Thiokol Corp. is rapidly building one of the strongest balance sheets of any aerospace/defense company in its class (sales under $1 billion). It has no long-term debt, and it will generate about $60 million in free cash in each of the next several years. This level of financial flexibility, coupled with minimal capital-spending requirements, will present the company with any number of opportunities to increase shareholder value.
METEOSAT 3, THE WEATHER SATELLITE the U.S. borrowed following the failure of Goes-6 in 1989, will never be returned to the European Meteorological Satellite Organization. Eumetsat has switched its control facilities from the VHF used for Meteosat 3 to S-band. The spacecraft, launched in 1988, will be placed on standby after Goes-9 is in service. Eventually, Meteosat 3 will be moved to an out-of-way orbit.
The American Eagle regional airline network is recovering slowly from 1994's two fatal accidents and the resulting aircraft restrictions that forced the group to reposition much of its fleet. ``The last couple of months of 1994 were affected seriously by the aftermath of the accidents'' involving an ATR42 and a Jetstream 31, and subsequent restrictions on ATR operations in cold-weather markets, Robert Martens said.
Wind tunnel tests aimed at assessing performance of a noise-suppressing engine nozzle on a high speed civil transport (HSCT) baseline configuration are nearly complete at NASA Ames Research Center. The high-lift engine aeroacoustic technology (Heat) test series, which began in early February, may be the only opportunity prior to an engine-nozzle selection to assess installed noise and thrust performance of the nozzle concept, according to NASA Ames officials.
Aaron J. Gellman, director of Northwestern University's Transportation Center, has won the Salzberg Honorary Award given by Syracuse University for accomplishments in transportation and logistics.
Rockwell Collins and Thomson-CSF are assessing the benefits of millimeter-wave radar to assist pilots in landing and taxiing aircraft under low-visibility conditions.
Jodi Balestrieri has been named director of air/sea development for Flight Time International, Brookline, Mass. She was Mid-Atlantic regional sales manager.
THE PENTAGON IS WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE WHITE HOUSE on proposals that would allow expanded military involvement in anti-terrorist activities (see p. 33). But Pentagon officials caution that such involvement would be ``extremely limited,'' and would have to be requested by domestic law enforcement agencies.
Tyrone Taylor has begun a two-year assignment as Federal Laboratory Consortium Washington representative. He is director of the NASA National Service Office. Taylor succeeds Beverly Berger, who was on assignment from the U.S. Energy Dept.
LOOK FOR MORE spending by U.S. states to help local aerospace businesses expand and create more high-wage jobs. Since Oregon targeted aerospace as a ``key industry'' in 1991, membership in the state-backed Aerospace Industry Assn. of Oregon has grown from a handful of members to almost 100. The group, which works closely with the state's economic development and education departments, promotes Oregon-made aerospace products while efficiently capturing state and federal financial aid for related education, training, industrial development and marketing programs.
AN INVENTION BY THE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY of Pasadena, Calif., would allow simultaneous bending of two pieces of piping to the same complex geometry, one inside the other. The technique could permit aerospace manufacturers to use a gas or liquid between two pipes for insulation or cooling, or run two pipes through a space previously reserved for one, without chafing. The fabrication process involves inserting flexible tubes between the two pipes and expanding them using noncompressible fluid, according to James Schroeder of the JPL technical staff.
McDonnell Douglas is assembling a contractor team and seeking Navy funding for risk reduction studies on a command and control warfare version of the twin-seat F/A-18F that could eventually replace the EA-6B.
William Rees Sears, professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Arizona in Tucson, has received the National Academy of Sciences' 1995 Award in Aeronautical Engineering.
The C-17 program has been authorized to begin operational paratrooper testing following completion of a month-long series of flight tests at the Yuma Proving Ground to resolve potential air drop problems, according to program officials. The Yuma, Ariz., tests have shown that a series of changes enable the aircraft to meet minimum separation requirements for paratroopers jumping simultaneously from doors on opposite sides of the aircraft, program officials said.
The flight data recorder for USAir Flight 427, which crashed near Pittsburgh, shows the control column going full back as the bank angle reached 90 deg. and staying there as the aircraft rolled fully upside down. Keeping the column full aft when inverted, while perhaps a naive first reaction, is not a good survival strategy for transport aircraft.
WESTERN PACIFIC AIRLINES RECEIVED its FAA air carrier certificate and began Part 121 operations from a hub in Colorado Springs with an inaugural flight to Oklahoma City on Apr. 28. The low-cost carrier's initial nonstop service also linked Colorado Springs to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Kansas City. San Francisco will be added on May 8 when a third Boeing 737-300 joins the fleet. In June, two more 737s will be added to better accommodate increased flight frequencies and future expansion.
Jan-Ake Kark (see photos) has been named managing director of Ericsson Microwave Systems, Mondal, Sweden. He was managing director of EP Consulting Group, an Ericsson subsidiary. Lars Karlen has been promoted to general manager of the Airborne Radar Div. from head of the Program Management Dept. And, Bo Bergstrom has been promoted to general manager of the Defense Communications Div. from its head of international marketing.
The first Cessna Citation Bravo seven-passenger business jet flew from Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, Kan., late last month. During the flight, the prototype reached an altitude of 10,500 ft. and cycled gear, flap and speedbrake systems. A subsequent flight to 25,000 ft. verified pressurization system operation.
Ansett Australia, long the dominant airline on Australia's domestic routes, is slowly expanding into international services. It expects to open its fourth Asian route this November with flights to Taipei. The carrier, jointly owned by News Corp. and TNT, Ltd., opened its first international service to Bali in 1993 and followed a year later with services to Hong Kong and the new Kansai International Airport in Osaka.
A new fabrication process for Boeing 747 freighter floor assemblies is used to complete six-grid floor sections prior to installation in aircraft. The new process reduces aircraft downtime by 10 days during conversions of 747s to freight from passenger configuration, a Boeing official said. Previously, the reinforced floors necessary for cargo operations were assembled one beam at a time within the aircraft. Boeing's Wichita, Kan., modification and maintenance center has converted more than 60 747s to freighters.
Canadian Airlines International, Delta, Northwest and United all want to use a recently approved air route over Siberia that will allow flights to proceed direct from cities in North America to destinations such as Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai. China's Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC) and Russia's Rosaero Navigatsia commission for airspace management agreed on Jan. 4 to open the new route with a single crossing point at Khabarovsk, Siberia, on the Chinese border.
The FAA hopes by September to request bids to replace aging ARTS-2 and ARTS-3 systems at 179 terminal area control centers with new Standard Terminal Automation Replacement Systems. Under the FAA's original Advanced Automation System (AAS) program, initiated in mid-1988 with IBM Federal Systems as prime contractor, the Tracon function was to be relocated in the air traffic control centers and would be handled by the new AAS.
Mary K. Lamb, business development manager at GTE and former director of communications of the Electronic Industries Assn.'s Government Div., has been named one of the 1995 Federal 100 Winners for her work at EIA. She was recognized for overseeing the activities of the division's Federal Information Systems Committee, which provides an annual five-year forecast of opportunities in the federal information technology market.
Australia's growing economic ties with Asia are having profound effects on the country. Airports are expanding their runway and terminal facilities to prepare for growth into the 21st century. There is more vigorous competition among regional and national airlines. In another vein, the Royal Australian Air Force is entering a decade of major improvements to its fighters, trainers and transport aircraft. Asian Bureau Chief Michael Mecham examines some of these issues in the following articles.
