British Aerospace has gotten the nod to upgrade 100 Royal Air Force Tornado F3s from the Ministry of Defense which dropped an alternative plan to lease used U.S. F-16s. The work, worth 125 million pounds ($192.5 million), will include making the fighter capable of carrying four advanced medium range and four advanced short range air-to-air missiles (AMRAAM and ASRAAM). The aircraft is now equipped with Skyflash and Sidewinder missiles and the capability to carry those missiles will be retained.
Air Force maintenance of the Lockheed C-5 transport has seen significant improvement over the last several years as the San Antonio Air Logistics Center at Kelly AFB, Tex., has adopted more commercial techniques.
This new series of amber light emitting diodes has a light efficiency of 6 lumens/w., triple that of their predecessors. External quantum efficiency also is improved to 1.8% from 0.6%. The amber hue has a wavelength of 605 nm., midway between pure yellow and standard orange-red. The chips are produced by a special vapor phase epitaxy and diffusion process. They are packaged in T-1, T-1-3/4 and 2 X 5 mm. LED sizes. They can support peak steady current of up to 30 milliamps and 155 milliamps pulsed current with 10 microsec. duty cycles. Lumex Opto/Components Inc., 290 E.
The Japanese government is studying new, comprehensive national emergency response plans following a lamentable performance after last year's Kobe earthquake. Although fixed-wing aircraft helped substitute for southern Japan's shattered road and rail networks in the weeks following the earthquake, helicopters were not used to even a fraction of their potential, according to Gen-ichhrou Kayashima, senior vice president of Japan Heli-Network.
Harold S. (Bud) Coyle, Jr., (see photos) has been named vice president-corporate ethics and Fred Whiteford executive assistant to the chief executive officer of the McDonnell Douglas Corp. of St. Louis. Coyle was staff director and secretary of the management councils, while Whiteford was director of strategic planning.
Shipments via DHL Worldwide Express are increasing and their average weight is growing at a faster rate of increase, putting pressures on facilities at the company's U.S. hub. The average weight of shipments through the hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport increased 20% on an annual basis in 1995. This growth rate surpassed the 12% jump in the number of shipments for the year.
INDUSTRY OFFICIALS DENOUNCED the FAA's proposal to reform pilot flight- and duty-time rules, which would establish common rest and duty standards for all airlines and air taxi operators, regardless of size. Air Transport Assn. President Carol Hallett said the proposal is ``amateurish,'' inflicting ``serious damage to FAA's credibility.'' Human factors experts John Lauber and Clay Foushee disputed the FAA's use of a NASA study on pilot fatigue to frame the proposal. The Regional Airline Assn. and the National Air Transportation Assn.
CUBA'S AIR FORCE USED TWO HIGH-PERFORMANCE fighters--a MiG-29 and a MiG-23--to shoot down two Cessna 337 Skymaster civilian aircraft, presumably killing four Cuban expatriate crewmen. The Cuban flight leader in the MiG-29, who took off from San Antonio de los Banos, is believed to have made both the shots using AA-8 Aphid (R-60MK) short-range infrared missiles. Cuba is one of the few countries that did not receive the more modern AA-11 Archer with its MiG-29s.
If Southwest Airlines doesn't invade the Northeast U.S. within the next few months, as the carrier is now contemplating (see p. 29), just wait awhile. The move is bound to happen sooner or later. The airline has received numerous invitations from cities throughout the region to set up operations. They include Philadelphia, Providence, Buffalo, Burlington (Vt.), Hartford, Trenton, Islip (N.Y.) and Manchester (N.H.), among many others. Even the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has offered enticements.
The advent of high-payload Tier-family unmanned aerial vehicles is prompting the resurrection of lightweight hit-to-kill boost phase intercept weapon technologies shelved several years ago.
SCHEDULED AIR CARRIERS experienced 26 fatal aircraft accidents that killed 710 people in 1995, compared with 28 accidents and 941 passenger fatalities in 1994, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization. The fatal accident rate declined to 0.03 from 0.045. Preliminary information indicates that nonscheduled airlines had 40 fatal accidents, killing 391 passengers compared with 54 accidents and 251 fatalities in 1994. ICAO reported only 13 incidents involving hijackers or terrorists last year, compared with 37 the previous year.
