I have been in many different cockpits in my four decades of flying. By my last count, I have flown 120 different aircraft types. During those years, cockpit displays have gone from being basic round dial instruments to better round dial presentations to very sophisticated alphanumeric ones on multifunction displays with living color. This evolutionary process has comprised a series of steps in the right direction to raise situational awareness. What we need, however, is not more evolution, but a revolution.
In a study aimed at streamlining production flow, the fuselage of a next-generation 737-700 is ``flown'' between buildings at Boeing's Renton, Wash., narrow-body factory using four overhead cranes. The process is a key test for conversion of the third 737 production line to next-generation models as older -300/400/500 versions are phased out. ``Flying'' the aircraft through the factory could eliminate a ground-based transfer that takes 90 min. and six employees to complete, according to Boeing.
Kistler Aerospace Corp. is building the first K-1 reusable launch vehicle and two spaceports. A flight in early 2000 is planned. The company has raised $500 million of the $750 million it says it needs to design, develop and operate the RLV system, which is intended to deliver satellites into low-Earth orbit (AW&ST June 30, 1997, p. 53). Despite such cash backing, the company had to slow work during the last half of 1998 as high-yield, high-risk bond markets collapsed, according to Chuck McBride, the chief financial officer.
Market conditions in Asia, rather than technical issues, are driving Boeing's efforts to improve range and capacity for its 777 and 747 transports. Just as lack of demand in Asia prompted Airbus to delay the planned A3XX's entry into service until 2005, the region's recession has prompted Boeing to reassess development of both of its aircraft, company officials said last month during the Australian air show here.
THE U.K.'S DEFENSE EVALUATION AND RESEARCH AGENCY has conducted the first flight tests of a production version of the Marconi/Honeywell helmet-mounted sighting system on a Royal Air Force Jaguar GR3A aircraft. Six flights were conducted at DERA's Boscombe Down test facility in preparation for release of the system this summer as part of a Jaguar upgrade program. The system combines Marconi's helmet-mounted-sight and Honeywell's advanced metal tolerant tracking technologies.
Steven C. Johnston has been named president/chief operating officer of International Total Services Inc. of Cleveland. He was a unit president of Borg Warner Protective Services.
The German government plans to significantly reduce funding in space-related research and development in an effort to comply with tight budget constraints. The planned cuts pose a threat to the aerospace industry, Hans Eberhard Birke warned. He is president of BDLI German aerospace industries association. He added that lower R&D funding would especially endanger small and medium-size companies and seriously hit Germany's European partners in major space programs.
Elbit Systems Ltd. has signed a teaming agreement with Sikorsky Aircraft for upgrading and converting UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters for armed recon and attack missions. The Israeli firm will provide its modular integrated display and sight helmet, Toplite II targeting sensor, stores management computers and other components, as well as being responsible for weapons integration. The new armed version, dubbed the Battle Hawk, is currently being offered to the Australian army (AW&ST Mar. 1, p. 38).
Thomson Training&Simulation, Eurocopter and Cofras, a French military consultancy, will jointly establish helicopter simulation facilities near the Marseilles, France, airport. The venture expects to train 1,000 helicopter pilots per year.
CANADIAN MARCONI HAS COMPLETED THE FIRST PHASE of flight tests of its new CMA-900 GPS/Flight Management System, developed specifically for upgrades of older transport cockpits. The company worked with KLM Airline to upgrade the cockpits of its fleet of 747-200/300s, not to duplicate 747-400 digital avionics, but to provide equivalent functions. These include advanced flight management systems, Smiths Industries electronic flight instruments and engine displays, and triple redundant Litton inertials.
Lobbyists are pressing Congress to outsource more technology functions and cut government costs, which they claim could be slashed by billions of dollars if more federal work were farmed out. Challenging critics who claim outsourcing makes the government captive to outside contractors and their technology, the Information Technology Assn. and the Professional Services Council told a House panel the practice can save as much as 30% in info tech costs.
