British Airways later this summer will put into international commercial service an aircraft equipped with BE Aerospace Inc.'s B/E 4000 Multimedia Digital Distribution System (MDDS). The carrier's goal will be to confirm whether this next generation of interactive video technology works as advertised.
FOKKER OFFICIALS expect net losses during the first six months of this year to be higher than losses for all of 1994, chiefly because of the depressed value of the U.S. dollar. As a result, company and union officials are discussing further cost reductions aimed at ``strengthening the company's capital base,'' according to Fokker. New agreements would take effect this autumn. The company delivered 42 aircraft in the first half of this year, comprising 13 turboprop and 29 jet transports.
Five days of flying the largest spacecraft ever assembled in orbit are providing valuable lessons for U.S. and Russian space officials girding themselves for an intensifying level of joint space operations. Uniting the space shuttle Atlantis and the Mir space station--and operating them with a record number of 10 crewmembers--allowed flight managers here and at Russia's control center in Kaliningrad to prove that either spacecraft can fully control their combined ``stack.''
The development of new communications spacecraft for the Asia/Pacific region will be a $7-10-billion market through 2005, nearly double the combined U.S./European commercial satellite market, according to a new European assessment. An analysis by the Euroconsult organization forecasts the Pacific region will spark development of 86-109 new communications spacecraft through the period.
LOCKHEED MARTIN SKUNK WORKS IS OFFERING a special deal to the U.S. government--act now and save on reactivating a third SR-71 for reconnaissance. Costs are lower now because the team that is refurbishing the two authorized SR-71s is still intact and has climbed the learning curve (AW&ST May 1, p. 18). After the team disbands, it will be expensive to reassemble the group. The Skunk Works is quoting about $3 million to reactivate tail No. 17968, if a decision is made by mid-August. Previous estimates were about $4 million.
THE U.S. AEROSPACE industry's first-quarter trade surplus fell $5 billion or 9% from 1994's closing three months, according to the Aerospace Industries Assn. Total aerospace exports were off 11%, while civil exports were 16% lower. Military exports increased 7% to $2 billion. Imports of aerospace products also declined 13% in the first quarter, to $2.9 billion. Imports of military aerospace products took the biggest hit; they dropped 22%.
Charles R. Childs (see photo) was promoted to vice president-operations from quality assurance manager of Underwood Instrument Services Inc. of Dallas.
FLIGHT RESEARCH INC. is developing an emergency maneuvering training program to teach airline crews how to respond if their aircraft enters an extreme attitude. Company chief Sean Roberts believes simulator training is not adequate, and his course will feature practice in an Aermacchi MB-326 Impala trainer and ground instruction (AW&ST May 8, p. 66). Flight Research is the for-profit arm of the National Test Pilot School in Mojave, Calif.
Phillip S. Woodruff, leader of the FAA's Aviation Education Team, has been awarded the Mervin K. Strickler, Jr., Aviation Education Leadership Award by the National Coalition for Aviation Education.
The U.S. land-based nuclear missile fleet is maintaining a 99% alert rate while undergoing a 50% size reduction and the most extensive system modernization since the 1960s.
The Flight Safety Foundation's Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) task force is working with the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group to develop a simulator-based training aid for pilots aimed at preventing the type of accident that is the leading cause of fatalities in civil aviation. The Flight Safety Foundation/Boeing package is one of several CFIT awareness and training tools being developed or already in use by the CFIT task force.
PREDICTABLY, RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT BOSS ARTHUR WEGNER refuses to disclose the dollars and cents of his company's winning bid for the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) contract. When asked last week if his bid had been less than the $1.9 million per aircraft proffered by Cessna, Wegner harrumphed that the ``immutable . . . laws of physics'' dictate that a 6,000-lb. aircraft will cost less than a 10,000-lb. one. ``Figure [it] out for yourself,'' he groused.
EXPRESS, THE GERMAN-JAPANESE microgravity science return capsule lost early this year, may have been a mismatch for its launch vehicle. In an accident report, Japan's Space Activities Commission questions the modeling of the dynamics of the flight control system relative to the mass properties of the payload. It says the Nissan M-3S-2 launch vehicle suffered ``severe vibrations'' that exhausted propellant for attitude control of the second stage within 20 sec. Controllers noted severe oscillations about 15 sec. after second-stage ignition, or about 100 sec. after launch.
THE SECOND HUBBLE Space Telescope servicing mission will be directed by Richard N. Richards, who is leaving NASA's astronaut corps along with two colleagues. Kenneth S. Reightler, Jr., who has been the lead astronaut on the space station program, is joining Lockheed Martin in Houston. Pierre J. Thuot will teach aerospace engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Jeppesen Sanderson Inc. is now offering a new type of airport document that includes aerial photos of the airport and of all runway approaches to familiarize pilots with hazardous terrain in the area.
Thomson-CSF will team with a group of small and medium-size French companies for joint high-technology cooperation to enhance the group's competitiveness. About 150 companies that are part of the French ``Richelieu Committee'' will participate with Thomson in coordinated efforts. Thomson is the first large French company to align with the group. ``This agreement will help us improve our competitive performance,'' Daniel Rapenne, Thomson senior executive vice president, said.
A rigorous 30-day evaluation, viewed as a key milestone in the C-17 program, will be conducted this month to demonstrate system performance and verify compliance with contract specifications. The reliability, maintainability and availability evaluation (RMAE) is an important element of the long development program because it could play a role in determining the number of C-17s acquired by the U.S. Air Force.
MILLBROOK SAFETY TEST LABORATORY is seeking partners for development programs to look at ways to apply proven automotive airbag technology to commercial transports and executive jets. The U.K.-based automotive and aerospace test center initially wants to look at passenger kinematics to help designers understand how passengers become positioned during different accident stages. Other areas of investigation will include noise levels of multiple airbag deployments and the toxicity and opacity of released propellant gases.
Canadian Airlines International (CAI) plans to drop its once per week Montreal-Rome flights, close its pilot base in Montreal and shift its Halifax-St. John's, Newfoundland, service to its partner Air Atlantic in an effort to save C$15 million ($10.8 million) annually.
Brian J. Kennedy has been appointed chief executive officer of Luxell Technologies Inc. of Toronto. He has been a director of the company and was head of Canadian operations for Itochu Technologies Inc.
The efforts of NASA and the Defense Dept. to update U.S. space launch technologies are not sufficiently coordinated, and some may undermine the key goal of revitalizing the sector's global commercial competitiveness. That warning comes from an agency of Congress, the Office of Technology Assessment, in a recent report.
BRITISH AEROSPACE AND EUROCOPTER are seeking to extend their relationship by developing a U.K. role in the NH90 support helicopter program. Such cooperation would position the companies to meet any future U.K. requirement for a helicopter in the NH90 class. The companies have entered the Eurocopter Tiger in the British Army's attack helicopter competition. BAe also is working with McAlpine Helicopters to address the U.K.'s requirement for a new helicopter pilot training system, based on Eurocopter's products.
The International Small Satellite Organization has held its first awards dinner. Those honored were: Rep. Robert S. Walker (R.-Pa.), chairman of the House Science Committee, and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed E. Hundt, policymakers of the year; George Sebestyen, president/chief executive officer of CTA Space Systems, lifetime achievement; Alan Parker, president of Orbcomm, outstanding achievement; Robert A.
New sensors are helping the upcoming generation of drones advance from being aerial observers to true reconnaissance platforms. The new sensors combine the wide coverage and high resolution needed for reconnaissance with the real-time data transmission that makes field commanders happy, in a lightweight, drone-portable package that will be a novel military tool.
