ENGINE-MAKER CFM INTERNATIONAL has determined part of the design for its new powerplant aimed at emerging 100-seat transports. The 18,000-22,000-lb.-thrust CFM56-LITE will share a common core with the CFM56-7 and improved-performance CFM56-5B/P turbofans. It is to have a 55-in.-dia. fan with solid, wide-chord blades.
Hindustan Aeronautics' Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), which was rolled out in November, still may make its first flight before the end of the year, according to company executives.
Gary K. Boekenkamp (see photo) has been promoted to vice president-aircraft maintenance and terminal services from general manager of the fixed-base operation of Dallas Airmotive.
Manufacturers of smaller helicopters had a tolerable 1995 but are optimistic over sales prospects this year. Robinson Helicopter Co. remained North America's civil unit volume leader, producing a combined 179 of its two-place R-22s and four-place R-44 piston singles. Current manufacturing rate, at about two of each model per week, will be increased this year, according to Company President Frank D. Robinson.
U.S. Air Force/Army Joint-STARS advanced radar ground surveillance aircraft are monitoring the exchange of territory this month between Serb and Muslim forces as provisions from the Dayton peace accord continue to take effect in Bosnia. The E-8 crews are also using the aircraft's powerful multimode radars to observe the areas around several suspected mass grave sites to help NATO ground forces guard against the removal of war-crimes evidence.
Adolf Galland, who scored 104 victories over allied aircraft during World War 2, died Feb. 16 at age 83. A veteran of the Battle of Britain in 1941, he was promoted to major general in charge of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. Galland also was a strong proponent of the Messerschmitt Me-262 twinjet fighter. After the war, he became an aviation consultant.
Canadian Helicopters is offering hands-on, specialized operational and mountain flying training for military and civilian helicopter pilots. The school increasingly is being used to refine the flying skills of special operations pilots from a variety of world military services, including the U.S. Navy. Expansion of its modest 3,700-sq.-ft. hangar/classroom facility here is under study.
Rakesh Gangwal has been appointed president/chief operating officer and Lawrence M. Nagin executive vice president-corporate affairs/general counsel of the USAir Group Inc. Gangwal was executive vice president-planning and development for Air France, while Nagin was with the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher&Flom. Gangwal succeeds Frank L. Salizzoni, while Nagin follows James T. Lloyd.
SECURITY IS A KEY ISSUE for aerospace defense companies as they make expanded use of the Internet. One major U.S. aerospace company found that its employees were posting information on bulletin boards that had not cleared the U.S. government security review process. ``We have had to remind people that this is just like any other public forum and they have to follow the same rules and procedures,'' said a company official. An official at one U.S. defense contractor added security questions on Internet use are giving security personnel gray hair.
In the 1990s, the widespread practice of code sharing has proliferated between U.S. and foreign carriers serving international city-pair markets. Dozens of code-share agreements now cover hundreds of city pairs throughout the world. THE TERM ``CODE SHARE'' CAN MEAN as little as allowing another airline to use its code when it sells seats on your aircraft on a route on which it cannot compete, or as much as comprehensive integration of marketing and operations and other competitively sensitive matters.
AILING ALITALIA, A LONG-TIME MONOPOLY CARRIER on Italian domestic routes, is encountering strong competition on the Rome-Milan route, the country's busiest. Only weeks after new entrant Air One started low-fare services, another new entrant, Noman, operating two 95-seat McDonnell Douglas DC-9s, was offering no-frills services. Noman is operating from Rome-Ciampino airport, not Fiumicino, the capital's hub. No flight connections are available, but ample terminal space permits last-minute passenger check-in and quick aircraft turnaround.
Auguste Gayte has been named deputy chief executive officer of the Air France group. He was Air Inter Europe deputy CEO. Air France has appointed Marc Veron CEO. Air France Europe has named the following executive vice presidents: Patrick Alexandre, Christian Boireau, Marc Lamidey, Michael Enneser, Pierre-Alain Jeanneney, Gilbert Jehl, Pascal Goachet and Gilbert Emsellem.
