South Korea's government has rejected a consolidation plan proposed by some of the country's leading aerospace firms as short on cost-cutting measures and long on debt. Government officials said the proposal by the aerospace divisions of Daewoo, Hyundai and Samsung would require the government to cover more than $1 billion in debt. The three firms were told to produce an alternative plan by this week to create the proposed company--Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI).
RESEARCHERS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ERLANGEN-NURNBERG described techniques for producing more efficient light-emitting diodes at the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) last week in San Francisco. Better LEDs are sought to improve optical systems, such as fiber optics and CD-ROMS, used for data transmission and storage. Conventional surface-emitting gallium arsenide LEDs only convert about 2% of the electrical power applied to them to light, according to the German team.
The U.S. Marine Corps plans to have 18 regular and four reserve squadrons equipped with 360 Bell Boeing MV-22 tiltrotors within the next 14 years. Deliveries of the new Osprey are scheduled to begin in December 1999 to the joint Marine and U.S. Air Force training squadron VMMT-204 at New River, N.C. The MV-22s to the Marine Corps will replace Boeing CH-46s and Sikorsky CH-53D and CH-53Es. The CH-53Es replaced by MV-22s will be redistributed to other fleet squadrons. The Air Force is slated to receive 50 CV-22s for special operations missions.
Intel Corp. has granted a government-led research team a royalty-free license to its Pentium processor design to produce radiation-harden chips that will extend the longevity of military and civilian spacecraft and drive down the costs of producing them. ``The Pentium chip is the most popular chip in the world,'' Energy Secretary William Richardson said last week, ``and the gateway to the most popular software.''
After waiting more than 3 years for a launch, NASA's Submillimeter-Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) has been successfully boosted into orbit by an Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus XL off the California coast. The spacecraft, intended to improve understanding of star formation, was launched Dec. 5, about 9 years after development work began on the 625-lb. satellite.
Louis M. Carrier, Jr., has been named vice president of Bethpage, N.Y.-based Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare Systems of the Northrop Grumman Corp. He was vice president-F/A-18 program management at the former Military Aircraft Systems Div.
The Globalstar satellite mobile telephone venture has delayed a launch on a Russian Soyuz booster from this week to mid-January at the very earliest because of the State Dept.'s refusal to license the launch. State won't give a permit until a new technology safeguard agreement with Russia and Kazakhstan is completed. But the tripartite negotiations have dragged on and on. That's bad news for the Globalstar, which lost a dozen satellites to a Zenit booster mishap in September.
Brian Rowe and Pierre Alesi have won the French national air and space academy's annual grand prize, for their role in CFM International, a joint General Electric-Snecma subsidiary. Rowe was instrumental in establishing a partnership with Snecma and headed GE's Aircraft Engine Group from 1979-95. Alesi headed Snecma's CFM56 engineering and certification programs from 1968-97.
As efforts to consolidate European aerospace industries and defense policies gather momentum, U.S. government officials are starting to examine fundamental changes to technology controls and foreign ownership rules in order to promote transatlantic industrial links.
Lockheed Martin has completed testing of a side-stick control for the short takeoff vertical landing version of its X-35B Joint Strike Fighter, and is proceeding with initial tests of the aircraft's lift-fan system in preparation for first flight next year.
Thomson-CSF Systems Argentina, a product support company, has been formed in Buenos Aires. Thomson-CSF has a 80% stake, with the remainder owned by the company's management.
Two orders in quick succession for the 717 aircraft allow program officials to continue with plans to ramp-up production for the 100-seat aircraft to 60 aircraft per year in 2001. Boeing officials earlier said they would reconsider implementing the rate hike if a major 717 order was not received by the end of the year. Building fewer aircraft per year would avoid the possibility of completing aircraft that had not been ordered but would significantly decrease production efficiency.
Industry and government responses last week to a Federal Communications Commission Notice of Inquiry could have a profound impact on the fate of a fledgling ultrawideband (UWB) technology industry. Based on those inputs and additional testing, the FCC will probably establish rules that either severely restrict or promote the growth of UWB systems.
