U.S. Naval Aviation should be on the crest of the wave in the post-Cold War era because of the importance and relevance of its mission. But instead of being on the crest, Naval Aviation's reputation has been trapped in the trough of the wave since the infamous Tailhook Convention of 1991.
Robin L. Beard, former assistant NATO secretary-general of and now chairman of Hughes Europe, has been awarded a second U.S. Defense Dept. Medal for Distinguished Public Service.
A BENCH-TOP EXPERIMENT SUCCESSFULLY is using electrolysis to simultaneously eliminate most hazardous by-products in simulated industrial waste streams. The simple, inexpensive electrochemical process works at room temperature, low pressure and uses d.c. electricity. It does not generate toxic fumes or secondary waste, according to Jacek Dziewinski, project leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M.
David L. Burner has been named president of the BFGoodrich Co., Akron, Ohio. He succeeds John D. Ong, who will contrinue as chairman/chief executive officer until retiring in early 1997. Burner was corporate executive vice president and president/chief operating officer of BFG Aerospace. Marshall O. Larsen, who was group vice president-safety systems of BFG Aerospace, will succeed Burner. Succeeding Larsen will be John Grisik, who was general manager of the BFG Aerospace Landing Gear Div.
U.S. airlines could face a short-term shortage of pilots and flight attendants this month as they resume normal service and begin assessing the cost of a severe winter storm in the Northeast. The inclement weather caused many pilots and flight attendants to exceed scheduled duty times, forcing the airlines to rely increasingly on reserve crews to maintain flight schedules in the ensuing few weeks.
A narrow slice of space imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope for 10 days has revealed hundreds of previously undiscovered galaxies in various stages of evolution that are thought to date back to near the beginning of time. The area, just 1/30th the diameter of the full Moon, was imaged 342 times by Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 between Dec. 18 and Dec. 25. A mosaic image assembled from 276 of those images reveals what astronomers say is the deepest and most detailed optical view ever taken of the universe.
AIRBORNE LAW ENFORCEMENT advocates are proposing new FAA regulations that specifically address nonmilitary government aircraft operations. Tentatively titled ``Part 9-1-1'' in reference to the emergency response role of many public agency aircraft, the rules would address the unique nature of ``public use'' missions. Currently, U.S. public agencies flying certain missions do not have to meet FAA operations, maintenance, and aircraft and aircrew certification standards, although most do.
FLASH MEMORY TECHNOLOGY will have market parity with dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips--and cost one-third as much to produce--but not for 15 years, according to some experts at a recent International Electron Devices meeting. DRAMs are predicted to undergo unmatched growth, fueled by the PC market, for the next decade. Limiting flash memory chips today is the number of rewrite cycles--about 106 compared with 1015 for DRAMs. Access to flash memory is slower and it cannot keep up with 33-MHz. computer operations, but the less-volatile memory makes its data safer.
SEPARATE SLOT AND OVERNIGHT parking reservations are required for aircraft on instrument flight plans arriving and departing with guests attending the Super Bowl in Phoenix on Jan. 28. Arrival reservations are necessary from 8 a.m. through 10 p.m. daily MST on Wednesday, Jan. 24, through Sunday, Jan. 28. IFR departure slots are needed from 6 p.m. Jan. 28 until 10 p.m. Jan. 29, excluding the hours of 2-5 a.m. on Jan. 29.
FLIGHT TESTS OF TWO U.S. business jets are proceeding smoothly. The eight-passenger Lear 45 has accumulated over 75 hr. of flight time in 41 flights. It has achieved altitudes of 49,000 ft. and reached its maximum operating speed of 0.81 Mach. The Gulfstream 5, which can carry as many as 19 passengers, has completed 19 flights totaling nearly 50 hr. It has flown at speeds up to Mach 0.85 and altitudes as high as 48,000 ft.
The French civil aviation authority (DGAC) and the French space agency (CNES) have awarded Thomson-CSF a contract for development of the ground segment for Europe's aeronautical satellite navigation program. Thomson-CSF is teamed with Sextant Avionique for the $12.7-million award that also includes the French company Syseca, Thomson's affiliate for software. Alcatel lost the competition that will lead to the relay of GPS navigation data through European Inmarsat spacecraft.
Robert G. Lambert (see photos), chairman of Aviall Inc. of Dallas, will also be president/chief executive officer, succeeding Marshall B. Taylor, who has resigned. Dennis H. Wagner has been named vice president-finance and administration of Aviall Engine Services. He was general manager of Aviall's CFM International CFM56 and International Aero Engines V2500 product lines.
