Japanese industry is making a renewed attempt to break into the first ranks of aircraft builders, with a range of large aircraft proposed or under development that compare well with those of any single European country. The international market remains a challenge for Japanese companies, but it's hard to dismiss the ambition in their latest projects, which include: *A maritime patrol aircraft, comparable with the BAE Systems Nimrod MRA.4, sporting a combat system and high-bypass turbofans developed domestically.
Robin Stainer brings up a good point on airliners going "greener" (AW&ST May 21, p. 6). But that is one of the benefits of the Boeing 787. GE is claiming its engines for the 787 will provide a 15% fuel savings over power- plants that they replace, but GE also says emissions will be as much as 95% below current regulatory limits and significantly lower than future regulations set forth by the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection. Also Boeing is touting a 20% fuel savings compared to the 767.
Steve Zaat has been appointed director of customer service for Quest Aircraft, Sandpoint, Idaho. He was senior manager of business development for Boeing's Advanced Logistics Support Systems.
Malcolm R. O'Neill has been appointed to the board of directors of Auxilia Inc., Troy, N.Y. He is the former chief technology officer for the Lockheed Martin Corp.
Boeing is offering the Navy what one Pentagon source calls a "tempting" deal for an all-time-low flyaway price of $49.9 million for new F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. The cost is guaranteed for a third multi-year buy of 170 aircraft, but this is nearly double the Navy's stated commitment for 92 more. Still, the deal "is going to be pretty tough for the Navy to turn down," says a Pentagon official. The proposal comes as Defense Dept. leaders worry that the cost of Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter will continue to grow.
John E. (Ed) Boyington, Jr., (see photos) has been promoted to president of L-3 Communications Integrated Systems subsidiary Vertex Aerospace, Madison, Miss., from vice president-federal programs and Waco, Tex., site executive. He succeeds Daniel A. Grafton, who has retired. Michael L. Holmes has been promoted to succeed Boyington from general manager of L-3 Flight International, Newport News, Va. Succeeding Holmes is David C. Wooten, who was a senior manager for L-3 Integrated Systems.
Travis H. Slocumb, 3rd, (see photo) has become vice president-strategy and business development and Kurt M. Kutyla (see photo) vice president-contracts for Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, El Segundo, Calif. Slocumb was senior vice president/director of business development for the Science Applications International Corp. Kutyla was director of contracts and succeeds Scott Faith, who is now deputy to Brian Arnold, the vice president of Raytheon Space Systems.
Taiwan's China Airlines will invest $1.1 million in an 8% stake in the planned landing-gear maintenance business of Taikoo (Xiamen) Aviation Engineering Co. (Taeco). Haeco affiliate Taeco itself opened its fifth maintenance hangar on June 13, continuing the strong expansion since the company opened its first in Xiamen in 1996.
Growth in regional jets and better utilization rates of existing single-aisle transports have taken some of the pressure off aircraft order rates, but Boeing's 20-year outlook remains decidedly bullish for everything it makes.
Thales is proposing a tactical data link that gives nations not currently allowed to use the NATO-standard Link 16 the option to acquire a similar capability, which Thales calls LX16. At least one Asian country is in negotiations to equip all of its armed forces (air, land and maritime) with LX16, say company sources, while declining to identify the customer. Thales is also receiving "strong interest" in LX16 from several other nations as well as from "aircraft manufacturers who are not in NATO countries and who sell outside NATO."
William R. Schmidt has been named vice president-government services of Loral Space & Communications-Hisdesat joint venture XTAR, Rockville, Md. He was director of global solutions for Artel Inc.
Joe Miller has been promoted to president from director of marketing of Telegenix Inc., Cherry Hill, N.J. He will be succeeded by Phil Scott, who was promoted from regional sales director for the Ultragraphix Div.
The Draeger-CMS emergency response kit automatically measures for hazardous gases. Detector tube technology in a credit card-sized chip takes a precise air sample of the chemical in question. Color change is calculated via a photo-optical system. Gas levels are typically analyzed in 1-2 min. and accuracies of 4-10% of measured values are achieved for most gases, the company says. CMS does not require gas calibration. Measurement/calibration info is on a bar code on the chip. The kit holds the analyzer, accessories and a choice of 10 chips for hazmat situations.
