Aerospace
The Lead
Armstrong’s ‘Flying Bedstead’ Close Call
August 30, 2012 10:17 am | by Joel Hans, Managing Editor, Manufacturing.net | Blogs | Comments
Back in Armstrong’s prime, innovation was a matter of national pride, of maintaining the United State’s position as the world’s biggest hotbed of technological advancement. And Armstrong was completely swept up in this fervor, and the risk-taking it required. His name might have meant far, far less — or nothing at all — if one of his many test flights had gone a little differently.
M.Net Newswire 2 — The Gray Area Of 3D-Printed Guns
May 21, 2013 10:24 am | by Manufacturing.net | Videos | CommentsIn this episode of M.net’s Manufacturing Newswire, remaking American security, Amazon eyes the smartphone market, and a blow to the nation’s labor unions. We’ll also updated you on Window’s Blue, take a brief look at the uncertainty in U.S. manufacturing, and the liability surrounding 3-D printed guns.
United Restarts 787 Flights After Grounding
May 21, 2013 8:14 am | by Joshua Freed, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe failure of Boeing's newest, flashiest and most important plane embarrassed the company and its customers. Both United CEO Jeff Smisek and Boeing CEO Jim McNerney were on board Monday's flight, and United promoted the plane's return to service.
Flying Car Prototypes Grounded After Crash Near School
May 17, 2013 7:53 am | News | CommentsThe Transportation Safety Board says the U.S. manufacturer of flying cars has grounded all five of its prototypes until it can determine a cause for a recent crash in B.C. One of the Maverick flying cars crashed near a Vernon elementary school last week, leaving a pilot and a passenger with minor injuries.
NASA Craft's Planet-Hunting Days May Be Numbered
May 16, 2013 8:35 am | by Alicia Chang, Associated Press | News | CommentsIf engineers can't find a fix, the failure could mean an end to the $600 million mission's search, although the space agency wasn't ready to call it quits Wednesday. The telescope has discovered scores of planets but only two so far are the best candidates for habitable planets.
Students In Ghana Launch Mini-Satellite
May 15, 2013 1:42 pm | by Robbie Corey-Boulet, Associated Press | News | CommentsTheir project might not sound like much: The college students on Wednesday launched a tiny model of a satellite the size of a Coke can on a big yellow balloon. It went aloft to a height of 165 meters (yards) and then came back down on a red parachute.
U.S. Launches Drone From Aircraft Carrier
May 15, 2013 7:45 am | by Brock Vergakis, Associated Press | News | CommentsA drone the size of a fighter jet took off from the deck of an American aircraft carrier for the first time Tuesday in a test flight that could eventually open the way for the U.S. to launch unmanned aircraft from just about any place in the world.
NJ Man Charged With Plane Parts Fraud Scheme
May 14, 2013 1:35 pm | News | CommentsA northern New Jersey man is due in federal court to face charges he ran a scheme to sell airplane parts that had been scrapped or rejected. Gideon Vaisman of Edgewater was arrested Monday night. He is due in court Tuesday to face a wire fraud conspiracy charge that carries a 20-year maximum sentence.
Airbus Sales Drive 1Q Profits At Parent Company
May 14, 2013 7:57 am | News | CommentsThe Airbus parent company also reaffirmed Tuesday its forecast of lifting commercial aircraft deliveries this year to between 600 and 610, as demand from Middle Eastern and Asian carriers to expand their fleets continues to drive sales for one of Europe's largest exporters.
Beechcraft Gets $210M Military Contract
May 14, 2013 7:38 am | News | CommentsA unit of Beechcraft Corp. says production will begin this month in Wichita on 35 training aircraft for the military. Beechcraft Defense Co. on Monday announced the signing of a $210 million contract with the Air Force, under the government's Joint Primary Aircraft Training System procurement contract.
NASA Mulls Spacewalk To Fix Space Station Leak
May 10, 2013 2:09 pm | by Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer | News | CommentsNASA says the six-member crew at the station is not in danger. The ammonia leak forced the shutdown of one of eight solar panels that power the station, but the outpost can operate fine with only seven, spokesman Kelly Humphries said. NASA will decide Friday evening whether the spacewalk is needed Saturday.
Should Engineers Be Licensed: A Process Improvement Perspective
May 10, 2013 7:56 am | by Alan Nicol, Executive Member, AlanNicolSolutions | Articles | CommentsLicensed practice is commonplace or mandatory in other fields, particularly construction, medicine and law, so should those individuals handily responsible for most every article we use every day also be given greater accountability for the science they practice?
UK Budget Airline To Test Ash Cloud Detector
May 10, 2013 7:47 am | by Sylvia Hui, ssociated Press | News | CommentsA U.K. budget airline will create an artificial volcanic ash cloud over Europe this summer to test ash detection technology. The experiment aims to avoid the kind of chaos that paralyzed air traffic during eruptions three years ago. The announcement was made by easyJet, which acquired a ton of ash collected in Iceland by scientists in the months after the 2010 eruptions for its test.
