Composite materials have been one of Australia's signature aerospace products ever since the F/A-18 coproduction program provided a reason to learn the business. Now, a research partnership comprising the government, academia and the country's two major aerospace manufacturers aims to give the Australian industry a competitive edge with improved techniques, structural performance and operations in composite manufacturing.
LOOK FOR ADDED SERVICE BETWEEN CANADA AND GERMANY following the recent expanded joint-venture alliance between Canadian Airlines International and Lufthansa German Airlines. The carriers, which begin code-sharing Canada-Germany services Dec. 20, jointly plan to increase their weekly service to as many as 42 nonstop flights by the summer of 1996. These would include twice-daily service between Frankfurt and Vancouver and Toronto, plus daily service from Frankfurt to Montreal and Calgary. Under discussion: extension of service to Eastern European markets.
A severe hailstorm at Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport damaged nearly 80 AMR Corp. aircraft so severely that most will not return to service for three weeks or more, forcing American Airlines and its American Eagle affiliates to juggle their new summer schedules. The Apr. 29 storm began as a weak cold front moved into the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, forcing stagnant warm, moist air up through a cold-temperature boundary at about 7,000 ft. The resulting convection kept hail stones aloft and accumulating moisture until they reached diameters of 3-6 in.
Rockwell Systems Australia has entered final negotiations to acquire the core businesses of AeroSpace Technologies of Australia, Ltd. (ASTA), the government-owned contractor that has played a leading role in developing the country's aircraft and missiles. The Rockwell buyout does not include ASTA Aircraft Services (Astaas), a civil transport overhaul and maintenance center, the Avalon regional airport here in Geelong or a New Zealand subsidiary.
Unless the general decline in the student pilot population is stopped soon, the future of general aviation in the U.S. will be seriously in question. Since 1977, the number of student pilots has plummeted by close to 55%. In 1994 alone, the FAA issued only 62,603 student pilot certificates. That is the lowest number in 32 years.
W. Dean Baker has been named vice president/general manager of Northrop Grumman Precision Weapons and Electronics Systems, Hawthorne, Calif. He was vice president/BAT program manager.
Lt. Gen. Pelagio Manuel de Abreu Castelo Branco, vice chief of staff of the Portuguese air force, has been appointed president of OGMA, Plc., the Portuguese aeronautical industry.
John E. Koehler has been appointed executive vice president/chief operating officer of the Titan Corp., San Diego, Calif. He was president of Hughes Asia Pacific.
Swissair is the launch customer for Messier-Bugatti's upgraded carbon brakes that will equip the carrier's Airbus Industrie A319s. The braking system uses third-generation carbon, increasing endurance by 75% and reducing rejected takeoff distances, according to Michel Abella, Messier-Bugatti marketing and sales manager. The brakes remain efficient at 3,000C., while reducing weight by 384 kg. (845 lb.) for A319/320 twinjets.
Boeing's Heliwing autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle lifted off on a ``flawless'' 4-min. first flight late last month at Moses Lake, Wash. The aircraft, operating in helicopter mode, climbed to 42 ft., then descended and hovered in a stationary position about 10 ft. above its staging area.
TRW SHORTLY WILL RECEIVE a U.S. patent for the medium-altitude inclined-orbit constellation planned for use in its Odyssey global satellite telephone system. A similar constellation is planned for use in the Inmarsat-P satellite communications system, prompting TRW to notify Inmarsat last November of a potential patent infringement.
A United Airlines Boeing 767 experienced a pressurization system problem during a one-and-a-half-hr.-long engine-out diversion to Bermuda, in an improbable situation for an ETOPS aircraft maintained to exacting FAA standards. The aircraft, which was carrying 111 passengers, landed safely Apr. 26, in Bermuda at 2:05 a.m. local time, but not before New York Center oceanic air traffic control asked the U.S. Navy whether a helicopter or a P-3 rescue aircraft could be dispatched to assist the troubled 767, if necessary.
