The TBM 850 is a single-engine, turboprop-powered business transport. It replaced the earlier 700 in 2006. The 850 is powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A66D engine rated at 850 shp. It seats four passengers in a club layout, or six passengers in a high-density configuration. The aircraft has a range of about 1,520 naut. mi. Production of 450 TBM 850s is forecast for the 2007-16 time period. EADS Socata is aiming the TBM 850 to compete with very light jets.
Northrop Grumman now has a commercial joint mapping toolkit in its suite of geospatial applications that offers users new ways of accessing National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) unclassified domestic and international products. The appliance combines NGA products with commercial software to provide application-ready data for developers and end users of geospatial information. The appliance features two versions: one that supports 50 users at a time and a configurable server that supports up to 300 users at once.
Skybus Airlines is growing its network to three bases in the eastern U.S., while withdrawing some long-haul services to the West Coast. On Jan. 6, Skybus is adding a base at Piedmont Triad International Airport—serving Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point in North Carolina—joining bases in Columbus, Ohio, and Portsmouth, N.H. On Jan. 15, the airline will link Piedmont airport with Portsmouth, St.
India hopes to launch its next-generation GSLV Mk. III booster by late 2009, but engineers say meeting the deadline will be a challenge. The Mk. III will be able to lift a 4-metric-ton payload into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), compared with 2.5 tons for the basic launch vehicle. Growth capability could boost this to 5-5.5 tons or more. India plans up to nine launches next year, and the new vehicle could help the country to penetrate the commercial launch market (AW&ST Oct. 8, p. 37).
Air Traffic Navigation Services of South Africa has selected Jeppesen’s Total Airspace and Airport Modeler software to study existing and new airspace structures and airports in South Africa. The software will facilitate planning for the 2010 World Cup finals being hosted in several South African cities—as well as other tourism events.
These turboprop-powered regional transport aircraft are built by a joint venture of EADS and Alenia Aeronautica. The first ATR 42 was delivered in 1985, to Air Littoral. The ATR 72 entered service in 1989. Current production versions are the ATR 42-500 and ATR 72-500. The ATR 42-500 seats 46-50 passengers, and is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127E engines (2,160 shp. each). The ATR 72-500 seats 68-74 passengers, and is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127F engines (2,475 shp. each). Through May 2007, 725 aircraft in the series were produced.
SITA is developing a new passenger reservations system for the 128 airlines that already use its reservation service. The new system will cover reservations, inventory, ticketing and departure control (check-in) services and will be based on an open systems architecture. SITA will invest $100 million in the development of the new system over five years, its largest ever single investment in passenger management. The capabilities are designed to handle rapid growth in passenger volume worldwide through 2020, says Francesco Violante, the CEO of SITA.
The A340 is a four-engine, intercontinental, wide-body commercial transport aircraft. A prototype flew in October 1991, and deliveries began in January 1993. The A340-200 and -300 were both certificated by the JAA in December 1992 and the FAA in February 1993. They are powered by four 31,200-34,000-lb.-thrust CFM International CFM56-5C4 turbofan engines. Deliveries are underway of two newer models: the longer-range A340-500 and stretched A340-600. Both are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines.
Francois Planaud (see photo) has become vice president/general manager of France-based Snecma ’s commercial engine division. He was CFM56 engine program director/executive vice president of CFM International and will be succeeded by Olivier Savin (see photo), who has been vice president of Snecma Services’ component repair business. Planaud follows Jean-Pierre Cojan, who has been named chairman/CEO of another Safran subsidiary, Aircelle . Cojan, in turn, succeeds Jean-Claude Lepage, who is retiring.
Nothing succeeds like success. The big U.S. international airlines, profitable once more, are sticking with a key element of the strategy that got them back into black ink: expansion of international service and contraction of domestic capacity. The six carriers are by no means in lockstep—international-capacity increases at the six airlines during the past three years varied from 53.2% at Delta Air Lines, mostly in Atlantic markets, to 0.4% at Northwest Airlines, which grew 13% in the Atlantic but shrank 6.3% in its Pacific stronghold.
Krishan Ahuja has become director/general manager of Georgia Tech-Ireland . He has been a regents professor in the School of Aerospace Engineering of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.
