News Articles March 24, 2010 Part One

• March 24, 2010
  
  

  Posted on Mar. 24, 2010

  Quick summary of today’s news articles (Full text of articles follows):

  • The Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission recently approved a maximum $275,000 grant for the city of Shawnee to construct a new, 4,000-square-foot terminal building at the airport. Commissioners also approved a $57,000 grant to the city of Durant for projects at Eaker Field involving completion of the second and final phase to realign the parallel taxiway system, improve the runway safety area and relocate the runway lights.
  • With the Quartz Mountain Aerospace/Luscombe (QMA/LAC) auction set for this Friday and Saturday, March 26 and 27, the word is out. Emails from Starman Auctions have hit aviation companies all over the nation and one of those prompted a call to the Altus Times.
  • Guest editorial by Sen. Jim Inhofe in which he questions the moratorium on congressional earmarks and recommends a different authorization process.
  • Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. CEO Jeff Turner and Tom Buffenbarger, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, started meeting in January to lay the framework for longer accords that protect workers while giving companies flexibility in changing markets.
  • Triumph Group Inc. said Tuesday it has agreed to buy Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. for about $984 million in cash and stock from Carlyle Group to broaden its foothold as a supplier to Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS.
  • San Antonio area leaders said they received assurances Tuesday that aerospace work by private contractors at Port San Antonio was not under threat by Tinker Air Force Base.
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) company owners, designers and enthusiasts came together Tuesday at a facility next to Fort Sill to discuss other uses for the vehicles, showed how they work, and demonstrated how the technology could save lives every day.
  • Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer Inc., will be a guest judge at the Oklahoma regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition, which is Thursday through Saturday at Cox Convention Center.

  STATE AIRPORTS

  Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission approves airport grants
  by Journal Record, Staff Report
  3/24/2010

  OKLAHOMA CITY, OK—Members of the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission have
  approved grants for capital improvement projects at Shawnee Municipal
  Airport and Eaker Field in Durant.

  The commission approved a maximum $275,000 grant for the city of Shawnee to
  construct a new, 4,000-square-foot terminal building at the airport. The
  new building will replace the existing terminal that was built in 1953 and
  which has been showing signs of deterioration.

  State aviation officials said the total cost of the new terminal building
  was originally estimated at $550,000 with the city contributing half of the
  cost. The city has since garnered an additional $415,645 from other
  sources, including a federal economic development grant bringing the total
  cost for the new terminal to $965,645. The additional money allowed the
  city to build a larger terminal building.

  The airport had been operating from the old terminal for 57 years and it
  needed to be replaced, said Brian McDougal, Shawnee city manager.

  Shawnee Municipal Airport has a 5,600-foot runway, which is long enough to
  accommodate most jet aircraft. The airport averages about 5,000 takeoffs
  and landings annually.

  Commissioners also approved a $57,000 grant to the city of Durant for
  projects at Eaker Field involving completion of the second and final phase
  to realign the parallel taxiway system, improve the runway safety area and
  relocate the runway lights. The total cost of the projects is $2.3 million,
  which will be paid for by a combination of local, state and federal funds,
  including $2.2 million from the Federal Aviation Administration.

  Commission officials said taxiway pavements at Eaker Field were built in
  1943 and have deteriorated substantially over the years.

  Several businesses regularly use Eaker Field, including Big Lots, Cardinal
  Glass, Sundowner Trailers and the Choctaw Casino.

  OK AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

  Aviation grapevine humming over possible destination of QMA’s type
  certificates
  by Paula Peterson, asst. to editor
  Altus Times
  3/23/2010

  With the Quartz Mountain Aerospace/Luscombe (QMA/LAC) auction set for this
  Friday and Saturday, March 26 and 27, the word is out. Emails from Starman
  Auctions have hit aviation companies all over the nation and one of those
  prompted a call to the Altus Times.

