The NASA/DLR Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy has begun flight tests at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in California to confirm the performance and structural integrity of the highly modified Boeing 747SP. A first 5-hr. flight on Oct. 11 lasted with the cavity door that accommodates the 2.5-meter infrared telescope closed, and it went smoothly, NASA says. The flight marked the beginning of several airborne and ground-test phases that will validate the performance of the airborne telescope.
The Star Alliance has voted to accept EgyptAir as a future member, noting that the carrier has undergone a significant transformation during the past five years to make it one of the foremost airlines in Africa and the Middle East. EgyptAir provides an ideal fit for Star Alliance, expanding the alliance’s footprint in markets where it is underrepresented, says Star CEO Jaan Albrecht. Alliance members flying to Cairo’s airport, including EgyptAir, will move to the new Terminal 3 after it opens in 2008.
Garmin is extending the reach of its G1000 integrated avionics system to include the Cessna Caravan 675, Grand Caravan and Super Cargomaster. These cockpits will feature three 10-in. LCD displays to integrate primary flight, navigation, terrain, weather and engine indications. The move to the G1000 comes as Caravans are selling faster than expected. Cessna’s Roger Whyte, senior vice president of sales and marketing, says the company has already sold twice as many Caravans this year as planned, and production will be boosted by 30% next year to keep up with demand.
Gary W. Ervin (see photo) has been named corporate vice president/president of the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp.’ s Integrated Systems Sector. He will succeed Scott J. Seymour, who plans to retire in early 2008. Ervin has been the sector’s Western U.S. vice president.
U.S. Army Col. (ret.) John Burke (see photo) has been appointed Light Utility Helicopter program vice president for EADS North America Defense , Huntsville, Ala. He was deputy director of Army aviation/director of Army unmanned systems integration at the Pentagon.
Advances in digital video circuitry for radar warning receivers (RWRs) could soon provide U.S. Air Force pilots with significantly improved detection of ground-based radars compared with existing analog units.
BAE Systems has been selected by the U.S. Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve to provide increased situational awareness and targeting control to A-10A Thunderbolt IIs. Work will take place in 2008 when the company will modify more than 100 Guard and Reserve A-10As stationed around the country. The upgrades are to improve pilot awareness of positions of friendly ground forces. The enhancements will also reduce pilot workload by automatically transferring target coordinates within the aircraft’s internal systems, as well as to other aircraft on the network.
Bill Chadwick has been appointed director of research, Dave Pauling senior director of technical operations and Michael Kibler director of membership services for the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Assn . Chadwick was an analyst for the U.S. International Trade Commission, while Pauling was assistant deputy undersecretary of Defense for materiel readiness and maintenance policy. Kibler was vice president-member relations and meetings for the Healthcare Distribution Management Assn.
Globalstar will orbit a final batch of four replenishment satellites for its first-generation network on Oct. 21 on board a Starsem Soyuz Fregat launch vehicle from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Together with four other spares launched on May 30, the new spacecraft will augment the existing 40-satellite network, which was built by a consortium led by Space Systems/Loral.
John McGraw, Manager, FAA Flight Technologies and Procedures (Washington, D.C.)
In response to the letter “Who is Flying RNP SAAAR?” (AW&ST Sept. 17, p. 10), the answer is: Alaska, American, Continental, Delta and Horizon Air. While approaches are not yet being flown in Gary, Ind., the FAA has published 65 RNP (required navigation performance) SAAAR (special aircraft and aircrew authorization required) procedures for use at 26 airports, 16 of which are the busiest in the U.S.
Europe’s battle between network carriers has become more heated as Air France and British Airways move to strengthen their route structures in a quest to capture higher-value markets.
Crews from Benham Companies will spend the next 18 months building two key test facilities for the Orion crew exploration vehicle at NASA’s Glenn Research Center under a new $51.4-million contract. The subsidiary of Science Applications International Corp. will design and build a 67,400-cu.-ft. reverberant acoustic test facility to simulate reentry sound levels on Orion. At 163 dB., it will be the highest intensity facility of its type and size ever built. Also included in the contract is a 20-ft.-dia. vibration platform for Orion.
Secure Flight, the long-awaited government-run passenger screening system, is nearly ready—again. The head of the Transportation Security Administration tells Congress that the agency will soon begin testing the computerized pre-screening system, which has been in development for more than four years. The comment period for the proposed new rule governing passenger screening ends Oct. 22 and TSA Administrator Edmund (Kip) Hawley says the agency will soon begin a trial period using data supplied voluntarily from airlines before issuing a final rule in the Federal Register.