UNUSUAL PARAMETER READINGS from the separation of the Ariane booster's first and second stages during a successful Feb. 5 launch have led Arianespace to delay its next mission by four days. The launch of the Intelsat 707 spacecraft was pushed back to Mar. 6 to give engineers more time to analyze flight data, check the Ariane's separation rockets and take any corrective measures needed.
NASA OFFICIALS ARE USING a high-altitude reciprocating engine developed for a classified program to improve the performance of advanced, long-endurance UAVs being readied for tests this year. The first triple turbocharged, reciprocating engine demonstrated sustained performance at 90,000 ft. in 1982. Portions of the program, known as Teal Rain, have just been declassified, and the engine technology is being incorporated into several UAVs through NASA's environmental research aircraft and sensor technology (ERAST) program.
The NASA/McDonnell Douglas X-36 will bring a new look to stealthy fighter designs when it is unveiled in St. Louis on Mar. 19. The X-36--a 28% scale drone version of a notional manned aircraft--does not have a vertical or horizontal tail in order to achieve low radar cross section (RCS). This configuration has already been used in the USAF/Northrop B-2 bomber, but with maneuverability that is too low for a fighter. The B-2 has a 65-deg. bank restriction, while the X-36 full-scale goal is to outmaneuver an F/A-18 fighter.
BRITISH AEROSPACE POSTED profits of 330 million pounds ($508 million) before tax and exceptional items in 1995, up from 169 million pounds ($260 million) in 1994, despite lower sales.
JAPAN'S SCIENCE and Technology Agency will search for the Hyflex hypersonic test vehicle that was lost at sea Feb. 12 after a successful launch on the country's new J-1 launch vehicle. The search will be conducted at depths of 16,000-23,000 ft. north of the Bonin Islands. A sweep of about a 4-sq.-mi. seabed will be made with an unmanned deep sea surveyor, Mar. 12-13.
Eric Brown has been named vice president-sales and marketing and Scott Wandtke domestic sales manager of Aerospace International Materials Inc., Loveland, Ohio.
The Sukhoi Design Bureau is flight testing a two-seat reconnaissance and strike aircraft, the Su-32FN, that is part of Russia's ongoing development of ``fourth-generation plus'' tactical aircraft. Intended for maritime missions, the Su-32FN is to perform round-the-clock search, detection, classification and destruction of waterborne and submarine targets. Intended as a successor to Su-24, F-111 or F-15E tactical strike aircraft, the Su-32FN is intended to be combat-capable in all weather and in active electronic jamming conditions.
DIRECTORS OF THAI AIRWAYS INTERNATIONAL say they plan to buy five Airbus A300-600s with General Electric CF6-80C2 engines, four A330s with CF6-80E1s, four Boeing 737-400/500s with CFM International CFM56-3B/Cs, six 777s with Rolls-Royce Trent 800s and two 747-400s with CF6-80C2s. Thai expects the new aircraft to cost $5.7 billion. It will sell 31 aircraft--two 747-300s, six 747-200s, two 737-200s, three McDonnell Douglas DC-10s, seven A300-B4s, two A310-200s, five BAe 146-300s, two ATR42s and two ATR72s.
Northwest Airlines will add another 20 Airbus Industrie A320s to its fleet but defer deliveries of 16 A330s until 2004 and 2005, if then, under a revision of its order book with the aircraft maker.
Aerospace companies, searching for new customers to boost stagnant sales in North America and Europe, are hoping that Latin America's longstanding promise as an emerging market will be realized soon. In this special report, Southeast U.S. Bureau Chief James T. McKenna examines the region's demand for commercial and military aviation equipment and services, and the progress of Chile in making its biennial FIDAE exposition the showcase for international aerospace in Latin America.
The FAA's proposal for acquisition reform is viewed by industry observers as a promising initiative with the potential to revolutionize the acquisition of Air Traffic Control systems and be a model for other agencies.
UNITED AIRLINES WILL ADD A SECOND DAILY round-trip nonstop flight between Los Angeles and Tokyo Narita on May 1, ending its nonstop service to Tokyo from Newark, N.J. The ease with which United altered its service pattern is considered by officials of some U.S. carriers to be further evidence that the current U.S.-Japan agreement unfairly favors United and Northwest, which operate under less restrictive rules than the others. To press its case, American Airlines has asked the U.S. Transportation Dept.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently displayed flight hardware for the Pathfinder mission to Mars prior to the start of integrated testing. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch in December, with arrival at the planet in mid-1997.
