Alice Lloyd George Contributor

Alice Lloyd George is an investor at RRE Ventures and the host of Flux, a series of podcast conversations with leaders in frontier technology.

There are few industries whose evolution includes dramatic steps backwards, but thats exactly what happened in commercial aviation and its experiments in supersonic flight.

For 27 years, supersonic travel was a reality, creating a bridge between Europe and the U.S. that led to a bright future for commercial flight. And then, suddenly, that future disappeared. Blake Scholl is determined to bring that future back.

In an interview for FluxI chatted with Blake, the founder and CEO of Denver-based Boom, a supersonic jet company. We got into how the Concorde business model was flawed,why it takes an outsider to re-ignite innovation in the industry and howsimulation software has greatly reduced the time and cost of plane design.

An excerpt of our conversation is published below.

AMLG: Todays guest is Blake Scholl, founder of Booma supersonic civilian aircraft company based in Denver, Colorado. RRE is an investor and were a huge fan of Blake. He is a certified pilot and a repeat entrepreneur who previously founded the payments company Kima Labs, which was acquired by Groupon. He also built Amazons marketing automation stack. Welcome Blake. Lets jump inwhat is Boom exactly and where did the idea come from?

BS: The first 50 years of aviation from the Wright brothers forwardwe had incredible progress and safety and comfort and economics and speed. Then this weird thing happened in the 1960s and 70s where we stopped making progress in speed. The American Airlines special from New York to San Francisco back then was actually scheduled for an hour less than it is today. What technology have we had the capability and then actually gone backwards? We had Concordea Mach 2 passenger airplaneflew it for 30 years and never took it mainstream. Now its in museums.

A visualization of the Boomplane

What were doing at Boom is trying to fix that problem, to bring back faster air travel but in a more mainstream, more affordable way than Concorde. Were going to chip away at that problem until we have the fastest airplane thats also the cheapest one to fly.

AMLG: We came up with road networks and steam engines, and humans got faster and faster and faster and then we had the Concorde and then we didnt have it. It feels like we stopped with cars and jets. How does progress just halt like that, especially in an area like transport thats so fundamental to the economy?

BS: You have to look at where innovation comes from. Everybody knows the first airplane came from bicycle entrepreneurs. Whats less well known is that the first practical airliner, the DC-3, and the first jetliner the de Havilland Cometboth came from founder-led companies. We havent had any founder-led companies in commercial aircraft since the last one was founded in 1921. The last founder retired from the industry in 1958. Since then weve had big companies basically optimizing the same concept.

What really happened that blocked supersonics? Well you have to look at where Concorde came from. Concorde was not an entrepreneurial project. It was a joint venture between two governments, the French and the British. Of course most joint ventures between the French and British have been wars.

AMLG: Yes weve had our fair share of wars. As a Brit I can say that warring with the french is one of our favorite things to do.

BS: Right. So its remarkable Concorde ever flew. It wasnt about, lets usher in the supersonic age. It was about, lets beat the Russians. It was a Cold War era glory project disconnected from economics. It was a glorious technical achievement but wasnt aimed at being practical.

So the Europeans had Concorde, the Russians had this thing people call Concordski. And on this side of the pond there was what was supposed to be a Concorde killer that the U.S. government was championing. The Americans had to have a Mach 3 three hundred seat airplane. By the way that thing was going to be an economic catastrophe. In 1970 Congress pulled the subsidies that were going to Boeing to build that airplane. We got this unholy alliance between aerospace protectionist interests and ostensibly environmental concerns and we banned supersonic travel in the US. Literally banned it. We put in place a speed limit.

AMLG: Wait why did they pull the subsidies? Due to cost?

BS: Theres a lot of ambiguity in the U.S. about whether the government should have been paying 75% of the development cost of a private airplane. That was the biggest reason that Congress pulled it. Besides it was over budget, behind schedule, all the normal things. But it was after that that we banned supersonic travel, when Concorde looked like a threat. That messed up what would have been the normal development path, the normal go-to-market path for supersonic airplanes.

Think about everything from cell phones to computers to electric cars. The way they come to market is they start at a relatively high price point that a small number of people can afford. Then as the technology gets figured out and you get economies of scale and the cost comes down, eventually every kid has a cell phone. But you have to start somewhere. The natural place for supersonic aircraft to have started would be the supersonic private jet. A small number of people whose time is super valuable who can afford something expensive. Those people fly mostly over land. If you cant fly supersonic over land, well that destroyed the market. It destroyed what would have been the normal evolution of supersonic. Had that not happened I think wed both be flying on supersonic jumbos today.

AMLG: But youre not starting with the high-end private jet. Youre starting with commercial and want to make this accessible to everyone?

BS: Thats right. Basically because of the supersonic over land ban, you have to skip a step in your market development. Until thats reversed I dont think theres a market for the supersonic private jet. But you can start with the thing thats the next level of development, which is a small supersonic aircraft for commercial airliner use. The reason after 50 years why this is finally possible is enough development has happened in aerospace, around aerodynamics and materials and engines. You can pick up those pieces of technology and use them to create a small supersonic aircraft and skip the private jet part. In airlines you focus on routes that are mostly over water like New York to London, San Francisco to Tokyo, Seattle to Shanghai.

AMLG: So the plan is 45 people per plane, one on each side of the aislewhich sounds appealing, none of that battle for the arm restand youre aiming for much lower fuel consumption per passenger right, something like 30% greater efficiency than the Concorde? How do the economics and profitability compare?

A British Aircraft Corporation sales chart, Jan. 18, 1967, showing 69 Concordes onorder.

BS: Concorde was extremely expensive to operate for two reasons. Oneit was a gas guzzler. Twoit had no economies of scale. The reason it had no economies of scale was that ticket prices were really high. You had to charge $20,000 per round-trip ticket to make any money and you had to put 100 seats on the airplane. You cant fill 100 seats at $20,000 a pop. It doesnt work.

If you want to make this work what you have to do is improve the fuel economy so you get the ticket prices down. Taking those one at a time. On the fuel economy piece if you run the numbersand all the data for this is on Wikipediaif you beat Concorde by 30% on gas mileage youre at parity with subsonic business class. Youre not yet at parity with economy, and we need to get there eventually, but you can do it for business class.

So with this Mach 2.2, 45 seat airplane with business class pricing then the story for airlines is hey, if you can fly a Boeing or Airbus on a route and fill the seats and make money, you can fly the Boom jet on the same route and fill the seats and make money. Except you can be differentiated because the flights get there in half the time.

AMLG: It sounds like this is going to take a lot of money. Ive seen you say that we can build the entire company and get to breakeven for less money than Uber raises in a round, which is funny for a lot of reasonshow much will this really cost?

BS: Its definitely a capital intensive business. Were working both on demonstrating the technology as well as demonstrating the market demand and that we have product/market fit with what airlines want.

Were about a year away from flying our first airplane the XB-1 supersonic demonstrator which is a smaller version of the same thing that shows all the tech works. It will probably require the better part of a billion to get the first passenger flights happening. But at the same time, the market here is a thousand plus airplanes and they are $200 million dollars each. So its a pretty good prize and a pretty big ROI even though the capital requirements are large.

AMLG: So $200 million per plane is pretty good, and youve got flagship deals with Branson at Virgin Atlantic, whove said theyd like to buy at least 10 jets, as well as a bunch of other carriers with LOIs. Obviously they want your jets, so why havent they done it themselves? Boeing for instance had proposals for supersonic, why didnt they build it?

BS: Put yourself in the shoes of the Boeing CEO for a moment. Boeing does one new clean sheet commercial aircraft about every 15 years. So they have to be choosy about what they take on. They have to go after the biggest market opportunity they see. Boeing is widely known to be working on a 797, which is a replacement for the 757, and they think the market size is 4,000 to 5,000 airplanes.

