A New York company is offering a hand-held meter that U.S. airlines will be able to use for meeting an FAA requirement that aircraft strobe lights be tested for output or replaced regularly. The Flash Test ST-4000, developed by American Aerospace Corp., allows a single operator to test all the strobe lights on an aircraft.
THE ASSN. OF EUROPEAN AIRLINES (AEA) is seeking expanded membership. The Brussels-based AEA, formerly known as the European Airlines Research Bureau, was composed of IATA-member flag carriers. But times have changed, and the association, currently a grouping of 24 scheduled carriers, now is trying to recruit members not previously covered by its original mandate. Scheduled carriers or charter operators with a minimum fleet capacity of 3,000 seats are eligible as well as all-cargo airlines with a 500-metric-ton minimum capacity.
XoftWare/32, EDA Edition is available in both Windows and Windows NT versions to facilitate the use of Mentor Graphics applications, including Design Architect and Design Manager. Both products include customized features such as complex cursor support, expanded font capabilities and predefined start-up icons that minimize set-up time. The Windows version is a full-function, 32-bit X Server that comes bundled with TCP/IP network software.
HUGHES AIRCRAFT CO. WILL SUPPLY an advanced infrared night vision system to Bell Boeing for the U.S. Marine Corps V-22 aircraft. The new IR imaging system will combine production components from the company's AAQ-16B turreted Flir, employed on a variety of U.S. military helicopters, with a new 3-5-micron, mid-wavelength infrared staring focal plane array detector. The indium antimonide sensor array has 480 X 640 detector elements. The total system weighs about 93 lb., including a 50-lb. turret.
MAN TECHNOLOGIE AG, AUGSBURG, GERMANY, AND 3S NAVIGATION will cooperatively manufacture and sell navigation, survey and time reference equipment that use signals from both GPS and the Russian Glonass satellites. The combined GPS/Glonass receivers are expected to be more accurate and reliable than either one alone. The initial product will be R-200M, a jointly developed single-frequency coarse acquisition code receiver.
A CRACK in piping for an attitude control gas jet on the SFU free-flier has prompted Japan's Space Activities Commission to postpone its Feb. 1 launch of the H-2. The third flight of the H-2 also is to put a GMS-5 weather satellite into orbit.
EDITOR'S NOTE: On Jan. 20, 1992, an Airbus A320 operated by Air Inter was making a VOR approach to Runway 05 at France's Strasbourg-Entzheim airport. Two flight crew, 4 cabin crew and 90 passengers were on board the regularly scheduled passenger flight. Shortly after controllers cleared the flight for final approach and requested the crew report reaching Strasbourg Vortac (STR), the twin-engine fly-by-wire transport's rate of descent suddenly and rapidly increased. At 1820 UTC (9:20 p.m.), the A320 struck a ridge at 800 meters (2,625 ft.) altitude 8 naut. mi.
A rare storm as large as Earth is seen in detail on Saturn in a new image from the Hubble Space Telescope. The storm appears as a white feature shaped like an arrowhead near the ringed planet's equator. From east to west the storm is as broad as the diameter of Earth (about 7,900 mi.). Hubble imaged Saturn with its Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2 (WF/PC2) in the wide-field mode on Dec. 1, 1994. Saturn was 904 million miles from the Earth.
European and Canadian civil aviation authorities are taking an aggressive approach to improve deicing procedures, and European states also are trying to standardize their winter operations.
The U.S. is poised to revitalize its tactical reconnaissance capabilities this year with the introduction of several new unmanned aerial vehicles, including one the CIA is already operating over Bosnia, and the reactivation of a few SR-71s. Air Force officials predict that 1995 will be the year they begin learning to operate with reconnaissance UAVs.
MAX Software is a Microsoft Windows-based package for Instron servohydraulic testing systems. It can perform high or low-cycle fatigue simulation, multi-axis or biaxial testing, product life testing and other functions. Data can be easily exported to other Windows-based applications. The software makes selecting a waveform and setting up data collection parameters simple. It can be used for gathering data using incremental amplitude loop logging, linear and logarithmic cycle patterns, and conditional logic. MAX can accommodate up to 32 data channels.
The British-made Avalon AE5320 S-VHS data recorder can record up to eight asynchronous digital bit streams at rates of up to 50 kilobits/sec. or a total of 8.192 megabits/sec. Rockwell's Tactical Systems Div. will use two of the recorders in flight testing of its improved AGM-130 Standoff Weapon System. The recorder can store up to 3 hr. of data on a standard ST-120 S-VHS cassette. It can accept NRZ, bi-phase, delay modulation, Mil-Std-1553, HDB3 and AMI formats. Penny&Giles Data Systems, Inc., 1250 Northmeadow Parkway, Roswell, Ga. 30076.
