Chris Yamada (see photo) has been named VP of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s West Falls Church, Va.-based Aerospace Products organization. He will retain leadership of several of the company's business units, including Astro Aerospace, Adaptive Optics and Microelectronic Products and Services.
India has made no secret of its hypersonic ambitions whether aimed at high-speed weapons, sub-orbital passenger transport or as a stepping stone to space. Now, key tests are set to begin for a technology demonstrator that could unlock some of these possibilities.
Keng Kum Yong has been appointed VP and technical specialist for Hong Kong-based Jetsolution. He has been a senior executive for Singapore Airlines, Metrojet, Jett8 and Talco Aviation.
Unlike previous lightweight and compact weapons that proved highly suitable for guerrilla warfare techniques, the Iranian-made Fajr rockets supplied to Hamas in Gaza are significantly more devastating than earlier Grads and Qassams. Both the Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 carry a 90-kg (200-lb.) high-explosive warhead with massive fragmentation sheets made of steel balls that create extensive collateral damage. Analyses of attacks from 2006 to this year indicate the rockets could be equipped with a delay fuse to increase building penetration.
Aidan Mooney has joined Manchester, England-based route consultant ASM as VP-consulting. He has been director of aviation development for the Manchester Airport Group.
Parker Aerospace, a major supplier of fuel system nozzles to the gas aero-engine industry, has opted for vertical integration with one of its biggest customers by forming a joint venture with GE Aviation. The partners plan to establish Advanced Atomization Technologies (AAT) in Clyde, N.Y., a town of 2,500 halfway between Syracuse and Rochester, to develop and manufacture all fuel nozzles used in General Electric and CFM commercial engines or their military equivalents. Terms were not disclosed.
Col. (ret.) Shaul Shahar (see photo) has been appointed general manager of Israel Aerospace Industries' Malat division, based at Ben Gurion International Airport. He succeeds Col. (ret.) Mordechai “Tommy” Silberring. Shahar was acting general manager of the Tamam division of IAI's Missiles Systems and Space Group.
Angela Gittens, director general of Montreal-based Airport Council International World, was selected to receive the Airport Consultants Council 2012 Aviation Award of Excellence. Gittens was honored for the breadth of her contributions to the aviation industry, her advocacy on behalf of aviation stakeholders and her leadership on local, federal and global levels.
Russian researchers, long in the forefront of plasma control experimentation, are combining forces with U.S. military and European industrial counterparts to further exploit plasma's potential effect in hypersonic flight. The concept involves generating plasma by using an electrical discharge to create a shape or force which can act as a virtual actuator, a flow modifier or as an aid to combustion.
The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (Speea) underscored its displeasure at the rate of progress in contract talks with Boeing Commercial Airplanes last week by seeking National Labor Relations Board intervention, even as the manufacturer made what it calls “significant improvements over our initial offer.”
Tony Parasida has been appointed senior VP-human resources and administration for Boeing. He will succeed Rick Stephens, who plans to retire in March. Parasida is president of Boeing Defense, Space & Security's Global Services & Support.
You quote an unnamed manufacturing “executive” in Wichita, Kan., as saying: “Why take on all that trouble? You'd be nuts.” And you helpfully explained that view, because in Wichita, workers want better wages and medical coverage (AW&ST Oct. 29, p. 46). They are right to demand it. Unions made the middle class. They made it possible for an average Joe to make enough money to purchase a house, take a vacation, buy televisions, refrigerators and cars, and now PCs and iPods, that feed our economy. And they made for loyal, productive employees.
Bill Irby has been promoted to senior VP and general manager of Wilmington, Mass.-based Textron Systems' AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems, from VP of Ground Control Technologies.
Howard Povey (see photo) has been appointed sales director of the business aviation arm of Marshall Aerospace Group, which is based at the Cambridge (England) Airport.
Marvin Young, VP-engineering of Sacramento, Calif.-based Aerojet, has been named the recipient of Purdue University's Outstanding Mechanical Engineer Award. Young was honored for accomplishments in the mechanical engineering industry, particularly for the development of rocket propulsion systems for defense and aerospace.
The European Space Agency (ESA) will spend €588 million ($752 million) over the next two years to upgrade the Ariane 5 rocket, conduct detailed design studies of a successor and identify synergies between the two launch vehicles, including development of a common upper stage.
Three decades ago, carbon-fiber reinforced plastic, commonly known as composite, was beginning to appear in commercial aircraft. It was not cheap and could not, at that time, be applied to anything like an entire airframe. With the Boeing 787, an almost completely composite aircraft is now in service. The problem of cost remains, but a second phase of the composite revolution is now underway, with manufacturers looking for ways of eliminating autoclaves—the costly, energy- hungry pressure cookers that are traditionally used to cure the material.
Having forged an international partnership unprecedented in the annals of high-speed research, the U.S. and Australian Hypersonic International Flight Research Experiment (HIFiRE) is past the halfway stage and planning an extension as it accelerates toward a fast firing finale.
Philip Tilston (see photo) has become CFO of Madison Heights, Mich.-based Wall Colmonoy's European team. He has been deputy managing director and CFO for Turtle Wax Europe.
Peter Turner has been named VP-business development of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines' TechOps division. He was VP-customer business at Rolls-Royce North America.
