John McKeon has been named Central Region account manager for SPOT Image Corp., based in Dallas. He was a research geologist with the Atlantic Richfield Corp.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS in Russian radars and a survey of Chinese radars will be reported at the International Radar Conference to be held May 8-11 in Alexandria, Va. Russian scientists also are scheduled to report on their work in ultra-wideband radar. The conference is sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
MALAYSIA AIRLINES IS CLOSING OUT ITS 747-200 FLEET from passenger service, sending its last two aircraft to Boeing's Wichita Div. for conversion to full freighters. Malaysia will still depend on 12 747-400s for passenger services, but adding freighters will help it tap Asia's growing cargo market. Boeing predicts that Asia's share of world air freight will increase from 42% today to 50% by 2013. The new freighters will have a cargo door, strengthened floor beams and panels, a power cargo handling system, and take 10-ft.-high cargo containers.
LACK OF FEDERAL FUNDING and significant cultural differences are fundamental obstacles to the success of joint technology development programs undertaken by the U.S. government and industry. Such programs, however, can yield rewards for those who persevere, according to an Economic Strategy Institute study conducted for the U.S. Air Force. Government and industry officials see the current dearth of funding as an indication that U.S. leadership is not committed to technology transfer, despite public lip service.
The French-made Stardec line of cutting tools for screw machining is designed to minimize the need for costly and delicate sharpening operations. The tools have dual tip inserts attached to a specially indented tool holder by a tapered screw. The holding screw's eccentricity allows for quick replacement with a precision of 0.02 mm. The disposable inserts are available in a cemented carbide or with a highly resistant titanium-nitrate or titanium-carbon-nitrate coating. The tools are available for machining screws with up to a 20 mm. dia.
A 3.67-meter optical telescope will be located at the U.S. Air Force's Mt. Haleakala observatory in Maui, Hawaii, when a new facility is completed in October, 1996. Construction began in late April. Built by Contraves USA, the telescope will be operated by the service's Phillips Laboratory for tracking satellites and space debris, sensor technology development, advanced optical and infrared astronomy, and atmospheric science studies. The University of Hawaii will participate in joint projects with the Air Force.
CANADIAN MARCONI'S CMA-900 is believed to be the first GPS sensor unit to be certified by the FAA for primary-means oceanic/remote operations. The approval was granted for an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-200 and allows using GPS as a sole long-range navigation sensor for IFR operations outside of ground-based navaid coverage. CMA-900 FMS/GPS includes a 12-channel GPS sensor, a flight management unit and a control/display unit. Among the requirements for the en route mode were the ability to acquire and track satellites at 5 deg.
JOHN DEUTCH WILL WASTE NO TIME making sweeping changes if the Senate confirms him as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Deputy Secretary of Defense says it is time for a ``new generation of leaders and managers `` at the embattled agency. Testifying before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee last week, Deutch promised immediate changes in the way intelligence-gathering satellites are acquired and the imagery from them is managed.
Ameco-Beijing has performed the first strut modification in China as part of Boeing's worldwide upgrade program that began last year in the wake of three 747 incidents involving engine separations from the wing during flight, two of them leading to fatal crashes.
ROGUE NATIONS WITH ONLY A FEW NUCLEAR WEAPONS could choose to attack their larger, better armed foes indirectly, according to Air Force Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hagemann, director of the Defense Nuclear Agency. He claims a 50-kiloton nuclear weapon exploded 62 mi. above the Earth would ``pump up the Van Allen radiation belt[s]`` to the extent that increased exposure would cause satellites to ``die in hours, days or weeks.
THE U.S. NAVY'S SEALIFT COMMAND is planning this fall to conduct a one- to two-month sea demonstration of medium-lift helicopters in an airborne cargo delivery and vertical replenishment role. Only FAA-certificated helicopters will be considered, and candidates must supply their own pilots, maintenance, spares and other support. A variety of candidates, including Kaman's K-Max, are expected to participate. A related Navy request for proposals is expected to be issued in mid-May.
