NavTalk Pilot is a portable GPS/cellular telephone for airborne/ground applications. Calls can be placed and received through the system while flying and will work both in and out of the plane, eliminating the need to use two separate cell phones. Some of the features include: 911 emergency calling, internal phone book, one button speed dial, a numeric pager, an interface with the plane's audio panel, a built-in basemap and storage for 500 waypoints. Garmin International, 1200 East 151st St., Olathe, Kan. 66062.
Avcorp Industries Inc. has signed three Boeing contracts totaling more than $6 million. The first is to supply flight attendant partitions for wide- and narrow-body aircraft, the second is to supply Boeing 757 stanchion assemblies, and the third is for fairings on engine struts on next generation Boeing 737s.
Jon L. Bryan has become sales director for the Airbus Corporate Jetliner for Airbus Industrie of North America, Herndon, Va. He was a Boeing 767 captain for US Airways and chairman of the Air Line Pilots Assn.
The Bead Breaker was designed to address the needs of aircraft radial tires. It can be used with tires from 28-54 in. in diameter and to widths up to 24 in. The bead-breaking system consists of a spoked I-beam wheel with six mounted fingers that form a bead-breaking ring. The spoked wheel creates a ring that adjusts from 12-30 in. in diameter. The design allows accessibility to the wheel for removal and installation of locking rings and bolts. The ring is suspended on thrust bearings to allow rotation of the tire at any point during the bead-breaking process. Tronair, S.
The X/Y stages for metrology and precision work applications are a new generation, cross-roller stage of alternatively equipped linear servo motors or precision roller-leadscrew drives. They feature up to 200 X 200-mm. travel range. The open frame design is optimized for maximum stability to achieve high accuracy and maintain a low profile envelope height. The linear glass scale encoders feature 0.1 micron resolution. Nutec Components Inc., 100 Jefryn Blvd., Deer Park, N.Y. 11729.
As regional airlines continue to assume expanding roles, they will operate a new generation of larger and more capable turbofan aircraft designed to match passenger cabin comfort levels offered by Boeing and Airbus Industrie products. All-new designs will range from 70-passenger-class transports to aircraft with more than 100 seats. They will fill a market niche between the current crop of 50-seat regional jets and the smallest mainline narrow-body aircraft, according to industry observers.
Mary Coleman, who has been president of the Baan Co., Reston, Va., is scheduled to become CEO/chairman of the management board. She will succeed Tom Tinsley, who has resigned.
The SC21 is a 3U-high, 220-mm. deep card, providing high performance front-end signal conditioning to a wide range of multi-channel analog-to-digital converters. Setup and control are done with a standard serial port, which allows it to be used with PC, PXI, VME, VXI, and many propriety bus configurations. It includes per-channel, bridge balancing, shunt calibration, and full programmability of the bridge completion options. The device has a built-in amplifier and 2-pole programmable filter for each channel.
Anita P. Beier has been appointed vice president/controller, Susan L. Kurland vice president/deputy general counsel and Jeffery A. McDougle vice president/treasurer, all of US Airways. McDougle was assistant treasurer. Beier was vice president-financial planning for the CSX Corp., and Kurland was associate FAA administrator for airports.
Nine years after it was placed in orbit, the Hubble Space Telescope continues to produce imagery and data useful across a range of astronomical disciplines. But as these recent ``snapshots'' show, the orbiting observatory's output is often something that can be appreciated purely for its beauty as well.
Virnell A. Bruce has been appointed vice president-communications for the Boeing Co. government relations organization in Washington. She held the same position at Lockheed Martin Space and Strategic Missiles, Bethesda, Md.
The Firewall mounted oil filter system can be used in airplanes or helicopters that contain piston engines. The kit includes brackets and hardware, which adapts directly to the existing spin-on flange for crankcase-mounted filters. The kits move the filter away from the engine, creating a lower oil temperature environment, while the mounted filter sits vertically on the firewall for spill-free removal. Airwolf Filter Corp., 15369 Madison Road, Middlefield, Ohio 44062-8404.
THE FAA'S ALASKA REGION HAS ASKED UPS AVIATION TECHNOLOGIES, formerly IIMorrow Corp., to demonstrate avionics including a data link for its planned Capstone advanced cockpit technology program. If tests this summer are successful, the agency could award UPSAT a contract to provide avionics for as many as 200 commercial aircraft that are planned to participate in the government-sponsored Capstone evaluation.
Virgin Atlantic has launched a 40-million pound ($64-million) makeover, including double beds for Upper Class passengers and new livery that prominently displays the British flag--just as rival British Airways is ditching its ``World Images'' tail fin designs for a stylized version of the Union Jack.
The first Boeing-built WAH-64 Apache to arrive in the U.K. is scheduled to begin flying in August, following final assembly work at GKN Westland Helicopters and electromagnetic compatibility tests. The aircraft, delivered late last month, is one of eight Apaches being built by Boeing at its Mesa, Ariz., facilities. Two others have already rolled off the production line. The first is undergoing integration trials in the U.S. of its Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322 engines, while the other is being employed to train Westland and British Army test pilots.
As Congress debates a code of passenger rights to protect people from cattle car-like air travel, users of Midwest Express Airlines regularly fill the mailbags of this Milwaukee-based carrier with letters complimenting a job well done. The first quarter brought 3,000 letters to Midwest Express, each telling a personal story. About half of the letters recognized helpful employees or referred to a service or experience that reflects the airline's high standards, which it bills as ``the best care in the air.''
John W. Moore has been named executive vice president-customer service for Dobbs International Services Inc., Memphis, Tenn. He was a regional vice president-sales and administration for Northeast Airlines.
Smiths Industries has been chosen by Lockheed Martin to replace an existing vendor and supply enhanced circuit breaker units for the power distribution system on C-130J transports.
Collins Aviation Services has been selected to provide product support of seatback TV inflight entertainment equipment on board British Airways' Boeing 747s and 777s.
Program development delays and the introduction of Japan's H-2A as a more efficient, less costly launcher for the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) have prompted some shifts in Japan's launch manifest. The H-2A is to debut this summer with the launch of the 3,300-lb. Advanced Relay and Technology Mission Satellite (Artemis) experimental data-relay spacecraft for the European Space Agency. Already delayed three years, Artemis faced further slips until NASDA made a free H-2A launch available in exchange for use of 40% of Artemis' capacity.
David Russell has been appointed vice president of the Weapons and Avionics Flight Test, Systems Development and Integration Div. of the DCS Corp., Alexandria, Va.
Boullioun Aviation Services is undertaking an aggressive fleet growth program aimed at building a $5-7-billion leasing portfolio of late-model transports within 10 years.
As NATO's 78-day aerial assault on Yugoslavia shut down, Washington heard huzzahs that airpower alone finally won a war. It also heard alarms that the American military will be tied down in the Balkans every bit as long as it has been on the Korean Peninsula--nearly 50 years. President Clinton was wary afterward--``First we have to make sure that the Serbs keep their commitments''--and reserved, not ebullient. The U.S. could feel vindicated, he said, when more than a million Kosovars finally ``go home, and when they're safe.'' From day one of the bombing Mar.
