Boeing's Airborne Warning and Control Systems programs achieved sales of $200 million in the second quarter, and the sector is on track to book $800 million for the year. Installation of Radar System Improvement Program kits on three NATO AWACS and a U.K. AWACS helped fuel revenues. RSIP increases radar sensitivity and can track smaller, stealthy targets over a longer range. Installation also was begun on a second RSIP kit for the U.S. Air Force during the quarter and the first Electronic Support Measures kit was added to a French AWACS.
Global airline alliances, the private clubby associations formed to evade myriad government restrictions, have laid the foundation for the world's future air transportation system. Four huge airline partnerships have taken shape and are adding members, market value and network connections. The four groupings comprise members from among most of the top 25 world carriers, and recent additions show a penetration into the second-tier level of world markets.
John P. Young, associate professor in the Aviation Technology Dept. at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., is the recipient of the association's Capt. Vern L. Laursen Award in recognition of dedicated service to aerospace education.
Ayres Corp. is close to obtaining FAA certification of a new version of its venerable agplane. Called the 660 Thrush, it is to be qualified for instrument flight, a 12,500-lb. takeoff as well as landing weight, and payload up to 660 gal. Powered by a Pratt&Whitney PT6A-60 or -65 or -67 turboprop, the aircraft will have a 4-hr. cruise endurance, 170-kt. normal cruise speed and extensive aerial spray and seeding capabilities.
Delivery of the first three production Mitsubishi F-2s to the Japanese air force will be postponed from March to May 2000 because Mitsubishi needs to reinforce the fighter's co-cured composite wing to prevent hairline cracking (AW&ST Aug. 16, p. 32). Cracks in the first prototype began appearing during static testing under high g-forces last year and have reappeared this year. Mitsubishi and the Japanese Defense Agency have agreed to reinforce the wing with metal plates on either side of where the cracks have appeared. The reinforcing metal will add about 18 lb.
Some missions to bomb Yugoslavia were canceled--two airborne B-2 were even recalled--because European heads of state warned that their governments would fall if attacks on certain targets were carried out, says Edward Luttwak, a member of the government's National Security Study Group. If Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had not angered the world by driving ethnic Albanians out of Kosovo, the Italian and German governments would have been forced out of the coalition, he said, and the use of their bases lost.
The U.S. commercial transport fleet has achieved an 86% compliance with Stage 3 noise rules and likely will meet the 100% requirement set for Dec. 31, according to the Transportation Dept. The Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 required all civil aircraft weighing more than 75,000 lb. to be Stage 3 certified by the end of this year. It affects about 7,500 heavy transports in the U.S. During 1998, 479 noisier Stage 2 transports were removed from the U.S. fleet while 745 newer Stage 3-qualified models were added. Next year, only 600,000 people living near U.S.
Skyway Airlines last week took delivery of the first of five Fairchild Aerospace 328JETs at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. The launch customer for the 328JET, Skyway will inaugurate service on Oct. 1 between Milwaukee and Grand Rapids, Mich., and on Nov. 1 between Milwaukee and Pittsburgh. Skyway expects to receive its other four 32-seat 328JETS by the end of the year. Operated by Astral Aviation Inc., Skyway is a subsidiary of Midwest Express Airlines. Cabin service in the 328JETS, on flights of 30 min.
Canadian Airlines International and Air Canada last week received permission from the Canadian government to share competitive information that could lead to a merger of the nation's two largest carriers.
MICHAEL A. TAVERNAJohn Fricker contributed to this story.
After a decade-long slide, the Russian aerospace and defense industry appears to be, if not yet on the road to recovery, at least ready to tackle some of its most serious problems. To be sure, the multiyear military development and procurement plan promised by Boris Yeltsin two years ago at the MAKS '97 Moscow air show is nowhere in sight. Ditto for foreign arms sales, which declined again last year despite a similar government pledge to back export efforts (AW&ST Aug. 25, 1997, p. 20).
The State Dept. has refused a request from Loral Space&Communications to lift a suspension that is holding up the sale of the Chinasat 8 satellite. Loral's government-approved technical assistance agreement to launch the communications satellite on a Chinese Long March booster was suspended last December amid allegations that Loral and Hughes had improperly transferred technical information and know-how to the Chinese (AW&ST May 31, p. 30). State Dept.
Eastwind Airlines is up for sale. Minimum bid for the Greensboro, N.C.-based Part 121 carrier is $10 million. It operates daily scheduled service from Greensboro to Trenton, N.J., and Orlando, Fla., and has a fleet of two leased Boeing 737-700s. Eastwind employs about 145.
Parametric Technology has introduced the Pro/Desktop 2000i conceptual design program, which links with its i-series of mechanical design software. Pro/Desktop 2000i takes initial designs from the sketch stage to 3D models, and then can pass them on to more detailed programs like Pro/Engineer for analysis and manufacturing design (right).
Gerald R. Fairbairn, professor of aviation at Daniel Webster College in Nashua, N.H., has received the University Aviation Assn.'s William A. Wheatley Award for 1999 for an outstanding contribution to aerospace education.
Despite the Asian recession and a discount environment, Qantas Airways has reported an $A422.6-million (U.S. $278-million) profit for 1998 and is now expected to begin a fleet renewal program.
DHL Airways has taken delivery of the first of six Airbus A300B4 passenger-to-freighter conversion aircraft ordered from British Aerospace Aviation Services.
DaimlerChrysler Airbus will manage its flight test data and documents with the Flight Test Information Management System/2000 by H&F Aeronautical Technologies of San Diego (http://www.hfaerotech.com). H&F will also begin work with Airbus' report publishing system. . . . Rockwell Collins will use Applied Microsystems Corp.'s CodeTest-Advanced Coverage Tools to meet the FAA's DO-178B Level A standards for critical testing of its software. Collins becomes the first avionics manufacturer to use the CodeTest-ACT tools to meet the FAA standards. . . .
A consortium of German companies involved in a proposal to develop an airlifter based on the Russian-Ukrainian Antonov An-70 said here that a German Ministry of Defense evaluation considered the aircraft, the An-7X, to be superior to the A400M proposed by Airbus. Proposals for the airlifter were submitted in January.
EDWARD H. PHILLIPSJohn D. Morrocco in London and Geoffrey Thomas in Perth, Australia, contributed to this article.
Despite a nearly two-year headstart by its major competition, the Star Alliance, the eight-member Oneworld coalition led by American Airlines and British Airways, is striving to rapidly build a competitive, global network of carriers aimed chiefly at attracting the high-yield business customer.
Cathay Pacific is considering fleet expansion if a current increase in traffic continues. After withstanding two years of the Asian recession, the carrier plunged into the red last year, but it has reported a modest $13.5-million profit for the first half of 1999. It would have made more if pilots had not staged a three-week ``sick-out'' that resulted in 500 canceled flights at a loss of $64 million. Cathay was about to buy the A340-500/600 when the recession hit.
