Glenn Ritchey and Jeffrey Feasel have been appointed to the board of trustees of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla. Ritchey is mayor of Daytona Beach and president of the Jon Hall Automotive Group. Feasel is president/CEO of the Halifax Community Health System, also in Daytona Beach.
A revolution in international freight will begin this year as five airlines and their business and government partners attack the piles of paperwork that have long frustrated the speed potential of air transportation of goods.
Engineers at Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) are dissecting their data after running a specially equipped RL-10 rocket engine at 10% of its full 13,000-lb. thrust in a series of tests aimed at using the venerable cryogenic engine for the descent stage of NASA's planned lunar lander. PWR uses a bypass valve to route hydrogen around the turbopump that feeds propellant into the combustion chamber, slowing the turbomachinery to throttle the engine back, says Chris Moore, who runs the exploration advanced technology program at NASA headquarters.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT CORP.--formerly Raytheon Aircraft Co.--is marking the 75th anniversary of Beechcraft this month. The original company was founded by Walter H. and Olive Ann Beech, with business associate and engineer Ted Wells, in April 1932 in Wichita, Kan. Its first product was the Model 17R cabin biplane--the "Staggerwing"--followed in 1937 by the Model 18 "Twin Beech." The Hawker 4000 mid-size cabin biz jet is the latest product. The company has built about 45,000 airplanes since its beginning, with at least 36,000 still flying worldwide.
Spacecraft and launch vehicle processing at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral are building to a peak for two planned planetary launches this summer.
India's Jet Airways is introducing a new livery with the first of 10 Boeing 777-300ERs that were scheduled to enter service May 5, its 14th anniversary. Those aircraft were ordered in September 2005. Last December, the Indian carrier added 10 787s. It also flies 49 737s. Also, Boeing has acknowledged that 10 737-800s carried on its web site as ordered by an "unidentified" customer belong to Russia's S7 Group. Additionally, Panama's Copa Airlines is another unidentified customer that has been revealed. It placed an order for four 737-800s.
Skybus Airlines plans to launch Airbus A319 service on May 22 from Columbus, Ohio, connecting with major and secondary airports in seven large and medium markets. Ten seats in the 156-seat A319s are available at $10, an offer that CEO Bill Diffenderffer says will apply to every flight. Other seats are available at prices that will rise gradually as the date of a given flight approaches. In the single-class service, Skybus strives to offer "50% below what is the prevailing fare."
UNITED STATES Editor-In-Chief: Anthony L. Velocci, Jr. [email protected] Managing Editor: James R. Asker [email protected] Assistant Managing Editor: Michael Stearns [email protected] Senior Editors: Craig Covault [email protected], David Hughes [email protected] NEW YORK 2 Penn Plaza, 25th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10121 Phone: +1 (212) 904-2000, Fax: +1 (212) 904-6068 Senior News Editor: Nora Titterington
Robert Rosenthal, who won the U.S. Distinguished Service Cross flying B-17s with the "Bloody 100th" Bomb Group from England in World War II, died Apr. 20 in White Plains, N.Y., from multiple myeloma. He was 89.
MARKET FOCUS Big M&A numbers posted with aerospace deals in 2006 14 NEWS BREAKS Delta ends bankruptcy reorganization; aircraft to sport new livery 23 Two planetary launches on schedule this summer at Florida launch facilities 23 Boeing's Everett factory is about to accom- modate fourth final assembly line 24 German and U.S. scientists to start gather- ing test data with Sofia aircraft in 2009 26 Veteran astronaut Walter Schirra and World War II bomber ace Robert Rosenthal die 27
Harris Corp.'s RF Communications Div. captured a $422-million, five-year contract to procure improved Special Operations Forces' high-frequency multi-band radio systems in support of acquisition and logistics, intelligence and information systems.
Roy Bostock has been named chairman of Northwest Airlines, pending its reorganization, which is expected in June. He has been a board member and succeeds Gary L. Wilson. Bostock is a former chairman/CEO of D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles Inc. and is a principal of Sealedge Investments. Northwest also has named new board members to take office when the reorganization takes place. They are: David Brandon, chairman/CEO of Domino's Pizza Inc.; Mike Durham, president/CEO of Cognizant Associates Inc.
Japan Airlines now expects to report a loss for the fiscal year that ended Mar. 31, revising down a forecast for a profit and confirming the views of many analysts who doubted that the company could return to profitability in its latest 12 months. The airline estimates it lost ¥16.2 billion ($135 million) on revenues of ¥2.3 trillion and says tax issues caused the downward revision.
