The European Space Agency is beginning to look at scenarios to ensure an independent manned space capability if such access is threatened by conflicting U.S. and Russian policy objectives.
The Royal Thai Army and Navy will acquire two Embraer ERJ 135LRs to transport government and military officials, and for medical evacuations. The twin-engine jet performs similar missions in Brazil, Belgium, Greece, India and Nigeria.
Bernadine Douglas has become assistant vice president-institutional advancement and Christopher Lambert director of development for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University , Daytona Beach, Fla. Douglas was director of development at the University of Central Florida’s Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences. Lambert was vice president-private banking and wealth management at Fifth-Third Bank in Morgantown, W.Va.
ATR has signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysian Airlines for the sale of 10, 68-seat ATR 72-500s. The carrier also holds options for five more of the turboprops. The deal is valued at $285 million (options included). MASWings will operate the aircraft, which are to be delivered in 2009-10.
To usher in a new era, 20 sec. and 30 cm. (11.8 in.) may seem small measures, but the two together heralded the beginning of human rotary-powered flight. One hundred years ago—on Nov. 13, 1907—Frenchman Paul Cornu is generally held to have become airborne, if by the slightest of margins, and for a little more than a hop, astride an airframe fitted with contrarotating blades. The reemergence of design ideas is a leitmotif of helicopter development.
George Nguyen (see photo) has been appointed senior vice president-operations of the Hawker Beechcraft Corp. , Wichita, Kan. He was president/chief operating officer of Asimco Technologies Inc.
German carrier Air Berlin is set to accept its first factory-delivered Boeing 737-700 in a move that signals the start of a major expansion phase for the growing airline. Although already operating seven -700s, all of the existing aircraft have passed through the hands of former operators such as Rio Sul, Midway, Sun Country, LAPA or Germania. The new aircraft is the first of 25 737-700s on order along with more than 60 -800s. Air Berlin, which acquired Dusseldorf-based charter carrier LTU in August, already operates 40 -800s as well as a fleet of 26 Airbus A319/A320s.
Chris Goater has become director of communications for the Netherlands-based Civil Air Navigation Services Organization . He succeeds Philip Butterworth-Hayes, who has resigned. Goater was head of media and public affairs/head of environment policy at the U.K.’s Airport Operators Assn.
The new active, electronically scanned array radar technology (already in the F-22 and newest model F/A-18E/Fs, and selected for the F-35, F-15C and a new generation of F-16s) will make the leap to heavy bombers. These radars triple the range of conventional designs and allow the detection of stealthy and very small targets.
Runway safety—as it has since 1990—appears on the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board’s “Most Wanted” list of critical aviation issues that require FAA corrective action. On Nov. 8, the NTSB reviewed its annual list and the remedies it is seeking:
A decision by Russian authorities to withdraw Lufthansa Cargo’s overflight rights is turning into a serious political issue between Russia and Germany.
The nearly 15,000 aerospace contractor and NASA employees at the Kennedy Space Center are focused on the critical launch of the shuttle Atlantis (right) to the International Space Station with the European Columbus module (see p. 42). The Flight Readiness Review for the planned mid-December launch is set for Nov. 14 at Kennedy.
Air China will begin thrice-weekly nonstop services between Beijing and Sydney on Dec. 1, using Airbus A330s and competing with Qantas Airways. Air China also is doubling its services between Beijing and Bangkok to twice daily and will introduce flights between Beijing and Macau.
Kaushik Patel has been named chief financial officer of South African Airways . He held the same position at Telkom. Patel will succeed Clive Else, who will become CEO of SAA Technical. Else, in turn, will follow Jan Blake, who has been appointed general manager for mergers, acquisitions and disposals. Fortune Ntlhoro has become SAA’s chief procurement officer.
Air Canada and Star Alliance partner Lufthansa are expanding Germany-Canada services. On June 1, 2008, they will launch daily nonstop flights between Ottawa and Frankfurt, the alliance’s primary European hub. On Mar. 1, the partners will offer up to three daily nonstops to Toronto from Frankfurt. Lufthansa plans to add a second daily nonstop Calgary-Frankfurt flight on Apr. 14, and seasonal nonstop Toronto-Dusseldorf service the next month.
