I made a presentation on structural optimization for the space shuttle at the Marshall Space Flight Center on July 2, 1970. Not mentioned in my old trip report was that I spoke to management before leaving. I asked a high-level NASA manager not to build the shuttle. I told him: "Wings in space are like wheels on a duck."
Space shuttle pioneer Robert Crippen has parted ways with NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe over O'Keefe's decision not to use the shuttle to deliver astronauts to the Hubble Space Telescope for a servicing mission. "I personally disagree with the decision," Crippen told the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' 40th Propulsion Conference (AW&ST July 19, p. 58). Crippen believes a focus on the shuttle's return to flight is more important overall. "But I would like to have seen us use our human servicing capability again on Hubble," he said.
Curtiss-Wright Corp. has received a $6.3-million contract from Lockheed Martin to supply radar warning receiver systems for U.S. Army helicopters. The contract has a potential value of $17.6 million, including additional options during the next two years.
An improved commercial airplane market, design work on the 7E7 and its win in the U.S. Navy's Multimission Maritime Aircraft competition has prompted Boeing to add 2,300-3,400 jobs by the end of the year. Some 400 workers there will be hired by the company's Integrated Defense Systems unit to support the Navy contract to convert 108 737-800s into patrol aircraft. Another 1,000 workers are to be recalled by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, mostly to work at its Renton factory near Seattle on 737s.
Meller Optics has introduced custom fabricated sapphire windows--18-in. dia. X 0.4-in. thick--for use in military navigation and targeting systems. This size provides transmitted wavefront of 0.4-wave, parallelism to 2 arc-sec. and a 70:1 aspect ratio. They are designed for use as pilot, instrument, and weapon systems viewports due to their durability and high accuracy, according to the company.
Airlines in Europe, even the traditional flag carriers, are in full rebound, profitable and cautiously growing, in contrast to the still-losing legacy operators in the U.S. In recent quarters, the European economy has been fairly robust, boosting traffic and revenues for most carriers. While the U.S. economy is recovering and airline traffic has returned to year 2000 levels, U.S. airlines are staring at a $3-5-billion loss this year.
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Nylok Corp. has introduced an anti-seize dry film lubricant for external and internal threaded parts that prevents galling, reduces torque scatter and cold welding during assembly, according to the company. The new coating provides easy disassembly even in aggressive industrial environments and after heat exposure up to 1,292F (700C). The nontoxic, environmentally safe process forms a dry and tack-free film lubricant with sealing properties and is even suited for stainless steel fasteners.
Kurt Stache has become president of American Airlines' AAdvantage marketing programs. He succeeds Dennis M. Cary, who has been named vice president-revenue management of United Airlines. Stache was managing director for international revenue management. Nancy J. Knipp has been appointed managing director of premium services for American. She succeeds Cathy Bradley Berg, who has been named Los Angeles-based managing director for passenger sales for American's Western Div. Knipp was managing director-Japan.
David J. Copeland has become vice president-sales and marketing for the Mooney Airplane Co., Kerrville, Tex. He was vice president-worldwide sales for the Beechcraft portion of the Raytheon Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan. Nicolas Chabbert, who was executive vice president-sales and marketing, has been named vice president-business development.
The first set of three General Electric CT7-8E engines was delivered to AgustaWestland for US101/EH101s. The powerplant, chosen for the US101 helicopter being proposed for the Marines VXX program, features an advanced, higher-flow compressor and Fadec (full-authority digital electronic control) system that promises 20% more power than previous CT7 entries.
Aeronautics Co. load a structural bulkhead into an assembly tool, signaling the beginning of the pre-production process for the supersonic, multirole F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The bulkhead, which was machined from 7050 aluminum alloy, weighs 33.4 lb. and forms part of the forward fuselage primary structure. Assembly of the first wing is scheduled to begin next month, according to LMAC officials.
The European Space Agency says a payload checkout following the twin transit of Saturn's rings by the Cassini probe on July 1 has shown all the instruments on the mission's Huygens lander, which was supplied by ESA, to be in perfect shape. It was the 14th verification since the mission was launched on Oct. 15, 1997.
The recent case of an "unknown" aircraft inbound to Reagan Washington National Airport that prompted police to hastily empty the Capitol raises serious concerns about the U.S. government's ability to protect the airspace in Washington and effectively control air defense.
THE FAA, EUROCONTROL AND NASA ARE EXPLORING options for globally interoperable voice and data communications for the next generation of air traffic services. NASA will present an overview of advanced communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) technologies being considered under project ACAST, established for that purpose, in a workshop in Cleveland on Aug. 24-25 (http://acast.grc.nasa.gov/workshop). Eurocontrol is conducting a parallel effort. The intent is for the FAA, Eurocontrol and NASA to then get together to agree on technology solutions.
Elgan Brooks has been appointed manager of the ground support equipment services unit of Sage Parts, Farmingdale, N.Y. He was head of the service department at FMC Technologies' Airport Systems Div.
Boeing, earlier this month, demonstrated transmission of a Super Hornet's systems' status data from an airborne F/A-18F to the ground-based Automated Maintenance Environment. The demo underscores how network-centric capabilities increase a weapon system's effectiveness. Aircrews transmit information through tactical data links to base operations where it is automatically routed by the ground station to sea- or land-based maintenance centers, alerting them to have workers standing at the ready, reducing turnaround times.
Springtime remains a season in which the airline business picks up, but for the Big Six U.S. network airlines, the pickup in 2004 brings little or nothing in the way of profit. As the carriers prepare to report second-quarter financial results this week and next, signs point to better performance than last year's but no hope of substantial earnings.
A RECENT JOINT TASK FORCE EXERCISE at Ft. Bragg, N.C., spotlighted improvements in delivering real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sensor imagery to warfighters. Advanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery from a U-2, moving target indicator and SAR data from Joint-STARS, and direct imagery downlinked from a shared reconnaissance pod on an F/A-18 were received and processed on the battlefield by the Army's Tactical Exploitation System (TES), made by Northrop Grumman. TES is a component of the Distributed Common Ground System-Army.
John O'Brien (see photos), who is director of engineering and air safety at the Air Line Pilots Assn., has received the RTCA Achievement Award. He was cited for vision and leadership that has increased aviation safety and helped forge government-industry partnerships that are modernizing the National Airspace System. O'Brien has offered technical knowledge to the International Civil Aviation Organization, NASA, Flight Safety Foundation, FAA Advisory Committees, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and RTCA.
Regarding the article about the need for the pilots at Delta Air Lines to give pay concessions (AW&ST June 21, p. 50), I have read the laments of many analysts about pilot pay but have never read a comparison of the costs of management.
Boeing has selected Honeywell Aerospace for its third 7E7 contract, bringing the Phoenix-based manufacturer's potential return from the mid-sized jet program to $2.5 billion. The new contract is to build the flight-control electronics, including its autopilot system. It follows earlier awards for the aircraft's navigation and crew information/management system.
