The European aerospace industry's deepening crisis and European airlines' slow adaptation to newly established free-trade rules are threatening thousands of jobs. Emotional issues currently are governing Europe's aerospace scene in countries such as Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands. High unemployment, unfavorable exchange rates of European currencies against the U.S. dollar and tense social disputes are exacerbating the situation.
AN UNNAMED CONTRACTOR TEAM is exploring a nonlethal technique for ``blinding'' radar- and infrared-guided missiles in response to a U.S. Army solicitation. The concept calls for dispensing a cloud of ``metallic coating materials'' into the flight path of an inbound missile. As the missile penetrates the cloud, particles would adhere to the seeker dome or radome, interfering with homing and effectively turning it into a ballistic round. Considerable development and testing will be required to validate the concept.
NASA ANTICIPATES further funding of the record-setting, solar-powered Pathfinder unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that was damaged in a freak hangar accident at Edwards AFB, Calif., in October. After the high-flying Pathfinder set an altitude record of 55,500 ft., NASA chief Dan Goldin lauded the project as exactly the kind of ``faster, cheaper, better'' success story needed to burnish the agency's image. NASA is said to support continuation of the program as a technology demonstration tool for stratospheric research.
New testimony regarding the crash of USAir Flight No. 427 is prompting the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board to intensify its investigation of the rudder power control unit installed on Boeing 737-300 transports. During a rare, second round of public hearings on the accident held here last week, investigators heard expert industry witnesses testify about the design and performance of the rudder power control unit (PCU). That testimony convinced the NTSB additional tests are justified, according to chairman James Hall.
The H920 and H925 are rack-mounted, rugged computers designed for use in factory floor, remote and other harsh environments. The H920 has a chassis depth of 22 in., while the H925's is 19 in. The chassis are made of 18-gauge steel coated with zinc plate and polyurethane enamel paint. Storage devices are shock mounted. The units are designed to function over a range of 0-60C (32-140F) and come with 8- or 14-slot passive or 8-slot passive backplanes. The H920 can accommodate five drives and the H925 three.
Canadian national police authorities are investigating allegations of bribery related to the 1988 sale of 34 Airbus A320 aircraft to Air Canada, and they have asked for the cooperation of Swiss authorities in checking bank records.
CLEARANCE FOR THAILAND TO RECEIVE the U.S.-built AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) is still stalled. In fact, the State Dept. has yet to produce a position paper for either the National Security Council or President Clinton. The State Dept. is trying to determine if selling Thailand AMRAAM will upset Southeast Asia's balance of power. Thailand, in turn, has made a deal to buy eight McDonnell Douglas F/A-18s contingent on receiving the missiles. Thai government officials also are holding out the inducement of buying an additional 24 aircraft.
These TO-type cap assemblies for lasers, sensors and other electro-optical devices incorporate sapphire windows for enhanced performance and longer life than traditional glass or quartz windows. The high-purity single crystal alumina windows have better electromechanical, thermal and chemical properties than glass or quartz, allowing operation over a greater temperature range, better thermal shock tolerance and wider frequency transmission. The cap assemblies have Kovar bodies and can be used over a range of -70-300C (-94-572F). Three E Laboratories Inc., P.O.
Rocketdyne has removed itself from the three-way competition to supply the main engine for the Atlas 2AR upgrade, leaving Lockheed Martin to choose from two Russian engines that were also being considered. The Rockwell International subsidiary decided not to bid a derivative of the MA-5A, currently the main Atlas engine, after determining that it could not be developed in time to meet Lockheed Martin's schedule of flying the new 2AR in September, 1998, according to Rocketdyne President Paul Smith.
NASA has passed what it regards as its first true test of space station assembly techniques with Atlantis' virtually flawless addition of a new docking module to Russia's Mir space station.
Philippe Bruggisser will become chief operating officer/deputy president of Swissair on Jan. 1. He will become president/chief executive officer on Jan. 1, 1997, succeeding Otto Loepfe, who plans to retire. Bruggisser has been president/CEO of Swissair Associated Cos.
A RUSSIAN COMPANY IS BUILDING FIBER-OPTIC gyros as a more reliable replacement for existing conventional mechanical rate gyros for aerospace and other applications, but at about half the cost. Fizoptika, a privately owned company in Moscow, is producing the VG941 fiber-optic rate gyros to fit the same volume as commonly used mechanical rate gyros. The cylindrical gyro is 2 in. long with 1 in. diameter and has less complicated electronics than the mechanical systems, according to Fibersense Technology Corp., a Norwood, Mass., manufacturer of fiber-optic gyros.
