Wayne H. Gross has been named managing director of the International Gas Turbine Institute of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in New York. He was director of international operations of the Technical Assn. of the Pulp and Paper Industry.
Boeing has encountered several pilot-induced oscillation scenarios during testing of its new fly-by-wire 777 transport, and has been able to correct them with software and hardware changes, according to company officials.
A shift in national defense spending to support a buildup by the Royal Australian Air Force is underway in Australia as the nation implements a new post-Cold War strategic plan. Improvements in Australian air power will benefit all three of its uniformed services, but the RAAF will receive the most attention, in part because it flies some missions that in other nations are flown by the army and navy.
SENIOR U.S. DEFENSE OFFICIALS, who are calling for a ``renaissance'' in international cooperative R&D projects, have their work cut out for them. America's recent track record with its allies has been dismal. Beard noted that virtually all 28 Nunn amendment codevelopment programs initiated in the late 1980s have failed. Many were projects the U.S. encouraged or cajoled European countries to participate in and help fund, only to pull out later. Beard said there are encouraging signs of improvement, however.
Max L. Williams, Jr., dean emeritus of the School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, has been named a fellow of the America Assn. for the Advancement of Science.
Northrop Grumman has started flight testing its upgraded cockpit for the F-5 fighter, which puts modern F-16-style avionics in the smaller, older design. The new cockpit is intended to make the F-5 a lead-in trainer for those countries that operate Lockheed F-16s, and to give the F-5 itself front-line fighter and ground attack capabilities (AW&ST Nov. 29, 1993, p. 56). Northrop Grumman's upgrade layout splits the instrument panel into a modern upper half and a traditional lower half, which can provide two levels of training.
A French parliamentary working group has found that European Union members states cannot reach an immediate consensus on a common air transport policy. The French working group's report is highly critical of the EU's current initiatives to press for a unified policy, including a multilateral accord with the U.S. The report was completed late last month by Dominique Bussereau, a member of the French Parliament, with assistance from several air transport experts. The report has been submitted to outgoing French Transport Minister Bernard Bosson.
Swissair will pay 6.5 billion Belgian francs ($229.3 million) for a 49.5% stake in Sabena Belgian Airlines under an agreement signed by the two carriers and the Belgian government late last week. The pact, which calls for additional Belgian government and investor funding, will give Swissair its sought-after foothold in the European Union (see p. 37). It also will provide much-needed capital for the smaller, unprofitable Belgian carrier. Under the agreement:
Gerald E. Homstad has been promoted to president/chief executive officer of American Microsystems, Inc., Pocatello, Idaho, from vice president of the Standard Products Div. He succeeds Conrad Wredberg, who has resigned.
AMERICAN AIRLINES AND BWIA INTERNATIONAL AIRWAYS will operate flights between Miami and New York and the Caribbean and within the Caribbean under a code-sharing agreement the carriers struck recently, pending approval by U.S. Transportation Dept. and Caribbean governments. BWIA's flights between Antigua and Miami and New York John F. Kennedy International Airport would also be listed on reservations under American's AA code, as would its flights between Barbados and Antigua, St. Lucia, Port of Spain and St.
NASA ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY GURU John E. Mansfield is furious with employees at the Marshall Space Flight Center, who made it appear that the agency is trying to tell industry how to build the X-33 reusable launch vehicle (RLV). One of the hallmarks of the single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) technology demonstration is that it is supposed to be industry-led. Marshall employees conducted an RLV design study to help NASA plan its support, and Associate Administrator Mansfield ordered the effort stopped in February. Nevertheless, on Mar.
NASA and Boeing officials are struggling to negotiate industry and international contracts and stabilize the development of hardware that are critical to the assembly of the planned international space station. Space station managers for the agency and the aerospace manufacturer have reviewed and validated the design of the 75% of Space Station Freedom hardware being adopted for the international space station Alpha. They also have laid the foundation for an integrated product team to develop the remainder of the hardware and assemble the station.
Knowledgeable critics are challenging the savings claimed by the Pentagon for the proposed transfer of two of the nation's key electronic warfare simulation test facilities to Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB, Calif. The two facilities, slated for transfer under the new Base Realignment And Closure (BRAC) proposal, are:
Proponents and developers of the U.S. Air Force's F-22 fighter are optimistic that modest weight increases in the F-22 are ``fairly insignificant'' when considering the effectiveness and survivability of the aircraft. Weight has become a highly visible issue in recent weeks due to recent statements made by senior Air Force officials (AW&ST Apr. 10, p. 21).
A NEW MATERIALS TESTING technology could lead the way to an economical and lightweight automatic fatigue and structural monitoring system for aircraft. The technique uses piezo-electric transducers to apply a milliwatt-level excitation to a part or structure under test, according to Chen Liang, process inventor and director of San Diego (Calif.) State University's Active Control Laboratory.
RUSSIAN PROTON launch vehicles have been selected by PanAmSat to place two of its communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit. PanAmSat told Lockheed Krunichev Energia International it will launch PAS-5 in late 1996 and PAS-6 in mid-1997.
Larry A. Burns (see photo) has been named president/chief operating officer of the Allison Advanced Development Co. of Indianapolis. He was chief engineer for advanced engine projects at Allison Engine. George W. Mickelsons has been appointed chairman of the Allison Engine Co. He is chief executive officer of American Trans Air.
The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center selected a TRW/Hughes team on May 2 to proceed with design of the ``Brilliant Eyes'' space and missile tracking system. If an option to flight test two satellites is exercised in 1996, the contract could be worth a total of about $484 million. Rockwell was the other contractor studying Brilliant Eyes, and was not selected. The Air Force planned to have both contractors each flight test two satellites but cut back plans last year to a single contractor.
Kendall Airlines has become a leader among Australia's regional operators by employing big airline tactics on low-density rural routes where major airlines cannot survive.
DEMO SYSTEMS, INC., IS STUDYING EXPANDING the capability of its Portable Maintenance Access Terminal (PMAT) used on the new Boeing 777 transport. The flight line tester, which accesses the 777's Onboard Maintenance Computer from any of five plug-in locations on the aircraft, could be upgraded to include information in the aircraft's Fault Isolation Manual, Aircraft Maintenance Manual and illustrated parts catalog.
NORTH KOREA RECENTLY DELIVERED at least four Scud launchers to Iran, according to the CIA, which is concerned about ``growing cooperation'' between the two countries ``on a broad range of ballistic missile-related issues.'' But the agency says it is unlikely North Korea could deploy its new, longer-range Taepo Dong 1 and 2 ballistic missiles ``before three to five years.'' In written responses to questions from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the CIA also disclosed that the intelligence community is collaborating on an assessment of the foreign threat to U.S.
Michael E. Kane (see photo) has been appointed a staff consultant at the Spectrum Management Group, Wallingford, Conn. He was a project manager at Universal Management Concepts of Atlanta.
Swissair Group expects its core airline business to return to profitability by 1997. ``Flight operations has to be in the black,'' according to Otto Loepfe, the group's president and chief executive. ``It's a priority.''
RESULTS OF A NEW HEAT TREATMENT process are being tested by Kemp Development Corp. of Houston and Los Alamos (N.M.) National Laboratory. The technique involves immersingmetal parts in a bed of preheated or precooled zirconium oxide beads. The dust-sized particles act like a fluid to transfer the desired temperature to the part. The method permits quicker, more precise and more efficient heating and quenching of parts than conventional heat-treatment processes.
