AN INVESTIGATING TEAM WILL RECOMMEND that officials of the Perseus remotely piloted research aircraft project develop improved methods of detecting sensor failures in flight, following a mishap last November. NASA officials said preliminary findings indicate a faulty vertical gyro was responsible for the Nov. 22 incident at Edwards AFB, Calif., in which the vehicle's wings broke off and the fuselage was recovered by parachute (AW&ST Nov. 28, 1994, p. 19).
FlightSafety International, New York, has promoted Donnie Nunn to manager of its San Antonio center from director of training at FlightSafety's LaGuardia center in New York.
First General Dynamics started divesting its ``non-core'' units, then LTV sold its aerospace and defense businesses. Then Northrop and Grumman merged. Now Lockheed and Martin Marietta--the Defense Dept.'s number two and three contractors--want to consolidate. So why, with so much consolidation activity in the aerospace industry, are there still four domestic rotorcraft makers? Is the rotorcraft industry blind to what is going on or just more resistant to change?
A consortium of U. S., French and British insurance brokers has signed a $2-billion space launch insurance package with Intelsat. The package is the largest ever signed, according to Benoit Condroyer, assistant vice president for space at Le Blanc de Nicolay, a Paris broker involved in the plan. The agreement signed by International Space Brokers (ISB), Rosslyn, Va., covers the launch of 10 Intelsat spacecraft--seven of them on Arianespace Ariane boosters and three on Chinese Long March 3Bs.
Roger Sitzen, Luxair Luxembourg Airlines chairman/chief executive officer, was elected president of the European Airlines Assn. for 1995. He succeeds Pieter Bouw, CEO of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
THE SMALL, HERMETICALLY-SEALED STRUT damper technology used to protect sensitive Defense Dept. instruments and devices against shock and vibration is being commercialized by Taylor Devices of North Tonawanda, N.Y. The custom struts, which return to an exact position, could be an advantage in applications in which replacement is impractical or time-consuming. The key to operation of the struts is a compact, lightweight and virtually frictionless welded metal bellows damper.
Mercy Medical Airlift has established its second base and plans to have eight in operation by the end of the decade to provide long distance, fixed-wing air ambulance service nationwide. The nonprofit organization, based here, has been in operation for 10 years and will fly its 1,000th patient this month. The second base for the air ambulance service started operations out of Redlands, Calif., last October.
MISSION CONTROL, Houston, has begun space shuttle simulations in a new, $250-million center intended to replace the aging, 1960s-vintage consoles and mainframe computers. Actual control of shuttle missions from the new Johnson Space Center facility is expected to begin this summer. Eventually, it will control the space station. Loral was the prime contractor for the new center, which eliminates most NASA-unique equipment, replacing it with 197 commercially available computer workstations. Most software also is off the shelf. Linked by 125,000 ft.
The first thing you learn inside a space suit is that there is not much reason to wear one on Earth. The chief drawback of either the U.S. or Russian suit is the considerable weight--about 250 lb. So for exercises on Earth, the life support systems are replaced with dummy backpacks of the same size. Umbilicals connect users to air, cooling, ventilation and communications systems that are not part of the suits.
Photograph: Air Liberte's fleet includes McDonnell Douglas MD-83 and A310-300/A300-600 twinjets. The Orly-headquartered independent carrier was formed in the late 1980s. The first fare war in the French domestic market is expected to generate suits against unfair business practices in the Paris Court and in the European Court of Justice against Air Inter, an Air France group subsidiary.
X-RAY OPTICAL SYSTEMS of Albany, N.Y., has found a way to focus X-rays and neutrons more efficiently for research, material analysis, medical and manufacturing use. The technique, adapted from Russian research, involves the use of tiny glass capillaries with smooth interiors and gentle bends to capture and redirect X-rays or neutrons emanating from a radiation source. The radiation repeatedly grazes off capillary walls like a stone skipping on water. When carefully bundled, the capillaries can focus X-rays and neutrons into parallel beams or onto small, intense spots.
Head-on collision of two galaxies 500 million light years away in the constellation Sculptor has produced a striking, ring-like feature, leading scientists to call it the Cartwheel Galaxy. This true-color image from the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2, taken Oct. 16 and released last week, shows the ring and a smaller ``intruder'' galaxy. The galaxy was presumed to be a typical spiral galaxy, like the Milky Way, before the collision. The Hubble image shows at least 7 billion new stars in the ring.
Delta Air Lines will guide its regional airline affiliates to a uniform standard for training and safety over the next year to ensure that customers are protected at the same level of safety throughout the carriers' route systems.
The U.S. is in the midst of a ``radical restructuring'' that will nearly halve the number of intelligence-gathering satellites and make even deeper cuts in ground stations, according to outgoing CIA Director R. James Woolsey, Jr.
The U.S. Congress once again is considering unilaterally lifting the arms embargo on Bosnia. The call is spearheaded by Sen. Robert Dole (R.-Kan.), now the majority leader, who has introduced a bill to that effect. Such a move has some popular appeal. It caters to the American sense of fair play and provides a psychological palliative to the images of Serb atrocities that have saturated the public consciousness. It also offers Americans a sense of purpose and action as compared to the frustrating images of a prevaricating U.N. and an impotent NATO.
An international battle is taking shape in the United Kingdom over a new competition to replace the Royal Air Force's aging fleet of 26 British Aerospace Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft.
Japanese research teams in conjunction with Western partners have begun testing the turbofan portion (above) of a subscale, combined-cycle test engine that could lead to a powerplant for future commercial supersonic transports. Ground evaluations of the engine, designated HYPR 90-T, began last December at Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries' Mizuho plant near Tokyo. Although component tests had been performed earlier, this latest round of trials represents the first time the turbofan has been run in a complete configuration.
Photograph: Atlantic Coast Airlines, a United Express carrier, has been developing an AQP program for the Jetstream 32 and will soon apply for the Jetstream 41 (left). The FAA is considering making Advanced Qualification Program pilot training mandatory for all airlines in response to a comment by Rep. James L. Oberstar (D.-Minn.) who suggested the idea at a safety conference in Washington, D. C.
CHINA HAS LOST its Dong Fang Hong-3 (DFH-3) communications satellite despite a successful launch by Great Wall Industry's new Long March 3A booster, Nov. 30, from the Xichang Satellite Launching Center in Sichuan Province. The spacecraft received a ``perfect'' boost to its geosynchronous transfer orbit, according to a Daimler-Benz Aerospace official who has received preliminary data from the mission. The spacecraft's on-board propulsion system then successfully achieved geosynchronous altitude.
Garrett Aviation Services of Phoenix has named Greg Byrnes sales general manager. He was vice president/general manager of Garrett Aviation Springfield. Byrnes has been succeeded by Dave Roy, who was president/general manager of Dowty Palmer-Chenard, Inc.
United Defense, L.P., of Minneapolis has appointed William S. Chen vice president-Crusader program in its Armament Systems Div. He was vice president-System Concepts and Studies Div. of Nichols Research Corp.
AN INTERCONTINENTAL Aviation DC-9 crashed in a field outside Cartagena, Colombia, last week, killing all but one of 53 passengers and crewmembers on board. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the Colombian carrier's Flight 2056 at 7:36 p.m., Jan. 11 , after clearing it to descend to 8,000 ft. The aircraft was nearing the end of a flight from Bogota to the Caribbean resort. The only known survivor was a 9-year-old girl who apparently fell out of the plane before it burned in a grassy field about 10 mi. from Cartagena.
