Charles F. Lloyd has become vice president-marketing of SkyShare International Inc., Little Rock, Ark. He was director-used aircraft for the Cessna Aircraft Co. and for Raytheon Aircraft.
In April, the U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority plans to launch a reporting system designed to combat the growing phenomenon of ``air rage.'' The CAA will ask airlines to report the details of instances of disruptive behavior, including information on the passengers involved, whether alcohol consumption was a factor and what actions were taken by the crew. Previously, only incidents which might have had safety implications were recorded by the CAA as part of its mandatory occurrence reporting scheme.
NASDA has conducted a 350-sec. burn test at its Tanegashima launch center of the Mitsubishi LE-7A first-stage engine for the H-2A commercial launch vehicle. The new engine simplifies the design for the engine's plumbing and placement of its fuel/oxidizer turbopumps and preburner chambers. The goal is to make the LE-7 engine less expensive and more efficient to improve the launcher's competitiveness (AW&ST Aug. 3, 1998, p. 28). Three more 350-sec. burns are scheduled. First launch is set for February 2000.
Fay P. Beauchine has been appointed vice president-passenger sales and customer relations of Northwest Airlines. Other recent appointments were: Lizabeth A. Shultiss vice president-reservations sales and services, John W. Temple vice president and general manager of Northwest subsidiary MLT Inc., and Susan B. Edberg managing director-international advertising and WorldPerks marketing.
Retired CBS news anchorman Walter Cronkite has received the Corona Award from the Houston-based Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation. The award recognizes lifelong achievement in the field of space.
Gen. Howell M. Estes, 3rd, (USAF, Ret.), former commander-in-chief of North American Aerospace Defense Command and commander of U.S. Space Command, is among the new trustees of The Aerospace Corp. of Los Angeles. The others are: Gen. Thomas S. Moorman, Jr., (Ret.), former Air Force vice chief of staff; and Richard Balzhiser, president emeritus of the Electric Power Research Institute.
The head of Go, British Airways' low-cost subsidiary which operates out of London Stansted airport, expects to set up several hub operations throughout Europe within 10 years. Chief Executive Barbara Cassani said the phenomenon of low-cost airlines, which has taken off in the British Isles, is just getting started in continental Europe. She predicted these carriers will ``triple or quadruple'' in size by 2009, and that major flag carriers would eventually emulate British Airways and set up their own low-cost subsidiaries.
France's Technofan will equip British Airways' Airbus single-aisle twinjets with tire pressure control systems as well as cooling systems for the brakes and avionics bays.
Two Toyota engineers and a pilot died when their Piper PA-28 single-engine aircraft crashed on a test flight when its engine quit, raising the possibility that modifications were to blame. The crash also prompted an investigation into why Toyota conducted such tests without Transport Ministry approval.
The first two next-generation 737s produced at a 24/mo. rate rolled out of Boeing's Renton, Wash., narrow-body factory last week. The new production rate is Boeing's highest ever for a single commercial jet transport line. Overall, the company is building 737s at a 27/mo. rate, including earlier 737-300/400/500 versions.
India's Civil Aviation Authority is trying to determine why an Air France all-cargo Boeing 747 burst into flames at the Madras airport in India after its nose landing gear collapsed during rollout.
NASA is investigating the loss shortly after launch of the Wide-field Infrared Explorer (Wire)--a Small Explorer astronomy satellite that is also part of the Origins program.
Lufthansa confirms it is looking at ``super jumbo'' transports, such as the proposed Airbus A3XX and stretched 747 versions, but would not buy them in ``really big numbers,'' according to Kirchner. The carrier also is uncertain if it wants to be a launch customer for such an aircraft, which would operate between hubs and have to meet tight performance and operating cost requirements, he said. The sophistication of modern yield management systems would mean any add-on passengers on such flights likely would be low-yield fliers, he added.
Two Super Hornets are performing as expected during a second round of sea trials in the latest demonstration that the F/A-18E/F development program is ready for its operational evaluation phase. The Navy/Boeing/General Electric integrated test team plans to complete 400 approaches and 200 catapult launches with two F/A-18F strike fighters during 2 weeks of tests on the USS Harry S. Truman, a new carrier that has not yet achieved a fully operational status. The tests are expected to conclude this week.
Sean E. Menke has been appointed director of planning and scheduling of Frontier Airlines. He was senior planner for domestic schedule planning for United Airlines.
Solar Eruptions that can disrupt satellites, power grids, navigation aids and electronics can now be predicted days before they hit Earth, a team of scientists reports this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Using imagery from the Soft X-ray Telescope on Japan's Yokoh spacecraft, led by Richard Canfield of Montana State University-Bozeman, found that the formation of an S-shaped pattern on the surface would often lead to a coronal mass ejection (CME)--the largest, most violent type of discharge from the Sun.
Potential decreases in government research funding and space expenditures could jeopardize the future of major European aerospace programs, French and German industry executives warned last week. The German federal government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has agreed to extend the multiyear aerospace research program for 4 years and fund it to the tune of 614 million euros ($675 million), the same level as the previous program. However, the government aims to finance only 20% compared to 50% in the last few years.
American Microsystems Inc. of Pocatello, Idaho, has developed a process to convert aging microprocessors in military and aerospace systems to smaller, lighter microchips. The microprocessor code, which is expensive to develop, transfers to effectively become the core of a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chip, according to Dave Locke, product marketing manager of military aerospace. The technique extends aerospace system life and increases reliability while reducing the challenge of supporting obsolete microprocessor technology.
Gordon Dixon has become CEO of the Oasis International Leasing Co. of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Dixon was managing director for global aerospace of the Chase Manhattan Bank.
Consolidation of the U.S. airline industry into fewer carriers would reduce the number of hub-and-spoke operations and eliminate network inefficiencies, according to a Salomon Smith Barney industry report by equity analyst Brian Harris.
A Franco-Russian mission to Mir may prove to be a swan song for the Russian orbital facility, but it is expected to provide invaluable experience for subsequent operation of the International Space Station (ISS), according to European space officials.
Walter P. Havenstein has become executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Sanders, Nashua, N.H. He was vice president/general manager of the Raytheon Systems Co. Strategic Systems Div.'s C3I Segment, Falls Church, Va. Bob Burns (see photo) has been appointed president of Dowty Tubular Systems, Oxon, England. Mark Hilton has been named vice president-aerospace sales and marketing. Burns was general manager and Hilton sales director, both for Lewis and Saunders.