Its a straightforward replacement of an existing product, for an existing market. Imagine the CEO of Boeing saying you know lets not do the 797 lets do this supersonic thing, well sell a thousand of them, itll be great. The boards probably going to replace you. This is one of these things that looks great from the perspective of a startup. Moreover, if the small supersonic aircraft pulls passengers off the Dreamliners then theyre going to sell less Dreamliners or have to reduce the price of the Dreamliner which doesnt sound good. Why would you cannibalize your own business.

AMLG: So its a classic innovation dilemma for the legacy corporations. As you say maybe this is why it has to be a founder-driven thing. I want to go back to how you got into this. Youre a repeat internet entrepreneur. How did you get into airplanes, where did this interest come from?

BS: Ive loved airplanes since I was a kid and Ive been flying for fun since I was in college. I was living in a world where all other parts of technology are getting better and better, but air travels horrible and getting worse. It made no sense. I had this on my bucket list for the better part of a decade, that maybe some day Id work on it. I created a Google Alert for supersonic jet in 2007. I wanted to be the first to know when someone cracked the nut. It was like crickets. Maybe a business jet I couldnt afford to fly? Crickets. Sci-fi concepts that are never going to work? Crickets.

AMLG: With this one in particular it feels like thered been some stigma, that it had been left on the drawing board. I do have to ask though, I mean clearly youre passionate about aerospace, but usually the founder picks a market where they have a ton of expertise or experienceyou didnt have the engineering background to build planes from scratch. How did you feel qualified to start such an ambitious, technical company?

BS: You can learn a lot when youre motivated. Most people underestimate their ability to go acquire new knowledge. In the first year of working on this it was basically education and recruiting. I read textbooks. I took an airplane design class. I spent a lot of time talking to the best people I could find in the industry and asking them questions and getting them to teach me things and to tell me when I was wrong about stuff. This doesnt make me an aerospace engineer and Im not going to design the airplane personally, but I know enough to be dangerous and I know enough to judge talent. I think thats really important.

AMLG: So in that year you studied enough and talked to enough experts to get over a threshold and come to the conclusion that yes, this is a viable problem, this can be solved?

BS: Thats right. There was a pivotal moment where Id built basically a spreadsheet model of the airplane. Airplane performance really comes down to four key variables: aerodynamic efficiency, structural efficiency, propulsive efficiency and speed of the airplane. If you have estimates of those things you can relatively straightforwardly predict what the fuel economy is going to be. I had some assumptions there and wasnt sure how valid they were.

I built the model, took it to a professor at Stanford and said, hey can you look at this and check my math and tell me whether this is reasonable? This guy had done a bunch of research on supersonic airplanes and his feedback was, if youre going to do this you should really try harder because these seem conservative. At that point I figured either I had no courage or had to find a way to start the company and make it happen.

AMLG: So that was the moment where you realized OK Im doing this. Youve said that all the information you needed was on Wikipedia. It reminds me of Elon, of what he did with rockets. He ordered a bunch of manuals off the Internet, read everything, then started to build SpaceX. It turns out you can do that.

BS: It turns out you can do that.

AMLG: Has SpaceX been an inspiration for you, has it paved the way for investors to be more open-minded to this?

BS: I do not think this company would exist if it werent for SpaceX, for multiple reasons. One is just personal inspiration. That Elon was able to go off and do something that a lot of people thought was technically impossible, and practically impossible to do as a startup. Hes gone off to accomplish things nobody else can do with less money and greater impact. Thats so cool. Its an existence proof thats personally inspiring. Also for investors, its like OK things of this scale arent impossible.

AMLG: I want to get back into the technology for a second. You mentioned there have been advances in materials science, engines, aerodynamics. Whats changed that makes this more feasible than before? I know that you can for instance, run design tests in simulations at a far cheaper cost?

BS: If you take Boeings latest airplane and put it next to their airplane from the 1960s, they look pretty darn similar and their capabilities are pretty darn similar. But theyve actually completely swapped out the technology stack. Weve got carbon fiber composites, better aerodynamics and dramatically improved engines. Those are the big three things that make this technically possible todayaerodynamics, materials and propulsion.

From the aerodynamics perspective you used to have to go to wind tunnels to design airplanes. That sucks because every wind tunnel iteration takes six months and costs millions. Youve got to have an enormous budget and a huge team and a lot of time and you cant test many ideas. Today you can do the equivalent of six months of wind tunnel testing in half an hour with a simulation running in the cloud. Its almost like cheating, you can come up with better aerodynamic design, you can test a lot more ideas. If you look at our airplane carefully youll notice theres not a straight line anywhere on it. It looks a bit like Concorde if you squint but the fuselage is differently shaped, the wings are differently shaped.

AMLG: Longer and thinner?

BS: Yes a bit longer and thinner. The key thing is the shaping. Its not just a tube with wings coming out. That makes a huge difference. Its not that Concordes designers were stupid, they just couldnt do as many iterations as we can.

AMLG: With the aerodynamicsobviously the Concorde used afterburners to get up to speed, to get to Mach 2. Youre not going to be doing that. Thats the really inefficient part?

BS: That was the only way you could get to sufficient thrust with 1950s technology. Today we have something called turbofan engines which are quieter and more efficient and can generate enough thrust to get you going fast. When the Concorde flipped on the afterburners their fuel consumption went up 78% and they got just 17% more thrust. Thats a bad way to get extra thrust. Its 2017 we dont need afterburners to go fast anymore.

AMLG: So the turbofan helps solve some of that?

BS: Yes the turbofan gets you enough thrust for high speed while also being significantly quieter. Concorde was a pretty loud airplane, those afterburners were ripping.

AMLG: Thats kind of the elephant in the room. Ive got to ask, why did you name the company Boom? Isnt it a bit of a jinx, arent you fighting that whole conception of a noisy plane?

BS: Sonic booms are way overblown. And were owning it. Thats part of why we named it Boom. Its like boom and youre there. Its fun to say. I love the name.

To talk more about the noise issue. There are two potential noise issues with supersonic airplanes. One is around the airport. The Concorde flying on an afterburner, that was just loud around airport communities. Turbofans basically solve that problem. This is going to be no louder than other airplanes that are flying today. The second piece is the sonic boom. A sonic boom is a noise that you hear any time a supersonic aircraft flies over. Its not just one time, it happens on fly over.

AMLG: Youve said yours is going to be 100 times quieter than the Concorde, thats significant. What will that sound like?

A supersonic boom is the sound created by an object traveling through the air faster than the sound waves itcreates.

BS: It will be more like a thump than a boom. Theres a story in the news a couple of weeks ago about how the military had scrambled some F-16s that had gone supersonic at a few thousand feet, and man that rattled windows and there was a loud crack. At that altitude at that speed with that airplane design it sure is loud. But when youre up at 60,000 feet with an airplane thats designed to attenuate the boom it can be a lot more benign. Youre in New York City. Theres all kinds of stuff thats noise in your backgroundambulances going by, fire trucks, trains and construction noise. The sonic thump is quieter than many of those things.

AMLG: But the same restrictions are in place. Do you think this is enough to get the rules changed? I know youve got lobbyists, youve got a head of policy, youre spending a bunch of time in D.C. and trying to get productive conversations going. How do you get movement in Washington?

BS: There are two ways it could go. One is, we manage to persuade people quickly that these rules should be fixed. I would call that our Plan A. If that happens youre going to suddenly see a lot more investment in this space, because if you can fly supersonic over land the market size quadruples.

