Uzbekistan defense officials have proposed incorporating a formerly classified satellite-tracking site into the U.S. space surveillance network, which could improve capabilities to detect orbital debris.
THE UNITED KINGDOM'S Civil Aviation Administration plans to use a 20 channel GPS/Glonass receiver in tests of satellite navigation performance. The CAA's Institute of Satellite Navigation at the University of Leeds, England, which developed the receiver, is cooperating with British Airways to observe GPS performance on one of its Boeing 747-400s. In recent tests, Leeds simultaneously received 11 GPS and nine Glonass satellites and obtained a common fix.
JUST WHEN GENERAL AVIATION LOBBYISTS were confident that plans for an air traffic control (ATC) corporation were in eclipse on Capitol Hill, Senate Budget Committee chairman Pete Domenici (R.-N.M.) is reviving them.
The test satellite, which failed to reach geostationary orbit after launch last August, may be useful in some new communications tests, Japan's NASDA says. The space agency has brought relay equipment provided by the European Space Agency to its Tsukuba test center near Tokyo for a series of S-band experiments bounced off ETS-6, which is in a highly elliptical orbit. In June, NASA will start its own S-band tests with ETS-6 using its Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.
Double annular combustor for the CFM56-5B is capable of reducing oxides of nitrogen emissions by more than 40%. The combustor entered service this year on board Swissair Airbus A321s and will be used by Austrian Airlines.
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Rejecting the Pentagon's recommendations, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission has added all five U.S. Air Force aircraft maintenance depots to the list of military installations it is reviewing for possible closure.
The U.S. Air Force is seeking $50 million from Congress in Fiscal 1996 to launch a streamlined acquisition program for a follow-on to the canceled Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile, which senior officials predict could be fielded at about the same time as TSSAM would have.
A NEW INTERFEROMETRIC Synthetic Aperture Radar processing technique proposed by Westinghouse Norden Systems is capable of creating moving target images of ground objects while suppressing clutter. Interferometric moving target focusing (IMTF) has given 1-meter range resolution in tests, and is applicable to the two U.S. multiaperture radar sensors currently capable of SAR and moving target indicator processing--Joint-STARS and the APG-76. Company officials told the IEEE 95 International Radar Conference the processing should help target classification.
The first GE90-powered Boeing 777 transport experienced an engine surge on takeoff earlier this month. The aircraft, serial number WA076, safely completed the takeoff and immediately returned to Boeing Field for a precautionary landing. The engine, which was set up for particular propulsion system test conditions at the time, returned to normal operation after the surge and was fully functional at landing, Boeing said.
THE 25-YEAR-OLD Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was permanently renewed last week by a world conference at the United Nations, securing a landmark U.S.-led arms control initiative. The renewal preserves the international system for preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, strongly supported by arms control advocates. But the five recognized nuclear powers--the U.S., Russia, Britain, France and China--blocked efforts by nonnuclear states to make the permanent extension conditional on greater, faster nuclear disarmament by the five (AW&ST Apr. 10, p. 27).
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the fourth 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.
Japan's army is studying plans for enhanced airlift that could lead to additional purchases of Boeing/Kawasaki CH-47J heavy-lift troop transport helicopters. Under current budget reduction plans, the army's troop strength is to drop from 180,000 personnel in 13 divisions to 150,000 troops in 10 divisions and three brigades.
Knight Aerospace Products is modifying six Southern Air Transport Lockheed 382G freighters to allow the aircraft to be reconfigured in about 2 hr. with a 19-passenger forward compartment and a five-pallet aft cargo area. Also kwown as the L-100-30. San Antonio, Tex.-based Knight Aerospace delivered the first of the aircraft modified under its new Supplemental Type Certificate Apr. 15 to Southern Air, which replaced the passenger cabin's coat closet with a galley.
CANADA'S RADARSAT has completed environmental tests for launch in September. Technicians (right) at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) David Florida Laboratory in Ottawa discuss the results of the X-axis lateral vibration test. Spar Aerospace, Ltd., is the prime contractor for the satellite, which carries a high-resolution C-band synthetic aperture radar. Radarsat imagery of arctic ice will be particularly useful to shipping. NASA is providing the launch on a Delta 2 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., in exchange for data rights. Meanwhile, CSA President W.
A runway excursion that followed the aborted takeoff of a Raytheon Starship has provided some of the first in-service proof of the robustness and crashworthiness of all-composite airframes.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute believe they have demonstrated an ``air spike'' concept that could reduce the drag and heat transfer problems associated with hypersonic flight. The concept was formulated by Leik Myrabo, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Rensselaer and Yuri Raizer of the Moscow-based Russian Academy of Science's Institute for Problems in Mechanics. It was apparently demonstrated late last month in tests at Rensselaer's Mach 25 shock tunnel.
This ``pancake form factor'' frameless, torquer servo motor is designed for height-restricted applications. It features a power output rating of more than 200 w., a multi-slot/pole lamination configuration for low-cogging characteristics and through-hole rotor construction capability of up to 3 in. inner diameter. The 6.25-in.-dia. and 1.3-in.-high frameless torquer eliminates shaft coupling devices and system resonances. It also allows routing of cable harnesses through the inner diameter of the motor.
American Airlines has proposed industry-wide publication of air cargo on-time performance statistics similar to existing passenger aircraft arrival reports. Regularly published, uniform cargo reliability data would allow freight shippers to compete on dependability as well as price, according to William Boesch, president of American Airlines' cargo division. This would help carriers increase cargo yields, he said.
