China Airlines last week accepted delivery of two Beechjet 400A aircraft for use in the Jet Spectrum advanced pilot training program developed by the airline and University of North Dakota Aerospace. The two aircraft will be flown chiefly to train first officers for future employment with Taiwan-based China Airlines and form the foundation for the Jet Spectrum Airline Pilot Training Program. UND Aerospace is located at Grand Forks.
The U.S. Transportation Dept.'s $36.9-billion Fiscal 1996 budget proposal includes $6.9 billion for the FAA, would create a new Transportation Trust Fund and paves the way for a government-owned corporation that would provide air traffic control services. The budget is $2 billion lower than Fiscal 1995's $38.9-billion level, and provides $6.9 billion earmarked specifically for the FAA. The agency is requesting $2.2 billion for running the air traffic control system in Fiscal 1996, the same as in the current fiscal year.
The Pintite SS is a worm gear hose clamp that can be locked in position with a standard cotter pin to prevent loosening in high-vibration environments. In addition, the screw has heads at both ends to make installation and removal simpler. The worm screw has two bore holes, offset 90 deg., to accept the cotter pin. Tightness can be carefully controlled by using a torque wrench and inserting the cotter pin at the appropriate torque. The clamps come standard in stainless steel but can be fabricated from other materials.
Pyrovalves are relatively simple devices that are used in most orbiting spacecraft to control the flow of propellant or pressurized gas. But there is growing concern that the valves may have contributed to the loss of one or more U.S. spacecraft in recent years. The concern has prompted industry and government officials to begin a series of meetings at the initiation of NASA headquarters to discuss the performance and reliability of the explosively actuated units. A few major points are emerging.
The new U.S.-Russian space partnership got off to a flying start when Discovery and Mir--by far the two largest spacecraft ever to rendezvous--orbited in tight formation as their crews communicated air-to-air and extensively photographed each other. Although the U.S. shuttle held its closest approach of 37-44 ft. from the Russian space station for only 10 min., it was both an historic, emotional event for the former foes and a feat of flying that Discovery's commander described as ``a ballet of violence and precision.''
Daimler-Benz Aerospace and Aviapribor, the major Russian avionics company, are forming a new joint venture to produce and market Western class avionics and air traffic control systems in Russia. The initiative is designed to enable Daimler-Benz (DASA) to penetrate what German officials believe could be a large market for Western-class avionics in Russia and other parts of the former USSR as vintage Soviet aircraft are modified or replaced.
Westland Aerospace has begun supplying a new, larger air intake for the tail-mounted engine on the McDonnell Douglas MD-11. The new component is 400 lb. lighter than the previous design. The air intake has been manufactured using a new Westland-developed technique for producing large, stiffened panels from composite materials that are lighter than the previous duct. The technology allows a reduction in parts count and lowers production and installation time. The air intake also operates more efficiently, officials said.
Wilcox and E-Systems will shortly begin flight tests of two different types of enhanced differential-GPS systems, which are intended to demonstrate the accuracies needed for Category-3 instrument landings. The upcoming tests are part of a broad FAA effort to demonstrate that GPS is a viable alternative to the Microwave Landing System (MLS), which the FAA developed in the 1970s to replace the long-used ILS.
DAIMLER-BENZ AEROSPACE believes there is a $600-million mid-term aerospace market in the region around Greece. It is starting a new marketing company to focus on the area and has signed a cooperative agreement with Hellenic Aerospace Industry, Ltd., to assist with the new marketing initiative. Aircraft parts and maintenance services are one sales objective of the company, which will concentrate on Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania.
Lack of information from older flight recorders is spurring the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board to seek expanded data collection and sampling capabilities to help investigators quickly resolve accidents. In the wake of recent public hearings into the unexplained crash of USAir Flight 427, safety board officials plan to call for significant changes in the minimum number of parameters traced by digital flight data recorders installed in transport aircraft.
Northrop Grumman Corp. of Los Angeles has promoted Herbert W. Anderson to corporate vice president/general manager of Data Systems and Services from corporate vice president/deputy general manager; and Albert F. Myers to corporate vice president/treasurer from vice president-business strategy.
Aircraft manufacturers, already under enormous pressure to control production costs and stimulate new sales, are being hammered by soaring aluminum prices. The cost of high-grade aluminum has almost doubled to more than 90 cents per lb. from 52.2 cents in December, 1993, and it is still climbing.
