Richard C. Beaird, former senior deputy U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy at the U.S. State Department, has received the 2013 Satellite Leadership in Government Award from the Washington-based Satellite Industry Association. The award honors a government official or member of Congress for leadership and dedication to public service in working on issues affecting the satellite industry.
Lt. Gen. Robert Schmidle, deputy U.S. Marine Corps commandant for aviation, says the service plans to declare its first F-35C squadron operational in fiscal 2015, with the first deployment to Japan in fiscal 2017. The service will be the first to declare operational use of the single-engine, stealthy aircraft. Government auditors estimate “rework” costs for the first 10 lots of F-35s will total $1.7 billion.
NASA's Kepler planet-finding space telescope has found three “super Earths” orbiting in the habitable zone of two distant stars, including one only 40% larger than Earth. Kepler-62f is believed to have a rocky composition. It and its larger habitable-zone companion, Kepler-62e, orbit a star dimmer and older than the Sun called a K2 dwarf that is 1,200 light years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. A third exoplanet—Kepler-69c—has been confirmed in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star in the constellation Cygnus 2,700 light years from Earth.
Simon Morris has become vice president of Fairfax, Va.-based ICF International's SH&E aviation practice. He was principal of A.T. Kearney's airport practice and has been a director of Birmingham (England) International Airport and Aeroporti di Roma Handling. Honors And Elections
Greg Arend (see photos) has been promoted to director from manager of commercial programs and George Brady to director of product support and simulator operations from director of simulation operations support, both at FlightSafety International's simulation design, manufacture and support facility in Tulsa, Okla.
Thomas C. Moore has joined the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies as senior fellow and deputy director of its Proliferation Prevention Program. He has been on the professional staffs of Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees.
Though more than $1 billion in government-backed loans for FAA NextGen avionics could soon be available, airlines remain cautious about investing in the technologies even as the first milestone—equipping with automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B)—approaches.
Eric Radtke, president of Sporty's Academy, Batavia, Ohio, has been named distinguished alumnus for 2013 for the University of Cincinnati's Clermont College. The award is given to individuals for professional accomplishment and community contributions. Radtke has been head of the Sporty's Pilot Shop flight school and director of the the university's Professional Pilot Program. He also is a director of the National Association of Flight Instructors.
Diego Rodriguez (see photos) has been named director of defense within the Aerospace Strategic Business Unit of Madrid-based Sener. He will remain director of space. Rodriguez also is a member of the boards of the Space Commission of the Spanish Association for Defense, Aeronautics and Space Technologies and Hisdesat. Guido Casanova has become Sao Paulo-based general manager in Brazil.
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An airliner's vertical tail is hardly used in normal flight conditions, its size instead determined by one rare, worst-case scenario: the loss of an engine on takeoff. If the power of the rudder could be increased on demand, then a smaller tail could be fitted across an entire family of aircraft—from the shortest fuselage to the longest—to reduce weight, drag and fuel burn.
Jim Swickard, a 40-year aviation communications veteran and contributor to Aviation Week's Business & Commercial Aviation (BCA) magazine, died April 14 from a heart attack at home in Tucson, Ariz. He was 68. Swickard most recently edited the Intelligence column for BCA, and had edited Aviation Week's Business Aviation Bulletin (BCA eBulletin) email. He operated his own marketing and communications company for 17 years after being director of marketing services for FlightSafety International and manager of corporate advertising for Rockwell International.
Bill Sweetman's Commander's Intent commentary “Boot-Centric Warfare” (AW&ST April 1/8, p. 12), states that “Iraq and Afghanistan can be called a strategic success.” In those wars, roughly 5,000 Americans have died in combat and 42,000 have been wounded. The direct cost of those wars is $1.4 trillion and climbing. The ultimate cost, including medical care for veterans, could surpass $4 trillion.
Let's hope whoever put together the depiction of the two F/A-XXs for “Leading Edge” (AW&ST April 1/8, p. 13) is a better artist than a pilot. It appears that the wingman is doing a high-g pull directly into his flight lead! Southlake, Texas
The Maldives are internationally renowned for their pristine natural environment spread across 1,192 coral islands and an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of around 920,000 sq. km (355,214 sq. mi.). Protecting it is a mammoth task.
The Mars Science Lab Curiosity project team at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has won the National Aeronautic Association's 2012 Robert J. Collier Trophy “in recognition of the extraordinary achievements of successfully landing Curiosity on Mars, advancing the nation's technological and engineering capabilities, and significantly improving humanity's understanding of ancient Martian habitable environments.” Besides the technical achievement of landing in the Gale Crater, the award selection committee noted the Curiosity team's use of social media.
For the second time in a year, Airbus is expanding its airframe design and engineering center in Wichita's historic downtown to accommodate the staff it has been hiring to keep up with its A320, A350 and A380 programs.
Facing heavy criticism, the FAA has rescinded an order to close 149 federal contract air traffic control towers that was to begin last week. Among those on the list was Renton Municipal Airport, south of Seattle, where Boeing ships out 737s. Paine Field, next to Boeing's Everett factory north of the city, is on a list of possible closures in September. Boeing points out that tower closures do not mean airport operations must cease.
Bruce N. Whitman, president/CEO of New York-based FlightSafety International and immediate past president of the Wings Club, has been named to receive the William A. Ong Memorial Award from the Alexandria, Va.-based National Air Transportation Association (NATA). The award is named for the association's co-founder and first president, and is given for achievement and extended meritorious service to the general aviation industry.
General Electric's new Boeing 747-400 flying testbed has been delivered to Evergreen Aviation Technologies (EGAT) in Taiwan for installation of data racks and instrumentation wiring and equipment. The aircraft is also scheduled to undergo wing structural modifications during the second half of the year in preparation for its first test flights in 2014. The aircraft was flown to EGAT from Taikoo Aircraft Engineering in Xiamen, China, where heavy maintenance and interior modifications were performed.