But sometimes rule changes happen slowly. There have been efforts to change this for 20 years that havent gone anywhere. So plan B is, we bring our product to market we fly supersonic over water, we fly subsonic over land. Then youre living in a world where San Francisco to Tokyo is faster than San Francisco to D.C. A lot of people will be scratching their heads and asking, what? Why do I have to spend four more hours on the back of this crappy airplane? Let me listen to that sonic boom thing. Wait a minute that? Thats the reason I have to suffer? Lets fix that.

AMLG: Did you ever go on the Concorde?

BS: Only in museums. It shut down when I was in my early 20s and I didnt have twenty grand to drop on a joyride.

The Concorde in production

AMLG: I never made it either. Although my dad did. In his twenties he was fired from his job, he used his last paycheck to go on the Concorde, where he actually met his future investor who invested in his firm. A fortuitous tale before the Concorde shut down.

BS: Thats awesome. One of our board members Sam Altman whos president of Y Combinator was telling me that he got to go on Concorde when he was seven and it was a formative experience for him. I wish Id had that. Were going to make it possible for our kids.

AMLG: Youre going to change everything. Only 5 percent of the worlds population has ever been on an airplane. Did you know that? Seems very low.

BS: Its very low. Weve got to fix that too. Thats where the future of supersonic gets interesting. Today with the first airplane were building were going to make this accessible for basically business class prices. So if you can afford to buy a business class international today, then you can afford to get there in half the time.

Thats just the starting point. Theres an interesting flywheel that happens. As we were saying about Hawaii, the faster the flights the more people go more often. When more people are going more often, the ideal size of the airplane increases. So instead of being 55 seats maybe its 100 or 150.

When you build a bigger airplane you can make it way more fuel-efficient which means that ticket prices can come down and more people can afford to fly more often which means the airplane can get bigger which means it can be more efficient. That virtuous cycle starts spinning. And as you grow the market you can afford to invest more in your technology. Theres a whole roadmap for supersonic efficiency which basically no one is working on today. But when the market exists, we start to get investment.

Theres also a tipping point at which the fastest flight actually becomes the cheapest one. Because the faster you go, the more flights you can do with the same airplane, with the same crew. I call it the speed dividendwhen things are faster, you get savings. Thats going to push us to a point where faster airplanes actually have an economic advantage over slow ones.

AMLG: But youre not planning to do the full stack and run a Boom airlines?

BS: No. One hard problem at the time. What were doing is pretty darn ambitious. Lets do an airline and lets build an airplane company and a supersonic airplane company on top of that? Its too much for a startup.

The menu on British Airways first commercial flight included 1969 Dom Perignon, caviar and lobster canaps, grilled fillet steak, palm heart salad with Roquefort dressing and fresh strawberries with double cream. Customers were also offered Havana cigars.[Source]

AMLG: Its also a very different concept, bringing speed to the masses. On the British Airways Concorde flight they served Dom Perignon, caviar and lobsterthats my conception of the Concorde. This is different, this is really making it accessible.

BS: This is not about luxury or prestige. Its about something everyone should have.

AMLG: OK segueto a totally unrelated question. I love movies so I have to askfavorite airplane movie? Air Force One, Top Gun, Snakes on a Plane?

BS: You have to love Top Gun. Im reminded of a line from it: You wont be happy unless youre going Mach 2 with your hair on fire. I find that inspiring.

View post:

Launching an aerospace startup at Mach 2 with your hair on fire ... - TechCrunch

Cedar CitySyberJet Aircraft is pleased to announce the first class of graduates from the Utah Aerospace Pathways program. A total of twelve students from the Iron County School District participated in the program and were present for the official graduation today in Cedar City.

MSC Aerospace and SyberJet Aircraft are proud to be a part of this program that will help to fill high paying, innovative aerospace jobs in the southern Utah area for years to come. A partnership with the state of Utah and industry, the Utah Aerospace Pathways program was initiated in April 2016 and prepares graduating high school students with the skills and knowledge for a rewarding, long-term career in aerospace manufacturing. This pilot project was created and endorsed by industry, government and education leaders for high school students in various school districts throughout Utah.

Students who graduate from the program with a certificate in aerospace manufacturing will have demonstrated knowledge and proficiency in basic manufacturing and will have completed specific classroom studies including Precision Sheet Metal Assembly, Manufacturing Principles, Tool Usage/Safety, Environmental Health, Precision Measuring Instruments, Organizational Awareness, Applied Math, and Aerospace Blueprint Reading.

During the graduation ceremony Chuck Taylor, President of SyberJet Aircraft explained why MSC is uniquely suited to be are partner in the Utah Aerospace Pathway program.

MSC provides a unique experience based learning opportunity for the students, he said. The students work hand in hand with experienced industry professionals and are exposed to all facets of aircraft manufacturing. They work with aircraft designers, fabricators, assemblers, quality inspectors, aircraft mechanics, and flight test personnel. They can even help roll a finished aircraft out of hangar. They are exposed to it all.

Whitney Clayton, CEO of MSC Aerospace added, We are fortunate to be doing business in states with the focus and initiative to invest in educational programs that benefit both individuals and also local industries. MSC is committed to our local communities for the long term and looks forward to welcoming these graduates to our team.

This program is a great example of industry, education and government working together to create a program that builds the talent pipeline for Utahs growing Aerospace Industry. These graduates are better prepared to enter the aerospace manufacturing job market and/or use this experience to enhance their post-secondary education goals, said State Workforce Development Board Chair and MSC Aerospace Human Resources Director Megen Ralphs.

Originally posted here:

SyberJet Aircraft Announces First Class of Utah Aerospace Pathways Graduates in Cedar City - Utah Business

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu would soon come out with a aerospace and defence policy aimed at benefitting companies planning to invest in these two sectors, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said on Saturday.

"I am happy to inform that the state Government, along with Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation, is engaged in setting up an aerospace park on 267 acre land in Sriperumbudur", he said.

"As a next step, a new aerospace and defence sector policy will be released soon" he said at the third edition of Southern Regional Council Meeting, organised by industry body CII.

Referring to 98 MoUs that attracted Rs 2.42 lakh crore investments in the maiden Global Investor Meet held in 2015 by the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, he said 61 projects worth Rs 62,738 crore are in various stage of implementation.

"Through this initiative, 76,777 new jobs have been created", he said.

Palaniswami said the second edition of the event would be conducted in 2018 following the success of GIM 2015.

On the status of Foreign Direct Investments in the state, Palaniswami said Tamil Nadu attracted Rs 1.25 lakh crore of FDI between May 2011 and December 2016.

As per information provided by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the assured total number of investments in the State between 2011-17 was Rs 3,07,457 lakh crore, he said.

Read more from the original source:

Tamil Nadu will draft aerospace and defence policy: Chief Minister - Times of India

This research report was produced by Colorado Wealth Management Fund, Founder of The Mortgage REIT Forum, with assistance from Big Dog Investments.

Which sector has dominated?

The PowerShares Aerospace & Defense Portfolio ETF (NYSEARCA:PPA) is invested in the industrial sector which has been dominating for a while now. The returns have come with a lot of volatility, which along with current market valuations is why I would not want to be starting a position in this fund. That's not to say it isn't good and hasn't performed well - it's just valued too high. The underlying index for PPA is the SPADE Defense Index.

I'll be focusing on analyzing the ETF. The market is priced too high right now and so is this fund. This is probably one of the best times to take a look at funds and decide which ones should go on a watch list for when the market takes a dive.

Expenses

The expense ratio right now is at .64%. Compared to the equity ETFs I have been covering, this is on the expensive side. I wouldn't be comfortable paying an expense ratio this high, but every investor has a different tolerance level. What I would be willing to do is take the holdings of this company and simulate its results.

Yield

The current yield is .90%, which may not be high enough for a lot of investors going for a dividend yield. The growth of this fund has more than made up for a small yield if an investor had a long-term investment approach.

Risk profile

Let's take a look at how volatile this fund has been.