  A California-based group had been researching QMA/Luscombe on the Altus
  Times website. They were interested in checking out the possibility of
  purchasing the Type Certificates (TC) and the whole kit and kaboodle. When
  asked what they were planning to do with the QMA inventory, the answer was
  short and quick. “Selling it to a foreign country.” What country? “China.“

  Seems the Chinese have been making parts for the Cessna SkyCatcher.
  Evidently they’ve had so many problems with the SkyCatcher going into flat
  spins during their spin tests that some have dubbed it the FlyCatcher. Now
  the Chinese might be looking to buy a small aircraft to market on their
  own.

  When asked if they’d build the 11A tail-dragger version, which would be
  popular with bush pilots, or the Model 11E tricycle landing gear, the
  spokesman for the California group said the 11E was the plan.

  The word through the general aviation grapevine is that two other groups
  have been trying to raise funding to buy the QMA type certificates. One
  would have been based in Florida and another in Connecticut The Starman
  emails have heightened the interest in what they’re referring to as a “very
  large major auction.“

  Janice Lloyd, the trustee for QMA said the company has been for sale for 1
  1/2 years and they’ve worked hard to put this auction together. She said
  she’s “only had one offer for the company and that was for $600,000, which
  was ridiculous,” Lloyd said. “Unless someone offers $10 million I wouldn’t
  even think they’re serious.“

  The California company representative said the $600,000 was way too low,
  but he added, “Maybe there’s room to meet somewhere in the middle.“

  A list of the offerings at the auction can be found at:
  www.starmanauction.com

  upcomingauctions.5.htm.

  According to the Starman web site, an Open House and Pre-Inspection time is
  being held at the QMA facility Thursday, March 25, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

  A solution to earmarks
  POINT OF VIEW Proper process is key
  BY SEN. JIM INHOFE
  The Oklahoman
  3/24/2010

  Regarding “Defending earmarks turning into tough battle” (Our Views, March
  21): I whole-heartedly agree with your first three paragraphs. I think
  everyone recognizes that earmarks accounted for less than 2 percent of
  federal discretionary spending and that eliminating them would not save
  taxpayers a nickel. I also appreciate your comments on my five-year freeze
  of nonsecurity discretionary spending.

  While your editorial acknowledged that I am correct in my technical
  explanation of earmarks, the newspaper draws an unfortunate conclusion:
  that the “politics of this issue has moved well beyond” my explanation. As
  many Oklahomans know, I have never been one to do what is politically
  expedient. This is why, for eight years, I took on the issue of global
  warming all alone. At that time, the politics had “moved well beyond“
  questioning the science. Now I have been vindicated.

  The editorial pages of this newspaper pointed out on Aug. 15, 2007, “Not
  all earmarks are bad – $130 million was designated for the Interstate 40
  Crosstown Expressway.” On Feb. 13 of that same year, The Oklahoman said,
  “Federal dollars for the Crosstown Expressway, for example, would be an
  earmark to some but hardly wasteful to most Oklahomans.“

  Without congressionally directed appropriations, the I-40 project and many
  other vital programs would not have been possible. Without the
  congressional prerogative over the power of the purse as James Madison
  outlined in the Constitution, the city of Edmond and its taxpayers would
  have been stuck with an unwarranted $10 million bill from the U.S. Army
  Corps of Engineers. Without the constitutionally mandated congressional
  directive, residents of Tar Creek would still be living in the contaminated
  Superfund site. If Congress breaches its constitutional responsibility and
  shifts all funding priorities to the executive branch, items like the bomb
  line modernization at the McAlester Depot would not be possible. The same
  can be said for funding priorities at Tinker, Vance, Altus, Fort Sill,
  Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma.

  The solution is simple: Define earmarks as appropriations that have not
  gone through the correct congressional authorization process. Following the
  right process will go a long way in increasing scrutiny and addressing
  potential corruption.

  The House Republicans’ action of placing a one-year moratorium on
  appropriations and authorizations was a mistake. Republicans taking
  themselves out of the process leaves just Rep. Dan Boren and me. It will be
  much harder to fund Oklahoma priorities with just two out of seven members
  of the delegation, and you can bet that President Obama won’t be looking
  out for our state. Got any ideas?