Passenger traffic rose by 5.8% at major British airports in 1995 during the first full year of competition from Channel Tunnel rail services. BAA, formerly the British Airports Authority and the U.K.'s largest airport operator, said 98.8 million passengers traveled through its seven airports--Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Cargo traffic also increased by 6.4% in 1995 to 1.4 million metric tons.
DAVID A. FULGHUM has been promoted to senior military editor of AVIATION WEEK&SPACE TECHNOLOGY. He succeeds John D. Morrocco, who recently was appointed London bureau chief. Fulghum joined the magazine in 1990 as military editor in the Washington bureau, where he will remain. An award-winning military affairs journalist, Fulghum has been recognized for his outstanding coverage of the war against Iraq and post-Cold War nonlethal weapons technology.
The Model 12346 rotary socket wrench sensor uses strain gauge technology to transmit torque signals from the rotating shaft to the stationary housing via coined silver slip rings and silver graphite brushes as a way of measuring dynamic torque. Combined with the Model JT-3000 Digital Readout, the sensors create a fastening application auditing system suited for stall/clutch type and dynamic nonimpacting power tools. The Model 12346 sensors are available in 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 3/4 and 1-in. square drive sizes with capacities of 0-10 to 0-1,000 ft.-lb.
CONTINENTAL AIRLINES PLANS TO EXPAND its service to Central and South America in June through a code-sharing pact with the TACA Latin American airline group that will give it greater access to destinations in the U.S. and beyond. The pact, which is subject to government approval, initially will add the TACA Group's code to Continental flights between Newark and Miami, Houston and Dallas, and Houston and Los Angeles.
Crew resource management training, now being extended to include the entire crews of commercial and military transports, is dealing head-on with the tensions and communications problems that arise between cockpit and cabin personnel. CRM also is improving the coordination and efficiency of U.S. Air Force flight test teams.
Rainer Hertrich has been appointed chairman of the Munich-based Motoren- und Turbinen-Union GmbH. subsidiary of Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA). He succeeds John R. Tucker, who has resigned. Hertrich was senior vice president-finance.
The SIRComm SIR2 infrared communications receiver enables infrared point-to-point wireless communications and data transfer. Typical power requirement is less than 90 microamps, which allows the chip to be powered continuously with minimal power drain. Designed to operate at 3.3 or 5 v. d.c., the SIR2 receiver supports data rates of 2.4-115.2 kilobits/sec. and has a 1-meter range. The chip interfaces with IrDA-compatible Super I/O devices and stand-alone Univeral Asynchronous Receiver Transmitters. Irvine Sensors Corp., 3001 Redhill Ave., Building 3, Costa Mesa, Calif.
AIR FORCE PLANNERS appear to have suffered a setback to hopes for an early upgrade of fixed-wing surveillance aircraft that would enable them to take a central role in defending against improved, low-observable, land attack cruise missiles. Pentagon acquisition chief Paul Kaminski and Adm. William Owens, the Joint Chiefs' vice chairman, have chosen to economize by putting large sensor arrays on tethered balloons--the least expensive of four options the Air Force offered late last year.
Time is running out for cash-strapped Kiwi International Air Lines, one of the few U.S. carriers unable to profit from the industry's improved business climate in 1995. After losing about $900,000 on revenues of $123.3 million in the first nine months of last year, employee-owned Kiwi may report a break-even year. While that would be a significant improvement over 1994, when the airline posted a net loss of nearly $25 million on revenues of $83.8 million, Kiwi needs a sizeable cash infusion and soon.
THE AIR LINE PILOTS ASSN. is asking its 8,600 members at Delta Air Lines to authorize a strike if contract talks break down. The union will send out strike ballots ``in the very near future,'' Capt. Bill Brown, chairman of the ALPA Master Executive Council at Delta, said.
Shelly R. Snyder (see photo) has been promoted to director of communications from assistant director of the Washington-based General Aviation Manufacturers Assn.
In all the markets it has entered since starting operations in 1971, Southwest Airlines has withdrawn from only three: Denver, Beaumont, Tex. and Detroit City Airport. Retreat simply has not been a big part of its strategy. As Dave Stamey, vice president of aviation consulting at Avitas Inc. of Reston, Va., described it, Southwest comes into a new market with a simple message for competitors there: ``You'd better have deep pockets, a strong marketing strategy and perseverance. When we get there, we're going to find out how bad you want to stay.''
