A SPINOFF FROM ELECTROMAGNETIC rail-gun research may pioneer a faster and more economical technique for forming components made from advanced metal powders. Commercial feasibility of the Dynamic Magnetic Compaction process, developed by IAP Research, Dayton, Ohio, is being evaluated for fabrication of high-strength steel parts, ceramics and shape-memory alloys. Production of intermetallics, refractory alloys and tungsten carbide also is possible.
NEW U.S. ARMY force reductions include two Army headquarters, two heavy division headquarters and three combat brigades totaling 45,000 soldiers. Two Patriot brigades will be moved to Ft. Bliss, Tex., to consolidate air defense units there. As part of the cuts, headquarters of the 1st and 4th Infantry Divs. will be deactivated. A brigade of the 25th ID, a brigade of the 4th ID and the 194th Separate Armored Brigade will be disbanded. Additionally, the Air Force said it will eliminate 11,700 civilian jobs in Fiscal 1995.
The Polaris PMC Coolant Mist Collector can virtually eliminate airborne oil, smoke and related particulates generated in machining and manufacturing environments. Four filtration stages offer overall efficiencies of 97% on oil mist and 99% on other particulates. In addition to increasing worker safety and comfort, the system protects sensitive equipment and controls. PMC collectors are available in capacities of 1,000-48,000 cu. ft./min. Air inlets can be located on the top, bottom or side of the machine. Sound attenuation panels enclose the blower section.
E-SYSTEMS WILL PROVIDE the scatterometer electronic subsystem for a satellite project that NASA will use to measure global ocean surface winds. Jet Propulsion Laboratory is prime contractor for the system, slated to fly on Japan's Adeos-2 satellite in 1999. JPL will supply the command and data subsystem and work with Honeywell to build the parabolic 1-meter antenna. It will radiate dual pencil beams, 40 and 46 deg. off the nadir, rotating at 18 rpm. The scatterometer will measure the amplitude of reflected radar energy from the KU-band (13.4-GHz.) transmissions.
ADVANCED RESEARCH Projects Agency's Tier 2+ UAV project--which is to provide a large, high-flying, multi-sensor reconnaissance aircraft--has been hit by congressionally levied taxes and a 3% across-the-board cut. The new reductions, totaling 8-9% (about $12 million) of the Tier 2+ budget for Fiscal 1995, has forced elimination of some competition in the acquisition program. Officials also are concerned because cuts could total as much as $70 million over the next six years.
CONCURRENT COMPUTER EXPECTS to have its latest Maxion upgrade available in early 1995, with a 33% improvement over the current R4400-150 reduced instruction set computer (RISC) system. Eight-processor configurations of the new 200-MHz. R4400-200 will be available by mid-year.
ASIAN-PACIFIC TRANSPORT MINISTERS are expected to meet next June for the first time to begin discussing the region's chronic airport and airspace capacity problems. The meeting will be hosted by the U.S., which promoted it at last month's Asia/Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Jakarta. The talks have long been sought by the Air Transport Action Group, an airline-airport-tourism group fighting congestion.
The 1994/1995 Consultants Directory is a worldwide listing of more than 235 quality systems/management consultants. Specialties listed include accident investigation and reconstruction, aircraft and equipment appraisal, airport planning, avionics, human factors, military aircraft and space systems. Society of Automotive Engineers, Dept. 2786, 400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, Pa. 15096-0001.
Raytheon Aircraft Co. will terminate production and cease marketing of its Starship 2000A in 1995, following nearly seven years of poor sales and overwhelming market rejection that have eradicated justification for the unprofitable program.
THE WORLD'S FLIGHT SIMULATOR FLEET will increase by 74% in the next 12 years, while the aircraft fleet increases 30%, according to a ``Civil Jet Transport Simulator Supply Study'' by the Simulator Study Group, a division of Aviation Information Resources, Inc. The study predicts a similar growth of about 55% for the U.S. and Europe between now and 2005, giving the U.S. 390 simulators and the European fleet 237. The Asia/Pacific region will grow faster (at 92%) and is predicted to climb from 112 simulators in 1993 to 215 in 2005.
Northrop Grumman has joined major rear fuselage sections of the first F/A-18E/F at its El Segundo, Calif., facility. The rear fuselage is scheduled to be shipped to F/A-18E/F prime contractor McDonnell Douglas in April, 1995, where it will be mated to the McDonnell-manufactured forward fuselage. First flight of the F/A-18E/F is scheduled for December, 1995.
