Okinawa's prefectural government and other related agencies have agreed to the development of a $2.8-billion offshore heliport to replace the U.S. Marine Corps' Futema base, but a dispute over how long the Marines can stay is likely to delay the project. The agreement calls for construction of a single 2,500 X 730-meter (8,200 X 2,394-ft.) runway on a 184-hectare (454-acre) man-made island about 2,200 meters offshore from the city of Nago on Okinawa's east coast.
Samuel R. (Sandy) Berger, national security adviser to President Bill Clinton, is the chairman of Stonebridge International, consultants in Washington. He testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this month. Excerpts follow. Saddam Hussein is a menace to his own people [and] to the stability of a combustible and critical region, and a potential threat to the U.S. He has demonstrated his intent to seek hegemony in the Persian Gulf region. He has demonstrated his intent to develop weapons of mass destruction and his willingness to use them.
Look for NASA's space shuttle fleet to get some lift with the appointment of William F. Readdy as associate administrator for space flight. Like his predecessor, Deputy Administrator Frederick D. Gregory, Readdy is a former shuttle pilot and mission commander who has been an outspoken advocate for taking full advantage of the spaceplane's capabilities. He has also been publicly skeptical of efforts to privatize the shuttle fleet (AW&ST July 15, p. 21). That raised eyebrows in the agency's executive suites but apparently did Readdy no harm.
Four private companies picked by NASA's Space Launch Initiative (SLI) are studying whether an array of spinoff technologies can be cobbled into a commercial vehicle that would ease the projected shortfall in cargo delivered to the International Space Station by the shuttle.
Cart3D, an inviscid aerodynamic analysis program, was named ``Software of the Year 2002'' by NASA's Inventions and Contributions Board. Cart3D uses state-of-the-art techniques drawn from several fields to efficiently analyze conceptual and preliminary design problems. It was developed by Michael Aftosmis and John Melton at the Ames Research Center and Marsha Berger of New York University, and has been commercialized by ICEM CFD Engineering (www.icemcfd.com/cart3d/index.html). . . .
Hoping to revitalize its ability to rescue a downed pilot, the U.S. Air Force plans to field a new radio, increase the inventory of search-and-rescue aircraft, establish a new combat search-and-rescue unit and initiate development of a new helicopter, with Sikorsky's S-92 the preferred candidate. The moves are part of a long-term campaign to improve combat search-and-rescue (CSAR). The thrust has already yielded improved survival radios and upgrades to the HH-60G helicopter, but more significant steps lie ahead.
Rolls-Royce Deutschland is targeting emerging aviation markets in Russia and China for new applications of the BR710 and BR715 turbofans. The German-British manufacturer is involved in two parallel feasibility studies, one with Tupolev vetting the BR715 for the Tu-334 regional twinjet and the other with China's Avic 1 for the proposed ARJ21 (BR710). An agreement with China would lead to the first regional aircraft application for the 14,000-17,000-lb.-thrust BR710.
Canada's CAE last week reported a 14% increase in revenues, to $275.8 million, for the second quarter ending June 30, reflecting growth in the company's training-related business, particularly in the civil aviation market. Earnings from continuing operations rose 13%, to $37.4 million, or 17 cents per share, compared with $33 million, or 15 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. However, the military simulation and training segment increased its operating earnings by 22%.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded Boeing a $460-million contract for the next phase of the Air Force's Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle project. The money will cover costs to design and build two X-45Bs with their containers and upgraded mission control station. Furthermore, it finances software upgrades for the current X-45As and flight demonstrations. $end The Army's plan to restructure the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter development program will come before a Pentagon review board next month.
Efforts by major airports and some politicians to delay a year-end congressional mandate for the Transportation Security Administration to install explosives detection systems at passenger checkpoints could provide an opportunity to inject new capabilities into today's machines. Two advanced techniques--quadrupole resonance and coherent X-ray scattering--are prime candidates for rapid inclusion in either the FAA-approved CT-based units or new standalone machines, according to vendors eager to find a market niche for their products.
The provisional Council of Eurocontrol plans to create a High-Level European Air Traffic Management Safety Action Group charged with rapid assessment of safety throughout Europe's air traffic management (ATM) system. The group, which would work closely with Eurocontrol and its Safety Regulation Commission, is scheduled to deliver its first set of recommendations for short-term safety improvements to the Council early in November.
