KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will install CTT System's zonal drying units in 11 Boeing 767 aircraft. The Swedish company's system, designed to combat problems caused by water condensation in aircraft thermal and acoustic insulation, will also be installed in a Boeing 747 being used for the NASA/DLR Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy project.
Photograph: NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin BILL INGALLS/NASA In 1992, the U.S. civil space program had lost much of the luster of its golden years. NASA was taking eight years to develop new spacecraft, and launching just two a year. Congressional auditors found the agency was overrunning budgets on its major programs by 77%, on average.
Photograph: Airline travel is forecast to continue growing into the 21st century, but the number of students graduating from aviation maintenance schools is projected to decline. JOSEPH PRIES Amidst explosive growth, the maintenance, repair and overhaul business is struggling to cope with changing customer expectations, the loss of skilled technicians, balancing military readiness against maintenance costs and the use of information technology as an MRO productivity tool.
X-34 SPECIFICATIONS Length 58 ft. Wing Span 28 ft. Dry Weight 17,000 lb. Gross Liftoff Weight 47,000 lb. Payload Capacity 400-1000 lb. Propulsion Air-dropped single stage; 60,000-lb.-thrust Fastrac LOX/kerosene engine Maximum Altitude At least 250,000 ft. Maximum Velocity Mach 8 Maximum Surface
The corporate leadership credibility of Philippine Airlines (PAL) majority owner Lucio Tan is in question after the country's Securities and Exchange Commission rejected his latest plan for rehabilitating the carrier. The airline's debts are reportedly at the $2.25-billion level, and it has been skirting with closure since last summer. Tan, who holds 70% of PAL's stock, said he will inject $200 million into it if no other investors are found.
NTSB and FAA officials are conferring on the best way to address the safety board's recommendations stemming from its investigation into the 1994 crash of a USAir Boeing 737 near Pittsburgh, a 1991 United Airlines 737 crash and a 1996 incident involving an Eastwind 737. The board last month recommended the FAA require all 737s to have a ``reliably redundant rudder actuation system'' and that it convene an engineering board to identify and fix potential failures in the rudder actuation and control system.
The Tokyo District Aviation Weather Station of Japan's Meteorological Agency has begun a volcanic ash information service to alert pilots of an eruption within 10 min. of its occurrence. The agency will use computer projections of satellite imagery data to predict the location and altitude of ash which is a flight hazard. Maps of the volcano's ash plume are expected to be produced within 18 hr. of an eruption. The weather station has been reporting on volcanic activity for the past two years, but until now had been unable to broadcast alerts quickly.
A British company has introduced a digital video system that is designed to record images of commercial aircraft cabins, to deter acts of ``air rage'' by unruly passengers. Flight Vu Witness is derived from AD Aerospace's Flight Vu Defender, which relies on four cameras placed in a belly-mounted pod to monitor an aircraft perimeter. Flight Vu Witness relies on 5-10 cameras in an aircraft cabin. The number of cameras depends on aircraft size and configuration.
AN AIR FORCE VIP VERSION OF THE BOEING 757 HAS COMPLETED Y2K TESTING at Boeing in Seattle. Four of the aircraft, designated C-32 by the Air Force, are stationed at Andrews AFB, Md., to fly the vice president, Cabinet secretaries and congressional delegations. The Y2K-test aircraft was the first to receive structural modifications adding ``air stairs,'' increased fuel tank and potable water tank to make the aircraft more self-sufficient. For the Y2K tests, clocks were rolled forward to 25 different dates of concern for equipment.
Photograph: Sikorsky is lobbying Congress to purchase five more UH-60Q medical evacuation helicopters for use in conflicts like Kosovo. As NATO's air war against Yugoslavia enters its second month, military strategists say the alliance can still prevail despite Belgrade's unshaken choke-hold on its southern province of Kosovo. But by mid-May, Serb forces are expected to complete their chief objective, the mass expulsion and ruin of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority.
NASA, Air Force Space Command and the National Reconnaissance Office are assessing how they can share lessons from the recent Leonids meteoroid storm that threatened orbiting spacecraft. The three organizations met in early April under a partnership council to also evaluate how they could jointly benefit from the development of a new small launch vehicle with a 220-lb. payload capability to low Earth orbit.
Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems has selected a team of Sanders and Litton Amecom to supply electronic warfare equipment for its candidate in the Joint Strike Fighter competition against Boeing.
