy Butler (Washington)
China’s leaders miscalculated the international reaction to the country’s antisatellite (Asat) weapon test last year, and likely regret that they let their research-and-development bureaucracy carry it out, says a top U.S. expert on the Chinese space program. “The Chinese took very careful aim and shot themselves in the foot with that test,” says Joan Johnson-Freese, chairman of the National Security Decision-Making Dept. at the U.S. Naval War College. “I think they now are now recognizing that the international condemnation due them was actually moderated.”
Cessna has flown its first production Model 162 SkyCatcher light sport aircraft, two months after flying the prototype. Next to fly will be a test article to demonstrate that the aircraft meets the American Society for Testing and Materials standards for LSAs.
Airbus is struggling to regain its competitive footing to take on Boeing, with signs of new A380 problems and the failure to negotiate a sale of key industrial facilities in France. A similar deal in Germany had already fallen through. The site sale and A380 recovery program were integral to efforts Airbus spelled out in late 2006 to overcome financial and programmatic problems that had shaken it to the core.
Gary Shell has been promoted to senior vice president-finance/chief financial officer/treasurer from vice president-finance/chief accounting officer of EMS Technologies Inc. of Atlanta. He succeeds Don T. Scartz, who is retiring.
Ray Goforth’s argument that complex aerospace products cannot be outsourced is not supported by experience (AW&ST Apr. 21, p. 70). Aircraft manufacturers have outsourced the initial design and manufacture of thrust reversers, engines, flight control systems, avionics and many other complex aircraft components. The 787 sections that Boeing is outsourcing are not any more complex than those it has outsourced for other aircraft.
At a joint conference with NASA in Washington on May 15, the FAA will kick off its Continuous, Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (Cleen) program. The market research conference will solicit industry input on the multi-year, multi-million-dollar effort to develop and demonstrate certifiable aircraft and engine technologies to reduce fuel burn by 33% compared with a CFM56-powered 737; nitrogen oxide emissions by 70% from CAEP 2 standards; and noise levels by a cumulative 32 dB. below Stage 4.
Impatient with the progress of advanced rotorcraft development in the U.S., Karem Aircraft has unveiled its concept for a 120-seat tiltrotor airliner, the TR53 AeroTrain. The all-composite vertical takeoff-and-landing aircraft would be based on the 71%-scale demonstrator Karem proposed under the U.S. Army-led Joint Heavy-Lift program.
Finmeccanica is in advanced discussions with DRS Technologies about purchasing the New Jersey-based defense electronics company at a substantial premium, according to merger-and-acquisition specialists. As of late last week, however, “accounting issues” were holding up further progress. If the two companies reach an agreement, the proposed transaction almost certainly will come under intense scrutiny by regulators concerned about the transfer of sensitive technologies, including new infrared detector systems for the Missile Defense Agency’s future kill vehicle.
Longtime NASA manager Edward Weiler will remain in place as NASA’s associate administrator for science, a job he has held on an interim basis since March. Administrator Michael Griffin made the appointment May 7.
Airspace users and air navigation service providers will meet with top government officials this week in an attempt to hammer out a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) road map for Europe more attuned to the needs of the aviation community.
Soh Keng Taan has been appointed chief information officer for Singapore-based Tiger Airways . He was an information systems executive with ConocoPhillips.
The label “caretaker” is too harsh, but it’s doubtful Jay L. Johnson will have anywhere near the impact on General Dynamics Corp. as the man he has been chosen to succeed as CEO, Nicholas D. Chabraja. During his 11 years at the helm, the prickly Chabraja rebuilt a company that had been blown up and sold off in pieces after the Cold War into one of the aerospace industry’s most efficient and strongest performers. General Dynamics stock value has risen more than 500% under his tenure, more than for Lockheed Martin Corp. (up 168%) or Northrop Grumman Corp.
Garry Jones has become a director of airport construction services for the Atlanta-based URS Corp. He was chief operating officer of Americorp Holdings Inc.
Florida-based DayJet has scaled back its per-seat, on-demand jet service using Eclipse 500 very light jets after failing to raise $40 million in operating capital to finance planned expansion. The company launched operations in October 2007 and serves up to 10 “DayPorts” in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. CEO Ed Iacobucci says the initial “proof of concept” phase has gone well, but to operate profitably DayJet required an infusion to grow its fleet to 30-40 airplanes flying to 20-30 fully developed DayPort markets. “Given the current state of the U.S.
Freight carrier Heavylift has bought Ozjet, an Australian specialist airline that operates four Boeing 737s on charter and scheduled services. Ozjet tried to fly as an all-business airline in 2005, targeting the extremely busy route between Melbourne and Sydney.
U.K. Royal Air Force Flight Lt. Michelle Goodman (see photo) has become the first woman to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. She was cited for an occasion in Iraq on June 1, 2007, when as captain of an Incident Reaction Team (IRT) Merlin helicopter, she flew into a dangerous area of Basra to rescue a casualty. According to the Defense Ministry, Goodman, while flying with night goggles and under heavy fire, landed next to the casualty and extracted him, despite mortar rounds landing nearby. Without the IRT, the casualty reportedly would have died within 15 min.
Eurocopter will re-engine an EC120 light helicopter with an advanced diesel engine under the European Union’s Clean Sky joint technology initiative. The goal is to reduce specific fuel consumption (SFC) 30%, and emissions of carbon dioxide by 40% and nitrogen oxides by 53%, says American Eurocopter CEO Marc Paganini. An improved turboshaft-powered helicopter demonstrator is also planned, with the goal of reducing SFC by 10%, CO2 by 26% and NOx by 67%.
The launch of a second test satellite and rewriting of dem-val contracts are positioning the Galileo navigation system to enter the procurement phase of the project.