Since the inception of the fund on October 26, 2005, there has been total returns of 239.8% compared to SPY's returns of 152.9%. These returns are fantastic, but look at the volatility:

PPA:

SPY:

Yes, the great returns have been there, but the fund has shown more volatility and a larger drawdown than SPY since it started. This is the kind of volatility it sometimes takes to beat SPY. I prefer to allocate my funds more defensively. Consumer staples has been my go-to choice when it comes to looking at ETFs, but there's been other sectors like industrial which has done very well.

Even over the last couple of years PPA has done amazing.

PPA:

SPY:

Sector

Here are the sector holdings from the Morningstar website:

There is only a tiny bit of diversification, and the rest of the fund is in industrials. This sector has done quite well over the last decade, but that doesn't mean it will continue to do so. I worry about investing in any sector when all the money is flooding there.

Holdings

Here's a chart of the top 30 holdings:

Ticker

Name

Allocation

Div Yield

(NYSE:GD)

General Dynamics Corp.

7.02%

1.66%

(NYSE:UTX)

United Technologies Corp.

7.01%

2.17%

(NYSE:HON)

Honeywell International, Inc.

6.89%

2.00%

(NYSE:LMT)

Lockheed Martin Corp.

6.83%

2.57%

(NYSE:BA)

Boeing Co./The

6.82%

3.04%

(NYSE:RTN)

Raytheon Co.

5.64%

1.95%

(NYSE:NOC)

Northrop Grumman Corp.

5.30%

1.40%

(NYSE:TDG)

TransDigm Group, Inc.

3.89%

0.00%

(NYSE:COL)

Rockwell Collins, Inc.

3.85%

1.23%

(NYSE:TXT)

Textron, Inc.

3.59%

0.17%

(NYSE:LLL)

L3 Technologies, Inc.

3.56%

1.79%

(NYSE:HII)

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.

2.50%

1.22%

(NYSE:HEI)

HEICO Corp.

1.72%

0.19%

(NYSE:OA)

Orbital ATK, Inc.

1.64%

1.26%

(NASDAQ:ESLT)

Elbit Systems Ltd.

1.42%

1.32%

(NYSE:BWXT)

BWX Technologies, Inc.

1.33%

0.78%

(NYSE:OSK)

Oshkosh Corp.

1.32%

1.29%

(NYSE:HXL)

Hexcel Corp.

Originally posted here:

Aerospace Soars Past S&P 500 - Seeking Alpha

Crain's Cleveland Business

TransDigm Group acquires three aerospace product lines Crain's Cleveland Business The product lines will be consolidated into TransDigm businesses and include "highly engineered aerospace controls, quick disconnect couplings, and communication electronics," the release stated. "Each of these acquisitions contain proprietary products ... TransDigm Acquires Three Add-On Aerospace Product LinesPR Newswire (press release) TransDigm (TDG) Adds 3 Aerospace Product Lines to PortfolioZacks.com Transdigm Group Incorporated - TDG - Stock Price Today - ZacksZacks all 109 news articles »

See the article here:

TransDigm Group acquires three aerospace product lines - Crain's Cleveland Business

Aerospace giant Boeing selects Plano for its global services HQ

Candace Carlisle, Dallas Business Journal , WFAA 6:43 AM. CDT April 06, 2017

PLANO -- Aerospace giant Boeing (NYSE: BA) has selected Plano's Legacy West to serve as the new headquarters for its global services division.

The company expects to be up and operational at the site in July.

"I am so excited an unbelievable American company, like Boeing, has chosen Legacy West for their divisional headquarters; it's an honor," Legacy West Master Developer Fehmi Karahan, told the Dallas Business Journal.

"Out of all the cities they could've gone to in the United States, we are very excited they chose us," said the president and CEO of The Karahan Cos.

The new headquarters for Boeing's global services division will sit on the top floor of one of Legacy West's office buildings.

An exact square footage and employee count have yet to be finalized, however, this office will have the top leadership of Boeing Global Services, including President and CEO Stan Deal.

The executive team for Boeing Global Services will serve about 20,000 employees throughout the world.

The central location in the United States will help assist in Boeing Global Services' plans for worldwide service, Deal said.

"We have a fixed focus on serving our customers worldwide, and this location assists in our mission of providing uncompromising service worldwide," he said, in a statement.

Last November, Boeing announced its standup global services division, which was formed to integrate the services and capabilities of the defense, space and commercial sectors into a single, customer-focused business.

By Boeing bringing its key executives of the newly formed organization to North Texas, this "opens up the world to Plano," said Mayor Harry LaRosiliere.

"It is their upper-level management with an exposure to an incredible array of companies from all over the world that will come and visit this location for business purposes," LaRosiliere told the DBJ. "It opens the gateway for us."

Boeing Global Services are expected to ask for incentives from the City of Plano, which could go before council on April 10 or April 24. The details of the incentive package were not immediately available on Wednesday.

Boeing joins a number of other corporate tenants at Plano's Legacy West, including Toyota North America, JP Morgan Chase, Liberty Mutual, FedEx Office and many other companies setting up a corporate home in Legacy West.

Legacy West has been built within less than four years. Karahan plans to hold a grand opening for the mixed-use development on June 2, 3 and 4.

2017 WFAA-TV

Read more from the original source:

Aerospace giant Boeing selects Plano for its global services HQ - WFAA

Albuquerque Business First

Chasing Boeing: Aerospace giant's choice of Plano shows how much North Texas has changed Dallas Business Journal Until Wednesday, in Plano and across North Texas, Boeing had been known in economic development circles as the one that got away. No more. Subscribe to get the full story. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Subscribe to get the full story. Already a ... Spaceport CEO shares his excitement for the future of space travelAlbuquerque Business First all 30 news articles »

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Chasing Boeing: Aerospace giant's choice of Plano shows how much North Texas has changed - Dallas Business Journal

Donald Trumps ascension to the seat of the President seems to have created a win-win situation for the aerospace and defense industry. The outlook for stocks in this space has improved manifold in recent months, notably with enhanced spending promises that Trump made in his latest America First budget.

In fact, defense stocks have been on an upward growth trajectory post-Trumps election win last November. This raised investors hopes that Trump will indeed keep his word of big spending toward the nations defense.

Impressively, stocks in the Zacks Aerospace sector (a stand-alone sector) are up 4.3% since Jan 20 (Inauguration day of President Trump), outperforming the S&P 500 indexs 3.9% gain. With the majority of macroeconomic factors favoring this industry, the outperformance can be expected in the days ahead as well.

U.S. Defense Scenario

Apart from enjoying the lead in terms of economic prosperity, the U.S. has literally turned itself into a hub of aerospace and defense equipment and allied products over last few years. Other countries, in like manner, are also spending on state-of-the art artillery, to stay privileged.

The need for this rapid evolution of advanced military weapons surfaced with the meteoric rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an organization that President Obama had termed the network of death.

Moreover, other factors like rising demand for more fuel-efficient aircraft, the growing international market for defense equipment with more developing nations increasing their share of defense spending and increasing application of unmanned aircraft in warfare today are driving sales in this sector.

Also, other macroeconomic statistics like improving employment in the private sector, a more-or-less stabilized oil price for past few months, and increasing core consumer price inflation boosted consumer confidence and is being reflected in increased consumer spending. In fact, in Jan 2017, the U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased 0.4% the largest gain since Feb 2013 after rising 0.2% in December.

No doubt, this in turn will bolster the entire economy to grow at an accelerated pace. In fact, having high hopes on Trumps supply-side economic reforms, market economists estimate the nation to witness 2.3% growth in 2017 against 1.9% growth last year.

