Janco Aviation Pte Ltd. will distribute spares and retrofit sales for Smiths Aerospace's Flight Management Systems on Boeing 737s for Pacific Rim customers.
RECON/OPTICAL WILL USE Mercury's Race ++ conduction-cooled multicomputers in its new CA-279 digital aerial reconnaissance camera. Mercury's image processing system will produce near-real-time pictures. According to Recon/Optical, it will be able to provide images in both the visible and infrared spectrum simultaneously. Mercury has repackaged its air-cooled boards to operate in a conduction-cooled environment. This cools and protects the boards from external air in both the thin air of high-altitude flight and the corrosive environment of a battlefield.
That old problem--financial uncertainty--is facing Japan's newest offshore airport project for the central industrial city of Nagoya. Yukihisa Hirano, a board member of Toyota Motors and president of the Central Japan International Airport Co., said construction of the airport on a 1,432-acre man-made island in Ise Bay is on schedule. But he warned that the project, which is nicknamed Centrair for ``central [Japan] airport,'' is under increasing funding pressure.
The XT ``Xtreme Torque'' series was designed for applications requiring the highest torque in the smallest envelope. About one-third the size of a standard power-off conventional clutch or brake, XT products provide an economical and space-saving solution for aerospace and military applications, robotics, computer chip and cleanroom handling equipment, automation machinery and material handling equipment. Electroid's Model XT-39C is a power-off or ``failsafe'' clutch that is 2.59 in. high, with a diameter of 3.4 in., yet offers a holding torque of 100 in.-lb.
More than $500 million in Air Force Eastern Range and 45th Space Wing upgrades to enable more rapid, cost-effective launch operations at Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center received a baptism by fire last week by supporting major Titan and Delta launches and a space shuttle countdown--all in the span of four days. Thunderstorms near Pad 39A during the late phases of Discovery's initial countdown scrubbed a planned Aug. 9 shuttle liftoff, but additional attempts were planned late last week, depending upon the weather.
Boeing is looking at transitioning its 747 final assembly operations to a continuously moving production line in an effort to reduce flow time and unit costs. At the same time, program managers have determined that the top preferences of 747 operators for near-term improvements to the aircraft are reduced engine noise, development of cabin overhead space and installation of 777-style interiors.
The FAA--facing a Sept. 15 expiration of LaGuardia's slot allocation lottery and having no long-term solution for the airport's congestion woes in the offing--last week extended the plan to Oct. 26, 2002. The agency also is calling airlines back to the gaming tables this week to participate in another lottery to reallocate 19 unused slot exemptions at the airport.
Northrop Grumman is preparing to conduct flight tests aimed at demonstrating the capability of an aircraft with a reshaped forward fuselage to reduce the intensity of sonic booms at ground level. Charles Boccadoro, Northrop Grumman's Quiet Supersonic Platform (QSP) program manager, said the demonstrations will involve the use of a pair of baseline and modified F-5E aircraft to conduct about 18 flights at different altitudes and in various weather conditions. The tests are to begin in about one year.
Belgium's Sabena wants to slash 1,600 jobs and sell several company divisions to achieve a financial turnaround. Among the divisions up for sale are Sabena Catering, Technics, cargo and hotels. Sabena CEO Christoph Mueller said he wants to focus on 11 Airbus A330s as a long-haul fleet. The carrier will reduce its short-haul fleet from 66 to 60 aircraft. Regional jets may be added from April 2002. Because of strikes, the airline had to cancel close to 200 flights late last week.
Dy 4 Systems released SVME/DMV-570, a flash nonvolatile mass memory module designed for harsh and rugged applications where large amounts of nonvolatile, mass memory are required to store extensive databases such as theater area maps or video/satellite imagery. The SVME/DMV-570 provides solid-state nonvolatile memory without the need for shock and vibration isolators and environmental enclosures normally required for media mass storage devices.
Scientists and pilots are converging on Florida for a six-week research campaign that will use a fleet of satellites, aircraft and sea-skimming unpiloted ``aerosondes'' to probe the fury of Atlantic hurricanes from the cloud tops to the sea surface.