FRIENDSHIP SIMULATION CO. VOF WILL ADD a Bombardier/Canadair CRJ-200 flight simulator with Maxvue Plus visual system to its training facility in Hoofdorp (Amsterdam). The simulator from CAE Electronics is slated for installation by September 1999. Friendship Simulation Co. operates 17 full flight simulators at three European Training Centers: Maastricht, Hoofdorp and Brussels.
A controller's clearance of an airline jet to land on New York LaGuardia's Runway 31 while a turboprop aircraft was holding on the runway for takeoff clearance has provoked investigations by the NTSB and FAA. A US Airways 737 flew within 50 ft. of the stationary Beechcraft King Air BE-90 before touching down on the runway, according to FAA officials, who have classified the Dec. 2 incident as an operational error by the controller because standard aircraft separation was lost. The incident began about 10:40 p.m., Dec.
WorldSpace Inc. unveiled four receivers designed for its digital satellite radio service. Manufactured by Hitachi, JVC, Matsushita and Sanyo, the receivers range in size from a clock radio to a small ``boom box.'' Because the system operates at a low frequency of 1.5 GHz., the receivers use 10-cm.-dia. (4-in.) antennas in place of standard satellite dishes. With WorldSpace aiming its service at developing nations, the initial $250-350 receiver price could be a problem.
Etienne De Nil has been appointed Brussels-based vice president-Europe of Sabena Belgian World Airlines. He was general manager for the U.K. and Ireland and will be succeeded by Marc Nellis.
Henny A. Essenberg has been named head of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines' Network Organizer. He was chief executive of KLM and has been succeeded by Floris J. Baron van Pallandt, who was managing director of KLM CityHopperr.
France and the U.S. are nearing agreement on a long-term joint effort to explore the surface, subsurface and atmosphere of Mars and bring back samples of rocks for detailed analysis on Earth, according to French officials. The program would follow on from NASA's Mars 1998 flights planned for later this year (AW&ST Nov. 30, p. 60) and Mars 2001, for which France is to provide a gamma ray spectrometer germanium detector.
Moving quickly to strengthen its alliances, Singapore Airlines is expected to join the Star Alliance by next March along with its new partners, Ansett and Air New Zealand. An official announcement of its intentions is expected before Christmas. Since the airline (SIA) concluded links with Lufthansa and SAS earlier this year, the industry has expected it to take the next step by becoming a Star Alliance member, which Lufthansa and United Airlines lead.
Japan's first mission to Mars is to fire its rocket engine and accelerate out of Earth orbit Dec. 20 on a flight designed to provide unique data on the Martian atmosphere and moons. The 530-kg. (1,166-lb.) spacecraft is carrying 14 international instruments that weigh only 33 kg. (73 lb.). The large, lightweight payload is indicative of the advanced technology that Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Sciences (ISAS) has pioneered for high scientific payback.
The PW-82351 Motor Drive is a three-phase device for use with 270-volt brushless DC motors in servo current/torque loop control systems. It provides the interface between the power stage and control electronics. The drive features six dual-function logic-control inputs, a barrier between the power and control stages that attenuates ground noise, a motor current sensing capability and output drive protection. Aerospace applications include primary and secondary flight control trim surfaces, hydraulic pumps, fan motors and thrust vector control systems.
Alistair Cumming, former chief operating officer and director of engineering of British Airways, died Nov. 29 in Nettlebed, England. Cumming, who was 64, had retired in June 1997, after 14 years at the airline. As director of engineering, he played an influential role in the specification and development of the Boeing 777. Before joining British Airways, Cumming was production director of Rolls-Royce Military Engines. There, he played a vital role in support of U.K. Harrier operations during the Falklands conflict.
The Advanced Single Pivot Thrust Reverser has a sleeker, more streamlined appearance than conventional ``four-bar'' reversers while also offering potential weight savings. The new design's contours are not interrupted by the Stang fairings of conventional reversers. The initial design will allow the reverser to meet a wide range of configurations from 2,000 lb. to more than 10,000 lb. of thrust as well as plume tailoring. Model testing and preproduction hardware should be completed this month. The Nordham Group, P.O. Box 3365, Tulsa, Okla. 74120.