Although, rising interest rates continue to be a spoil sport for an uninterrupted growth trajectory for this industry, its non-cyclical feature helps it to overcome all the oddities and thus has been stable for years. Therefore, the time is ripe for considering the aerospace and defense industry as one of the top performing ones.

Budget Updates

On Mar 16, 2017, President Trump unveiled the Pentagon's fiscal 2018 (FY 2018) budget proposal, with the intent of rebuilding the U.S. military force without increasing the Federal deficit. The proposed budget of $639 billion for the Pentagon includes a base budget of $574 billion. This reflects a $52 billion increase over the FY 2017 current budget level of $587 billion. Moreover, FY 2018s base budget reflects a 10% increase from the current base budget level of this fiscal.

The budget also includes $65 billion in funding for the Pentagons overseas contingency operations (OCO) fund, which is also higher than the FY 2017 level by $2 billion. The combined request represents a total increase of $54 billion over the current FY 2017 level.

It is also important to mention that the FY 2017 defense budget of $587 billion has yet to be passed by the House or Senate. Trump recently offered another proposal to increase the current fiscals defense budget by $30 billion: $24.9 billion in base budget and $5.1 billion in OCO. This request also has a provision to include an additional $3 billion fund for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for urgent border protection activities. If this proposal gets approved, then there might be a change in FY 2018s defense budget as well.

The FY 2018 budget proposal mainly addressed three key agendas: focus on keeping Americans safe, keeping terrorists out of the country and putting violent offenders behind bars.

Zacks Industry Rank Mixed Bag

The Zacks Industry Rank relies on the same estimate revisions methodology that drives the Zacks Rank for stocks. The way to look at the complete list of 256+ industries is that the outlook for the top one-third of the list (Zacks Industry Rank of #88 and lower) is positive, the middle 1/3rd or industries with Zacks Industry Rank between #89 and #176 is neutral while the outlook for the bottom one-third (Zacks Industry Rank #177 and higher) is negative.

The Aerospace is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. Aerospace is further sub-divided into three industries at the expanded level: aerospace/defense, aerospace/defense equipment and electric-military.

Aerospace/defense is positive with a Zacks Industry Rank #77, placing it at top 30%. The Zacks Industry Rank for electronics-military is #4 out of 257 industries, which puts it at top 2%. However, aerospace/defense equipment with a Zacks Industry Rank #197 comes in at the negative territory of all Zacks industries, placing it at bottom 23%.

Earnings Review and Outlook

Every fiscal year, no matter how constrained the funding picture, the Pentagon almost always gets its way. Despite headwinds, the Aerospace sector held up well in the fourth quarter. The earnings beat ratio for the stocks in this space (percentage of companies coming up with positive surprises) was an impressive 80%, while the revenue beat ratio was 50%.

Going forward, the earnings picture for the first quarter of 2017 reveals a mixed bag. The sectors earnings are expected to improve 0.2% in the first quarter, while revenues are expected to see a 1.3% decline (as of Mar 31, 2017). Margins for this sector are expected to nudge up 0.7% in the quarter. Notably, this sector is one out of the nine of the 16 Zacks sectors that are expected to exhibit positive earnings growth this quarter.

Defense Stocks Worth Adding

Investors might keep a watch on the following defense biggies that have the financial strength to withstand a gradual increase in the interest rate without compromising on dividend payments.

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Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (HII) has a long-term earnings growth projection of 15%. This security stock registered positive earnings surprises in three out of the last four quarters, with an average beat of 19.85%. Its 2016 earnings estimates moved up 8.3% in the last 60 days. Huntington currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Leidos Holdings, Inc. (LDOS) has a long-term earnings growth projection of 8.5%. This stock registered positive earnings surprises in two out of the last four quarters, with an average beat of 5.80%. Its 2016 earnings estimates moved up 2.5% in the last 60 days. Leidos currently sports a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) has a long-term earnings growth projection of 5.8%. This stock registered positive earnings surprises in all the last four quarters, with an average beat of 12.41%. Its 2016 earnings estimates moved up 0.2% in the last 60 days. Lockheed currently sports a Zacks Rank #2.

Summing Up

Increasing terrorist attacks across the globe have spurred nations to make heavy investments in their aerospace and defense industry. Some say its a game for power, while others say its just a protective measure.

In a big-picture sense, the aerospace and defense industry is a direct beneficiary of a volatile and uncertain geopolitical global backdrop, characterized by terrorist threats, civil wars and border disputes. The U.S., home to the worlds major weapons manufacturers, is potentially a big beneficiary of this environment. Its defense measures are therefore expected to grow manifold in the days ahead.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT): Free Stock Analysis Report Leidos Holdings, Inc. (LDOS): Free Stock Analysis Report Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (HII): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research

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Aerospace and Defense Industry Outlook - April 2017 - Yahoo Finance - Yahoo Finance

WJHL

Proposed aerospace park at Tri-Cities Regional Airport takes step forward WJHL BLOUNTVILLE, TN (WJHL-TV) The Tennessee Legislature passed legislation this week that will allow the Tri-Cities Regional Airport to move forward with a proposed aerospace park on the airport grounds. Previously, the Tri-Cities Airport Authority could ...

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Proposed aerospace park at Tri-Cities Regional Airport takes step forward - WJHL

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- The 433rd Airlift Wing was inducted into Dee Howard Foundations San Antonio Aviation and Aerospace Hall of Fame, during an awards dinner, March 30 at the GDC Technics Hangar, Port San Antonio (formerly Kelly Air Force Base), Texas.

The 433rd AW joins the ranks of other San Antonio Aviation and Aerospace Hall of Fame greats, such as Maj. Gen. Benjamin Foulois, Air Education and Training Command, Durrell U. Dee Howard and others.

The Alamo Wing was honored for its leadership in ensuring combat readiness, and their performance in peacetime missions. Col. Thomas K. "TK" Smith, Jr., 433rd Airlift Wing commander, accepted the award on behalf of the 433rd AW.

Since I have served 12 years, which is the majority of my 30 plus years of my Air Force career here at the 433rd AW, I would have to say, this was the top highlight of my career, representing the Alamo Wing at its induction, said Smith.

The 433rd AW traces its history back to the U.S. Army Air Corp's 433rd Troop Carrier Wing. The unit, which was activated in 1943, distinguished itself in combat during World War II. In 1955, it was activated as a reserve wing at Brooks Air Force Base, Texas and moved to Kelly Air Force Base, Texas in 1960. In 1964, the Alamo Wing was the first wing in the Air Reserve Forces or Air National Guard to win the coveted Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, an award the unit has won three times since.

Other inductees into the hall of fame that night were former Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison; Air Force Lt. Col. (retired) E. Olga Custodio, the first Latina U.S. military pilot, flight instructor with Air Education and Training Command, and the first Latina captain for American Airlines; Dr. Bernard A. Harris, Jr., the first African-American to perform an extra-vehicular activity during his Space Shuttle flights; Colonels Carl Joseph Crane and William Charles Ocker, for their service at Brooks and Kelly Fields and their leadership in developing instrument flight systems; and Col. William B. Tuttle, the former president of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, who established the Military Affairs Committee of the Chamber and Luther Bynum Clegg, owner of the Clegg Company.

This is the second year of the San Antonio Aviation and Aerospace Hall of Fame. This years honorees were picked because of their outstanding contribution to San Antonio and who has something remarkable or significant in aviation, said Wayne Fagan, Chair Honoree Selection Committee, San Antonio Aviation and Aerospace Hall of Fame 2017 Dinner.

The Dee Howard Foundation Fund was established in 2013, in memory of aviation pioneer and entrepreneur Dee Howard for the support of programs that enhance excellence and global leadership in the aviation and automotive sectors in the San Antonio region.

