Chief executives of Latin American and Caribbean airlines are preparing for a major shakeup of commercial aviation in the lower half of the western hemisphere.
President Clinton has ordered an independent review of the recent series of space launch failures. Larry Welch, former Air Force chief of staff, will head the panel. The assessment replaces the Air Force's Broad Area Review ordered earlier this month. The USAF review was scrubbed because other agencies, including NASA, wanted to be more closely involved in the process, said one Defense Dept. official. The independent assessment will involve the Defense Dept., NASA and the intelligence community.
The Russian Space Agency is investigating a telemetry failure on board a Russian Resurs-4 meteorological satellite, launched in July 1998. The failure threatens to curtail the mission of ScaRab-2, a Franco-Russian instrument designed to measure the Earth's radiation budget. This measure, indicative of changes in the greenhouse effect and other critical environmental phenomena, is one of the top priorities of the World Climate Research Program.
Cessna and other general aviation manufacturers are starting to look at a new or updated light twin, sized between the largest piston single and the Raytheon King Air twin turboprop. Strong sales of Cessna's revived single-engine line, as well as other piston singles, is prompting the interest. The U.S. business aviation fleet has been expanding at a 4.6% compound annual growth rate since 1991, with flight hours increasing at a similar pace, according to statistics gathered by AlliedSignal Aerospace.
United Airlines, AlliedSignal Aerospace and Coherent Technologies have agreed to develop a sensor for airliners that will be designed to detect air turbulence.
Flir Systems Inc. has successfully tested a dual-sensor infrared thermal imaging and image processing system that allows pilots to pick up the required visual cues for landing at night and in most fog conditions.
Daniel G. Kirkpatrick has become vice president-technical support for the Fairchild Aerospace Corp., San Antonio, Tex. He was director of engineering and quality control for Trans World Airlines.
AlliedSignal is reporting the first several ``saves'' by its enhanced ground proximity warning system avionics since installations began four years ago. Among the most notable was that of a scheduled Boeing widebody flying into Rio de Janeiro's Category 2-rated Runway 10 in February. The early morning arrival was complicated by bright sun shining into the pilot's eyes and a ground mist that obscured steep local terrain. The automatic, coupled approach followed a false--too low--glideslope undetected by the crew and not flagged on the display.
The Israeli air force has recommended that the government opt to acquire Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 50+ aircraft rather than Boeing F-15Is with the $2.5 billion available for new fighters. But Defense Minister Moshe Arens says more information is needed on a number of issues. Some Israeli officials believe Arens is looking for ways to broker a split buy with at least a small quantity of the more costly F-15Is being acquired from Boeing which desperately needs an order to keep its production line open.
Pentagon officials say the air campaign waged by heavy bombers in Yugoslavia has validated the need for more of the large-payload aircraft. Currently the force stands at 180 B-2s, B-1s and B-52s, but only 130 are currently available for operations. Proponents of the big bombers say a minimum of 184 mission-ready aircraft are needed to fight two conflicts. No one thinks B-2 production could be restarted, but some Air Force officials are eyeing upgrades for the existing fleet. In addition, officials say the U.S.
A new U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin GPS Block IIR spacecraft was damaged, possibly significantly, when an incident on Launch Complex 17A at Cape Canaveral allowed rainwater to pour onto the $40-million spacecraft. The May 8 mishap adds to the string of problems befalling the U.S. space program (AW&ST May 10, p. 29).
Edward F. Rossman, a manufacturing research and development engineer for Boeing Military Aircraft and Missiles in Seattle, has been appointed 1999 chairman of the Machining Technology Assn. of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
The French government is preparing an Initial Public Offering for about 17% of Aerospatiale Matra, marking the partial privatization of the new European aerospace/defense industry giant. The IPO on the Paris Stock Exchange is scheduled to take place within a few weeks, probably by June 11, Finance Ministry officials indicated.
Boeing X-32 Joint Strike Fighter engineers were facing the prospect of large composite pieces taking so long to lay up that the graphite epoxy tape would exceed its 30-day out-of-refrigerator time limit before the part could be cured, if traditional hand methods were used. A major problem was use of 12- and 24-in.-wide unidirectional tape that easily gets wrinkled edges. This can be cured during layup by scalloping the edges, but it could take 2 hr. to lay a single tape course with this hand work. Also, it would be difficult to maintain the specified 0-0.1-in.
Package delivery leader UPS is seeking to become a transportation technology leader as well. UPS renamed II Morrow--its subsidiary and GPS manufacturer--as UPS Aviation Technologies. The GPS manufacturer had already progressed from just supplying communication and navigation equipment to general aviation. Three years ago II Morrow developed a satellite navigation management system for UPS' Boeing 727s. More than a dozen airlines now use that Apollo 2101 system.
Lucas Aerospace has been selected by Lockheed Martin Vought Systems to supply the control actuation system for the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System.
Despite fears of a looming downturn, the European airline industry remains on firm footing. According to a survey of 29 airports recently completed by Airports Council International's European Region, passenger traffic increased a healthy 8% during the first quarter. Aircraft movements increased 5.4%, a significantly lower growth rate than passenger traffic, which indicates a raising load factor. However, cargo traffic inexplicably remains flat.
Alitalia is joining the Northwest Airlines-KLM Royal Dutch Airlines alliance for transatlantic air services. The carriers submitted a joint application on May 11 to the U.S. government seeking approval and antitrust immunity for their planned coordination of flights and marketing. The three plan to coordinate flight schedules at U.S. and Italian airports, jointly price tickets and perform inventory management, as well as share facilities services, marketing, advertising and sales. Northwest and KLM began code-sharing in 1993.
Japan's Ministry of Transport said it will levy an 89,000 yen ($748) charge on commercial overflights of Japan beginning on Jan. 1. Aircraft overflying the Japanese Flight Information Region will pay 16,000 yen. The ministry said it will lower navaid fees at Japanese airports by 3.5%. The fee at Tokyo's Narita airport will drop to 208,000 yen from 216,000. Foreign carriers are objecting to the charges, which are new for Japan. The country has about 67,000 overflights a year.
Meanwhile, the Administration approved the June 7 launch of two Iridium replenishment satellites from China. A Senate Intelligence Committee report says the U.S. should reconsider whether to allow any U.S.-built satellites to be launched from China. But without an outright ban, Washington could hardly nix this launch. The birds had once been approved and sent to China but came back to the U.S. after they were exposed to moisture. What's more, China is a part owner of the satellite phone system and has launched other Iridium satellites.
Strong growth recorded by regional airlines in recent years could turn out to be a limiting factor for the industry as rapidly expanding regional fleets test the limits of the U.S. commercial aviation infrastructure. George Bagley, chairman of the Regional Airline Assn. (RAA), said air traffic control and airport capacity limitations are becoming increasingly burdensome issues for regional operators and a looming obstacle to the growth of small carriers.
Lockheed Martin has set up a unit at its Greenville, S.C., facility to improve customer support of the world's fleet of L-1011s, with the longer term goal of increasing the marketability of the aircraft. The company wants L-1011s that are still in service to keep flying and to find new operators for aircraft that are mothballed. Its main targets for new operators are charter and cargo operators. Lockheed built 250 of the aircraft.
