Bill Gunston, prolific and pioneering aerospace journalist and author, died June 1 at a hospital near his home at Haslemere, Surrey, England, after a short illness. He was 86.
Jonathan B. Hill and M. Anne Swanson in the recent Viewpoint “Small UAVs Pose No Civil Threat” (AW&ST May 27, p. 58) address the misconception that commercial unmanned aerial vehicles integrated into the National Airspace System (NAS) will be large vehicles intended for surveillance operations.
Over the last two decades, Turkey has modernized its air force with “off-the-shelf” combat aircraft and weaponry, but it has been sorely limited in what it could procure.
In what could be the biggest shake-up of U.S.-funded science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) promotional efforts since the dawn of the space age, the Pentagon, NASA and Department of Homeland Security are set to lose many of their STEM programs.
Producing up to 11,065 shp, at an 860-rpm propeller speed for takeoff, the TP400-D6 is the most powerful turboprop to enter production in the West. The engine is built by Europrop International, a consortium comprising Rolls-Royce in the U.K., Snecma in France, MTU Aero Engines in Germany and Industria de Turbopropulores in Spain.
Turkey wants to shape itself into a major aerospace and defense exporter in the coming years. Last year, the country's A&D sector exported $1.28 billion worth of armored vehicles, small patrol boats, electronic warfare and air defense systems. While this represents a small fraction of Turkey's exports each year, its growth is no small part of the government's strategy to become of the world's largest exporters as well as one of the 10 strongest economic world powers by 2023.
Budget constraints are affecting all of Europe, resulting in severe procurement cuts, minimal research and development spending, and an absence of new programs necessary to lay the groundwork for the future. Moreover, leading European countries, which maintain a sizable defense industry, are still striving to reach a consensus on unified operational requirements. Many still dwell in the past, according a higher priority to sovereignty despite the European Union's mission to establish a 27-nation common destiny.
“Getting Down” (AW&ST May 20, pp. 30-31) makes me realize yet again that humans have an embarrassing habit of disastrously transplanting organisms (sometimes intentionally) from one ecosystem to another. To name but a few regrettable cases: zebra mussels in the Great Lakes, Asian carp in the Chicago River, kudzu in the southern U.S. and Burmese pythons in Florida, not to mention similar havoc-wreaking examples worldwide.
Kevin Wu of Cessna Aircraft has been elected chairman of the Asian Business Aviation Association. New vice chairmen are David Best of BBA Aviation and Charlie Mularski of Universal Weather & Aviation. New executive committee members are: Saira Kanchwala of Arinc and Sacha Dunas of the World Events Agency. And, Zhang Qiang of Deer Jet has become chairman of China Mainland Business Aviation Operator Committee.
Honeywell Chairman/CEO Dave Cote is slated to receive the Washington-based TechAmerica Foundation's Corporate Leadership Award on June 20. The award recognizes “CEOs for their leadership in setting the model for creating and driving successful technology enterprises as well as their involvement and contributions to the U.S. technology sector.” The foundation is designed to educate executives, policy makers and opinion leaders on the promise of technological innovation to advance prosperity, security and the general welfare.
Boeing reports that it has completed installation of all 50 of the retrofit installations of battery containment systems on 787s that had been grounded for safety reasons. As of late last week, all 50 aircraft were flying.
The second day of Boeing's pre-Paris media tour promised a new product, which turned out to have nothing to do with the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike program, but to be a V-22-transportable vehicle called the Phantom Badger. On the last day we saw the International Multi-Intelligence Operational Laboratory Environment (I-Mole). Our final briefing was on the KC-46, so Boeing's “tanker toads” neatly completed the “Wind In The Willows” trifecta for the week.
A rotorcraft industry once characterized by rugged individuals flying simple machines is seeing an influx of technology not witnessed since the Vietnam War. Introduced at the top end of the market, in larger helicopters for demanding offshore oil-and-gas and search-and-rescue operators, new technologies are spreading down the size range as costs and weights fall so more customers can see the safety, performance and economic benefits.
Mike Mount has been appointed director of media relations for DRS Technologies, Arlington, Va. He was senior national security producer for Cable News Network.
Due to a production error, a Top-Performing Companies table on the Average 5-Year Ranking for companies with revenues between $1-5 billion (May 27, p. 52) displayed incorrect scores. The correct version is here.
Martin Aguera has been named head of corporate media relations within the EADS Corporate Communications Department. Jeff Burridge has become head of content and production. He was head of communications for Airbus in the U.K. Philippe Lemasson has been named head of corporate protocol, events and sponsoring as well as head of communications in France. He was head of EADS corporate protocol for France.
A robotic albatross gliding at 200 mph is a dramatic demonstration of how wind power can be harnessed. But it is just one of several projects showing how unmanned aircraft can use air currents, from thermals and ridge lift to wind shear and even turbulence, to increase their endurance from hours to days.
Ken Coleman has been named vice president/general manager of Thales Avionics Services Worldwide-Americas, Piscataway, N.J. He was CEO of the Thales Components Corp., Totowa, N.J., and had been vice president-sales and marketing of Antenna Research Associates.
Claudia Sender (see photo) has been appointed CEO of Brazil-based TAM Airlines. She has been vice president of the Brazil Domestic Business Unit of the merged LAN and TAM and was vice president-commercial and marketing of TAM.