  Inhofe, R-Tulsa, is Oklahoma’s senior U.S. senator.

  Spirit, union look for new kind of accord
  By SUSANNA RAY
  Bloomberg News
  3/24/2010

  Boeing Co., the target of four machinist strikes in two decades, may find
  the road to labor peace starts in Kansas, where a supplier and the union
  are working on a contract they say may set an industry blueprint.

  Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. CEO Jeff Turner and Tom Buffenbarger,
  president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace
  Workers, started meeting in January to lay the framework for longer accords
  that protect workers while giving companies flexibility in changing
  markets.

  One goal as formal negotiations began Tuesday in Wichita is to reduce
  rancor farther up the chain at former parent Boeing, Spirit’s biggest
  customer and the IAM’s largest employer. Spirit profit was hurt by the last
  Boeing strike in 2008, and the union is smarting from the planemaker’s
  decision last year to build a 787 Dreamliner plant at a non-union site in
  South Carolina.

  “Boeing’s always telling them, ‘What we need are reliable suppliers,’”
  Buffenbarger said in an interview. “This could turn the question around
  where the suppliers say to Boeing, ‘What we need is a reliable customer.’ “

  Buffenbarger says he wants to see a model agreement reached with Spirit and
  then followed by other suppliers and aerospace companies whose contracts
  are coming up for renewal, such as Textron Inc.’s Cessna. That may then
  steer Boeing into productive talks rather than waging “war on their
  workers” when the current contract expires in 2012, he said.

  Spirit was formed in 2005 when Boeing sold its commercial operations in
  Wichita, Tulsa and McAlester. The company makes parts of the fuselage and
  other sections for every Boeing airliner.

  Tulsa’s Spirit operation employs more than 1,800 people.

  Spirit received 85 percent of its revenue from the former parent in 2009
  and 11 percent from Airbus SAS, regulatory filings show.

  Tim Healy, a spokesman for Chicago-based Boeing, declined to comment.
  Boeing employs 157,000 and trails only Toulouse, France-based Airbus SAS in
  commercial-plane making and Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp. in
  defense contracting.

  “It’s premature to speculate on whether this approach could work because
  there are so many gray areas attached with production and where planes will
  even be built,” said Michel Merluzeau, an aerospace analyst with G2
  Solutions in Seattle.

  Neither union leaders nor Spirit officials would specify what their side
  will seek in talks that started Tuesday with a press conference including
  Buffenbarger, Turner and Spirit board member Richard Gephardt, the Missouri
  Democrat who is a former U.S. House majority leader. The IAM’s contract
  covering about 5,900 Spirit workers ends June 25.

  “In a market that’s so volatile, a classical set of negotiations is going
  to set us up to butt heads,” Spirit CEO Turner said in an interview.

  If the company has a pessimistic view of the business and tries to win
  concessions that turn out to have been unnecessary, it breeds distrust,
  Turner said. Yet an unforeseen slump when wages and job levels are locked
  could ruin the company, he said.

  “We’re going to embark on a whole new model of labor negotiations” instead
  of “still negotiating like it’s the 1930s,” said Ron Eldridge, who leads
  the IAM’s effort.

  Since the beginning of 2009, Spirit shares have more than doubled while
  Boeing rose 69 percent. Spirit on Tuesday gained 32 cents to close at
  $22.95, while Boeing rose 27 cents to $72.18.

  Triumph Group to buy Vought
  The deal will strengthen the company as a Boeing supplier.
  By ANDREA ROTHMAN & RACHEL LAYNE
  Bloomberg News
  3/24/2010

  Triumph Group Inc. said Tuesday it has agreed to buy Vought Aircraft
  Industries Inc. for about $984 million in cash and stock from Carlyle Group
  to broaden its foothold as a supplier to Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS.

  Shares of Wayne, Pa.-based Triumph soared more than 10 percent to close at
  $67.46 on the New York Stock Exchange.

