Sekai's ADVSR is a compact, rugged solid state video recorder for airborne applications where ease of use is a priority. Two audio channels can be recorded together with either composite or Y/C video. The recorder accepts both NTSC and PAL video formats. The motion JPEG recording format with scalable compression offers a quality picture and maximum flexibility, according to the company. User-selectable compression rates range from 4:1 to 20:1 and recording times average from 4-20 min. per gigabyte.
Phil Meredith has become flight standards and training manager for Virgin Blue's New Zealand-based affiliate, Pacific Blue. He held the same position at Polynesian Airlines.
THE 100TH PIAGGIO P180 AVANTI business aircraft is being completed by Stevens Aviation in Greenville, S.C. According to Piaggio America, acting sales agent for the Avanti in North America, the airplane is scheduled for delivery late this year to a customer based in the U.S. The organization, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Piaggio Aero Industries in Italy, also supports the P180. The Avanti has a range of 1,700 naut. mi. and can fly at cruise speeds up to 395 kt.
Cypress Computer Systems has joined with MobileRobots to introduce robotic platforms to the security marketplace. Cypress recently launched its first mobile robotic product--the Remote Surveillance and Verification Platform (RSVP). It is the first autonomous mobile platform to combine robotic localization and navigation, building automation, video, security and access control interfaces into an efficient and affordable single solution, according to the company. The RSVP-720 is designed for fully autonomous, round-the-clock operation.
Eurocopter has commenced flight testing of a rotorblade technology the EADS unit believes will significantly reduce noise. A modified Bk-117 was fitted with an electrical flap control system earlier this month at Eurocopter's Donauworth facility in Germany. The adaptive rotor system is designed to reduce noise generated by blade tip vortices and cut vibration. The controls comprise three flap modules at the trailing edge of each rotorblade.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has sold three S-92 medium-lift helicopters to Asia-based Brunei Shell Petroleum for support of offshore oil platforms in the South China Sea. The oil company is the first in Asia to order the S-92. In addition, Eastern General Aviation Corp. will acquire an S-92 for offshore oil missions in the Bohai Bay area. Delivery is scheduled for late next year.
Russian designers are pushing unmanned aerial vehicle and unmanned combat air vehicle concepts in the hope of snaring scant government funds. European companies are also testing the potential to collaborate with the Russians. Manufacturers as diverse as helicopter designer Kamov, aircraft interior producer Kvand and aircraft makers Yakovlev and Irkut are pursuing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) concepts.
The Abu Dhabi government, owner of Etihad Airways, may soon be pulling out of Bahrain-based Gulf Air, becoming the second partner after Qatar to do so. Of the initial Gulf Air partners, Bahrain alone has no carrier based in that nation. Gulf Air President and CEO James Hogan says the move was dictated purely by commercial considerations.
Lynn Brubaker has been named to the board of directors of the Nordam Group, Tulsa, Okla. She has been vice president/general manager for commercial aerospace for Honeywell International.
Airbus has marked the delivery of its 4,000th aircraft. The milestone aircraft, an A330-300, went to Lufthansa. The two parties have a long relationship: Lufthansa served as the launch customer for the A310 and A321, and as one of the first customers for the A380. More than half the deliveries are A320-family narrowbodies. Total aircraft orders stand at 5,570 narrowbodies and widebodies.
The CAP was founded one week before the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Operating under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Air Forces, CAP pilots patrolled the U.S. coastline during World War II and are credited with sinking two German U-boats as well as saving hundreds of lives through rescue missions. In May 1948, the CAP became an auxiliary unit of the U.S. Air Force and now operates as a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) corporation. The organization has three missions: emergency services, aerospace education and cadet programs. Its headquarters are at Maxwell AFB, Ala.
Gary Parkinson has become corporate vice president-human resources of Los Angeles-based Ducommun Inc. He was vice president-human resources for the Flame Retardants and Performance Products business of the Great Lakes Chemical Corp., West Lafayette, Ind.
Just so nobody will be relieved when the Pentagon's new Mobility Capabilities Study (MCS) comes out, the GAO, in a report to Congress, is questioning models and processes used by the Defense Dept. to determine changes in its transportation needs that were triggered by shifts in threats and national security and military strategies. The study report is considered a crucial document in determining how many more C-17s to buy, whether to upgrade the C-5 fleet and when to launch a new tanker program.
