EasyJet, one of the members of Airbus's next-generation narrow-body study group, last week unveiled its concept of a short-haul aircraft design that has been optimized to reduce environmental impact. The open rotor-powered design is aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 50%, and oxides of nitrogen by 75%. The notional in-service date is 2015.
Honeywell's ducted-fan Micro Air Vehicle (MAV), a 15-lb. unmanned aerial vehicle small enough to be carried in a backpack, is being introduced into service in Iraq in a bid to improve detection of improvised explosive devices.
NGRAIN's Portable Maintenance Aid (PMA) uses 3D equipment simulations to accelerate damage assessment, parts ordering and access to technical manuals to improve maintenance turn-time and quality of task performance by at least 30%, according to the company. The PMA is deployed on ruggedized PDAs, tablet PCs and laptops, or can be integrated with existing embedded logistics systems to allow technicians to inspect a vehicle or aircraft using an intuitive 3D virtual model of the equipment.
Jeffrey B. Harris has been named senior vice president/chief operating officer of AirNet Systems, Columbus, Ohio. He was senior vice president-bank services.
Airbus CEO Louis Gallois wants to call a meeting of airframe and engine makers to establish joint research and technology efforts aimed at improving the industry's environmental performance. Gallois also has set goals for Airbus to reduce its own pollution, including cutting water usage by 80% and waste production and carbon dioxide emissions by 50% each. Financial savings will be reinvested into eco-efficiency projects, he promises.
Michael Bragg, associate dean for research and administrative affairs and professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been named to receive the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' 2007 Aerodynamics Award in late June. Other winners will be: Fluid Dynamics Award, Ronald Adrian, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Arizona State University; Plasmadynamics and Lasers Award, George W.
Thai Airways International has accepted its first Airbus A340-500 equipped with Lufthansa Systems' Lido electronic navigation charts, as it moves to equip its fleet of 40 Airbus and 50 Boeing aircraft with electronic flight bags. Thai has been using paper charts from Lufthansa Systems since late last year. The Lido eRouteManual database provides taxiway displays for airports, approach and takeoff charts, and a seamless worldwide route chart.
Robert Sutherland has become senior vice president-global sales and marketing at Sermatech International, Pottstown, Pa. He was vice president- sales and marketing at Zolo Technologies Inc., Boulder, Colo.
Straws in the wind suggest that revenue will be a challenge to U.S. airlines' continued profitability in the normally strong second quarter. Continental Airlines, which unlike other carriers estimates unit revenue each month, thinks its consolidated revenue per available seat mile (RASM) in May sank 0.5-1.5% below that of May 2006. The consolidated load factor was up 0.5 percentage points to 81.5%, so the culprit is yields, a measure of how high fares are.
CAE has launched the first advanced simulation-based program for Boeing 737 Next-Generation maintenance type training. Pending European Aviation Safety Agency approval, the course will be available in Amsterdam this month. The training methodology is focused on improving operational effectiveness.
U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) has been appointed ranking Republican on the House space and aeronautics subcommittee, which oversees NASA as well as aviation research and development activities at the FAA, and commercial space regulatory and promotion activities at the FAA and Commerce Dept.
David J. Miller has rejoined NGRAIN of Vancouver as president/chief operating officer. He was vice president-marketing and corporate business development before taking a similar position with Engenuity Technologies Inc.
Michael Croitoru (see photo) has been named director of business development for Cessna programs for New York-based FlightSafety International. He was manager of FSI's Wichita (Kan.) Learning Center. Croitoru will be succeeded by Richard High, who has been promoted from assistant manager.
Robert E. Berry, systems fellow and former chairman of Space Systems/Loral, won a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the satellite communications industry at the ISCe 2007 satellite conference in San Diego. He was cited for being "instrumental in building today's communications satellite industry and his early recognition of the importance of commercial satellites was fundamental to the industry's direction."
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Northrop Grumman says it has already begun building the first KC-30 tanker for the U.S. Air Force with its partner, EADS North America, and delivery of the first A330 aircraft is slated for late November if the team wins its duel against Boeing. "We will deliver an airplane to the U.S. Air Force within one month of today's stated contract award," says Paul Meyer, Northrop Grumman vice president for mobility systems. EADS has already begun to build the major subassemblies for the first aircraft, designated D-1, Meyer says.
Raytheon is studying a "Supersonic Tomahawk" concept it believes could offer the U.S. Navy a quick path to fielding a comparatively high-speed conventional strike weapon. After 18 months of company-funded concept development, Raytheon has submitted preliminary study work to the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR). "We decided to look at what we could do from a Raytheon viewpoint. . . .Could you design a supersonic Tomahawk to fit . . . in the current tube," says Harry Schulte, vice president of strike weapons at Raytheon Missile Systems.
The European Space Agency is bolstering the payload of its ExoMars mission, backing off the provision of a dedicated support orbiter and hoping it can quickly secure the required additional funding to keep to the 2013 launch target. An ExoMars program board meeting June 11 gave the go-ahead for the so-called "Enhanced Baseline" concept. This did not, however, include a Mars orbiter to act as a dedicated transmission relay. Delegates disagreed about pursuing an orbiter.
Albert A. Pisani (see photos) has been appointed vice president-security and infrastructure solutions and Richard J. Boak vice president/controller for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s McLean, Va.-based Information Technology Sector. Pisani was vice president of the Intelligence Group's information superiority operating unit. Boak was director of business management/chief financial officer for the Civilian Agencies group.
When it comes to revolutionary change, the Poles and Czechs often take different approaches. So it should come as no surprise that this remains the case as the countries transition their aerospace industries from the Cold War legacy to become part of the rapidly globalizing aerospace supply chain.
Marshall Aerospace is offering a common core digital avionics architecture that it developed for the cockpit upgrade of four Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) C-130H Hercules and nine U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) Tristar aircraft. For the time being, the potential customers are all operators of pre-C-130J Hercules models, including Austria, France, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S., company officials say.
Although the typical operating altitude of the Defense Dept.'s hand-launched Raven unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is roughly 300 ft., if the mission demands it, soldiers and Marines flying the system in Iraq sometimes choose to cruise a little lower--or in some cases, a lot lower.
