United Parcel Service is using a Boeing 757 as one of the aircraft serving its new 70-acre regional air hub and package sorting facility at Greater Rockford Airport in Illinois. The $60-million structure, built in seven months, serves as a sorting center for overnight packages in the Midwest. UPS officials expect the Rockford facility near Chicago to serve as a bypass hub for packages and relieve congestion at the main hub in Louisville.
IT IS A VIRTUAL CERTAINTY that the 123-nation General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) will win approval this week in the lame-duck Democratic Congress. President Bill Clinton and incoming Senate Majority Leader Robert J. Dole (R.-Kan.) settled their mounting feud with a classic political compromise. Clinton accepted Dole's demand for a mechanism to protect U.S. sovereignty in trade disputes stemming from GATT, and Dole backed down from his demand for a capital gains tax cut as the price for his support. Both are winners.
ESTONIA'S NATIONAL CARRIER, Estonian Air, has launched a thrice-weekly service from the capital of Tallinn to Russia's second largest city, St. Petersburg. The route is operated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with a refurbished Russian-built Yakovlev Yak-40. Estonian Air serves 11 destinations, flying 60 round-trip flights weekly. Projected traffic volume for the airline in 1994 is estimated at 160,000 passengers, providing revenues of about $28 million.
Sabre Decision Technologies of Dallas has appointed Carla C. Harris senior director of marketing communications. She was marketing director for a revenue management consulting firm in Atlanta.
Bombardier, Inc., is pressing ahead with Challenger 604 flight tests using a new testbed aircraft equipped with a complete Rockwell Collins six-tube EFIS/EICAS system, a new Dowty landing gear and extra fuel capacity for extended range.
Wayfarer Ketch Corp., White Plains, N.Y., has named James Christiansen president/chief executive officer. Previously president of Jet Aviation Business Jets, Inc., he succeeds Ed Burdick, who is retiring.
Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Robert C. Oaks this week will assume responsibility for the safety of flight operations and maintenance at USAir, in concert with the launch of an independent audit aimed at underscoring the airline's safety practices and reinforcing passenger confidence. As vice president, corporate safety and regulatory compliance, Oaks will have direct oversight of all flight and ground-based safety activities and will report directly to USAir Chairman Seth E. Schofield.
Aerospace suppliers at all levels will have to take increasing responsibility for safety as prime contractors require them to take a larger role in integrating aircraft systems, according to a leading aerospace supplier. Kelvin V. Kellaway, director of customer satisfaction for Lucas Aerospace, Ltd., told an Access `94 plenary session of the potential for a threat to safety and how his company has responded to that changing responsibility.
Bulgaria's Balkan Airlines is awaiting final government approval for its privatization, while struggling to modernize its fleet in the face of growing international competition and stricter noise and pollution regulations. Balkan officials said plans to make the airline a private company are moving forward, with the formal transition possible in the coming months. With the privatization, changes in the carrier's top management are occurring.
Tier 2 medium-altitude, unmanned aerial vehicles have recently recorded and transmitted high-quality reconnaissance images, but the Pentagon program suffered a minor problem when the blades of a wooden, variable-pitch test propeller broke off and damaged one of the aircraft.
A U.S. AIR FORCE investigator has recommended all charges be dropped against Lt. Col. Randy May, the senior officer and wingman of the two-ship F-15 flight that mistakenly shot down two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters over Iraq last April. The recommendation must be reviewed by the commander of the 17th Air Force based in Europe.
Jennings Simmons, director of the Spacehab program at McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, has received AIAA's Space Systems Award. Roland L. Bowles, manager of the Wind Shear Program Office at NASA's Langley Research Center, has been named AIAA's 1994 Engineer of the Year. And, Charles R. Trimble, president of Trimble Navigation, Ltd., has won the Piper General Aviation Award.
Science Applications International Corp. of Washington has named John J. Killeen senior vice president-government affairs. He was staff vice president-congressional affairs for Textron, Inc.
EXHAUST GAS CHARRING of F-117 stealth fighter fuselage trailing edges has prompted the U.S. Air Force to develop a new, processible, high-temperature composite resin. Potential commercial uses include lightweight thrust reverser components. The improved resin, designated AFR700B, increases the temperature capability of organic matrix composites by 150F to 700F, according to the Wright Laboratory's Materials Directorate, Dayton, Ohio.
