The Mars rover Opportunity, nearly starved of electrical life by a dust storm that has blocked sunlight for a month, is beginning to see positive solar array margins. If that trend continues, it would enable the rover’s descent into the scientifically rich Victoria crater by early August, says John Callas, Mars Exploration Rover project manager. But that depends on whether the dust storm is really abating or whether Mars will attack with a fourth surprise dose of impenetrable dust haze, further blocking sunlight for solar array power.
A trio of key generals have been nominated for top U.S. Air Force posts by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Gen. Kevin P. Chilton was named to the top post at U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt AFB, Neb.; Lt. Gen. Claude R. Kehler was nominated for promotion to general as chief of Air Force Space Command at Peterson AFB, Colo., and Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula—who won early fame early in his career as a war planner during the 1991 Iraq war—has been assigned as deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance at USAF headquarters in Washington.
American Airlines has introduced its next-generation business-class seat manufactured by Recaro. The seat lies flat to a length of 76 in. and features a forward tracking capability that allows the seat to move in the upright position. Interlocking tray tables expand work or dining area. The first Boeing 777 to be equipped with the seats began flying this month. Not to be outdone, United Airlines has unveiled its new “United Business” service that includes lie-flat beds for overseas flights in business class.
EADS says the AirTanker consortium it heads has issued an offer aimed at raising £2 billion ($4 billion) to help fund the U.K.’s Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft program. If the offer is successful, it could reinforce chances of closing a deal for the multi-billion-dollar private financing initiative with the U.K. defense ministry toward year’s end.
German air traffic control supplier Comsoft has been selected by Airports Authority India to provide an aeronautical message handling system (AMHS), including air traffic navigation routers and terminals, for Sahar International Airport in Mumbai. Installation is to be completed by early 2008. AAI said it will undertake further AMHS installations throughout the country; Comsoft says it will be an active bidder. AMHS transmits flight plans, meteorological data, notices to airmen and other data between aeronautical stations in a standardized format.
Lockheed Martin snagged a $33.1-million contract add-on to procure Aegis BMD Block 2004 capability for one of Japan’s Kongo-class Aegis destroyers. Work is to be completed by 2009.
Defense installations aren’t the only ones that are hard to shut down. The FAA believes it needs to reduce the number of ATC facilities in order to increase system efficiency, but House lawmakers want to stymie all such efforts. An amendment blocking all consolidation was tacked on to the House transportation and housing appropriations bill—oddly, despite opposition from Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
The House Appropriations defense subcommittee added $480 million to the Joint Strike Fighter research and development account to fund continued work on the alternate engine for the F-35. The Pentagon argued against funding the alternate engine for fear it would reduce the focus and resources necessary for the program of record. Lawmakers also add $200 million to the development account to address “unfunded information assurance requirements” driven by Defense Dept. policy updates, the committee’s report says.
Alan and Dale Klapmeier, brothers and co-founders of the Cirrus Design Corp., have received the the Dr. Godfrey L. Cabot Award from the Boston-based Aero Club of New England . The award recognizes contributions to advance and foster aviation or spaceflight. The Klapmeiers were cited for introducing thousands of pilots to the joys and benefits of general aviation and helping reinvigorate the GA industry with Cirrus aircraft.
This won’t make the Russians happy. Boeing has won an $80-million contract to conduct activation planning of a European-based Missile Defense Complex as part of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program. Work will be done at Huntsville, Ala., and the unnamed European site. The company also conducted first flight July 25th of the initial one of four C-17s being built for the Canadian Defense Forces. The aircraft is to be delivered Aug. 8. Boeing also was awarded a $28.3-million contract from the Navy for V-22 spare components.
No mention was made in the article on DayJet (AW&ST July 2, p. 54) of employees’ compensation packages, specifically the “25 pilots with roughly 600,000 hours flight time.” That is an amazing figure in an article full of amazing figures, and would mean these pilots have an average of 24,000 hr. of flight time each. I have flown for 40 years—in military, civil and airline operations—and have more than 18,000 hr. DayJet must be paying very high salaries with superlative benefits to attract these highly experienced pilots.