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433rd AW inducted into San Antonio Aviation Aerospace Hall of Fame - Minuteman

In an interview withSputnik, Russian military expert and chief editor ofthe magazine Arsenal Otechestva Viktor Murakhovsky, touted the Tarantul aircraft electronic countermeasures system, which he said will help the Russia's Su-34 strike fighter toeffectively protect other strike fighters fromenemy radar.

Right now, the Su-34 is equipped withthe Khibiny aircraft electronic countermeasures system, which was developed byRadio-Electronic Technology Concern (KRET), Russia's largest radio-electronics holding company, founded in2009.

Installed onthe wingtips ofSu-34s, the Khibiny system provides the jets withelectronic warfare capabilities and enables them tocarry outeffective electronic countermeasures againstradar systems, anti-aircraft missile systems and airborne early warning and control aircraft.

"The [Khibiny] system is quite effective, butfor the time being it mainly provides individual protection forthe [Su-34] aircraft," Murakhovsky said, adding that KRET is finalizing the development ofan aircraft electronic countermeasures system capable ofproviding group protection.

Separately, Murakhovsky referred toanother such system, which is being developed bythe Kaluga Radio Engineering Research Institute outsideMoscow.

"After that, the modernized Su-34 fighter bombers will enter service withthe Russian Aerospace Forces; they will effectively appear inour VCS, which will effectively provide radio electronic protection tothe other warplanes ofa strike group," he said.

Earlier this week, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said that Russia's Aerospace Forces will get 16 new Su-34 fighter bombers beforethe end of2017, while the modernization ofthe aircraft will start in2018.

According tothe deputy defense minister, the Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association has a long-term contract withthe Russian Defense Ministry forthe production ofa total of92 Su-34 strike fighters.

Borisov stressed that Su-34 aircraft have proved highly effective inthe fight againstterrorists inSyria.

In particular, it is worth mentioning that duringthe Syrian campaign, the Su-34 made effective use ofits onboard arsenal ofa 30 mm cannon, air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles and KAB-500S laser-guided bombs, allowing it todestroy terrorist infrastructure facilities and command centers.

Photo: Russian Defense Ministry

Based onthe Su-27 fighter, the Su-34 is a 4++ generation jet, which can accelerate toa maximum speed of1,200 mph (1,931 km) and can fly 2,500 miles (4,023 km) withoutrefueling.

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Aerospace Jam: Russia's Su-34 Bomber to Hide Entire Squadron From Enemy Radar - Sputnik International

Proposals to link tax breaks to employment put jobs 'at risk,' Boeing says Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) The unions noted the Legislature-approved deal with Boeing in 2013 extended $8.7 billion of tax incentives to the aerospace industry. Instead of increasing aerospace jobs in Washington state as the Legislature intended and the public expected, the ...

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Proposals to link tax breaks to employment put jobs 'at risk,' Boeing says - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)

Textron could get a boost from the Air Force as it experiments with low-cost attack planes, and the company's Scorpion jet is reportedly an option. (Textron)

Here's your Investing Action Plan for Friday: what you need to know as an investor for the coming day.

The February jobs report will set the tone for the rest of the day, and a positive reading could shake the Dow Jones industrial average out of its recent funk. With earnings season largely over, many stocks have already broken out, broken down, or climbed past entry points. But a few opportunities remain in aerospace, even though Dow component Boeing (BA) has shot up to new highs recently.

Shares of Boeing closed down 0.6% at 180.57 on the stock market today, but have been heading for profit-taking sell territory, which starts at 192.20. While hopes are flagging for a tax overhaul that would benefit big exporters like Boeing, demand for commercial aircraft remains robust.

Meanwhile, other aerospace companies are along for the ride, and Boeing's plans to design a new midrange plane and launch a stretch version of the 737 Max could add to suppliers' order books.

Shares of Spirit Aerosystems (SPR) edged down 0.3% to 60.43 but remain near a 61.65 buy point. The stock broke out last week but promptly headed back below the entry.

Hexcel (HXL) also broke out last week but couldn't stay in buy zone. On Thursday, it dipped 0.4% to 53.99, below a 55.21 entry.

Then there's Textron (TXT), the maker of Cessna and Beechcraft planes and Bell helicopters. Shares fell 1.2% to 47.43 as they work their way through a flat base with a 51.03 buy point. Unlike the supplier stocks, Textron hasn't cleared its threshold and lost it again.

The company could get a boost from the Air Force as it experiments with low-cost attack planes, and Textron's Scorpion jet and Beechcraft AT-6 are reportedly options.

The Labor Department will release its monthly payroll report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect a gain of 200,000 jobs for February, down from 227,000 in January, with the unemployment rate dipping to 4.7%. Monthly growth in average hourly earnings is expected to accelerate to 0.3% from 0.1%, potentially adding to signs that the tighter labor market is feeding inflationary pressures.

But barring a massive downside surprise, the data are unlikely to move markets that much as they have been pricing in a rate hike at the Federal Reserve's meeting next week.

3/09/2017 Stratasys reported fourth-quarter earnings Thursday that beat estimates but guidance fell short.

3/09/2017 Stratasys reported fourth-quarter earnings Thursday that beat estimates but guidance...

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Dow's Boeing Is Sky High, But These Aerospace Stocks Near Buy Points - Investor's Business Daily

Airplane interior maker B/E Aerospace shareholders have approved the Wellington companys acquisition by Rockwell Collins of Iowa for $6.4 billion, which means the company will no longer be a Palm Beach County headquarters company.

The merger was approved at a special meeting of stockholders held on Thursday at the Hilton Palm Beach Airport in West Palm Beach. The merger was previously announced last Oct. 23.

B/E Aerospace has about 10,000 employees worldwide, though only a small percentage have been located at its headquarters in Wellington. In October 2016, the company notified state and local officials that it would close its manufacturing operation in Medley in Miami-Dade County and lay off 53 workers.

Corporate functions will be consolidated with Rockwell Collins headquarters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said Rockwell Collins spokeswoman Pamela Tvrdy-Cleary.

Under the merger agreement, B/E Aerospace stock will be canceled and shareholders converted into the right to receive $34.10 in cash and 0.3101 of a share of Rockwell Collins common stock, for each share owned. The total value is $64.38 a share, the two companies said.

The merger is still subject to certain closing conditions, but is expected to close during this spring.

For 2016, B/E Aerospacess operating earnings of $506.6 million increased 12 percent over $452 million a year ago. Net earnings and net earnings per diluted share were $311.1 million, or $3.08 a share, compared with $286 million, or $2.73 a share, in 2015..

Annual revenues were $2.9 billion, an increase of 7.4 percent compared with $2.7 billion in 2015

Combined, the companies have $8.1 billion in revenues, based on the latest numbers, said Patrick Allen, chief financial officer of Rockwell Collins.

When announcing the deal in October of last year, the companies said the merger would combine Rockwell Collins capabilities in flight deck avionics, cabin electronics, mission communications, simulation and training, and information management systems with B/E Aerospace's cabin interior products, which include seating, food and beverage preparation and storage equipment, lighting and oxygen systems, and modular galley and lavatory systems for commercial airliners and business jets.

B/E Aerospace was founded in 1987 with the acquisition of Bach Engineering. In 1989, its primary competitor in the avionics business, EECO was acquired and the name was changed to B/E Avionics. In April 1990, the company went public on Nasdaq, raising about $12 million.

In the ensuing years, B/E Aerospace acquired several cabin interior equipment companies, and in 2008, Honeywells consumables solutions business was acquired. That made B/E Aerospace a top distributor of aerospace fasteners, and maintenance and repair supplies.

In 2014, the companys aerospace distribution and energy services business was spun-off to form KLX, also based in Wellington.

mpounds@sunsentinel.com or 561-243-6650, twitter: @marciabiz

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Shareholders approve BE Aerospace acquisition - Sun Sentinel

Weve all heard some version of this classic joke: An optimist falls off a 10-story building. As he passes the sixth story, someone yells from the window, Hows it going? The man yells back, So far, so good!

