David Fitzpatrick has been named principal in the Seattle-based West Coast Strategy and Operations Practice of Archstone Consulting. He was a principal with Deloitte Consulting, leading projects that included airline maintenance productivity enhancement, and was a senior executive at Boeing.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters told members of the Aero Club of Washington on Jan. 23 that she is already working with the new chairmen of the House and Senate Transportation Committees and aviation subcommittees on plans for the FAA reauthorization bill this year and that the administration's bill "should be out shortly after the President's budget submission." She says it will be a key goal for the administration to get a bill that "ties revenues to costs" so the FAA can be managed more efficiently.
Franco-Italian turboprop-maker ATR this year plans to launch development of an enhanced avionics suite and cabin. And the company is mulling the timing of new aircraft for the next decade.
Four of the five Americans killed when a U.S. security company's helicopter crashed in a Sunni neighborhood in central Baghdad were found to have been shot execution-style in the back of the head, according to the Associated Press. The report quoted Iraqi and U.S. officials who declined to be identified. Blackwater USA of North Carolina confirmed that five of its employees were killed. AP said the helicopter was supporting a U.S. embassy convoy that was under fire but it was not clear if the helicopter was shot down or if it crashed.
Rocky Mountain Bureau Chief William B. Scott retired this month, completing a 22-year career with Aviation Week & Space Technology. A former U.S. Air Force flight test engineer and electrical engineer, Scott was avionics editor, senior engineering editor and national editor with AW&ST, writing more than 2,500 articles. Although most focused on aerospace technology and defense subjects, they ranged from breaking news to coverage of nuclear weapons, space, airline and business subjects.
President Bush's plan to surge forces in Iraq divides two Republican stalwarts on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Former Chairman John Warner (Va.) sponsors one of two anti-surge resolutions, while John McCain (Ariz.) is Bush's most prominent Senate backer. McCain wants to set benchmarks for Iraqi government performance, but denies he's floating a compromise. "There's no compromise," he says. "You either approve or you disapprove." But benchmarks "might be a way of calming the concerns that many of our colleagues have."
The U.S. Navy is preparing a competition for small, tactical unmanned aircraft for itself (small tactical UAS) and Marine Corps (Tier II UAS). Experiences with this size of aircraft have been validated by demonstrations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, say Navy officials. The prized capability is providing long-term intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for smaller units and for protection of ships.
In regard to the article "Virtual Thrust" (AW&ST Jan. 8, p. 32), the continuing evolution of tools for visualization of the flow processes in gas turbine engines provides us with marvelous insights into that aspect of powerplant design.
Taiwan's defense ministry wants to lift military spending to 2.85% of gross domestic product this year from 2.32% in 2005 as China ranges an ever-growing number of surface-to-surface missiles against the island. China has now deployed 980 such missiles, of which 100 are cruise missiles and 880 ballistic, Taiwan's ministry says. The build-up has accelerated: there were 540 such missiles in 2003 and 190 in 1996, according to the ministry.
Safran expects CFM56 deliveries to increase once more this year, although order intake may fall off after another record-setting year. Moreover, the company's Snecma engine unit is looking ahead for growth opportunities, particularly new applications for its SaM146 regional jet engine joint venture with NPO Saturn, and perhaps a greater workshare on the General Electric GEnx.
BAE Systems has landed two contracts worth $80 million for production of 29,000 day/night, all-weather thermal weapons sights for a range of individual and crew-served weapons which brings the program total to $285 million. The company also received National Security Agency Mode 5 certification for three of its Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) products, becoming the first Defense Dept. contractor to do so. The company is under contract with the U.S. Army and Navy for low-rate initial production of Mode 5 systems and installation on ship- and airborne platforms.
The European Union is refining rules governing its air transport system, with changes due for both how airports and the European Aviation Safety Agency operate. As part of the EU's air transport sector evolution, the European Commission (EC) last week called for a much anticipated proposal on regulating airport charges, as well as on how capacity is governed.
The German government is eyeing modernization of its aging VIP transport fleet, with a contractual decision due this year. The air force currently operates six Challenger CL-601 for those missions, but in recent months the government has realized it needs a replacement. Rather than fielding a common aircraft type, two large aircraft with a 48-seat-capacity, and four smaller, business-jet sized aircraft that can accommodate 12 persons, are being sought, according to a Defense Ministry official.