EMBRAER HAS COMPLETED special icing tests of an EMB-120 Brasilia as requested by the FAA, which found that the aircraft apparently is not susceptible to roll control problems when exposed to icing conditions involving large, supercooled water droplets. Other regional turboprop aircraft also are participating in the voluntary FAA program, which was spurred by the October, 1994, crash of an American Eagle ATR72 in Roselawn, Ind.
The contractor team under Northrop Grumman that outfits Boeing 707-300s for the Joint-STARS program includes: -- Westinghouse Norden Systems--AN/APY-3 multimode radar. -- Raytheon--866 RAYVAX Model 920 computers. -- Cubic Defense Systems--Surveillance and control data link. -- Ceridian Data Inc.--Signal processors. -- Rockwell Collins--Flight management system. -- Greenwich Air Services--Modification and refurbishment of the aircraft's Pratt&Whitney JT3D-3B engines.
McDonnell Douglas has developed a computerized system for planning aircraft configuration that airline customers will be able to access from a personal computer. The Configuration Definition Management System (CDMS) will make it possible for airlines to select optional equipment and then analyze the impact on aircraft weight, performance and cost per seat mile. The data base in the central computer at Long Beach, Calif., will be updated daily.
Lonnie Muir has been appointed vice president-marketing and technical services for GEC-Marconi InFlight Systems Inc., Bellevue, Wash. Muir was vice president-airline marketing of AT&T Wireless.
BRITISH AIRWAYS WILL INSTALL Traffic-Alert Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) on all of its 116 short-haul aircraft, becoming the first major European airline to so equip its entire fleet. TCAS is already in use on BA's 102 long-haul aircraft, including its seven supersonic Concordes, which became operational with the system in late December after problems with radome cracking were resolved. Honeywell will provide the systems, which are to be installed during routine maintenance at a total cost of more than 10 million pounds ($15.3 million).
Delta Air Lines has taken another step forward in its fleet simplification plan with decisions to replace aging Lockheed L-1011s on transatlantic routes with Boeing 767-300ERs and cancel plans to acquire as many as 108 Boeing 737-300s.
THE AIR ON CAPITOL HILL IS CERTAIN to turn several shades of blue next month as Congress prepares for a bitter dogfight over two key bills affecting FAA reform. A House bill, cosponsored by Reps. Jim Lightfoot (R.-Iowa) and John Duncan (R.-Tenn.), would split the FAA from the Transportation Dept. and take the Aviation Trust Fund off-budget. The Senate version, sponsored by John McCain (R.-Ariz.) and blessed by the White House, would keep the agency where it is and leaves the trust fund alone but would impose new fees for FAA services.
THE F-15 ACTIVE made a first flight from Edwards AFB, Calif., on Feb. 14, but was not able to test the round thrust-vectoring nozzles or other special systems because of a landing gear problem. NASA pilot Jim Smolka and McDonnell Douglas pilot Larry Walker made an uneventful landing. The canard and tail-equipped aircraft is a testbed for integrated propulsion and flight control studies.
McDonnell Douglas-led team has revealed its plans to offer a choice of weapons bays on its Joint Strike Fighter for U.S. and foreign customers and will begin examining how to make the aircraft less visible in daylight and to certain types of enemy missiles. Users could chose either a lightweight version of the weapons bay that could carry up to a 1,000-lb. bomb or a heavier, larger-profile option that could carry a one- ton bomb or standoff missile.
IBM'S DEEP BLUE SYSTEM, which is matching wits with Russian chess champion Garry Kasparov, represents the leading edge in parallel processing. Deep Blue won the first game, Kasparov the second, and the third was a draw. The six-game match continued last week. C.J. Tan, Deep Blue project manager at IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center, said the project combines Application Specific Integrated Circuits with general purpose parallel processors to accelerate computations. Deep Blue examines 200 million chess moves per second.
Delta Air Lines is taking possession of a second McDonnell Douglas MD-11 Concept 90 simulator under an unusual swapping agreement with U.K.-based Hughes Flight Training. In exchange for the MD-11 simulator, Delta is shipping Hughes Flight Training, located near London Gatwick Airport, a Boeing 737-300 Concept 90 simulator that is excess to its needs. The agreement allows both devices to be repositioned to sites where they will get maximum utilization, according to officials of both companies.