European and other international defense contractors with major U.S. subsidiaries such as BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and EADS could see the cost of doing business in the U.S. go up drastically under a tax measure making its way through Congress. The proposed rewrite of tax law is far-reaching. One of the elements of the ``American Competitiveness and Corporate Accountability Act'' (H.R.
William C. Kessler (see photo), vice president-advanced enterprise initiatives at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Marietta, Ga., also will be a part-time visiting faculty member in the Edenfield Executive-in-Residence program at the Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
As the big U.S. network airlines continue to stumble in their attempts to rebuild traffic to pre-Sept. 11 levels, an analysis of second-quarter financial and operating statistics demonstrates how critically important this effort is. Both traffic and yield dropped substantially after the terrorist attacks, and neither is recovering as fast as industry optimists had hoped. Initial July traffic reports from the major airlines showed more of the same. Most carriers were further behind year-earlier traffic levels in July than in June.
Top NASA managers are developing plans to rewire the agency with advanced, high-security computer systems in the hope that greater centralization will improve management efficiency and make it easier to control the disparate field centers. THE PLANS ARE IN KEEPING with Administrator Sean O'Keefe's ``One NASA'' concept, which seeks to subordinate what NASA previously termed its 10 nationwide ``centers of excellence'' to headquarters' direction.
Glenn Woythaler has been promoted to vice president-Atlantic region for Northwest Airlines from vice president-crew and performance analysis for its Systems Operations Center. He succeeds Dick Johnson, who is retiring. T. Jeffrey Putnam has been appointed vice president-system operations control and flight operations administration.
This brochure details valve regulated lead acid (VRLA) battery formation, as well as testing, monitoring and motor control equipment used in aviation and defense markets. The guide includes sections on jar formation, technical and theoretical background, batter and separator design guidance, VRLA gel batteries, formation equipment, battery monitoring, product testing and troubleshooting. The brochure is designed to guide battery manufacturers in the formation process from beginning to end.
Two engines from different eras sit side by side (below) in the exhibit area of the Experimental Aircraft Assn.'s AirVenture Oshkosh (Wis.) gathering late last month. The 1910 Wright Vertical 4 engine No. 20 at near 35 hp. and operated by The Wright Experience is dwarfed by the NASA space shuttle main engine (SSME). The 12.5-million-hp. SSME was developed in the late 1970s.
Klaus Riedel has become president of Meads (Medium Extended Air Defense System) International, which is located in Rome, Munich and Orlando, Fla. He succeeds Joel Strickland, who is expected to retire. Riedel, in turn, has been succeeded as executive vice president by David Seckinger, who was program director for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control for the U.S. Air Force Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser program.
The FAA has selected Thales ATM to supply up to 375 low-power distance measuring equipment (DME) over the next five years, under an $18-million contract. The new 415 Single Equipment DME was specifically designed for installation with instrument landing systems (ILS) as replacements for existing systems, and for new installations. It is exceptionally stable, and has higher capacity and lower maintenance, according to Thales. In March 2000, the company received a contract to supply more than 100 Mk. 20A ILS systems to the FAA.
When four of the world's best known airplane, missile and spacecraft builders announced they were launching a common Web site in March 2000, Wall Street analysts wanted to hear how the Internet would make them money. The answer was to make it by saving it, to use the speedy, ubiquitous Internet for ``frictionless commerce'' to lower procurement costs by ridding the supply chain of time-consuming, labor-intensive paper-based transactions.
The FAA has issued an emergency airworthiness directive for all U.S. owners of Sikorsky Model S-76A, B and C helicopters to review maintenance records and immediately remove rotor blades that have a record of having been damaged by lightning. The action follows the crash of an S-76 in the U.K. on July 16 that killed 11 after the main rotor blade failed due to damage from a lightning strike.
Tall passengers are no more entitled to seats with more legroom than obese passengers are entitled to occupy adjacent seats for the price of one, the Transportation Dept. said, denying a February 2001 petition from the Tall Club of Silicon Valley. In a case that originated in a California state court, the Tall Club asked the department to require airlines to set aside economy-class bulkhead and exit-row seats for passengers taller than 6 ft. 2 in., or with long legs.
Goodrich has won an $8.9-million supply order from the Aviation Applied Technology Directorate of the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command to supply integrated mechanical diagnostics health and usage management systems for UH-60L helicopters.
