Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers were again grounded last week after inspections revealed a flaw in some of the Rolls-Royce F402-RR-408 engines. The problem is an incorrectly made cotter key that secures the variable inlet guide vane support structure. About 35 engines are affected. Harriers already were grounded earlier this year following two crashes (AW&ST June 21, p. 23).
Although several European airlines are experiencing a slow decline in load factor on long-haul routes, there is no downturn in sight for the industry in general. During the first half of this year, passenger traffic at European airports increased 7.4%, according to the Airports Council International (ACI). Air cargo, which was flat in 1998, increased 2.1%. But ACI Europe director Philippe Hamon warns that the health of the airline industry is threatened by poor air traffic management and declining on-time performance.
North Korea is reassembling 30 MiG-21s it bought for $1.3 million each from Kazakhstan. The former Soviet republic is reequipping with more modern MiG-29s, Su-27s and Su-25s that it is getting from Russia in exchange for 40 four-engine Tu-95MS heavy bombers that are being transferred back to the Russian air force. North Korea already has 130 MiG-21s in its total force of about 550 combat jet aircraft. While some analysts suggested the ex-Kazakhstan aircraft would be used for spare parts, U.S.
A German federal prosecutor will conduct a criminal investigation on alleged espionage charges involving an LFK sales engineer that could have implications for the Eurofighter EF2000's weapon system programs. The engineer was engaged in sales of antitank systems unrelated to EF2000 at LFK , a DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA) affiliate. However, LFK is scheduled to participate in the EF2000 weapon system development. DASA officials last week emphasized that only preliminary studies have been conducted so far.
The sunshade door on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory was successfully opened Aug. 12, clearing the way for the $1.5-billion telescope to begin collecting X-ray images. Ground controllers at Chandra's operations center in Cambridge, Mass., commanded separation of a pyrotechnic latch at 2 p.m. EDT, opening the 120-lb., 9 ft.-dia. door and allowing X-ray radiation to reach the observatory's mirrors for the first time. The event took place five days after the TRW-built telescope arrived at its operational orbit following a fifth burn of its Integral Propulsion System (IPS).
After initially planning a cut of $1.4 billion, the House Appropriations Committee voted on July 30 to reduce NASA's Fiscal 2000 budget by $1 billion. The full House and the Senate have not yet acted. NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin wrote the following exclusively for Aviation Week&Space Technology in response to the planned reductions.
John Morgan has been named director of marketing and sales, Peter Rowe director of services, Rohan Alice cargo director and Capt. Richard Hill director of flight operations, all for British Midland Airways.
An Ariane 42P with two solid propellant boosters launched the Indonesian Telkom 1 satellite into geostationary transfer orbit on Aug. 12 from Kourou, French Guiana. Launch occurred at 6:52 p.m. EDT, and the satellite successfully separated 21 min. later.
Site preparation for a 100,000-sq.-ft. Air Hub and Sort Facility for Purolator Courier Ltd. is underway at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Ontario, Canada. The new facility, which is part of a C$82-million investment to build 11 new hubs across Canada, is within 60 min. driving time of downtown Toronto and within a day's drive of 120 million consumers. Purolator's Canadian network moves more than 400,000 lb. of freight nightly in 42 aircraft.
Kaman Aerospace Corp. has been awarded a $4.2-million contract by the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Lab to develop a prototype remote piloting package for the K-Max Helicopter and to flight test the aircraft to evaluate its UAV capability.
With Iridium LLC's survival in doubt and ICO Global Communications Ltd. experiencing problems of its own--a recent public offering failed to raise the $600 million management had targeted--some observers might be questioning what the future holds for satellite operators in general.
NASA/Boeing collaboration will demonstrate 41 advanced technologies for reusable launch vehicles NASA and Boeing's recent signing of a four-year agreement to build and fly a single X-37 reusable vehicle in orbit clears the way for demonstrating a wide range of technologies that eventually could cut the cost of accessing space from $10,000 to $1,000/lb.
Facing barriers to entry stiffer than management initially anticipated, Litton Industries Inc. plans to bow out of the commercial mainframe outsourcing and professional services businesses.
Maersk Air Ltd. has become the launch customer in the U.K. for the Bombardier CRJ-700 Regional Jet, with an order for three of the 70-seat aircraft and options for three more. The Birmingham, England-based carrier has also ordered two more CRJ-200s. The total order is valued at up to $150 million.
Arianespace delayed the launch of the Telkom 1 satellite on an Ariane 4 from Aug. 4 to Aug. 12. The delay was ordered to replace an electrical system in the third-stage cryogenic engine after a problem was discovered in a similar system during checkout in Europe.
Anita Davis has become acting president of the COM DEV WirelessSystems Div., Camarillo, Calif., following the resignation of Paul Graham. She has been vice president-corporate development for COM DEV International Ltd., Cambridge, Ontario.
Air Force officials are set to select a penetrator warhead for the Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missile following the recent successful test of the system. USAF has been evaluating two different Calcm penetrator options, a version of the Lockheed Martin Advanced Unitary Penetrator and the British Aerospace Multiple Warhead System based on its Broach warhead design. The July test of Calcm with a 1,000-lb. AUP warhead has set the stage for an Air Force decision on which penetrator warhead to use for Calcms.
COMMERCIAL USE OF ADA SOFTWARE IS GROWING, despite predictions of its demise in 1997, when the U.S. Defense Dept. removed its mandate that Ada be used in new military systems. Ada was developed out of Defense Dept. concerns about proliferation of programming languages and the need to develop a language using sound software engineering principles to handle large, complex projects.
The $285-million residential relocation program at Louisville International Airport, of which the house swap is a part, has been underway for more than a decade. At the outset, some 40,000 people lived within the 65 Ldn (day/night average sound level) noise contour in 3,760 residences. Thus far, 2,400 families have been relocated, their properties acquired at a cost of $180 million.
One of the hottest developments in aerospace over the past few years has been electronic record keeping for manufacturing plans and change orders, plus the applicable government regulations. Keeping track of changes to software has become its own headache. Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems in Marietta, Ga., has turned to Merant's PVCS/Dimensions as a software configuration management (SCM) tool for its C-130J Hercules program (see photo).
COOPER TIRE&RUBBER CO. HAS DEVELOPED and patented ENVIsys, an electronic noise reduction system to make cockpits quieter for general aviation pilots and passengers. Quiet Flight LLC of Dallas distributes the system under license from Cooper. ENVIsys picks up noise from a series of microphones in the pilot's vicinity, processes it and broadcasts sound of opposite frequency and phase through a number of speakers in the cockpit. Noise should be reduced by 6-9 dB., according to the company.
A spate of new construction at major U.S. airports includes recent ground breaking ceremonies for a new $400-million US Airways terminal complex at Philadelphia and a $26.5-million United Airlines cargo facility at Miami. The US Airways project consists of a 785,000-sq.-ft. international terminal with gates for 12 wide-body transports and six smaller ones, scheduled to open in the summer of 2001. A 38-gate, 190,000-sq.-ft. regional airline terminal will be located next to Philadelphia's new runway, and is scheduled to open early in 2001.
Surging support from the military and the aerospace industry has given pause to defense budget cutters t appears the F-22 program will survive, probably with full funding restored, at least for the next fiscal year.
