The U.S. Defense Dept. must get serious about tactical reconnaissance. Whether the current military mission is humanitarian or peacekeeping or involves outright hostilities, the on-scene commander needs to have a tactical ``recce'' capability under his control. But the tactical commander's ability to gather real-time intelligence has been on a downhill slide since the Navy retired its RA-5C Vigilantes and RF-8 ``photo Crusaders'' and the Air Force transferred its RF-4C Phantoms to the Air National Guard.
Graham Atkinson has been appointed vice president-Atlantic Div. of United Airlines. He was general manager in the U.K. He succeeds David Coltman, who has been named senior vice president-marketing.
Robin Wohnsigl has been named vice president-aircraft maintenance of USAir. He managed new base development for Northwest Airlines. Also, Michael Cohen, vice president-line maintenance, has resigned from USAir to become senior vice president-operations at Aloha Airlines.
Saudi Arabian airline officials have requested that Boeing and Douglas Aircraft Co. officials meet there this month to discuss the proposed purchase by flag carrier Saudia of commercial transports from the two U.S. airframe manufacturers. The possibility of a $6-billion Saudi order was made public in February, 1994, at a White House ceremony. Three months later, both companies presented proposals in Saudi Arabia on aircraft intended to meet Saudia's requirements. Airbus Industrie was not included in the bidding.
SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES, Albuquerque, N.M., has begun a ``technology transfer'' leave of absence program that enables Sandia scientists and engineers to take up to two-year, no-pay sabbaticals to start technology-related businesses. The intent of the program is to encourage commercialization of technologies developed at Sandia. At the end of two years, participants have the option of returning to Sandia at the same status as when they left.
Boeing will offer an engine pylon upgrade kit to operators of its 757- and 767-series transports based on new data on the dynamic loads experienced during takeoff and landing and gusty conditions.
R. Frank Leftwich (see photos) has been named president of Aviall Asia, Ltd., Hong Kong, and Dan P. Komnenovich has been named senior vice president-marketing and development. Leftwich was executive vice president-marketing for Aviall in Dallas,and Komnenovich was senior vice president-development.
THE SECOND EUROFIGHTER 2000 prototype, DA2, resumed flight testing on May 17 with a 1-hr. 25-min. flight from British Aerospace facilities at Warton. The aircraft was flown by Chris Yeo, director of flight operations there. The flight is the first for Eurofighter since the first two prototypes were put on the ground last summer after 15 hr. for planned flight control system and avionics upgrades. DA3, the third prototype and the first to be equipped with Eurojet EJ200 engines, is expected to fly shortly from the Alenia Flight Test Center at Caselle, Italy.
Ground controllers for Intelsat and Space Systems/Loral are initiating the checkout this week of the new Intelsat 706 spacecraft launched May 17 by an Arianespace Ariane 44 LP. The spacecraft will be positioned over the Atlantic Ocean near the Brazilian coast, where it is to provide international television, telephone business and regional communications services through about 2010.
Garmin's new GPS 90 receiver weighs10 oz., has moving map LCD and a Jeppesen data base. It can be hand-held or yoke-mounted, needs four AA batteries for 15 hr. of power, and its price reflects the decreasing cost of GPS.
ORBCOMM FM 2, one of the two Orbital Sciences Corp. satellites that has been ailing since it was launched Apr. 3, appears to have regained its health. The communications spacecraft completed a self-activated reset procedure May 13, clearing a processor that had been blocking normal operation of a receiver. Software designed to prevent a recurrence has been uplinked.
THE DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE IN KOBE has prompted the Japanese government to propose building new air traffic control centers in Tokyo, Sapporo, Fukuoka and Naha. Each new facility would have the capacity to cover the other's traffic should a natural disaster strike. Although Kobe/Osaka's railroad and port facilities suffered extensive damage in the earthquake, air traffic control facilities for the new Kansai International and old Itami Airports were not damaged.
A variety of aircraft, new facilities and an experienced instructor staff gives the National Test Pilot School the ability to provide tailored training. Sean C. Roberts, director and NTPS cofounder, said the school's resources include: -- A seven-classroom, 20,000-sq.-ft. building that accommodates 90 students at the Mojave Airport here. -- A fleet of 46 aircraft, made by U.S., British, French, Italian, Spanish and Swedish manufacturers, used to demonstrate a broad range of design philosophies and flight characteristics.
