Sky Talk

Air Force didn't welcome CV-22 crash investigator's persistence

Without further comment here's an interesting piece at Wired's Danger Room on the reaction an Air Force general received from his superiors for pushing his investigation into the April 2010 crash of a CV-22 in Afghanistan that killed four people.

What (Donald) Harvel discovered about the controversial hybrid aircraft drew him into a battle of wills with his superiors at Air Force Special Operations Command. Harvel, then a brigadier general, uncovered evidence of mechanical problems — and resulting safety woes — in the V-22 Osprey, which takes off like a helicopter and flies like an airplane. These are issues the Pentagon has been eager to downplay. So when Harvel refused to alter his findings to match the Defense Department’s expectations, he knew that was the final chapter of his decades-long military service. Harvel’s long-planned retirement was held up for more than two years, effectively silencing him during a troubling chapter in the Osprey’s often-troubled history.

“I turned [my report] in and I knew that my career was done,” Harvel says.

Harvel’s retirement paperwork finally cleared a few weeks ago. Now, the former Texas Air National Guard C-130 pilot is free to publicly share his opinion about the Osprey: that it’s “just not quite there yet.” The two crashes and another incident this year are proof of that.

“We need to invest money to fix this thing or change the way we’re operating it,” Harvel says. But the Pentagon has other priorities, he adds. “One of the things that is most noticeable to me is the military trying to get the [Air Force] CV- and [Marine] MV-22 to the forefront to get as much positive publicity as possible.”

- Bob Cox

 

 

 

 

 

Will the two Euros become one global power

Big news on the aerospace/defense industry merger front today with the disclosure that BAE Systems and EADS are in the serious stages of merger discussions that would create a global giant.

The New York times reports:

Under the terms of the proposed deal, shareholders of European Aeronautic Defense and Space, as EADS is formally known, would own 60 percent of the combined company, while BAE would control the remaining 40 percent.

The combined market value of the two companies is roughly $49.8 billion, making the potential deal the largest aerospace merger since the acquisition of McDonnell Douglas by Boeing that was completed in 1997.

Both companies already major players in the U.S. EADS is, of course, the parent company of Airbus, the rival of Boeing in the commercial jetliners world. It's also the parent company of Eurocopter, the world's leading helicopter manufacturer that operates in the U.S. as American Eurocopter, based in Grand Prairie. 

BAE is a major supplier to the U.S. military both as a prime contractor and supplier to the likes of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. It is partenered with Lockheed and Northrop Grumman on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, builds the Army's Bradley fighting Vehciles and military trucks, among others.

- Bob Cox

 

 

Triumph Aero in lease negotiations over Dallas plant

Triumph Aerostructures is in negotiations with a Dallas company on a new lease covering its west Dallas manufacturing facilities.

Triumph spokeswoman Lynne Warne said in an email Tuesday that “we are still in negotiations” with American Brownfield “and are hoping for a resolution,” but could not comment further.

Robert Riggs, spokesman for American Brownfields, acknowledged that negotiations were continuing and said that a proposal had been submitted to Triumph for a one-year lease extension under the same terms as Triumph’s prior lease with the Navy.

American Brownfields, headed by real estate investor Stuart Jones of Dallas, has agreed to pay the U.S. government $375,515 for the 1940s vintage aircraft manufacturing plant long occupied by Vought Aircraft Industries and its predecessor companies.

As part of the property sale, which Riggs said has not yet been completed, American Brownfields has agreed to assume responsibility for the costs of cleaning up polluted soils and water around the 425 acre property, problems that in some cases date back to World War II when North American Aviation first operated the plant.

Triumph, which employs about 2,400 salaried and hourly workers at the Dallas plant, said last month that the lease terms proposed by American Brownfields would effectively double the company’s annual cost of operating the 5-million square-foot manufacturing and assembly plant.

Triumph has said it will begin planning to move operations out of the facility if it cannot get more favorable lease terms than those initially proposed by Jones.

Major components for the Boeing C-17, Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, Northrop Grumman Global Hawk, Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and Gulfstream G550 business jets are built at the plant.

- Bob Cox

AVX moves to handle growth spurt

AVX Aircraft Co., the start-up Fort Worth helicopter company, has moved into larger digs in southwest Fort Worth to accommodate a growing staff working on a military contract.

