French aerostructures provider Daher and Oklahoma-based Nordam Group have been tapped to be part of the Gulfstream G650 supply chain. Stork-Fokker, a risk-sharing partner on the project, has named Daher to build the upper part of the vertical tail for the new business jet. The prototype structure is to be delivered in December; serial production is set to start in 2009. Nordam has been assigned the manufacture of fairings, landing gear doors and wing tip lenses. The components will be delivered ready for installation.
Japan’s Mitsui Seiki has developed a drilling machine for aero-engine cooling holes that combines a laser with the massive, precise construction of a high-grade mechanical tool. The company says it developed the drilling machine, called the VLD-300, in cooperation with component makers of aero-engines that were seeking faster, more precise laser drilling than is now available. The VLD-300 will aim its Nd:YAG laser within 0.001 mm. (0.00004 in.) of the specified point on the metal piece to be worked on.
SpaceX will be on tap to launch scientific and other spacecraft from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., under an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity NASA contract potentially worth $1 billion. The contract covers launches on the startup company’s planned Falcon 1—seen lifting off on its second, ultimately unsuccessful demonstration orbital mission Mar. 20, 2007—and Falcon 9 vehicles. The contract period ends June 30, 2010, for small- and medium-class expendable-vehicle launches through December 2012.
John J. Walsh has been named president of Sypris Electronics , Tampa, Fla. He succeeds Robert Sanders, who resigned. Walsh was executive vice president-strategy, technology and development for Ducommun Inc. and president of subsidiary Ducommun Technologies.
Boeing expects to perform proof-pressure tests of the 146 X 124-in. main deck cargo door on the first 777 Freighter early this week as it readies the 103-ton payload aircraft for its roll-out ceremony in late May. The test is expected to be conducted at the same time as the standard production “high-blow” pressurization test to which all new-build aircraft are subjected before delivery. First flight is due in June with deliveries starting by year-end.
Washington’s Dulles International has become the 12th airport in the U.S. to go operational with the FAA’s new Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X (ASDE-X) system built by Sensis Corp. ASDE-X gives air traffic controllers a display that tracks all aircraft on runways, taxiways and ramps to improve safety and efficiency.
The future of the embattled C-17 airlifter is about to be decided by a series of intersecting funding and program decisions, but Boeing is quietly confident that a new clutch of orders could provide a lifeline to development of a short takeoff and landing (STOL) C-17B variant.
Ukrainian travelers will have access to a low-fare startup airline starting July 11, when Wizz Air Ukraine plans to commence operations. The carrier will operate Airbus A320s in a 180-seat configuration, and be based at Kiev’s Boryspil Airport. The initial network includes seven routes.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is investing $8.5 million in BAE Systems to develop a mobile communications network that will be intrinsically secure from cyber attacks. The package is to support all aspects of network communications and data. The project is part of the research agency’s Intrinsically Assurable Mobile Ad Hoc Network program, which has become a priority since mobile elements of integrated networks such as missile launchers and vehicle-mounted radars have become primary targets for network attack.
Siemens PLM Software’s launch of its Teamcenter for MRO suite was kicked off by a purchase from BAE Systems. The Teamcenter is an integrated logistics records management capability tool that takes logistics planning out of the niche world and puts it on a backbone platform. The goal is to overcome a major headache—structuring data to meet common industry/military standards. This addition inserts logistics planning into the product and processing databases that engineering, manufacturing and after-market services commonly share.
Lockheed Martin will not show targets at ranges greater than 80 naut. mi. to pilots visiting its F-35 simulator, but radar specialists say the fighter’s radar range is around 125 naut. mi. Raytheon is already testing variants of the AIM‑120 Amraam that can reach into space to kill ballistic missile warheads. Tactical scenarios show F-35 pairs flying in trail with a separation of 80-100 naut. mi. with the first aircraft keeping its radar passive while the second aircraft’s 140-deg.-field-of-view radar provides active jamming and false target generation to cover the leader.
Two years ago, we stood here questioning whether aviation’s environmental problems are perhaps bigger than just noise and emissions. I remember some of you were appalled when I hinted that our industry might be in danger of becoming a social outcast, a pariah, the next “tobacco industry.” At that time, I posed a difficult question: Were we—the aviation industry—confident we had permission from society to proceed with our growth strategies?
