Archives :: Rotor & Wing Magazine :: Issue :: Columns :: Heard in the Hallways
Displaying 1 - 20 of 29 stories.
November 1, 2008
Even when the announcement was made that Bell Helicopter had won the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) contract in 2005, company insiders were skeptical of the rotorcraft giant’s ability to deliver a militarized, single-engine 407 on time and under budget. Apparently, the skeptics were right. Bell’s ARH contract was effectively dropped pursuant to a section in the Nunn-McCurdy amendment to...September 1, 2008
Perhaps it was the economic troubles, the weak dollar, the fair weather or competition from other international aerospace exhibitions. But nearly every exhibitor, attendee and fellow journalist that Rotor & Wing queried during July’s Farnborough Air Show and since described this year’s event in the same way: slow. Farnborough organizers betrayed no worries, claiming new orders worth about...August 1, 2008
The Bell Helicopter-Boeing team that produces the V-22 Osprey for the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force is enjoying good times. A second Marine squadron is deployed to Iraq and is supporting combat operations there. The Air Force is increasing the number of CV-22s its special forces will use, doubling from five to 10 the number of aircraft it wants in the first year of a multi-year contract and adding to...July 1, 2008
Helicopter industry leaders in Russia make much of their efforts to reorganize their activities and reclaim their place as a world leader in design and production of rotorcraft. A delegation came to the annual Heli-Expo gathering in Houston four months ago to convey that message and to trumpet...July 1, 2008
President and CEO Dick Millman continues to recast the management team at Bell Helicopter. He stunned us in March by hiring 32-year Sikorsky Aircraft veteran and long-time tilt-rotor critic Nick Lappos to head Bell’s XworX R&D shop. Now he’s hired a top...July 1, 2008
That is the question on many minds inside and outside the Beltway. First, Defense Secretary Robert Gates in April faulted the Air Force for failing to get more unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan to support combat operations there. (A spokesman later explained the secretary meant to fault all the services in his...June 1, 2008
It rarely happens that a military acquisition incurs major delays and cost overruns without some heads rolling. And so heads have rolled in the VH-71 program. The next-generation U.S. presidential helicopter program, launched with a 2005 contract award, is one year behind schedule and has seen its total costs jump about 75 percent. The U.S. Navy-run program has just undergone a major...June 1, 2008
That was a question on the minds of U.S. attendees at last month’s American Helicopter Society International annual gathering in Montreal. What provoked the question? The U.S. Navy’s launch of a rotorcraft center of excellence, based at NAS Patuxent River, Md. It is headed by the Naval Air Systems’ Douglas Isleib (see the VH-71 item), who is one of just two full-time employees assigned to...June 1, 2008
2008 is already a bad year for aviation safety in the United States. That may strike readers as a strange statement. The traditional measure of safety, certainly in the public mind, is accidents, and this year has not been exceptionally bad. Helicopter accidents continue at what appears to be a steady rate, but there have been no headline-grabbing airline crashes in the United States. The damage that this...May 1, 2008
A grass-roots movement may be afoot to adopt a mascot for the Army Aviation Assn of America in the form of Mighty Mouse. Quad A became linked to mice at its recent annual convention marking the 25th anniversary of the Army aviation branch. It was held at the brand-new Gaylord National resort, just south of Washington, which was infested...May 1, 2008
The ongoing controversy caused by FAA surveillance of U.S. airline maintenance programs may spur resolution of a long-standing dispute in Washington over the FAA. The controversy was triggered by findings that agency inspectors were too cozy with Southwest Airlines, allowing it to continue using Boeing 737s on revenue flights in violation of structural-inspection airworthiness directives. Embarrassed by...May 1, 2008
The head of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, Vice Adm. David Venlet, says there’s progress on the U.S. Marine Corps H-1 upgrade program, but the VH-71 presidential helicopter program is still struggling. Venlet told Rotor & Wing that the Bell Helicopter H-1 program is heading into this year’s operational testing in decent shape. The program suffered from early design and manufacturing...April 1, 2008
Taking on Needles In Bigger Haystacks Planning on getting lost at sea? Try to wait a few years. The U.S. Coast Guard is in the process of installing new emergency beacon locators on all of its aircraft. The new DF-430-F electronic director finder, made by Rockwell Collins, can pick up emergency signals from 60 mi away, a huge improvement over older systems that required rescue aircraft to be within a few...April 1, 2008
Armed Dolphins Replace Stingrays The U.S Coast Guard is now flying its own armed helicopters to interdict drug runners, after nearly a decade of using leased aircraft because its own weren’t powerful enough to lift the guns and crews needed for the mission. The Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron in Jacksonville, Fla., dubbed HITRON, switched to Eurocopter HH-65C Dolphins from leased...March 1, 2008
India is widely considered one of rotorcraft’s biggest potential growth markets. But how will that growth develop? Slowly, some experienced with doing helicopter business there argue. Demand for offshore-support services is rising, spurred by increased exploration and production efforts in response to record oil...March 1, 2008
A recent U.S. Army aviation conference served as a reminder that a prerequisite for such events is an eye exam. The event was one of several whose presentations feature the notorious "quad chart." This visual aid crams four Powerpoint-type slides into a single slide. Its widespread use indicates someone in...March 1, 2008
U.S. Army aviation faces tough times ahead, and must face them without key proven leaders. The branch has prevailed in tough slogging, engaged as it has been in an intense level of combat operations in southwest Asia and in the global war on terror since 2001. Those battles will continue, but will be joined by ones of a different — and nearly as dangerous kind. The branch must fight for survival in...February 1, 2008
Companies supporting U.S. Army efforts to flesh out a Joint Heavy Lift (JHL) aircraft expect a new lot of funding for more research soon. But the real question, as a senior Army aviation leader posed one Washington evening last month, is who will own that aircraft if it is every built. Sikorsky Aircraft, a Bell Helicopter/Boeing team, and Karem Aircraft cleared the first JHL...November 1, 2007
Among the complaints MD Helicopters chief Lynn Tilton voiced after losing the U.S. Army’s $3-billion Light Utility Helicopter contract was that the Army’s choice, European aerospace group EADS, was suspected of insider trading. Tilton and the Mesa, Ariz.-based manufacturer have moved on to focus on improving MD’s customer support, rebuilding its supply chain, and netting civil and...November 1, 2007
You may not have seen much in the news about manpads and Iraq, but U.S. military officials and defense analysts are increasingly concerned about that threat to helicopters operating there. The concern is that Iraqi insurgents...
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