"We're beyond the struggling start-up” phase, says AVX President Troy Gaffey.

Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, joined Gaffey and AVX founder David Brody for a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday to mark the company’s move into larger, nicer office space needed to house a staff of engineers working on advanced technology helicopters.

AVX won a $4 million-plus Army contract last fall for detailed engineering studies on a future military helicopter concept. Suddenly the company had to hire engineers and the staff went from 12 to 30, including four TCU interns.

AVX was one of four companies to get the contracts to do studies that will lead to proposals for the Army’s next generation helicopter. The others are Sikorsky Aircraft, Boeing and the Bell Helicopter-Boeing tilt-rotor team.

“Technically, we can compete with them,” Gaffey said. “The issue I think boils down to financial strength. One of the solutions is to have partners that bring financial strength and technical strength.”

Several companies are working with AVX on its concept for a helicopter that would use a compound coaxial rotor system (two counter-rotating rotors) and ducted fans (essentially propellers), a system that AVX contends will mean vastly improved performance over existing helicopters.

Sikorsky is following a similar  path with its X2 coaxial rotor helicopter demonstration project. “That proves our technology is sound,” Gaffey said, although there are significant differences in the two concepts. 

- Bob Cox

 

 

PPG puts shine on Osprey for museum

When the Marine Corps offered a V-22 Osprey aircraft to the American Helicopter Museum and Educational Center to display the center jumped at the opportunity.

Now one of the earliest Osprey test aircraft, No. 3, is restored and at the museum with a little help from PPG Industries, which provided the coatings to get it back up to snuff and Federal Aviation Administration requirements.

- Bob Cox

 

Investors acquire aero supplier Fitz Manufacturing

A new Fort Worth company with plans to invest in the North Texas aerospace industry announced its first acquisition Wednesday, Fitz Manufacturing Industries of North Richland Hills.

Novaria Group said it had purchased the closely held manufacturer of aircraft parts because of its potential for long term growth. “They really do have great potential. They have a great reputation,” said Earl Larkin, managing partner of Navaria.

Novaria plans to retain the current management of Fitz but will bring added financial and management resources to the company to help the business grow, Larkin said, and “to better serve customers while preserving the culture and reputation for high quality that Fitz has built over the last 16 years.”

The company will be renamed Fitz Aerospace. Founder Greg Fitzgerald will remain an equity partner and chief executive of the company.

Fitz is a major provider of forged and machined small parts to Boeing’s commercial aircraft division as well as other aviation and defense companies. The company employs about 150 and is looking to add staff to meet demand for its products.

Novaria is a venture launched a year go by Larkin and Bryan Perkins, both formerly executives with the Fort Worth aerospace division of Parker Hannifan. They are backed by a Dallas-based private investment firm, Satori Capital.

Novaria and Satori will team up to make other acquisitions, Larkin said.

- Bob Cox

NLRB drops charges against Boeing

With Boeing and the Machinists union having agreed on a new four-year contract and, as part of that deal, the IAM requesting that its complaint against the company over opening a plant in South Carolina be dropped, the NLRB has done so.

NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon made the following announcement today:

I am very happy to announce that my office has approved the withdrawal of a charge by the Machinists union against the Boeing Co., which brings our case in this matter to an end.

The union asked to withdraw the charge following the ratification of a four-year collective bargaining agreement between its members and Boeing earlier this week. Based on that request, the administrative law judge presiding over the case dismissed the complaint and remanded the case to our regional office in Seattle for further processing. This morning, Regional Director Richard Ahearn approved the union’s written request to withdraw the charge, and the case is now closed.

This is the outcome we have always preferred, and one that is typical for our agency. About 90% of meritorious NLRB cases are resolved as a result of agreements between the parties or settlements with the agency before the conclusion of litigation.

One of the stated goals of the National Labor Relations Act is to foster collective bargaining and productive labor-management relations. From the beginning of this case, and at every step in the process, we have encouraged the parties to find a mutually-acceptable resolution that protects the rights of workers under federal labor law.  The parties’ collective bargaining agreement, ratified this week, does just that. 

