After 30 months of negotiations, eligible voters among Mesaba Airlines' 844 pilots in the next few weeks will cast ballots to ratify or reject the tentative contract agreement reached on Jan. 11 between management and the Air Line Pilots Assn. Union leaders scheduled events to inform members about the contract. They would only say last week that the contract allows the pilots "to move forward in their careers" and grants management the latitude to grow the company.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT CO. HAS RECEIVED FAA PROVISIONAL certification of its Model 680 Citation Sovereign business jet. Company officials said full certification would be obtained by the end of the first quarter, followed by initial customer deliveries in the second quarter. Cessna has orders for more than 100 Sovereigns. The aircraft has a range of more than 3,000 naut. mi. and a maximum speed of Mach 0.80.
After two years of depression in the business jet market, it's natural to begin scanning the horizon for change. Unfortunately, there are few signs of a return to prosperity for what had been the best aviation growth sector in decades. The worst news concerns used aircraft availability and pricing. Reports show just over 2,000 turbine-powered business aircraft are on the market, out of a total fleet of about 13,300. Pricing also remains soft, with many airplanes selling at an average 20% less than their 2000 peaks.
Next month the European Commission's (EC) competition directorate expects to make its long-awaited decision on whether the financial support provided Ryanair by Brussels South Charleroi Airport is an illegal subsidy. An "illegal" decision promises to engender dramatic service changes as well as strong industry protests. Multiple European city pairs could be terminated.
CompuScope 1220 was designed for ultrasonic testing, SONAR and LIDAR imaging system applications. The card combines 12-bit resolution with a range of externally clocked sampling rates required for tightly integrated systems. The system addresses the need for a digitizer that is capable of being externally clocked at frequencies as high as 20 MHz. and as low as a few kilohertz. The CompuScope 1220 provides two input channels, 12-bit vertical resolution, 20-MS/s simultaneous sampling rate, 10-MHz. bandwidth on most input ranges, external triggering and external clocking.
More signs are emerging that commercial aftermarket demand is improving as air traffic demand recovers and airlines are able to justify increased flying hours.
The Spring-Line stainless steel ATX shields are designed to provide shielding against EMI leakage through the multiple back panel I/O connector ports typical of ATX form factor motherboards. They install via integral clips into chassis configured to ATX specifications, and the company offers a range of configurations to accommodate different aperture layouts. The ATX shields are stamped from 0.010-in. stainless steel to fit standard Intel ATX specifications, and custom designs are available. The shields are high-speed tooled in 1/2 hard temper stainless steel.
Hit by severe budget constraints and evolving threats, Germany plans to go forward with planned cuts in operations, especially for air force units, but confirmed it would not pare back on previous procurement commitments.
Already operating with little schedule margin as it rushes to field its national missile defense system in the late summer, Pentagon officials encountered a setback in the first hardware test of the year. The Jan. 9 first flight test of Lockheed Martin's ground-based interceptor was a success, but the mock payload didn't separate. Although not a primary test objective, the failure of the mass emulator to separate is more critical than the performance of the Lockheed Martin booster. The Pentagon decided to use an Orbital Sciences Corp.
The Air Force's consistent preference for tactical combat aircraft continues to weigh against the entire concept of the manned strategic bomber. New bomber development programs are nowhere in sight, and even the existing fleet is under budgetary pressure. Nevertheless, the U.S. bomber fleet's continuing strong performance in recent overseas operations will go a long way toward strengthening the case for maintaining this capability.
Despite hopes for an imminent recovery, the world's air transport industry remains hobbled by slack demand and a changing business environment. Airline uncertainties and a difficult economic outlook also are complicating manufacturers' efforts to position themselves for the next market upturn. Traffic and yields remain below 2001 levels. The inactive jetliner fleet still hovers near 2,000 airplanes, more than 13% of the total fleet.
Oven No. 923 is an electrically heated, 500F Class 100 cleanroom cabinet oven that is used for drying precision parts in baskets. Workspace dimensions are 36 X 36 X 51 in. Heated horizontal airflow is provided to the workload through 30kw. power installed in Incoloy-sheathed tubular heating elements and a 1,500 CFM, 2hp. recirculating blower. The unit has two stainless steel high-temperature HEPA recirculating filters, and removable ductwork to expose the filters for inspection and replacement.
