The U.S. Air Force plans to issue an amendment to its request for proposals for its future Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter in May. Boeing won a $712-million contract in November to begin work on the Pave Hawk replacement, but competitors Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky quickly cried foul. The Government Accountability Office cited problems with the Air Force's calculations of life-cycle cost during the source selection.
Market conditions, especially in commercial avionics, are as strong as Rockwell Collins Chairman, President and CEO Clay Jones has ever seen them in his 11 years with the company. Jones was speaking about the company's financial results to analysts on Apr. 24. Commercial sales climbed 22% in the first three months of this year versus a year ago, with a 50/50 split between sales to aircraft manufacturers and in the aftermarket. This helped propel Rockwell Collins's total sales in the quarter up 13% to $1.08 billion, up from $957 million a year ago.
David Sweet has been appointed vice president-environment, health and safety for DRS Technologies, Parsippany, N.J. He was vice president/associate general counsel for environmental, health and safety afffairs for L-3 Communications.
Alfred Duplessis (see photo) , who is vice president-engineering of The Omnicon Group Inc., Hauppauge, N.Y., has been named 2006 Engineer of the Yearby the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' EEE Reliability Society. This award recognizes contributions in "reliability, modeling, reliability assessments, reliability improvement studies and fault analyses." Daniele Mortari, who is associate professor of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University in College Station, has received the IEEE's 2007 Judith A. Resnick Award.
Vought Aircraft Industries is seeking a balance between its commercial and military programs as it pursues new contracts that will fill the gap between prime contractors and build-to-print subcontractors.
Frank Morring, Jr. (Goddard Space Flight Center, Md.)
Future astronauts may be able to keep the Hubble Space Telescope operating indefinitely, thanks to a piece of hardware that will be attached to the observatory during next year's planned servicing mission.
Norway is in talks with the U.S. regarding the purchase of four C-130J airlifters. The deal, estimated at $520 million for the entire foreign military sales package, would include two spare engines as well as extensive self-protection capabilities. The electronic warfare suite includes ALR-56M and AAR-47 radar and missile warners, respectively, and the ALE-47 chaff/flare dispenser.
Continental Airlines and its former wholly owned regional subsidiary, ExpressJet, have entered binding arbitration to resolve their disagreement on block-hour rates for ExpressJet's 2007 Continental Express flying, according to Continental's first-quarter SEC filings. Continental no longer has a stake in ExpressJet, having sold nearly all its remaining shares in the first quarter, for $35 million, and a small remainder in April. As of Mar.
The NTSB has released additional details about the Apr. 12 runway overrun involving a Pinnacle Airlines Bombardier CRJ-200 at Traverse City, Mich. During the landing rollout on 6,500-ft. Runway 28 at Cherry Capital Airport at 12:43 a.m. (EDT), Flight 4712 exited the runway surface onto a snow-covered field and came to rest 100 ft. beyond the pavement. Weather data show visibility was 0.5 mi. in snow; vertical visibility was 200 ft. The pilots had been communicating directly with the airport's snow removal officials about runway conditions.
AirTran Airways and its takeover target, Midwest Airlines, turned in first-quarter profits this year, both reversing year-earlier losses, but winter storm miseries kept JetBlue Airways a money-loser.
Iran showcased its Raad anti-ship cruise missile, a heavily modified Silkworm, during a recent military parade in Tehran. The missile uses a turbojet engine, with one of two bifurcated air inlets clearly visible. The missile has a stated range of 350 km. (189 naut. mi.). The shore-defense version was tested during military exercises in February. The armament likely uses solid propellant boosters for launch, and then transitions to the turbojet.
Helmut Himmelreich has been appointed senior executive vice president of Zurich-based SR Technics Group's Aircraft Services, effective July 1. He was head of the Technical Div. of Swiss International Air Lines and succeeds Alex Kugler, who will join the staff of CEO Hans Lerch. Erwin Bamert has been named executive vice president of the group's Components Services Div. He was head of the components business of SR Technics in Switzerland and succeeds Mike Humphreys. Thomas Bosch has become senior vice president-human resources.
