The U.S. Air Force has awarded contracts to Boeing and Lockheed Martin to study the next generation of GPS satellites. Both companies will develop plans over the next year for future GPS technology under the terms of the $16 million grants. The first of the new generation satellites is expected to be launched in 2009 and will remain operational until about 2030. Likely participants in the next phase of actual hardware development also include ITT, Rockwell Collins and Ball Aerospace. Contracts for that phase will be awarded in 2002.
The FAA has named Denver's Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) its Northwest Mountain Regional Facility of the Year for 1999. Criteria for the award include a facility's operational accomplishments, communications, employee development, external relations, resource management and professionalism. According to the FAA, the Denver AFSS's nine flight assists factored into the decision. Activity at the facility ranked 11th of 61 AFSSes nationwide with about 698,000 services.
Shandong Airlines also is making the Cessna folks in Wichita very happy with an order for China's first Caravans. The airline has ordered one Grand Caravan and two Caravan 675s on floats for use on high-frequency scheduled service between points less than one hour apart. Deliveries are expected to begin in first quarter 2001. Shandong has options for 37 additional Caravans. Cessna sales executive Bob Conover says the manufacturer had been trying to penetrate the Chinese market with Caravans for ``many years'' and is hoping for future sales.
Dassault Falcon Jet has acquired Atlantic Aviation's New Castle Airport operation in Wilmington, Del. The purchase includes Atlantic's 179,000-square-foot shop and office facility. This will become Dassault's East Coast Service Center and is already approved as a repair center for Honeywell TFE731 engines and Rockwell Collins and Honeywell avionics.
Tempus 2000, from Remote Diagnostics Technologies, is a remote medical monitoring kit designed to provide data to ground-based medical experts during an airborne emergency. The system is fully automated and provides EKG, blood pressure, pulse oximetry, temperature, respiration rate and breath analysis. A removable color screen guides crewmembers through the steps, and still video with hands-free integrated voice link allows them to interact with the ground medical units.
BFGoodrich received an unprecedented two Technology Innovation Awards at Aviation Week's annual Aerospace Expo 2000 in Long Beach, Calif. The aerospace giant was cited for its Inflatabelt passenger restraint system and IceHawk ice detection system. The Inflatabelt is similar to an automobile airbag, except that it is entirely self-contained and doesn't require a seat or any other structure in front of it. IceHawk uses infrared light to detect ice, slush or other contaminants on aircraft surfaces.
Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer has signed a cooperation agreement with TsAGI (Tsentralny Aerogidrodynamic- hesky Institut), Russia's renowned aerodynamics research center. For now, the deal is likely to revolve around Embraer's use of TsAGI's equipment and facilities, including its computerized aerodynamic and aeroelastic laboratories. Last June, Embraer rented one of TsAGI's 60 wind tunnels to help fine-tune the ERJ-170/190 regional jet design.
The Air Line Pilots Association has launched a study of ``scope rules,'' which define the relationship between its members and the airlines they work for. The hottest issues are likely to be regional jets and flow-through hiring agreements with regional subsidiaries.
BAE Systems Canada is now offering its Enhanced Visual Guidance System (EVGS) for business and commercial aircraft operators. EVGS utilizes an existing head-up display (HUD) and overlays a transparent infrared image on top of the HUD's visual guidance system so the pilot can see both the VGS symbology and the environment in low visibility conditions. Within two years, BAE says, the system will incorporate a millimeter wave imaging radar that will provide ultimate safety in situational awareness.
Sherwin-Williams, Andover, Kan., has named Mary Keefer as operations manager for the new aerospace service and training facility and Kathy Kopf as the facility's color systems manager.
The FAA says the radio frequencies aircraft use to communicate with air traffic controllers and each other are nearing capacity, and industry demand could ``exhaust'' the system by the end of the decade. Several technological advancements could slow or even reverse this trend, the agency says, but the experts wonder if the improvements will reach the users before ``radio gridlock'' reaches crisis proportion.
The FAA will conduct a lottery to determine which carriers can use the additional slots permitted under AIR-21 at New York City's La Guardia Airport. Controversy had surrounded the granting of additional flights, given the New York airport's dismal flight delay record. According to FAA statistics, La Guardia delays have increased 41 percent in the past year -- to more than 9,000 in September alone -- and make up more than one-fifth of the delays system-wide.
Duncan Aviation celebrated the opening of its new modifications, service and completions facility in Lincoln, Neb., with an educational conference in early November. The new facility includes almost 60,000 square feet of hangar space and 63,000 square feet of shop space .
Sabreliner is testing a new noise reduction package that will use both insulation and electronics to reduce inflight cabin noise. The system incorporates the same technology used in noise canceling headsets, using strategically placed speakers and microphones that counter aircraft noise with electronically generated noise. The opposing sounds, known as opposite wave technology, then effectively cancel each other out. The manufacturer is flight-testing the system on a Sabreliner 80 and hopes to expand it to other Sabreliner models.
FACTS Training International is set to introduce a new emergency procedures simulator this month, designed to prepare flight crews and passengers for emergencies in a variety of corporate jets. Features of the new simulator -- known as FACTS-VI -- include: a full cockpit; authentic aircraft interior; Boeing BBJ, Challenger, Falcon and Gulfstream window exits; and increased range of motion to realistically simulate turbulence, decompressions, ditching and other inflight events. FACTS-VI is headed to Dallas this month and will begin nationwide training in 2001.
Mesa Air Group has signed a code-sharing agreement with Midwest Express Airlines, a five-year deal that will initially connect 14 cities served by Mesa unit Air Midwest with Midwest Express in Kansas City. Air Midwest will, however, continue to share codes with US Airways in Kansas City. Mesa recently extended its US Airways code share by an additional five years, and agreed to fly four more regional jets in that airline's colors, bringing the total to 32.
