The Pentagon's newly signed deals for two lots of F-35s codifies for the first time that it will cost the U.S. Air Force less than $100 million per airframe for the single-engine, stealthy aircraft. The cost for all the aircraft in low-rate initial-production (LRIP) Lots 6 and 7 will be $8.4 billion. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin has delivered the first two of 32 aircraft in LRIP 5.
NBC will broadcast a reality TV competition called “Space Race” that will offer a trip for its winner to the edge of space on the suborbital Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, which is now in flight test. The U.S. broadcast network signed a deal with Virgin Galactic and One Three Media. The production team will have “unprecedented access” to Virgin's operations at Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M., and will begin distribution activities at an upcoming marketing conference in Cannes, France.
A light bulb went off in Dan Miller's head several years ago as he struggled to complete the avionics behind the panel of his company's newest light sport aircraft, the Spirit Grand Edition. Miller, sales manager for World Aircraft Co., based in Paris, Texas, had an idea that was so obvious it seemed silly that no one had thought of it before.
The nonprofit Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (Casis) has awarded a U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) a $250,000 grant to use the station's hyperspectral imager to study harmful algal bloom in coastal areas around the world. Also known as red tide, the algal bloom releases toxins that are harmful to humans and marine life.
It is clear from Cathy Buyck's article “Accept or Reject” (AW&ST Sept. 9, p. 22) which side of the argument she is on. The description (and misquotation) of the European pilot lobby's stance is as deceptive as it is disappointing. The European Aviation Safety Agency regulations are a very clear dilution of U.K. flight-time limitations (FTL). Although many member states' FTL rules will be improved by these regulations. Generally, the countries with the most aviation activity have the more restrictive regulations.
USAF Brig. Gen. Veralinn Jamieson has been appointed director of intelligence at Air Combat Command (ACC) Headquarters, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. Jamieson was special assistant to the deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon and succeeds Brig. Gen. Bradford J. Shwedo. He has been named director of capability and resource integration at U.S. Cyber Command, Headquarters, Fort Meade, Md. Brig. Gen. John L. Dolan has been appointed assistant deputy commander of U.S.
With its first Airbus A400M Atlas handed over, attention is now being focused on how the French air force will put the new European airlifter through its paces.
Nigerian authorities are investigating the crash of an Associated Aviation Embraer EMB-120 Pratt & Whitney Canada PW100-powered twin-turboprop on departure from Lagos, Nigeria, on Oct. 3, killing 16 of the 20 people onboard. Witnesses to the crash told local media the aircraft “was making a lot of noise” when it descended, and pilots appeared to maneuver to avoid a residential area.
Delta Air Lines is breaking ranks with its three major U.S. airline rivals, selecting Microsoft as its electronic flight bag provider over Apple. The airline announced Sept. 30 that it will purchase 11,000 Microsoft Surface 2 tablets for its pilots as part of a move to increase productivity and situational awareness, as well as to cut costs by replacing paper manuals and charts.
The first set of flexible wings on the X-56A Multi-Utility Technology Testbed (MUTT) are being installed in readiness for the flight tests designed to probe to the edge, and beyond, of the destructive flutter envelope. Built by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, the 28-ft.-wingspan unmanned aircraft has been designed to test control technologies to counter flutter, a potentially catastrophic aeroelastic instability to which aircraft with slender, high-aspect ratio wings are particularly vulnerable.
Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has received the first WTS Navigator Award from Washington-based WTS International, the association for the advancement of women in transportation. He was cited for standing “behind our mission and creating new opportunities for a diverse and inclusive workforce.” He was noted for having set the gender diversity issue in the transportation industry on an accelerated path.
By modernizing a component as rudimentary as a mechanical circuit breaker, Albuquerque, N.M.,-based Vertical Power has opened the door to a wealth of new applications and safety features for the experimental market, including an automatic landing system that flies to the threshold. The offering is similar to new systems being developed for high-end business jets, but at a much lower cost.
Early peer-reviewed results of soil-sample analysis by an instrument on the Curiosity Mars rover hold potentially good news for future human explorers who will need to live off the land as much as possible, and bad news for scientists looking for evidence of past life on the planet.
Roughly 97% of NASA employees were not working as of last week, sidelined by the federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1. Remember that fact if, and when, you see Chinese astronauts walking on the Moon, while Americans are still stuck in low-Earth orbit. While politicians will rue that day, in NASA circles, concern centers more immediately on two planetary spacecraft trying to stay on schedule for their launch windows. The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (Maven) spacecraft was already at Kennedy Space Center preparing for a Nov. 18 launch.
Low-cost operator Norwegian Air Shuttle is expected to return its grounded Boeing 787-8s to service early this month after the manufacturer implemented an aggressive “get-well” campaign to beef up spare-parts provision, maintenance and engineering support. The situation at Norwegian appeared to have come to a head by the end of September, following several weeks of reliability problems in the power distribution system, hydraulics, oxygen system and brakes.
