BOEING'S WICHITA, KAN., division is nearing completion of the 400th U.S. Air Force KC-135E tanker to be upgraded to KC-135R status. The conversion includes installation of GE/Snecma CFM56 engines, new engine pylons and wiring. Similar reconfiguration of the entire active-duty and U.S. Air National Guard tanker fleets is scheduled for completion in 1998. Boeing also has submitted a proposal to the Air Force to further modify tankers with wingtip pods to provide hose-and-drogue refueling capability. The proposal calls for 75 kits and installation on two aircraft.
TEAM-DRIVING TECHNIQUES that allow coast-to-coast shipments in 72 hr. or less likely will dull future domestic air cargo growth, especially in the fast-growing second-day and deferred delivery markets. Trucking industry proponents argue an 18-wheel tractor-trailer can be fielded for $100,000, millions less than an air freighter. Viking Freight System of San Jose, Calif., now uses trucks to make next-day shipments within 400 mi. and second-day deliveries within 1,000 mi. of the sending point.
Russia was set to launch its 20-ton Spektr module to the Mir space station late last week, but the joint U. S./Russian crew on Mir had initial trouble reconfiguring Mir for arrival of the module and the later docking by the U. S. shuttle Atlantis. A Spektr launch delay was possible, depending upon the progress of work by the station crew, also late last week.
Gary Kowalski has been appointed vice president-strategic planning and quality at Emery Worldwide, Palo Alto, Callif. He was director of logistics for North American operations at General Motors.
The U.S. Justice Dept. has charged two southern California aircraft parts brokers with falsely certifying that two parts for Douglas DC-9 transports were FAA approved, when in fact they were not. The May 8 criminal charges are part of ``Operation BreakApart'' being conducted by the U.S. Attorney's office for the Central District of California here. ``There is a continuing investigation of companies in southern California for similar violations,'' assistant U.S. Attorney George B. Newhouse, Jr., said.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R.-Ariz.), an outspoken member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is not happy about what he sees as the explosion of so-called critical defense industrial sectors that must be sustained with government work, despite budget cutbacks. Meals Ready-to-Eat (MREs) and combat boots have now joined the ranks, he said. ``Defense industrial base has now turned into a new acronym for pork.''
McDonnell Douglas' DC-X experimental rocket resumed flying last week, after being repaired from an external explosion on its fifth flight last June 27. The May 16 test expanded the flight envelope by flying faster at a given angle of attack, and reaching a higher altitude. Also, the descent to the landing pad--at up to 140 fps.--was faster than before.
Loral Corp. has joined the competition to provide via KA-band satellite the high-speed digital telecommunications necessary to support a broad array of advanced applications. Calling its venture CyberStar, the company says a Space Systems/Loral geosynchronous, body stabilized satellite will be in operation at 110 deg. West in 1998. It will have on-board switching, and spot beams will enable it to provide service to the entire U.S., the company says.
James E. Hailer has been named manager of legislative affairs for the Aerospace Industries Assn. in Washington. He was manager of congressional affairs for the American League for Exports and Security Assistance.
The Memorial Day weekend should initiate a summer of record traffic for the ailing U.S. airline industry that includes the boarding of its 10 billionth passenger, according to the Air Transport Assn. ``A strong summer is key for the industry's financial recovery'' but would constitute merely the first step down ``a long road back to profitability,'' ATA President Carol Hallett said. Major U.S. airlines collectively have lost more than $13 billion since 1990--more money than the industry has earned since the late 1940s.
The U.S. Air Force and Navy test pilot schools, dedicated to training ``golden-arm'' aviators and flight test engineers (FTE), are perennial, irresistible targets for Defense Dept. cost-cutters. Combining the 50-year-old schools to save money is an idea that has come and gone many times. Yet, despite teaching essentially the same techniques for evaluating new aircraft and systems, the schools consistently have justified their individual existence and avoided a merger, citing unique service missions.
