While new orders languish and Chinese leaders talk about delivery delays, the Asia-Pacific region's long-haul markets are fragmenting much as Airbus and Boeing have anticipated for some time.
Boeing has completed critical configuration of its new 737-900 transport and has begun releasing design information to manufacturing departments and suppliers. The -900 is almost 9 ft. longer than the 189-seat 737-800. The increased fuselage length is expected to provide about 9% more cabin space and 18 % more cargo volume.
The Civil Aviation Bureau of Japan's Ministry of Transport has widened takeoff and approach paths at Tokyo's Narita airport to stem a rising number of noise complaints. Compared to those now in use, the courses are 2.5 km. wider in the north and 4.5 km. wider in the south. The CAB reports only about 1% of flights deviate from the corridors, mostly due to crosswinds--but adds that flight crews should be able to compensate for them.
Anew Flow International waterjet cutter (bottom right) processes a stack of aluminum sheets being made into parts at American Aircraft Products in Gardena, Calif.
Marvin Engineering Co. will provide 506 launchers for AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles for use on USAF F-15, F-16 and F-22 aircraft, under a $6.55 million contract.
All Nippon Airways says it will not be recruiting cabin attendants in the fiscal year that begins on Apr. 1, 2000. The carrier usually hires 600-800 flight attendants a year (it has employed 580 so far in the fiscal year that ends on Mar. 31). But route restructuring will negate the need for hires next year. ANA employs about 5,000 cabin attendants. It does expect to hire about 20 pilots next year, however. Rival Japan Airlines says it will hire cabin attendants as usual next year, while Japan Air System says it isn't sure.
The NASA Stardust spacecraft is outbound from Earth on the first leg of a 3.2-billion-mi., 7-year round trip to return samples of material spraying from the surface of a comet. Stardust is the first of four major U.S. and European missions planned for launch over the next 4 years to six comets. Launched here Feb. 7 on a unique trajectory by a Boeing Delta II, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Lockheed Martin spacecraft marks several space firsts:
Ecuadorean investigators said the flight crew's late decision to abort takeoff was the probable cause of last August's crash in Quito of a Russian-built Tu-154M operated by Cuban state airline Cubana. The crash at Quito's airport killed 81.
Executives from the Luxembourg-based Societe Europeenne des Satellites (SES) were in Washington recently seeking partners for their plans to go global. SES, Europe's largest provider of direct-to-home satellite services, broke into the Asian market with its completion of a Jan. 15 agreement for a 34% stake in AsiaSat. SES executives hope to strike a deal within 12-18 months--or sooner--that would give them access to markets in the Americas.
Although the Mars Sample Return Mission program is barely off the drawing board, scientists are already planning to expand it into a broad-based, coordinated effort to recover samples from other places in the solar system, including Mercury, Venus and small bodies.
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., have developed a hand-held radar gun that provides mobile, 3D ``snapshots'' of military aircraft radar signatures. The 11-lb. radarcam can be used for periodic and post-maintenance inspections to detect gaps in radar-absorbing coatings and related problems, according to Wayne Lechelt, PNNL senior staff engineer. The system also can calculate the contribution of the area being inspected to an aircraft's ``far-field'' radar cross-section.
Boeing is using flying avionics testbed aircraft on both the F-22 program and its Joint Strike Fighter candidates in an effort to reduce costs and speed development of advanced electronics systems.
Ramanarayan Potarazu has been promoted to vice president-operations/chief information officer from vice president/CIO of Washington-based Intelsat. Michel Garreau has been appointed vice president-engineering and Mario Leonel vice president-corporate development. Garreau was civil tele-communications director of Matra Marconi Space, and Leonel was on the board of governors of Anatel.
The international airline industry apparently has cleared a key hurdle in efforts to overcome potential problems caused by the ``millennium bug'' in computer systems.
A Microcosm ``Scorpius'' SR-S single-engine rocket completed its first test flight at White Sands, N.M., validating portions of the system's low-cost technology. The suborbital SR-S test used a 5,000-lb. thrust engine, and provided data on avionics and tank performance, according to Microcosm program manager Robert Conger. A larger single-stage, 3-engine suborbital SR-1 rocket will be launched this fall, and testing of even larger-thrust engines are scheduled to take place at the Energetic Materials Research Test Center in Socorro, N.M.
Airbus Military Co. is up and running following the submission of formal bid proposals to seven European countries for its Future Large Aircraft (FLA) military transport, now renamed the A400M.
Patricia A. Mahoney, assistant general counsel of Iridium LLC, has been elected chair of the Alexandria, Va.-based Satellite Industry Assn. Other new officers are: vice chairman, Michael Fitch, vice president-regulatory affairs and spectrum for Hughes Communications; and treasurer, Larry D. Atlas, vice president-government relations of Loral Space and Communications.
Northwest Airlines and the Air Line Pilots Assn. agreed on Feb. 10 that pilots flying the Airbus A319 will be paid at the same rate as those flying A320s.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey told the House Transportation aviation subcommittee last week that this is a critical time for the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System. An FAA spokesman said current STARS testing will determine the program status, which will be critical to deployment timing. The goal is deployment by Mar. 31 at Reagan Washington National Airport. She said STARS is having problems, but the FAA and air traffic controllers are solving them.
NASA's X-38 made a successful free flight and parachute landing from a B-52 bomber on Feb. 6 at the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, Calif. It was the second flight of the prototype for a crew rescue vehicle for the International Space Station. The first flight last March had problems with parachute deployment and the intervening 11 months were spent fixing them (AW&ST Mar. 23, 1998, p. 92). The recent flight had a few minor tears in the large ram-inflated parafoil that will delay the first flight of the No. 2 X-38 to mid-March.
A notable absence at this year's Paris air show will be Lockheed Martin's stand-alone pavilion, the company's specially designed, portable showcase facility for its products. The air show pavilion appears to be a casualty of belt-tightening at the world's largest defense contractor, following an unexpected drop in earnings at year-end.
The Arnold Engineering Development Center at Arnold AFB, Tenn., is assisting the Air Force in certifying weapons for the FD-117A Nighthawk aircraft. The wind tunnels are being used to test separation of Mk.-84 and BLU-109 2,000-lb. bombs from a model of the F-117A. The Seek Eagle Office at Eglin AFB, Fla., is managing the tests.