Small- to medium-sized U.S. aerospace companies find they cannot identify a direct return on investment stemming from participation in international air shows, according to a recent survey. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) interviewed officials at 20 companies—all with fewer than 500 employees. Sixteen of the firms stated they rented space at major air shows such as Paris, Farnborough and Singapore. Two Republican congressmen requested the study.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s report on Southwest Airlines Flight 1248’s Chicago Midway landing overrun is misguided (AW&ST Oct. 8, p. 42). Buried in the report is the true cause. The pilots thought their landing data computer gave them information for brakes only. Since this is the way landing performance has been calculated on every jet I have ever flown, I would have made the same assumption.
The warning bells continue to sound over EADS. The EADS/Airbus management reshuffling and a revitalized corporate governance are simply not enough. Clearly, the European aerospace and defense group needs a new shareholding arrangement, and France and Germany should admit, once and for all, that they are no longer welcome among private investors.
Chris Goater will become director of communications for the Netherlands-based Civil Air Navigation Services Organization , effective Nov. 1. He will succeed Philip Butterworth-Hayes, who is retiring. Goater has been head of media and public affairs and environment policy of the U.K.’s Airport Operators Assn.
Regarding the article “Global Safety Challenge” (AW&ST Oct 1, p. 52), if the goal is to improve safety, begin with the fundamentals. Those who maintain and fly the aircraft, and their management, need to understand the primacy of airworthiness. More organizational “safety systems” and endless analyses (based on lame data) widen the gap between appearance and reality.
The world’s largest airliner entered commercial service on Oct. 25 when Singapore Airlines flew the A380 on a 7.5-hr. flight from Singapore to Sydney on Flight SQ380. Most of the seats were sold on eBay in an auction that raised $1.9 million, with proceeds donated to three charities. The A380 was delivered to the airline on Oct. 15. It is powered by four Rolls-Royce Trent 900s that generate 72,000 lb. of thrust each. The 471-seat aircraft is configured with three classes of service. Regular scheduled service began Oct. 28 with three daily flights on the route.
International Launch Services says it has scheduled a return to flight for commercial versions of its Proton booster for Nov. 18, following the satisfactory conclusion of the company’s independent failure review oversight board. The FROB concurred with the findings and recommendations of the Russian state commission on Oct. 11 that cleared the launcher for government service following a Sept. 6 failure of a Proton M/Breeze M due to a defective pyro cable (AW&ST Oct. 15, p. 22).
BAE Systems’ military customers now want a range of options for sustaining equipment deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, so the company is focusing on a “hybrid model” of choices—including replacement, refurbishment or recapitalization. The aim of BAE’s Electronics & Integrated Solutions operating group, headquartered in Nashua, N.H., is to contain the cost of sustaining the products it has built for the U.S. military in the field and, whenever possible, to increase system capability.
J. Bruce McKissock has joined Philadelphia law firm Marshall , Dennehey , Warner , Coleman and Goggin as head of its aviation practice, and Geraldine D. Zidow as associate.
The Homeland Security Dept. has begun training the first nonmilitary government pilots to operate its unmanned aircraft over U.S. border areas. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the department unit charged with securing U.S. borders, operates two General Atomics Predator B UAVs based at Fort Huachuca, near Sierra Vista, Ariz. Both aircraft have been operated by General Atomics personnel. But the first five CBP operators, selected from a field of 82 volunteers, has begun classroom training and desktop simulations at General Atomics’ Gray Butte, Calif., facility.
Northrop Grumman Space Technology has begun integration and test work on NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (Lcross) in Redondo Beach, Calif. Northrop Grumman technicians (shown) install thrusters on the spacecraft’s structure, a 6-ft.-dia. ring known as an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA). Its six portholes will be attach points for the solar array and radiator panels, which will carry spacecraft subsystems and scientific instruments on their inside surfaces.
U.S. airlines are preparing to make some major changes to their operating structures over the next two quarters to stay afloat of possible economic downturns and further oil price spikes. Although they reported much-improved third-quarter earnings last week—some even released record quarterly profits—many will pursue an untraditional strategy of selling off or leveraging non-core assets going forward.
Brazil’s airlines are hoping the worst is over after a disastrous year operationally and financially, but analysts warn their planned strong international growth could undermine their recovery next year.
These models, along with the A318, make up Airbus’s A320 family of twin-turbofan, narrow-body airliners. The initial model was the A320, which made its first flight in February 1987. A320 deliveries began in 1988, while initial deliveries of the stretched A321 occurred in 1994. Deliveries of the shortened A319 began in 1996. All models are available with either CFM International CFM56-5 or International Aero Engines V2500 engines. The A319 typically seats 124 passengers, the A320 carries 150, and the A321 seats 185.