Mesaba Airlines emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization Apr. 24 and was acquired by Northwest Airlines under a stock purchase and reorganization agreement signed in January. Under the pact, Northwest was to honor a $145-million unsecured claim by Mesaba creditors and receive 100% of the new Mesaba stock. Mesaba's fleet of Saab SF340s and 50-seat Bombardier regional jets will be bolstered in coming months by delivery of the first of 36 76-seat CRJ-900s.
James A. Brown has been named chairman of Gales Industries Inc., Bay Shore, N.Y. He has been a member of the board of directors and chairman/ CEO of the Ashlin Development Corp. Brown succceeds Michael A. Gales, the company's founder and executive chairman, who has resigned.
Mel French has become vice president-business development for the Radar Systems Div. of the Telephonics Corp., Farmingdale, N.Y. He was director of marketing and business development for Kaman Helicopters.
The U.S. Army's troubled $5.3-billion Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) program won't be getting additional funding under the Fiscal 2007 supplemental defense appropriations bill hammered out by Congressional appropriators. House and Senate negotiators did not explain why they snubbed the ARH program, other than noting in documents that they were deleting Defense Dept. procurement requests that should go through the normal budget process. The House passed the compromise spending bill last week by a vote of 218-208. The Senate passed the measure 51-46 the next day.
One Mustang per week is being delivered from Cessna Aircraft Co.'s facility here, but officials expect to boost that to two per week by year's end as production accelerates to keep pace with strong demand. Alan R. Orr, director of Mustang operations at the facility, says there are now more than 300 workers assigned to build the Mustang. To achieve the higher production rates forecast for this year and next, he plans to have 400 on the payroll by December and 550 on the factory floor in 2009.
NASA has decided to bring astronaut Sunita Williams home from the International Space Station on the upcoming STS-117 mission, now scheduled for June, instead of the STS-118 mission after that. Williams left Earth on Dec. 9, 2006, with an original plan to return after about six months in orbit. However, the delay in launching the space shuttle Atlantis led to the decision to bump-up her return.
Boeing reports the Global Positioning System's payload has completed Space Segment III system design review with the U.S. Air Force. The upgraded system allows USAF to upgrade fielded satellites quickly and more cheaply.
The MDA plans to spend $10 million next year to kick off studies of a Space-Based Interceptor Testbed, but the agency's chief insists that doesn't mean the U.S. is starting an interceptor program. MDA has budgeted about $300 million over the next six years to study technologies and concepts for possible future space-based missile defenses, says MDA Director Obering.
Qantas has agreed to buy 30% of Vietnamese carrier Pacific Airlines, which will support the expansion of the Australian airline's budget operation, Jetstar, presumably as a franchisee. Pacific currently serves mainly domestic routes.
Aurora Flight Sciences captured a $47-million contract from USAF to develop a demonstrator for its Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft program. Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth facility won a $49-million contract for the same project. The Air Force Research Laboratory effort involves two phases: design and then actual manufacture of the design. First flight will follow.
U.S. Missile Defense Agency controllers are preparing a pair of rocket-plume characterization tests later this year now that an Orbital Sciences Minotaur I solid-fuel rocket has orbited the Near-Field Infrared Experiment (Nfire). The Apr. 24 Minotaur I launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (Mars) on Wallops Island, Va., placed the 494-kg. (1,086-lb.) spacecraft in its target orbit of 250 X 450 km. (155 X 279 mi.) inclined 48.2 deg. to the Equator. The satellite separated after a 9-min. ride. Ultimately the spacecraft will be placed in a 495-km.
Mercury Computer Systems Inc. of Chelmsford, Mass., has developed a synthetic vision system and a Class 2 Electronic Flight Bag that can display high-definition graphics. The ruggedized systems also have built-in, attitude reference systems including GPS Wide Area Augmentation System capability.
Last summer's London bomb plot pushed aviation back to the top of potential Al Qaeda targets, says the head of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division. Asst. FBI Director Joseph Billy, Jr., says Al Qaeda's attack plans continue to focus on aviation, although the FBI and other U.S. intelligence officials are also concerned about mass transit, large public gatherings and special events. "These are continuing to be the areas that we have to be cognizant of," Billy tells a public safety/counterterrorism conference in Quebec.
