Gideon Landa (see photo) has been named general manager of the Airborne Early Warning (AEW) Div. of Israel Aerospace Industries' Elta Systems Group. He was head of research and development for the Imint and Radar Div. Eyal Danan has become general manager of the Microwaves Systems & Antennas Div. He was director of business development for the Imint Div. Avishay Yitzhakian has been appointed deputy general manager of the AEW Div. He was director of the AEW Directorate. Aharon (Roni) Segal was named vice president-operations at Elta Systems.
The world's airline industry may have only one way to escape the surge of enthusiasm to punish its carbon dioxide emissions with taxes or even regulatory limits on air travel, and that's a global emissions trading arrangement that is probably years away from implementation. Industry leaders feel carriers are faced with shouldering the unwelcome cost of such a plan to avoid suffering worse impositions devised by politicians who want to be seen doing something about global warming and find that airlines offer a suitably headline-grabbing target.
Low-time pilots are mostly not prepared to be pilots-in-command of very light jets. The military provides intensive mission- oriented training and thus its pilots are prepared for their mission at 250 hr. However, the military suffers a certain attrition rate. High time does not always mean high experience. If you participate in an ab-initio program that leads to the airline seat, you may become a captain and may only experience the environment of that airline. Even with thousands of hours, your experience is limited.
Pilatus is reaping the fruits of strong general aviation and reawakened military trainer markets, and this year should see breakthroughs in both segments. A surge in demand in the business and general aviation market in recent years has left Pilatus already sold out for PC-12 production slots in 2007, the company announced late last week. Moreover, sales of the aircraft reached a new high of 90 aircraft in 2006. PC-12 activity has been on an upward trajectory since the collapse of the market in 2002 when sales fell to 49 aircraft from 75 in 2001.
Montreal-based CAE has expanded its Global Academy network to six, with the signing on Apr. 11 of three flight training organizations (FTOs): San Diego-based SAA Flight Training, Brussels-based Hub Air and Moncton Flight College of New Brunswick, Canada. The FTOs will provide training for 600-1,000 pilots annually. Industry forecasts a demand for 18,000 new pilots annually to meet the requirements of rapidly developing aviation areas, such as China and India. CAE also has signed pilot training agreements with two low-fare carriers, Ireland's Ryanair and India's IndiGo.
Completing a deal announced in January 2006, Jet Airways is to buy Air Sahara for $340 million. Jet is already India's largest private domestic carrier; the takeover will give it 33% of the domestic market and a fleet of 68 aircraft, plus 11% of the country's international destinations. Increasing competition drove Air Sahara's market share down to 8% from 13% in the past year.
On its CRJ1000, Bombardier will offer an upgraded General Electric CF34-8C5A2 engine with 5% more thrust at normal takeoff and up to 3% more maximums for low-altitude takeoffs than the standard -8C5. Upgrades to the high-pressure turbine include improved coatings to the two stages of airfoils, enhanced cooling and modifications to the airfoils. The upgrades will become standard in future CF34-8s. Certification is set for early 2009.
UNIVERSAL AVIONICS EXPECTS TO CERTIFY A NEW Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)-enabled flight management system late this year. The company is making four versions for use on business and regional jets. The units will track up to 12 satellites and will have substantial anti-jamming capabilities. WAAS approaches can be flown down to 200 ft. and 0.5-mi. visibility for Localizer Performance With Vertical Guidance.
You noted the North American Aviation Trisonic Wind Tunnel (TWT) is "nearing the end of its run" due to lease expiration (AW&ST Feb. 19, p. 13). A letter from Rick Hughes, the director of tunnel operations, appropriately defended the facility (AW&ST Mar. 12, p. 7).
Malaysian Airline System will replace its 39 Boeing 737-400s and has already "basically" decided which new model it wants to buy. The narrowbody replacement was planned earlier this decade but deferred for lack of funds.
After two turbulent years that sent its share price tumbling 25%, EDO Corp. is winning new notice from Wall Street. Since February, four analysts have upgraded the stock, which has risen nearly 20% in just the last month, closing at $26.76 on Apr. 12.
Chinese satellite ground controllers in Xian are commanding the orbital checkout of the new Haiyang 1B oceanographic spacecraft launched on a Long March 2C booster from the Taiyuan launch site on Apr. 11. The flight, launched into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit, was China's 54th straight launch success since 1996.
Rolls-Royce has won the engine contract for the first, and so far only, firm order for Airbus A330-200 freighters. Guggenheim Aviation opted for the Trent 700. Deliveries are set for 2010.
