Further consolidation of the aerospace industry in Europe is on the horizon, according to Alberto Fernandez, chairman and CEO of CASA, who predicts another large-scale shift in a year's time.
It was a busy week in commercial space as America Online Inc. (AOL) announced a $1.5-billion investment in Hughes Electronics Corp. to expand an Internet/satellite TV partnership. Meanwhile, Iridium dramatically cut the prices of its satellite telephones in an attempt to spur a financial comeback, and Globalstar received $500 million in credit for use in completing its spacecraft network.
Forward Aircraft, a Dutch company headed by entrepreneur Wichard de Waard, is looking to a U.S. Army competition as a springboard for restarting production of the Fokker 60 turboprop.
Pasadena, Calif.-based Photobit Corp. has begun marketing an image sensor chip capable of operating at 500 frames per sec. Potential applications include advanced machine vision and motion analysis. Called the PB-1024, the CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) sensor generates high-resolution, progressive-scan monochrome digital video in a 1,024 X 1,024-pixel format.
The U.S. Supreme Court said a federal law banning discrimination against the disabled generally does not protect aspiring airline pilots with poor eyesight, or others with conditions that can be corrected. The Americans with Disabilities Act is intended to protect people whose conditions are not readily corrected, the court ruled.
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a technique to use reflected, rather than transmitted, X-rays to determine the contents of passenger bags or parcels. The portable machine, still in the laboratory stage, uses X-rays to form an image of any object that reflects them. A special filament heated by electricity from a standard wall outlet generates the X-ray electrons needed. Software then strips away the X-ray backscatter layer by layer, similar to a CAT scan, to precisely delineate the object, said Grant Lockwood, a technical staff member.
The government of Rwanda has awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman to provide an ARSR-70 air route surveillance radar and associated support for installation and system logistics. The three-dimensional, long-range radar-- derived from the Northrop Grumman TPS-70 family of tactical radars--will be used to provide air surveillance and air traffic control.
VisionAire Corp. is implementing a number of design changes to its single-engine Vantage business jet, following a lengthy technical review aimed at resolving specific performance and cost issues. Key changes include upgrading to the Pratt&Whitney Canada JT15D-5D engine; adopting a monocoque unitized fuselage structure to cut weight; reducing wing forward sweep from 10.1 deg. to 6.0 deg.
The German Defense Ministry is about to initiate technology development of an antiradiation missile in anticipation of a requirement from the Luftwaffe for a next-generation, suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) weapon.
Lear Siegler Services Inc. has won a $15-million six-year contract from the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command to provide aircraft maintenance for Navy and Marine Corps aircraft.
James Bassett has been promoted to senior director of domestic operations from director of trucking for Amerijet International Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Other recent promotions were: Jay Klucar to senior director of international operations from director of cargo operations; Al Donofrio to senior director from director of hub operations; Rick Alberty to senior director from director of human resources; and Simon Pantin to director of planning from regional manager for the Caribbean and South America.
The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee called upon the Transportation Dept.'s inspector general to ensure that airlines comply with their own voluntary passenger-rights plan issued last week. One member objected to the passenger-rights bill approved by the Senate panel. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said the bill lacked specifics about how improvements in airline service would be monitored.
Moves by Motoren-und Turbinen-Union to strengthen ties with Pratt&Whitney and AlliedSignal could strain relations between MTU and BMW Rolls-Royce, possibly threatening the future of a common core demonstrator program.
Boeing will begin tethered tests in August of an 8-ft. scale model of its design concept for a tilt-wing super-short-takeoff-and-landing (SSTOL) transport.
Ultra Electronics of the U.K. has signed an agreement with Golden Air to retrofit its UltraQuiet cabin active noise control system on the Swedish carrier's fleet of Saab 340s.
Alenia Aerospazio is stitching together a wide web of cooperative ventures to support the marketing effort for the C-27J Spartan tactical airlifter and other military and civil aerospace products. ``We have a long history of cooperation in a broad range of areas, we don't have any political restrictions and our size doesn't scare people,'' said Carmelo Cosentino, senior vice president for business development. The strategy is aimed in particular at the C-27J, a G222 upgrade, and the ATR 42 MP Surveyor maritime patrol aircraft.
The world's airlines likely will spend more than $3 billion addressing Y2K concerns, an official of the International Air Transport Assn. told a seminar on the Millennium Bug convened in New York by the American Society of Travel Agents. Representatives of IATA's 265 member airlines have been working with the International Civil Aviation Organization and Airports Council International to highlight the need for detailed Y2K plans and to monitor execution of those plans at the world's airports and air traffic services. ICAO officials told a U.N.
Arianespace is planning to abandon the idea of prolonging the life of the medium-lift Ariane 4 booster, and to focus all of its resources on the new Ariane 5 heavy lifter launch system.
As part of its aggressive Hyper-X research program, NASA is completing the first of three X-43 hypersonic research vehicles scheduled to conduct benchmark flight tests of a fully airframe-integrated scramjet engine beginning next year.
The 3,000-lb. NASA/Johns Hopkins University FUSE (Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer) was launched successfully from Cape Canaveral on June 24 on a Boeing Delta II Med-Lite vehicle with three solid rocket boosters. The spacecraft will attempt to characterize relationships between the interstellar medium and star formation, and determine how much mass in the universe was created during the Big Bang.
Embraer's ERJ-170 and -190 regional jets could comprise the first commercial aviation program to reap the potential benefits of AlliedSignal's merger with Honeywell.
Boeing commercial transport deliveries remained strong in April and May, with the manufacturer handing over 57 transports in April and 55 the following month. Eighteen and 16 of each month's total, respectively, were lucrative widebodies. The pace indicates Boeing is on track to achieve its 1999 production goal of 620 transports.
Aresearch team is flying a fleet of three aircraft through thunderstorms in Colorado this month in a program aimed at documenting how well airborne Doppler weather radars detect convective turbulence. The flights, which began June 2, are expected to end this week in an effort to gather more data during thunderstorm development in an area between Fort Collins, Colo., and Cheyenne, Wyo.
