Michael Kurth (see photos) has been named VP and general manager of Boeing's Unmanned Airborne Systems Programs, based in St. Louis. He is currently managing director of Boeing Defense U.K. Ltd. David Pitchforth, managing director of U.K. Rotorcraft Support, a division of Boeing Global Services & Support, will succeed Kurth.
When design work began on the Eclipse, the original very light jet, the key to keeping its purchase price low—it was originally advertised at around $750,000, if you recall—was to build them in high volume. And, as the original backers saw it, the only way to get production numbers high and fast was to put them into service as high-cycle air taxis.
In 1970s, then-Swissair moved its pilot training from the U.K. to Vero Beach, Fla. I remember Al Ueltschi being keen to sign up the airline as a customer since his ancestors came from Switzerland! When we made the transition from the U.K. (CAE) to the U.S., I enjoyed a few years of working closely with the flight-instructor group of FlightSafety International, under the leadership of his son Jim. I also admired Al's acumen in helping to treat blindness around the globe. Your tribute was well-deserved (AW&ST Oct. 29, 2012, p. 20).
Aviation Week's Laureate Awards honor remarkable individuals and teams in aviation, aerospace and defense in the preceding year. They range over technology, operations, business and public policy and include both individual feats and organizational accomplishments. Hopefully, they will inspire others to new levels of their own achievements.
Boeing is upgrading software for electronic flight bags to make it less costly and easier for airlines to standardize systems across their fleets without expensive hardware upgrades. The first application will become operational in the second quarter on Air France's 747-400 fleet. The upgrade applies only to software and focuses on third-party Class 2 installations, which Air France uses extensively.
Engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center have test-fired a gas generator built from parts originally manufactured for the F-1 first-stage engine that sent men to the Moon on the Saturn V. One reason for the tests is to learn if the old technology can help the planned Space Launch System (SLS) heavy lifter get off the pad for missions beyond low Earth orbit. Some of the engineers on the test series had not been born when the 40-year-old hardware was machined by North American Aviation's Rocketdyne Div.
For owners of Hawker Beechcraft jets, the company's bankruptcy and its decision to abandon jet manufacturing altogether is surely unsettling. After all, where will they get parts to keep flying? But that very question also has a lot of others calculating. It's estimated that there are 1,600-1,800 Hawker 125 series jets in operation. Also, there are approximately 300 Premier/Hawker 200s, 600 or so Beechjet/Hawker 400s and a handful of Hawker 400s. That's quite a fleet in continuing need of parts and service.
Stephen Young has been appointed CEO of U.K.–based aerospace company Meggitt, succeeding Terry Twigger, who plans to retire. Young has been finance director since 2004.
While the active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar offers improvements for F/A-18 aircraft operations, the DOT&E is questioning the degree of improvement over the legacy system. “The APG-79 AESA radar demonstrated marginal improvements since the previous DOT&E (follow-on operational test and evaluation) period and provides improved performance relative to the legacy APG-73 radar,” DOT&E notes in its latest annual review.
U.K. officials are calling for a review of helicopter operations over London following the fatal crash of an Agusta A109 on Jan. 16. Two people, including the pilot, died when the aircraft struck a crane in poor weather. Kate Hoey, member of Parliament for the area of London where the helicopter crashed, called for an examination of “where and how and why helicopters fly through our city,” particularly with London's rising skyline.
AERONAUTICS AND PROPULSION Working in secret, the Eurocopter X3 Hybrid Helicopter team designed, built and flew the high-speed compound helicopter demonstrator in under two years, using company funds. The hybrid has exceeded its design goal, reaching 232 kt.—50% faster than a conventional helicopter.
As Barack Obama starts his second term and a new Congress begins, our fervent wish is that the U.S. president and congressional Republicans will put aside the extreme partisan infighting of the last two years. Their zero-sum-game approach has led to legislative gridlock and uncertainty. The nation's economic and budget challenges are large, but they are solvable with smart long-term planning and compromise.
Bell Helicopter has delivered its 100th of 349 H-1s to the U.S. Marine Corps —80 ahead of schedule—after earlier challenges in producing the upgraded UH-1Ys and AH-1Zs, says Maj. Gen. John Croley, assistant deputy Marine commandant for aviation. The service and Bell have negotiated the terms of a second multiyear procurement, worth roughly $1 billion, he adds. And, the Corps is expected to save roughly that much in cost avoidance by signing up to a five-year deal.
Steve MacLean, president of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), will step down Feb. 1 to take a private position in research physics. Selected in 1983 as one of the first eight Canadian astronauts, MacLean was program manager on the Advanced Space Vision System used to guide Canadian-built robotic arms on the space shuttle and International Space Station. He tested the system in space as a payload specialist on STS-52 in 1992, and later used it to operate the station's Canadarm2 on the STS-115 assembly mission in 2006.
The temporary grounding of the Boeing 787 fleet is causing major disruptions particularly for the aircraft's largest operator, All Nippon Airways (ANA). Others flying smaller 787 fleets are likely able to mitigate the impact better.
One occurrence of an event is interesting, two is a trend. So the FAA had no choice but to ground the six 787-8s under its authority following battery overheating incidents on two of the innovative Boeing transports flown by Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways (see p. 22). That a battery can catch fire—and could catch fire in flight—is a grave matter that needs urgent attention. Grounding was the only responsible action.
A sweetened pay proposal from Boeing was met with a counterproposal from the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (Speea) as the two resume talks—halted in December—on a contract through 2016, which takes the manufacturer past all of the production rate increases it currently plans.
Jeff Fegan (see photo), CEO of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, plans to retire Sept. 1. He has worked at DFW for 28 years, the last 19 years as its CEO.
