THE PENTAGON'S FOREIGN COMPARATIVE TESTING (FCT) program will evaluate a compact antijam system produced by the U.K.'s Raytheon Systems Ltd., for use on military platforms that need robust GPS navigation performance for day-one strike warfare capability. The U.K. company is the only manufacturer of technology for fielding GPS antijam antenna systems in the near term, and is currently producing a larger variant (GAS-1) for the Air Force, according to the Defense Dept. The FCT program is administered by the director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
The U.K. has suspended its Short Term Strategic Airlift (SSTA) competition after determining that none of the five industry proposals offered ``an acceptable solution at an affordable cost.''
The Turbodisk 33 rotary paint applicator provides high finish quality and transfer efficiency when applying a wide variety of coating materials. It can be installed in a new automated system or retrofitted to older style disk systems. The product meets NFPA 33 standards, reduces overspray, cleanup and waste disposal, reduces VOC emissions and booth exhaust requirements and lowers maintenance requirements The company offers a variety of finishing products and systems, parts and accessories. ITW Ransburg, 320 Phillips Ave., Toledo, Ohio 43612-1493.
A new waterborne adhesive and one-component syntactic for manufacture and repair are easy to handle and have excellent mechanical properties to produce durable aircraft components. Epibond 820-A/B is an epoxy that can be rolled or sprayed onto substrates including metals and composites. It cures after 30 min. at 200F. The cured product is strippable for repair and rework when necessitated by part damage. Epocast 1664 is a premixed syntactic, needs no refrigeration and remains stable at room temperature for up to three months.
The Clinton Administration will permit direct charter flights from New York and Los Angeles to Cuba later this year as part of efforts to promote additional contacts between the U.S. and Cuba. Miami is currently the only approved departure point for U.S. charter flights to Cuba. The U.S. ban on tourism to Cuba remains in effect. Passage on the New York and Los Angeles charters will be limited largely to journalists, scholars, human-rights representatives and U.S. relatives making annual visits to Cuba.
David M. Salvador has become sales and marketing manager of the J.A. Air Center in West Chicago, Ill. He was manager of avionics sales of Northstar Technologies.
Northrop Grumman has delivered to Boeing the 767th horizontal stabilizer it makes for the 767 transport. Northrop Grumman has been associated with the 767 program since its inception in 1978 and made first deliveries of the 4,000-lb. assembly in 1982. Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems and Aerostructures Sector manufactures the component, which contains more than 3,000 separate parts and 72,000 fasteners, in its Dallas-area facilities.
United Airlines has hired more than1,500 former welfare recipients as part of its participation in President Clinton's national ``Welfare to Work'' initiative. The Chicago-based carrier was one of five major U.S. corporations to help launch the public-private program in March 1997. The company expects it will fulfill its promise to hire 2,000 welfare recipients ahead of its year 2000 commitment.
Even though they don't accumulate the same mileage as tires for cars and trucks, aircraft tires are subject to wear that can shorten their usage--even when standing still. Goodyear's new tire jackets can protect tires from weather damage caused by ozone, ultraviolet rays and other weather hazards. The vinyl Tire Jackets are made to wrap around the aircraft tires--in sizes 8.50-10 and smaller--and are attached with a Velcro strap. Goodyear Corp., 1144 East Market St., Akron, Ohio 44316-0001.
Dispatchers at Ryan International Airlines' Wichita, Kan., headquarters are using a new weather information system that allows them to provide more comprehensive, timely reports to pilots. WeatherData, which developed the system and also is based in Wichita, is close to signing agreements with other airlines that want to use the SmartFlight Weather Information System, Vice President for Customer Operations Todd Buckley said.
The second successful intercept of a target by the Army's Theater High Altitude Area Defense system has drastically changed the way some Defense Dept. officials view the program and could result in the Pentagon's jump-starting the next phase. The Pentagon initially wanted Thaad to complete three successful intercepts before the program could move from risk reduction into its engineering and manufacturing development phase next spring. But now Army leaders are interested in moving ahead even sooner.
Mir's last planned long-duration crew, two Russians and a French astronaut, are preparing to return to Earth Aug. 28, leaving Mir to operate on a new analog computer brought to the Russian space station in late July by the Progress M-42 unmanned transport. If Mir is brought out of orbit as planned in early 2000, a final Soyuz crew will be sent aloft to manage the initial deorbit process before abandoning the station for good.
