Ole Miss: Space-law champs

The University of Mississippi School of Law has earned the title of North American Champion at the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court on March 21. They will represent the continent in October at the World Finals in Israel. As a leader in this unique emerging area of law, Ole Miss helps propel students into careers at government agencies like NASA and provides opportunities with growing private space industries. Ole Miss is one of only a handful of schools to offer a program devoted to the law governing aviation, space exploration, and satellites. The School of Law features both a J.D.-level certificate program on remote sensing, air, and space law and an advanced LL.M. degree in air and space law. Among the team members was second-year law student Olivia Huff of Gulfport, Miss. (Source: Hotty Toddy 03/28/15)

“Lakota” timeline out to FY-19

Fort Rucker, Ala., Army aviation base spokesman Lisa Eichhorn said there is a plan to integrate Airbus Helicopters’ UH-72A “Lakota” into the helicopter training pipeline, but the timeline ranges out to FY 2019 - meaning TH-67s will remain a part of the training fleet for some time, although Bell Helicopter no longer makes TH-67s and repairs have been an issue. (Source: Dothan Eagle 03/27/15) Central Mississippi Note: AHI Columbus, Miss., produces the UH-72As.

CAFB trainers challenge ‘Warthogs’

Fighter pilots from an A-10 “Warthog” close-air support squadron at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., were in Central Mississippi three days this week conducting air-to air training exercises with Columbus (Miss.) AFB’s 49th Fighter Training Squadron instructor pilots. The 75th Fighter Squadron is one of two combat-ready A-10 Thunderbolt II squadrons based at Moody. The 49th FTS, in addition to training student-aviators, is responsible for keeping the base's rated fighter pilots qualified and ready for combat. All of the 49th FTS’s instructors are seasoned fighter pilots and required to recertify in air combat maneuvering and training. “Our secondary mission is to provide a realistic training platform with the Combat Air Force," said Lt. Col. Daniel Radulski, 49th FTS assistant director of operations. (Columbus AFB 03/27/15)

Navy considering Army helos

The Navy is studying whether to take an Army training helicopter – in the midst of being retired in favor of the UH-72A “Lakota” - to modernize its own helicopter pilot training program. In Senate Armed Services seapower subcommittee testimony March 25, with the Navy’s director for air warfare, Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker asked about Navy plans to augment its TH-57 ‘Sea Ranger’ training fleet with the Army TH-67 Creek helicopters. The two helos are based on the same Bell Jet Ranger airfame, but the TH-57 has more modern instrumentation. The Navy uses the TH-57B for visual flight rules training; and TH-57Cs for instrument rules flight training. The Navy is two-thirds way through an analysis of its rotary-wing aviator training program, Rear Adm. Michael C. Manazir told Wicker. In the interim, the admiral wants the Army to provide some TH-67s trainers and have them converted into TH-57s. (Seapower magazine 03/25/15) Central Mississippi Note: Airbus Helicopters Inc.'s Columbus, Miss., plant produces UH-72A "Lakota" helicopters for the Army. There are plans to deliver 25 this year. Navy helicopter training is conducted at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Fla. Army helicopter training is located at Fort Rucker, Ala.

AHI delivers Lakota direct to Army

Airbus Helicopters Inc. rolled the first UH-72A Lakota off the assembly line at Columbus, Miss., that would be delivered directly to the Army’s primary helicopter training center at Fort Rucker, Ala. The Army is planning to replace more than 180 TH-67 Creek primary trainers. The first newly-assembled UH-72 joins seven others already delivered to Fort Rucker, says John Burke, Airbus’ president of the UH-72 program, although the Army base currently only uses a handful of “Lakotas” for medical evacuation and emergency transport. The decision to replace the TH-67 with the UH-72 will fill a backlog for the Columbus plant for several more years, with 25 aircraft expected to be delivered in 2015, Burke says. In addition to the original army order, the US Navy and the Thai Royal Air Force have placed follow-on orders for the medium-twin UH-72. (Source: Flight Global 03/25/14)

