Cessna Aircraft Co. has sold its first fleet of 172 Skyhawks equipped with Garmin G1000 avionics to Kansas State University's College of Technology and Aviation in Salina. It will take delivery of five airplanes beginning in April 2005. In related news, the FAA has certified the G1000 in Cessna's 206H Stationair. The approval marks four certifications obtained by Cessna for its single-engine product line. Other aircraft are the 182T Skylane, T182T Turbo Skylane and the T206H Turbo Stationair.
The rebound in the inflight entertainment industry is breathing new life into a number of dormant product schemes. One is a project called AirTV, which is intended to provide a dedicated satellite network for onboard live television and broadband applications.
BlastWrap material effectively mitigates the explosive power of a bomb by reducing the blast effect, extinguishing the fireball and capturing fragmentation, according to the company. Applications include protecting oil pipelines and shielding a vehicle's undercarriage against land mines and it's being marketed to civilian and military outfits. The company's FR911 First Responder solution allows rescue personnel to cover a bomb and clear civilians from the area in a rapid fashion.
The SAR/Interferometric Radar Altimeter (Siral) instrument for the European Space Agency's CyroSat spacecraft has been delivered by Alcatel Space. The spacecraft is to launch in March 2005. EADS Astrium GmbH. will integrate the instrument into the spacecraft, which will study Earth's ice fields as the first of ESA's Living Planet Earth observation missions. Based on the Poseidon oceanographic altimeter, Siral will monitor the changing thickness and mass of polar ice.
USN Rear Adm. Lewis W. Crenshaw, Jr., has been nominated for promotion to vice admiral and assignment as deputy chief of naval operations for resources, requirements and assessments at the Pentagon. He has been London-based deputy commander of U.S. Naval Forces for Europe.
Master Bond Inc. has introduced a high-performance, room temperature curing, two-component epoxy adhesive/sealant called EP34AN. This compound features a thermal conductivity of 22-24 BTU/in./ft.2/hr./F. Physical properties are maintained even after long exposure to temperatures of 400-450F. EP34AN boasts dimensional stability and low coefficient of expansion. It also exhibits superior electrical insulation properties, according to the company.
United Airlines is "substantially accelerating" its plans to redeploy aircraft to more profitable routes and reduce fleet size. The carrier will expand and strengthen international routes and transfer some domestic services to United Express. As a result, international available seat miles are expected to increase by 14%, with mainline domestic ASMs declining 12% for a systemwide ASM decline of 3%. Market conditions are "brutally competitive," says CEO Glenn Tilton.
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Michael Schriber's characterization of the space shuttle as a pickup truck reminds me of a 1970s joke about the Jaguar XKE: Buy two (AW&ST Sept. 27, p. 9). As an engineering student in the '70s, I was awed by the shuttle's engineering accomplishments. But history has shown the shuttle to be an XKE with a hatchback. A lot more money has been spent on between-flight refurbishments than initial acquisition. Perhaps engineers reached too far.
Videx's CyberLock is a family of access control products. The system consists of a pick-proof cylinder and a key that cannot be duplicated, according to the company. Each cylinder contains a microprocessor and memory and is designed to the exact dimensional standards of mechanical cylinders. Access privileges and battery power are located in the key. When a CyberKey opens its lock, a record of user ID, date, time is stored in the key and cylinder, creating lock/key histories. The key records up to 3,900 events; the cylinder records the last 1,100 events.
The righteous indignation expressed in your Sept. 20 editorial "The Ghost of Raspberry Jam Lost" (p. 66) is unjustified. The contributions and dedication of the professionals at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) are well documented, but where do you draw the line? How many industrial accidents have to occur and how much potentially sensitive material has to be lost before you say, "Time out"?
French space agency CNES has approved full-scale development funding for Mega-Tropiques, a joint mission with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to be launched by December 2009 to enhance scientists' understanding of tropical weather and climate systems. The mission, initially intended for launch in 2005, was sidetracked by French budget problems. The satellite bus, originally to have been furnished by CNES and Alcatel Space, will now be supplied by ISRO, along with launch and the ground segment.
