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
Gordon Pratt, president of Chelton Flight Systems, Boise, Idaho, has received the 2004 Aerospace and Defense Executive of the Year Award from industry analyst and market research firm Frost & Sullivan. Chelton was cited for innovations in flight display, guidance and control technology. The company developed and gained FAA certification of the only synthetic vision flight display system.
The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon a $1.6-billion contract for full-rate production of up to 2,200 Tactical Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles. The five-year contract is the first multi-year procurement for a Navy missile, the service says. Production will ramp up to about 38 missiles a month.
The British have two distinct advantages over the U.S. when it comes to airport security--fewer primary targets, and almost 30 years of experience. The U.K. mainland has only a limited number of international airports (fewer than 10), with Heathrow and Gatwick the two most significant. The three-decade-long Northern Ireland conflict focused attention on the vulnerability of airports, underscored in March 1994 when the Irish Republican Army carried out a mortar attack at Heathrow.
The nearly month-long delay in the latest missile defense integrated flight test may represent a setback for the project, but managers are pressing ahead to prepare the system to be declared operational as early as next month.
Let's see, now. The airlines have been responsible for sifting their lists of passengers through watch lists of potential threats compiled by the government's intelligence agencies, but the watch lists aren't complete because the agencies believe some names shouldn't be revealed to private organizations like airlines. It took the 9/11 commission to figure out--and recommend--a better way to handle this, and the Homeland Security Dept.'s undersecretary for border security, Asa Hutchinson, tells the Senate Commerce Committee the department will adopt it.
The FAA has issued a Supplemental Type Certificate to Chelton Flight Systems for installation of the FlightLogic Synthetic Vision EFIS system in Cessna 501-series Citation business jets certified for single-pilot operations. The installation includes GPS/WAAS receivers, a flight management system, fiber-optic gyros, terrain awareness warning system, autopilot interface and dual air data computers for Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums.
As the world's largest travel market--and largest economy--the U.S. can exert enormous economic and political weight on airline operations. Other nations have little choice but to go along, or be banned from the lucrative U.S. market. Although they remain high on security alert levels, European airlines are complaining massively about new U.S. security regulations that they consider often unnecessary, badly implemented, sometimes redundant and conflicting with their national laws.
After reaching a 50-year low of 568,700 in February, U.S. aerospace employment appears to be headed back up. It reached 579,800 in June, according to Labor Dept. data compiled by the Aerospace Industry Assn.'s Aerospace Research Center. The uptick coincides with increased U.S. shipments in the commercial, general, defense and helicopter sectors. Besides Boeing's expectation of a slight increase in shipments this year (to a total 284 aircraft), the General Aviation Manufacturers Assn. reports that billings for its members were up 17% for the first half of the year.
Estelle Condon, associate director for astrobiology and space programs at the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., has won the Lifetime Achievement Award of Washington-based Women in Aerospace. Other winners are: Outstanding Leadership Award, Celeste V. Ford, president/CEO of Stellar Solutions Inc., Palo Alto, Calif.; Outstanding Achievement Award, Rebecca A. MacKay, science adviser to the Materials Div.
Cargo shipped on passenger aircraft still poses a serious security threat, according to the 9/11 commission's report. Concerned that not enough is being done, the panel advises the Transportation Security Administration and Congress to devote more attention and resources toward "reducing or mitigating the threat posed by explosives in vessels' cargo holds." The report calls on the TSA to intensify efforts "to identify, track and appropriately screen potentially dangerous cargo."
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Regulators and researchers continue the drive to infuse human factors training into the maintenance arena--in a climate where cash-strapped carriers are reluctant to devote dollars to training. The FAA defines human factors as "the study of the interaction between humans and machines" and includes what can go wrong, and why.
Plastic tubs are used now at airports to process luggage through check-in in an efficient manner, but tubs accumulate at the end of the loading area. This trailer was designed to carry an efficient number of totes, but is not too big to travel around tight quarters. The Cignys unit is constructed of square steel tubing and can carry up to 252 tubes with a total weight of more than 3,600 lb. The 5 X 15-ft. trailer has a deck height 8 in. off the ground allowing ramp attendants to nest the tubs and slide them into position. Cignys, 68 Williamson St., Saginaw, Mich.
Malev Hungarian Airlines in October plans to tender 99.5% of the government's stake in the airline. Potential buyers will be required to guarantee the repayment of Malev's $175.2 million in debts. Austrian Airlines has expressed interest in Hungary's national carrier, as has George Soros-backed Hainan Airlines. Hainan last month announced plans to start a $92.96-million carrier, Shilin Airlines, in Southwest China's Yunnan Province to tap its tourism potential.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. (ret.) Joe G. Taylor has been named corporate lead executive for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command at the Northrop Grumman Corp., Reston, Va. He was vice president for strategic programs-land forces for the company's Mission Systems sector.
