The FAA has issued a final rule that will upgrade FAR Part 145 regulations governing certification of approved repair stations. In the wake of strong protests from general aviation groups, the agency revised its original proposal that Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn. officials claim would have increased costs for aircraft owners. The final version eliminates a series of provisions that AOPA claims were designed for large facilities with hundreds of mechanics, but were impractical for small shops that have only a few employees.
One of the most important subjects in our lives is also one of the most poorly understood--deterrence. The word's origin is the Latin terre, meaning to frighten. The concept is as old as human history: to prevent the taking of an action by fear of the consequences.
NASA and Boeing Satellite Systems are in the final stages of negotiating terms for the agency to accept the TDRS-H tracking and data relay satellite (shown in the factory before its June 2000 launch), which has fallen short of its performance objectives in orbit (AW&ST July 9, p. 35). The problem with the satellite's new multiple-access receive antenna was traced to an electrostatic interaction between the antenna and a thermal blanket that hampered five of the 18 communications functions on board. The spacecraft's 15-ft.
Bombardier's Continental joined the growing number of corporate aircraft in the super midsize cabin category with the first flight of its Honeywell AS907-powered aircraft on Aug. 14.
Mark Donegan has become president/chief operating officer of the Precision Castparts Corp., Portland, Ore. He was president of the subsidiary Wyman-Gordon Co., Millbury, Mass.
After a $200-million investment over 15 years building a major overhaul center here, Air China and Lufthansa German Airlines are ready to sign an even longer joint operating agreement that will extend their present ownership of Aircraft Engineering Maintenance Co. (Ameco) when it expires in 2004.
Russian companies demonstrated a series of military aircraft upgrades at the Moscow air show, including new MiG-29 and Su-30 versions, but Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov says this is the last round of modifications before work starts on a fifth-generation fighter.
Mercury Computer Systems' RACE systems has been selected by Northrop Grumman Corp. for use in the FAA's Weather Systems Processor presently utilized at midsize airports.
HONEYWELL AEROSPACE ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS plans to use a Jeppesen flight-planning engine to generate flight plans for corporate operators of aircraft equipped with their Airborne Flight Information Service (AFIS). AFIS is Honeywell's secure data link global communication service that uses ground-based VHF and satellite links. It works through an aircraft's flight management system to enable aircraft operators to stay in touch with their fleet, better organize flight operations and give planning assistance that will reduce pilots' turnaround time.
Southwest Airlines saved $20.4 million during the second quarter by fuel hedging--buying crude oil and heating oil contracts that serve to offset increases in jet fuel prices--but the technique may boomerang in the future, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Southwest has agreements in place to hedge about 80% of its estimated jet fuel needs for the rest of 2001, 47% of 2002's total and ``small portions'' of 2003-05, and it expects its third-quarter price to be less than the second quarter's average, 74.96 cents per gallon.
Overbearing safety and environmental regulations, the imposition of questionable security measures and a crumbling infrastructure are strangling the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, according to laboratory executives.
IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, ``THE BE A PILOT'' program has received more than 18,400 requests from consumers for a certificate entitling them to an introductory flight for only $49. A key part of the initiative is a new series of learn-to-fly ads being aired on select cable TV channels. In addition, the organization is revising its Web site (www.beapilot.com) to include more content and a virtual flight scenario.
A student team from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., took first place in the annual National General Aviation Design Competition sponsored by the FAA, NASA and Air Force Research Laboratory. The winning design featured a Cessna 182 Skylane retrofitted with a turbocharged, reciprocating diesel engine that burns jet fuel. Second place went to a Pennsylvania State University team for its four-place turbofan-powered ``Defiance'' and third place went to a University of Virginia group for its ``Vector Evolution'' design.
Steve D'Onofrio (see photo) has been named director of design engineering for the ITT Industries Avionics Div., Clifton, N.J. He was manager of digital design engineering.
Bush Administration reviews of U.S. national strategic policies and plans may produce a startling recommendation later this year: develop, build and deploy a new nuclear weapon, according to Energy Dept. and Pentagon officials.
GAO scolds the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command for buying and fielding large numbers of information technology systems, sometimes more than 50% of the planned buy, during low-rate initial production. One aim of LRIP is to acquire equipment for operational testing, so problems can be found and fixes devised before too many units get into the field and the cost of retrofits gets high. SPAWAR officials said high LRIP quantities are OK when the equipment uses proven, low-risk commercial technology.
Saab Bofors Dynamics has signed a $9.01-million contract with Thales Netherland B.V. for the RBS 15 missile AD system to be mounted on Polish naval vessels.
Raytheon Aircraft Co.'s Hawker Horizon business jet made its first flight on Aug. 11, paving the way for a two-year certification program aimed at delivering airplanes to customers early in 2004. Tom Carr, Raytheon Aircraft's chief test pilot for the Horizon, said the airplane flew well, and ``performance and handling qualities were exactly as expected.'' During the 2-hr. 29-min. flight he and copilot Hans Betz flew the Horizon to a maximum altitude of 14,500 ft. and a speed of 225 KTAS. The third crewmember was test engineer Andy Collier.
Cargo operators have a ``disproportionately high number of accidents'' during takeoff and climb and at night compared with passenger airlines, according to a report on a study conducted by the Netherlands' National Aerospace Laboratory and the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority. The report, published by the Flight Safety Foundation, states that night flying and the use of aging aircraft are factors affecting the safety of freight operations worldwide.
Jason 1, the French-built replacement for the Topex-Poseidon ocean circulation spacecraft that expanded scientists' understanding of the El Nino and La Nina phenomena, is returning to France for more work. The satellite was delivered to Vandenberg AFB, Calif., July 31 in preparation for a Sept. 15 launch. But the flight was delayed 4-6 weeks after low-level vibration testing raised concerns about the spacecraft's solar arrays.
COMAIR JET EXPRESS HAS ADDED four Gulfstream IV-SP large-cabin jets to its business aviation fleet based at Cincinnati, and has made the twin-engine airplanes available for charter worldwide. The jet has a range of 4,900 mi. at 530 mph.
The governor of Osaka prefecture, Fusae Ohta, has proposed merging administration of Japan's two largest international airports, Tokyo's Narita and Osaka's Kansai. But in Tokyo, her proposal is being read as a win-lose solution--a win for the financially ailing Kansai at the expense of Narita. The $15-billion Kansai has not been profitable since its 1994 opening while Narita's financial health is steadily improving, especially with a second runway to open next spring.
Ailing Sabena Belgian World Airlines, in a note of optimism, expects to restore profitability in 2005 after instating one more far-reaching survival plan. European analysts, however, last week adopted a skeptical attitude toward Sabena management's wishful thinking while unions criticized the need for 1,600 job cuts, fleet downsizing and disposal of multiple noncore businesses.
Joseph Haddock has been named Washington-based vice president-government business development for the Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. He was director of international programs for Canada.
MBDA has begun early definition of a navalized version of its Scalp/Storm Shadow cruise missile intended to allow deep strikes at land targets from submarines and surface ships. Europe's answer to the U.S. Tomahawk, the Naval Scalp is intended to fill a gap in Europe's precision-weapon capability, which--except for Tomahawks on U.K. submarines--is currently confined to the air-dropped Scalp/Storm Shadow and the German-Swedish Taurus KEPD, still in development (AW&ST June 25, p. 35).
