TNTlite 5.9 is a free geographical visualization system that can provide three-dimensional simulations of terrain draped with images, vectors, database pinmaps and other geodata. It can provide simultaneous views in two dimensions as well as three-dimensional static and moving simulations. A user draws the flight path on the 2D view and specifies the height and speed for the simulation. Movie clips are then created in MPEG format. MicroImages Inc., 201 N. Eighth St., Lincoln, Neb. 68508.
The portable 15X Strut Pump can boost shop air or nitrogen to as high as 2,250 psi. or 15 times its inlet pressure of 150 psi. for recharging landing gear and other hydraulic struts on aircraft. The pump uses a low-friction composite piston. It comes with a pressure gauge, 36-in. hose and coupling. The pump weighs about 7 lb. and is slightly less than 28-in. long. Bogert Aviation, 308 S. Perry Place, Kennewick, Wash. 99336-4270.
NASA appears to have been given the go-ahead from the White House to build a U.S. propulsion module for the International Space Station to reduce long-term reliance on Russia. In an Oct. 15 letter to House Science Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.), Administrator Daniel S. Goldin said NASA plans to begin long-lead procurements after completing a detailed technical requirements review this fall. NASA is evaluating a proposal from Boeing to build the module. The cost could eventually nudge $500 million, including $95 million of shuttle launch costs.
The Robo RCP8 and RCP9 plug pliers automatically adjust to allow one-handed operation. The 30-deg. angled head eases their use for reaching hard-to-access connectors and maintains perpendicularity when grasping plugs. Both types of pliers feature laminated steel construction. The easily replaceable, bright orange pads protect the connector surface. Applied Concepts Inc., 51 Pennwood Place No. 300, Warrendale, Pa. 15086.
Lancair has received FAA certification for the Columbia 300, its first production airplane. The composite, four-place, fixed-gear aircraft is the first all-new, high-performance single to be certified in the U.S. in more than 15 years, according to the Bend, Ore.-based company. First customer deliveries are scheduled for early 1999. With smooth, rivetless composite surfaces the Columbia 300 has a 191-kt. cruise at 75% power using a normally aspirated Continental IO-550-N engine. Lancair holds more than 250 orders for the aircraft, which costs around $225,000 equipped.
Fred W. O'Green, chairman of Litton Industries from 1981-88, died Oct. 2 in Los Angeles. He was 77. As chairman, O'Green restructured the sprawling conglomerate to focus on defense and electronics. An electrical engineer by training, he first worked at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory. At Lockheed, he was technical director of space programs and assistant general manager of the space division. He joined Litton in 1962 and became president in 1972.
Pat Zerbe has become media relations director for Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She was public relations manager for Raytheon Aircraft, Wichita, Kan.
These laser-protective windows are designed for use in observation areas, viewing boxes and equipment cabinets. The acrylic windows are sold in a standard 24-in. X 36-in. size, but can be custom cut to larger or smaller sizes. They are available for ultraviolet, CO2, excimer, ND:Yag, near visible, ruby and near-infrared lasers. Trinity Technologies, 4110 Central Ave. N.E., Minneapolis, Minn. 55421.
The Model 2020 ProBalancer Analyzer provides a graphical spectrum display of vibration and balance of aircraft propellers or helicopter rotors. Expandable views of the vibration spectrum allow detailed analysis of a wide range of vibration frequencies, so a user can pinpoint anomalies and increase the accuracy of balancing. The dual-channel system allows simultaneous input of data from two propellers or rotors to aid coordination of balancing. ACES Systems/TEC Aviation Div., 10737 Lexington Drive, Knoxville, Tenn. 37932.
The planned merger of British travel company Thomas Cook with the U.K. affiliate of U.S.-based Carlson could lead to the creation of a German-British giant capable of dominating the European leisure travel market. In addition, through Dusseldorf-based bank WestLB, which owns Thomas Cook, the new company could form an alliance with Hapag-Touristik Union (HTU--the top-ranked German tour operator and airline charter group) in which WestLB has a large holding (AW&ST Sept. 29, 1997, p. 41).
