Hamilton Standard and the KLM Engineering and Maintenance Div. have signed a letter of intent paving the way for a joint venture in the pneumatic component overhaul market. Hamilton Standard is expected to own a 51% stake in the proposed company, which is scheduled to be formed in 2000.
Rep. James T. Walsh (R-N.Y.) will chair the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies, which oversees NASA funding. Walsh succeeds Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), who will chair the Appropriations defense subcommittee.
United Technologies Corp. last week posted a 20% increase in fourth-quarter diluted earnings per share of $1.16, and an 18% increase in net income, to $287 million. Revenues for the quarter were $6.8 billion, 10% higher than the prior year, reflecting increases in all business segments, with double-digit gains at Flight Systems. Pratt&Whitney's operating profit increased 16% on a 4% growth in revenues.
The use of phased array antennas on new models of commercial communications satellites could become commonplace relatively early in the next century, according to industry officials. With their electronic agility and the capability of being reconfigured in orbit, phased array systems are being baselined on next-generation commercial spacecraft and discussed as possible follow-ons for existing military communications systems.
The once-reviled Continental Airlines took four top honors--for best business class, best short- and long-haul economy classes and best frequent-flier program in the Americas---in the 1999 OAG Airline of the Year Awards. The program was started 16 years ago as a barometer of views of U.K. business travelers, but has been expanded to a global scale for the first time. The voters were print and electronic subscribers to OAG Worldwide travel information products, with ACNielsen International Research collecting and analyzing the data.
Charles Urewicz, founder of the Solano Group and former transition manager/division director for workload transitions at the Naval Aviation Depot at Alameda, Calif., has received Vice President Al Gore's Hammer Award. His leadership and management expertise were cited as contributing to the closure of the depot 6 months ahead of schedule.
It is unlikely that Congress can settle aviation funding debates and resolve competition policy questions before current short-term budget legislation expires in March, according to legislative, administration and industry officials.
Hall says it was NRO's insufficient assets that contributed to the failure of U.S. intelligence to detect India's preparations for nuclear tests last May. ``I think it's a reflection of the fact that the intelligence community lacks the assets to cover multiple problem areas in a given region both analytically and collection source-wise.'' The intelligence ``community'' had to make choices, he said, conceding ``it chose wrong.'' NRO doesn't determine where its satellites look on any given day, he noted.
THE THAI AIR FORCE HAS SELECTED Tadiran of Holon, Israel, to supply Spectralink ARS-700 rescue systems for two types of helicopters. Developed for Israel's air force, the system works with the Tadiran PRC-43A secure survival radio and locates a survivor within 10 meters, to enable first-pass pickup, according to Tadiran.
Steve O'Callaghan has been named director of original equipment manufacturers sales and James Porterfield corporate controller of Unison Industries, Jacksonville, Fla. O'Callaghan was OEM marketing manager.
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has received bids for Future Imagery Architecture, a new system of smaller, more numerous imagery spacecraft that should improve revisit times. NRO Director Keith Hall says a contract for the system's ground element should be awarded in March, followed by additional contracts--presumably for spacecraft and data processing--in July. Some smallsat proponents have complained the program's aim of growing the NRO's imagery constellation to a handful of satellites doesn't go far enough.
The FAA has issued FlightSafety International the first ``Level D'' certification for a helicopter. The company's Bell 412EP full-flight simulator at FSI's FlightSafety Bell Center in Fort Worth was granted the approval in accordance with FAA Advisory Circular 120-63, Helicopter Simulation Qualification. In addition to the VITAL ChromaView Plus visual system, the simulator features the highest level of flight replication including cockpit sound duplication and additional physical sensations felt by the pilot.
First flight of the X-33 single-stage-to-orbit testbed has slipped by 4-7 months due to delamination of the composite sandwich structure of a liquid hydrogen tank during an autoclave cycle. The problem raises questions about being able to reliably manufacture large sandwich structures, and the ability to nondestructively test the bond strength between the face sheet and core. The lightweight tank is key to achieving single-stage-to-orbit performance.
Swissport, SAirGroup's aircraft ground handling subsidiary, has concluded a partnership agreement with Adecco Suisse, a personnel management company. They jointly plan to seek additional business in airport-related services.
Ken C. Chin (see photos) has been appointed president of the TSLI Div. and William C. Miller vice president-program management of the Communications Systems Div. of the Telephonics Corp., Farmingdale, N.Y.
The decline in U.S. machine tool consumption has resulted in layoffs at two Cincinnati-based companies. Makino at Mason, Ohio, has reduced employment by 10% from a level of 500 employees, and Cincinnati Machine has let go 30 people, including retirements from its total workforce of 1,800. Mazak in Florence, Ky., hasn't laid off staff, but its officials are closely monitoring the situation. The decline in orders, sharpest in the last quarter of 1998, reflected a slight downturn in nearly every machine tool-dependent industry, said Mazak President Brian Papke.
Belgium's Barco Display Systems Div. has completed an 80,000-sq.-ft. production facility northeast of Atlanta. It will be used in developing and producing high-performance graphics and video controller boards.
David C. Reeve has been named senior vice president-operations of Midwest Express Holdings Inc. He was president/CEO of Astral Aviation. He succeeds Dennis J. Crabtree, who has resigned.
Tim Black has become chief operating officer of InVision Technologies Inc., Newark, Calif. He was a director/general manager in the TRW Systems and Information Technology Group.
United Airlines' possible acquisition of America West would benefit United in several key areas, but the successful completion of such a deal faces significant obstacles, according to industry observers. Michael K. Lowry, with AirWatch Group in Portland, Ore., said the acquisition would strengthen United's presence in the Southwest and could improve the airline's market share on the West Coast.
Pratt&Whitney's San Antonio, Tex., facility has received a $10.3-million contract for the repair and overhaul of 555 combustion chambers in F100 engines on F-15 and F-16 aircraft.
Vice Adm. Brent Bennitt (USN, Ret.) has received the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award as part of the Flight Safety Foundation's International Air Safety Seminar. He was honored for safety initiatives while commander of the Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, from 1996-98.
THE FIRST BUSINESS JET equipped with Rockwell Collins' Airborne Satellite TV System is a Gulfstream V. In the privately owned G-V, the satellite TV antenna fits in the same radome with the satcom antenna, and causes no interference, according to Collins. Seven channels of DirecTV are simultaneously available to the cabin, through the existing inflight entertainment system. The antenna tracks the satellite using stored ephemeris data, the aircraft's inertial navigation system, and closed-loop RF signal tracking.
