To upgrade to new hardware technology while retaining proven embedded machine code, CPU Technology is developing modern processors that use the instruction sets of widespread but aging devices, such as the 16-bit Mil-Std-1750A processor family. Not only will the new devices be compatible replacements and run the old code, they will have modern features and more power, thus saving millions of dollars by avoiding software rewrite and reverification, while adding capacity for new functions, according to the company.
Will India begin testing a longer-range version of its Agni intermediate-range ballistic missile this year? Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes was inexact when asked recently about that prospect. ``The government never announced the test firing of Agni,'' he said. ``At the appropriate time it will be done.'' India has tested the Agni-I ``technology demonstrator'' IRBM, which has a range of about 1,500 km. (930 mi.), three times and is working on a longer-range Agni-II.
Rolls-Royce expects to begin fan rig tests for the latest iteration of the GE/Rolls-Royce F120 engine in late September at the company's Rolls-Royce Allison facilities in Indianapolis. The high-flow, high-pressure ratio, three-stage fan will have a 45-50-in. dia. and a mass flow of around 400 lb./sec. Blades for the aft-swept fan will be ``short, fat and stubby,'' according to a company official. Rig test blades will be solid titanium, emphasizing their role in validating the fan's aerodynamics.
Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority said it will reinstate flying authority for the Western Australia Flying College in Perth and reorganize the way it grounds airlines and flying schools. The agency's grounding of the flight school, which is 65% owned by China Southern Airlines, prompted a swift political backlash because the decision was based on record-keeping irregularities rather than actual flight safety incidents.
Boeing has launched a dedicated modification and engineering services business aimed at bringing in additional postdelivery work--and revenues--to its commercial aircraft division.
While Philippine Airlines struggles to remain operational, a rival, Air Philippines Inc., has been granted permission to begin international services to the U.S., South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Regulatory approval has been granted for the four-year-old carrier to fly from Manila to Taipei and Kaoshiung,Taiwan; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Seoul, and Hong Kong. Also approved are flights from the central Philippines city of Cebu to Osaka and Fukuoka in Japan. The airline is expecting to start services by June with Boeing 747-200s.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) will submit a second joint bid with Lufthansa for a stake in Thai Airways International, despite an apparent conflict with Thailand's competition law. The law prohibits financial links between competitors. Thai International is seeking outside investors, although it has not said how it intends to bring them in. SIA said last year it wanted to join with Lufthansa in buying about one-third of the carrier. CEO Cheong Choong Kong said recently the carrier intends to stick with that plan.
BMW Rolls-Royce and MTU are working to complete by July the basic definition of an advanced core demonstrator engine slated to run in late 2000. The core engine--dubbed the E3E, for economy, efficiency and environment--is a follow-on effort to an earlier four-year German government/industry program. That project culminated last year with the running of a BR715 core engine fitted with a two-stage, low-emissions combustor. The core also was used to explore several methods of providing cooling air to the first stage of the BR715's high-pressure turbine.
Mark E. Wolfgram has been named sales and marketing manager of Tennalum, Kaiser Aluminum-Engineered Products Div., Jackson, Tenn. He was Southeast U.S. regional manager.
Lost luggage is often caused by the bar code on paper luggage tags being misread or missed altogether by baggage sorting machinery at a transfer hub. As much as a third of the time the bar code has to be read manually, possibly making the luggage miss a connecting flight. British Airways began field-testing a Texas Instruments RF chip last week that gets past the problem of badly aligned bar code scanners. Called Tag-it, the 256-bit chip contains more data about the bag's itinerary than bar code labels (see photo at right).
Joseph A. Bagosy, Jr., has been appointed general manager in Europe and Vincent P. Papke general manager at New York LaGuardia Airport for Orlando, Fla.-based Signature Flight Support.
Arabsat, the leading satellite operator in the Arab world, is exploring the possibility of going private, and mulling new satellites for its hot spot at 26 deg. E. Long.
The Sea Launch command ship and platform, which set out for the equator earlier this month, are equipped to remain at sea up to 42 days to conduct an initial demonstration mission. About half of that time will be required to make the 6,000-mi. round trip between Long Beach and the launch site, leaving up to nearly three weeks at the equator to conduct the first launch. The site is 1,400 mi. south of Hawaii at 154 deg. W. Long.
Lockheed Martin Vought System's Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missile intercepted and destroyed an incoming tactical ballistic missile target on Mar. 15 during tests of the seeker system at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. Intercept of the reentry vehicle target occurred at an altitude of 12 km. (7.5 mi.) after the target had flown downrange 350 km. (217 mi.). The PAC-3 flew for about 7 sec. after launch and completed a nearly 90-deg. maneuver in the final seconds prior to impact.
FAA is investigating the potential of advanced blended and spiroid winglets to reduce vortex turbulence and increase safety and airspace system capacity.
South African Airways has expanded a limited code-share with British Midland into a broad cooperation agreement covering sales, marketing and other commercial areas as well as code-sharing. It will give SAA access to British Midland's U.K. and Irish route network, via its Heathrow hub, while providing the British carrier with a gateway to high-growth routes in southern Africa.
CIMdata Inc., an Ann Arbor, Mich., consulting and market research firm, reports that the worldwide market for product data management (PDM) software grew 27% to reach $1.4 billion in 1998. CIMdata predicts the market will top $1.75 billion this year and increase at a compound growth rate of 16% a year through 2003, when it should be worth $2.9 billion. The aerospace industry accounts for 15% of the PDM market and is one of the heaviest investors in PDM products.
After eight years of investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board will debate this week whether design shortcomings in the 737--the most widely used commercial transport in the world--warrant a redesign of its rudder system.
Motorola Inc. has received an $11-million contract to supply three Tactical Airspace Integration System units, training, software improvements, spares, user tests and contractor logistics support to the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
Installation of head-up guidance systems (HGS) on 737s saves an airline and its insurers an estimated $60,000 a year per plane through lower accident rates. The figures, assembled by HGS-maker Flight Dynamics, are based on raw data supplied by Boeing's Airplane Safety Engineering group and industry cost standards, according to George Kanellif. He's director of marketing services and analysis for Portland, Ore.-based Flight Dynamics. The results are representative of a U.S. airline operating a fleet of 20 737s.