  Vought last year shelved plans for an initial public offering after Boeing
  bought its plant in Charleston, S.C., which supplies components for the
  Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

  Triumph CEO Richard Ill said the acquisition of Vought will add to
  Triumph’s earnings immediately and more than double annual sales.

  “The strategic fit couldn’t be better,” he said. “We have complementary
  platforms and capabilities with a very similar mix.“

  The transaction is valued at about $1.44 billion, including about 7.5
  million Triumph Group shares, $525 million in cash and the retirement of
  Vought debt.

  Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle Group had owned Vought since July 2000.

  Triumph builds and overhauls aircraft components for makers of commercial,
  regional, business and military planes, including the two biggest
  commercial aircraft producers – Chicago-based Boeing and Airbus, a European
  consortium.

  Dallas-based Vought makes aircraft structures for the same markets.

  Boeing bought the Vought plant in South Carolina for $580 million and
  forgave $422 million in advance payments.

  Vought remains a supplier for Boeing, contributing parts for the 747-8,
  767, 777, and also supplies parts for Airbus’s A330 and A340 models, and
  Gulfstream’s G450 and G550 corporate jets.

  Triumph’s acquisition of Vought will result in a publicly traded company
  with “the scale and resources to confidently address the opportunities and
  challenges of today’s aerospace market,” Vought CEO Elmer Doty said.

  Triumph has made about 30 acquisitions dating to 1998. Until Tuesday, the
  largest one for which details were disclosed was a $45 million purchase of
  plant operations in Spokane, Wash., in 2002.

  Components for the Boeing 787 are being produced in Tulsa by Wichita-based
  Spirit AeroSystems Inc. and NORDAM Group, a Tulsa-based manufacturer and
  aircraft maintenance company.

  Pentagon: Aerospace jobs to stay
  By Gary Martin
  San Antonio Express-News
  6/23/2010

  WASHINGTON – San Antonio area leaders said they received assurances Tuesday
  that aerospace work by private contractors at Port San Antonio was not
  under threat by an Oklahoma facility.

  City and business leaders also were told that the construction of a
  National Security Agency data center is ahead of schedule and under budget,
  giving hope that its future expansion in the Alamo City would be seen
  favorably.

  Richard Perez, the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce president, said
  he was optimistic even as NSA officials remained guarded about any future
  expansion plans.

  “If there is anywhere they are going to expand, it is San Antonio, because
  it is going so well,” he said.

  The San Antonio chamber and its sister organization, the San Antonio
  Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, were in Washington for their 32nd annual trip
  to lobby for federal funds for pet projects.

  More than 145 people – a record number – participated in this year’s
  pilgrimage.

  Mayor Julián Castro and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff accompanied
  business leaders on a four-day swing through the corridors of the Capitol,
  Pentagon and federal agencies.

  San Antonio City Manager Sheryl Sculley and Tommy Adkisson, a Bexar County
  commissioner, also helped spearhead lobbying efforts for a variety of
  aerospace, biomedical, education and military programs.

  Port San Antonio officials have voiced concern that it could lose some of
  its $4 billion-a-year aerospace industry activity if the government moves
  more work from private contractors to public maintenance depots like those
  at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma.

  Tinker received federal funds last year to build an engine facility that
  could compete with private contractors in San Antonio.

  But Pentagon officials assured San Antonio officials that the new facility
  in Oklahoma won’t threaten private workloads in the Alamo City, said Wayne
  Alexander, Port San Antonio chairman.

  “My paranoia level has dropped – a little,” Alexander said.

  Meanwhile, San Antonio leaders pressed the Air Force to make its cyber
  command headquarters fully operational as fast as possible and argued for
  an expansion on top of that: a $37 million cyberconsortium that would link
  military, education and private businesses, including classes on
  cybersecurity at St. Mary’s University and the University of Texas at San
  Antonio.

