AIRBUS INDUSTRIE IS ACTIVELY CONSIDERING a reduced-capacity derivative of the 335-seat A330 twinjet, dubbed the A329. The consortium's engineering team is focusing on a 10-frame fuselage, paving the way for a 295-seat aircraft with a maximum range of 6,000 naut. mi. Entry into service would be in the second quarter of 1998. The A329 will have the A300-600's size and capacity, and is expected to become its successor.
AVIATION PARTNERS, INC., of Seattle and Douglas Aircraft Co. jointly are studying adapting API's blended and spiroid winglet technologies to MD-11 and MD-90 transports. Blended winglets could reduce cruise fuel burn on the MD-11 by 3% and the MD-90 by 6%. Spiroid winglets could reduce the fuel burn on both transports by an additional 3%, API said. A key challenge is to design winglets that do not substantially change wing-bending moment, eliminating the need to recertify wing fatigue characteristics.
LUFTHANSA AND SAS have agreed to merge their route structures into a single, integrated air traffic system to enhance the marketing efforts of both European-based airlines. The strategic alliance will take effect as soon as the carriers receive regulatory approval, and no later than Jan. 1, 1996. They will remain fully independent and retain their separate identities, and there will be no change in ownership.
William C. Bowers has been appointed a partner in the New York law firm of Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam and Roberts. He was associate general counsel of GE Capital Aviation Services.
Shipments and billings of U.S. general aviation aircraft increased during the first quarter of this year compared with the same period in 1994, and could herald the genesis of a long-awaited revival within the light aircraft industry. Manufacturers delivered 207 new aircraft during the first three months of 1995--a 14.4% increase compared with the 181 aircraft shipped in the first quarter of last year. As a result, billings escalated 33.7% to $595 million from $445.1 million one year ago, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Assn.
Dan McQueen has been promoted to president/chief executive officer from director of marketing and sales for Fluid Components International, San Marcos, Calif. Dave Feener has been promoted to chief operating officer from general manager, Glen Fishman to marketing director from general sales manager and Sam Kresch to general sales manager from Western regional sales manager.
Alitalia will begin implementing a new business plan during the next few weeks that is designed to restore operational profitability by the end of the year. To that end, the Italian flag carrier is considering restructuring its route system, streamlining its fleet and adding alliances with major carriers to sustain its recovery.
SafEye is a patented electro-optical ``open path'' flame and gas detector. Its two major components are a modulated light emission source that acts as an ultraviolet/infrared transmitter and a detector that incorporates an attenuation response analyzer that operates at selected spectral bands. SafEye also features IR3 flame detection capabilities. The system has the capacity to monitor different gases simultaneously over an optical path of 600 ft. It will detect a 1 sq. ft. pan fire at 200 ft. within 10 sec.
JOHN WHITE HAS BEEN nominated to take over as U.S. deputy secretary of Defense, replacing John Deutch, who was unanimously confirmed by the Senate last week as the new CIA director. White is currently chairman of the congressionally mandated Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces and director of the Center for Business and Government at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. President Bill Clinton also nominated U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John H. Tilelli to become the new head of U.S. Forces Command.
An Arizona company is introducing a system that will use differential GPS to guide spraying operations of agricultural aircraft. Tempe, Ariz.-based Satloc specializes in developing commercial uses for the U.S. Defense Dept.'s Global Positioning System. The company has sold about 25 AirStar systems and is actively marketing the equipment in other countries that depend heavily upon aerial applications of chemicals, including Australia, Canada and Argentina, Joseph Hartt said. He is vice chairman of the company.
PZT-5M is a piezoceramic material with a high dielectric constant that can be used in miniature sensors with a high level of capacitance for aerospace and industrial applications. Electrical output from the material is sufficient to power circuitry. It has a dielectric constant of 4100, a dissipation factor of 0.020 and a planar coupling efficiency of 0.640. Morgan Matroc-Electro Ceramics Div., 232 Forbes Road, Bedford, Ohio 44146.
The first elements are in place for a new satellite communications system offering more detailed and timely aviation weather reports and forecasts. After 15 years planning and work, the second of three portions of the World Area Forecast System (WAFS) was activated recently. Global upper wind and temperature data and forecasts for pilots to use in planning operations are being broadcast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) headquarters here.