The U.K.'s Air Accident Investigation Board has been called in to examine an incident on Feb. 26 involving a Boeing 737 operated by a European carrier inbound to London Heathrow airport and a U.S.-registered Gulfstream IV en route from Turkey to Farnborough airport. The aircraft were flying at 12,000 ft. over Lambourne, Essex, in eastern England when vertical separation dropped to 100 ft., although they were more than 1 mi. apart horizontally, according to initial information.
Gena H. Laurent has become vice president-marketing and communications of Saab Aircraft Leasing Inc., Sterling, Va. She was vice president-communications of Fairbrook Leasing Inc. Laurent succeeds Jeffrey Saunders, who has resigned.
Rotary Rocket Co. rolled out its Atmospheric Test Vehicle here on Mar. 1 and plans to have it flying in mid-April. The Atmospheric Test Vehicle (ATV) is to test the approach and landing of the company's Roton reusable single-stage-to-orbit launcher design. The ATV was built by putting a Sikorsky S-58 helicopter transmission and rotor on top of a graphite composite shell that is a full-scale representation of the 63-ft.-tall orbital launcher.
Logicon Inc. has been awarded a 5-year, $30-million contract by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command to provide operations and maintenance support for the High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility.
Southwest Airlines plans to begin scheduled service from Raleigh-Durham International Airport on June 6. The carrier is to operate 12 daily nonstop flights to Baltimore/Washington International Airport, Nashville, Chicago Midway, Tampa and Orlando. Southwest is set to begin service on Mar. 14 to MacArthur Airport on Long Island, N.Y.
Parametric Technology has added design, manufacturing and data transfer features to Pro/Engineer 2000i, the latest version of its computer-aided design and manufacturing software. Several new design features are grouped under the title ``Behavioral Modeling.'' One is an optimization routine to help the designer solve problems. For example, the program can automatically modify a fuel tank to meet a volume requirement while minimizing the surface area within user-specified constraints.
THE SAAB JAS 39 GRIPEN WILL USE A NEW AIR DATA computer (ADC) from Honeywell. The HG 1141 computer is a derivative of another new ADC, the HG 1140, that was developed for seven different military--and nine different commercial--aircraft, and is now completing qualification tests. The Saab ADC will benefit from that development and some commonality for maintenance and logistics support. The computer for the Saab includes a multifunction communication bus so it can satisfy the Gripen's requirements for dual air data computers.
Amidst uncertainties about Asian economies, depressed prices for crude oil and concerns about regulatory action, the majority of manufacturers, suppliers and operators attending the 51st Helicopter Assn. International convention held here last week expect steady sales and moderate expansion of the industry in 1999.
The Republic of Guatemala will equip four key airports with the Honeywell/Pelorus SLS 2000 satellite landing system. In addition, Honeywell will supply Category 1 airfield lighting for the facilities, which include Guatemala City's La Aurora Airport and airports in Tikal, Puerto Barrios and Puerto San Jose. The contract marks an initial success for Honeywell's new integrated airport products line strategy.
A small infrared telescope set for launch this week is the first new spacecraft in NASA's Origins program--a decades-long effort to answer such fundamental questions as: How did galaxies form? Are there habitable planets outside the Solar System? Does life exist elsewhere? The 561-lb. Wide-field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) is scheduled for launch Mar. 1 at 7 p.m. PST on an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL booster dropped from the company's Lockheed L-1011 flown out of Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
A Boeing Business Jet cabin mockup at Reagan Washington National Airport attracted attention mostly from the private sector. But some government officials visited the mockup, decked out like a mini-Air Force One, replete with master bedroom, den and conference table. The aircraft costs $40-50 million, depending on how spiffy you want it. A Boeing official said he thinks the government will buy one eventually. But bureaucrats also showed some interest in fractional ownership. A one-eighth share from the Executive Jet/Boeing Business Jets joint venture costs $5.8 million.