The V4 is the first CNC tape layer capable of shimless layup and quality-control boundary trace. The 10-axis contour tape layer heats and lays thermoset tape 75-150-mm. wide along curves to create complex geometries. A segmented compaction shoe makes the V4 effective at uniform layup on corners and areas of reinforcement. The V4 has 635-mm.-dia. reels for up to 2,900 ft. of tape. Cincinnati Machine, 4701 Marburg Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio 45209-1025.
British carrier AB Airlines, hit by mounting losses, is up for sale following management's inability to attract investors with a new share offering. Administrators have been appointed by the Gatwick-based airline while a buyer is sought, but the carrier will continue to operate four daily scheduled flights to Shannon, Ireland, and Nice, France. Scheduled service was reduced late last year, and the airline subsequently sold some of its slots at Gatwick to earn cash. AB's fleet includes two BAC-111s and three Boeing 737-300s that have been leased to other airlines.
Harris Corp. has received a $110-million, 10-year contract for avionics testing and repairs to the Canadian military's primary attack fighter jet. The contract could increase in value to $178 million with the exercise of options. Boeing officials have decided to hold off on initial certification of the 717 Category 3B autoland system for a few months in order to fine-tune the auto go-around function.
French investigators have determined that the Su-30MK crash at the Paris air show was caused by a broad deviation from the planned routine and pilot overconfidence in the maneuverability of the thrust-vectored aircraft at low altitude. DGA French armaments agency's flight safety experts, who last week completed a report on the June 12 accident, confirmed that test pilot Viacheslav Averyanov deviated from the planned axis by 17 deg. and abruptly aborted the routine's third roll to avoid flying over populated areas (AW&ST June 28, p. 45).
These products terminate stranded wire into control panels and terminal blocks and provide superior crimp performance, providing panel shops, OEMs, electrical distributors and end users a way to make reliable connections at a lower installed cost. Ferrules are available for wiring uses from 26-1 AWG. Five different crimping tools are available to secure ferrules to wire ends. Panduit Corp., 17301 Ridgeland Ave., Tinley Park, Ill. 6047-3091.
Lufthansa Systems, the systems management subsidiary of Lufthansa Airlines, will use Tecnomatix SIMPLE++ software to help airports and airlines speed up passenger boarding times, and plan and control passenger flows through airport terminals. SIMPLE++ is designed for simulating and optimizing production lines, processes and logistics, and Lufthansa Systems is the first service company to apply it to airport flows.
A new range of instrumentation panels featuring legends that remain hidden until lit by light-emitting diodes located on a printed circuit board behind a plastic fascia have been designed to comply with Mil-P-7788F Type VII requirements. They feature dual circuitry for built-in redundancy and are resistant to shock and vibration. The panels provide a high level of brightness while generating very low levels of heat.
This new slurry aluminizing process for producing protective coatings offers improvements in cost, quality and turntime over other aluminizing processes while meeting existing commercial specifications. SerAlcote slurries produce extremely uniform diffused aluminide coatings. The turbine blade (left) is shown in ``as-received'' condition; with slurry applied (middle); and the finished, coated blade (right). Sermatech International Inc., 155 South Limerick Road, Limerick, Pa. 19648.
3M's Scotch-Brite High-Performance Cloth provides more chemical free cleaning power for electronic and electrical components than cotton or paper towels and has features that make it cost effective and environmentally sound. The cloth has a knitted, interwoven design of water- and oil-absorbing microfibers that lift and trap liquids, grease and dust particles. It can remove solvents, abrasive residue, splatters from welding, compounds, polish residues, waxes, fingerprints and silicone from injection molded parts. The cloth measures 32-36 cm.
Aloha Airlines plans to branch out from its Hawaiian Islands route network and start weekly, scheduled service from Honolulu to the Marshall Islands beginning in September. The 2,300-mi. route will include stops at Majuro and Kwajalein as well as a fuel stop at Johnston Island. Aloha will use an ETOPS-approved Boeing 737-200 for the service, with the cabin configured with 10 business class and 97 coach seats. The new service is part of the airline's strategy to expand into under-served niche markets in the Pacific region.
