CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT REMAINS NIL for the Administration's air traffic control privatization initiative, but Rep. Jim Lightfoot (R.-Iowa) is hoping to breathe new life into reform. A member of the House Appropriations transportation subcommittee, Lightfoot has introduced a bill to restore the FAA's independence from the Transportation Dept.
Beech Super King Air 200 aircraft equipped with Litton maritime surveillance radars have been playing a major role in the fisheries dispute off Newfoundland by directing Canadian Coast Guard cutters to intercept Spanish trawlers. Canada is trying to prevent Spanish trawlers from fishing in the Grand Banks even though the area in dispute is beyond Canada's maritime boundary, which extends 200 mi. off the coast. Canada has closed the Atlantic fisheries due to devastation of several fish species.
Airlines' more profit-oriented approach to doing business has got to be heartening for investors. Virtually every major carrier has been restraining capacity, rationalizing route structures and rebuilding balance sheets. Collectively, all of these steps will lead to healthier, more competitive airlines unless fare wars get out of hand. In most cases, earnings improvements are bound to follow as well.
MEMRY CORP. of Brookfield, Conn., is preparing to fabricate full-scale ``smart material'' compensator rings that will increase turbine engine efficiency by up to 1%. The rings use a copper-aluminum-nickel shape-memory alloy to reduce operating clearances in an AlliedSignal/Lycoming T-55 engine from 0.017 in. to less than 0.005 in. when the turbine reaches operating temperature. The reduced engine casing-to-blade-tip clearance, employed on four early stages of the T-55 compressor, increases efficiency by 0.3%, according to L.
Douglas Aircraft Co. plans to make an undisclosed number of layoffs this year at its Long Beach production facilities as a result of two key commercial transport orders that have not materialized. The cutbacks result from a delay in launch of the MD-95 transport program and a possible order from Saudia for MD-11 aircraft, which has been expected but not received (AW&ST Mar. 27, p. 28).
The Defense Dept.'s science and technology budget may be holding steady, but that is not necessarily true of the nerves of Pentagon S&T officials. As pressure for procurement dollars intensifies and it becomes increasingly clear that the Republican-promised tax cut would prevent defense growth, the Defense Dept.'s top scientists are intensifying efforts to protect coffers that up until now have for the most part been labeled ``hands off.''
Joseph Kent Walker has been appointed vice president-North American sales for Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga. He was vice president-worldwide sales for Cessna Aircraft Co.
Space shuttle managers have laid out a detailed plan for paring $1 billion from their $3.15-billion budget through the end of the decade by relying on contractors to run day-to-day shuttle operations and cutting rules and workers not needed to support or audit those operations. The program's director of space shuttle operations, Brewster Shaw, briefed top NASA spaceflight officials Mar. 24 on the plan, which he said would ``allow us to absorb cuts and operate for less money in a well-thought-out and well-planned method.''
Pacific Northwest Laboratories is developing a family of transportable, walk-through and hand-held radar scanners capable of producing high-quality holographic images. The close-field, ultra-wideband (UWB) imaging technology holds promise in several diagnostic imaging applications, according to H. Dale Collins, technical leader, Acoustics and Electromagnetic Imaging Group. Potential uses include detecting radar reflective ``leaks'' in stealth aircraft and vehicles and augmenting airport security passenger screening.
Malaysia's government has identified the development of a basic aerospace industrial capability as a key element in its drive to position the nation as a leading player in the Asia-Pacific Rim region. The country's burgeoning economy provides a strong financial base that is stimulating growth in a variety of aerospace markets, including commercial air transport, business and personal flying, space-based communications and Earth resources satellite operations, and military system upgrades.
France's Hurel-Dubois recently completed the first target-type thrust reverser developed for the German-British BMW Rolls-Royce BR710 turbofan engine. Two 14,900-lb.-thrust BR710s will be installed on the Gulfstream G5 business jet, which is scheduled to make its first flight in the fourth quarter. Hurel-Dubois and Short Brothers jointly developed the G5's nacelle-thrust reverser package. Specified reverse thrust efficiency is 35%.
