The Boeing investigation into the failure of its first commercial Delta 3 booster will center on whether the vehicle's flight characteristics were modeled incorrectly by the company or whether more specific flight control hardware or software errors sent bad commands to the Delta's steering systems.
The governments of the U.S. and the Russian Federation agreed last week in a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation on civil aircraft accident and incident investigation and prevention including mutual assistance and data sharing. In a second air safety memorandum, the governments pledged to work to improve air safety and enhance cooperation on airworthiness approvals.
The 21st century aerospace industry will find its customers putting a premium on affordable products and lower operating costs, rather than on raw performance. And that spells an even stronger emphasis on reliability, maintainability and efficiency of operations in the next decade.
Jim Ziegler has been appointed vice president/general manager of Learjet operations and will continue as vice president/general manager of aviation services for Bombardier Business Aircraft, Wichita, Kan. He succeeds Lachlan Beatson, who has retired.
Jerry Henry has been appointed Western U.S. sales manager for the Avidyne Corp., Lexington, Mass. He was general manager of Cinema Air Avionics, Carlsbad, N.M.
The LP429-3 is an Arinc 429 interface card for PCI computers that serves as a tool for avionics developers. It supports from 2-8 Arinc channels in a wide variety of user-specified configurations. Features include automatic bus speed detection, transmit scheduling, error detection, error injection and extensive monitoring capabilities. Ballard Technology Inc., 3229A Pine St., Everett, Wash. 98201.
The U.S. Defense Dept. is considering delaying by two years a key missile defense system being developed to ward off medium-range ballistic missiles, such as those fired recently by North Korea and Iran, so trouble-plagued missile interceptors can be replaced. At the same time, the director of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) is warning that the agency may not be able to afford to continue all of the U.S. anti-missile efforts under development because of rising costs.
The International Satellite Directory is a two-volume set that provides information on hundreds of commercial satellites and thousands of companies. The first volume covers satellite systems, including international organizations, operators, payloads, Earth stations and geosynchronous satellites and maps. The second volume covers spacecraft, manufacturers, network systems, users and providers of satellite services and includes an index and general information. Design Publishers, 800 Siesta Way, Sonoma, Calif. 95476.
U.S. Air Force investigators probing the cause of the Aug. 12 Titan 4A failure here believe the accident was caused by a momentary electrical fault that shut down, then restarted, the vehicle's Litton guidance system in the Titan core vehicle. They believe this caused the guidance system to send erroneous commands to the Titan's solid rocket boosters, which then steered the vehicle into a hard pitchdown causing it to breakup and explode at 41 sec. into the flight.
The Spectroline C-100 is a compact, high-intensity ultraviolet inspection lamp that weighs 1.75 lb. The light weight and small size make it comfortable to use for long periods and in hard-to-reach spots. The 100-watt light has a steady-state long-wave ultraviolet irradiance of 4,000 milliwatt-cm.-sq. at 15 in. Visible light emission is less than 2 footcandles. Its heat-resistant filter holder can be removed without tools to change the filter or bulb. Spectronics Corp., 956 Brush Hollow Road, P.O. Box 483, Westbury, N.Y. 11590.
Model Center is designed to integrate models for a given project from a variety of programs. It helps track the active models in a system and displays how they interact. The program, which is designed to shorten design and analysis cycle time, is compatible with Cobra, Java, C++, COM, Fortran and Cobol. It also eases the process of reusing old models in a new environment. Phoenix Integration, 1872 Pratt Drive, Blacksburg, Va. 24060.
G. Wayne Finger has been named vice president/assistant director of aerospace and defense programs for Reynolds, Smith and Hills Inc., Merritt Island, Fla.
Alan Will (see photo) has become remote sensing department and surveillance program manager for the remote sensing laboratory operated by Bechtel for the U.S. Energy Dept. at Nellis AFB, Nev.
First flight of the Boeing 717-200 100-seat transport has been successfully completed, setting the stage for a fast-paced flight test program aimed at delivering initial production aircraft in less than a year. The first flight was made on Sept. 2, about two weeks earlier than program officials had projected when the aircraft was rolled out on June 10 at Boeing's Long Beach, Calif., Div.
The UltraForce LE is an airborne imaging system that uses both infrared and color television cameras in a 29-lb. package. The modular design allows operators to switch sensor packages in minutes. The system is designed for law enforcement and electronic news gathering, as well as paramilitary surveillance. It is available with cooled or uncooled infrared imagers, charged coupled device daylight cameras and high-magnification video cameras. The four-axis, gyro-stabilized gimbal can rotate through 360 deg. horizontally. FLIR Systems Inc., 16505 S.W.
Pentagon acquisition chief Jacques Gansler warns the Defense Dept. may have to consider the ``termination of a number of traditional weapon systems that are now in acquisition,'' if it is to have any hopes of buying cutting-edge weapons. The Pentagon already can't buy everything it wants, but Gansler adds that without changes, it will soon be unable to buy what it needs.
The Right-Angle Deck relies on conventionally geared motors and hydrostatic drives to move cargo in and out of aircraft. The drive units can be rotated up to 360 deg. to change the direction of motion. The roller layouts also can be customized, depending on the application. Approach and limit switches can be used for automated control sequences. Trepel GmbH, Hebe- und Fordertechnik, Alte Schmelze 21, D-65201, Wiesbaden, Germany.
Engineers at the FAA Technical Center here are evaluating data from the drop test of a Shorts 330 regional transport. The aircraft, which had a 75-ft. wingspan and weighed 21,210 lb., was the largest ever drop-tested at the facility, officials said.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory engineers are briefing military leaders on a conceptual hypersonic vehicle that would ``skip'' on the upper atmosphere, enabling payload deliveries to any spot on the Earth's surface within 2 hr. This ``HyperSoar'' aircraft also could double as the first of a two-stage-to-orbit launcher. Technology maturation is still required in several areas, but a demonstrator aircraft could be developed within about three years, according to proponents.
K. Steven Pack has become vice president/general manager and Brian Watkins chief engineer of Garrett Aviation Services in Springfield, Ill. Peck held the same positions with Pratt&Whitney PSD. Watkins was project engineer at the Lockheed Martin Aircraft Center, Greenville, S.C. Wayne Burk has been named aircraft systems and equipment program manager in Phoenix. He was vice president-marketing and customer service for WECO Aerospace Systems, Lincoln, Calif.
ARRAY SYSTEMS COMPUTING WILL SUPPLY the advanced radar imaging software for the Royal Air Force Replacement Maritime Patrol Aircraft program. The Toronto-based company is under contract to Racal Radar Defense Systems (Crawley, England). Array's TriSAR software, integrated with the Searchwater 2000MR radar, will give three different real-time high resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) modes--spotlight strip map, and ISAR (inverse synthetic aperture radar).
Latecoere will install Landscape Video Camera Systems on transport and business aircraft operated by Finnair, Gulf Air and Jet Aviation. In addition, the French company concluded an agreement with Air France Industries and the DGA French armaments agency to equip 12 Boeing KC-135F tankers with new video surveillance systems.
Los Alamos (N.M.) National Laboratory has commissioned a multiton magnet capable of creating powerful, pulsed magnetic fields for long periods of time. Powered by a 1-billion-watt generator, the electromagnet ``will revolutionize research in high magnetic fields,'' according to Greg Boebinger, director of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory's Los Alamos Center. The liquid hydrogen-cooled magnet consists of nine nested electromagnetic coils wrapped in steel cylinders.