MD HELICOPTERS OFFICIALS SAID THE COMPANY'S GLOBAL FLEET of more than 240 NOTAR (no tail rotor) helicopters have accumulated 500,000 flight hr. These models include the MD Explorer, MD600N and MD520N. Chairman/CEO Henk Schaeken said the high-time NOTAR, an MD520N with more than 12,000 hr. of operation, has been flown by the Phoenix Police Dept. since October 1991.
OHB-System has demonstrated the high-power amplifier for SARLupe, a constellation of five German radar surveillance satellites to be deployed starting in early 2005. Tesat Spacecom of Backnang, Germany, conducted the demonstration on a ground test model. Meanwhile, Alcatel Space engineers in France are preparing to test the pulse generator. Final integration will take place in a new 800-sq.-meter (8,608-sq.-ft.) assembly hall in Bremen, Germany, where subsystems for the first flight model are already in production.
SCIENTISTS AT GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY have developed two new approaches that mimic a stereo speaker to move air to cool electronics. Synthetic jets (SynJets) use a diaphragm mounted in a cavity and vibrating at 100-200 Hz. to create pulses of turbulent air that can be directed at hot components. Traditional cooling uses metal heat sinks to conduct thermal energy away from the devices, where it's transferred to air circulated by fans.
A Joint University Program (JUP) sponsored by NASA Ames Research Center is providing grant money to students at Stanford University, UCLA and Berkeley. The grants serve as seed money for research on air traffic management issues of interest to NASA Ames, according to Leonard Tobias of the Ames Terminal Area Research Branch. Students are scheduled to present initial results of their work this week to NASA and the FAA.
Malcom Hot Air Systems' portable heat gun has passed the Mil-Std-810F explosive atmosphere test for N-Hexane and JP-5 aviation fuel, making it effective for various types of battle damage repair, according to the company. The MCH-100 battery-powered heat gun kit is designed for installing heat-shrinkable tubing and the soldering and welding of plastic parts in remote locations. It can be used in and around fueled aircraft, ships and other vehicles where N-Hexane and JP-5 jet fuel vapors are present.
Faced with post-Columbia criticism that its institutional "culture" contributed to the Feb. 1, 2003, space shuttle accident, NASA has set out to reform itself.
Robert Wall (Washington), David A. Fulghum (Washington)
A high-profile review of U.S. Army aviation plans is reaching its apex, with Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker slated to make key decisions on adjusting the service's modernization and force structure plans in the coming weeks.
The electrifying success of the Spirit Mars rover landing and Stardust comet intercept will form a powerful backdrop to the White House new space goal initiative. While Stardust is beginning a two-year trip back to Earth carrying 4-billion-year-old comet material, on Mars, Spirit's cameras are returning superb imagery from the surface of that planet.
Alitalia Cargo has selected Boeing and Aeronavali to convert three of the airline's Boeing MD-11 Combis to an all-cargo configuration. Boeing is to take care of the conversion drawings and technical plans, and will provide oversight of the work performed by Aeronavali at its Venice and Naples plants. Conversions are to start in October and include avionics upgrades as well as installation of ground proximity warning systems. The conversions will allow Alitalia to retire two in-service Boeing 747 cargo aircraft.
You can now register ONLINE for Aviation Week Events. Go to www.AviationNow.com/conferences or call Ryan Leeds at +1 (212) 904-3892/+1 (800) 240-7645 (U.S. and Canada Only) Mar. 8-9--European Transport Leaders Conference. Merrill Lynch Headquarters, London. Mar. 10-14--Toulouse Symposium. Toulouse (France) Congress Center. Mar. 25-26--Defense Budget Conference. Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel, Arlington, Va. Apr. 20-22--MRO USA/MRO Latin America/MRO Military. Cobb Galleria Centre, Atlanta.
About the size of Chicago, this city-state at the bottom of the Malay peninsula is beginning to fill up with airlines. Even as its government-backed powerhouse Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced it would start Tiger Airways late this year as a discount alternative to its own full-service offerings and those of its SilkAir regional subsidiary, ValuAir is sticking with its decision to begin services this summer.
Even if there are fewer U.S. forces in Europe, planners hope to compensate with advanced technology. U.S. Air Forces, Europe has just opened an around-the-clock air operations center that is being electronically linked to other AOCs around the world so decision makers in the U.S. and its allies can have a real-time, world-wide perspective. "In Europe, national boundaries are close together," Foglesong said.
