Are the investors that have poured billions of dollars into Iridium, Globalstar and ICO Global Communications in for a rough ride? Carissa Christensen, a commercial space forecaster with Futron Corp., thinks so. She told Aviation Week&Space Technology's Business '99 conference last week that demand for nongeosynchronous mobile satellite services seems to be sufficient to support just one ``fully profitable'' system over the next five years, and perhaps two systems by 2010.
In a major strategic push into Australia, Singapore Airlines is to buy a 50% stake of Ansett Australia--owned by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch through his News Ltd.--for A$500 million ($320 million).
Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector has delivered the third and final full-scale development version of its Airport Movement Area Safety System (Amass) to Atlanta's William B. Hartsfield International Airport. Field testing is to be completed by this month. Amass monitors all airport surface traffic and warns controllers of potential conflicts. Installations have been completed at Detroit and St. Louis. Northrop Grumman is under contract with the FAA for 36 production systems to be installed at 35 major airports equipped with advanced ASDE-3 radar.
France's Intertechnique has been selected by Bombardier Aerospace to supply the electric and fuel systems for Canadair's new Continental business twinjet. AlliedSignal will supply the aircraft's auxiliary power system. The first flight is scheduled for June 2001.
Managers at BMW Rolls-Royce plan to add a third shift to the company's Dahlewitz, Germany, final assembly shop this year, and may build an addition to the assembly hall to maintain delivery schedules for their engines. Ramping up from production levels that saw 28 engines assembled and tested in 1996, the company now plans to deliver about 195 engines this year and around 250 in 2000. The latter represents the maximum output achievable with the current physical plant. BMW Rolls-Royce's BR710 powers the Gulfstream V and Bombardier Global Express business jets.
The Model ID-1 is an electro-optical system that can scan an aircraft wing surface for ice in seconds. The system detects ice by determining the polarization of infrared light. If ice is present, the infrared signal is unpolarized and a picture of the wing is displayed on a monitor with ice patches highlighted. Clean areas are shown in green; ice is shown in red. A camera for scanning can be hand-held or truck-mounted. A separate electronics processing unit and a connector cable are included with the system. BFGoodrich Aerospace, 14300 Judicial Road, Burnsville, Minn.
The first of a new series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) spacecraft is close to completing thermal-vacuum testing at Hughes Space and Communications in preparation for launch this summer (see photo). The spacecraft bus, a version of the HS 601, is surrounded by a test framework with heater elements to simulate the cycles of extreme heat and cold the satellite will be exposed to in orbit. Thermal-vacuum testing is expected to be completed early next month.
China Southern Airlines accepted its first A320 full-flight simulator last week as part of an expansion effort that includes a 100,000-sq.-ft. training center and a $250-million, 20-year commitment at its ab initio center in Australia. Now in its seventh year, CSA's Zhuhai Flight Training Center already has two 737, one 757/767 and one 777 full-flight simulators, all made by CAE Electronics Ltd. of Montreal. China Southern's fleet includes 737-300/500s, 757-200s, 767-200s and 777-200s.
Look for the FAA to act as early as this week on National Transportation Safety Board recommendations to upgrade flight data recorders (FDRs) on Boeing 737s. At the conclusion of its final review of the 1994 USAir 737 crash near Pittsburgh, the safety board called for upgrades by August 2000. Provoked by problems in deciphering Flight 427's crash cause, the safety board called four years ago for 737 FDR upgrades by December 1995. But the FAA gave airlines until 2001 to complete that work.
Dick Smith, chairman of Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority, was forced to resign last week after a CASA board meeting was called by Transport Minister John Anderson due to controversy about recent CASA safety actions. Smith had charged CASA's safety regulators with cronyism (AW&ST Mar. 1, p. 45). CASA Director Mick Toller, who backed the regulators, emerged the winner in a power struggle when the board supported him. Toller, a former Cathay Pacific pilot, is expected to succeed Smith. Australia's Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn.
