Wilbrecht Electronics' metal foil resistor, Type MAQ, was designed to handle external mechanical stresses by the lead movement and vibration occurring in aerospace, aviation and military applications. The Type MAQ's two-wire lead construction provides increased stability against vibration and abates mechanical stress from external forces and pulsation. Also, the resistor incorporates a high-purity, alumina ceramic substrate and proprietary Ni-Cr alloy foil system for ultra-low TCR. It is approved for both MIL-PRF-55182/RNC90Y (R level) and NASA specification S-311-P-813.
Boeing is assembling a team to design the flight control system for NASA's proposed Blended Wing Body Low-Speed Vehicle following Dryden Flight Research Center's decision to withdraw from the program.
Pinpoint Laser Systems has introduced an adjustable MicroShim for precision machine leveling, positioning and mounting applications. The shim design provides many height positions in increments of 0.001 in. over a range of 1.0 in. for supporting machinery and equipment while providing high load-bearing capacity. The MicroShim consists of a pair of overlapping wedge plates with machined surfaces that permit the plates to slide parallel to one another.
Ken Jackson (see photos) has been named director of program development and John Jellicorse director of flight systems for Spacehab in Huntsville, Ala. Jackson was capture manager and Jellicorse was technical lead for Spacehab's Microgravity Alliance program at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
NavTech Inc. has signed a five-year flight-planning contract with Air Jamaica under which NavTech's DispatchPro/Aurora system will replace the British Airways systems now being used by the airline.
The two planned derivatives of the Boeing 777--which will bring the total models to five--are approaching milestones that will fix the wide-body transport on a new course to becoming one of Boeing's most successful niche aircraft. In the explorations during the design phase, the 777-200LR (longer range) and the 777-300ER (extended range) are coming in below the specification operating empty weight, promising either greater than originally planned range or improved payload capability for each aircraft, said Lars Andersen, program manager.
Acting National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Carol Carmody voiced disappointment at an FAA committee finding that the costs of implementing fuel tank inerting systems would outweigh the safety gains. After TWA 800's catastrophic fuel tank explosion in 1996, the board urged carriers to begin injecting nonflammable gases into fuel tanks to prevent vapors from igniting when exposed to heat sources or electrical problems. Since then, two other large passenger jets have been destroyed by fuel tank explosions.
Airports Council International reports that April cargo traffic decreased 9% while passenger traffic rose 3%, compared with the same month last year. Cargo volume carried decreased 13% in North America, 7% in both Asia/Pacific and Latin America/Caribbean regions, and 4% in Europe. The exceptions to the negative trend caused by an economic slowdown are Beijing, showing a 16% increase in cargo volume; Sydney, with 10% and Dubai, 6%.
Carboloy, a subsidiary of Seco Tools AB of Sweden, has a catalog of productivity kits for more effective milling, turning, threading and cut-off operations. The kits combine toolholders, inserts and accessories in one package. Each kit is described with an emphasis on product benefits. Specifications on insert and chip-groove styles, depth of cut and cutting speeds are included. There also are descriptions of the newly introduced productivity kits for square-shoulder and button milling, which include the Super Turbo and Buttonmill brandname tools.
Grieve has expanded its catalog of ovens and furnaces to include new equipment and new market applications. More than 400 standard ovens are featured, including all types for laboratory, industrial, and Class 100 cleanroom for heat processing applications. Custom heat processing and heat treating equipment capabilities are included, as well as a ``virtual tour'' of Grieve's plant. Dozens of standard furnaces with operating temperatures to 2,200F are described.
The Galileo spacecraft made the first polar magnetic measurements of Io on Aug. 6, which will help determine whether the Jovian moon has its own magnetic field. Prior Io approaches went by the equator, and the 200-km. flyby of the north pole should help separate an intrinsic field from one induced by Jupiter's varying magnetosphere. The spacecraft is in generally good health, but at least nine of the 16 camera observations were ruined by a recurring electronics problem (AW&ST June 4, p. 38). The next Io flyby is set for Oct. 16, over the south pole.