THE FAA IS CONSIDERING UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES a special medical certificate, or waiver, could be issued to pilots requiring insulin to control their diabetes. Current rules prohibit diabetic pilots from flying, and the agency is seeking public comments regarding issuance of such medical certificates. Comments will be accepted until Mar. 29.
Ruth Rosenbrock, manager of inflight product development and corporate identity for South African Airways, has been elected president of the World Airline Entertainment Assn., based in Los Angeles.
Emirates has named Ghaith Al Ghaith senior general manager of commercial operations for the Middle East, Africa and CIS, based in Dubai. Rashid Al Noori has been appointed general manager of commercial operations in Europe and North America. He was manager in the United Arab Emirates. Succeeding him in the UAE is Abdul Rehman Abdulla, who was manager in Pakistan. The new manager in Pakistan is Mohamed Qassim Al Ali, who was manager in the Philippines.
This family of space radiation-hardened programmable read-only memory chips uses an advanced, monolithic, high-density design and is specifically designed for use in the high radiation environment of space. They are designed to survive a 100,000 rad total dose in low-Earth or geosynchronous orbit. The PROMs are suitable for use in satellites, spacecraft and space probes. They are available in 256 kilobyte, 512K or 1 megabyte memory sizes. The state-of-the-art devices require less space and power than previous hardened PROMs.
DEFENSE SECRETARY WILLIAM PERRY set the stage for a battle with the Republican-led Congress with a forceful defense of the Nunn-Lugar program at the National Press Club last week. The program, intended to facilitate the dismantlement of nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union, has been attacked by Republicans who oppose using Nunn-Lugar funds to build housing, create new jobs and convert facilities to civilian use. Perry said destroying weapons is only part of the equation.
U.S. aerospace sales declined for the third consecutive year to $113 billion in 1994, as fewer orders for military, civil, space and missile equipment accelerated a downward spiral in employment, according to the Aerospace Industries Assn. In terms of profit, 1994 was a record year. Net profit rose $612 million to $5.2 billion, although that figure lagged behind overall U.S. manufacturing as a percentage of sales, assets and equity, AIA officials said.
The Infiniti Gas Transmitter uses surface mount technology to minimize the instrument's size while offering high reliability. It can be used with sensors that detect hydrocarbons, catalytic combustible gases, hydrogen sulfide, chlorine, oxygen, carbon monoxide or other gases. Liquid crystal diode displays provide readouts, status information and indicate gas concentrations. Low and high set points can be displayed. An internal microprocessor calibrates the gauges without requiring external meters or adjustments.
Rolls-Royce has promoted John Rose to managing director of the Aerospace Group, Derby, England, from deputy managing director. Rose succeeds John Sandford, who will return to Rolls-Royce, Inc., Reston, Va., as president/chief executive officer. Sandford, who succeeds retiring George W. Davis, will continue as a director of Rolls-Royce, Plc. Rose is a former president/CEO of Rolls-Royce, Inc.
John D. Warner (see photo), president of Boeing Computer Services, has received the 1994 University of Michigan Engineering Alumni Society Merit Award.
MGM Grand Air, the ultra-luxury airline, has shut down only four months after resuming scheduled service and has been sold to the owner of freight and charter operator American International Airways of Ypsilanti, Mich. MGM Grand Air's parent, MGM Grand, Inc., decided to sell the airline after it was not able to make a profit on its first-class-only New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas service. (AW&ST Aug. 8, 1994, p. 49). A one-way ticket between New York and Los Angeles was $1,423.
This family of telemetry tracking antenna systems features low wind loading and lightweight reflectors to reduce pedestal and mounting platform requirements. The systems are available in dual-axis and single-axis configurations. Tracking feeds can be input as either feature-enhanced conical scanners or as high-efficiency, single-channel monopulse units. A new, digital antenna controller makes operation simple and user friendly. Optional features include parabolic reflectors, acquisition aid antennas and mobile platforms.
ND Vibra-Tite is a viscous resin that can be used for locking threads on electronic components. The U.S. Air Force Worldwide Airborne Command recently used it when a pre-check of a new electronic control system revealed a connector backshell loosening problem. The blend of acrylic compounds dries to the touch in seconds, but never truly dries, allowing a fastener coated with it to be adjusted, removed and reused many times.