The U.S. Navy has commenced flight testing of the first of its two Northrop Grumman unmanned aircraft. The UAVs are being bought under the Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration program to help the Navy gauge its future long-endurance surveillance needs. The service has delayed competition for such a system by several years, but is looking to field a system faster once the program gets going.
Robert D. Teter has become vice president-research and development for the Safe Flight Instrument Corp., White Plains, N.Y. He has held executive engineering positions at Innovative Solutions & Support, Honeywell and Western Electric/Bell Labs.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Charles Coo- lidge, who is vice president-Air Force programs for Washington-based EADS North America, has received the Heritage Award from the Wright Memorial Chapter of the Air Force Assn. at the Wright Brothers Heritage Benefit. His last Air Force assignment was vice commander at Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. The award recognizes Wright-Patterson personnel for performance and achievements.
Analysis of data from Europe's Mars Express orbiter has found a tantalizing overlap between concentrations of water vapor and methane in the planet's atmosphere, raising questions that include the possibility that Martian bacteria are producing the methane. The Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS), built for the European Space Agency orbiter by the Italian Space Agency, has found elevated concentrations of water vapor and methane in the equatorial regions of Arabia Terra, Elysium Planum and Arcadia-Memnonia.
Aeroflex announced the IFR 6000, a ramp test set based on the IFR 4000 navigation communications. One main user screen for each functional mode of operation is required for most tests. This instrument replaces three instruments with one small, lightweight hand-held test set that can be used for ramp or bench testing, according to the company. IFR 6000 tests transponder modes A/C/S, DME (Distance Measuring Equipment), TCAS (Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance), ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) and TIS-B (Traffic Information Service-Broadcast).
Spaceflight seems to inhibit the human immune system in direct proportion to the length of the mission, raising new problems for flight surgeons responsible for crew health on proposed deep-space exploration missions. A three-year astronaut study by NASA, Enterprise Advisory Services Inc. of Houston and Boston University's medical school found increased white blood cell counts and decreased ability of the white blood cells known as neutrophils to attack microbes after spaceflight.
Deep cost cuts and anguish related to wrenching changes occurring, particularly at U.S. major airlines, are taking their toll in executive suites. Northwest Airlines' Richard H. Anderson, 49, has become the sixth CEO to resign from a major U.S. airline since 2001. At the end of this year, the seventh CEO to depart will be Gordon Bethune, 63, also chairman of Continental Airlines. He is one of the U.S. industry's longest-serving top officials, with more than a decade behind him at the Houston-based carrier.
Low-fare carrier Ryanair is expanding operations in Italy by adding two aircraft to its Milan-Bergamo hub. Ryanair is winning an increasing share of Italian-generated international traffic--in 2003 the Irish carrier transported more than 5 million passengers, and the forecast for 2004 points toward 7.5 million. By opening seven new routes (for Oslo, Norway; Eindhoven, Netherlands; Valencia, Seville and Zaragoza, Spain; and Liverpool and Newcastle, England) at Bergamo, Ryanair hopes to win another 700,000 passengers with low promotional fares.
Washington Outlook said last week the Government Accountability Office had declined Rep. Christopher Shays' (R-Conn.) request for a review of security clearance requirements for maintenance of the presidential helicopter fleet, a move designed to help Sikorsky in its competition against Agusta-Westland. Not so, says a Shays staffer producing a letter from the GAO. She ís correct, but the effect on the helo competition is likely the same.
A pending light helicopter purchase by Siberian operator UTair could provide Western manufacturers with a long-awaited beachhead in the Russian market.
Here we go again. While it's not quite an annual ritual, the regularity with which the U.S. and Europe butt heads over aviation, aerospace and defense is becoming alarming (see p. 32). Representatives from both sides agree the industries are critical--why else would they so willingly engage in mud wrestling.
Brenda F. Cutwright has become acting president/CEO of Aloha Airgroup Inc. She has been executive vice president/chief operating officer. Cutwright succeeds Glenn R. Zander, who has resigned as president/CEO but will become vice chairman.
Stephen L. Morrell has been named vice president-financial planning and analysis and Helen M. Tremont vice president-corporate real estate for US Airways. Morrell was managing director of treasury/assistant treasurer, while Tre- mont was director of government affairs.
