Jeffrey J. Brundage has been appointed senior vice president-human resources of American Airlines. He was vice president-employee relations and succeeds Sue Oliver. She has become senior vice president-people for Wal-Mart Stores USA.
El Al Israel Airlines in June will begin testing a system designed to protect its passenger aircraft from missile attack, according to the Associated Press. The system has been in development since the attack on an Arkia aircraft in Kenya 19 months ago.
A 0.6-sec. voltage dip caused 61 flight delays at Los Angeles International Airport on Apr. 12 along with a 50-min. ground hold in the western U.S., when the dip forced a voice switch offline because its backup electric sources failed.
Sandy Morrison has been appointed chairman of Ottawa-based Nav Canada. He succeeds Louis Comeau. Named as directors were: Nicholas Geer of Vancouver; Denis Losier of Moncton, New Brunswick; and Roy P. Rideout of Bedford, Nova Scotia.
Q-TRACK CORP. HAS DEVELOPED A SIMPLE, YET ACCURATE radio frequency-based distance-measuring method to track objects in real time. The Huntsville, Ala., company is patenting a near-field electromagnetic ranging (NFER) technique that determines the separation of transmitter and receiver units. Distance can be measured accurately by exploiting the phase difference between a radio signal's electric wave and magnetic wave within the "near-field"--the first half of a wavelength. At 27.12 MHz., for example, accuracy is a fraction of an inch.
In January 2004, U.S. airline members of the Air Transport Assn. flew 38.6 million fare-paying passengers a combined total of 47 billion mi. using mainline aircraft--Boeing 717s and larger. During the same month, the FAA logged 1.15 million flight operations by commercial aircraft at 35 of the nation's largest airports. And thereby hangs a tale.
Planning for a new bomber or long-range strike aircraft is afoot again in the Pentagon. U.S. Air Force headquarters is expected to release a request for information soon that would help in setting the parameters for such an aircraft. Boeing recently has been studying new concepts, and Lockheed Martin's large-wing FB-22 is expected to be in the running. Boeing would be a team member because of its involvement in F/A-22.
The Transportation Security Administration consultants who analyzed operations at the five airports where security screeners remained private-sector employees--San Francisco; Kansas City, Mo.; Rochester, N.Y.; Jackson Hole, Wyo., and Tupelo, Miss.--will change no minds among the federal-workforce and privatization zealots whose arguments held up passage of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act in November 2001.
In your article about the discovery of the wreckage of Antoine de Saint Exupery's P-38, you mentioned he was the author of The Little Prince (AW&ST Apr. 12, p. 18). How could an aviation magazine like yours not have emphasized that he also wrote Wind, Sand and Stars and Night Flight, two of the most exquisite books that anyone has ever written about flying? [email protected]
USAF Gen. (ret.) Lester L. Lyles (see photo) has been named senior adviser to the federal practice of Deloitte & Touche. His last post was commander of the Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
Although Airbus' A380 is only about one-third larger than Boeing's 747-400, major airports must perform extensive renovation, inside and out, to accommodate the 555-seat long-range transport. The European mega-transport will be certified to operate from conventional 45-meter-wide (148-ft.) runways, but its 261-ft.-wingspan imposes installation of concrete "shoulders" to ensure that external engines don't operate over grass. Similarly, taxiway turn areas need to be widened.
The military had some new approaches for the latest update to U.S. national security strategy, but their ideas may never see the light of day because release of the plan has been put on hold. The White House-issued strategy was to have been published in February but, as often happens, was behind schedule. Now, officials close to the process say the strategy is unlikely to be issued until after the election, if then. Why? The document calls for changing how U.S.
An Emirates Airbus A340-300 bound for Dubai with 260 passengers and 14 crewmembers hit lights in the overrun at the end of the runway on takeoff from Johannesburg International Airport earlier this month during a night takeoff in clear weather. When the pilots were notified the aircraft had hit the lights, they returned for an emergency landing. Passengers and crew deplaned using stairs. Jacqui O'Sullivan of Airports Company South Africa said no one was hurt but the damaged equipment was valued at U.S. $10,000.