In his op-ed piece, "Misunderstandings Die Hard" (AW&ST Apr. 2, p. 65), Pierre Sparaco stated that Europeans "had difficulty understanding" U.S. opposition to the Concorde. As an airline pilot, I frequently flew to London Heathrow in the 1970s. The airport had stringent noise regulations, and was surrounded by a network of noise-monitoring stations. On takeoff, in our heavily-laden DC-8 freighters, we carefully followed noise-abatement profiles that included drastic, safety-compromising, power reductions at low altitude.
THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSN.'S YOUNG EAGLES flight program is marking its 15th anniversary this year. To date, the program has flown 1.3 million youth on six continents. More than 40,000 pilots, including Young Eagles chairman and pilot Harrison Ford, give youth a familiarization flight in a general aviation aircraft, free of charge. To commemorate the anniversary, EAA will sponsor International Young Eagles Day on June 8, when about 10,000 Young Eagles will experience flight worldwide. For additional information, go to: www.youngeagles.org.
Despite short-term constraints on aircraft availability, the passenger-to-freighter conversion market is booming, with upward of 1,000 aircraft expected to be converted over the next decade. Seventy-six jet transports were converted to freighter configuration last year, and the number is expected to reach 100 per year in the near future, according to Chris Seymour, head of market development for Ascend, a division of Airclaims. Consulting firms AeroStrategy and TeamSAI both are forecasting at least 1,000 conversions over the next decade.
America Air Taxi Aereo of Brazil has been appointed by M7 Aerospace as an authorized service center and parts distributor for the Fairchild Metro and Merlin turboprops. The Brazilian government is completing certification of the SA-226 and SA-227 series Metro II and III, as well as Merlin business aircraft.
Cessna Aircraft Co. received combined orders for 25 airplanes at the AERO Friedrichshafen show in Europe and the Sun 'N Fun Fly-in at Lakeland, Fla. According to Cessna officials, buyers signed up for one Citation Mustang, two Citation CJ3s and one CJ2+ business jet, as well as a turboprop-powered Caravan and 11 piston-powered Skyhawks at the event in Germany. Buyers at the Lakeland show put money down for one CJ3, one Mustang, a Caravan and six Skyhawks.
Final approval for the sale of the Storm Shadow cruise missile to Saudi Arabia will likely rest with the British prime minister, possibly in the face of opposition from Washington.
BMI handed in a strong set of year-end results last week with pre-tax profit up 197% on a increase in turnover of 4.2%. Operating profit for 2006 rose by 85.5% to £10.2 million ($20.3 million) on a turnover of £904.5 million. There continues to be considerable interest in the future ownership of the airline, in which Michael Bishop holds slightly more than 50%. The carrier is looking to acquire additional Airbus A330s to begin services to the U.S. from London Heathrow Airport.
Producers of the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (Ebace), May 22-24 event in Geneva, say they are on target to set records for number of exhibitors and for aircraft on static display. Last year they logged 292 exhibitors, 52 airplanes and four helicopters. This year, more than 340 exhibitors have signed up and the static display area is sold out. Ebace is the only show in Europe that focuses exclusively on business aviation.
Norwegian Air Shuttle will become 100% owner of Finnair's FlyNordic Swedish arm, in an arrangement that could see the Finnish carrier receive a 10% stake in Norwegian. If the deal passes regulatory muster, Finnair will hold a 5% stake in Norwegian (10% if stock options are exercised by the end of 2008, when they expire). The price for options is set at 115-Norwegian kroner ($19.25). The deal also covers Norwegian Air Shuttle serving as a feeder for Finnair, to help that airline boost its long-haul traffic, particularly to Asia.
MD Helicopters plans to ship 43 aircraft this year followed by 85 in 2008, according to CEO Lynn Tilton. She says the company is not for sale and is achieving operational improvements as well as improving customer support and response to aircraft-on-ground calls.
The British government, industry and academia are setting up a Center for Earth Observation Instrumentation. One of its aims will be to help the U.K. to secure contracts for space instrumentation applications such as environmental monitoring and climate change research.
Walter M. (Wally) Schirra, one of NASA's original astronauts and the only one to have flown in space on board Mercury, Gemini and Apollo vehicles, died May 2 at a hospital in La Jolla, Calif. He was 84. His family said he died of natural causes. The photo shows Schirra in 1962 in his Mercury pressure suit with a model of the capsule behind him.