Industry expects this week to pore over a U.S. Air Force request for proposals for updated U.S. launch vehicles that contains no military specifications or standards. Dropping mil specs is one of the novel aspects of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, a dual-use effort intended to advance objectives that are disparate, but ones the Clinton Administration hopes will fit together nicely.
Carl Montalbine has been appointed vice president/general manager of AlliedSignal Aerospace's Aircraft Landing Systems, South Bend, Ind. He was director of engineering. Montalbine succeeds Tom Johnson, who has been named vice president-AirTransport Enterprise for AlliedSignal Engines in Phoenix.
FastPic3 for Tooling is an inventory management software package designed specifically for tool room management. It can be used to enhance the productivity of vertical carousels, vertical lift modules, and other automated and nonautomated storage systems. The software selects the best available storage location for tools by subdividing and micro-managing the space in binds, trays, drawers, boxes and other storage containers. Users can locate tools using the software by specifying physical dimensions of the tool number or other identifying information.
First Boeing 777 powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines was rolled out of Boeing's plant last week. The engines initially will be operated at 75,000-84,000 lb. thrust for carriers including Cathay Pacific and Thai. First flight of the Rolls-powered 777 will be this month.
A U.S. AIR FORCE F-117A Nighthawk crashed south of Zuni, N.M., around 10:30 p.m. on May 10, killing the pilot, Capt. Kenneth W. Levens. The aircraft was on a routine night training mission from Holloman AFB, N.M. It was the second 49th Fighter Wing F-117A mishap in two months and the fifth lost since the Air Force's first stealth aircraft was fielded in the early 1980s. On Apr. 5, another F-117A burned on the Holloman runway after making a night emergency landing. The pilot escaped without injury, but the aircraft suffered major damage.
GERMAN RESEARCHERS AT DIEHL GMBH.&CO. propose to use GPS and Glonass satellites as a multistatic radar to detect aircraft. Flight tests have correlated detection with aircraft location using blocking, diffraction, and reflection of the satellite signals, according to the company. Commercial navigation receivers were used, but future tests will use special multipath estimating delay lock loop hardware and dedicated software to extract range and Doppler data.
KEMP DEVELOPMENT CORP., Houston, Tex., now is operating a full-size working model of a mechanically fluidized vacuum process to treat powders used in powder metallurgy and thermal spray. The environmentally friendly process, which electrically heats and blends powders in a slowly rotating, sealed cylinder without agglomeration, makes possible unique new alloys and coating and surface treatments. It also can economically replace certain existing high-temperature gas- and conventional-atmosphere furnace treatment processes.
Richard G. Kirkland has been named director of U.S. government requirements for Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Co., Marietta, Ga. He was deputy assistant Defense secretary for legislative affairs.
NOAA-14'S MICROWAVE SOUNDING UNIT is back to operating normally, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports. That instrument on the polar orbiting meteorological satellite had displayed high temperatures in its scan motor, stopped scanning, and then was turned off (AW&ST Apr. 3, p. 28). A NASA-recommended software patch has been installed on the spacecraft and it now is working well, although life expectancy remains in question.
Dragonair Chief Operating Officer Philip N.L. Chen can draw a circle around Hong Kong that includes all the major cities in China and the rest of Asia. The circle represents five hours of flight from this British colony's Kai Tak Airport. Chen thinks of this as Dragonair's catchment area. ``We are Hong Kong's regional airline,'' he says. ``One must not get too far away from that basic rule.''
A Deluxe Engine Test Stand developed for the GE90 powerplant will go through a formal qualification process later this month when British Airways technicians use it to service one of the engines developed for the Boeing 777 transport. The stand, designed and manufactured by Advanced Ground Systems Engineering (AGSE), has three major components--a base, cradle and fan transfer dolly.
This extruded fluoroelastomer sponge compound resists degradation by more than 300 fluids, making it ideal for applications that require chemical and hazardous material resistance. Made from DuPont's Viton rubber, the material is manufactured as a closed-cell sponge. Density ranges from 25 to 60 lb./cu. ft. Features include extremely low permeability to a broad range of substances. It is resistant to aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons that can serve as solvents for other rubbers.