India’s GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation (Gagan) wide-area augmentation system is progressing on schedule toward its final operational phase, to be completed by 2010. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) have concluded the Technology Demonstrator System (TDS) phase of Gagan. The indigenous Gagan is designed to help tackle the task of monitoring India’s expanding air traffic movements.
The French navy continues to assess the possibility of reinforcing the weapon systems on its two new helicopter-carrying command ships, the Tonnerre and Mistral. The ships’ armament presently consists of 50-cal. machine guns and Mistral very-short-range air defense missiles. Among improvements being considered, navy brass say, are 25-mm. gun mounts and a vertical launch short-/medium-range anti-air missile like the VL Mica or Aster now employed on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.
Taiwan has deployed a small number of Hsiung Feng II-E cruise missiles, says the Taipei Times, quoting unnamed military sources. The paper says the first of two versions of the missile will have a turbojet engine and a range of about 500 km. (310 mi.), although it will be officially referred to as a 600-km.-range weapon. With a turbofan, the sea-, land- or air-launched weapon will have a range of 1,000 km., the paper says, adding that Taiwan is trying to manufacture more domestic weapon components because Washington is increasingly refusing to supply U.S. parts.
Controllers are checking out the instruments on Japan’s Selene lunar probe after it released its second 50-kg. “daughter” satellite, VRAD, Oct. 12, positioning the Very Long Baseline Interferometer microsat in an orbit about 800 km. above the Moon. Images on board the main spacecraft, dubbed Kaguya, confirmed separation. The probe will work with VRAD and twin microsatellite Rstar to produce the first global gravity map of the Moon. Rstar was released Oct. 8. The three-ton Selene—the largest lunar mission since Apollo 17—launched from Tanegashima Space Center Sept.
The Israel Airports Authority is upgrading technology and procedures at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport to help reduce the ATC limitations imposed by severely constrained airspace. The IAA is working particularly on improving the only one of the airport’s three most commonly used runway approaches that does not have an instrument landing system (ILS). The ILS issue has been one of the factors in a high-profile debate about a series of approach conflicts at Ben Gurion.
An upcoming test of the HyFly hypersonic cruise missile demonstrator will be the development team’s final chance to prove enabling technologies for a Mach 6 strike weapon. This comes on the heels of a fuel-system issue on the second-to-last test, which prevented it from accelerating well-beyond Mach 3.5.
USN Capt. (ret.) Robert L. Crippen is among this year’s five inductees into the 2007 Aerospace Walk of Honor in Lancaster, Calif. The others are: USAF Col. (ret.) Robert C. Ettinger, Lewis Nelson, Charles Tucker and the late George Schwartz Welch. Crippen was the pilot of the first space shuttle mission, on the Columbia in April 1981; commander of the second flight of the shuttle Challenger; and of STS-41, which was the first retrieval and repair mission.
Gary W. Loveman, who is chairman/president/CEO of Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., has been named to the board of directors of the FedEx Corp. , Memphis, Tenn.
The Professional Aviation Maintenance Assn. is urging increased training and FAA certification of airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanics worldwide. In repair stations and other maintenance shops where noncertificated personnel work, the association “supports having a defined and reasonable ratio of FAA certified mechanics and technicians to non-FAA certified personnel,” according to PAMA President Brian Finnegan.
Astronauts Roberto Vittori of Italy and Marsha Ivins of NASA cleared 40 dry-cargo items intended for Europe’s first automated transfer vehicle (ATV)‚ Jules Verne, during a day-long cargo bench review in Turin, Italy. The vehicle’s manifest includes an early edition of Verne’s “From the Earth to the Moon” and some of his original space-flight drawings and calculations. The spacecraft is to launch to the ISS atop an Ariane 5 ES rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, on Jan. 31, 2008.
Canada has agreed to reinforce its collaboration with European weather satellite operator Eumetsat. The new agreement, which builds on a previous accord signed in 2002, will cover participation in Eumetsat Satellite Application Facilities, acquisition and exchange of satellite data and training.
APPH Group, a subsidiary of BBA Aviation, has been selected by Boeing to provide MRO services for the 717 landing gear system rotable program. The five-year $4.5-million contract will cover work to be performed at its Houston facility.
