Stork Fokker AESP will be responsible for the composite inboard flaps of Boeing's 747-8 airline transport. The company will design and build tooling and initially manufacture the flaps. It is the first major structural part Stork will build for Boeing's commercial airplane business, although Stork already performs similar work and has an extensive supplier relationship with Boeing on other commercial programs. The inboard flaps will be manufactured at Papendrecht and Hoogeveen in the Netherlands.
An oncoming missile is disabled by bursts of high-power microwaves emitted from the payload on an unmanned combat aircraft. BAE Systems is carving out its position as the developer of small, HPM weapons, and company artist Dave Jantausch shows an operational concept. One laser-triggered HPM weapons design can be built as part of the composite wing of an unmanned aircraft. The technology is being examined for air-to-air and surface-to-air missile defenses in the air, on board ships and on the ground (see p. 42).
Firm configuration of the 747-8 Intercontinental, the passenger version of the third-generation 747, will not be completed until later this year, but this full-scale mockup of the interior gives an idea of the direction Boeing is taking.
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TAT subsidiary Sabena Technics purchased EADS Barfield, the component repair and maintenance entity, as part of Sabena Technics efforts to expand in the U.S. Barfield has facilities in Miami, Phoenix and Louisville.
Embraer has chosen Elliott Aviation of Moline, Ill., as an authorized service facility for the Phenom 100 and 300 small cabin jets. Elliott will provide routine airframe, engine and avionics maintenance, inspections and repairs. Embraer is developing the Phenom series for the private and air taxi markets. The Phenom 100 is tentatively scheduled to enter service in mid-2008 followed by the larger Phenom 300 in mid-2009. The jets are priced at $2.85 million and 6.65 million, respectively.
Your editorial "Six Issues That Demand Action in 2007" (AW&ST Jan. 1, p. 66) is highly interesting. However, at least one point should be modified. In paragraph 2, you write: "The development of nuclear arms in Iran and North Korea, . . . which seems inevitable, will increase the already significant need for deterrence of and defenses against small nations with big weapons."
BVR SYSTEMS LTD. OF ISRAEL HAS RECEIVED A $1.1-MILLION contract from a European nation for its embedded virtual avionics (EVA) software. The software can run on a wide variety of mission computers and communicate with the aircraft's head-up and multifunction displays, air data computer and hands-on throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) system to simulate a variety of advanced airborne avionics, sensors and weapons systems.
China's new Fengyun 2D weather satellite is operating normally, a month after it was launched to geostationary orbit. It and its partner, Fengyun 2C, are intended to transmit pictures to the ground every half-hour. The authorities say the spacecraft will help forecast weather during for the Olympic Games in Beijing next year.
THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF NAVIGATION IN LONDON REPORTS that a 75-lb. female snow leopard captured on the Purdum Mali ridge in Pakistan has been fitted with a GPS collar that will report her location several times a day. In the next few months, four more snow leopards are to be fitted with the collars, which will provide more accurate, detailed information on day-to-day movement than the radio collars used previously. The institute has a 235-member subsection, the animal navigation special interest group, which is focused on the use of this technology.
Senior British defense officials will this month consider the next step in forging a strategic partnership with BAE Systems in the aerospace sector. Ministry officials and BAE have been working on a foundation contract to pave the way for a long-term partnering agreement. The ministry's Investment Approval Board likely will review terms of this contract before Jan. 31. The strategy suggests the ministry has no plans to develop a manned fixed-wing combat aircraft beyond the Eurofighter Typhoon or Lockheed Martin F-35.
Tom Bisges has been named senior vice president-engineering and program management, and Malcolm Thomson vice president-flight test engineering, for Adam Aircraft, Englewood, Colo. Bisges was vice president-engineering for the Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp., while Thomson was president of Blue Mountain Avionics.
Boeing Phantom Works researchers say they have demonstrated an advanced airborne networking and information management system that uses a near-space, long-loiter vehicle to provide real-time tactical information to ground forces. The demonstration was part of Project Marti, which combines high-altitude routing of information with collection by low-altitude UAVs that are much closer to targets of interest. Testing will continue through 2008.
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Stringent rules for maintaining sterile cockpits and the introduction of graphic Notams (Notices to Airmen) may emerge from the crash investigation of Comair Flight 5191 at Lexington (Ky.) Blue Grass Airport. The cockpit voice recorder transcript, released by the NTSB last week, shows that the two-person flight crew punctuated their takeoff and taxi checklist dialogue with non-flight-related conversation that covered sick children, a pilot who failed a sim ride and other topics.
The U.S. Air Transport Assn. estimates an aggregate net profit for U.S. passenger and cargo airlines of $2-3 billion in 2006, and initial financial reports for the year are promising (see p. 34; and AW&ST Jan. 15, p. 406). The ATA forecast for 2007 is $4 billion net. After five years in which these airlines netted $35 billion in losses--not counting restructuring costs or gains--the favorable projections feel good. But let's not get carried away.
LOCKHEED MARTIN PLANS TO CONSOLIDATE THE CURRENT 58 flight service station (FSS) facilities in the U.S. this year and is completing testing of three new hub facilities at Fort Worth; Ashburn, Va.; and Prescott, Ariz. In addition to those hubs, 17 FSS facilities will be converted to the new system known as Flight Service 21 as part of the $1.7-billion FAA automated flight service station (AFSS) contract awarded to Lockheed Martin in 2005.
An engine upgrade slated for FAA certification this month will give operators of Dassault Aviation's long-range, mid-size Falcon 50 trijet significantly improved high-and-hot takeoff performance, direct climbs to 39,000 ft. and about 6% more range than their factory-delivered aircraft.
WorldSpace says its Italian partner, Telecom Italia, has agreed to build an ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) network to provide hybrid ground- and space-based digital audio radio services to the Italian market. The cost of the ATC net was not disclosed. WorldSpace received approval to launch an L-band subscription-based radio service in Italy last May and hopes to launch it in 2008, using its existing AfriStar-1 spacecraft and a car receiver and generic local program content package under development.
Shares of Canada's WestJet Airlines Ltd. have been on a roller-coaster ride since they hit a 52-week low of (C) $9.18 (US$7.82) during the oil price peak last August. Reduced fuel prices, a huge passenger turnout during the recent holiday period and a positive outlook all helped boost the price 60% to a Jan. 18 close of $14.51 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Northrop Grumman's Guardian infrared anti-missile system has begun operational testing and evaluation on a FedEx MD-10 cargo aircraft. The flight took off from Los Angeles International Airport Jan. 16, to open the third phase of a U.S. Homeland Security Dept. study into the feasibility of equipping commercial aircraft with protection against small, surface-to-air missiles known as man-portable air defense systems (Manpads).