BOSTON TRAVELERS SOON WILL HAVE A WIDER CHOICE of low-fare offers. ValuJet is expanding its services to Boston, beginning June 8, with three daily round trips on McDonnell Douglas DC-9s to Atlanta and three to Washington Dulles. According to the carrier, ValuJet fares will be half those of competitors, or from $149 one-way Boston-Atlanta to $49 one-way to Washington, depending on peak hours/advance reservation times.
Pamela Townsend has been named division manager for North Carolina operations of Rust Environment and Infrastructure, Greenville, S.C. She succeeds Joe Burton, who was promoted to director of Rust's national transportation consulting program.
Tohru Arai has been appointed technical adviser to the Arvin Thermal Diffusion Center, Columbus, Ind. Arai was director of the Toyota Central Research and Development Laboratories.
Troy J. Tollen has been appointed director of placement and remarketing for Airbus North America, Herndon, Va. He was a regional sales manager for British Aerospace.
THE FIRST TRANSPONDER-BASED precision instrument landing system has been sold to the state of Wisconsin. Installation will take place at Watertown (Wis.) Airport in time for good-weather demonstrations during the nearby Experimental Aircraft Assn. annual show at Oshkosh in late July, according to developer Advanced Navigation&Positioning Corp. of Hood River, Ore. FAA flight testing and site certification is to take place by year-end. In April, ANPC demonstrated the landing system to potential military customers at the U.S. Marine Corps airfield at Quantico, Va.
Hazelton Airlines has emerged from recession-induced doldrums of just four years ago to become one of Australia's most rapidly expanding regional carriers. In Feburary, the carrier took what may be its boldest step, launching a hub-bypassing route that overflies Melbourne International Airport to Sydney's Kingsford Smith International Airport from Geelong.
BRITISH AEROSPACE HAS REPAID THE U.K. TREASURY about 80% of 250 million pounds ($400 million) in launch aid, plus interest, for its wing-development work on the Airbus Industrie A320. When the full loan is repaid, the U.K. will receive royalties on each A320 sale. BAe also has received about 450 million pounds ($720 million) in launch aid for the A330/340 program, which will be repaid in similar fashion.
NASA plans to launch three space shuttle missions in six weeks as it strives to maintain its schedule for conducting joint operations with the Russian Space Agency, upgrading its orbiter fleet and supporting construction of the international space station. Managers of the U.S. space agency have opted to launch Discovery and its five crewmembers in early June on their satellite-deployment mission and to put off Atlantis' launch on its historic mission to dock with the Russian Mir space station.
With an extension of its international passenger concourse and plans underway for an improved freight ``park,'' Melbourne International Airport is seeking a greater share of Australia's international air services business. Compared to the fervent pace of the rest of Australasia, the Melbourne expansion is relatively modest. But with the country's major gateway, Sydney, hemmed in by development and criticized for aircraft noise, Melbourne planners are pitching their facility as an alternative.
Pressure is building on the Dutch Parliament from a wide range of European government and industry officials to undertake a more rigorous review of the selection of the McDonnell Douglas AH-64D over the Eurocopter Tiger in Holland's new attack helicopter procurement.
CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AREAS with the highest military and commercial dual-use potential have aerospace roots, according to an Economic Strategy Institute survey. They include electronic and photonic materials; computer simulation and modeling; high-performance, complex software; composites; sensors and signal processing; high-definition imaging and displays, and micro/optoelectronics.
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS HAS taken steps to bolster its marketing efforts, especially its sagging transport sales (AW&ST Mar. 20, p. 40). Ed Bavaria, who retired from General Electric Aircraft Engines two years ago as vice president and general manager of the Airline Marketing Div., has been named deputy president of Douglas Aircraft Co. Thomas M. Gunn has been promoted to the new corporate position of senior vice president for business development effective May 1.
John H. Shuey, president of the Amcast Industrial Corp., Dayton, Ohio, has been appointed to the additional post of chief executive officer. He succeeds Leo W. Ladehoff, who will continue as chairman.