Grizzled oldtimers claim that the latest Beltway soap opera, starring threatened cuts to air force squadrons and army divisions in favor of new luster for glamour-grabbers like missile defense, is the same old show. Currently at center stage, they say, is the Defense Dept.'s wobbly choreography of the Bush team's strategic review, Quadrennial Defense Review and 2003 budget request. Then there's the aging episode about strategy and force size. To pay for modernization, the Bush team is said to be ready to retreat from the two-regional-war scenario.
Sidney P. Saucier III, a rocket propulsion engineer who was associate director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, died Aug. 6 of cancer. He was 65. A graduate of Mississippi State University, Saucier joined NASA at Marshall in 1962. He was project engineer on the RL-10 cryogenic engine in the old Propulsion and Vehicle Engineering Laboratory, and later managed the Inertial Upper Stage Project. He was named manager of the Science and Applications Project Office in 1987, and in 1996 became director of the Propulsion Laboratory.
The intellectual storm that has burst over President Bush's bid to revolutionize deterrence centers on whether missile defense will inhibit or incite more proliferation of missile technology. The Administration resoundingly proclaims that ballistic missile defense (BMD) will curb proliferation simply by diminishing the practical value and usefulness of offensive missiles.
Northrop Grumman has delivered the first Block 20 E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint-STARS) to the U.S. Air Force. The four-engine jet, assigned to the 93rd Air Control Wing at Robins AFB, Ga., features COTS computers to operate surveillance equipment. These systems include 20 Compaq Alphaserver ES40CV systems running the OpenVMS operating system to support 18 workstations, one central computer and a central backup computer. The Air Force has a fleet of 11 Joint-STARS aircraft.
The FAA is using SimAuthor's FlightViz visualization software for its Aviation System Standards program, which develops, flight-inspects and publishes the agency's instrument approach procedures. . . . Tecnomatix will integrate its eMPower manufacturing process software into mySAP's product life-cycle management suite.
Canada 3000 plans to inaugurate direct polar route service twice weekly from Toronto to Delhi on Oct. 8 and weekly from Vancouver to Delhi on Oct. 10 with Airbus A340-300s. Canada 3000 claims they are the first direct scheduled flights between Canada and India. On Nov. 4, the carrier plans to begin service between Toronto-Mumbai, with Airbus A330-200 aircraft. This service will have a 1-hr. stop at London-Gatwick. Sample economy round-trip fare from Toronto to Delhi or Mumbai is C$1,499 ($977) and from Vancouver, C$1,649.
Dennis A. Zalupski has been named senior vice president-sales of the Commercial Div. of Kellstrom Industries Inc., Miramar, Fla. He was general manager of sales for General Electric's Aircraft Engine Services Div.
The Series H42S high-torque, 42-mm. hybrid step motor has improved performance and competitive pricing. The 1.8 deg. step motors--measuring 42 mm. square--are available in four lengths: 25, 34, 40 and 48 mm. These high-efficiency motors come in both unipolar and bipolar versions, have a holding torque range of 156-441 mNm., and weigh 150-340 g. They feature a 5% per step, step angle accuracy and temperature rise of 80C (max.).
KAISER ELECTRO-OPTICS HAS DEVELOPED transmitter optical assemblies for the AN/AAQ-24 (V) directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM). It is designed to detect and track an incoming IR missile fired at an aircraft, and to focus high-power arc-lamp countermeasures at the missile seeker to confuse it. It is the optical assemblies that transmit the high-powered arc-lamp beam with its IR countermeasures. Northrop Grumman teamed with BAE Systems jointly developed DIRCM for the U.S. Special Operations Command and for the U.K.
Exactly how did the bicycle-making brothers from Dayton achieve the first controlled, powered flight? Curious visitors sought the answers at the Wright Experience Project exhibit at EAA's Countdown to Kitty Hawk Pavilion--tantamount, to many, as a visit to Wilbur and Orville's workshop. Here, volunteers recreated some of the Wrights' wind tunnel tests, propeller-making techniques and engine runs, to give visitors a deeper understanding of the scientific undertakings that led to the brothers' ultimate accomplishment.
Fred deLeeuw has been promoted to senior vice president-strategic planning from vice president-corporate finance of Atlas Air Inc., Purchase, N.Y. Richard A. (Tony) Galbraith and Ronald B. Woodard have been named to the board of directors of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc. Galbraith retired as treasurer of British Airways in 1998. Woodard was president of the Boeing Commercial Airline Group from 1995-98. He is president/CEO of the MagnaDrive Corp.
