Eurocontrol and the European Space Agency have signed a five-year cooperation agreement covering the use of space technology in civil aviation. Specific areas of interest include satellite navigation, telecommunications and the environment. ESA and Eurocontrol have agreed to exchange information on their ongoing projects and coordinate research and development efforts, with specifics to be set later. No funds will be exchanged in the arrangement. Instead, each party will fund its own work.
First flight of the longer range 747-400ER was another step in Boeing's efforts to incrementally improve 747 performance and maintain market pressure on Airbus' planned A380 double-deck transport. The 747-400ER made its first takeoff on July 31, kicking off a test program that is expected to reach a rate of 3-5 flight hours per day. In October, Qantas Airways is scheduled to receive the initial 747-400ER passenger aircraft and Air France is set to take delivery of the first -400ERF freighter.
Richard L. Arnold (see photo) has been appointed director of training solutions for Unitech Inc., Centreville, Va. He was training officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center, Petaluma, Calif.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has awarded Boeing's advanced research and development unit, the Phantom Works, a $92.4-million contract to design, develop and test-fly a hypersonic strike missile demonstrator vehicle. Called HyFly, the program is run jointly by Darpa and the Office of Naval Research. The goal is to mature a dual-combustion, ramjet-based hypersonic missile that can be launched from either surface ships or submarines.
The FAA has until October to approve or deny petitions from 10 pilots asking that they be exempted from forced retirement at age 60, a relic of rules the agency delivered in December 1959. While scores of aviators have fought to overturn or get exempted from the ``age-60'' rule in various federal courts for more than 40 years--always unsuccessfully--the fate of these nine men and one woman may be different.
Senators want to know how NASA intends to keep the space shuttle fleet flying until it can be replaced, given a finding by the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel that there isn't enough money programmed to do so in the increasingly likely event NASA tries to operate the shuttles until 2020. The Senate report backing NASA's Fiscal 2003 appropriations bill directs the agency to include ``a thorough assessment of flight systems, logistics, infrastructure and workforce readiness costs'' for the shuttle's lifetime in its Fiscal 2004 budget request.
Northrop Grumman will develop key software for the integrated tactical avionics system for the new avionics suite for the Royal Australian Navy's SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopters. The company will integrate real-time combat information into a tactical database and fuse data from the helicopter's sensors with information received by data link. The capability includes real-time mission planning, as well as tactical navigation that will build a composite track to fly to waypoints and perform an attack.
Sue Kaplan and Dave Bascomb have become senior manager and manager, respectively, of membership records and services and Benjamin Jones assistant manager of records and programs, all for the Washington-based National Business Aviation Assn. Daniel W. Burkhart has been appointed director of regional programs.
Malaysia's Ministry of Finance is to set up Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad as a holding company to assume the debt and control of most of the assets of Malaysia Airlines, including 73 aircraft it owns and 14 that it leases. The airline, which has lost money for six straight years and has a debt of $537 million, is to retain direct control of its international passenger and cargo routes.
After postponements and technical delays, the second technology demonstrator (TD-2) for India's long-delayed Light Combat Aircraft has been flown at Bangalore, but the aircraft is unlikely to see service before 2010. The third of seven LCA prototypes is due for flight testing by the end of the year in preparation for an anticipated order of eight aircraft. Once full production begins, the LCA is expected to replace India's aging fleet of some 450 MiG-21s.
Roy S. Estess, director of NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, announced his retirement effective Aug. 25. Administrator Sean O'Keefe named William W. Parsons, Stennis operations and support director, to be his replacement. Estess joined NASA as a Saturn V second-stage test engineer in 1966, and was appointed center director in 1989.
Hamilton Sundstrand has recruited initial European sub-suppliers for the F135 engine, the powerplant for the JSF fighter. Microtecnica of Italy, a Hamilton affiliate, will provide the anti-icing system, while Smiths Aerospace Electronic Systems of the U.K. will offer prognostic health sensors to monitor inlet and exhaust debris. Elmo of the Netherlands is providing engine harnesses. The three suppliers will extend more than $12 million worth of hardware and services for the development phase of the JSF program.
An influential parliamentary committee last week lambasted the British government over its partial privatization of the country's air traffic control services, warning the move also threatened to erode the U.K.'s influence in Europe as it restructures air traffic services. The U.K.'s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) became a public-private partnership in July 2001. The government pursued the policy in the face of considerable opposition. Almost from the outset NATS has struggled financially.
For a business that has performed as well as Canada's CAE Inc. during the last 12 months--and, more importantly, whose prospects generally appear quite positive--validation from the investment community must seem frustratingly elusive to management. The stock has lost nearly 30% of its value in the last couple of months, and just recently the company was stymied in an attempt to expand its U.S. shareholder base. The U.S. stock market cratered about the time that CAE was poised to offer 27 million of its common shares.