CRAIG I. FIELDS has been named the new chairman of the Defense Science Board, the U.S. Defense Dept.'s senior advisory group. Currently vice chairman of United Gaming, Inc., he served as director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency during the Bush Administration.
THE FAA HAS approved use of the satellite-based Global Positioning System for overwater and flight in remote areas where no ground-based radar exists. The agency's Satellite Operational Implementation Team is preparing guidelines for applicants regarding installation of equipment, navigation procedures, pilot training and maintenance. The first use of GPS overwater is expected to occur in early 1995.
Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co. (Gameco) is expected to chose a second home in central China early next year as it rewrites a five-year, $120-million expansion program to keep up with the demand of its largest shareholder, China Southern Airlines. A city in central China will be the most likely site for the new 9,000-sq.-meter (96,876-sq.-ft.) hangar, General Manager Dan Lange said. Gameco wants to occupy the new two-bay hangar (large enough for two Boeing 747s) by 1997.
AvSolutions, Manassas, Va., has promoted Douglas W. Ecks to president/chief executive officer. He was vice president- operations/chief operating officer. Fletcher Arrington, vice president-technical services, has succeeded Ecks as chief operating officer.
FRANK ZAPPA, the late composer, rock musician and free speech advocate, was in a far out orbit all his own--or so it often seemed both to admirers and to those who did not appreciate his iconoclastic style. So, after an intense lobbying effort, the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center acceded to the wishes of his legion fans, and now he has a fitting memorial. Somewhere between Mars and Jupiter there orbits an asteroid officially known as Zappafrank.
Globalstar L.P., San Jose, Calif., has named Bill Thatcher regional director of international business development. He was regional manager for international sales at Comsat. Marc Newman, vice president-business development at IDB Mobile Communications, has been named general manager of Washington operations.
The Model 105 contactless, single-axis joystick features an analog electrical output that is proportional to lever position. Electrical coupling is magnetic, which eliminates the wiping contacts of potentiometric and switch-like devices. The joystick has a 1.5 X 2.1-in. panel footprint. A helical compression spring centers the joystick to its mid-travel or neutral position. Electronics are encapsulated in an epoxy to protect them from water and dust. Current consumption is 46 milliamps with a 12 v. d.c. power supply. P-Q Controls, Inc., 95 Dolphin Road, Bristol, Conn.
AT LEAST SIX international companies are vying for the rights to certify or produce and market the Bede Jet Corp. BD-10 kit-built jet (AW&ST June 27, p. 64). Three companies have made firm proposals to license both military trainer and general aviation versions of the small jet. Israeli, Korean, Brazilian and European companies are competing for overseas production rights. One proposal would certify the high-performance, two-place jet in Poland, then build it in Poland and South Korea. Three BD-10s are flying now, two built by private owners.
Sabre Decision Technologies, Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport, has named Marc Moresky senior vice president. He was vice president of an Ohio-based systems integration consultancy.
A RUSSIAN TOPAZ 2 space nuclear reactor has successfully demonstrated its first rapid start-up under simulated space conditions in a nonnuclear test by the U.S. Air Force Phillips Laboratory. The system achieved full thermal power within 25 min. and produced 1.5 kw. of electrical power in 50 min. In a separate test series conducted by Sandia National Laboratories, the reactor completed shock and vibration tests that emulated the environment a Topaz would experience during launch.
A company with the main purpose of providing aviation services to law-enforcement agencies in England has begun using an electrically powered version of a self-propelled helipad that allows a single operator to move a skid-equipped helicopter into a hangar. The 16-ft.-long machine is the latest version of the Mobl-Hel-Pad, which is designed to ferry helicopters from their hangars to flightlines quickly. Earlier version were gasoline powered, Richard Lambert, president of Wooster, Ohio-based Mobl-Hel-Pad, Inc., said.
THE U.S. PARTNER has pulled out of a joint effort to open Elizovo International Airport in the Russian Far East to Western commercial flights. Although a prototype operation has serviced 160 general aviation, business jet and large commercial transports since December, 1992, the Newport Beach, Calif.,-based California-Kamchatka Co. could not secure additional financing for needed improvements and expansion. Russian political instability and the lack of a suitable alternate airport helped frustrate the partnership, which was seeking to create a convenient, 24-hr.