A Continental Express Embraer ERJ 145 is parked on hardstand at Newark (N.J.) Liberty International Airport. The symbiotic relationship between a mainline carrier and a regional affiliate allows increased frequencies to smaller communities and feeds passenger traffic to majors. The regional airline industry faces impressive growth, and its biggest challenge--to maintain or reduce costs while providing vital, efficient service (see p. 46). Joseph Pries photo.
Perhaps the U.S. Air Force's most formidable weapon is the "Bogsat"--the acronym for "a bunch of guys/gals sitting around talking." Such people, particularly in the 8th Air Force's information warfare (IW) organization, are fundamentally reshaping how warfighting decisions are made, who makes them and how fast they can be made.
MTU Maintenance Zhuhai Co. has covered the bases for Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 operators in China by incorporating the necessary tools and test cell for overhauling the CFM International CFM56 engine series and International Aero Engines V2500 (AW&ST Dec. 2, 2002, p. 53). China Southern's initial orders for A320s were powered by V2500-A1 engines, but with the new A319/A320 order it switched to CFM56-5Bs. That will give it a common engine type with its 737-700/800 fleet.
Lockheed Martin has completed factory testing of the Multi-Beam Illuminator (MBIL) and Beam Transfer Assembly (BTA), the two major elements of the Airborne Laser's Beam Control/Fire Control system. The complete BC/FC system is configured as it will fly on a Boeing 747-400F. Lockheed Martin will deliver the MBIL to Edwards AFB, Calif., next month, where it will take 2-3 months to be integrated with the 747. The BTA and Flight Turret Assembly will be shipped later this spring.
Eurocopter has certified Azur Aero Assistance of Cannes, France, as an approved maintenance center for its EC 120, Ecureuil and Dauphin helicopters. A qualified JAR 145 and JAR OPS training center, Azur Aero also provides customization work for Eurocopter.
A new radar-absorbent coating that replaces about 3,000 ft. of special tape to seal gaps around maintenance access panels is now being applied to operational B-2 bombers. To ensure a smooth exterior surface that will not reflect radar signals, U.S. Air Force troops currently cover those gaps with special tape and caulk, which must be removed for routine field maintenance. Resealing is time-consuming, and requires a curing period before the aircraft can fly again.
The U.S. aerospace industry has great respect for Aviation Week & Space Technology, but during the last few years, we have observed that the magazine has taken an increasingly harsh stance toward the U.S. aerospace and defense establishment while extolling the virtues of our European counterparts. A tendency to accept the Europeans' claims at face value seemed especially evident in the magazine's Mar. 29 editorial (p. 74), which followed the Aviation Week Toulouse Symposium.
France's new defense procurement chief has identified four acquisition programs significantly behind schedule, and vowed to make resolution of such delays one of his major near-term objectives. In a presentation here last week, Francois Lureau, who was named to head defense procurement agency DGA earlier this year, said a review of 25 programs in 2003 had turned up a cumulative delay of 50 months. A broader review of 110 programs currently running showed an average delay of 1.5 months.
Sedna apparently does not have a moon orbiting it after all. The California Institute of Technology team that used the 48-in. telescope on Mt. Palomar to find the new record holder as the most distant known object in the solar system predicted it would be accompanied by a moon, based on its slow, 40-day rotation period (AW&ST Mar. 22, p. 21).
NASA's Deep Impact flyby spacecraft (top) is mated to the impactor vehicle in a Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. high bay facility in Boulder, Colo., prior to undergoing spin-balance and thermal vacuum testing. The spacecraft is scheduled to be shipped to Cape Canaveral on Oct. 18. Launch by a Delta II booster is planned for Dec. 30.
ROCKWELL COLLINS AUTOMATED WEATHER RADAR is designed to improve the quality of weather information in the cockpit while simplifying its operation. Now certified on all Boeing aircraft (Airbus certification is slated for later this year), the WXR-2100 multiscan weather radar eliminates the need for pilots to adjust tilt or gain. The radar automatically optimizes control settings to compensate for variations in weather patterns caused by time of day, time of year and geographic location, according to Collins. Looking ahead 320 naut.
DGA French armaments agency says France's participation in the production phase of the multinational Trigat long-range antitank missile program, intended for the Tiger attack helicopter, will be tied to an off-the-shelf competition in 2008-09. The French co-developed the system with Germany and the U.K., but only Germany has said it will acquire it. Spain, too, is considering joining the program.