An Italian air force Boeing KC-767 tanker last week used the aircraft's fifth-generation, fly-by-wire boom to make a series of contacts, without pumping fuel, with a B-52. The system is designed to deliver up to 900 gal./min. despite simplified construction to cut costs and improve reliability. Additional tests will include refueling a variety of aircraft and exercising the entire system. Data from the tests are to be used in designing the boom that will be offered to USAF for its KC-X tanker competition.
France's Corot planet-finding mission has sent back initial images from its high-precision afocal photometric telescope, which was designed to detect Earth-like planets orbiting other stars in our galaxy that previous space- and ground-based instruments have been unable to see (AW&ST Jan. 1, p. 35). The operation, which followed removal of the telescope's protective cover on Jan. 17, produced views "equal in quality to simulated imagery," says Michel Auvergne, an astrophysicist at the Observatory of Paris-Meudon who is lead scientist for the mission.
Singapore Airlines is now the world's most valuable airline, having finally overtaken longtime leader Southwest. The share price and market capitalization of SIA have marched 40% higher over the past year, while Southwest's value has stagnated. And the dollar's drop has made the baton-change decisive: SIA was valued at $14.3 billion last week, 16% more than Southwest.
Fernando Conte, who is chairman/ chief executive of Iberia, has been elected chairman of the Belgium-based Assn. of European Airlines for 2007. He succeeds Wolfgang Mayrhuber, who is CEO of Lufthansa.
The FAA in the coming months will be evaluating whether to follow the International Civil Aviation Organization and allow one pilot over 60, most likely the captain, to share the controls of airliners.
The possibility that Italy may launch military reconnaissance and communications satellites on U.S. or Russian boosters is forcing Europe to take a new look at launch policy. Space ministers agreed in December 2005 to give the Ariane 5, Vega and a Europeanized version of the Soyuz rocket preference in launching European Space Agency satellites (AW&ST Dec. 12, 2005, p. 67). However, the agreement does not cover other international organizations, such as the European Commission and Eumetsat, or the national projects of ESA nations.
The fact that China has tested an anti-satellite weapon in space--news that we broke on our web site Jan. 17 and analyze in the magazine this week (see p. 26) and last--should not have come as a surprise. While the precise timing of the test may have startled most of the world--maybe up to the highest reaches of the central government in Beijing--the People's Liberation Army has been signaling its intent to master the space realm for more than a decade.
Now that U.S. airlines are back in the black, Congress is back in the business of suggesting--sometimes mildly, sometimes not--things the carriers can spend money on. Talk of a passenger bill of rights, not heard much since the airline economy soured in 2001, surfaces in the House.
Space Systems/Loral already has two new contracts in 2007. Intelsat has picked the Palo Alto, Calif.-based manufacturer to build Intelsat 14, a high-power C- and K u-band communications link intended to begin serving the Western Hemisphere, Europe and Africa after 2009. And EchoStar will buy a new direct-to-home broadcast satellite from SS/L. Both EchoStar XIV and Intelsat 14 will be based on the SS/L 1300 spacecraft bus. Intelsat 14 will be sent to the orbital slot at 45 deg. W. Long. now occupied by the PAS-1R satellite, which it will replace.
If a form letter will sway a U.S. Transportation Dept. certification proceeding, Virgin America is in excellent shape. The would-be U.S. airline orchestrated more than 6,000 letters to the department in the first few days following its offer to change its application to overcome concerns about whether it is owned and controlled sufficiently by U.S. citizens (AW&ST Jan. 22, p. 16).
The Russian air force is beginning to take delivery of new airframes as part of a realistic modernization plan which also sees upgrades to in-service aircraft. By the end of 2006, the air force had received a few dozen upgraded combat aircraft and helicopters. While modest, this figure is impressive considering that the previous decade had seen no renewal of the combat aircraft inventory.
Boeing has revealed that GE Commercial Aviation Services (Gecas) was responsible for ordering 39 aircraft that the manufacturer listed late last year on its unannounced list. The order capped a good sales year for Boeing from the leasing company, which signed up for a total of 69 aircraft. The latest order carries a list-price value of $5.34 billion and mixes seven 777-300ERs, eight 777 Freighters and 24 737-800s. The deliveries begin in 2008 and extend for two years. Gecas President/CEO Henry Hubschman said most of the aircraft were not ordered on speculation.