Tig H. Krekel has been appointed vice president/general manager for military marketing customer support for AlliedSignal Aerospace, Torrance, Calif. He was vice president-military product support for aerospace equipment systems. John S. Hamilton has been named vice president/general manager of environmental control systems. He was director of repair and overhaul for AlliedSignal Aircraft Landing Systems, South Bend, Ind.
PILOTS AND FLIGHT ATTENDANTS AT FOUR AMERICAN EAGLE carriers have voted in the past few weeks on what union, if any, they want to be part of. The vote came after a National Mediation Board ruling this summer that the four American Eagle carriers are a single transportation system for union representation purposes. And it has taken years to get to this point since the Allied Pilots Assn. first petitioned the mediation board in 1992. The results were due out last week, but a slight catch developed.
WHEN THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL AIR FORUM IS HELD in Kyoto in late January, Asian governments will discuss how to cope with U.S. insistence on ``open skies'' commercial air policies . . . but without the U.S. present. As hosts, the Japanese government has invited 17 Southeast Asian and Pacific countries--including China, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia--but the U.S. and Latin America have been excluded.
The IR-G600 is a 512 X 512-pixel thermal imager designed for airborne use. Typical applications include unmanned aerial vehicles, search and rescue and law enforcement. It has a projected life of 8,000 hr. and a spectral sensitivity of 1.2-5.9 microns. The imager measures 7 X 8 X 8 in. and weighs 15 lb. Mitsubishi Electronics, 5665 Plaza Drive, Cypress, Calif. 90630-0007.
Fokker F60 Utility twin-turboprop transport will enter service with the Dutch air force in May. The F60 is a stretched fuselage derivative of the 50-seat F50 commercial transport equipped with two 2,750-shp. Pratt&Whitney PW127B turboprop engines. The 64-in. fuselage stretch and the added cargo door will allow the F60 to carry items such as two F-16 engines. Maximum payload is 7,000 kg. (15,400 lb.) or 45 troops. It can operate from unprepared runways. The Dutch air force has four F60s scheduled for delivery during the second quarter of 1996.
George K. Webster has been named president/chief executive officer of the Miltope Corp., Montgomery, Ala. He had been acting president/CEO and headed new business development. Tom Halliburton is now director of Air Force marketing. He was vice president-business development of Codar Technology Inc.
ICEMetrix is a parametric editor that delivers dimension-driven geometric constraint management to any two-dimensional AutoCAD drawing. The program automatically recreates a drawing whenever a user changes a dimension, even if the drawing is not fully dimensioned, to allow on-the-fly editing. It runs in AutoCAD Release 12 or 13 and is available in versions for Microsoft DOS, Windows and Windows NT. ICEM Technologies, 4201 Lexington Ave. N., Arden Hills, Minn. 55126-6198.
This aircraft plenum is molded from 0.080-in. thick F60000 HC Lexan. Manufacturing the duct requires special tooling interlocks to ensure dimensional consistency and uniform geometry from part to part. The duct, made using a twin-sheet molding process, won an award from the Society of Plastics Engineers. Specialty Manufacturing Inc., 6790 Nancy Ridge Drive, San Diego, Calif. 92121-2276.
ONUR AIR OF ISTANBUL has chosen intermediate-range McDonnell Douglas MD-88 twinjets for its fleet renewal program, with a firm order of five aircraft and options for five more. Each will have 172 seats in five-across rows. Deliveries are slated to begin in the first quarter of 1997, with the aircraft to operate in charter configuration on routes between Turkey and destinations in the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Europe. Onur currently flies nine Airbus A320s.
THE FINNISH AIR FORCE IS SCHEDULED to receive the first ALQ-165 Airborne Self-Protection Jammer (ASPJ) sold for export this week from the ITT/Westinghouse team that produces the system. The Finns are contracting for the internally installed system to protect their fleet. Finland has received four of its seven two-seat F-18Ds and is buying 57 F-18Cs. The Swiss are to receive the first ASPJ for their F-18 fleet in late 1996. The combined order is valued at over $100 million.
Senior U.S. Air Force officials have proposed a plan to take over development of the Space Based Laser. The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), current manager of the project, is weighing the offer and opinions are mixed about how senior officials will respond. ``The answer [from BMDO] was, `Thank you for a good briefing. Now is not the time; we're really [still] in concept development,''' a senior Air Force official said.
