DEMO SYSTEMS, MOORPARK, CALIF., is teaming with Penny&Giles of Dorset, England, to develop a modified version of the latter's Optical Quick Access Recorder. The upgrade will interface with Demo Systems' Portable Maintenance Access Terminal, used on new Boeing 777 transports, via an SCSI bus port. The combination will allow maintenance crews to instantly view, run analysis programs and evaluate the various aircraft flight parameters recorded by the OQAR. Typical applications include automatically generated reports on hard landings and heavy buffet conditions.
HALLA ENGINEERING and Heavy Industry has shifted production of MD-95 wings to Hyundai Aerospace in an agreement reached between the two companies earlier this month, with concurrence from Douglas Aircraft Co. Douglas officials said it was determined by the South Korean organizations that Hyundai was in a better position to conduct the wing program and that it fit well into Hyundai's current business strategy of building an aerospace production base. The wing program has a potential value of at least $1.1 billion.
Richard Testwuide has been appointed to the board of directors of Wyle Laboratories, El Segundo, Calif. He is president of the Seal Div. of BW/IP International.
The U.S. Air Force's safety chief is calling for higher limits on what constitutes a major aircraft accident and wants to expand mishap investigations and record-keeping to include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Brig. Gen. Orin L. Godsey also contends that a zero-visibility, zero-ceiling automated landing and takeoff system is not in the cards, at least in the near term, for the U.S. Air Force's airlifter fleet.
A NAVY F-14A FIGHTER crashed in the Persian Gulf last week, the third in less than a month. The Navy subsequently ordered a three-day, worldwide standdown of all the fighters. The pilot and radar intercept officer on board the F-14A were rescued and returned to the USS Nimitz. The aircraft was from VF-24, based at NAS Miramar, Calif., and was on a maintenance check flight. Over the weekend, a special team of Navy safety and engineering experts began reviewing all aspects of the three most recent crashes for a report to Adm.
OWENS ALSO REVEALED THAT THERE IS A NEW PROBLEM confronting the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) program, which is to produce the Joint Strike Fighter. ``How do you get a lot of bandwidth into the aircraft at 60-deg. angles?'' Owens said, referring to 23 megabits/sec. transmissions available from global broadcast system satellites. The issue is important because if a Joint Strike Fighter pilot can get all the surveillance data on a battlefield in real time, it enormously improves effectiveness.
Continental Airlines plans to boost service substantially from its hubs at Houston, Newark and Cleveland this summer, while sharply reducing capacity at unprofitable Greensboro, N.C. The changes, effective June 6, will put four new cities on Continental's domestic route map and add a dozen new domestic and international routes by linking cities already served from other points. In addition, services will be boosted on existing routes, and jet services will supplement some Continental Express turboprop flights.
CAE ELECTRONICS GMBH OF STOLBERG, GERMANY, is under contract to provide the Austrian Army's training academies with two battlefield simulators by 1998. The interactive combat simulation systems provide real-time simulation with graphic digital terrain data for company and brigade commanders, while the forces communicate by voice on up to 10 of their standard radio frequencies. Simulator operators insert symbols as forces are maneuvered, displaying the position of anti-tank and transport helicopters, vehicles and weapons systems down to forces as small as a six-man unit.
CESSNA'S 1995 PERFORMANCE WASN'T too shabby either, with 200 turbine aircraft deliveries. Orders for another 230 units were booked. The Textron Aircraft division is on track to surpass the $1-billion revenue mark--and set a sales record--this year. Of Cessna's turbine-powered aircraft deliveries in 1995, Citation business jets accounted for 113 and 87 were of Caravan single-turboprop utility transports. Some 145 Citations and 88 Caravans were ordered. The company says 60% of all light and mid-sized business jets delivered during the year were Citations.
U.S. Air Force U-2 imaging radar data of Bosnia are being transmitted from the aircraft via satellite 8,000 mi. to Beale AFB, Calif., where they are processed and then sent via satellite back to NATO troops in the theater. At least five U-2R and U-2S aircraft are operating from Istres (France) air force base for the NATO Bosnian reconnaissance missions. This compares with the three U-2s that initiated French-based operations in early January (AW&ST Jan. 15, p. 61).
AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN ARINC AND ALLIEDSIGNAL will give business and general aviation operators who purchase the low-cost Magellan CNS-12 integrated communications, navigation and surveillance avionics access to AlliedSignal's Global Data Center.
Thomas R. Stelter has been promoted to senior manager of engineering and technical operations from manager, for SimuFlite Training International, Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport.
The Court of Amsterdam has granted Netherlands-based Fokker a one-month extension of the initial four-week ``cooling-off'' moratorium. This will give Fokker more time to seek a new partner and negotiate an agreement with one of several suitors currently considering the merits of a takeover agreement. However, none of them had submitted formal offerings, a Fokker official acknowledged. The company has been approached by a large number of aircraft manufacturers and investors (AW&ST Feb. 12, p. 30).
The accelerated disbonding of a nonstructural seal in the compressors of two PW4084 engines appears to be an isolated occurrence rather than a fleet wide problem, according to Pratt&Whitney officials. The engines power 777 transports. The potential problem surrounds a plastic inner shroud seal on the third stage vanes of the PW4084's low pressure compressor. The seal is adhesively bonded to third stage vanes and smooths air flowing through the engine. However, the seal could disbond and, under worst-case conditions, pass through the engine.
The Pentagon has reshuffled priorities for $14 billion worth of missile defense programs in trying to meet the conflicting demands of Congress and the nation's top military leaders.
Lockheed Martin/Boeing's stealthy DarkStar UAV is seen during taxi tests at Edwards AFB, Calif. It operated on the main runways interspersed with manned aircraft traffic. The UAV has reached 60 kt. while being readied for its first flight, which may still take place before the end of March. The UAV's takeoff speed is around 100 kt. Growing confidence in analytical models of the aircraft has led contractors to suggest that preflight taxi tests could be cut short, but ARPA officials are reluctant to deviate from the schedule.
Michael Afheldt has been named vice president-research and development and Ron Blair chief financial officer of Advanced Information Technologies of Ottawa. Afheldt was director of computing research at BNR, while Blair succeeds Peter Bennett as CFO.
George Epstein, editor of the Composites and Adhesives Newsletter, and former head of manufacturing engineering at the Aerospace Corp., has won the George Lubin Award of the Society for Advancement of Material and Process Engineering.
AIR NEW ZEALAND AND INTERESTED PARTIES must file their final comments with the New Zealand Commerce Commission by Feb. 29 on Air New Zealand's attempt to take a 50% stake in Ansett Australia. In a preliminary ruling, the commission disapproved the purchase, saying it would give Air New Zealand a virtual monopoly on domestic routes. An Ansett Australia subsidiary, Ansett New Zealand is Air New Zealand's largest competitor domestically. Air New Zealand says steps can be taken to shield Ansett New Zealand's operations from its influence.
Robert L. Crippen (see photo), vice president-automation systems for Lockheed Martin Information Systems and a former astronaut and director of the Kennedy Space Center, has received the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation's National Space Trophy. He was cited for ``advancing the U.S. space program, his pivotal role in the space shuttle return-to-flight effort and leadership of both the space shuttle program and Kennedy Space Center.''
RAYTHEON IS PLANNING a new ``super-midsize'' business jet using the advanced composite fuselage technology developed for the Premier 1 light jet. Product development work on a follow-on to the Hawker 1000 is ``well under way,'' and it will be a ``considerably larger and faster aircraft'' than the 8-10-seat 1000, Raytheon Aircraft President Roy Norris said. The new jet will have transcontinental range and make extensive use of the design, construction and production techniques developed for the Premier 1, Norris said.
Japan Airlines is successfully using its foreign-crewed charter subsidiary, Japan Air Charter, to bring down high labor costs and increase competitiveness. The cost difference is 8% less than using Japanese-crewed aircraft, according to JAL. The carrier lost about $450 million during 1991-94 and is expecting only a small profit in its 1995 fiscal year, which ends Mar. 31. Currently, about 45 of JAL's 420 weekly departures from Japan are served by Japan Air Charter. That figure should increase to 17% by fiscal 1997, the airline said.
