Of the many ways general aviation pilots use to measure and improve their performance, few are as instantly gratifying as the sight of a “bowling pin” on a cross-country flight. VOR (very-high frequency omnidirectional radio range) stations generally look like bowling pins, and crossing directly over one means that the pilot's navigation skills, at least for keeping the needle on the VOR instrument display in the vertical direction, are up to snuff.
France secured its two biggest export agreements in recent memory with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in July, including an €800 million ($1.05 billion) sale of two high-resolution spy satellites built by EADS-Astrium and Thales Alenia Space. The satellites are small enough to launch on a European Vega rocket and are said to be similar to France's twin Pleiades spacecraft, putting the UAE in an elite club of nations cable of taking high-resolution images of sub-meter-sized objects from space.
Avic is broadening its general aviation portfolio with the acquisition of Thielert, a bankrupt German maker of diesel engines for aircraft—including a U.S. Army version of the General Atomics Predator.
Earth and the Moon show two sides in these parallel images, both collected July 19 by the Cassini and Messenger spacecraft. In the image at left, Cassini was 898 million mi. away when its wide-angle camera caught the Earth system floating below Saturn's main rings. Also visible are the F, G and E rings, the latter two overexposed to show up better. The rings' shadows can be seen as “breaks” in the planet's bright limb. At the highest resolution, the Moon shows up in the image as a bump on Earth's right side.
Tony Lefebvre has been named president/COO of the Aircraft Service International Group (ASIG), Orlando, Fla. He was COO of Spirit Airlines and had been an executive with US Airways.
This year, AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, recorded the highest passenger revenue for the second quarter in its history and logged a $357 million net profit, which is $262 million more than the same period last year. This appears to show forward momentum for the airline that hopes this quarter to merge with US Airways and emerge from Chapter 11 reorganization in what it touts as “one of the most effective major corporate restructurings ever.” To accomplish this, American must pass several crucial, impending milestones:
USAF Lt. Gen. Brooks L. Bash has been named vice commander of Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Ill. He has been director for logistics for the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. Lt. Gen. Stephen L. Hoog has been appointed assistant vice chief of staff and director of the Air Staff at the Pentagon. He has been commander of the Alaskan Command, U.S. Pacific Command/commander of the Eleventh Air Force, Pacific Air Forces/commander of the Alaskan North American Defense Region, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. Maj. Gen. Kurt F.
Boeing subsidiary Insitu is planning to launch the first U.S. commercial unmanned aerial system (UAS) operation following receipt of FAA type certification for its ScanEagle on July 19. No details are available yet, but the operation is expected to be in the Arctic. Restricted-category type certifications for the 44-lb., gasoline-powered ScanEagle and the 13.4-lb., battery-powered AeroVironment Puma AE are the first to be issued by the FAA under Part 21.25 of the Federal Aviation Regulations.
Supporters of the Boeing-led Ground-based Midcourse Defense System—the U.S. missile defense system that has failed to intercept a ballistic missile target since 2008—have long argued that the Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) program just needs to be tested more often, and on a more regular basis, so that it can learn and improve faster. Their assumption is, of course, that reliable GBIs are a “Moon shot”—critical to national security at whatever cost—and that the underlying concept and hit-to-kill technology are feasible.
Given leaps in computing power and miniaturization, it is inevitable that head-up displays will trickle down the cost ladder from heavy metal flight decks to the light general aviation cockpit. But could a disruptive technology, set in motion by Google Glass and a growing number of smart eyeglass makers, beat the traditional products to the finish line? It is a safe bet that avionics companies are watching closely.
The Raytheon Exoatmoshperic Kill Vehicle failed to separate from the third stage of a Ground-Based Interceptor during a July 5 flight test, preventing the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system from destroying its target during the trial, Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm. James Syring told senators last week. Investigators are trying to figure out why the separation did not take place.
Nathalie Ducombeau, head of quality at Airbus, received the La Tribune Women's Award in the Woman Manager of the Year category in Toulouse. This year's awards brought together 23 women entrepreneurs from the Midi-Pyrenees region of France. The Woman Manager of the Year award rewards a woman who heads a department or company and manages teams, contributing every day to the success of the company, its strategy and results, while integrating into her daily activities a culture of gender equality and diversity.
Airbus can barely keep up with demand. A combination of high fuel prices and low interest rates has helped boost the jetliner market to record levels, with more growth ahead. But there is one exception to this happy situation: the A380. It is time to face some tough facts about the program.
Jacques Desclaux (see photo) has become CEO of the Roxel subsidiary of France-based Safran. He was chairman/CEO of Snecma and NPO Saturn joint venture PowerJet and had been executive vice president of Europrop International.
USAF Brig. Gen. Mark C. Nowland has been selected for promotion to major general and appointment as chief of staff of Headquarters U.S. Southern Command in Miami. He has been the command's director of strategy, policy and plans. Brig. Gen. Christopher J. Bence has been named director, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-U.K./U.S. Air Forces in Europe at RAF Mildenhall. He has been deputy director for operations at the National Joint Operations and Intelligence Center, Operations Team Two, at the Pentagon. Bence will be succeeded by Col. Ronald D.
Paul Meyer has been appointed senior vice president-advanced programs and business development for Aerojet Rocketdyne, Sacramento, Calif. He was sector vice president/general manager of the Aerospace Systems Advanced Programs and Technology Div. of the Northrop Grumman Corp. and was an executive at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works.
Vincent Caro (see photo) has been appointed as executive vice president-programs for the Landing Gear and Systems Integration Div. of Safran subsidiary Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, Velizy, France. He succeeds Helene Moreau-Leroy, who has been reassigned. Caro has been vice president-purchasing of another Safran subsidiary, Snecma.
More encouraging words for the U.S. Army's Armed Aerial Scout program, aimed at replacing the aging OH-58 Kiowa Warrior, were heard in Washington June 18. Earlier this year, Army leaders said company-funded demonstrations had not shown any candidate capable of meeting its needs. Last week, Lt. Gen. William Phillips, military deputy and director of the Army Acquisition Corps for the assistant Army secretary for acquisition, sounded a different tone at an Association of the U.S. Army meeting.
Honeywell is also studying potential new engine developments to compete with Pratt & Whitney Canada's ubiquitous PT6 and its planned successor. “In the downturn we saw that the strongest small-airplane market was turboprops and we were fascinated by that,” says Honeywell's director of engineering propulsion systems, Jim Kroeger. “There is keen interest in the marketplace in turboprops and particularly in the utility market. We think it is driven by the fundamental low operating costs of the airplane,” he adds.
