The British Defense Ministry and BAE Systems are on the brink of concluding a deal providing the ministry with at least the possibility of clawing back some of the extended delay in getting its next generation of maritime patrol aircraft into service. The formal in-service date of the upgraded Nimrod MRA4 is March 2005. However, the deal being struck between BAE, the prime contractor, and the Defense Ministry would allow aircraft to being operated in the latter half of 2004.
An outside panel of astronomers working through the National Academy of Sciences will have a powerful role in deciding the first target of NASA's proposed New Frontiers program. Ed Weiler, associate administrator for space science, says the so-called ``decadal survey'' to set priorities for planetary exploration over the next 10 years can shortcut the scientific peer review that normally precedes project selection after an announcement of opportunity (AO).
VISIONICS CORP. AND HONEYWELL ARE COLLABORATING on combining Visionics' Biometric Network Appliance facial recognition technology with Honeywell's Enterprise Buildings Integrator and digital video manager equipment. Visionics' FaceIt software uses 84 bytes to characterize a face. In synthesizing a countenance, commonly known facial features are not used. The system picks 12-40 elements whose characteristics and relative position define the face.
A U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed Feb. 22 (local time) in the Philippines killing all 12 soldiers on board. The troops were part of a growing contingent of U.S. forces supporting the Philippine military's counter-terrorism operations. The crash occurred about 120 mi. north-northwest of Zamboanga.
In yet another affirmation of the wildly overblown expectations for mobile satellite services in general and satellite telephony in particular, Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd. last week filed for bankruptcy protection. In so doing, the Loral Space and Communications-backed venture demonstrated that industry's vision of millions of subscribers worldwide was a pipe dream. Iridium and ICO Global Communications preceded Globalstar down the same path in recent years, as did Orbcomm, a satellite-based data and messaging communications system.
Boeing is developing a production crew-rest module for the 777-200ER that would be located above the passenger cabin just aft of the cockpit. The first aircraft with this feature is slated for delivery to Japan Airlines in May 2003. The module--which accommodates up to four people with two bunks and two seats--replaces two main-deck flight crew bunks occupying space that otherwise could be used for two business-class seats. The unit also has space for a closet, sink or lavatory. The rest area is not certified for use during takeoff and landing.
James W. Page, 2nd, has become vice president-airline maintenance for Continental Connection carrier CommutAir, Plattsburgh, N.Y. He was director of maintenance.
This line of infrared ceramic heaters features a honeycomb tile design the company says provides a more radiant surface for increased output and heating efficiency. Operating at temperatures to 1,800F, the line consists of 14 models with input capacities of 30,000-160,000 BTU/hr. Suitable for horizontal or angle mounting up to 35 deg., the DK Series has a modular type design with 1-4 burners. The minimum mounting height is 11-17 ft. An optional Incoloy 800 reverberatory screen provides a secondary radiating surface.
Only a few months after it partially privatized its air traffic service provider, the British government is having to provide a 30-million-pound ($42.8-million) support package. The need for a cash infusion, which is yet to be announced formally, is the result of the business plan supporting the privatization not surviving its first contact with market realities.
Japanese International Space Station hardware that make up the single largest U.S./Japanese cooperative aerospace effort are shown undergoing final checkout near Tokyo.
Remember how much political trouble Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta got into last November for admitting the obvious--that airlines wouldn't be able to screen all checked baggage by Congress' Jan. 18 deadline? In the end, everyone backed off, allowing carriers to match bags at the start of a trip without having to match them again as they come out of hubs. Now, the Transportation Security Administration is acknowledging tacitly, and without political eruptions, that it might not meet the Dec.
James M. Smith, who has been CEO of the Edo Corp. of New York, also will be chairman, effective May 7. He will succeed Neil A. Armstrong, who is scheduled to retire.
Top Pentagon officials say they won't ``deliberately disseminate false information to the American or foreign media or publics,'' but they won't say what they have in mind for the new Office of Strategic Influence. Douglas J. Feith, the Defense undersecretary for policy, finds it tough sledding to explain the purpose of OSI. He admits he can describe nothing innovative the office would do nor name an information failure it needs to fix.