Delta Air Lines has agreed to sell 119 Boeing 727-200 transports and their engines, including spare JT8D-15/15As, to Republic Financial Corp. and Pratt&Whitney, respectively. Plans call for Delta to sell the jets as they are retired. Pratt&Whitney is working with Republic Financial Corp. of Denver, which would market the aircraft after they are converted to freighters. Delta is scheduled to retire 20 727s this year, with the remainder leaving service through 2005.
U.S. Air Force officials are examining ways to accelerate product improvements into the services' F110 and F100 engine fleets in response to six, non-fatal engine-related class-A mishaps that occurred in USAF F-16s between November 1998 and February 1999.
Photofabrication Engineering has developed techniques for etching beryllium copper parts in thicknesses of 0.0005-0.090 in. Beryllium copper is suitable for applications requiring hardness, strength, self-lubrication and thermal electrical conductivity, while eliminating the health hazards of inhaling beryllia dust. Applications for the beryllium copper parts include springs, slides, contacts, heat sinks, lead frames and heat shields for the electronics and aerospace applications. Photofrabrication Engineering Inc., 500 Fortune Dr., Milford, Mass. 01757.
Loren B. Thompson is chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute, a Washington think tank. He adapted this article from testimony he gave this month before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. Every year, the U.S. Air Force puts on an Aerospace Power Demonstration in Florida to display publicly its proficiency in wielding the weapons of modern air warfare. It's the service's premier air show, and it's quite impressive.
John P. Stenbit, executive vice president-telecommunications of TRW Inc. of Cleveland, has been named to the Washington-based National Academy of Engineering. He was cited for contributions to the development and leadership in the implementation of the architecture for military communication systems.
Daniele Labatut has become vice president-finance of Hispano-Suiza Aerostructures. She was manager-economic group of Snecma SEP Div. and succeeds Alain Amiot, who is now vice president-finance and legal affairs of Hispano-Suiza.
NATO launched its long-threatened air offensive against Yugoslavia last week, a campaign that tests the alliance's ability to use air strikes alone to halt a brutal ground offensive being conducted by a determined and well-equipped opponent.
Israel Aircraft Industries posted pretax profits of $72 million in 1998, up 39% from the previous year. Sales rose 7% to $1.99 billion and the company ended the year with a $3.14-billion order backlog. Exports account for the bulk of sales, with 40% of those now involving civilian products and services.
R. Douglas Kahn has been promoted to president/CEO from chief operating officer of the PanAmSat Corp., Greenwich, Conn. He will succeed Frederick A. Landman, who will remain a director.
Pratt&Whitney is hopeful the Clinton Administration will be able to win a postponement of Europe's impending hushkit restrictions (AW&ST Feb. 15, p. 47). Pratt&Whitney is especially concerned because the primary target is the company's widely used JT8D powerplant. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater visited the continent last week to jawbone European Union officials, and ``delay is very definitely possible,'' said Kevin M. Doyle, Pratt&Whitney's associate counsel.
Finland's Patria Finavitec has acquired Stockholm-based Ostermans Aero, a Swedish helicopter maintenance and overhaul company previously owned by HSL Mash Svenska. Ostermans Aero will be renamed Patria Ostermans Aero and become Patria Finavitec's support division.
The Vulkan modular electric actuator, developed under a U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovative Research contract, requires only a power input and control signal to function. It will encase a pump, valves and hydraulic ram in a hermetically sealed package, eliminating the need to run hydraulic lines from a central pump. The pump and flow control valves are powered by Terfenol-D, a smart iron alloy that expands or contracts as a magnetic field around it is varied. Etrema Products Inc., 2500 N. Loop Drive, Ames, Iowa 50010.
VibraLITE3 is a vibrating alarm watch designed to remind pilots to perform time-critical actions when an audible alarm might not be heard in a noisy cockpit. The watch has an auto reload countdown timer, which resets the VibraLITE3 to start counting down automatically again when the timer reaches 0. The bright blue electroluminescent display can be configured to activate automatically with a flip of the wrist for night viewing. Global Assistive Devices Inc., 4950 North Dixie Highway, Suite 121, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33334-3947.
