CONCURRENT COMPUTER PLANS TO START SHIPPING this month what it believes is the first commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) multiprocessor system capable of use in operational aircraft. The Maxion/ATR is based on ruggedized COTS technology from its Maxion line and sized to fit a standard avionics Air Transportable Rack (ATR). The real-time, open system provides 600 MIPS in a 7 X 10 X 23-in. box that weighs about 35 lb. The system is already being used in a crew trainer for the U.S. Army Apache helicopter.
Anthony W. LeVier, a former Lockheed test pilot, has won the Lloyd P. Nolen Lifetime Achievement in Aviation Award from the executive committee of Wings of Houston Airshow.
Regional Airlines, a French-based independent carrier, has ordered three turboprop-powered Saab 2000 and three turbofan-powered Embraer EMB-145 aircraft. Both aircraft types are in the new 50-seat, high-speed class of new regional transports. The airline's twin orders lend credence to the views of some that the new regional jets and turboprops may be complementary in some airlines' fleets. Nantes-based Regional currently operates eight Saab 340Bs, nine British Aerospace Jetstream 31s and one Avions de Transport Regional ATR-42.
Airbus Industrie's supervisory board has extended Managing Director Jean Pierson's position until Mar. 31, 1998. Pierson was first named head of the European consortium in April, 1985.
The U.S. Air Force has successfully conducted its first test of a demonstration version of the GPS-Aided Munition intended for use on the B-2 bomber. The munition was released from an F-4 acting as a surrogate aircraft in the first of a series of tests at the Naval Weapon Center range at China Lake, Calif. The munition, dropped at an altitude of 37,500 ft. with a 90-deg. impact angle, struck 44 ft. from its intended target 32,000 ft. downrange and within the 60-ft. predicted radius.
The U.S. Justice Dept. and agencies of other pro-competition governments should revisit the question of price-fixing by world airlines. Something is amiss and needs to be corrected. In a lengthy report concerning airline competition on European long-haul routes, the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) recently concluded that airlines are colluding on fares through the tariff coordination activities of the International Air Transport Assn. (IATA).
Recent orders for over $1-billion worth of new Boeings with mostly near-term delivery dates may indicate a turnaround in the world transport market as airlines return to profitability and traffic growth.
Officials of Orion Atlantic are preparing for an expansion of their $340-million satellite communications network following the launch of their first dedicated spacecraft from here last week. The Martin Marietta Atlas 2A carrying the Orion 1 satellite lifted off from Pad 36A here at 10:21 a.m. GMT, Nov. 29, starting a 13-sec. roll to a 95.8-deg. flight azimuth 2 sec. after launch.
Titan 4 program officials are talking to payload customers to determine if more than a dozen repaired solid rocket motor segments remaining in the inventory will be requalified and used on future missions. Titans with repairs made to motor restrictors--rubber-like material that retards burning on the top of Titan 4 SRM segments--have been launched successfully for many years.
TRW SCIENTISTS WILL REPORT a two-stage Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) amplifier, which provides 9-dB. gain at a frequency of 142 GHz. at upcoming International Electronic Devices Conference (IEDM) in San Francisco, Dec. 11-14. TRW says the 142-GHz. frequency is believed to be the highest ever reported for a device using indium-phosphide HEMT (high-electron-mobility transistors).
Mars Pathfinder, one of NASA's first two Discovery missions, is entering construction in preparation for a launch in two years. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) project is to place a 270-280 kg. (600-620 lb.) lander, including a 10-kg. (22-lb.) rover, on the Martian surface on July 4, 1997 (AW&ST Sept. 19, p. 24). The launch window is Dec. 5-30, 1996.
Based on initial assessments, Martin Marietta engineers believe that mating the NPO Energomash RD-180 engine to a simplified Atlas launcher would be a straightforward technical task and would provide substantial growth potential for the U.S. booster.
Paul E. Gray, chairman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corp. and professor of electrical engineering at MIT, has been elected treasurer of the National Academy of Engineering.
Atlantic Aviation, Wilmington, Del., has appointed John C. Elwood vice president-sales and marketing for its Aircraft Services Div. He was senior vice president-sales and marketing at Midcoast Aviation.
Qantas Managing Director James Strong has been named deputy chairman of the Orient Airlines Assn. serving under Chairman Pengiran Tengah Metassim, managing director of Royal Brunei Airlines. Members of the OAA executive committee are Japan Airlines President Matsuo Toshimitsu, Singapore Airlines Managing Director Cheong Choong Kong and Cathay Pacific Airways Chairman Peter Sutch.
JAPANESE SCIENTISTS FROM THE NTT Large Scale Integration Laboratories are expected to describe a ``Single-Electron Transistor'' (SET) fabricated from silicon, which can oscillate at room temperature--unlike previous SETs that had to be cooled to temperature below 4K. The novel device could enable a massive increase in the number of transistors that can be fabricated on a silicon chip.
It is 1999, and the evening news is leading off with a story about a newly discovered nuclear complex in Iran. The picture transports viewers on what appears to be a low and slow helicopter ride through the complex, gliding past the reactor containment building, swinging around a uranium enrichment plant and over a guard house and into the surrounding desert.
RTCA, INC., has been chosen as the U.S. recipient of the International Civil Aviation Organization's 50th Anniversary Medal of Honor award. RTCA was selected by the U.S. because of the organization's achievements in aviation electronics and its stature as a focal point for formulating consensus recommendations on global aviation issues. RTCA also functions as a U.S. federal advisory committee to the FAA. ICAO authorized each of its member countries to issue the medal to a national aviation organization of their choice.
HONEYWELL'S AIR TRANSPORT SYSTEMS will supply the major cockpit avionics for McDonnell Douglas' new 100-seat MD-95 twinjet. Honeywell expects to continue using avionics recently certified in the MD-90, including EFIS displays; flight management, inertial reference and digital flight guidance systems, and wind shear detection system. AlliedSignal Aerospace will supply the weather radar, traffic alert and collision avoidance system, ground proximity warning system, and condition monitoring equipment to McDonnell Douglas for the MD-95.
JAPAN'S AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURERS will begin offering concepts of their proposed YS-X regional jet transport to airlines early next year. The Japan Aircraft Development Corp. (JADC), which is cooperating with Boeing on the 80-100-seat ``JB Small'' or ``New Small Aircraft'' program, is still trying to determine which of two configurations to propose. The first has a new fuselage and modified Boeing 737 wing.
A wide-ranging French research program on ramjet/scramjet engine technology is entering a critical test phase that will pave the way for hypersonic propulsion.
THE U.K. DEFENSE MINISTRY is expected to order as many as 30 Lockheed C-130J Hercules military transports before the end of the year for deliveries beginning in 1996.
AS HEIR APPARENT to the chairmanship of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, South Dakota Republican Larry Pressler plans to flex his new-found authority with oversight hearings on a bevy of aviation issues, including small aircraft safety. In the wake of recent airline accidents, Pressler fears the public is ``losing confidence in air travel safety.'' He is sure to flog the FAA for what he sees as the agency's historical lack of response to the recommendations of the National Transportation Safety Board.
KEENLY AWARE OF TWO EMPTY SEATS at the hard-pressed NTSB, President Clinton nominated FAA veteran Robert T. Francis to the board last week. Francis, a licensed commercial pilot who put in 17 years at the FAA working with both major and regional airlines, is an experienced accident investigator who helped sift through the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103. White House officials hope to select a second nominee by year-end. When member John Lauber leaves early in 1995, a third person will be needed to fully staff the board.