  “We fought hard to get the cyber command in San Antonio. There has been a
  ripple effect. It’s going to continue to grow,” said Bill Mock, executive
  vice president for the Greater San Antonio Chamber.

  City leaders also spoke with officials about the new ambulatory hospital
  being built at Lackland AFB. President Barack Obama included $289 million
  for its construction in his proposed budget for fiscal year 2011, which
  begins Oct. 1.

  Participants in the lobbying trip also heard about ongoing efforts to
  present American culture and character at the upcoming Shanghai World Expo
  2010 by Jose Villarreal, a San Antonio lawyer tapped by Secretary of State
  Hillary Clinton to raise funds for the U.S. Pavilion.

  The pavilion will include a display by San Antonio, “an unmatched
  opportunity to get on the map in China,” said Villarreal, the U.S.
  commissioner general for the expo. “The opportunity for San Antonio is
  immense.“

  About a dozen San Antonio participants lobbied lawmakers on education
  issues, including reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, which includes
  changes to strengthen accountability.

  UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS

  Unmanned Aerial Vehicles demonstrated near Fort Sill
  By Garret Krier, News Reporter
  KSWO-TV (Lawton)
  3/23/2010

  LAWTON, Okla. – Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) company owners, designers and
  enthusiasts came together Tuesday at a facility next to Fort Sill to
  discuss other uses for the vehicles, showed how they work, and demonstrated
  how the technology could save lives every day.

  UAV experts say they are not the same thing as a military drone. With a
  drone, there are no humans in the loop at all. On UAV’s there is always
  some sort of human involved. They also explained how the UAV could save
  lives on manned aircraft.

  James Grimsley, who helped organize Tuesday’s event, says the uses are
  limitless, border patrol law enforcement, even agriculture.

  “Cow surveying can be expensive if you’re hiring a pilot. Another thing if
  you have a large ranch, locating and tracking cattle can be time
  consuming,” said Grimsley.

  Grimsley says, as time goes on, even more uses will be found as the
  vehicles get smaller. And not just with traditional aircraft. Sensors
  could be put in something as tiny as a bug.

  “For 100 years, we were looking at planes as big as a Cessna and bigger;
  the Wright brothers had something smaller than a Cessna and then the hobby
  industry emerged,” said Grimsley.

  Grimsley says that all of the UAV technology started off as a hobby for
  many people, but is now serious business. He says there are at least six
  companies in Oklahoma making the vehicles. Also, UAV technology price
  could range anywhere from millions of dollars to as little as a couple
  hundred bucks, depending on what kind of aircraft you use.

  STEM EDUCATION

  Co-founder of Apple is judging competition
  BY CHRIS SCHUTZ, Staff Reporter
  The Oklahoman
  3/24/2010

  Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer Inc., will be a guest judge at
  the Oklahoma regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and
  Technology) Robotics Competition, which is Thursday through Saturday at Cox
  Convention Center.

  The competition has drawn 46 teams from Oklahoma, as well as nine teams
  from other states. About 1,200 participants, including students, teachers,
  mentors and volunteers, are expected to attend. The competition provides
  high school students a chance to get experience planning and building
  robots, without instruction. Admission is free and open to everyone to
  attend.

  In January, teams received a kit with motors, batteries, control system,
  personal computer and a selection of automation components, but no
  instructions. The teams’ assignment was to create a robot that can kick a
  soccer-style ball into a goal.

  The contest is the state’s largest effort to promote science, technology,
  engineering and mathematics education, organizers said.

  SCHEDULE
  FIRST Robotics Competition

  Thursday

  • 8:30 a.m. – Registration and inspection
  • 10 a.m. – Practice rounds

  Friday

  • 8:45 a.m. – Opening ceremonies; competition begins
  • 5:45 p.m. – Awards ceremony

  Saturday

  • 8:45 a.m. – Opening ceremonies; competition begins
  • 12:30 p.m. – Alliance selection (winning teams select nonwinning team to join them in final competition)
  • 1:45 p.m. – Final rounds
  • 5 p.m. – Awards ceremony