TUPOLEV HAS BEGUN CERTIFICATION TESTS of a cargo version of its Tu-204 twin-engine transport with the goal of introducing series production next year. The Russian manufacturer is seeking foreign partners. At this stage, Tupolev contemplates using Russian Aviadvigatel turbofans rather than Rolls-Royce RB211-525s or Pratt&Whitney PW2240s as are planned for passenger aircraft. The aircraft will have a range of 2,900 mi. carrying 32.2 tons of payload.
A HIGH-RATE, LOW-COST pressure infiltration process that can make cast metal matrix composites 25 times faster than current techniques is being commercialized. The process, pioneered by Metal Matrix Cast Composites, Inc., of Waltham, Mass., results in near-absolute net-shape, defect-free parts with excellent control of directional solidification, company President James Cornie said. Potential uses range from bearing and built-in lubricity materials to electronic packaging and heat sinks.
SOUTH AFRICAN CARRIER AVIA AIRLINES will begin flights between London and Johannesburg next month, offering new competition to established carriers British Airways and South African Airways. The airline, an established cargo charter operator, will operate three times a week from London Gatwick Airport using a Boeing 747-SP. Within South Africa, Avia operates Douglas DC-3s converted from piston to turboprop engines. Avia is promising fares that are 15% below the going rates.
Congress gave final funding approval last week to Air Force operation of the Lockheed SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft, and the first flight is expected in May, five years after the service halted the program. The prospects appear good because of two changes in how the aircraft will be operated. First, SR-71 funds are now being given to the Air Force by Congress, so that they no longer compete with high-priority Air Force programs (AW&ST Jan. 22, 1990, p. 38). Second, the aircraft will have a data link for near-real-time transmission of radar images.
Compromise on the Fiscal 1995 Defense supplemental indicates reining in the deficit and cutting taxes will outweigh support for higher military spending Defense hawks in Congress are still groping to find the right formula for increased military spending after the latest test of wills over the Fiscal 1995 Defense supplemental spending bill.
The new Boeing Spares Distribution Center adjacent to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport consolidates five parts warehouses in the Puget Sound area. The $100-million facility provides next-flight response for critical and Aircraft-On-Ground (AOG) parts requests while increasing parts receiving, sorting, storage and retrieval efficiency, according to William R. Wilkins, senior manager for the center.
First of four 747-200 Combis modified by Boeing's Wichita facility was delivered late last month to cargo carrier Atlas Air. The work included removal of the passenger interior, strengthening the main deck and installing a powered cargo handling system. The freighter will go into regular scheduled service under contract to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in April. Atlas, based in Golden, Colo., anticipates the delivery of five more 747-200s over the next year, bringing its all-747 fleet to 12. Boeing has performed 65 cargo conversions of 747 transports at Wichita.
Boeing Commercial Airplane Group will complete almost 18 months of low-speed wind tunnel testing of its next-generation 737 family of aircraft this month.
GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER WILL GET new leadership soon. Joseph Rothenberg, executive vice president of the Maryland-based space company CTA, Inc., is expected to be named deputy director. He won kudos as Goddard's Hubble Space Telescope program manager through the space shuttle's successful 1993 servicing mission. Center director John Klineberg has announced he is leaving too, and insiders expect his successor to come from the science community, to balance Rothenberg's strong industry experience.
John Pittman has been named executive director of the Control Systems Integrators Assn. He was president of the Process Controls Div. of Computer Products, Inc.
The company that has taken the lead in the satellite launch business away from American firms has a novel solution for updating U.S. launch capabilities--pay Europe for rights to the Ariane 5. Arianespace, Inc., President Douglas A. Heydon proposed here last week that the U.S. license the technology for the big, new launch vehicle, instead of upgrading its own boosters.
GUANGZHOU MAINTENANCE ENGINEER CO. (GAMECO) will become Boeing's parts maintenance base in China. Boeing has 200 transports operating in China, including 60 with China Southern Airlines, Gameco's majority owner. Boeing opened a major spare parts center in Beijing late last year that stocks 15,000 parts. The center can ship within 2 hr. of receiving an order. By using Gameco, Boeing keeps its parts inside China when they need repairs.
