Robert E. Rosati, who died on Oct. 24, was known as the “father” of the International Aero Engines (IAE) consortium, which brought together Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, MTU Aero Engines, Japanese Aero Engine Consortium and Fiat to develop the V2500. He was 88. Rosati flew 49 combat missions during World War II, forming an attachment to P&W engines as a top-turret gunner and radioman in Pratt-powered U.S. Navy aircraft. Rosati joined the company in June 1953 as a trainee test engineer on the J57.
Delivery of a run-out CRJ100 to an engineering college in Montreal is highlighting Bombardier's commitment to the recycling of its aerospace products, specifically the new CSeries narrowbody. According to Fassi Kafyeke, director of strategic technology for Bombardier, the goal of the CRJ100 end-of-life (EOL) project is to study the most efficient ways of recycling an aircraft, which will provide feedback for the airframer's engineers to find better ways to build recyclable components.
As Indian carriers race to form a strategic alliance with international airlines, grounded Kingfisher Airlines may emerge as the first to benefit from foreign direct investment. Debt-ridden Kingfisher, which has been grounded since Oct. 1 following labor unrest, is currently in talks with various investors, including Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, for a possible stake sale. Aerospace industry sources indicate that the Persian Gulf-area carrier is close to buying a 48% stake in the Indian airline for about 30 billion rupees ($553 million).
Amy Svitak (London), Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington)
Thales Alenia Space and Gazprom Space Systems are confident that efforts to recover Russia's Yamal 402 Ku-band commercial telecom satellite will succeed, but it remains unclear how much of the spacecraft's 15-year service life will be lost. A premature shutdown of the Briz M upper stage on its International Launch Services (ILS) launch vehicle Dec. 9 left Yamal 402 in the wrong orbit, and controllers are using its onboard station-keeping/attitude control propellant to adjust it.
Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace members at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita have approved a six-year contract with a 92% “yes” vote. The contract covers 795 engineers.
The JF-17, a single-engine fighter Pakistan and China jointly developed, will be as ubiquitous as the Dassault Mirage once was in Pakistan, and possibly in other developing countries as well.
Jan. 7-10—AIAA's 51st Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition. Gaylord Texan Hotel and Convention, Grapevine, Texas. See www.aiaa.org/asm2013 Jan. 9-10—Fourth Annual China Aerospace Manufacturing Summit. Post Hotel, Harbin City. See www.galleonevents.com/2013CAMS Jan. 9-11—Army Aviation Symposium and Exposition. Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center. National Harbor, Md. See www.ausaaviation.org
David Haaksma (see photo) has been appointed manager-aerospace bearing repair for the aerospace and defense business of Canton, Ohio-based Timken Co. He was director of aerospace engine and gearbox segments for SKF Engineering. Honors and Elections
Col. (Res.) Eli Alfassi (see photo) has been named corporate VP for India for Ben Gurion International Airport-based Israel Aerospace Industries. He has been the Israel Defense Forces' military attache in India.
Boeing is investigating if the failure of an electric generator which grounded a newly delivered Qatar Airways Boeing 787 on Dec. 9, is related to issues with the same component that prompted the diversion of a United Airlines 787 to New Orleans on Dec. 4. The Qatar aircraft developed the problem on its delivery flight from Seattle. Boeing says it working to “understand the root cause of this issue and take the appropriate next steps.” Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker says the airline will demand compensation from Boeing for the losses incurred by the grounding.
To what must be hundreds of modifications available to King Airs must be added yet another: a swept, 96-in.-dia. four-blade propeller system. Developed by engineers from Hartzell and Raisbeck Engineering, the new “Swept-Turbofan Propeller” should be available for King Air 200 series retrofit by March. While swept blades have been used to propel other turboprops—most notably the Airbus Military A400M and Lockheed Martin C-130J airlifters—the new Hartzell/Raisbeck prop, according to its designers, is the first certified for a business turboprop.
Reader Laurence Scott, who probably lives near the Winfrith Heath nuclear facility in Dorset, England, should not worry about the impact of aircraft on nuclear reactors (AW&ST Dec. 3, p. 10). Definitive studies have shown that the worst feature of an airliner impact to such protected entities was, somewhat surprisingly, that of the nosewheel.
NASA will spend the next 16 months nailing down exactly how its three commercial crew contractors plan to meet the agency's detailed requirements for flying astronauts to the International Space Station and bringing them back to Earth in one piece. The agency will spend almost $30 million with the three companies—Boeing, Sierra Nevada Corp. and SpaceX—on the first phase of the “certification products contracts” (CPC) that will bring the vehicle designs they are developing into line with NASA's formal safety requirements.
A probe into an upper-stage low-thrust anomaly during an October GPS launch has verified that a leak occurred in the RL10B-2 engine. But, a root cause continues to elude investigators, and satellite owners are proceeding with Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) missions only if they are willing to accept any extra risk resulting from the unknowns surrounding the incident.
Ronald Colas (see photo) has been named VP and manager for south Florida, the Caribbean and Latin America in the Miami office of Parsons Brinckerhoff. He has been program manager for a wide range of civil engineering and aviation projects.
Adding Denmark to its customer list for the MH-60R Seahawk has been a small but important victory for Sikorsky and its partners, and one which could leave European helicopter companies reeling.
The Russian government recently announced two programs to further develop its transportation system and aircraft industry, but the support of local manufacturers will become less straightforward following the country's inclusion into the World Trade Organization this summer. The new transport development program, announced Nov. 23, covers all means of transportation and strives to increase the mobility of the population to 10,000 km (6,200 mi.) per person by 2020 from today's 7,000 km per person, according to the transport minister, Maxim Sokolov.
President Barack Obama, expected to soon begin announcing new members of his Cabinet, will be selecting the leader of the world's largest bureaucracy and filling one of the toughest jobs in the U.S. At least four names are being floated as replacements for Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and each is being greeted by defense industry officials with degrees of dismay.
Stratolaunch will decide early next spring whether Orbital Sciences Corp. can modify one of its rockets for air-launch from the giant airplane that the launch-services startup, bankrolled by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, is building with parts from two surplus Boeing 747s. The Huntsville, Ala.-based company turned to Orbital after SpaceX concluded that making the necessary modifications to its Falcon launcher—the original choice for the concept—would not make business sense. Following that decision, Stratolaunch “engaged Orbital Sciences Corp.
Aviation Week & Space Technology pilot Fred George flew Boeing's 787 last month, sitting in the left seat of ZA005, one of the initial test fleet and the first to be powered by General Electric's GEnx-1B. His report and a program review by Los Angeles Bureau Chief Guy Norris appear on pages 46-54. Also visit AviationWeek.com to see a video of the flight. Boeing photo shows the evaluation aircraft flying past Mount Rainier in Washington state.
Robert Cox (see photo) has become senior manager-communications and media relations for Grand Prairie, Texas-based American Eurocopter. He has been senior business writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Jan. 7-10—AIAA's 51st Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition. Gaylord Texan Hotel and Convention, Grapevine, Texas. See www.aiaa.org/asm2013 Jan. 9-10—Fourth Annual China Aerospace Manufacturing Summit. Post Hotel, Harbin City. See www.galleonevents.com/2013CAMS Jan. 9-11—Army Aviation Symposium and Exposition. Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center. National Harbor, Md. See www.ausaaviation.org
A distinctive feature of the Chinese economy is that most of its dominant companies, such as the main airlines, are effectively arms of the government but also compete with each other. That is part of the Communist Party's idea of “socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
