Roger N. Seager has been appointed vice president-marketing and sales for General Electric Aircraft Engines, Fairfield, Conn. He was general manager for military market development.
Switzerland's revamped flag carrier, Swiss, plans to position itself as the leading premium airline in Europe, maintaining a largely unchanged long-haul network featuring superior inflight service. The ``new'' carrier--which is based on Crossair, formerly Swissair's regional subsidiary--received a SF2.7-billion ($1.6-billion) capital injection from the federal government, regional authorities and private investors. Swiss plans to retain a large long-haul route system centered on Zurich.
International Space Station astronauts Carl Walz and Daniel Bursch performed a 6-hr. extravehicular activity Feb. 20 to further evaluate the new U.S. airlock on the station and prepare hardware for complex station assembly EVAs to be performed by the STS-110 Atlantis crew in April. The mission will install the first large section of the station's 300-ft. solar array truss. The tasks performed by Walz and Bursch verified new airlock procedures and positioned tools to give the shuttle EVA crew extra time margins for the truss installation work.
Robin L. Beard has been appointed Raytheon executive lecturer at the National Defense University at Ft. McNair in Washington. He has been president of Raytheon International Europe and is a former president of Raytheon Government Relations and an assistant secretary general of NATO.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has received a $101-million contract from the U.S. Air Force to begin low-rate initial production of the Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle. Northrop Grumman will provide two Global Hawks and the mission control element of the aircraft's ground station.
If history is any guide, aviation services will be among the first areas to recover as the recession in commercial aerospace runs its course. But that's probably small consolation to companies that are now struggling to remain on a straight and level course.
The Tri-Grip 5C high-pressure hydraulic collet closer is designed for heavy duty clamping/workholding applications in vertical and horizontal machining centers. It operates three collets at a time with each one on a uniform 2.5-in. center, and its patent-pending design locates the collet locking screw access on top of the collet block, which allows infinite collet or part orientation. The collet closer operates at a maximum of 5,000 psi. hydraulic pressure.
Snecma Moteurs, which seeks to strengthen ties with the Russian aerospace industry, is betting that a new joint venture with NPO Saturn will contribute to achieving that long-term goal.
The Allied Pilots Assn. has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth, seeking approval of its plan for integrating more than 2,000 TWA pilots into the APA's seniority list. APA represents 11,000 pilots at American Airlines. Former TWA pilots strongly oppose the plan, which would determine their new seniority based on American's acquisition of TWA in April 2001, not when the pilots began flying for TWA.
SWEDEN HAS SELECTED RECON/OPTICAL TO PRODUCE POD-MOUNTED reconnaissance cameras for the JAS 39 Gripen. The initial version is intended for international peace-keeping missions and border surveillance. The first cameras are set for delivery to Saab Avionics in 2003.
The Air Force and Navy are being told to get their act together by this summer and spell out how the Pentagon's future electronic warfare jamming needs will be met. Pentagon acquisition chief E.C. (Pete) Aldridge, Jr., has given the service secretaries until June 3 to report on three issues. One of them--a ``stand-in'' expendable jammer that could fly close to enemy air defenses and therefore operate at relatively low power--would start between 2004-09. The secretaries also must define the ``core component,'' an aircraft to replace the EA-6B by 2009.
Richard McCrady, Sr., president of CF AirFreight of Minneapolis, has been appointed to the executive council of the Miami-based International Air Cargo Assn.
Already partners on Eurocopter's EC-120 advanced light single, Chinese companies are angling to move into higher power segments as new regulations free up airspace for commercial operations. Cognizant of their inexperience in the commercial sector, the Chinese are focusing for the time being on upgrading a trio of older Eurocopter derivatives in partnership with Western manufacturers.
Theodore Zwicker has been named vice president-defense airborne products for Washington-based Advanced Power Technologies Inc. He was a program manager for BAE Systems in New York.
Walter Moguel is typical in that he's not a stereotypical engineer. He doesn't fit the image of writing code in a cubicle all day, and he needs the fire created by change and risk.
The airport ramp agent with a squawking walkie-talkie may soon be a thing of the past with the introduction of digital, wireless communications between airport ramps, terminal buildings and cargo facilities. Using Motorola equipment, Arinc is following the path of communications provider Nextel--which has introduced wireless to other vertical industries such as construction--by rolling out the service to the airline/airport community.
Korean Air has been buoyed by its reinstatement as a SkyTeam partner with Air France and Delta as of Apr. 1. The rapidly expanding carrier was already engaged in a year-old review of its management and pilot training programs following a series of crashes when the FAA downgraded South Korea's safety ratings last year under International Civil Aviation Organization standards. Korean Air signed a $30-million contract with FlightSafetyBoeing to train the carrier's pilots and revamp its safety procedures.
The TA truck-in/walk-in ovens are suited for use in industrial environments and clean rooms, and operate at up to 650F. They are designed with a horizontal, recirculating airflow system with perforated aluminized steel walls with adjustable port-to-control airflow. A high-volume fan circulates air through the supply ductwork to create a constant horizontal airflow.
Four astronauts are set to upgrade and refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope next month in what promises to be the most complex and riskiest series of extravehicular activities (EVAs) ever attempted by NASA. The risk is not so much to the astronauts as to the telescope itself. While the EVA crew will face the same dangers as those who have left the relative safety of the space shuttle cabin before them, the telescope must be powered down during one of the EVAs for the first time since before its Apr. 25, 1990, launch.
According to Atlanta-based AIR Inc., a pilot hiring consultancy, the number of pilot furloughs in the U.S. increased in January to 7,967 or 8.42% of the 94,571 active airline pilots. This compares with 6,932 furloughs in December. About 621 pilots were hired in January, with the fractionals the most active, hiring 164. AIR Inc. predicts 6,000 new pilot positions in 2002. Last year, a total of 12,766 were hired in the U.S.
Flight Jacket Speed Polish acts as a heavy duty cleaner for removing aircraft soils and contaminants. It also functions as a micro-fine leveling agent for removing surface scratches that can cause excess wind resistance. And it provides a breathable, clear poly/acrylic barrier coating to reduce the harmful effects of UV light, acid rain and other airborne pollutants that can mar an aircraft's surface paint. It produces a glass-like finish on all aircraft surfaces, including glass, when used properly. It is also easily removed, but will not wash off with alkaline cleaners.
Canada will not appeal a decision last month by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that loans made through Bombardier for sale of regional jets were illegal. A Canadian government official said it prefers to negotiate a settlement with Brazil, which claimed the loans were improper. In recent years, the WTO also has ruled against Brazil's government loans. In April, both countries plan to resume negotiations to resolve their five-year disagreement over government subsidies (AW&ST Feb. 4, p. 33).
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency plans to award ``agreements'' next week to companies for its Responsive Access Small Cargo Affordable Launch (Rascal) project to build a low-cost satellite launcher (AW&ST Nov. 5, 2001, p. 64). The agency has allocated $5 million for the phase one feasibility studies, and the number of recipients is officially in the 1-6 range.