Titan Tool's TC-II cathetometer measures vertical displacement in areas inaccessible to an indicator or other mechanical checking devices due to distance or combinations of blended curves. Its "crosshair" reticle is mounted in its eyepiece and features 90-deg. cross-lines with equally spaced divisions and two concentric circles for vertical/horizontal alignment. The TC-II serves as a micro-telescope, providing an optically correct image. It operates in ambient light and has an adjustable focal length of 4 in.-infinity, accurate to within 0.0001 in.
Bobby Patton has been promoted to director of sales from sales manager for King Air performance systems for Raisbeck Engineering of Seattle. He will be succeeded by Scott Keefe, who was sales and marketing support. Nick Nicholson has been promoted to sales manager for Learjet performance systems from technical support manager. Shirley Davis has been named manufacturing engineer and Gene Stanton sustaining engineer. Davis was an engineering executive at the Hexcel Corp., while Stanton was a repair, liaison and design engineer and database manager at Goodrich Aerospace.
Officials at EADS Astrium, prime contractor on the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle, say most of the components for the second ATV have been assembled and need only a final go-ahead to enter integration. A green light is expected toward year-end, once ESA has completed its production readiness review and integrated initial feedback from the Jules Verne shakedown flight, tentatively scheduled for November (see p. 182).
Israel's new Ofek 7 reconnaissance satellite should give the nation a better overhead view of its threatening neighbors than previous spacecraft, provided it checks out in orbit. Launched June 11 from the test range at Palmahim Air Force Base on a Shavit launch vehicle, the 660-lb. spacecraft went into a 193 X 372-mi. orbit with a focus on Iran, Iraq and Syria. It will replace the five-year-old Ofek 5 satellite and also bring the Israeli space-based reconnaissance program back to full strength following the loss of the Ofek 6 recon in a 2004 launch failure.
The space shuttle Atlantis astronauts, planning a fix late last week to reentry protection system damage on their left Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pod, are benefiting from NASA's new attitude, which recognizes that just because an engineering solution seemed to have been proven out earlier does not mean it is the right course under more rigorous scrutiny.
Robert Cortelyou has been promoted to senior vice president-network planning, Pam Elledge to senior vice president-global sales and distribution, and Gail Grimmett to senior vice president-revenue management, all for Delta Air Lines. All were vice presidents. John Boatright is returning as vice president-corporate real estate. He held that position before becoming program project officer for Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Development Program.
John Donovan has become vice president-finance and administration for the Emrise Corp., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. He was senior consultant to the chief financial officer of AeroVironment Inc.
Mark Alexander and Gerald S. Gutterman have been named to the board of directors of the New York-based Sequa Corp. They are succeeding Gerald Tsai, Jr., and Stanley Zax, who have resigned. Alexander is a director of corporate strategy for the Ampacet Corp., while Gutterman is a retired chief financial officer of Sequa.
In the article "Going Hyper" (AW&ST Mar. 19/26, p. 40), the continuing progress in hypersonic aeronautics is highly praised. Yet for 50-plus years, the speed of mass air travel has remained essentially the same (in spite of great strides in technology).
Kuka's omniMove system is based on a wheel that consists of 8-9 specially shaped, non-driven rollers, mounted between two stable rims. Platforms/vehicles with these wheels can move in any direction from a standing start, or in motion. Direction changes are determined by the direction of rotation of each wheel relative to one another. Vehicles can be maneuvered with millimeter precision, the company says. Spirit Aerosystems of Wichita, Kan., is the first customer in North America; Kuka is widely use in MRO shops in Europe. Kuka Roboter, Attn.
Flying the upcoming Jules Verne mission to the International Space Station will tax Europe's spaceflight infrastructure to the limits, pulling together engineers across the continent and beyond for an on-line dress rehearsal of future missions that will send a 20-ton space freighter hurtling toward the station on autopilot.