Deneb/Assembly is a three-dimensional simulation tool designed for use in developing, visualizing, validating and documenting assembly and disassembly processes. The program allows engineers to begin developing assembly and disassembly processes early in the design stage, which can reduce costly changes later while also reducing time to market and promoting concurrent engineering. Deneb/Assembly is a module for use within Igrip and Envision. Deneb Visual Interactive Systems Ltd., Masters House, Bexton Road, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 OBU England.
The Dassault Aviation group posted consolidated pretax earnings of FF2 billion ($365 million) for the first half of 1998, on sales of FF11.2 billion ($2 billion). This marked an improvement of 36% and 29%, respectively, compared with the same period last year. Orders totaled FF10.5 billion. Total revenues for 1998 are forecast to reach FF22.5 billion.
Aviation safety officials have named a United Airlines executive and a senior FAA official to head a joint industry/government airline accident-reduction effort whose leadership and direction has been in some doubt.
Steve Bruneau (see photo) has been promoted to director of engineering from director of space products for Marotta Scientific Controls Inc., Montville, N.J.
ING Lease International Equipment Management has sold two Airbus A300B4 commercial transports to Air Alfa. The aircraft had been leased to the Dutch/Turkish charter operator.
High quality images taken by the Soho spacecraft last week signaled continued progress in the recovery of the $1- billion solar observatory and raised hopes that it can return to scientific operations soon.
Francois Lureau has been named chairman/CEO of Sextant Avionique, succeeding Jean-Robert Martin, who is senior vice president-Airborne Systems of Thomson-CSF. Lureau is also senior vice president of Thomson-CSF's Avionics Systems.
With less than a 5% share of the global business jet market, the Asia-Pacific region has traditionally been long on potential but short on sales, even before the economic crunch and currency crises that have stymied most business jet manufacturers' marketing projections. A possible exception is Bombardier Aerospace with at least 15% (representing 12 aircraft) of its long-range Global Express backlog of 80 orders on schedule for eventual delivery to customers in the Pacific Rim.
Itash Samani (see photo) has been appointed manager of engineering for SimuFlite Training International, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. He was senior project engineer.
Gary W. Dahlen (see photo) has been appointed general manager of the Colorado Div. of The Aerospace Corp. Space Systems Group. He was vice president-operations for ASAT Engineering Services of Colorado Springs.
U.S. Air Force Predator UAVs based in Hungary and U-2s based in France, plus British Royal Air Force Canberra PR9 photo reconnaissance aircraft, are slated to take a primary role in surveillance flights over Kosovo. USAF RC-135 Rivet Joint signals intelligence-gathering aircraft would provide additional reconnaissance to verify the withdrawal of Serbian troops from the province as part of an agreement struck last week with the Yugoslav government, which continues under the threat of punitive air strikes by NATO.
FAA officials are considering stretching the schedule for the Wide Area Augmentation System, reducing its satellite requirements and adding more ground-reference stations to bolster political support for WAAS. The GPS-based navigation and landing system has been branded by some in Congress as a boondoggle unlikely to ever serve as the nation's sole means of aerial guidance.
The ball lenses, coated with an anti-reflection material, are designed for use in collimating the outputs of laser diodes and fiber optics. Called IsoSpheres, the spherical lenses are available in BK 7 glass, LaSF N9, LaSF 18A, spinel, sapphire and stabilized cubic zirconia substrates in diameters of 500 microns to 3 mm. Multilayer anti-reflective coatings are applied with a chemical vapor deposition process to reduce reflection per surface to less than 0.25%. Deposition Sciences Inc., 3896 Tesconi Court, Santa Rosa, Calif. 95401.
A Boeing review board has determined the cause of the failure of the first Delta 3 commercial booster at Cape Canaveral Aug. 26. The board found that Boeing failed to properly model the slight rocking motion of the three propellant-laden solid rocket boosters that were to be ignited at altitude following the burnout of the initial six solids ignited at liftoff.
