Ophir Optronics Inc. has introduced two new measurement heads. The PD300-BB radiometer head has a spectrally flat response from 400-1,000 nm. and is recommended when the power measurement of broadband light is needed. PD-300CIE has a spectral response similar to that of the human eye and can make measurements in eye response units of LUX. Ophir Optics Inc., 260-A Fordham Road, Willmington, Mass. 01887. 99 on www.AviationNow.com/oic
The development of a cruise missile defense system will take longer than anticipated, say military officials who still expect critical elements of the defensive shield to be in place by the self-imposed 2010 deadline.
Airports trying to cope with passenger and baggage screening frustrations will soon have the option of replacing federal screeners with private ones, but many airport officials are waiting for more information before committing to any changes.
The Pentagon quarterly program cost report documents schedule delays for the H-1 helicopter upgrade, MV-22 and Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles, as well as a $1.4-billion cost increase for the Space-Based Infrared System-High program. Completion of H-1 integrated testing has been delayed eight months, largely because of problems with the tailboom that have been fixed by changing the direction of the exhaust. The V-22 report merely reflects long-known changes in fielding of the tiltrotor. For EELV, the six-month schedule delay is specific to the first operational flight.
We have been observing the U.S. reaction to terrorists' use of passenger jets to fly into buildings for the past three years, and have noted a number of areas affecting aviation security that need more attention. So did the 9/11 commission. Besides giving the clearest picture of what happened on that fateful day of Sept. 11, 2001, the commission recommended the U.S. adopt biometrics in border control, better efforts at explosives detection and human-factors studies of airport screeners.
ATA Holdings Corp., parent of ATA Airlines, is warning that the low-cost carrier may not be able to meet its cash obligations in the first quarter next year. These include payments for predelivery deposits and leases for GE-powered Boeing 737-800 aircraft, comprising the latter part of a fleet expansion that boosted capacity by 23% in 2003 over 2002.
A potential deep cut in NASA's Fiscal 2005 request for the proposed Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) threatens to halt the space agency's efforts to build the next generation of nuclear-powered space probes, just as it begins to work with the Energy Dept. on a new space reactor.
Japanese space agency JAXA has put its Lunar-1 Moon surveyor mission under the microscope as it tries to save money. First proposed in 1991, the effort would be Japan's first Moon surveyor mission, but its launch has been postponed six times since first being set for 1995. Now JAXA estimates it will take another three years before a launch is possible. Lunar A has cost $209 million so far and will take another $19 million to complete.
The Malaysian Center for Remote Sensing (Macres) has signed a three-year agreement with Spot Image to receive Earth remote sensing data from the SPOT 2, 4 and 5 satellites. The center, located near Temerloh about 150 km. (93 mi.) northeast of Kuala Lumpur, received its first Spot imagery on July 1.
US Airways' bad cop, Chairman David Bronner, and its good cop, CEO Bruce Lakefield, braced employees last week for another, more difficult trip into--and perhaps not out of--Chapter 11. Bronner heads Retirement Systems of Alabama, US Airways' main shareholder and the source of the investment and borrowing that got it out of bankruptcy court in March 2003. In interviews that appeared in major newspapers Aug. 19, Bronner pressed unions for a third round of contract concessions in time for the carrier's next debt-covenant reviews, Sept. 30.
SPS Technologies offers a unique shape that provides full contact of the driver to the entire recess in the screw or bolt resulting in high torque capability while minimizing risk of damage to the fastener recess, according to the company. The depth of the fastener recess is minimized allowing high torques transfer in 100- and 130-deg. flush head fasteners as well as other bolts and screws used in shear applications. SPS products are used in commercial and military aircraft and jet engines. SPS Technologies, 301 Highland Ave., Jenkingtown, Pa. 19046.
Australian defense researchers have their eye on improving operations in the growing field of unmanned aircraft. One of the problems the Defense Science and Technology Organization is trying to address is the ratio of personnel to UAVs. "Each unmanned aircraft needs a ground crew of about 30 people," an imbalance that needs to be remedied, notes Alex Ryan, a researcher at DSTO. The group also is trying to advance "swarming" UAV technology to allow unmanned aircraft to work cooperatively with each other and boost their effectiveness.
