Gulfstream Aerospace is on schedule to fly its long-range Gulfstream 5 in late 1995, with deliveries of the business jet to come a year later, some 18 months ahead of the competing Bombardier Global Express. The two companies are in a close competition for orders for the 6,500-naut.-mi. range corporate jets. Gulfstream announced its intentions to build a follow-on to the Gulfstream 4 series in the fall of 1992. Bombardier gave its go-ahead to the Global Express a year later.
ALLIEDSIGNAL AEROSPACE will upgrade the integrated cockpit displays and mission avionics for A-4M Skyhawk aircraft being sold to the Argentine air Force under a foreign military sale. Lockheed Air Services selected the company for the $30-million upgrade contract. The avionics package includes 4 X 4-in. multifunction AMLCD display, weapons control and display management system, hands-on-throttle-and-stick assembly, mini-air data computer and variable-speed, constant-frequency generator.
French airlines will not resume scheduled services and charter operations to Algeria until tighter security is implemented at Algerian airports. This action follows the Dec. 24-26 hijacking by terrorists of an Air France Airbus A300 transport at Algiers and the killing of three hostages.
With combat superiority and the U.S. share of the short-range, air-to-air missile market at stake, the Navy and Air Force have inched closer to building their next-generation AIM-9X with selection of Hughes and Raytheon to demonstrate and validate infrared seeker/trackers for the air combat weapon.
RESEARCHERS AT OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY are perfecting software that allows construction companies to determine and set bulldozer blade positions based on Global Positioning Satellite navigation data. The technology could dramatically cut the time needed to map, stake and finish-grade a building site, lowering construction costs.
Northrop Grumman's Pampa 2000 was eliminated from competition for the U.S. Air Force/Navy's new primary trainer after the company test pilot was forced to help an Air Force evaluator recover from a spin. Despite an information blackout on the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) program, industry officials said the Pampa 2000, one of three candidate aircraft being offered by Northrop Grumman, was dropped for ``technical deficiencies related to spin recovery.''
EXPECT MORE public opposition to heli-tour operators in the wake of recent FAA rules restricting rotary wing scenic flights in Hawaii and the Grand Canyon. A citizens' group in Juneau, Alaska, is mobilizing to limit renewal of U.S. Forestry Dept. permits allowing three helicopter operators to land tourists on nearby glaciers. The group also opposes the planned start of heli-hiking, an activity in which helicopters fly tourists into wilderness areas for hiking.
The FAA needs to change the way it does business, making decisions to implement new technologies in partnership with airspace users, according to government and industry officials. The pace of modernizing the air traffic control system to add GPS and data link, for example, will then be driven by economic benefits to the users rather than just technology improvements.
U.S. DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY John Deutch has blessed the merger of Lockheed and Martin Marietta, saying both the Pentagon and U.S. taxpayers ``clearly benefit from this restructuring.'' The comments came in a letter to Federal Trade Commission chairman Janet Steiger. ``The department supports the merger,'' Deutch said.
SUBTLE FORMS OF RACE DISCRIMINATION in the military are more prevalent than overt discrimination and are perceived as having a much more damaging impact than racist slurs, jokes and graffiti. That is the main finding of a House Armed Services Committee task force that interviewed some 2,000 service members at 19 military facilities in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Space programs and the agencies that implement them worldwide have a history of defining themselves in terms of the projects or programs in which they are involved. The Saturn launcher, Apollo spacecraft and lunar lander were all tools that NASA used to make possible President John F. Kennedy's goal of sending people to the Moon. For Kennedy, the real aim of the Apollo program was to demonstrate that the Western world had both the will and technical strength to challenge the Soviet Union.
U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry is preparing to do battle with Congress this year over Defense spending priorities, including Republican proposals to develop a national missile defense system while cutting funding for environmental cleanup and nuclear dismantlement in the former Soviet Union.
Litton Industries, Inc., Beverly Hills, Calif., has appointed James Vorhaus vice president-engineering operations at its solid state division in Santa Clara, Calif. He was engineering manager for product development at the Avantek subsidiary of Hewlett Packard. James S. Johnson has been named vice president-engineering for Litton's Aero Products Div. He was director of engineering for integrated product development in the commercial flight systems group of Honeywell, Inc.
NASA plans to expand its use of the IBM Thinkpad this year as a supplement to space shuttle computing capability and an aid to managing on-orbit activities. The space agency has selected the Thinkpad 755C as the shuttle's new standard portable computer. The space agency will acquire 60 of the color notebook computers for about $400,000. Pending completion of certification testing, the computers will be used on all missions starting with Mission 63, set for launch in March.
The Pentagon, still trying to establish a framework for allied participation, has awarded 24 contracts totalling $127.8 million to 18 U.S. companies for the concept definition and design phase of the Joint Advanced Strike Technology program.
Nine years after development began, the FAA has certified the first explosives detection equipment that uses computed tomography technologies. Last month, the agency approved InVision Technologies' CTX-5000 explosive detection system, but plans to conduct a two-year operational evaluation of the equipment before mandating its use at U.S. airports.
American Eagle plans to resume operations in Chicago this week following a month-long shuffling of aircraft among its four airlines to ease safety concerns of the FAA and the airline's pilots and passengers. American Eagle carriers Simmons Airlines and Flagship Airlines are to resume service at O'Hare International Airport, a key hub for fellow AMR Corp. subsidiary American Airlines, on Jan. 4. Simmons will operate 30 34-seat Saab 340Bs from O'Hare, and Flagship will operate two.
Raytheon Corp., Lexington, Mass., has appointed Gail Hayes manager of media relations for its defense electronics business. She was a public affairs officer for the U.S. Air Force.
Public reaction to the recent spate of fatal airline accidents is ``unwarranted,'' and unfairly and incorrectly characterizes flying as a dangerous mode of transportation, despite its strong safety record, airline and aviation industry officials say.
MORE THAN 70,000 unsecured creditors of defunct Eastern Air Lines will receive 11 cents per dollar in cash settlement as part of a plan approved by a bankruptcy court. General unsecured creditors with claims of less than $100,000 will receive the payment beginning in the first quarter of 1995. About 150 creditors with claims in excess of $100,000 are to receive 9 cents to as much as 16 cents per dollar. The payments will come from the sale of Eastern's assets, including aircraft, engines and airport gates and routes.
ASM International, Materials Park, Ohio, has named Robert Uhl director of new service development. He was manager of technical divisions. Margaret M. Weir has been promoted to director of education from manager of the Conferences and Technical Divisions.
The first of eight P-3C maritime surveillance aircraft on order for South Korea and the first to be produced by Lockheed's production facility in Marietta, Ga., made its maiden flight last month.
International Technology and Trade Associates, Inc., of Washington has appointed Edwin A. Hind vice president. A retired U.S. Air Force colonel, he was chief of the Mutual Defense Assistance Office at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.