It seems many of the critics of the U.S. Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank are optimists, trying to argue that U.S. manufacturers and the U.S. economy have managed just fine without the bank having the authority to approve financing of sales of more than $10 million.

The Ex-Im Bank recently reported it was only able to authorize $5 billion in financing last year, a quarter of its financing activity when it was last fully operational in 2014, and its lowest level in 40 years. This activity can be connected to the direct support of 52,000 jobs and $284 million in interest and fees from foreign customers sent to the U.S. Treasury.

This would not happen if as its critics mistakenly claim the Ex-Im Bank was providing subsidies instead of loans requiring repayment. Those numbers could have been much higher, with action on forty deals worth $30 billion that cannot be reviewed and approved until the Trump administration puts forward nominees for the banks five board of directors positions and fills a quorum.

The huge bipartisan majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate that reauthorized the Ex-Im Banks operations in late 2015 would take swift action to approve these candidates if given the chance.

This issue is not an academic exercise or a philosophical debate regarding the role of government in the economy, and it certainly is no joke to more than 6,000 U.S. companies in the civil aviation supply chain.

These small- and medium-sized suppliers are willfully overlooked by Ex-Im Bank critics who throw around terms like corporate welfare and crony capitalism as if large companies make every part of an aircraft all by themselves and reap all the benefits of export sales.

My organization, AIA, recently reported the U.S. aerospace and defense industry generated $146 billion in exports and a trade surplus of $90 billion in 2016, the largest of any sector. I can already hear the argument: If the Ex-Im Bank was not available to support this success, then why is it even necessary?

The answer is rooted in what the bank is, namely, a lender of last resort when private-sector financing is otherwise unavailable. While private export credit financing has become more readily available since the global financial crisis, there will always be sales that would benefit from the support of a government export credit agency like Ex-Im Bank.

The other point that is frequently missed is that close to 60 percent of this export value can be attributed to the American supply chain. These companies win twice when the Ex-Im Bank can offer financing that is otherwise unavailable for an aircraft export selling parts and components that are initially incorporated into the aircraft, then selling these same parts and components for a higher margin in the global maintenance aftermarket.

President Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross understand the value of getting the best deal for America, fixing our debt and trade deficit, and ensuring U.S. manufacturers have a level playing field.

When considering the future of the Ex-Im Bank and Secretary Rosss stated goal of having it help small businesses more, they should remember the aerospace supply chain companies that form the backbone of our industry.

We otherwise risk making the U.S. civil aviation supply chain a punchline, the butt of jokes by our foreign competition, as we remain sidelined by our own elected officials. Its one thing to be optimistic about how weve weathered the fall so far, but the landing will be no laughing matter.

Lt. Gen. David F. Melcher (U.S. Army-Ret.) is the president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.

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Ex-Im Bank the 'lender of last resort' for aerospace industry - The Hill (blog)

Following the November U.S. election, widely documented has been the potency of aerospace and defense stocks and exchange traded funds.

On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump pledged to boost defense spending by $55 billion to $80 billion. Whether or not the Trump administration and Congress can come together on increased defense spending that's anywhere close to the president-elect's objectives remains to be seen, but it's clear that markets like the idea.

For example, the PowerShares Aerospace & Defense Portfolio (NYSE: PPA), although it has backed off its recent highs, is up nearly 6 percent year-to-date and 31 percent over the past 12 months.

PPA, which turned 11 years old in late October, tracks the SPADE Defense Index, which is designed to identify a group of companies involved in the development, manufacturing, operations and support of US defense, homeland security and aerospace operations, according to PowerShares.

After showing flat to declining growth since 2010, US defense orders which include aircraft, related parts and other military hardware produced by the Department of Defense have been trending upward and are now approaching 2010 highs as a result of revitalized defense spending that began under President Obama and looks to increase even more under President Trump. The presidents recently unveiled budget proposal calls for a 10% ($54 billion) increase in military spending, which is likely to be well-received by many members of the GOP-led Congress, said PowerShares in a recent note.

PPA holds 50 stocks. The ETF's top 10 holdings combine for about 55 percent of its weight. Those top 10 holdings include Dow components Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) as well as other blue-chip defense names such as General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) and Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT).

While defense spending fell for several years leading up to 2015, it's worth noting that from 2009, the year President Obama took office, through 2015, PPA outperformed traditional, diversified industrial ETFs in all but two years.

In its January earnings call, Boeing executives indicated that they view aviation as a long-term growth industry, and that Boeing is seeing healthy passenger traffic and a modestly improving air cargo market conditions that are constructive for aircraft production, said PowerShares. If aircraft manufacturers manage order volume efficiently, the upward trend in commercial aircraft demand could flow through to the bottom line in the form of healthy profit growth.

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A Powerful Aerospace ETF | Benzinga - Benzinga

The city secured a $500,000 Minnesota Investment Fund loan for the manufacturer of aircraft components to expand its Duluth operations in 2007. Republic Bank and Duluth's 1200 Fund both proffered matching loans of equal value, providing the company with a total infusion of $1.5 million. Facility improvements were expected to lead to the creation of another 50 jobs in Duluth when the loans were approved.

But the timing for the project could hardly have been worse, with the bruising 2008 recession just around the corner.

In response to reduced demand, the company's primary client, Cirrus Aircraft, severely curtailed production, sending Northstar into a tailspin.

David Montgomery, Duluth's chief administrative officer, said he has been dealing with fallout from the loan since he came onboard with the city in 2009.

"This is almost systemic. It goes to what their original business model was, the downturn, what happened to one of their main customers Cirrus and their heavy focus on one particular customer," he said.

With repeated loan extensions, Montgomery said: "We've been essentially buying time." He noted, however, that the company has continued to make interest payments until recently.

Northstar was expected to settle its outstanding loans with a balloon payment in April of this year, but as that date neared it became clear the company would be unable to fulfill the obligation.

City staff met with representatives of other secured creditors, including Republic Bank, the 1200 Fund and the Northland Foundation. A resolution that will be considered by the Duluth City Council Monday calls for an additional 12 to 24 months "to work proactively with Northstar in hopes of identifying a course of action that will allow the company to continue to operate and retain the existing 38 jobs it currently has on the payroll, while also pursuing opportunities for restructuring its outstanding debt, which may include a potential business sale."

"The jobs are important to us. Those have been decent jobs, and we've been able to retain those jobs. But there are several outcomes that this could result in and many different permutations on that," Montgomery said.

"We just wanted to give ourselves all the time to properly go through and assess where things are, what the opportunities are for ideally retaining this commercial activity, be it in some other form potentially, but retaining the activity, retaining the jobs and potentially even expanding them," he said.

Northstar has had trouble making rent on its Airpark facility, and on Feb. 14, its landlord the Duluth Seaway Port Authority terminated the company's lease.

Republic Bank stepped in to help prevent Northstar's eviction, entering into a two-year lease with the Port Authority itself and then subletting the building back to the company to allow "additional time to restructure or sell its business or business assets in an orderly manner," to quote directly from an intercreditor agreement.

"We're all acting in concert to try to get to the right conclusion with these guys," Montgomery said.

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Deal could provide space for Northstar Aerospace - Duluth News Tribune

The Aerospace Sealants Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on industry Size, Share, Trends, Growth, Application, Consumption Volume and Value, Forecast, Supply, Production, Price, Professional Survey 2017 to 2022

Global Aerospace Sealants Industry is an in-depth report that offers a unique mix of specialist industry knowledge and the region-wise research expertise. The report delivers the market size and the trends for each sector.

