Having just set a new altitude record of more than 96,500 ft., the Helios solar-powered aircraft team is preparing to integrate an energy-storage system that should enable the flying wing to maintain altitude at night for multi-day missions. During a 17-hr. mission on Aug. 13 near the Hawaiian island of Kauai, Helios surpassed the 85,069-ft. absolute altitude record for sustained horizontal, nonrocket-powered flight set by a Lockheed SR-71 in 1976. On a previous mission, Helios flew to 76,271 ft. (AW&ST July 30, p. 48).
BBA Aviation and Executive Jet have expanded their support agreement for fuel and engine services. Under terms of the pact, BBA's subsidiary Signature Flight Support will become Executive Jet's exclusive supplier at airports served by Signature's facilities. In addition, Executive Jet has made a commitment to expand its engine overhaul and repair work with BBA's Dallas Airmotive business unit to include Raytheon Hawker-series jets. Dallas Airmotive provides support for Executive Jet's fleet of Cessna Citations at Love Field and nine Regional Turbine Centers.
AS PART OF THE FAA'S PLAN TO UPGRADE the nation's airspace system, the agency is enlisting help from the RTCA's free flight steering committee to develop a time-sequenced plan for equipping aircraft, airports and FAA facilities. The FAA's Operational Evolution Plan lists 15 initiatives during the next five years that will affect the airlines and their aircraft. The key is developing a plan that will keep all installations in synchronization with as little disruption as possible.
Eight years into the U.S. Energy and Defense departments' Stockpile Stewardship Program, scientists and laboratory managers are cautiously optimistic that they can extend the life of the nation's nuclear arsenal for several years, although doubts remain.
What a surprise: F-22 Raptor quantities are down, costs are up, and Congress is in recess. What better time to move the program into production? After 20 years of development work, the Air Force finally got the Defense Acquisition Board's go-ahead to begin low-rate initial production (LRIP) of its stealth fighter. Instead of a program total of 331 aircraft, only 295 were authorized, however--down considerably from the Air Force's original plan to buy 750, which became unaffordable long ago. Costs remain a concern as the Air Force and Defense Dept.
Edward N. Smith (see photo) has been appointed president/chief operating officer of the Royal Lubricants and Anderol Specialty Lubricants subsidiaries of the Kaufman Holdings Corp., Fords, N.J. He was president of the Thermoshell Inc. subsidiary of Shell Canada.
The first Airbus A318 prototype recently entered final assembly at Airbus' Hamburg facility. After the front and rear fuselage sections are joined, the wings, landing gear and engine pylons will be added, followed by horizontal and vertical tail planes and tail cone. The A318's stabilizing stringers are not riveted to parts of the fuselage shells but are laser-welded, which Airbus claims speeds manufacturing and lessens danger of corrosion.
Bombardier Transportation has won a work order from Atlanta's department of aviation to supply 24 CX-100 automated airport people movers and equipment for Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. The contract is worth $34 million.
After two contentious years of negotiations, Air Wisconsin pilots reached a tentative agreement with management on a potential contract. The move avoids a strike that could have occurred at midnight, Aug. 12, at the end of an official 30-day cooling-off period.
A top priority for leaders of the U.S. nuclear weapons program is to arrest the outflow of ``intellectual capital''--the people who really understand the physics and mechanics of atomic weapons. Without those experts, the nuclear stockpile's viability will be at risk, according to laboratory and federal officials. Some believe that's being accomplished. Others aren't so sure.
Ed Sims has been named Melbourne, Australia-based vice president-retail for the Air New Zealand Ansett Group. He was managing director of the Virgin Retail Travel Group.
NASA will be receiving a ``new'' drop aircraft at the beginning of 2003--a 1961-vintage Boeing B-52H bomber that is to supplement, then replace, the B-52B that has been a workhorse at Dryden Flight Research Center since 1959.