Engineering Newswire 37: Boeing Makes Hypersonic History
May 9, 2013 2:45 pm | Videos | CommentsToday on Engineering Newswire, brought to you by Pivot Point, the leading designer and manufacturer of non-threaded fastener solutions, we’re improving Artificial Intelligence with sensors, flying robotic bees, making hypersonic history, and getting ready to launch GOES-R.
Court Upholds $28M In Damages For Sky Diving Deaths
May 8, 2013 1:44 pm | by Jim Salter, Associated Press | News | CommentsRelatives of five of the victims filed suit against Doncasters Inc. Evidence presented at trial showed that the London-based company made a defective part that caused the right engine of the DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter to blow up shortly after takeoff July 29, 2006.
United To Resume 787 Flights On May 20
May 8, 2013 1:35 pm | News | CommentsUnited Airlines expects to start flying its Boeing 787s again on May 20. The 787s had been grounded because of concerns about smoldering batteries, but they have been returning to the skies. Ethiopian Airlines was the first to fly a 787 again, on April 27.
Elon Musks' SpaceX Signs Lease At NM Spaceport
May 7, 2013 8:42 pm | News | CommentsAnother space industry heavyweight has signed onto New Mexico's Spaceport America. Gov. Susana Martinez announced Tuesday that Elon Musks' Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, has agreed to a three-year lease to do testing of its "Grasshopper" reusable rocket in southern New Mexico.
Machinists Overwhelmingly OK United Tech Contract
May 7, 2013 8:17 am | News | CommentsUnion Local President Tony Walter said union members won an annual 2.5 percent raise and a $2,000 signing bonus. Pensions will be increased by $7 per month for each year of service and employee contributions to health insurance coverage will increase by as much as $12 a week.
Ethiopian Air Wants Compensation For 787 Grounding
May 7, 2013 7:54 am | News | CommentsThe chief executive of Ethiopian Airlines says his company will seek compensation from Boeing for the grounding of its 787 Dreamliner planes. The airline grounded its four Dreamliners in January following the FAA order for a safety review on the aircraft after incidents of overheating by its lithium batteries. Ethiopian Airlines began flying the 787s again last month.
FAA Safety Oversight Of Aircraft Repairs Faulted
May 6, 2013 1:41 pm | by Joan Lowy, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Department of Transportation's inspector general said in a report released Monday that a supposedly risk-based safety inspection system adopted by the FAA "falls short of being truly risk-based." The report said this is especially true for foreign repair stations.
China Emerging As New Force In Drone Warfare
May 3, 2013 2:05 pm | by Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press | News | CommentsChinese aerospace firms have developed dozens of drones, known also as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. Many have appeared at air shows and military parades, including some that bear an uncanny resemblance to the Predator, Global Hawk and Reaper models used with deadly effect by the U.S. Air Force and CIA.
Assess Your Technology Ladder When Addressing Burn Risk
May 3, 2013 1:45 pm | by Scott Brooksby, Olson Brooksby PC | Articles | CommentsThere are few more sophisticated and complex high-heat metallurgy manufacturing processes — and few with less tolerance for error — than the processes involved in manufacturing components of the hot-section of an aviation gas turbine engine. This precision minimizes the risk of catastrophic aviation disasters such as uncontrolled engine failure.
Solar Plane Goes On Cross-Country Trip
May 3, 2013 1:36 pm | News | CommentsIt plans to stop at Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth airport in Texas, Lambert-St. Louis airport, Dulles airport in the Washington area and New York's John F. Kennedy airport. Each flight leg will take 20 to 25 hours, with 10-day stops in each city.
Factory Orders Down 4 Percent In March
May 3, 2013 10:18 am | by Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer | News | CommentsOrders to U.S. factories fell in March by the largest amount in seven months but a key category that signals business investment plans managed a small increase. Factory orders dropped 4 percent in March, reflecting a big plunge in the volatile category of commercial aircraft, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Australia Plans To Buy 12 EA-18G Growler Aircraft
May 3, 2013 8:00 am | by Rod McGuirk, Associated Press | News | CommentsBut the reviewed defense strategy released Friday said the government now plans to buy 12 new Growlers and to keep Australia's existing 24 Super Hornets as they are. Australia will be the only country other than the United States to operate Growlers, which are to be replaced eventually by JFSs.
Open Innovation Spurs Ultimate American Success
May 2, 2013 2:25 pm | by Louise Rainone, Vice President of Marketing, PCDworks | Articles | CommentsAfter attending the Marcus Evans Group’s 7th Annual OI Summit, I was delighted to see the evolution currently happening in the OI stratosphere. I was privy to a few surprises in the lineup from non-traditional players in the OI space, making this dynamic open innovations platform technologically enticing.