DHL Danzas is thinking of offering more client-specific services following its successful launch earlier this year of Mango Express and University Express. The logistics company offers air and ocean freight services in India through its joint venture with the Lemuir group. Approximately $20 million worth of mangos are exported annually from India, and Mango Express handles the selection, packing and shipping of the fruits.
Delta Air Lines will boldly go where no network carrier has gone before in its quest for survival, CEO Gerald Grinstein indicated to employees in an Aug. 18 memo. First came the good news. Grinstein said recommendations from the strategic review that Delta launched in January indicated the transformation plan is "on track" (AW&ST July 12, p. 35).
The central struggle of men has ever been to understand one another, to join together for the common weal. And it is this very thing that the machine [the airplane] helps them to do! It begins by annihilating time and space. Antoine de Saint-Exupery Wind, Sand and Stars
French authorities hope an uncompromising policy will standardize charter operators' flight safety records. In a "no tolerance" move, another carrier-- Jordan Aviation--was banned from French airspace.
Franz Peraus (see photo) has been named head of the Air and Naval Defense Div. of EADS Defense and Communications, Ulm, Germany. He was head of human resources.
Joy Bryant (see photo) has become chief engineer for Boeing's Houston-based NASA Systems. She has been a launch conductor, launch director and mission director for the Delta programs.
Phoenix X-Ray Systems + Services Inc., have added to powerful software modules for their line of X-ray inspections systems, the qfp and mlf modules. These can be purchased with any X-ray system and are well-suited for PCBA assemblers and IC packaging companies. Both new modules are fully automated measurement solutions and eliminate the need for an operator to determine pass/fail criteria, according to the company.
The second pre-production AB139 helicopter is completing high-altitude/ hot-temperature testing at Buena Vista Central Colorado Airport. Tim Brookman, executive marketing director for Bell/Agusta Aerospace Co., says the tests are providing data needed to complete full certification of the AB139 for Category A flight operations. He expects the program will end in September.
A.B. Ward purports that older pilots are just as capable as younger ones to regain their skills after a nap, and that professionalism and discipline can overcome the effects of fatigue (AW&ST Aug. 2, p. 6). This assumption is preposterous and dangerous. It is a known fact that our quality of sleep diminishes as we grow older. The amount of psychological rejuvenating sleep decreases to only about 20% past 50. To think that we can will ourselves to an alert state when we are physically and/or psychologically diminished is foolhardy.
Engineers from Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion and NASA's Glenn Research Center have successfully rig-tested a carbon-carbon composite, hydrocarbon fuel-cooled heat exchanger panel under Mach 6.5 conditions at the United Technologies Research Center in Hartford, Conn. The 6 X 30-in. heat exchanger was made up of the carbon-carbon "hot" face sheet backed by a metallic structure. It was mounted in a "combustor," and JP-7 fuel was used for cooling.
Regarding "Getting Ready" by Frank Morring, Jr., (AW&ST Aug. 9, p. 23), the U.S. manned space program is lost in space and going nowhere. What has happened to NASA's technological mastery of human spaceflight? Astronaut Neil Armstrong took the first step on the Moon 35 years ago. I look up at the Moon and wonder when will we go back. I look up at Mars and wonder whether we'll ever get there.
Boston's Logan International Airport is one of the first in the U.S. to have an in-line explosives detection system, and it has just processed a million bags in one month. The in-line system is proving to be indispensable.
World News Roundup 22 Bell/Agusta tests new AB139 features 23 Florida hurricane takes aircraft toll 24 Job cuts seen as Delta reinvents World News & Analysis 28 Airborne Laser and Thaad programs approach critical test events 29 Component problem delays missile defense flight test to September 30 Program setbacks slow development of cruise missile shield 36 UAV surrogate conducts sigint gather- ing in test of new targeting system
