Photo Stencil, a provider of stencils and other high-end tooling for the surface mount technology (SMT) assembly industry, has developed a process--"Intrusive Reflow of Lead-Free Solder Paste." The resulting paper outlines a procedure that increases efficiency for process engineers by eliminating the wave soldering process altogether, according to the company. Bill Coleman, vice president of technology, conducted tests to improve the printing process for lead-free materials.
Santa Fe, N.M., a favorite destination for tourists and artists, wants to be on the A-list of regional jet-setters. The city has received a Part 139 Federal Aviation Regulation Class 1 certification upgrade from Class 3. At Class 3, it was limited to regional aircraft with a maximum capacity of 30 seats. The Class 1 designation permits unlimited seating. Alas, the airport is only large enough to support regional transports with no more than 59 seats.
Two decades after its launch as a regular feature in Aviation Week & Space Technology, the Market Focus column is entering the digital era with the debut of a Market Focus blog on AviationWeek.com. Staffed by our reporters around the globe, the blog expands the volume and scope of the Market Focus franchise, providing readers with a steady diet of news and analysis about aerospace and defense (A&D) and airline industry stocks and business trends.
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Thomas W. Conroy has become Arlington, Va.-based vice president-intelligence programs for the Northrop Grumman Corp. He was vice president-national security programs.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is aiming straight at the Embraer and Bombardier large regional jets with its sophisticated MRJ proposal and is betting it can beat the Brazilian aircraft with a much smaller cross section, defying the trend toward roomier cabins. The first detailed specifications, released ahead of an expected early 2008 program launch, show a big rise in installed thrust from earlier sketch data but otherwise stick to the concept of a conventionally arranged jet with pylon-mounted engines under the wing.
USAF Col. Mark A. Atkinson is among 29 officers who have been nominated for promotion to brigadier general. He is director of logistics, installations and mission support at Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, Randolph AFB, Tex. The others are: Mark A. Barrett, executive officer to the Air Force vice chief of staff at the Pentagon; Brian T. Bishop, deputy director of the Air Force concept of operations/deputy chief of staff for Air, Space and Information Operations at the Pentagon; Michael R.
John Jarman (see photo) has been appointed vice president/general manager of BAE Systems' San Diego-based Command, Control, Computing and Intelligence (C3I) Systems business. He was vice president/deputy general manager of BAE Systems' National Security Solutions business.
Lawrence Grant has been named vice president-purchasing and contract management, Ron Kay vice president-finance/treasurer and David Hinton vice president/controller, all for Pinnacle Airlines, Memphis, Tenn.
Louis Friedman, who is executive director of The Planetary Society, Pasadena, Calif., has won the 2007 Space Education Inspiration Award from the Federation of Galaxy Explorers. FOGE was founded in 2002 to inspire and educate children in space-related science and engineering through after-school activities, field trips, special events and summer camps. Friedman's award recognizes his nearly three decades at the helm of The Planetary Society, which he co-founded with Carl Sagan and Bruce Murray. FOGE also gave its 2007 Space Leadership Award to William H.
The Aerospace Daily and Defense Report article on May 16 on the request for proposals for the U.S. Air Force's Combat Search and Rescue-X (CSAR-X) quoted Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute.
Registered travelers using either the Clear card, marketed by Verified Identity Pass, or Unisys Corp.'s rtGo card can now use one another's facilities. Last week, the first registered traveler holding an rtGO card passed through Clear's Registered Traveler lane at Indianapolis International Airport, one of seven airports or terminals where Clear operates. Now interoperability allows registered travelers, no matter which company is their provider, to use any operating registered traveler lane.
Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce recently completed the last of the three-step gearbox test which validated the design and demonstrated expected engine performance at all required thrust levels for the F135 short-takeoff/vertical-landing (STOVL) propulsion system. The qualification test was conducted at the Rolls-Royce facility in Indianapolis.
Capacity is maxed out at the show's biennial gathering site at Le Bourget, which comprises more than 300,000 sq. meters of inside and outside exhibit space. This highlights how several years of order growth have benefited the industry, and how far the aerospace and defense sector has come since the depths of crisis a mere five years ago.
Garuda Indonesia may restore services to Amsterdam and Nagoya, which it dropped in 2004. Garuda says the Japanese market is recovering and Amsterdam, the capital of Indonesia's former colonial master, remains "highly prospective." But the unprofitable airline isn't talking about returning to London and Paris, two other destinations it dropped in 2004.
NATO defense ministers have authorized a study to assess possible integration of the U.S. missile defense system to be set up in the Czech Republic and Poland with the alliance's Active Layered Theater Ballistic Missile Defense System. The latter, when deployed in southeastern Europe, would plug the gap in missile defense coverage left by the U.S. system, which couldn't engage some of the shorter-range missiles launched from the Middle East.
If you build it, they will come. At least that’s what a few of Eastern Europe’s aircraft companies are gambling on as they keep alive current aircraft and birth new ones in their quest to remain original equipment manufacturers. Steeped in almost a century of aircraft-making history, aerospace centers in Poland and the Czech Republic aren’t fully resigned to becoming mere parts makers for the aircraft heavyweights and their suppliers. But the hurdles they face are large, and the chance of success questionable.
THE TREND IN COCKPITS, from the airlines to regional and business jets, is for a tighter coupling of head-up guidance systems (HGSs) with head-down displays, says Rockwell Collins. "With the head-up and head-down displays working in concert all the time, you can leverage the capability of both," notes David C. Wu, director of flight deck systems marketing for business and regional systems. The head-down displays, for example, provide a rich mix of features and a large view of the scene ahead.
German astronaut Hans Schlegel and France's Leopold Eyharts hope to begin activating the Columbus laboratory module on the International Space Station before the end of the year, bolting the Italian-built facility onto a pressurized node from the same Turin factory and starting to plug in its experiment racks.
Direct military action could become a diminishing part of the next-generation, U.S. and enemy arsenals. In fact, U.S. military planners have already reached out to senior industry officials in finding new, subtle and more intense ways to apply pressure while allowing foes to back away from a confrontation.
Timothy J. Romenesko (see photos) has been promoted to president/chief operating officer from vice president/chief financial officer/treasurer of the AAR Corp., Wood Dale, Ill. David P. Storch, who has been chairman/president/CEO, will continue as chairman/CEO. Romenesko will be succeeded by Richard J. Poulton, who has been vice president-acquisitions and strategic investments.
A drastic population change in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005 has airlines continuing to struggle with how to restore service at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport to its pre-storm level.