Rolls-Royce's proposed acquisition of Allison Engine Co. for $525 million provides the U.K. company with a long-sought manufacturing presence in the U.S. and fills gaps in its product line in turboprops, small turbofans and turboshaft engines. Agreement on the purchase was reached in London the evening of Nov. 20. Exploratory discussions began early last summer and turned serious in September.
AN AURORA FLIGHT SCIENCES Perseus A high-altitude drone crashed on Nov. 22 at Edwards AFB while returning from a test flight to 36,000 ft. The propeller-driven drone was on its 16th flight and went out of control at around 33,000 ft. after encountering strong winds. The emergency parachute was deployed and the fuselage has been recovered. The aircraft had reached 50,000 ft. previously. Another Perseus A under test at Edwards has logged five flights.
Operations for the first U.S. Milstar military communications satellite could be transitioned from Air Force Materiel Command to the 50th Space Wing within the next few weeks. The highly survivable Lockheed-built Block 1 Milstar has been undergoing orbital checkout, which will be followed by its handover to the Air Force satellite system operators. Lockheed is under contract to build two Block 1 Milstars. Separately, USAF and Lockheed have successfully completed the critical design review for Milstar Block 2, the second-generation series of relay satellites.
The first three re-engined Lockheed U-2S aircraft were delivered to the U. S. Air Force's 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, Calif., on Oct. 28, and eventually all of the wing's U-2Rs will be re-engined by the Lockheed Advanced Development Co. into the U-2S configuration. The U-2S is powered by the General Electric F118-GE-101 non-afterburning medium-bypass turbofan engine with 19,000-lb. sea level static thrust. The new engine is a derivative of the F118-GE-100 that powers the Northrop B-2 bomber, and of the F101 and F110 engines.
DADiSP/Neural Net is a backpropagation neural network algorithm that serves as an add-on to DADiSP graphical data analysis software for collecting, analyzing and displaying technical data. The menu-driven module is designed to help engineers and scientists use the power of neural networks in decision-support systems. Neural networks are strong pattern recognizers. Applications include multidimensional number sets used in aerospace engineering. DSP Development Corp., 1 Kendall Square, Cambridge, Mass. 02139.
Emery Worldwide, Palo Alto, Calif., has named James R. Symons vice president- global sales for Europe. He was general manager for the U.K. and Ireland.
Airborne Express of Seattle has promoted Jill Gwazdauskas to vice president-sales and marketing for corporate sales, customer automation and account adminstration.
AEROPERU WILL EXPAND SERVICE next month to include flights to New York and Los Angeles and a direct flight from Miami to Santiago, Chile. The Lima-based carrier's fortunes have turned since it was bought by investors that included Aeromexico, which obtained 49% of the carrier. Aeromexico is struggling with its own troubles, but Aeroperu has begun to overcome a poor reputation that dissuaded Peruvians and foreigners from flying on it. All of its Miami-Lima flights are booked through December, and 22 extra sections have been added on the route to handle the heavy demand.
JUST WHEN THE NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD needs them the most, former chairman Carl W. Vogt has left the board and will be followed early next year by John Lauber. Lauber was scheduled to leave Dec. 31, but has agreed to stay on longer, chiefly to preserve a quorum on the board. Vogt's departure has left two of the board's five seats vacant at a time when it is under increasing pressure to resolve two vexing accidents--the 737-300 USAir crash near Pittsburgh, and the loss of an American Eagle ATR 72 in Indiana.
The Type ESR capacitor uses polymer aluminum technology that allows it to replace several tantalum or conventional aluminum electrolytic capacitors with no loss of performance. Compared to conventional SMU aluminum capacitors, the ESR's polymer film electrolyte boasts 100 to 10,000 times the electrical conductivity, even at high temperatures. Its solid electrolyte also eliminates leaks. Operation range is -40-105C. Cornell Dubilier, 1605 E. Rodney French Blvd., New Bedford, Mass. 02744.
AFTER THE PENTAGON'S ROLES AND MISSIONS COMMISSION winnowed 90 topics down to 25 pressing issues it will address, it occurred to the panel they had left out a big one. ``Proliferation--who's in charge of that in DoD? Is there a 911 number you can call?'' commission member U.S. Army Gen. Robert W. RisCassi (Ret.) asked. ``The answer is absolutely not.'' So the commission added counter-proliferation to its list last week. The panel will also deal with some esoteric subjects, including non-lethal weapons designed to disable people, machinery or electrical devices.