Theodore E. Martin has been named president/chief executive officer and Thomas O. Barnes chairman of the Barnes Group, Inc., Bristol, Conn., effective July 1. Martin will succeed A. Stanton Wells, who will retire but remain a director. Martin has been executive vice president-operations. Thomas Barnes will succeed his father, Wallace Barnes, who will remain a director. Thomas Barnes will remain senior vice president-administration.
A Royal Air Force pilot made a successful emergency landing in the sea off the coast of Scotland after the two starboard engines of his Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft caught fire. All seven crewmembers were rescued after the blazing aircraft was ditched into the Moray Firth near Lossiemouth. The Nimrod, one of three equipped with electronic warfare and surveillance equipment, developed problems during a test flight from RAF Kinloss in northern Scotland where it had undergone major maintenance work.
U.S. AIR FORCE HAS CLEARED General Electric over allegations that its powerplants are unsafe to operate due to improper electrical bonding. USAF's conclusions follow an FAA report made in late 1994 that also found no reason to believe GE's commercial aircraft engines were unsafe because of alleged improper electrical bonding techniques. The USAF/FAA findings are widely expected to undercut a ``whistle-blower'' lawsuit filed by GE employee Ian Johnson.
Interbrasil Star has received the first of three Embraer EMB-120s it has ordered, to begin the carrier's service from Brasilia. The new Brazilian regional airline will operate the quick-change turboprops between Brasilia and Goiania, Londrina, Foz do Iguacu, Chapeco, Concordia and Porto Alegre. Transbrasil is the main shareholder of the regional carrier and will use its aircraft to connect to domestic and international flights from Sao Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport.
Joseph M. Daltoso has been promoted to chairman/chief executive officer/president from executive vice president of Micron Electronics, Inc., Nampa, Idaho. He succeeds Steven R. Appleton, who has resigned but will continue on the board of directors.
An increased Defense Dept. emphasis on ``total quality'' is reflected in U.S. Air Force and Navy test pilot schools' new focus on giving their ``customers'' graduates who are capable of immediately handling cutting-edge projects. Both military schools still teach classical techniques for evaluating an aircraft's performance and flying qualities (P&FQ), but systems testing is an ever-growing third phase. Both also now integrate sophisticated computer modeling and simulation with student data flights.
Airbus Industrie is aggressively paving the way for a European initiative to launch the A3XX high-capacity transport by the end of the decade. However, consortium-member companies still have divergent views on the envisioned program. No funding plan for the $15-billion-plus investment has been developed, and no additional partners that could join such a huge European undertaking have been identified yet.
AIR INTER, AIR FRANCE GROUP'S DOMESTIC SUBSIDIARY, has a better chance than ever to win its war for independence and maintain a separate identity. The plan to merge Air Inter and Air France's European Div. is becoming increasingly jeopardized by the workforce's fierce opposition to consolidation, as demonstrated by numerous strikes. And Air France Group's chairman and chief executive officer, Christian Blanc, now is also acting chairman/CEO of Air Inter, Europe's biggest domestic airline.
A Mitre Corp. study questions the viability of ``big LEO'' systems, which rely on a large number of low Earth orbit satellites for mobile voice and data satellite service. Medium Earth orbit (MEO) systems appear to have the advantage because they can provide global coverage with fewer satellites while avoiding the terrain masking of LEO systems and the technical challenges of antennas for large geosynchronous satellites, the Mitre study maintains.
As a new age dawns in mobile satellite services, U.S. companies are busy plying their government with data and arguments to push for more radio spectrum allocation even as they build and begin to launch systems. Market studies project 80 million users or more by 2010. And with U.S. telecommunications in the clear lead in developing low Earth orbiting (LEO) systems, the U.S. delegation to the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC '95) is expected to be an aggressive advocate for mobile satellite services (MSS).
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the fifth section of the English translation of the French Commission of Investigation preliminary report of the June 30, 1994, crash of an Airbus A330 at Toulouse-Blagnac airport, site of Airbus Industrie's flight test center. The aircraft, as part of Category 3 certification testing, was performing an engine-out go-around with autopilot when lateral control was lost. The A330 was at too low an altitude at the time the crew regained recovery. The aircraft impacted the ground, killing the test crew of three and four observers.
EVEN THOUGH THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT has raised the foreign ownership cap for Qantas Airways to 49%, British Airways will not be able to increase its share beyond the 25% of Qantas that it already owns. The government limited ownership by any one foreign entity to 25%. Still, BA said it favors the government's ruling because it should make Qantas' stock more attractive to other investors. The government is expected to sell the 75% stake it now owns in Qantas in June.