LaBarge Inc. will manufacture the electronic and box-level assemblies for the PerkinElmer Vivid VIS108 airport checked-baggage electronic inspection system, under a work order valued at more than $3.5 million.
CONTINUING ITS PROGRESS TOWARD ESTABLISHING an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) capability, Airservices Australia has selected Honeywell to provide the avionics and ground equipment to demonstrate the capability in a region near Bundaberg, Queensland. ADS-B-equipped aircraft transmit their GPS positions over a data link to air traffic controllers, who can then track and control aircraft in regions lacking surveillance radars.
Some stealth aircraft layouts, particularly drones, end up with short inlets for their turbofan engines. A serpentine duct is used to hide the engine face from radar, but the airflow tends to separate while negotiating the sharp turns, causing inlet distortion and poor pressure recovery. This is being addressed by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, Calif., with a project called Structurally Integrated Inlet Control Technology (Strict). The scheme involves using small jets of air to keep the flow attached to the walls.
The U.S. airline industry is too quick to pin its high cost of doing business on the wages paid to workers. That was one of the messages American Airlines Chairman, President and CEO Don Carty delivered to aviation professionals who gathered at the Wings Club in New York last week. ``Our challenge as an industry is not to blame labor for our high costs, but instead to find ways to make labor more productive.''
The company has built an advanced plant to reduce oxides of nitrogen emissions from its carbon brake manufacturing facility, which supplies BAE, Boeing and others. Known as recuperative thermal oxidizer, the plant replaces 20-year-old equipment, improving performance by a factor of 150. This is better than the most demanding target for any process producing NOx set by the U.K.'s Environmental Agency, according to Dunlop. The new plant lets the company increase production, since more material can be processed, while meeting environmental rules.
William Oberlin has become president, Joe Song vice president-space, communications and military aircraft, and Hyeong-Soon (Arthur) Park director of public relations, all of Boeing Korea.
Delta Air Transport, formerly Sabena Belgian World Airlines' regional subsidiary, plans to become a full-fledged European carrier operating under a new name, SN Brussels Airlines. SNBA's reshuffled management will continue to evaluate the merits of a proposed merger with Virgin Express, a Brussels-based affiliate of the British Richard Branson group.
Asian airlines are restructuring, resuming services and evaluating fleet plans to reestablish the growth they've seen ebb away over the past year as terrorist threats and recession have gripped the area.
Mid-February's traffic numbers are restoring confidence among the Assn. of European Airlines' (AEA) member carriers. Their international passenger traffic increased 0.3%, a minuscule growth but nevertheless a promising milestone, the very first positive numbers since Sept. 11. AEA members' traffic decreased up to 20.9% in mid-October. Today, on the European route system, it is increasing a healthy 4.5%, in sharp contrast to a 6.5% fall during the first half of February. The slow recovery is also materializing between Europe and the Pacific Rim.
Following years of continuous growth, the German aerospace industry may soon initiate its first layoffs as it grapples with a sharp downturn in the airline sector. Members of BDLI, the German aerospace industries association, posted 15.3 billion euros ($13.5 billion) in revenues last year, up from $13 billion in 2000. Employment increased to 71,000 from 69,000, its highest level since the early 1990s.
Airwolf Filter has purchased manufacturing and distribution rights to Walker air-oil separators for the genav piston engine market. The venerable Walker Air-Sep is certificated for Continental and Lycoming engines. The product, renamed Airwolf Air/Oil Sep by Walker Engineering, acts as a condenser for oil vapor created inside the crankcase. The system puts back recovered oil that would otherwise be piped overboard through the crankcase breather tube. The 4-in.-dia. separator weighs 15 oz., is 6 in. tall and mounts on the aircraft firewall.
In ways subtle and not so subtle, Airbus and Boeing are playing out their rivalry in Asia with an extra degree of patience this year as the region searches for a way to pull itself out of prolonged recession. For the world's two major aircraft manufacturers, Asian Aerospace 2002 will be the third straight exhibition in Singapore at which their once fastest-growing market is in the doldrums.