After some initial panic over a model of the FB-23 showing up for sale on the Internet, Northrop Grumman has confirmed the design was one of several next-generation, long-range strike concepts it submitted for the U.S. Air Force's analysis of alternatives. It is a larger, bomb-carrying version of the YF-23 that competed against Lockheed Martin's YF-22. Concepts ranged from updated versions of the B-2 to supersonic, unmanned aircraft. Another model was displayed at the Air Force Assn. convention in Washington last week.
Northrop Grumman Corp. recently received a $124.5-million U.S. Navy contract for the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System. Operating from MH-60S helicopters, ALMDS uses a light detecting and ranging blue-green laser to detect, localize and classify near-surface, moored and floating sea mines.
Clifton Stroud (see photo) has launched Aviation Marketing Communications, The Plains, Va. He was director of communications for the National Air Transportation Assn. and was editor-in-chief of Professional Pilot and Aviation Maintenance.
Air Canada is introducing a subscription pass that entitles Canadians to unlimited flights to 100 destinations in the U.S. and Canada over a two-month period starting in October. Air Canada has specialized in multi-trip pass offerings. New marketing chief Sean Menke calls this one the North America Unlimited Pass. It will cost C$6,998 ($5,920) and be available at travel agents or on Air Canada's web site.
The merger of legacy U.S. Border Patrol and Customs Service aviation assets (Office of Air and Marine Operations or AMO) into an organization with two chains of command is regression to business of 10 years ago (AW&ST Aug. 15, p. 17).
The National Weather Service awarded a contract for operations and maintenance of the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System, a nationwide weather data analysis and dissemination system. The $300-million contract includes a five-year base period and five one-year options. Raytheon will operate a network control facility in Silver Spring, Md. Teaming with Raytheon are Keane Federal Systems of McLean, Va.,; Ensco of Falls Church, Va.; and Globecomm Systems of Hauppauge, N.Y., plus others.
JetBlue Airways sees bright skies amid industry gloom. With the delivery of its first Embraer 190 jet aircraft, the low-cost carrier looks to expanding its fleet, markets and staff. CEO David Neeleman accepted the aircraft--named "Brazilian Blue" by the carrier--at Embraer headquarters here last week and plans to put it into service in November. Ninety-nine more are to follow, an additional eight this year and about 18 per year until 2011, when the aircraft's launch customer may exercise options for 100 more.
MUNICH AIRPORT IS JOINING Frankfurt and Dusseldorf airports as a user of an air traffic slot management tool from Barco of Kortrijk, Belgium. The software tool, or "airside slot capacity assistant," is designed to improve efficiency in flight schedule processing and reporting, matching of flights to available slots and distribution of information, according to Barco. Slots at major airports are valuable economic assets--Frankfurt earns significant additional landing fees just by ensuring the available slots are used.
A Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182 Skylane flies over the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor. CAP is gradually replacing its fleet of aging, piston-powered single-engine airplanes with new Skylanes (see p. 60). Each aircraft is being equipped with a special mission package that includes a glass cockpit and new avionics. A key feature of the package is the ability to provide aerial reconnaissance for the Homeland Security Dept. CAP's role as a low-cost asset in the war on terror is expected to expand in the future. Civil Air Patrol photo.
Honeybee Robotics, the New York-based company that built the Mars Exploration Rover rock abrasion tool affectionately known as the RAT, has developed and tested a high-temperature electric motor that could have application on the hot surface of Venus. Honeybee used a modified jeweler's furnace to heat the motor to as much as 460C, roughly the mean surface temperature beneath the greenhouse-effect clouds of Venus. Overall, it operated for more than 2 hr. at that level, which left the motor's steel casing (below) and mounting brackets oxidized.
UNITED STATES Editor-In-Chief: Anthony L. Velocci, Jr. [email protected] Managing Editor: James R. Asker [email protected] Assistant Managing Editor: Michael Stearns [email protected] Senior Editors: Craig Covault [email protected], David Hughes [email protected] NEW YORK 2 Penn Plaza, 25th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10121 Phone: +1 (212) 904-2000, Fax: +1 (212) 904-6068 Senior News Editor: Nora Titterington
