A trial to reduce the need to stack arriving aircraft at London's busy Heathrow Airport will have international implications. The trial, the second phase of a series called Topflight, aims to extend the horizon of arrival-planning for the airport's air traffic controllers beyond U.K. airspace out 350 nm into Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Ireland.
Fabio Rebello (see photo) has been named senior vice president-international sales for Florida and Latin America for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga., and David Pearman (see photo) general manager of the Gulfstream service center in West Palm Beach, Fla. Rebello was vice president-sales for Latin America for Bombardier Aerospace. Pearman was general manager of Gulfstream's component repair facility in Lincoln, Calif.
Space-science units of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences are planning two meetings this year designed to bring young scientists from the two countries together for discussions on space astronomy and solar and space physics. The U.S. Space Studies Board, and the Chinese academy's National Space Science Center set up meetings in Beijing and Los Angeles for space scientists under 40. The Beijing “forum” will be May 8-9, and the Los Angeles session is scheduled Nov. 3-4.
A new ruling by those on the Hill who referee federal contractor bid protests could serve as a warning to government contracting officers and A&D businesses alike as industry heads for a new wave of spinoffs, mergers and acquisitions. In a Dec. 27, 2013, decision published Jan. 13, the Government Accountability Office sided with Wyle Laboratories against Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) and its spinoff Leidos over a potential $1.76 billion deal NASA awarded the latter for medical, biomedical and health services supporting human spaceflight programs.
ATK's Solar Electric Propulsion MegaFlex solar array design is in line for thermal vacuum deployment testing at NASA's Glenn Research Center Plum Brook Station this month, following a full-deployment demonstration at the company's Goleta, Calif., facilities in December. ATK Space Systems and Deployable Space Systems, also of Goleta, are under contract to NASA's Space Technology Program to develop compact, low-mass, high-power solar arrays for robotic and human exploration initiatives of the type envisioned for the space agency's Asteroid Redirect Mission.
Alternative fuel research by the federal government will continue to have a bright future under the fiscal 2014 omnibus appropriations deal that became law Jan. 17, despite Republican objections. Tucked inside the 1,582-page bill—passed within days of being unveiled on Capitol Hill to avoid another shutdown—is language supporting ongoing development of alternative fuels, according to aides for Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), a leading Democrat in the upper chamber.
The drag-reducing benefit of flying in formation has been known for decades—far longer if you are a bird—but making it practical is the challenge. Geese join up in V formations when they migrate, but all are headed in the same direction; finding opportunities for formation flying within military and commercial air-transport networks crisscrossing the globe is harder.
Bill Sweetman's suggestion of transferring the A-10 Warthog to the U.S. Marine Corps (AW&ST Dec. 9, 2013, p. 15) is interesting, but flawed. He points out that the number of F-35Bs that will actually use the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing capability operationally will be significantly fewer than those actually purchased. Keep in mind that most—if not all—Marine Corps combat aircraft are carrier-capable in one form or another.
Science, technology and exploration managers at NASA will review 58 proposals for instruments to mount on the Curiosity-class rover it plans to send to Mars in 2020, about twice the number received for instrument competitions in recent years, an “overwhelming response” compared to the trend in recent years, according to Associate Administrator John Grunsfeld.
John Croft's “Safety Shut-Up” (AW&ST Dec. 16, 2013, p. 18), about the element of surprise being added to simulator training, does not stress strongly enough that stalling in mid-air exhibits wildly different manifestations than a simulator experience. As an engineer in the service and in civilian life, I have flown countless hours both on test and on routine operations and have experienced “deep stalling” during a test/training flight on the recently retired Vickers VC10.
USAF Maj. Gen. (ret.) Marke “Hoot” Gibson has become executive director of the Washington-based NextGen Institute. He was director of current operations and training at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon.
Rebecca R. Rhoads (see photo) has been appointed president of the Raytheon Co.'s Global Business Services. She will remain the Waltham, Mass.-based company's chief information officer.
Robert J. Perna (see photo) has been appointed senior vice president/general counsel/secretary of Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He will succeed Gary Chadick, who has resigned. Perna has been vice president/general counsel/secretary of AM Castle & Co. Jeff Standerski has been named senior vice president of the Information Management Services segment. He was vice president/general manager of its Business and Regional Systems and held the same positions in the Air Transport Systems unit.
An unprecedented competition announced by the Indian government to energize local private industry in aerospace manufacturing stands on a razor's edge, with the country's defense ministry contemplating opening participation to India's monopolistic state-owned defense companies as well.
Jim Coon (see photo) has been named senior vice president-government affairs and advocacy for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Frederick, Md. He was executive vice president of the National Air Transportation Association and has been staff director for the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and majority staff director for the House aviation subcommittee.
Bill Swanson (left), Raytheon's CEO and chairman, is scheduled to hand over the chief executive's office to current Chief Operating Officer Tom Kennedy on March 31. Swanson will remain chairman at least while the Waltham, Mass.-based defense prime contractor transitions to Kennedy's leadership.
In a recent Up Front column (AW&ST Dec. 30, 2013/Jan. 6, 2014, p. 15) Richard Aboulafia, by using the examples of the production lines for the F-15, F-16 and F-18, presents a superficially compelling argument for the preservation of national defense assets. But he neglects to mention that the original variants of all these aircraft first flew in the early 1970s. Preserving these production lines is the technological equivalent of preserving battleship-building shipyards after the end of World War II.
If Embraer really wants to outsell the C-130 Hercules with its new KC-390 cargo aircraft, as discussed in “Cargo Shift” (AW&ST Dec. 30, 2013/Jan. 6, 2014, p. 62), it should have chosen two of the turboprop engines that power Airbus's new A400M instead of opting for turbofans. Those turboprops with their inherent 30% better fuel efficiency would have more than enough thrust with 11,000 shp each, and supply more than double the power of any other Western turboprop.
The fiscal 2014 omnibus appropriations bill considered last week in Congress seeks to provide the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with $1.89 billion for continued development of satellite systems, $207 million more than in the last fiscal year.
It has 1.25 million men and women and double-digit increases in its budget. But for officers, does the People's Liberation Army have good military leaders or good networkers?