Creditors will begin voting this week on a plan to end Piper Aircraft Corp.'s four-year bankruptcy this summer by selling the manufacturer to a partnership of a major creditor and a Philadelphia investment firm. The Vero Beach, Fla.-based company started mailing ballots to about 1,000 creditors May 19, seeking their support of its plan to reorganize under Chapter 11 of U.S. bankruptcy law.
LOOK FOR PHOTONICS applications to grow dramatically as a fundamental technology for the information superhighway. The number of photonics technicians needed in the U.S. will double by the year 2000, to 743,000, according to a report by the Center for Occupational Research&Development, Waco, Tex., and funded by the U.S. Education Dept. Defense downsizing could exacerbate the need as fewer military-trained photonics technicians will be entering the labor force.
Republican lawmakers on the U.S. House National Security Committee are planning to authorize $540 million to begin procuring additional B-2s next year, while two independent studies are at odds over whether any more of the stealthy bombers are needed.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. must issue new rules aimed at more accurately evaluating the competitive effects of strategic code-sharing alliances on the U.S. airline industry, and determine whether anti-trust immunity will encourage new ``Open Skies'' agreements, according to a report completed by the General Accounting Office.
Rockwell's North American Aircraft Div. has successfully demonstrated integration of a GPS-guided tail kit for Mk. 82 500-lb. bombs on a U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber.
Strong traffic growth, high-performance transports and new crossborder routes will keep North American regional airlines' business at fever pitch though 1995. INCREASED regulation and air traffic delays, however, threaten to choke growth in specific markets. A coordinated, broad-based safety campaign also must be launched to drive accident rates lower and rebuild public confidence shattered as a result of a string of fatal commuter accidents during the last 12 months.
NASA'S LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER, Hampton, Va., is looking for a handful of homes in quiet neighborhoods to study the effects of aircraft noise. Volunteer households will be subjected to random military and civil aircraft noise during a 14-hr. period each day, the sounds emanating from a NASA-supplied, computer-controlled stereo system. Study participants complete a PC-based questionnaire each night to determine their reactions and annoyance levels.
BOOMING TRAFFIC HAS FORCED Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport to accelerate capacity improvement plans. The airport will invest $393 million in remodeling, including the upgrading of Runway 1R/19L to a 9,770-ft. length. Construction, which includes moving all west-side airport tenants, is scheduled to be completed by fall, 1997. The airport's nearly 20% traffic increase in 1994, to 26.8 million passenger enplanements and departures, also pushed up to next year the start of construction on a new, 28-gate midfield Concourse D.
A $600-million plan by Singapore Airlines and India's Tata group to start an independent airline has been snagged by the opposition of India's Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism on the grounds that the country already has enough airlines. Civil Aviation Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said India's overstressed airports and air traffic control system cannot handle another private airline. Another senior political leader said the government should consider scrapping the only private airline now operating with foreign capital, Jet Airways.
LOCKHEED MARTIN ASTRONAUTICS, Denver, Colo., is commercializing its military target-recognition technology in conjunction with Rose Health Care System, also of Denver. The extremely high computing power of the target recognition system's optical processor, which Defense Dept. tests proved could be used by a helicopter to detect and track a camouflaged tank, also can provide immediate results of mammograms and other complex medical imaging.
The U.S. Air Force has given Rockwell the go-ahead to begin production of kits that will enable B-1B aircraft to drop cluster bomb units (CBUs) as the service continues to expand the bomber's conventional munitions role. The production approval, received May 15, follows a flight test program at Edwards AFB, Calif., using a single B-1B with modified conventional bomb modules in each of its three weapon bays. The aircraft dropped 247 of the 1,000-lb. class weapons during a series of 15 flights.
AT&T AND LOCKHEED MARTIN have settled their legal battle over the Telstar 402 failure, but they are not disclosing the financial terms. The communications giant had alleged that the aerospace company knowingly launched a flawed satellite and reneged on an agreement for a launch slot (AW&ST Apr. 17, p. 23). AT&T was asking a federal court in Alexandria, Va., to order Lockheed Martin to pay $250 million in actual losses and additional punitive damages. Lockheed Martin had countersued, alleging AT&T was not paying its bills.