Proposed FAA rules that would force employees ``at any tier'' of the maintenance process to undergo alcohol and drug testing have industry officials up in arms. A group of 15 trade associations and companies, including the Aeronautical Repair Station Assn., the Aerospace Industries Assn., Boeing and the Regional Airline Assn., are warning the FAA that proposed rules increase costs of aviation maintenance ``at a time when the industry can least afford it'' while providing no additional safety benefits.
Scaled Composites flew this unique Burt Rutan-designed aircraft for the first time on Aug. 1 from Mojave Airport in the Southern California desert. Its designation and mission are not known, and Scaled officials declined to discuss any aspect of the vehicle or its test program. A vibration problem--apparently in the roll-control spoiler system--limited the first sortie to a few minutes, according to observers. Doug Shane, a Scaled test pilot, called liftoff speed at about 75 kt., then accelerated to approximately 90 kt. during the climb.
Air Canada last week earned the distinction of becoming the only international carrier based in North America to produce a net profit for the three months ended June 30. The airline posted operating income of about US$39 million, versus a $45-million loss in the 2001 quarter, on basically flat sales of about $1.6 billion. But net income fell by almost a third, to about $18.6 million, or about 14 cents per fully diluted share. Operating expenses declined 6% from the second quarter of 2001 on a 1% reduction in available-seat-mile capacity.
Paul F. Nelepovitz has been promoted to deputy director of the U.S. Customs Service Air and Marine Interdiction Coordination Center, Riverside, Calif., from air operations program officer for the Air and Marine Interdiction Div. in Washington.
DAVID A. FULGHUM ( FARNBOROUGH AND WARTON, ENGLAND)
The U.S. Navy is actively considering giving up the airborne signals intelligence mission and retiring its aging EP-3E fleet, a move that has heartened BAE Systems in its bid to sell the service a new-production version of the MRA4 Nimrod patrol aircraft. Both senior aerospace industry and U.S. military officials said the Navy is contemplating passing the sigint mission exclusively to the U.S. Air Force's new Multisensor Command and Control Aircraft. The move mirrors the Air Force's decision to turn tactical jamming over to the Navy's EA-6B Prowler force.
Russian air-launched weapons manufacturer Bazalt has begun to develop a family of low-cost precision-guided munitions in the wake of its air force's combat experience in Chechnya, and from watching the U.S. shift to precision-guided air-launched ordnance in its recent combat operations. Work is underway on the development of a glide-bomb wing-kit and terminal-guidance seekers intended to provide the Russian air force with a low-cost short-range standoff attack weapon based around its existing iron bomb inventory. The system is called the FAB-500MPK.
Lufthansa German Airlines' supervisory board is expected to ratify a decision to order 10 A330-300 long-range twinjets. First delivery is expected in 2004. The German carrier has yet to select an engine type for the 295-seat aircraft that can be powered by the 64,000-72,000-lb.-thrust General Electric CF6-80E1, Pratt & Whitney PW4000 or Rolls-Royce Trent 700 turbofans. After taking delivery of its A330s later in the decade, Lufthansa would become the biggest A330/A340-series operator with 54 aircraft.
The Pentagon should double its science and technology spending, but also improve processes and consider extreme measures such as streamlining research facilities and closing some of its laboratories, the Defense Science Board urges in a new report. The Pentagon advisory group contends that at least $1.8 billion needs to be added to the estimated $1.7 billion the military spends on S&T. The extra money is required to implement new efforts the DSB lays out.
A National Academy of Sciences panel reports there's no good technical reason not to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Members found the U.S. stockpile is secure and can be maintained as long as the Dept. of Energy keeps focus (and funding) on the mission. The scientists concede it would be possible to conceal an underground nuclear test, as long as its yield is less than 1-2 kilotons, but they note surveillance systems are improving and a CTBT violator would risk getting caught.
Pratt & Whitney has received a $154- million order from All Nippon Airways for PW4090 engines for five Boeing 777-300 aircraft. Two of the aircraft will be delivered in 2004 and three in 2006. Also, Air Jamaica has awarded Pratt & Whitney a 10-year, $80-million contract to provide full-scale engine overhaul for CFM56-5 engines on the airline's 17 Airbus A320/A321 aircraft.
The Experimental Aircraft Assn.'s AirVenture 2002 sport aircraft exhibition and convention that ended early last week showcased new aircraft and aviation products amidst a growing interest in personal flying as an alternative mode of transportation. A key topic at AirVenture was progress of the Sport Pilot and Light Sport Aircraft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The new rule would create a new category of light aircraft aimed at reducing the cost of flying.
