Companies competing to develop a commercial crew vehicle (CCV) for International Space Station astronauts must also bid on a two-phase human-rating process that NASA will conduct in parallel with vehicle development over the next four to five years. Under a NASA request for proposals issued Sept. 12, companies can get as much as $10 million each beginning next February to supply data for human spaceflight certification for the following 15 months.
This week, Aviation Week & Space Technology publishes two editions. On the cover at the far left, a high-speed camera mounted in the weapons bay of an F-35B Joint Strike Fighter captures a 1,000-lb. Joint Direct-Attack Munition just after release, during the aircraft's first safe-separation trial Aug. 8 near NAS Patuxent River, Md. The squares and circles on the JDAM are photogrammetric markers. Cameras tracked the JDAM as it separated from the bay. Engineers compare the images to predictive models (see page 56).
Not since the 1960s when it developed the JT9D, the world's first commercial high-bypass turbofan, has Pratt & Whitney been under the industry microscope as it is with the PW1000G geared-turbofan family. While the JT9D became a success after a troubled start, it was the JT8D that gave Pratt its 30-year-plus reign as the industry's leading jet-engine supplier. It is this success the company now hopes to emulate with the similarly rated PW1000G, now in the midst of its most critical certification tests yet.
A Who's Where item in the Sept. 3/10 issue (page 11) incorrectly identified the new position held by Antonio L. Elias, former executive vice president and general manager of the advanced programs group at Orbital Sciences Corp. Elias has been promoted to chief technical officer for the company's three operating groups (launch systems, satellites and space systems, and advanced programs) as well as the company's technical operations staff.
European aerospace giant EADS is tackling a number of problems in its military businesses as it proceeds with talks to merge with British behemoth BAE Systems in an effort to increase its global footprint in the defense market.
Robert Kirsch (see photo) has been selected as director of operations for Kelly Aviation Center of San Antonio. He was general manager of operations at Pratt & Whitney.
Bob Seidel has been named CEO of JFI Jets of New York, succeeding Bill Cripe, who will take a leave of absence. Seidel was general manager and senior VP of Jet Aviation's U.S. aircraft management and charter division.
Carole Hedden reports on Aviation Week's survey of young A&D sector professionals and university students and notes that respondents say: “The secret to attracting and keeping young workers is [to offer us a] challenge” (AW&ST Aug. 20, p. 43). The new hires' preferences include high-profile projects that tap their innate interest in things that “fly, communicate and secure the nation.” And they want work that varies week-to-week, day-to-day and even hour-to-hour.
With more than 2,300 current model 737s still due to be delivered before the first reengined MAX variant makes its debut in 2017, Boeing is taking steps to improve the aircraft's competitiveness by studying a new set of upgrades which could also help bridge the transition between the two.
Orbital Sciences Corp. hopes to conduct the first hot-fire test of its Antares launch vehicle in mid-October following the rollout of the rocket to the new launch pad at Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Va., later this month. The facility is being developed by Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority and includes a horizontal integration site that now houses the test booster for the upcoming 29-sec.-long static test firing, as well as the first Antares to be used for a NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services demonstration flight.
Oct. 9—MRO IT Europe. Amsterdam. Oct. 9—Aircraft Composite Repair Management. Amsterdam. Oct. 9-11—MRO Europe. Amsterdam. Oct. 30-31—Engine MRO Europe. Paris Nov. 6-7—A&D Programs. Phoenix. Nov. 13—Engine MRO Asia. Singapore. Nov. 14-15—MRO Asia. Singapore. Jan. 22-23—MRO Middle East. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. You can now register ONLINEfor Aviation Week Events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/events or call +1 (212) 904-4682.
Sept. 24-25—Malta International Airshow 2012. Malta International Airport. See www.maltaairshow.com Sept. 24-28—55th Annual Airlines for America's Nondestructive Testing Forum. Seattle Airport Marriott. Sept. 26-29—Society of Experimental Test Pilots' 56th Annual Symposium and Banquet. The Grand Californian Hotel, Anaheim. See www.setp.org/annual-symposium-banquet/56th-symposium-a-banquet-informat… Sept. 27-28—Aerospace Summit Global Supply Chain. Palais Des Congress, Montreal. See www.aeromontreal.ca/summit2012\
Boeing says the all-inclusive contract proposal it presented last week to the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (Speea) will “more than offset some increased health insurance cost-sharing” that the 23,000 employees represented by the union are being asked to pay. The company says the net effect will mean pay increase averages of more than 3% for engineers and 2% for technical workers over the proposed four-year contract. The two sides are scheduled to convene again on Sept.
Tom Owen has been appointed senior VP-Americas of Cathay Pacific Airways. A 17-year veteran of the airline, he has been country manager in Canada and India and general manager in Hong Kong.
Tim Brady, dean of the College of Aviation at Embry-Riddle's Daytona Beach, Fla., campus, has been appointed to the board of director of the National Association of Flight Instructors.
Andrei Reus, who has been general director of state technology company Oboronprom Corp., has been appointed chairman of Moscow-based Russian Helicopters.
Malaysia's aviation market is set to undergo its biggest shake-up in years, and it could get bloody: Indonesia's largest low-cost carrier, Lion Air, aims to establish an affiliate airline in Malaysia, taking the challenge to AirAsia and potentially sparking a costly price war. Lion Air's first overseas affiliate carrier, Malindo Airways, will operate domestically and internationally. The aim is for Malindo to have a fleet of 50-60 aircraft in 10 years, says Lion's president director, Rusdi Kirana.
With the U.S. election looming, the last thing anyone wants to say in public is that the Pentagon's biggest program is further from finishing its tests than it was supposed to be four years ago, that nobody agrees exactly how far away it is, and that—11 years after the program started—none of the three service operators has set an initial operational capability (IOC) target date.
An article on Neil Armstrong in the Sept. 3/10 issue (page 32) misstated the date of the Jan. 27, 1967, Apollo 1 fire and referred to alarms on the Apollo 11 lunar module, Eagle, with the command module's name, Columbia. Also, details of Gemini 8's early return to Earth were omitted. After the pilots disengaged the primary maneuvering system and used the reentry system to regain control of the spacecraft, flight rules dictated that they deorbit.
It was the annoying stuff they learned about in the wheel and brake business that prompted Rich Brown and Jason Rayman to start Blackbird Design two years ago as a specialty tooling supplier. The annoyance was the time and effort wasted applying and then stripping out masking tape that is needed to protect sensitive areas from being repainted as the overhaul is completed.
Integration has been the key target for Airbus over the past five years. But as the aircraft manufacturer has found out, this has slowed down decisions. Now the challenge is to speed up again, and new CEO Fabrice Bregier already has a plan.