Hoping to overcome environmental objections, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) officials have scaled back the amount of fill that their most intrusive runway proposal on San Francisco Bay would require. But the Sierra Club and other opponents still regard any airport expansion plan that enters the Bay as unacceptable.
The CompactPCI Pl-2005 pattern generator features a 225-MHz. clock rate and near-infinite looping capability. The Pl-2005 can generate a wide range of digital patterns for any test application requiring a serial or parallel digital data stream. It is expandable to 64 output channels in 16-channel increments and features 64K memory depth per channel, and start/stop trigger inputs. A phase locked loop clock provides high-resolution timing for precision control of timing signals.
The Pentagon is taking another stab at trying to intercept ballistic missiles from space with kinetic kill interceptors, reviving a concept President Clinton killed in his first year in office.
Rexlon 2000 is a self-lubricated material for high-performance aerospace bearings. Rexlon 2000 is a polymeric composite offering lower cost and full machinability not available with conventional fabric-backed liners. The material can be sprayed or molded to most metallic surfaces to provide a bearing surface with vibration dampening, minimal friction and wear, for an operating temperature range of -65F to +325F. Rexlon 2000 is now qualified to Mil-B-81934 and soon to Mil-B-81820. Request Bulletin No. 1506. PSI Bearings/Rexnord, 2175 Union Place, Simi Valley, Calif.
British Airways Concorde flight crews began refresher training operations at Shannon, Ireland, last week. Alpha Foxtrot, the first of BA's supersonic transports to undergo safety modifications, took off from London Heathrow airport for Shannon on Aug. 7. The crew completed a supersonic flight cycle to the west of Ireland to replicate a London-New York service before landing at Shannon. Training at Shannon will include up to 35 takeoffs/landings. BA hopes to resume normal services with the supersonic transport in September.
USN Vice Adm. (ret.) Edward Moore, Jr., has become vice president-systems integration for the Anteon Corp.'s Applied Technology Group of San Diego. He was commander of the Pacific Fleet Naval Surface Force.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China has worked for years to improve a national airline industry dogged by overcapacity, reckless price wars, heavy debt and poor services. But the industry's financial performance for the first half of the year shows the CAAC hasn't found the formula yet, especially in terms of yield management. The 20 carriers under its financial supervision racked up a cumulative 2.23-billion yuan ($285.9-million) loss for the period.
The FAA is proposing an airworthiness directive that would require correction of faulty circuitry on the Garmin GNS 430, an integrated navigation and communication system installed in some 1,985 general aviation aircraft stateside. Yet, two years ago, the company notified the FAA when it discovered a few instances of inaccurate course deviation indications on instrument approaches. The problem was traced to one vendor's components, which met specifications, but in some instances led to a faulty indication for the pilot.
Richard Alena of NASA's Ames Research Center and Dan Duncavage of the Johnson Space Center have developed a laptop diagnostic tool for the International Space Station. The Databus Analysis Tool (DAT) monitors status and command message traffic between on-board control computers and major subsystems, including the station's solar arrays, docking ports and gyroscopes. The diagnostic tool is integrated into an off-the-shelf Pass 1000 system from SBS Technologies, which includes analysis software and a hardware interface in a PC card format.
David Boggess (see photos) has been appointed managing director of client support and Walter Slazyk director of technical operations for SimuFlite Training International, Dallas-Fort Worth Inter- national Airport. Boggess was director of training support, while Slazyk was senior manager of technical operations.
The FAA proposed a $50,000 civil penalty against Sikorsky Support Services, charging that the company violated hazardous materials regulations by shipping three aviation fuel control units containing residual amounts of flammable liquid. FedEx received the units last Oct. 30 and carried them by air from Alabama to its air cargo facility in Albuquerque, N.M., where an FAA special security agent found on Nov. 2 that leaking fuel had saturated a corner of the shipment's outer packing, the agency said.
