NBC News has reported that Trump, during a meeting with airline officials during the week, scolded U.S.-based Delta Air Lines for buying billions of dollars worth of planes from Europe-based Airbus. He pointed out that Qatar Airways is buying jets from Chicago-based Boeing.
The comment raised eyebrows, since Airbus has an A320 assembly line in Mobile, Ala., and is building a second assembly line for A220 passenger jets. Planes built in Mobile have been delivered to Delta and other U.S.-based airliners. But that’s not the only reason the president's comment caused some to scratch their heads. Delta also buys from Boeing, and has the largest Boeing fleet in the world.
In response to requests from the Mobile media, Airbus in a statement said "We are proud to have Airbus aircraft flying for 13 U.S. airlines, and to manufacture many of those aircraft in Mobile, Ala., where work continues on our second large aircraft assembly line. With our hundreds of U.S. suppliers accounting for 40 percent of all Airbus’ aircraft-related procurement, every customer who invests in Airbus is investing in U.S. manufacturing and supporting American jobs."
Meanwhile, Airbus is continuing its push to hire workers for the new A220 plant. Airbus recently held job fairs in North Carolina. The company is reaching out into hubs for aviation professionals and technical professionals. (Post)
That’s the problem when you think in terms of buy American. The devil is in the details. The aerospace industry - like the automotive industry - is global, and while headquarters may be in one country, the reach of that company is so much greater.
Space
After considering canceling a planned full-duration test-firing of the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage in Mississippi ahead of the heavy-lift rocket’s first flight, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said the agency will press ahead with the eight-minute test next year.
He cited safety and reliability benefits for future astronauts riding on the launcher on missions to the moon.
The first SLS test flight, carrying an unpiloted Orion crew capsule to lunar orbit, is set for blastoff in 2021 from pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission is designated Artemis 1, the first flight in NASA’s Artemis program to return astronauts to the moon as a stepping stone toward eventual expeditions to Mars.
NASA has planned the so-called “green run” test of the SLS core stage since the program’s start in 2011. For more than half a decade, workers at NASA’s Stennis Space Center (SSC) in southern Mississippi have modified and outfitted the B-2 test stand — previously used for Saturn V, space shuttle and Delta IV rocket testing — to accommodate the 212-foot-tall, 27.6-foot-wide SLS core stage.
Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks inside the SLS core stage will hold 733,000 gallons of propellant to feed four RS-25 main engines, generating more than 2 million pounds of thrust at full throttle. The RS-25 engines, supplied by Aerojet Rocketdyne, are left over powerplants from the space shuttle program.
Unlike full-stage firings of previous rockets, the green run test at Stennis will use the same core stage that will fly on the first SLS launch, and not a ground test article. Once the core stage is finished at Michoud Assembly Facility, a NASA barge will haul the rocket from New Orleans to SSC for installation on the B-2 test stand. The shipment of the core stage to Stennis is scheduled around the end of the year. (Post)
Military
Test pilots from the 413th Flight Test Squadron at Duke Field, Fla., became the first Air Force pilots to receive a Type rating on the AW-139 helicopter on July 29. Majors Zach Roycroft and Tony Arrington completed the five-week contracted course in New Jersey on the civilian counterpart to the service's new MH-139 helicopter. The aircraft is to replace the UH-1N Huey.
A Type rating is an FAA qualification for a specific aircraft. As test pilots were training, the 413th FLTS and Air Force Global Strike Command airmen were completing the maintenance technician course on the aircraft.
The MH-139 delivery marks the first, in recent history, that the Air Force will receive a rotary wing asset not previously used by another branch of the military. The service plans to buy 84 MH-139 helicopters over the next decade. The first aircraft delivery to Duke Field is scheduled for late November. (Post)
-- Two Air Force Special Operations Command airmen from Hurlburt Field, Fla., were recognized for receiving the 2017 Cheney Award on June 13. Now-Lt. Col. Matthew Mills and Master Sgt. Michael Wilson displayed extraordinary heroism while providing humanitarian relief after Hurricane Maria left a path of devastation on the island of Dominica in September 2017.
Mills served as an MC-130H Combat Talon II aircraft commander and Wilson served as the aircraft loadmaster. Both were assigned to the 15th Special Operations Squadron at the time of the actions.
The Cheney Award is an aviation award presented to an airman for an act of valor, extreme fortitude or self-sacrifice in a humanitarian interest, performed in connection with an aircraft, but not necessarily of a military nature. (Post)
Contract
South Alabama Regional Airport Authority, Andalusia, Ala., was awarded a minimum $11.5 million contract for fuel. This was a competitive acquisition with 148 responses received. This is a 44-month contract with one six-month option period. Location of performance is Alabama, with a March 31, 2023, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va.
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