I found “Flatlining” by Sean Broderick (AW&ST May 6/13, p. 63) interesting in that it regurgitates perceptions and economic models promoted by the major airlines, with no discussion of alternatives. I also noted the lack of mention of other small-jet carriers (e.g: Trans States Holdings, PSA) and how they fit into the picture. The way major airlines continue to pit small-jet carriers against each other is a pitiful way to do business.
There is no shortage of candidates for feedstocks from which to make biofuels, from camelina to poplar and switchgrass to wood chips. But it is taking time to find ones that can be sustainably cultivated, harvested and transported in the quantities required to make commercial volumes of jet fuel.
Oliver Evans (see photo), who is chief cargo officer for Swiss International Air Lines, and Enno Osinga (see photo), senior vice president-cargo at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, have been elected as chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of The International Air Cargo Association for two-year terms. Evans, who was vice chairman, succeeds Michael Steen, executive vice president/chief commercial officer of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings.
Scientists have “terabytes” of data from NASA's Kepler extra-solar planet-finder to analyze, but the failure of a second reaction control wheel on the space telescope probably means it will not be able to measure more of the faint flickers of distant stars when a planet passes in front of them.
Once an unquestioned benefit, armed UAVs are increasingly becoming an issue for Washington. The latest instance involves exporting the capability—even to close allies like Britain and Italy—and the Missile Technology Control Regime, a voluntary international arms control body. The regime restricts the sale of unmanned air systems that can deliver weapons of mass destruction, which had meant platforms like cruise missiles and nuke warheads when it was first created in the 1980s, but increasingly ensnares large UAVs such as Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk.
John Schumacher has become vice president-business relations for GenCorp Inc., Sacramento, Calif. He was president of the Astrium Americas subsidiary of EADS North America and had been vice president-Washington operations for GenCorp subsidiary Aerojet.
The U.S. Army has concluded that the path forward for its Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) requirement is either a service life extension program (SLEP) for the Bell OH-58D/F Kiowa Warrior or a new development program. After evaluating five off-the-shelf candidates, “we did not find a single aircraft out there that could meet Army requirements,” Lt. Gen. William Phillips, principal military deputy for acquisition, told American lawmakers.
What a difference a decade makes. In 2000, China's labor rates were a fraction of those for U.S. workers, the dollar was strong, oil prices were relatively low, and the promise of access to the Chinese market had manufacturers hopping to get into China.
For an organization that exists to think decades ahead to prevent technology surprise and enable military superiority, the future for U.S. national security looks particularly uncertain to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa).
Germany has halted the purchase of the Euro Hawk signals-intelligence platform over concerns the aircraft cannot be certified to fly in the country's civil airspace. Germany has one Euro Hawk, a variant of the RQ-4 Global Hawk fitted with an EADS Cassidian sigint sensor package. The aircraft will fly in support of sensor testing until September.
Speaking of strain on systems, the Swissport baggage handlers went on strike, unannounced, at the Brussels Airport on May 12. I had the joy of experiencing this firsthand when I landed there for a connecting flight on May 13. I didn't learn of the strike until 15 min. before Brussels Airlines announced the boarding of my flight to Vilnius, Lithuania.
U.S. Air Force controllers will slot an updated GPS satellite into the mid-Earth-orbit timing and navigation constellation following its successful launch May 15 on this United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 from Cape Canaveral. Liftoff of the 3,600-lb. spacecraft came at the opening of its launch window at 5:38 p.m. EDT. The launch vehicle's Centaur upper stage ignited twice during the 3-hr. 24-min. mission and included a 3-hr. coast phase between burns.
Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) on May 14 issued pilot-related “immediate” safety recommendations to Lion Air as it continues to investigate the April 13 crash of a Boeing 737-800 at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali (AW&ST April 22, p. 11.) The aircraft touched down in water just short of Runway 09, following a non-precision VOR/DME instrument approach.
Steven J. Cortese has been appointed executive vice president-Washington operations for DRS Technologies. He succeeds Phillip M. Balisle, who is retiring. Cortese has been senior vice president-government relations and corporate communications at ATK.
Four years after interest all but died in a new generation of midsize, long-range business jets, Honeywell is refreshing plans to develop a new or derivative engine for the sector amid signs of a coming market revival.
The South Korean defense ministry has ensured production of the Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) T-50 series until at least 2016 with an order for about 40 units of the FA-50 light-attack variant. The move helps keep alive the T-50's chances of filling the U.S. Air Force's T-X program. With the latest order, KAI's T-50-series production rate looks likely to rise from an average of around one unit a month.
Airbus has completed a round of lightning tests for the A350. They lasted around three days and included lightning-strike simulations and measurements of voltage and current levels on several metallic harnesses. The current injection was much lower than in the case of an actual strike, but results are being extrapolated. Airbus has embedded metallic foils in the composite fuselage to ensure sufficient conductivity.
I would like to heartily endorse reader Lawrence Wasserman's comments about poor service on U.S. carriers (AW&ST April 29, p. 10). In recent years I have opted to book foreign airlines (Qatar Airways twice and Korean Air once to Asia last year alone) over U.S. carriers because the foreign ones typically provide a lot more “mores,” including comfortable seating, adequate legroom and attentive flight attendants.
The U.S. State Department says Raytheon will pay $4 million in civil penalties and another $4 million to make remedial self-improvements to resolve “hundreds” of civil violations of the Arms Export Control Act and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
The tempo of new turboprop airliner and engine development is, by its very nature, slower than that of the turbofan-powered jetliner. Although confined to a niche market, turboprops have set such a high benchmark for efficiency since the 1990s that they have made themselves irreplaceable. Added to this, the overall lower volume of production and turnover in regional turboprops have made it tough to close the business case for expensive step-change replacements.
“Executive Expectations” (AW&ST March 25, p. 40) notes that the Gulfstream G650 costs about $65 million—a hefty price tag to ensure that an “I want my life back” pond prince can arrive an hour or two behind his ego. Surely there must be a Laureate award in that for someone. Miami, Fla.
The U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) has carried out its first strike in Afghanistan using a General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper flown from a ground control station in the U.K. Defense officials would not provide details on the April 30 strike, but the engagement comes just days after the Defense Ministry confirmed the commencement of Reaper control operations from RAF Waddington. Until then, all U.K. Reaper operations had been flown from Creech AFB, Nev.