Expanding use of electronic ``glass cockpits'' has forced accident investigators to increasingly depend upon digital flight data recorders to help determine the cause of a crash.
DAIMLER-BENZ AEROSPACE (DASA) will return to ILA, the biennial Berlin air show. The German company's decision to skip the 1994 exhibition generated controversy and undermined ILA's future. DASA's decision to display at the May 13-16, 1996, event is expected to boost show backers' hopes to lift ILA to the level of Europe's well-known Paris and Farnborough air shows. ILA is sponsored by BDLI, the German aerospace industry association, and Messe Berlin.
NASA MAY SEEK OUTSIDE HELP in running all or parts of some field centers. The agency now runs all of its installations itself, except for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which Cal Tech operates. John S. Foster, Jr., who chairs the NASA Federal Laboratory Review Task Force, says his panel would like to see other university-NASA links. One that has been floated: giving Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory a role at the Goddard Space Flight Center.
FOUR FRENCH COMPANIES WILL FORM a joint venture to develop mobile robotics for battlefield applications. The Syrano will be an operational demonstrator of an observation robot, linked by radio or fiber optics to a control station and the operators who will control it. Dassault Electronique will supply the mission and communication modules, Giat Industries the robot, ITMI-Aptor the vision and image processing systems, and Sagem the control station. The French army plans to conduct operational trials after three years of development.
Pratt&Whitney later this month will ship to the Edwards AFB/NASA Dryden Flight Research facility two axisymmetric, thrust vectoring engine nozzles to be tested on a modified F-15B.
ARINC WILL DEMONSTRATE THE USE of digital data transmission technologies to enhance ground operations at Washington's National Airport throughout the first quarter of 1995. The technology, similar to ARINC's Acars used between airline operations and aircraft, is being employed to control deicing and baggage handling personnel and could expand to maintenance and catering. Ground mobile units will use Ericsson radios with voice and data capability and Husky Computers data terminals to communicate over Ericsson's EDACS Trunked Radio System.
ITALY HAS JOINED France, Germany and the U.S. in the Corps SAM surface-to-air missile program by agreeing to a statement of intent in Europe during a visit last week by Paul Kaminski, the Pentagon's chief of acquisition and advanced technology. The statement of intent is expected to lead to a formal memorandum of agreement. The Army program office in Huntsville, Ala., is preparing to issue a request for proposals soon which will lead to the award of two concept development contracts. Two U.S.
EXPECT A SURVEY OF ANTICOLLISON STROBE LIGHTS to be conducted during this quarter. Carson City, Nev.-based Strotek Corp., under an FAA contract, will examine the condition of the strobes on more than 1,000 transports, optically assessing their intensity and flash rates. Last July, the FAA ordered industry to upgrade maintenance procedures to assure the brightness of transport anticollision lights. Full compliance is required by September.
Russian space commerce is taking a step forward with Societe Europeenne des Satellites' (SES) decision to launch its Astra 1F direct broadcast TV satellite on a Proton rocket in March, 1996. The satellite, a Hughes Aircraft HS 601, will be launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome into geosynchronous orbit, sharing a slot at 19.2 deg. East with Astra 1A and 1B.
AIR TRAFFIC GROWTH AT ASIAN AIRPORTS continues to be buoyant. In 1994 Singapore's Changi Airport's air freight exceeded 1 million metric tons for the first time, and 21.6 million passengers were recorded, breaking the 20-million-passenger barrier for the first time. At Tokyo's Narita Airport, 23.8 million passengers and 1.5 metric tons of cargo were recorded, representing growth rates of 7% and 11%, respectively. Hong Kong's Kai Tak airport now handles nearly a million passengers beyond its 24 million annual capacity and is rejecting 300 flights weekly.
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY has available for commercialization a gas separator accumulator technology. The small, cylindrical device, which requires no moving parts, could be used to separate air from water, prevent pump cavitation and even remove gasses from liquid metals. It separates and retains gas from virtually any liquid-gas mixture using micropored screens that exploit surface tension differences. The device will work on Earth, in microgravity and from cryogenic to 2,000F temperatures, according to Vince Truscello, SP-100 project manager.