The report on Global Aerospace Sealants market begins with an overview of the market. The report details the historical data of the Global Aerospace Sealants market along with the current scenario. Then the report covers the trends shaping the Global Aerospace Sealants market. The drivers and restraints that will shape this industry during the forecast period have been evaluated in detail. Moving on, the report dwells on the market opportunities and their impact on the key players operating in the market. Moreover, the key threats the Global Aerospace Sealants market will experience during the forecast period are discussed.

The next part of the report features an in-depth segmentation of the market. The report includes valuable information about the key segments in the Global Aerospace Sealants market along with their sub-sectors. Revenue share and size along with insightful forecasts of these key segments and other prominent sub-segments are available in this report. The report explores the trends that will impact the growth of the emerging regional sectors in the Global Aerospace Sealants market.

The recent findings along with the promise they hold for the future in the Global Aerospace Sealants market have also been analyzed. The report features contributions from several key industry participants along with scientists that are leading figures in their respective fields.

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Towards the end, the report scrutinizes the competitive landscape of the Global Aerospace Sealants market. Most prominent players with their business overview are featured in this research study. The key players market revenue, top strategies, innovations, collaborations, and other developments are mentioned in detail in the report. These insights about the top companies in the Global Aerospace Sealants market will let the user know about the market opportunities they can tap on to, with the best of tactical decisions.

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Global Aerospace Sealants Market 2017 PPG Industries, 3M, Flamemaster, Chemetall - Aperture Games

Enlarge / A new mentorship program seeks to honor the memory of Brooke Owens.

Brooke Owens Fellowship Program

Lori Garver had just boarded a plane last June when she heard that her young friend, D. Brooke Owens, had passed away. Owens, 35, had hadterminal cancer for a long time, but the moment still stung Garver, the former deputy NASA administrator. She'd mentored Owens toward her dream of running an airport, and the two had become close.

During those few minutes before the plane took off, Garver said she just couldn't let it go. So she dashed off an e-mail to friends and colleagues in the aerospace businesschief executives, managers, and bright, young chiefs of staff she'd worked with at NASA and in the White House. Would they be interested in mentoring young women interested in getting into the aerospace industry?

"My goal, sitting on that airplane, was to get five or maybe at most 10 internships," Garver told Ars in an interview. But by the time her flight had landed, Garver's inbox was full with interested companies. Two other close friends of OwensCassie Lee, the director of Aerospace Applications at Vulcan, Inc., and William Pomerantz, the vice president of special projects at Virgin Galacticsaid they wanted to help organize the program. On Wednesday, less than a year after her passing, theBrooke Owens Fellowship Program launched with 36 paid internships.

Garver said the aerospace industry has a fairly good record with breaking through the glass ceiling. The chief executives of two of the major players in the industry, Lockheed Martin's Marillyn Hewson and Aerojet Rocketdyne's Eileen Drake, are both women. "Ithink the bigger issue is our raw numbers, because we dont have nearly enough women in any part of the pipeline,"said Garver, who served as NASA's deputy administrator from 2009 to 2013 and is now general manager of the Air Line Pilots Association.

"I can say from first-hand experience, if youre in a meeting and youre the only woman there, or just one of a handful, youre much more easily dismissed or ignored," she said. "Iwatched Hidden Figures and just cried the whole time, that our industry hasnt changed more since then."

Recalling her mentoring experience with Owens, Garver and her cofounders figured the best way to remedy the problem was to bring young women interested in aviation and space exploration into major companies in the field, provide them each with two senior aerospace professionals as mentors, and give them experience. Each class of women will also attend a conference and, Garver hopes, form a cohort that will help them network throughout their careers.

Ultimately, it didn't prove difficult to find interested CEOs. Companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Orbit, Orbital ATK, and many more provided internships. Some companies wanted to offer several. "It ended up being an easy sell," Garver said. "It wasn't hard to convince a company to bring in a fantastic young woman."

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After Hidden Figures, new program seeks to flood aerospace with women - Ars Technica

Expanding satellite-service provider OneWeb Ltd. has signed multiple contracts for launches early in the next decade with Blue Origin LLC, the high-profile space company run by Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) Chief Executive Jeff Bezos.

Wednesday's announcement covers five separate launches comprising roughly 400 relatively small but powerful satellites and starts in 2021, according to Greg Wyler, OneWeb's executive chairman. In an interview, he said the satellites are projected to provide internet connections some 10 times faster than those offered by initial spacecraft designs.

Financial details weren't immediately available.

Mr. Bezos posted a message on Twitter confirming that the agreement is for "for five launches initially," and added a personal nod to the OneWeb's founder: "Happy to work with you."

On his Twitter feed, Mr. Wyler said "we will be busy" making satellites "and creating jobs."

For Mr. Bezos and his closely held Blue Origin, which for years has been developing its family of reusable rockets and manned capsules without fanfare and almost entirely in secret, the contracts represent a financial and public relations coup.

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Combined with the company's separate launch contract for a much larger satellite announced Tuesday with Eutelsat SA, a legacy operator with a fleet of 39 satellites, the disclosures amount to a carefully choreographed, partial lifting of Blue Origin's corporate veil.

Coinciding with a major satellite conference in Washington, the announcements signal that the company Mr. Bezos founded in 2000 in some ways is now moving into the mainstream of the global aerospace arena.

Both OneWeb and Eutelsat previously contracted with established launch providers, making their high-profile demonstrations of confidence in Blue Origin significant.

The massive rocket that is slated to launch the satellites probably won't fly until the end of the decade. Photographs of its first fully assembled primary engine weren't released until this week. And despite his persistence, deep pockets and passion for space, Mr. Bezos hasn't yet blasted any booster or spacecraft into orbit.

Still, developments in the past two days underscore that Blue Origin -- now boasting some 1,000 employees and facilities from Florida to the Northwest -- intends to use its New Glenn rocket to compete aggressively for commercial launches. Mr. Bezos also has indicated his aim is to develop a bigger, more powerful booster eventually capable of transporting astronauts deep into the solar system.

The two-stage version of Blue Origin's workhorse New Glenn rocket, named after the late U.S. astronaut and senator John Glenn, has been described by the company as 270 feet tall, and able to generate nearly 3.9 million pounds of thrust from seven main engines. A larger, three-stage version would be more than 310 feet tall.

With a few exceptions, Mr. Bezos has opted to run Blue Origin behind strict confidentiality restrictions -- and without seeking substantial federal contracts or development funding. But now, a new commercial sales push appears to be changing that corporate culture to some extent.

It was only last fall that Mr. Bezos rocked the global aerospace community by disclosing some particulars of the New Glenn rocket. If all goes well, by 2021 or 2022 the booster could become a full-fledged competitor for Space Exploration Technologies Corp., founded and run by fellow billionaire Elon Musk. It also could vie for launch contracts against Arianespace, Europe's premier launch provider, and United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing Co. (BA) and Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT).

OneWeb, which is 20%-owned by Japanese telecom company SoftBank Group Corp. and backed by Airbus Group SE, has announced firm plans to launch some 600 satellites to provide faster and cheaper internet connections world-wide. OneWeb has suggested it ultimately may launch as many as 2,000 additional satellites, after initial commercial operations begin in 2019.

OneWeb anticipates assembling satellites in Florida at a rate of one in less than 24 hours -- at a cost below $1 million apiece. With that kind of production profile, the company is looking for multiple launch providers for later phases of the venture.

Mr. Wyler stopped short of saying the company and its backers have committed to launching the estimated 2,000 satellites. But when it comes to those plans, he said "more than our toe is in the water." Suggesting that more launch contracts with other providers are in the offing, he said "we talk broadly across the launch industry" regarding OneWeb's future requirements.

Blue Origin is building its own facility nearby, and plans to use an adjacent government pad to conduct launch operations.

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