Starkville econ park dropped

The Golden Triangle Development LINK is no longer considering a 326-acre Innovative District site in Starkville, Miss., for an industrial park because it may have been home to Native Americans more than 500 years ago. The proposed $10 million industrial park site also would cost an additional $2 million and 18 months of work before it could be made shovel-ready for investments. No physical evidence of Native American artifacts has yet to be found, but evidence suggests the possibility, says LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins. The Innovation District was LINK's attempt at making Oktibbeha County a viable economic development contender. LINK officials spent March 24 informing officials involved of the increasing cost estimates. "The environmental risks … have rendered continued efforts to develop it imprudent,” said Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman, but that the city would work with LINK to start over and find a solution. "It was a damn good site, though," Higgins said. (Source: Columbus Dispatch 03/24/15) Central Mississippi Note: A 2014 report by the Florida-based economic research firm POLICOM Corp. advised LINK to invest in an advanced manufacturing park independent of Mississippi State University's control. Separating from MSU would have allowed the county’s development group to control the land and the negate the need for State College Board approval for development deals. ... In a sidebar about the state College Board: Legislative proposals to break up the board amid anger over the group's ousting of Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones hit the Mississippi Senate and House floors March 25, but needs two-thirds vote to pass. Both proposals would require each state university to have its own board of trustees; and turn the College Board into a "board of governors" still responsible for statewide oversight but no longer in control of individual university decisions.

GEA Batesville: Clean as you go

The aerospace industry is extending vacuum capturing of dangerous dust (FOD) as a best practice to optimize operations. Aerospace manufacturers and MROs are increasingly adopting the clean as you go process - from composites to hexavalent chromium to cadmium, vacuum capture of FOD and particulates at the source is enhancing aircraft safety, quality, and production. GE Aviation’s Batesville, Miss., composites plant sought to proactively identify and reduce dust vital to quality manufacturing. GEA produces two composite parts for GE’s GEnx jet engine: Front fan platforms and the fan case assembly. GEnx is the first with composite fan blades, fan platforms, and fan case assemblies. After curing the material, there’s need to blend, smooth, and remove excess material using hand tools. “Our rule is to capture dust at the point it’s created,” said Curtis. The plant brings smaller composite parts inside a dust containment booth to finish them. But that’s not practical with larger composite components and that’s when using a tool shroud is “critical” since it becomes a dust containment booth. (Source: Aerospace Manufacturing and Design 03/2015)

Predator UAV shot down over Syria

An unarmed American MQ-1 Predator surveillance drone was shot down over Syria on March 17 while flying in an area the U.S. military had not previously operated, over a region known as a power base for President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. officials said. The Defense Department lost contact with the aircraft over the northern Latakia Province along Syria’s northern Mediterranean coast - home to many Alawites, a minority Shi’ite Muslim sect to which Assad belongs. Syrian TV aired video showing a charred metal mass, including a plate bearing the name of an American aeronautics company (presumably General Atomics, but not reported in this story) and an aircraft wing. Syrian officials told Reuters the [USAF-operated] drone was shot down with a rocket. General Atomics is the prime contractor for Predator. There are multiple subcontractors: Versatron / Wescam for the electro-optical Skyball Gimbal; Northrop Grumman for the synthetic aperture radar; L3 Communication for the wideband satellite communications link; and Boeing for the intelligence workstation and mission planning system. (Washington Post, 03/19/15) Central Mississippi Note: GA operates an Electromagnetic System Group manufacturing and test facility at Shannon, Miss, that designs and fabricates linear motors, superconducting and conventional rotating motors, an advanced launch and recovery systems for aircraft carriers, including the new Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).

L-3 closing parts of Madison ops

L-3 Vertex Aerospace will close at least a portion of its operations in Madison, Miss., and shift some of those jobs to either Rockwall or Addison, Texas, facilities, according to sources who spoke to Jackson, Miss., Clarion-Ledger newspaper on condition of anonymity. No timetable for the transition was available from the company March 20. L-3 has reorganized some workers to the Madison office that report to Rockwall, according to an internal email. Job postings on the company's website for installations in Rockwall and Addison include positions that are currently in Madison, according to the email. Since August, L-3 launched a review into what it called "accounting matters" resulting from errors and misconduct across its aerospace systems business segment. The inquiry was revealed in an earnings filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the filing, L-3 said it expects to incur an aggregate pre-tax charge of $84 million against operating income and a related reduction in net sales of about $43 million. Contract cost overruns that were inappropriately deferred and overstatements of net sales were the primary cause for the adjustments, the company said. (Source: Clarion Ledger 03/30/15) Central Mississippi Note: Gov. Phil Bryant and 3rd District U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Pearl) met with L-3 executives in Madison last week. Harper’s spokesman said the visit included discussions of current and future opportunities for L-3's business in Mississippi.

