Cadman Corp. has designed its ViewPort+ V7 electronic document management system for small and midsize companies. The program is PC-based and can be installed and maintained without a dedicated infotech staff. An independent study by Mountain Associates of Concord, Mass., reported that 62% of those interviewed believed their organizations would benefit from this type of system, yet only 12% have one. ViewPort+ V7.0 supports all popular 2D and 3D formats and includes built-in database support for 300,000+ files.
Plans by a Eurocopter-led consortium to launch an expanded tiltrotor technology development project from iron bird to flying demonstrator may be stymied by a compound helicopter project proposed by rivals GKN Westland and Agusta. The consortium of 33 companies from nine countries last month submitted a plan to ground-test vital tiltrotor technologies in response to a European Commission request for proposals for advanced rotary wing aircraft concepts.
Starting Aug. 1, British Airways will introduce a new adjustable infant's seat, which can be fixed onto bulkheads within aircraft such as the flat infant beds now widely used by airlines. Designed by a British car seat manufacturer, the new seats can be moved through a range of positions from horizontal to upright and can accommodate children up to two years old. BA is making 1,000 of the seats available, 12 of which can be fitted in a 747, starting this summer on long-haul flights.
NASA recently abandoned an ambitious mission to land a spacecraft on the comet Tempel 1. Now the agency just wants to blast away at it. Deep Impact, one of two new Discovery science missions approved by NASA last week, is to fire a 1,100-lb. copper projectile into Tempel 1 at 22,300 mph. The collision should create a crater seven stories deep and as big as a football field, allowing a camera and infrared spectrometer on the spacecraft to study the icy debris and ``pristine inner material'' that is blown out.
Norman W. Ray has been appointed president of Raytheon International Europe. He succeeds Robin L. Beard, who will be president/CEO of Raytheon Corporate Operations.
Municipal authorities in Kobe, Japan, said they expect to begin construction next year on a new offshore airport for domestic operations located on a man-made island covering some 670 acres. The airport would have a single, 2,500-meter (8,200-ft.) runway and is to open in 2005. The Osaka-Kobe region already is served by two airports--the offshore Kansai International and Osaka's Itami. Kobe officials say their airport is part of the core restoration they have undertaken since the city was ravaged by an earthquake in 1995.
WinAir, a scheduled charter commuter that enjoyed early passenger acceptance for cheap flights out of Long Beach, Calif., suspended services last week. Founder and CEO Richard Winwood said Salt Lake City-based WinAir ``ran out of financial fuel'' after having lost $15 million since beginning operations last November. But an outside observer familiar with the company said it mainly suffered from a lack of experienced management. WinAir ran as many as 14 flights a day from Long Beach to Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Oakland and Sacramento, Calif.
German federal and state economic ministers have failed to agree on a federal government proposal to shift 20% of R&D funding to the states and to raise industry's share from 50 to 60%. The federal government, however, still plans to incorporate the proposal in the 1999 budget. German aerospace industry association BDLI termed the matter ``counterproductive.''
A prototype National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) workstation that allows military units in the field to coordinate their targeting with satellite imagery was successfully tested in the Kosovo conflict. NRO Director Keith Hall said the Joint Targeting Workstation, built by Marconi Integrated Systems of San Diego, allowed field operators to pick a target and then provided precise coordinates based on satellite data. The coordinates were subsequently relayed directly to the cockpits of attack aircraft. The U.S.
Greg Milzcik has been appointed president of Barnes Aerospace, Windsor, Conn. He was vice president/general manager of international operations for Lockheed Martin Aircraft and Logistics.
The Spanish carrier Iberia and Japan Airlines plan to operate joint flights, starting in February, between Madrid and Amsterdam. The Japanese carrier currently operates a joint flight on that route with KLM, but JAL officials said on July 7 they plan to end that partnership. Iberia also may resume its direct flight between Narita to Madrid, which it would operate jointly with JAL. The Japanese carrier suspended service on that route in late 1998.
Airtours International Airways has concluded a seven-year agreement with Air France Industries covering component repair and exchange services for the charter carrier's 24-aircraft fleet.
Tobacco magnate and Philippine Airlines Chairman Lucio Tan has replaced the five former Cathay Pacific Airways executives he hired to turn the near bankrupt carrier around. The Regent Star Ltd. team led by Peter Foster will leave with two years' salary, while Lufthansa assumes the consultancy role that Regent Star held. With Tan agreeing to step aside from day-to-day operations, the Cathay executives were hired last January on a five-year contract to give PAL's rehabilitation credibility. Of particular concern was PAL's $2.2-billion debt.
The U.S. Air Force is examining the feasibility of using the Russian-designed K-36 ejection seat on the F-22 fighter after the service has spent several years evaluating that crew escape system. When USAF began looking at the K-36D, designed by the Zvezda research and production organization, it was only interested in the seat's technology. But U.S. efforts to develop a more advanced, fourth-generation seat have floundered. As a result, buying pilots extra protection afforded by the third-generation K-36 has gained attention.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn. is again raising red flags over the future of Loran-C navigation. In a letter to the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, AOPA President Phil Boyer accused OMB of delaying a Transportation Dept. announcement that Loran-C would continue in operation until 2008, when the transition to satellite navigation is to be complete. He charged that OMB is seeking to shut down Loran-C in the northeastern U.S. sooner to save money.
Raytheon Computer Products has chosen Belgium's Barco Display Systems to supply conduction-cooled digital video mixer subsystems for the USAF AirBorne Laser program.
Karl-Friedrich Rausch has become chairman of Lufthansa German Airlines' passenger unit. He was president/chief operating officer. Juergen Weber remains chairman/CEO of the Lufthansa Group.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems expects to save tens of millions of dollars in C-130J program costs in the next several years as the company quickly transitions from a cost reduction program focused primarily on basic line modernization to one centered on actively applying the tenets of lean thinking and six sigma quality.
ALLIEDSIGNAL AEROSPACE WILL SUPPLY THE UP-FRONT CONTROL displays and integrated control panels to Lockheed Martin to upgrade the cockpits in 35 U-2S aircraft. The control panel and display, both with active matrix liquid crystal displays, will be used to operate the communication and navigation systems and to improve pilots' information access. The interactive control panel is designed with large buttons so it can be operated while wearing high-altitude gloves.
Tom Luedtke has been appointed NASA associate administrator for procurement. He has been acting associate administrator and was deputy associate administrator for procurement.
AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD FREE FLIGHT HAS BEEN TAKEN with Aeronautical Communications International's (ACI's) delivery of the first phase of the software that will route digital data messages over the new Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN). The software will enable computers to select from satellite and land-line options to route messages between aircraft, air traffic controllers and airline personnel. ACI was formed in 1997 as a joint venture of Airsys ATM, AlliedSignal, Honeywell, Sextant Avionique and Sofreavia.
As it has periodically for the past four years, Air India has invited bids from Airbus and Boeing to replace large sections of its fleet. The state-owned carrier is seeking aircraft for both short- and medium-range missions. Estimates of the requirement range up to 11 aircraft, with the competition likely to center on the Boeing 777 against the Airbus A330/A340 family. Air India's fleet of 29 aircraft includes 747s, A300s and A310s. But the only glass cockpits in the fleet are on six 747-400s.