Germany appears to be moving closer to joining the Italian-led Vega light launcher program, following issue of a study contract to EADS Astrium last week.
The report on the converted DC-10 that clipped treetops while dropping fire retardant (AW&ST July 2, p. 20) correctly notes that turbofans do not spool up quickly, and result in a less agile aircraft. However, the implication that turboprops are quicker to spool up is wrong; they suffer from the same limitation. That said, the powerplant on a firefighting turboprop normally operates at a constant RPM, and a near-instantaneous increase in power can be obtained by coarsening the propeller pitch without the need to accelerate the rotating mass.
WestJet founder Clive Beddoe has opted to relinquish his role as CEO to the airline’s president, Sean Duffy, effective Sept. 4. The transition will occur about a year after Beddoe named Duffy to succeed him. Beddoe says his new responsibility as executive chairman “more accurately reflects the role I have been progressively fulfilling for the past eight months, as I have handed more responsibility to Sean Duffy and our executive team.”
Fernando Caralt has been named to the board of directors of Ballistic Recovery Systems Inc. , South St. Paul, Minn. He is president of CIMSA Ingenieria de Sistemas.
Airline seating configurations remain well below the standard ratings published by manufacturers. Only a few months after Airbus downgraded the A380’s basic capacity to 525 passengers from 555, Qantas officials say the airline will install 450 seats. The carrier’s decision to install a premium economy class of 32 seats on the upper deck partially explains the spacious nature of the layout. The upper deck will also feature 72 business-class seats that can extend to serve as beds, while the lower deck will have 14 first-class seats and 332 in economy.
Richard G. Matthews (see photo) has become vice president-aviation products/site manager for the Northrop Grumman Corp. ’s St. Augustine (Fla.) Manufacturing Center. He is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who was vice director of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB. Matthews succeeds Steven Timmerman, who will be retiring in December.
Frederick A. Boorady, technical principal at Aerojet in Gainesville, Va., has received the Reston, Va.-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics ’ 2007 Wyld Propulsion Award. He was recognized for multiple contributions to the development of numerous liquid propulsion technologies as well as developing and fielding multiple liquid propulsion systems. Frank W. Steinle, senior engineer at the Aerospace Testing Alliance at Arnold AFB, Tenn., received the 2007 Ground Testing Award.
The U.S. International Trade Commission is launching the second of three studies on U.S.-China trade relations. This go-round will provide an in-depth assessment of the trade relationship and the causes behind the huge U.S.-China trade imbalance. The study will also examine the extent of Chinese intervention to promote investment, employment and exports. Case studies will be included in areas where government intervention is prevalent including the aircraft, semiconductor and telecommunications sectors.
Simon Moore has been appointed director of the Private Jets Div. of London Gatwick Airport-based Air Partner . He was U.K. manager of Air Partner Commercial Jets. Moore has been succeeded by Matthew Savage, who has been sales director of Excel Airways. Richard Thomas has been named director of group marketing.
Japan Air Lines has opened two new passenger lounges at Narita International Airport’s Terminal 2 that serves as JAL’s chief international hub. The lounges can accommodate nearly 700 people and feature a self-serve dining area with both buffet-style hot-meal service and breakfast foods. Passengers have access to showers, high-speed wireless LAN connections, and a room designed for families traveling with children.
Space shuttle Endeavour astronauts on the upcoming STS-118/13A.1 mission will try to ensure that the International Space Station is ready to receive the pressurized modules needed to support a full crew of six when the long assembly process ends in a little more than three years. Superficially, the space station won’t look much different when the six Americans and a Canadian depart after at least seven and as many as 10 days docked to the station. But the way will be clear to start making major changes on the next mission in October.
Raytheon won a $201-million contract increase for production of 190 Standard Missile-2 weapons and 121 missile containers for the U.S., Japan, Germany, Spain and Canada by September 2009.