ATK provides launch hardware

DULLES, Va. - Orbital ATK, a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, provided critical hardware for the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V vehicle that launched four, first-of-their-kind NASA satellites March 12 from Cape Canaveral AFB, Fla. NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale is a Solar Terrestrial Probes program comprising four identically instrumented satellites that will use Earth’s magnetosphere as a laboratory to study the microphysics of three fundamental plasma processes of space weather in near-Earth space: Magnetic reconnection, energetic particle acceleration and turbulence. These processes can interfere with GPS signals and radio communications and causing excessive radiation forcing airlines to divert flight paths. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., designed and built the MMS satellites. (Source: Orbital ATK, 03/13/15) Central Mississippi Note: ATK has produced more 4- and 5-meter diameter launch-vehicle structures than any other company (400-plus for Ariane V, Atlas V and Delta IVs). Orbital ATK’s Iuka, Miss., facility has 10 state-of-the-art fiber-placement machines and 11 autoclaves to handle both large and small launch-vehicle structures.

Tenax aero files trade secrets suit

Ridgeland, Miss.-based Tenax Aerospace Holdings LLC, a company that leases firefighting planes to the U.S. Forest Service, has accused a partner in Mississippi federal court of negligence in allowing a competitor access to trade secrets that were used to poach business. TAH sued partner 1462400 Inc. and a U.K. competitor, Falko Regional Aircraft Ltd., after 1462400 Inc. allegedly shared Tenax’s business secrets with Falko, which it initially received as part of a buyout agreement. Falko then used the information to siphon business away from Tenax. The proprietary information was the business model for Tenax’s “Superscooper”, an amphibious 1,600-gallon capacity water bomber, according to the complaint. In 2013, the Forest Service awarded the company a 5-year $57 million contract to use Superscooper in fighting forest fires. (Source: Law 360 03/05/15)

TSA Precheck for GTRA

The Golden Triangle Regional Airport at Columbus has become the first in Mississippi to launch TSA Precheck, the Transportation Security Administration’s expedited screening program allowing “select flyers” to bypass regular screenings. GTRA joins about 130 national airports to implement TSA Precheck. (Source: Clarion-Ledger 03/13/15)

AHI gains UH-72A mod pact

Airbus Defense and Space Inc. of Herndon, Va., was awarded a $23,954,200 modification contract to exercise an option to procure Program Year 2010 logistics support for UH-72A "Lakota" Helicopters. The estimated completion date is June 30, 2016.Work will be performed at Airbus Helicopter's Columbus, Miss., plant. Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity. (Source: DOD, 03/13/15)

UH-72A future of Army aviation

The U.S. Army has ordered 400 of 411 DOD-bought UH-72A Lakota helicopters which underscores the future for Army aviation rotary-wing training at Fort Rucker, Ala. More than 330 completed aircraft have been delivered by Airbus Helicopters Inc.’s Columbus, Miss. production facility. The Lakota was competitively selected in 2006 to fill a wide variety of missions for the Army and National Guard, including search and rescue, medical evacuation and border security. The Lakota is also operated in a training role by the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. The Army, as part of its Aviation Restructuring Initiative, has selected the UH-72A for its Initial Entry Rotary Wing Training program at Fort Rucker. (Source: Aviation Today 03/10/15)

Uzbekistan airmen eye CAFB

COLUMBUS AFB, Miss. - Six Uzbekistan military personnel came to Columbus AFB for a first-hand view of American air force pilot training; and because Mississippi is the National Guard partner-state for Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is currently going to an all-volunteer force and “trying to figure out” how best to model their air force, said Capt. Franklin Baker, 14th Operations Group International Military Student Officer. They came to CAFB March 3-5 to see how the U.S. Air Force trains pilots, including Radar Approach Control, aerospace physiology and the aviation squadrons. They will also visit the Air National Guard base in Jackson. (Source: Columbus AFB 03/06/15)

AHI customer symposiums

Airbus Helicopters Inc. will hold six Customer Service Symposiums throughout the remainder of 2015, including stops regionally in Houston and Nashville, in which there will be the latest aircraft safety and technical updates for AHI’s customer support personnel. The one-day symposiums begin in San Diego on May 5. The stop in Nashville is Oct. 7. The Houston symposium end’s the year’s events on Nov. 11. Topics are to include an overview of Airbus helicopters’ products and update briefings on safety and technical issues. (Source: Airbus Helicopters 03/03/15) Central Mississippi Note: AHI operates a large manufacturing and production facility in Columbus, Miss.

