Blue Angels homecoming show begins

PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Naval Air Station Pensacola. Gates open at 8 a.m. and the Navy flight demonstration team is slated to fly at 2 p.m. The air show in Pensacola, home base for the team, is the traditional last show of the season. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 11/14/08)

Former Stennis chief leaving NASA

WASHINGTON - NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Rick Gilbrech said Wednesday that he's leaving the agency for the private sector. Doug Cooke, deputy associate administrator for the directorate since its inception in January 2004, will become associate administrator effective Nov. 24. Gilbrech was director of Stennis Space Center prior to taking the associate administrator post in August 2007. (Source: NASA, 11/12/08)

Meeting set to discuss suit against AF

VALPARAISO, Fla. - City commissioners will meet with attorneys behind closed doors Friday to discuss a lawsuit against the Air Force. The executive session was scheduled after Monday's public meeting, when Commissioner Brent Smith opposed the city's strategy to obtain information about the Joint Strike Fighter mission coming to Eglin Air Force Base by 2011. City residents are concerned about the noise the F-35s will bring. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 11/12/08)

INFINITY groundbreaking set

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - A groundbreaking ceremony marking the beginning of construction of the 72,000 square-foot INFINITY Science Center is set for Nov 20. The $38 million center will be built near the Mississippi Welcome Center at Interstate 10. The center, funded by the state of Mississippi, NASA and donations, is designed to spark interest in the science activities at nearby Stennis Space Center. (Source: INFINITY Science Center, 11/12/08)

Raptor school graduates first students

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Four student pilots at Tyndall became the first graduates of the Air Force's F-22 Raptor Basic Course. These pilots are the first in the Air Force to have the F-22 as their first operational aircraft rather than transitioning to the Raptor from some other fighter. They graduated Nov. 1. (Source: Air Force News Service, 11/10/08)

Navy pilots learing to fly Global Hawk

BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Pilots of the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron are teaching a class of Navy pilots the Global Hawk system. The class of three active-duty P-3 Orion pilots and one civilian contractor is a result of the secretary of defense's call to maximize the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability in support of the war on terrorism. Global Hawks are built in part in Moss Point, Miss. (Source: Air Force News Service, 11/10/08)

F-35 noise, suit discussed at meeting

VALPARAISO, Fla. - A city commission briefing on the impact of a new fighter at Eglin Air Force Base turned into a debate over whether the city should be suing the Air Force. A colonel told the group the F-35 would be noisier, but said the Air Force is working on the issue. A commissioner brought up the suit and said he wanted it withdrawn. The mayor didn’t want to discuss it, and the city attorney advised against it. Valparaiso filed suit last month to get more information on the Joint Strike Fighter training center and the noise it will bring. (Source: WEAR-TV3, 11/10/08)

Airport security director named

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Larry Austin, a former Florida highway patrol commander, has been named federal security director for Louis Armstrong International Airport. He succeeds Kevin McCarthy, who was named as security director for the Memphis International Airport.
(Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 11/10/08)

Allegiant Air to end Gulfport service

GULFPORT, Miss. - Allegiant Air is pulling out of Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport after less than two years of direct flights from the Gulfport to Orlando, Fla. The Las Vegas-based airline will end its services in Gulfport on Jan. 6. The company president and CEO said Allegiant was unable to make the service economically viable. (Source: Sun Herald, 11/07/08)

Two Blue Angels found guilty

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Two Blue Angels team members, one a pilot, that were removed from duty for an "inappropriate relationship" were found guilty today. The case was turned over to the Navy Personnel Command. The Navy has not identified the man and woman, but one was in the Navy, the other in the Marines. Rear Adm. Mark Guadagnini, chief of Naval air training, presided over the hearing that began Thursday. The Blue Angels flight demonstration team is based at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 11/07/08)

Obama to emphasize technology

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to emphasize technological investments under national security and space exploration efforts at the expense of Defense Department big-ticket acquisitions. Obama has declared his support for technological innovation across the federal government, but in particular, his campaign says he advocates unmanned aircraft, electronic warfare capabilities and cyber security. The Gulf Coast has operations in both space exploration and UAVs. (Source: Aviation Week, 11/05/08)