The Russian air force has defined the requirement for a new long-range bomber to supplement the approximately 200 Tu-22M Backfire fleet and the small Tu-160 Blackjack force comprising fewer than 20 aircraft, Tupolev officials said. The next step is for Tupolev and other potential competitors to submit a proposal for the bomber. Sukhoi's classified S-60, a stealthy, medium-size, F-111-class bomber project, is now considered dead.
Facing an FAA ultimatum to shut down voluntarily or be shut down, Emery Worldwide Airlines agreed to ground its 29 DC-8 and eight DC-10 cargo aircraft on Aug. 13. The embattled carrier--already suffering plunging profits, government probes and a variety of lawsuits-- furloughed all 500 pilots and will leave its aircraft parked for at least a month while officials work to solve maintenance issues that regulators say threaten flight safety.
Fukuoka-based Skymark Airlines has selected a Kagoshima-Tokyo route as its next low-cost challenge to the country's major carriers. Owned by one of Japan's largest travel agencies, Skymark was in the vanguard of discount airlines that sprung up when Japan began deregulating domestic air routes. But it soon found how easily new entrants can be tripped up in a country with so many travel options (AW&ST July 19, 1999, p. 43).
Midway Airlines, a niche operator that expanded rapidly as the economy slowed, is halving its workforce and reducing its fleet by 17 aircraft after filing for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Raleigh-Durham-based Midway is discontinuing service to nine destinations this month. President and CEO Robert Ferguson said the carrier will focus on traditionally profitable routes that should aid its rebound. Officials said Midway has assets totalling $318 million, and liabilities of $232 million.
The FAA expected to notify South Korea that Korean Air and Asiana Airlines will be barred from expanding services to the U.S. because of failures in South Korea's safety oversight system. The carriers are being swept up in an action aimed at South Korea's Civil Aviation Bureau. ``This may be a good opportunity for the KCAB to work with international experts to strengthen its aviation safety programs,'' Korean Air said, noting that it has had no safety problems since a string of losses in 1999 prompted a top-to-bottom management shakeup.
NASA's Space Launch Initiative is only three months old, but it's already drawn a caution flag from the General Accounting Office. A GAO space specialist, Allen Li, warns that SLI managers awarded their first batch of contracts without adequate cost estimates in hand. As a result, there was no way to judge how reasonable the contractors' proposals were, or to set adequate reserves for the program.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based InspecTech Aero Service Inc. has received orders for smart cabin windows from Bell Helicopter/Textron factory subsidiary Edwards&Associates.
Lufthansa German Airlines plans to seek board approval next month for an Airbus A380 aircraft order. The carrier has not disclosed the quantity, but 10 firm orders are likely, according to industry sources. Chairman and CEO Jurgen Weber said the airline could use 5-6 A380s on its trunk routes right now. Citing anticipated seat-mile cost improvements, he added, ``Lufthansa cannot afford not to order the A380.'' The airline also is completing plans to retire its remaining eight Boeing 747-200s and replace them with new 747-400s.
China Southern Airlines' overhaul affiliate, Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co. (Gameco), has used line maintenance and component overhauls to sustain a 7.6% growth rate for the first half of 2001. It reported a 7.8% year-on-year revenue increase for fiscal 2000. ``Despite severe competition [that] leads to slashing of its repair prices and [rise] in maintenance costs, the company is still operating profitably,'' a company official said. Profits for the first half of 2001 were 41.6 million yuan ($5 million), off 1.26% from last year because of price cutting.
Paul A. Haney has become deputy executive director for public and community relations of the Los Angeles World Airports. He was director of corporate news and information and director of ethics and corporate compliance programs for the Lockheed Martin Corp.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL UPGRADES FOR INCREASING AIRCRAFT ARRIVALS at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport will provide an added benefit for American Airlines when the airline receives a new product in September. Northrop Grumman Logicon's OnTime will blend data from airport radars and the FAA's arrival-planning automation to give the airline's ramp controllers a much more accurate picture of aircraft ETAs than they have today.