AHI delivers AStar to Tampa

ORLANDO - Airbus Helicopters Inc. has delivered a fourth AS350 B2 AStar helicopter, equipped for law enforcement missions, to the Hillsborough County (Fla.) Sheriff's Office in Tampa. The sheriff's aviation unit performs a wide variety of missions including law firefighting and search and rescue. The AS350 B2 was built and certified by AHI’s Columbus, Miss., facility. (Source: Airbus Helicopters 03/03/15)

Let it snow: Columbus AFB

The Columbus Air Force Base welcome sign sits covered in snow Feb. 25. The base recorded 5 inches of snow. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman Daniel Lile)

Poe to lead retiree post for CAFB

COLUMBUS AFB, Miss. - James Poe, the volunteer Retiree Activities Office director, has been selected to assist Columbus Air Force Base with maintaining a closer working relationship with its retiree community. The job is designed to provide a conduit of information to retirees back to CAFB. "We are very excited about what can be accomplished working hand-in-hand with our retirees and their families," said Col. Kurt Kayser, 14th Mission Support Group commander. Poe’s last duty station before retiring – as an air traffic control first sergeant - was CAFB. The base does a "great deal” for retirees and the overall Columbus-area community by also “pumping millions of dollars into the local economy," Poe said. (Source Columbus AFB 03/03/15)

AHI-Columbus helo certified

ORLANDO, Fla. - The first Airbus AS350 AStar helicopter completely assembled in America at the Columbus, Miss., plant has received airworthiness certification from the FAA. The AS350 B3e rolled off the Mississippi assembly line in late December. AHI met a schedule set nearly two years ago, when the firm decided to establish a U.S. final assembly line for the helicopter. “The top selling, high performance single-engine turbine helicopter is now a U.S. citizen,” said Marc Paganini, president and CEO of AHI. The Columbus plant is designed to produce 30 AStars for this year and 60-plus for 2016 and beyond. (Source: PR Web 03/03/15)

L-3 earns F-16 mod pact

L-3 Communications' Vertex Aerospace LLC of Madison, Miss., has been awarded a $8,819,740 modification for F-16 aircraft maintenance for Taiwan. Work will be performed at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., and is expected to be complete by Feb. 29, 2016. This contract involves foreign military sales. The 338th Specialized Contracting Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, is the contracting activity (FA3002-09-C-0006). (Source: DOD, 03/02/15)

MUW symposium on WWI

As part of Mississippi University for Women's World War I symposium, Dr. Tom Velek - History Department professor and subject matter expert on modern European history and world wars - speaks on "Blood and Guts but Little Glory: When Military Leadership Fails the Soldiers" at 6 p.m. March 5 in Nissan Auditorium on the MUW campus. Free to the public. (Columbus Dispatch 03/01/15)

AHI produces ‘Golden’ helo

ORLANDO – The Papillon Group will unveil for the first time a symbolic 50th anniversary Airbus Helicopter-made “Golden Helicopter” at Helicopter Association International’s HELI-EXPO 2015 here at the Orange County Convention Center March 3-6. The Papillion Group is the world's largest and longest running helicopter tour company. Papillon ordered the specially painted and equipped Airbus Helicopters’ EC130 T2. AHI’s Columbus, Miss., plant makes the helicopters and provided the paint job. The concept of a symbolic 50th anniversary helicopter was years in the making. The unique gold livery with red eagle design is a reversal of Papillon’s traditional red insignia with a gold eagle. The original livery was designed by Airbus Helicopters and PG executives in 2002. The helicopter will be officially unveiled to the public April 16 in Las Vegas during Papillon's 50th anniversary celebration. (Source: PR Web 02/26/15)