While military analysts continue to debate whether the world is on the verge, or indeed already in the midst, of a revolution in the way wars are fought, Pentagon and defense industry planners are beginning to prepare for such an eventuality.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc., one of Wall Street's favorite air transport issues because of its long-running profitability and measured by steady growth, is looking ahead to better days than it experienced in the first three months of 1995.
The Rescor 972 Selector Kit contains six high-temperature, specialty adhesives packaged in trial sizes. The adhesives vary in viscosity, compressive strength, dielectric strength, thermal conductivity and thermal expansion. All materials cure at room temperature and will withstand temperatures of up to 3,200F. Applications include coating, bonding and potting insulator parts for electrical components, radio equipment and thermocouples. Cotronics Corp., 3379 Shore Pkwy., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11235.
Final assembly of the first Boeing 737-400 transport for Japan Airlines is performed at Boeing's Renton, Wash., narrow-body aircraft factory. The aircraft is to be delivered this month. Japan Airlines ordered four 737-400s to operate on domestic routes in conjunction with 51%-owned subsidiary Japan TransOcean Air.
The CNS-12 is an updated version of the Magellan CNS-10. The new receiver for the Globalink/CNS worldwide two-way data link features two channels for receiving Wide Area Augmentation System correction signals. They are in addition to the 10 channels in the CNS-10 for GPS position and navigation and receiver autonomous integrity monitoring. The CNS-12 also has a dedicated ground-to-air, two-way data link for communication via Arinc's Globalink/CNS digital communications service. Hardware includes an Acars VHF modem controller/transceiver using the Arinc 618 format.
Series 9204 instruments (right) ``fill the same hole'' as the 1960s technology Model 2150 but utilize LED technology. The noise-free 9204 meets the electromagnetic interference requirements of Mil-Std-461C, Class A-4. The new line of receiver instruments employs cloning capability, averaging of multiple transmitters and sufficient memory to store fill/tank curves used on board a modern aircraft carrier. Applications include fire, ballast, tank level and navigational control. International Instruments, Twin Lakes Road, P.O. Box 185, North Branford, Conn. 06471.
The U.S. Army's Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile successfully completed its first test flight, but critics say the test was undemanding and did little more than prove the vehicle could launch, fly to the designated altitude and self destruct. The real challenge will begin in the third test later this year when the Lockheed Martin-built system tries to intercept a target missile, Air Force and Navy officials said.
The first of a new generation of U.S. weather satellites is on the verge of being declared fully operational, and the second is at Cape Canaveral being readied for a May 19 launch.
U.S. military planners are at least temporarily downplaying the quest to strike enemy short- and medium-range ballistic missiles early in flight. They are turning instead to finding and destroying these mobile weapons and their logistics sinews before launch, or at least limiting them only to the first shot.
JAPAN'S NASDA SAYS IT IS SATISFIED with splashdown trials of its Hyflex experimental spaceplane. Hyflex, short for Hypersonic Flight Experiment, is to be launched next year on the National Space Development Agency's new three-stage J-1 booster as part of preparations for Hope shuttle missions. A test vehicle was dropped from a crane in January to simulate the splashdown shock Hyflex will experience in its final parachute descent. Modified automobile airbag system shock sensors released an airbag from the test vehicle when it hit the ocean.
As part of its zero-accident initiative, in August the FAA will require airline captains and first officers to have at least 100 hours of line operating experience in the type of aircraft they will fly. The new ruling issued last week is designed to avoid pairing two pilots with lower experience levels in a particular type of aircraft. It will apply to crews flying for regional airlines and major air carriers certificated under FAR Part 121 and Part 135 operators required to adhere to Part 121 training and qualification criteria.
United Airlines, as part of Boeing 777 certification, is demonstrating its mechanics are adequately trained to change a Pratt&Whitney PW4084, using unique support equipment built especially for handling the large powerplant at remote sites.
