The loss of three military satellites to launch failures since August 1998 could have significant repercussions on future U.S. space-based operations, although near-term capabilities are not in jeopardy, according to the nation's top milspace official. In particular, U.S. Space Command's future space control options will be severely constrained until reliable spacelift is assured.
ALLIEDSIGNAL AEROSPACE IS ROUNDING OUT its line of enhanced ground proximity warning system avionics with a light, low-cost EGPWS for general aviation users. It is the size of a large paperback novel, weighs about 1.5 lb. and will cost less than $10,000, not including the display. The only input it needs is from GPS (which can be built in, as an option), an encoding altimeter and outside air temperature.
Boeing and Aviation Partners Inc. are close to forming a joint venture agreement that would offer retrofit winglets for Boeing 7-series transports. If consummated, the deal would give operators a low-cost, bolt-on range or payload increase and heighten competitiveness of new and used Boeing transports on the world market. The composite winglets, which will be standard equipment on upcoming Boeing Business Jets, increased mileage by more than 6% during long-range cruise compared to an unmodified version of the transport.
Launch of the orbiter Discovery on the second mission to the International Space Station is set for May 20 on a flight that will act as a pathfinder for future heavy logistics missions to the new orbiting base. The flight is also the first shuttle mission of 1999. Liftoff of Discovery and its seven-member shuttle Mission 96 crew is set for 9:31 a.m. EDT at the start of about a 7-min. launch window to set up proper rendezvous geometry with the initial ISS elements docked in orbit last December by the first station assembly mission.
NASA's QuickSCAT science satellite was shipped to Vandenberg AFB, Calif., in a new, reusable container that protected the spacecraft from electrical fields while maintaining a specified internal temperature range.
National Aircraft Services of Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, has agreed to purchase10 and lease two Dassault Aviation Falcon 2000 business jets for the NetJets Middle East fractional aircraft ownership program.
Robert W. Hawkey has been appointed president/chief operating officer of the Leach Holding Corp., Westport, Conn. He was president of the subsidiary Leach International Corp. Hawkey succeeds Richard A. Kocerha, who is retiring but will remain a director.
PSDI of Bedford, Mass., is establishing an online MRO marketplace subsidiary called MRO.com Inc. (http://www.mro.com). That's not quite the Maintenance-Repair-Overhaul of the aircraft world, but materials for a broader maintenance and repair of plants and equipment, and ``Operating,'' which PSDI takes to mean unplanned spot purchases.
Boeing will lay off up to 7,000 workers and consolidate facilities in the St. Louis area following the Greek government's decision to buy Lockheed and Dassault fighters instead of the F-15. The company is unsure if the layoffs will exceed the 48,000 job cuts company-wide previously announced. These were to be accomplished by next year. Current orders for the F-15 will be completed by early 2000. Regardless of the timing of any new orders, production line breaks on both the F-15 and F-18C/D lines are inevitable, the company said.
BMW Rolls-Royce is investing more than $8 million to expand its production facilities in Dahlewitz, near Berlin. The work, scheduled to be completed by early 2000, will allow capacity to increase to 300 engines per year from the current level of 220. The joint venture assembles BR710 engines for Gulfstream V and Bombardier Global Express aircraft, as well as BR715 engines for Boeing 717-200s at Dahlewitz. Assembly is set to begin later this year of BR70 engines for British Royal Air Force Nimrod MRA4 maritime reconnaissance aircraft being upgraded by British Aerospace.
Engineers at Boeing's Phantom Works R&D organization have developed a solution-gelation technology that improves adhesion between metal structures and paint or composites. Called ``sol-gel,'' the water-based, inorganic polymer solution can be painted on as a quick and inexpensive surface preparation for bonded repairs to aluminum, titanium or steel aircraft structures, according to Kay Blohowiak, principal engineer for corrosion and finishes for the Phantom Works in Seattle.
Don't expect immediate backslapping by airline and Pentagon officials over improved safety checks of U.S. carriers' foreign code-sharing partners. Since January, representatives of six major airlines and the Defense Dept. have been debating the details of a program calling for ``operational reviews'' of each foreign airline that carries a U.S. partner's customers on flights designated with both carriers' reservations codes (AW&ST Apr. 26, p. 86). Airline officials met on Apr.
The program to develop an Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures (IDECM) system for the Navy's F/A-18E/F has experienced further schedule slippage and cost growth since mid-1998. The IDECM system, which also is slated for use on the USAF B-1B to upgrade its defensive avionics, will employ versatile ALE-55 fiber-optic towed decoys (FOTDs) to protect against radar-guided missiles. Lockheed Martin/Sanders is developing IDECM in partnership with ITT Avionics (AW&ST Oct. 26, 1998, p. 47).
John H. Haynes has been named sales director for North America for the ILC Data Device Corp., Bohemia, N.Y. He was vice president-sales for the TransSwitch Corp., Shelton, Conn.
William C. Reynolds, Whittier professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Center for Integrated Turbulence Simulations at Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., will receive the 1999 Fluid Dynamics Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Founding members of the Star Alliance say their profits have increased up to 10% because of the boost in business they have gained in the two years since the joint marketing group was established. Members are now looking at cross ownership agreements to strengthen their global ambitions and are pursuing joint aircraft buying to cut costs. Speaking here recently at Star's quarterly board meeting, United Airlines Chairman Gerald Greenwald said United has achieved a 10% lift in profits since the Star Alliance was formed.
Crew resource management training should include ``timing'' as a critical element in intracockpit communications and coordination during emergency conditions. A videotaped microstudy of 10 different crews in a Boeing 727 simulator found that simply collecting data about the problem, discussing the importance of tasks and then distributing them to crewmembers does not always assure good performance, according to Mary J. Waller, a researcher in organizational behavior at the University of Illinois.
Boeing has regrouped its commercial transport design and manufacturing engineers into a matrix organization based around five platform or aircraft model-specific teams. The redefined roles and responsibilities should save Boeing an estimated 15% compared with the previous function-based organization, while speeding updates and problem-solving. It also will unify critical design, engineering and manufacturing processes between Boeing's commercial transport factories and components plants, improving product consistency.
Safety investigators are wrapping up their review of hundreds of eyewitness accounts of the July 17, 1996, crash of TWA Flight 800, several officials close to the investigation said, including the re-interviewing of witnesses who were in the best positions that night to see whether a missile struck the 747-100.
An arrestor bed made of foam concrete helped stop an American Eagle Saab 340 with 24 passengers from overshooting Runway 4R upon landing at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on May 8. It was the first operational use of the arrestor bed, which the airport operator installed last year. An SAS DC-10 overran the same 8,400-ft.-long runway in 1984 and ended up in the water in Thurston Basin. The 450-ft.-long bed runs from 9-36 in. deep at its end and is designed to slow an overshooting aircraft without breaking its nose gear.
The clearest signal yet came last week that satellite service companies don't intend to simply keep working on their broadband ``Internet in the sky'' projects while cable TV and phone companies today start carving up the burgeoning market for connecting consumers to the Internet. Hughes' DirecTV unit announced a partnership with suburban Virginia-based America Online (AOL) to deliver television programming and interactive services to consumers via an integrated set-top box. Technologically, it's not a big deal.
