The U.S. government should boost airline competition by ending artificial capacity controls at the nation's busiest airports, expanding airspace capacity and scrutinizing whether airports and carriers restrict gate access for new airlines, a federal panel recommends.
Northrop Grumman has concluded three years of fatigue testing that indicates the U.S. Navy's fleet of more than 30 C-2A Greyhounds should be able to meet the Navy's planned service life extension to 15,000 hr. from 10,000 hr. with a minimum of structural modifications. The turboprop C-2As could continue in service beyond 2015.
U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster IIIs performed 57% of the total USAF airlift missions supporting the recent Balkans campaign, including nearly 100% of flights into Tirana, Albania. Mission on-time rate was 83% compared with 60% and 36%, respectively, for aging Lockheed C-141 and C-5 transports. During the campaign, C-17s flew eight times as many missions as the C-141 and four times as many as the C-5.
The #885 wing/pylon quick disconnect connector has been fully qualified on all F/A-18 (Hornet/Super Hornet) fighters. It provides electrical power and signal between the wing structure and pylon and features automatic contact retraction that allows quick shell uncoupling for removal of the pylon, or inflight jettisoning. The connector has 360 deg. RFI/EMI shielding, environmental sealing and visual ready-to-mate and full-mate indicators. G&H Technology Inc., 750 Ventura Blvd.,Camarillo, Calif. 93010.
Mike Hodgkinson will succeed Sir John Egan, who is scheduled to retire in October, as chief executive of U.K.-based BAA. Hodgkinson was director of BAA's airports businesses.
A lightweight, battery-operated radiating weather and wind shear tester provides coherent far field responses to radar transmissions. The WRT-100 simulates weather, turbulence and wind shear to determine radar system capability to display hazard warning conditions, verify crew reports and conduct No Fault Found (NFF) returns. The set also receives and records antenna patterns for evaluation of radome performance. MPD Technologies Inc., 49 Wireless Blvd., Hauppauge, N.Y. 11788-3935.
The first Sikorsky SH-60R littoral warfare helicopter for the U.S. Navy was rolled out on Aug. 5 at Lockheed Martin Federal Systems in Owego, N.Y. The helicopter, which was remanufactured from an existing SH-60B, is fitted with a dipping sonar, a multimode radar capable of identifying, classifying and tracking targets in crowded coastal areas and a work-load-reducing glass cockpit developed by Lockheed Martin.
The Loctite Proform line of structural hot-melt are suited for high-speed manufacturing applications and are capable of attaching even difficult-to-bond substrates such as polypropylene and polyethylene. The products are solvent-free, cost-effective alternatives for high-strength bonding and potting. They are formulated to effectively fill large gaps, curing rapidly as they cool with no post-reaction cure required.
The fate of AOM, a long-troubled French independent carrier, is being questioned by its long-haul pilots' four-day walkout that was ``temporarily suspended'' last week. The cockpit crews' disagreement with management is centered on salary and lower duty-time demands. In February, the SAirGroup, Swissair's parent company, and Marine-Wendel/Groupe Alpha, a French investment group, jointly agreed to acquire AOM from CDR, Credit Lyonnais' defeasance unit.
Austria's Fischer Advanced Composites Components has concluded an agreement with Vancouver-based Avcorp Industries to supply ram air turbine doors for single-aisle Airbus twinjets.
This airfield lighting system can be operational within an hour in emergency or conflict situations providing lighting for runways and taxiing areas. The lights are contained within a trailer and can be laid out to turn a plot of land into a landing strip in 20 min. or less. Airfields with infrequent nighttime use can also benefit from the system as an emergency back-up. The system can be airlifted to a site or towed over rough ground. The battery-powered unit may be charged from external power sources.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force has signed agreements to become Lockheed Martin's 20th foreign customer for the F-16, taking 28 A/B models originally sold to Pakistan. The terms of the estimated $100-million agreement include a five-year lease from the U.S. government and a support package for spares, equipment, technical orders, pilot and maintenance training and base facility upgrades. After five years, the New Zealand service has an option for a new lease or purchase of the aircraft.
Series 6000 is a new generation of compact airborne UHF/VHF transceivers. They are designed as software radios capable of handling several EPM techniques: Have Quick I/II, Saturn and Secos. These methods enable the secure transmission of voice and data at high rates in UHF, VHF and BHF/FM bands. Its compact dimensions and weight of less than 4 kg. allow for use as initial or retrofitted aircraft radiocommunications in the 30-400- MHz. range.
CFM International and Airbus Industrie are offering the CFM56-5B as an alternative engine for the A318. The 107-seat twinjet was launched in April with the all-new Pratt&Whitney PW6000, the engine's first application. This represents an about-face for CFMI, a joint subsidiary of General Electric and Snecma. CFMI initially refused to become a second-choice engine supplier in a relatively narrow aircraft market.
This pad is specifically designed for aircraft with flex/spring steel landing gear, making it applicable to various light aircraft. The slide bar adjusts to a number of widths and infinite angles. Many jacks, including bottle jacks and floor jacks, work well with the adjustable jack pad. It has an all-steel construction and a ``powder-coat'' painting process that resists scratches and will not rub off on the legs of the aircraft. Bogert Aviation, 308 S. Perry Place, Kennewick, Wash. 99336.
Terry Gantt has become executive vice president of SonicAir, Scottsdale, Ariz. He was executive vice president-international and succeeds Murry Everson, who has retired.
Noise, vibration and heat are common problems for aircraft, appliance and other OEM designs. Quiet Steel is a damping material comprising metal skins of steel, stainless, aluminum, galvalume or other substrate and a viscoelastic polymer core. Thermalcore products are used for many acoustic and thermal containment needs in end products. Metal skins cover a layer of aluminum foil, graphite, e-glass, or adhesive film. OE and aftermarket brake damping are major business areas for the company. MSC Laminates and Composites Inc., 2300 E. Pratt Blvd., Elk Grove Village, Ill.
Robert Chiang (see photo) has been appointed technical director of the Adheron Coatings Corp., Oak Forest, Ill. He was technology manager for military and defense coatings for PRC-DeSoto International.
The Pentagon is considering raiding the National Missile Defense program's budget to cover overruns in other missile defense projects. Lt. Gen. John Costello, commander of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said the NMD budget could be reduced as much as $505 million in 2001-05. It would mark the second time the Pentagon has dipped into NMD funds to cover other expenses. Some NMD money was used last year to pay for U.S. support of the Wye River Agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
Norway's Kongsberg Defense&Aerospace has just completed the preliminary design review for its NSM helicopter- and ship-launched antiship cruise missile slated to become operational around 2004. The NSM should provide Norwegian ships and helicopters with about twice the range of the Penguin missile Kongsberg also builds. NSM's operational range is projected to be 120 km. (74 mi.) or greater. The missile also could be fired by maritime patrol aircraft, a company official said.
A team of FAA and helicopter industry partners are conducting benchmark tests of an autopilot system that allows pilots to perform precision instrument approaches to a hover in instrument meteorological conditions.
U.S. airlines have committed to perform safety assessments of 163 international code-sharing airline partners to satisfy the safety concerns of the Defense Dept.
