Russian Helicopters plans to showcase its light multi-purpose Ka-226T, which is a contender to fulfill the Indian defense ministry's requirement for surveillance and reconnaissance helicopters, at the ninth Aero India conference, which begins Feb. 6 in Bengaluru. India wants 197 light helicopters: 133 for the Army and 64 for the air force. The competition has been fraught with controversy since India issued its first request for proposals (RFP) in 2003. The Bell 407 and Eurocopter AS550C3 were short-listed and underwent extensive trials.
The launch of Europe's Swarm Earth explorer mission atop a Russian Rokot is on hold as Moscow investigates the cause of a launch mishap this month involving the vehicle's Briz KM upper stage. The three-stage liquid-fueled Rokot delivered three Russian military telecom satellites to their intended orbit 1,500 km (935 mi.) above Earth following a Jan. 15 launch from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. Afterward, however, the vehicle's Briz-KM upper stage failed to perform a depletion burn needed to lower its perigee and accelerate orbital decay.
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The “when” may be in question, but the “what” is becoming clearer as NASA pushes ahead with research into future generations of civil transport aircraft. Not only do significant fuel-burn, emissions and noise reductions look increasingly feasible, but advanced computational tools are taking shape that will enable fast, efficient design and analysis of new aircraft.
As the development of Stratolaunch's Air Launch and Scaled Composites' WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft shows, the use of wing-borne platforms for delivering rockets to orbit is set to grow as the industry strives for lower launch costs. However, unlike the latest purpose-built air launchers, which build on the experience gained over the years of proven mothership vehicles such as the Boeing B-52 and Orbital Sciences' Lockheed L-1011, a newly unveiled NASA air launch concept differs in one major aspect in that it has no engines.
Maria Sastre (see photos) has been promoted to president, in addition to her role as chief operating officer, of Orlando, Fla.-based Signature Flight Support Corp., a BBA Aviation company. Geoff Heck has been promoted to senior VP-sales and marketing from VP-Midwest.
In a recent editorial you invited reader comments (AW&ST Dec. 31, 2012/Jan. 7, p. 154). I am a 40-year subscriber, one of the “legacy readers” you wrote about. I remember when the magazine was more technical and contained detailed explanations—by legendary writers such as Philip J. Klass—of how things worked. Now it seems the focus has shifted to marketing, covering production rates, purchases by international airlines and maintenance.
NASA's loss is Boeing's gain, as former space shuttle program manager John Shannon retires to head up the company's International Space Station program. “It is really great to be back in an operational program again,” Shannon says. Not so great for his space-agency bosses, who continue to see rising stars bail out while Congress and the White House squabble over NASA's future.
Seasons greetings from Iceland came early in 2012, carried aloft by seven jolly men in a newly upgraded Bombardier Dash 8 Q300. The aircraft, a maritime surveillance platform belonging to the Icelandic Coast Guard, flew for 8 hr. and 1,835 nm from Reykjavik to Moncton on Dec. 18 via a fuel stop in Goose Bay, Labrador. The goodwill mission aimed to help Toronto-based Field Aviation, the aircraft modification company that installed a new flight deck on TF-SIF, the Q300's Icelandic registration, in 2011.
USAF Maj. Gen. Kenneth D. Merchant has been named director of global reach programs, in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition at the Pentagon. He has been program executive officer for weapons at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center of Air Force Materiel Command, Eglin AFB, Fla. Merchant will be succeeded at Eglin by Brig. Gen. Scott W. Jansson, who was commander of aviation for the Defense Logistics Agency, Richmond, Va. Brig. Gen. Michael J.
Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) has been named chairman of the aviation subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. He has been a member of the subcommittee since 1997. Honors And Elections
The vote on Boeing Commercial Airplanes' proposed contract for 22,900 engineers and technical workers at factories in California, Oregon, Utah and Washington state will be pushed back about two weeks but union negotiators are still expected to recommend a “no” vote and ask for a strike. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (Speea) now expects to count ballots about Feb. 18. If union members reject Boeing's offer of a contract through 2016 and authorize a strike, picket lines could go up immediately.
Regarding Michael J. Dyment's Viewpoint, “NextGen Is Threatened, Too” (AW&ST Jan. 14, p. 54), all this “NextGen” stuff will undoubtedly be truly cool, but we are going to have the same problem when its fully implemented that we have now—airport capacity! You can bring all the airplanes you want as straight as an arrow to the airport, but they must have someplace to land.
The U.S. Navy could seek congressional approval to purchase 25 Australian Seabird Seeker surveillance aircraft for Yemen's transitional government, a U.S. official tells Aviation Week & Space Technology. The manned surveillance aircraft would supplement four RQ-11 Raven UAVs that Washington procured last year for Yemen.
Constance von Muehlen has been promoted to managing director of airframe, engine and component maintenance repair and overhaul from director of engine maintenance at Alaska Airlines.
As it continues to cement its place as an “American” gas turbine engine manufacturer, Rolls-Royce is enlarging its advanced manufacturing capacity in Virginia while tapping automation and evolved machine tooling at its industrial base here in Indianapolis.
We are accustomed to seeing airliner wings change shape on approach, deploying flaps and opening slots to increase lift and reduce landing speed. But for most of the flight, changes are restricted to small movements of individual surfaces as the aircraft maneuvers or reacts to turbulence. Now, in pursuit of higher fuel efficiency, NASA and Boeing are developing technology to smoothly change the wing's shape continuously throughout the flight—even characteristics such as twist that are traditionally built into the wing during design and manufacture.
As the Boeing 787 fleet remains grounded due to safety issues with its lithium-ion batteries, the Joint Strike Fighter program office is not saying whether the issue will prompt any review of the F-35's electrical system, which incorporates a lithium-ion battery that is larger and higher-voltage than the 787's and has a once-per-sortie charge/discharge cycle. Made by a U.S. subsidiary of France's Saft, the JSF battery is the only onboard means of starting the fighter's integrated power pack, which starts the engine.
This week, Aviation Week publishes two editions. On the right cover, Iceland's rugged Isafjordur Airport frames a Field Aviation cockpit avionics upgrade that enables Air Iceland's two Bombardier Q200s to reap the benefits of next-generation air traffic tools such as GPS approaches and required navigation performance procedures (see page 40). Thorleifur Einar Petursson photo. The cover of our Defense Technology Edition features a Boeing artist's concept of a KC-46A. The tanker is being developed under a fixed-price contract, one of several mechanisms the U.S.