Apotential shareholder revolt among EDO Corp.shareholders is raising questions about whether ITT Corp. will increase its $1.7-billion bid for the 82-year-old defense electronics supplier. ITT agreed in September to pay $56 a share, a 9% premium over EDO’s pre-deal closing price and 33% above the figure of a month earlier. But now some EDO shareholders are saying that’s just not enough.
Geoffrey Wright has become director of financial projects for PAS Technologies Inc. , Kansas City, Mo., and May Lim senior customer service executive for Asian Surface Technologies Pte. Ltd., the Singapore-based joint venture of PAS Technologies, SIA Engineering Co. and Pratt & Whitney. Wright was division finance manager for Praxair Surface Technologies Inc., while Lim was senior customer support officer for Turbine Overhaul Services Ltd. of Singapore.
In a deal valued at $5.2 billion, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific will buy 10 Boeing 747-8 freighters and seven 777-300ERs, partly to replace seven 747-200 freighters by 2012. The new aircraft will all be delivered by that year, with the first arriving in 2009. Cathay has also taken purchase rights on another 14 747-8s. It had already ordered 23 777-300ERs.
Radiation-detection equipment has been installed at three checkpoints in Slovakia along its border with Ukraine. The equipment can detect a broader array of gamma-ray and neutron sources, including highly enriched uranium and plutonium. The U.S. Energy Dept.’s National Nuclear Security Administration is working with Slovak officials to stop illicit trafficking of nuclear materials.
NASA will break ground this week for a new launch pad at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., for tests of the Orion crew exploration vehicle launch abort system. First firing of the solid-fuel rocket that would pull the Orion crew compartment off a failing Ares I launch vehicle is targeted for Sept. 23, 2008. Meanwhile, the agency cut the ribbon on three new 18-meter (59-ft.) Ka-band antennas built at the U.S. Army facility to handle the growing volume of data from scientific satellites. Over 30 days, the three-antenna network can handle up to 45 terabytes of data.
The International Air Transport Assn. (IATA) on Nov. 5 launched six paperless e-freight pilot programs for cargo moving on routes connecting Canada, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden and the U.K. Six airlines are working with eight freight forwarders and ground-handling agencies to test standards, processes and procedures. During the initial phase, selected shipments will travel without documents that contribute to much of the paperwork. This system could save the cargo industry $1.2 billion a year, IATA says.
Boeing has rolled out the first 737 airborne early warning, command and control aircraft in Turkish air force colors, at the company’s Seattle facility. The Peace Eagle aircraft will make its first international flight this week, to the Dubai air show in the United Arab Emirates. This is the first of four AEW&C aircraft. The other three will be built by Turkish Aerospace Industries in Ankara using in-country suppliers. Flight testing of the complete aircraft will begin next year.
Forecast International projects 11,000 radar units worth $50 billion will be produced through 2016, based on a review of 107 radar production operations, maintenance and research programs underway worldwide. Interest in new technology such as active electronically scanned arrays is driving the market, along with a need to fill airborne early warning and control requirements and to conduct asymmetric and urban warfare operations such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Even by British standards the procurement path has been obstacle strewn, but with the Merlin’s full operational capability finally declared, the Royal Navy now has arguably the world’s premiere anti-submarine warfare platform. Unfortunately for the Merlin, Russian submarine activity during the 1990s disappeared down a deep ocean trench. Moscow’s northern fleet submarines, which the AgustaWestland helicopter had been designed to so capably counter, were spending practically all their time at moorings in Russia’s Kola Peninsula.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ chief of sales, Vice President Larry Dickenson, plans to retire Dec. 31. Best known for leading Boeing’s Asia-Pacific sales effort, Dickenson became head of sales last October when Scott Carson was named BCA chief executive. Raymond Conner has been named to succeed Dickenson. CAE’s Profits Soar CAE is enjoying a sharp rise in the Canadian dollar. The Montreal builder of aircraft simulators reported a 25% increase in quarterly net earnings, to C$40 million ($42.8 million). Revenue rose 26%, to C$354 million.