Bill Sweetman has become editor-in-chief of AVIATION WEEK'S monthly magazine Defense Technology International, with responsibility for the Ares defense blog on AviationWeek.com. He has contributed to professional defense media, specialist conferences and award-winning TV productions, as well as writing more than 30 books. Also joining DTI is Netherlands-based Joris Janssen Lok, as senior European editor. Janssen Lok has been a defense journalist since 1985 and was international editor of Jane's International Defence Review for nine years.
Gordon Bethune, chairman of the Aloha Airgroup and former president of Continental Airlines, has been named to receive the Foundation Award for Excellence from the Reston, Va.-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) on May 15. Other Spot- light Award recipients will be: Daniel Guggenheim Medal, Robert Loewy, who is William T. Oakes professor and chairman of the Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology; Distinguished Service Award, William W.
The U.S. Air Force has completed the first flights of its Mobius unmanned aircraft. The trials, at the Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., are part of an initiative by the service's battlelab to demonstrate the use of secure remote data links to control payloads. The Mobius, a derivative of the Berkut aircraft, took off and landed autonomously, and operators were able to monitor two independent payloads, the Air Force says. The UAV reached 250 mph. and has an expected endurance of 20 hr. L-3 Communications developed the autonomous takeoff and landing capability.
Your article "Mod Squad" (AW&ST Apr. 2, p. 54) failed to mention what modifications were performed on the engines of the Boeing 737-300 Cooperative Avionics Testbed to allow an increase in takeoff weight to 400,000 from 138,500 lb. If this is a true number, there is obviously no engine-out condition allowed, or Boeing and GE/CFM built in a lot of extra power that was not made known to the civil world. (According to the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., the engines were not modified, and the aircraft will be flown within the 737 flight envelope--Ed.)
Douglas Barrie (London), Bill Sweetman (Minneapolis)
Undesirable handling characteristics are forcing BAE Systems to augment the flight control system on its Nimrod MRA4 maritime reconnaissance and attack aircraft, with first flight of a modified version by year-end. Whether the change will result in a further delay for the replacement of the Royal Air Force's Nimrod MR2 has yet to be determined. The Defense Ministry expects BAE to submit a proposal shortly.
The SkyTeam alliance plans to apply for transatlantic anti-trust immunity (ATI) within the next few months, hoping it can take advantage of the expected open skies regulatory regime between the European Union and the U.S.
Daniel A. Carp has been named non-executive chairman of Delta Air Lines, efffective upon the carrier's impending emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. He is retired chairman/ CEO of the Eastman Kodak Co. Other members of a newly constituted board of directors will be Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein; Richard H. Anderson, executive vice president of the UnitedHealth Group Inc. and former CEO of Northwest Airlines; John S. Brinzo, chairman of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.; Eugene I. Davis, chairman/CEO of the Pirinate Consulting Group; Richard K.
To handle the big growth in air traffic expected for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China intends to implement Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums nationwide by year-end. The Chinese have a lot riding on the plan, since it's the key to increasing the capacity of their ATC system in time to manage the traffic influx.
Southern China's Xiamen Airlines plans to order 60 Boeing 737s, state media say. Of that total number, 35 will enter service by 2010 and another 25 by 2013. Xiamen has 43 aircraft now.
Ramp controllers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) using new displays provided by Sensis Corp. will be able to "see" aircraft taxiing on the ramp and parked at terminal gates. The displays use data from the airport's Automatic Surface Detection Equipment Model X. ASDE-X relies on a special radar to surveil the airport surface and multilateration, which depicts aircraft in places where they would otherwise be in radar shadow. Controllers can also see ground vehicles, if they are equipped to interact with multilateration.
The military deploys commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) information technology with network-centric capability faster than ever to solve urgent wartime problems. David Wennergren, the Pentagon's deputy chief information officer, tells info tech executives at a symposium in suburban Falls Church, Va., that all military services, and even U.S. allies, are collaborating in unprecedented ways to share data. One example is Blue Force Tracking, a digital battlefield information-sharing capability that uses ground, air and over-the-horizon relays to avert friendly fire incidents.
Rolls-Royce sees signs that engine efficiency gains will accelerate in the coming decade, though it is not saying what technology might deliver that boost. "We are looking at radical new ideas," says Michael Forey, senior vice president for airlines. "Our difficulty is sifting out the ones that will actually work." Looking over the history of commercial jet operations, he cites the norm for improvement at 1-2% per year, and sees opportunities for that to accelerate.