An underwater salvage team based at Cape Canaveral is beginning an effort to find and recover the NASA Liberty Bell-7 Mercury spacecraft flown by astronaut Virgil (Gus) Grissom. The spacecraft was lost at sea in 1961 following America's second spaceflight, a suborbital mission launched from the Cape on a Redstone rocket. After the spacecraft landed, an electrical fault blew the side hatch, allowing water to pour in, nearly drowning Grissom, who was rescued from the water by helicopter. An attempt to rescue the spacecraft failed. The spacecraft sank in 15,600 ft.
The Vis-Probe provides ``pass/fail'' results based on the equipment manufacturer's viscosity change limits. It can measure the viscosity of turbine engine lubricants in less than 10 min. The probe is recommended for aircraft and ground-based turbine engines as well as helicopter gear boxes. The Vis-Probe accommodates all 5-centi-Stokes turbine engine oils, including PRF-23699 and DOD-L-85734 types. Data can routinely be generated by nontechnical personnel after minimal training. Airborne Analytical Labs, P.O. Box 518, East Hanover, N.J. 07936.
Honored for his ``leadership in establishing direct contact between the CAB and airline presidents in an effort to solve the acute economic problems now besetting the air transport industry.'' Also honored for ``the judicious and impartial manner in which he has operated his agency, and for his courage and effectiveness in battling for lower fares on international routes, and protecting the interests of the American air traveler.'' Aviation Week&Space Technology, Dec. 25, 1961; Dec. 30, 1963.
Photograph: The baseliner module is used to set up and maintain a fleet maintenance program. This screen shows airframe systems and their components as icons. The U.S. Navy is using a commercial-off-the-shelf system for tracking and scheduling maintenance for the F/A-18 that relies on features in the underlying Oracle database to allow the status of aircraft and their components to be viewed at the squadron, depot and command levels, as well as by contractors. The program, called Maintenix, was developed by MxI Technologies Ltd. of Ontario.
Photograph: PAUL BOWEN Sino Swearingen Aircraft Co.'s SJ30-2 preproduction prototype business jet has accumulated more than 300 hr. of flight testing toward FAA certification, now planned for the fourth quarter of 2000. The airplane, which essentially is a proof-of-concept testbed, has achieved turns at 1.8g at an altitude of 41,000 ft. and at Mach 0.83 ``without significant Mach buffet,'' according to the company. Stall speeds are in the 90-kt. range, a company official said.
The Apollo ACU is an annunciator control unit comprising status indicators and switches and is required for use with II Morrow's IFR-approved GPS units. The Apollo ACU will also denote modes selected by the front panel switches and various inputs from the GPS receiver. Two back-lit switches with tactile feedback are used to switch between a conventional NAV receiver and an approach-certified GPS receiver. II Morrow Inc., P.O. Box 13549, Salem, Ore. 97309.
Lucas Aerospace has contracted with Agusta of Italy to supply the high-speed flexible input driveshafts for the new Agusta/Bell AB139 12-15 passenger helicopter.
Photograph: Cdr. Dave Jackson was the last to command the VXE-6 ``Ice Pirates.'' For 44 years, U.S. scientists have relied on a small Navy squadron to gain entry to Antarctica. Ski-equipped aircraft provide the only practical access to the pristine, frozen interior and have permitted researchers to conduct scientific investigations not possible anywhere else on Earth.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers Clark Hamilton and Charles Burroughs have developed a fully automated portable voltage standard.
U.S. Space Command is conducting a series of tests between Apr. 23 and mid-May to ensure the Global Positioning System is Y2K-compliant. To make certain that normal GPS service is not disrupted, only one spacecraft will be declared ``unhealthy'' while its clock is advanced during the tests, leaving a full constellation plus two spares available to users. The tests also will verify accommodation of an ``End-of-Week'' rollover in GPS system time--which occurs about every 20 years. The first rollover since the counter started on Jan. 6, 1980, will be at midnight between Aug.
Elta Electronics Industries, a subsidiary of Israel Aircraft Industries, ended fiscal 1998 with a pre-tax net income of $15 million, up 83% from the previous year. Revenues from sales increased by 29%, to $348.3 million, with export revenues reaching $283.6 million for a 22% increase over 1997.
Norman R. Augustine Donald Bateman Francis Bernard Paul J. Coco Col. Harry H. Heimple Cdr. George W. Hoover Eugene Joseph John R. Kreick Olof Lundberg Gerard J. McNiff Brian O'Keeffe Thomas L. Phillips John H. Staehlin