After we issued complaint in April, and as the trial began in June, the parties came to realize that their mutual success required a new approach. The result is a contract that helps guarantee their success and creates job security for workers. I am pleased that the collective bargaining process has succeeded and that the parties have begun a promising new chapter in their relationship.

 

FedEx may buy Boeing 767s

A decade ago, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the already sinking economy following the collapse of the stock market's tech bubble, Boeing company officials thought they would soon be shutting down the 767 production line as orders sagged.

Fearing that result, Boeing and its political representatives in Washington pushed the Air Force and Department of Defense to buy 767s as refueling tankers, a tactic that resulted in the great leasing scandal that got people fired and thrown into jail.

But the 767s has survived as a commercial jetliner and now Bloomberg News reports that Boeing could soon receive a 30-plane order for freighter versions from FedEx.

That would not only be good news for Boeing, but also the Triumph Aerostructure - Vought Aircraft Division in Dallas, which builds the rear fuselage and tail sections of the 767. A 30-plane order would keep the Boeing production line in business while it gears up to build 767 tankers, which the Defense Department has finally committed to buying.

- Bob Cox

Panetta: Bigger budget cuts could lead to F-35 termination

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has sent a letter to Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, outlining the likely consequences if Congress does not adopt further deficit reduction measures and the sequestration provisions of the August law goes into effect on top of already planned spending reductions.

A Bloomberg News story is here. The entire document is attached. Some highlights:

Beginning in FY 2013:

If the Joint Committee fails to achieve any deficit reduction (the worst case), and if the President utilizes his authority to exempt military personnel funding, then we estimate that the remainder of the FY 2013 defense budget would be cut by about $100 billion, about 23 percent compared with the President's FY 2012 budget plan now on the Hill -and roughly double the cuts under the basic BCA provisions. 

 • If Congress agrees by vote, we would have the flexibility to apply sequester cuts as the Administration recommends. But even with flexibility, cuts of this magnitude would be highly disruptive. Examples include: 

  We could not afford to exempt major weapon programs (Joint Strike Fighter, P-8 aircraft, ground combat vehicle, ships) from cuts. Reductions would delay receipt of capability and drive up unit costs. 

Longer term:

A sequester would lower the caps on defense spending by about $100 billion a year in FY 2013 through 2021 -roughly double the effects of cuts under the basic provisions of the BCA. These reductions in defense spending would have devastating effects. 

 Reductions at this level would lead to: 

- The smallest ground force since 1940. o A fleet of fewer than 230 ships, the smallest level since 1915.

- The smallest tactical fighter force in the history of the Air Force.

Reductions of 20 percent (or about $390 billion over ten years) in investment accounts (procurement plus research, development, testing, and evaluation) could lead to cutbacks in many programs, large and small. Decisions relating to major programs could include:

-Terminate Joint Strike Fighter; minimal life extensions and upgrades to existing forces ($80B);

- Terminate bomber; restart new program in mid 2020s ($18B);

- Delay next generation ballistic missile submarine; cut force to 10 subs ($7B);

- Terminate littoral combat ship and associated mission modules ($22B);

- Terminate all ground combat vehicle modernization programs; minimal life extensions and upgrades to existing forces ($17B); 

- Terminate all Army helicopter modernization programs.

Here is Panetta's letter:  Download 11-14-11 Panetta letter on deficit and sequestration

-Bob Cox

 

Ospreys getting interior makeover for hauling VIPs

David Axe writes on the Danger Room blog about the Marines gearing up to haul VIPs around in the V-22 Osprey as they wear out their helicopters doing the hard work and heavy lifting in combat theaters.

The Marines have gone from hauling the presidential entourage's bags and cargo to apparently soon hauling the peeps too. 

Now that mission has expanded, and the Osprey will haul the entourage itself. A July solicitation by the Marine Corps asks for a company to supply VIP kits for four Ospreys. The kits include a liner to disguise the cabin’s pipes and wires, softer seats and a carpet bearing the squadron logo for the aircraft’s ramp.

Some observers see the VIP mods as a baby step towards putting the president himself in the $100-million dollar aircraft, dubbed the “Dream Machine” by one fawning writer. After an expensive false start, the Pentagon wants to buy a new fleet of presidential transports starting in 2017. The V-22 is officially a candidate.

The writer includes links to lots of relevant aritcles elsewhere on the web.

- Bob Cox