Fire Scout aboard LCS

The Navy’s first littoral combat ship, USS Freedom, will be commissioned Nov. 8 at a 10 a.m. EST ceremony at Veterans Park, Milwaukee, Wis. Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter will deliver the principal address. A Northrop Grumman Fire Scout helicopter drone is on the Freedom and will remain onboard as it transits from Milwaukee to Norfolk, Va. The Fire Scout will contributed to the ship's core missions of mine counter measures, antisubmarine warfare and surface warfare, as well as surveillance, targeting and communication-relay functions. Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss. (Source: Navy, Northrop Grumman, 11/05/08)

Some eye longer shuttle program

The space shuttle could continue to fly beyond its scheduled 2010 retirement date, a move that would help keep hundreds of people working at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. But the price tag of such an extension would be $2 billion per year, according to a report released this week. And it would also impact the Constellation program. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 11/05/08)

ST Engineering 3Q report

Singapore Technologies Engineering said Tuesday that third quarter profit rose 3 percent, though earnings in the key aerospace division fell. The company owns ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering, whose 1,600 employees at Mobile's Brookley Field Industrial Complex repair and modify jetliners. It also owns VT Halter Marine, whose 1,700 employees in Mississippi's Pascagoula, Moss Point and Escatawpa build and repair ships. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 11/05/08)

Ares I-X flight hardware arrives

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The first major flight hardware of the Ares I-X rocket has arrived in Florida to begin preparation for the July 12, 2009, test flight of the agency's next-generation launch system. The Constellation program test flight will allow NASA to gather data during ascent of the integrated Orion crew exploration vehicle and the Ares I rocket. Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Mississippi's Stennis Space Center play roles in Constellation. (Source: NASA, 11/04/08)

Keesler to host first air show in 5 years

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. – Keesler Air Force Base will host its first air show in five years in April when it presents “Thunder on the Bay.” The two-day event April 4-5, 2009, will feature aerial acrobatics and static aircraft displays, though details are still being worked out. The show got its name as a result of a base-wide vote. (Source: Keesler Air Force Base, 11/03/08)

Hurlburt maintainers get DoD award

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. - Maintainers from Hurlburt Field won the Department of Defense Phoenix Award, the highest field-level maintenance award within DoD. The 1st Special Operations Maintenance group won the honor by supporting the generation of 3,200 combat sorties that flew nearly 14,000 hours over hostile territory. (Source: Air Force News Service, 11/03/08)

Northrop gets Army UAV contract

Northrop gets Army UAV contract
HERNDON, Va. - The Army awarded Northrop Grumman a $97 million contract to procure, modify and deliver 12 Hunter MQ-5B unmanned aerial vehicles and supporting ground stations, data links and spare parts. Northrop’s team include Stark Aerospace, Starkville, Miss.; L-3 Communications, Salt Lake City; Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; AAI Corp., Hunt Valley, Md..; APL GmbH, Germany; and Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd.'s TAMAM Division, Israel. Work will primarily be performed at Northrop’s Unmanned Aircraft System Center of Excellence, Sierra Vista, Ariz., and facilities at Starkville. Northrop also has a UAV center in Moss Point, Miss., which has also worked on Hunter aircraft. (Source: Globe Newswire, 11/03/08)

Workers ratify Boeing contract

SEATTLE - Striking Boeing machinists in Washington, Oregon and Kansas voted to ratify a new four-year contract. About 27,000 employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers begin returning to work with the third shift Nov. 2. The contract calls for general wage increases of 15 percent over four years, a 16 percent pension increase and lump-sum payments of at least $8,000 over the life of the agreement. (Source: PRNewswire, 11/02/08)

City to spend more on F-35 suit

VALPARAISO, Fla. - City commissioners voted Friday to more than quadruple their budget to cover the cost of noise experts and other legal expenses in the city's dispute with Eglin Air Force Base. Commissioners in executive session approve an additional $100,000 from the general fund. The city wants to find out more about the noise the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter training center will bring to Eglin. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 10/31/08)