An automotive industry veteran will assume the top spot at Bombardier’s aerospace business. Guy C. Hachey will become president and chief operating officer of Montreal-based Bombardier Aerospace on May 12. He succeeds Pierre Beaudoin, who was promoted to president and CEO of parent company Bombardier Inc. Hachey began his career 30 years ago at General Motors and most recently was a top executive at auto parts supplier Delphi.
A Russian MiG-29 took off from an air base in Georgia’s separatist Abkhaz territory, shot down a Georgian air force unmanned reconnaissance aircraft and then crossed into Russia, say Georgian air force officials. The attack was filmed by the UAV’s onboard camera which was recovered from the wreck and shown on television. The UAV is thought by analysts to have been an Israeli-made Hermes 450, which was struck by a Russian-made R-73 (AA-11 Archer) air-to-air missile.
The General Accountability Office (GAO) revealed National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) strengths in support of its Fiscal 2009-11 reauthorization request for increased funding, staff and statutory changes. Continuing analyses of safety board responses to the watchdog office’s recommendations show nothing that would diminish NTSB’s position as the “gold standard” of accident investigations—so testified GAO Director-Physical Infrastructure Gerald L. Dillingham at last week’s House aviation subcommittee hearing.
During the hearing before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee mentioned in your editorial “Trust But Verify” (AW&ST Apr. 14, p. 90), Herb Kelleher, Southwest’s executive chairman suggests compliance with airworthiness directives (AD) might be more effective if they were simplified. He was referring to 1,100 pages of six ADs covering Boeing 737 fuselage cracks. Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) thought that unwise, given the complexity of aircraft. The hearing was premised on the trusted validity of the ADs by all in attendance.
Russian investigators will review their conclusions about why Soyuz TMA-10 had an uncommanded ballistic reentry last fall after its follow-on—Soyuz TMA-11—went into the same steep trajectory Apr. 19 after six months at the International Space Station.
EADS is moving forward with plans to boost its U.S. footprint, with the acquisition of a California-based homeland security company for $350 million. Expanding in the U.S. through acquisitions is a central element of EADS’s corporate Vision 2020, which was unveiled this year, both to access the lucrative North American market and to put more of its industrial footprint in the dollar zone to insulate the company from currency swings. More deals to further grow EADS’s U.S. operations are expected.
The European Aviation Safety Agency and FAA last week granted Level D certification for the Airbus A380 full-flight simulator designed and built by CAE for the aircraft manufacturer. The FFS will be used to provide initial training to A380 customers.
Delta Air Lines will be closing nine of its Crown Room Clubs by the end of the month in response to rising fuel prices. The carrier will also convert BusinessElite lounges at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson and New York JFK airports into Crown Room Clubs. Cities losing one club each are Boston, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Seattle, San Juan, Phoenix, Denver and Honolulu; London Gatwick’s will close as well.
French transatlantic all-business-class airline L’Avion is trying to defy the problems some of its rivals have encountered. The carrier that flies twice daily between Paris Orly and Newark (N.J.) airports, says load factor reached 71% in the first quarter, with passenger volume 2.5 times over last year’s level. The airline notes its bookings are 55% from France and 45% from the U.S.
Ashortage of controllers could hamper Europe’s efforts to create a modern air traffic management system. A particular worry is that inadequate staffing levels could impact safety and undermine the promised benefits of airspace capacity improvements. Another concern is that during the fielding of new equipment, the already stretched workforce could be stressed further as controllers undergo more training.
Vietnam will begin operating its own communications satellite following launch on an Ariane 5 booster of a pair of telecom satellites—Vinasat-1 and Star One C2—on Apr. 11. Vinasat-1 is the first satellite to be owned by Vietnam, and represents a growing trend among smaller nations to operate their own domestic telecom satellite systems. The 2,600-kg. (5,732-lb.) Vinasat-1, built by Lockeed Martin Commercial Space Systems, is equipped with 12 Ku- and 8 C-band transponders. It will occupy an orbital slot at 132 deg. E. Long.
A rupture in the duct linking the gas generator and the turbomachinery in its main engine caused the Proton/Breeze M upper stage to shut down 2 min. early, stranding the AMC 14 satellite in a useless orbit following its Mar. 15 launch. A Russian state commission ordered Khrunichev, manufacturer of both the Proton and the Breeze M upper stage, to make improvements in the stage’s RD-2000 engine before it returns to flight.
