Robert Randall has become senior sales manager for the U.S. for Universal Avionics, Tucson, Ariz. He has been OEM sales manager in 2012 and was Midwest U.S. sales manager. Honors And Elections
An audacious project to convert land-based helicopters for shipborne amphibious operations has been given the go-ahead by the U.K. Defense Ministry. The £330 million ($546 million) program, awarded to AgustaWestland in December but only formally announced on Jan. 29, helps to secure the U.K.'s amphibious power projection capabilities, which will become a key part of the country's ability to mount a Responsive Force Task Group (RFTG) on its future Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.
The NTSB will hold a hearing Feb. 20 on the crash of UPS Flight 1354 into a hillside ahead of Runway 18 at the Birmingham, Ala., airport on Aug. 14. The two pilots were killed when the Airbus A300-600 freighter impacted the ground after a non-precision approach in pre-dawn darkness. There have been no initial indications of systems or equipment failures. On the agenda are UPS's training and operational procedures for non-precision approaches, crew coordination and monitoring, fatigue and fitness for duty, and dispatch procedures.
With U.S. funding promised until at least 2024, the scientists and engineering managers charged with getting maximum use out of the International Space Station are touting its unique advantages as a place to observe the Earth from above. Two of NASA's five Earth-science missions planned this year will operate on the ISS, and the non-profit organization set up to attract commercial users to the station has just released a request for Earth-observation proposals. Both reflect the growing presence of Earth-facing instruments on the massive orbital outpost.
Scott Fitzgerald (see photo) has become director of business development for advanced sensor systems of the Physical Optics Corp., Torrance, Calif. He was electronic warfare chief engineer and systems engineering manager for Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, Goleta, Calif.
This month, the FAA will begin a series of “contaminated” runway tests with a retired Boeing 727 at its William J. Hughes technical center in Atlantic City, N.J. Taxiing on 230-300-ft.-long “test strips” of 2-in.-deep “manufactured snow,” created by feeding ice blocks into a gasoline-powered chipping machine, the 727 will test a variety of new technologies aimed at providing pilots more information and training to deal with compromised surfaces.
Eric Hinson (see photo) has become CEO of SimCom Training Centers, Orlando, Fla., in addition to president. As CEO, Hinson succeeds company founder Wally David, who is now non-executive chairman.
Singapore is synonymous with MRO in the Asia-Pacific region, but the fast-paced growth of Asia-Pacific airlines is drawing local and global companies to establish aftermarket support entities in Indonesia and Malaysia as well.
Small UAVs have represented the largest number of losses in Germany's unmanned fleet since their introduction over the last decade. The greatest losses were of LUNA tactical reconnaissance UAVs, according to the latest figures from the Bundeswehr. LUNA losses totaled 56—45 destroyed, including 24 that crashed, and 11 missing. Some 23 Aladin mini-UAVs were destroyed, including six that crashed, and another 10 that are missing. Two Mikado micro-UAVs crashed, and two others went missing.
Westchester County Airport (HPN), 30 mi. due north of Times Square, is one of business aviation's global hubs. Fittingly, it has always been home to five fixed-base operators (FBO) that fuel and pamper the based and visiting business jets, and those who fly and ride in them. But no more.
“Open and Shut?,” on page 46 of the Jan. 20 issue, should have stated that it is the HS748 aircraft, known as the Avro in India, that is facing retirement.
The U.S. Air Force should restructure up to 10% of its active-duty force into either its federal reserve component or the Air National Guard, including aircraft, to save money and maintain optimal capability in a post-war era of austerity, says a highly anticipated report issued Jan. 30.
U.S. Strategic Command (Stratcom) has signed a new data-sharing agreement with France that will permit the exchange of space situational awareness information. The deal will allow the French defense ministry to request information gathered by Stratcom's Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., for launch support, satellite maneuver planning, in-orbit anomalies, electromagnetic interference, spacecraft decommissioning and collision avoidance, according to Stratcom.
Michael Duncan has been named director for Africa for the London-based AJW Group. He has overseen aviation projects in several African countries for the AREF Investment Group.
The trend lines for next year's defense budget are clear: The Pentagon is putting its investments in technology associated with the U.S. “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific region. That means intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities will be in demand in fiscal 2015 and beyond, along with long-range strike programs, warship construction and weapons that counter anti-access, area-denial strategies by China.
The price of carbon dioxide allowances (EUAs) under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) rallied to a four-month high in January, as the European Commission's short-term market intervention proposal drew nearer to final agreement. The price of EUAs for delivery in December 2014 rallied to €5.61 per metric ton ($7.66) on Jan. 28—the highest price since Sept. 26, according to Platts data. Prices took support last month from proposed short- and long-term reforms of the ETS.
