To study the potential of microelectromechanical systems, the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has built what it says is the first facility for developing and testing MEMs in vacuum conditions. Researchers at SwRI found that MEMs operate in a vacuum differently than they operate in normal atmosphere: the voltages required for resonant operation are much lower and the energetic amplifications are much larger. The researchers found during testing that oscillators needed only one-tenth of the voltage normally required in air.
Your editorial on the looming aerospace and workforce crisis identified the symptom of a far greater problem. Unfortunately all the math and science programs or rah-rah sessions will not attract young people to this industry if no decent jobs await them.
When the legal fallout from United Airlines' Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing reached Denver International Airport (DEN), the ensuing uncertainty and indecision drew in Frontier Airlines as well. Here is how Frontier tells its story, in response to the FAA's request for comment on how airline bankruptcies affect airports:
Kenneth Wood has been appointed to the board of directors of Flight Safety Technologies Inc., Mystic, Conn. He is former president of Barringer Technologies.
CENTENNIAL C-130J Lockheed Martin delivered the 100th and 101st C-130Js to Italy's 46th Air Brigade in Pisa. It has five more deliveries in the 22-aircraft order. The company has received 179 orders for its latest update of the venerable transport.
The Zap Checker 270 is an RF-field detecting instrument that verifies and measures transmitted signals from aircraft comm/nav equipment, transponders and emergency wireless gear. A 60-dB. "log" mode enables plots of antenna radiation patterns. The "linear" mode is used to detect micro-cable leakage, RFI and crosstalk problems. The ZC 270 detects interference from cell phones and other electronic devices in the flight cabin. Spanning a 10-MHz. to 4.5-GHz. bandwidth, the ZC 270 measures to ambient levels of RF and detects weak signals that just exceed that baseline level.
Lockheed Martin will provide design and development work for the U.S. Navy's E-2C Hawkeye radar system in a $413.5-million agreement. The contract is part of the system development and demonstration phase of the U.S. Navy's Advanced Hawkeye program to replace the current AN/APS-145 airborne radar by 2010.
The judges for Aviation Week & Space Technology's Seventh Annual Technology Innovation Awards bring a wide variety of experiences in aerospace and defense. They are:
HELP WANTED Next month the U.S. Transportation Dept. plans to hire a consultant to develop an "evaluation model of passenger demand" covering how demand has changed in recent years, particularly with respect to different price levels. The department, which is seeking a contractor with access to data the government lacks, intends to issue a one-year, firm-fixed-price contract by Sept. 12, with options for two additional years.
INTAKE AND EXHAUST Textron Lycoming President/CEO Mike Wolf said recently that in the near future the company plans to make a series of "incremental internal improvements" to its existing line of piston engines for the general aviation market, instead of developing an entirely new powerplant.
BOEING'S RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER in Madrid, Spain, is leading an effort the company said will result in a fuel-cell powered electric airplane flight in late 2004 or early 2005. The plane will be a motorized glider--a modified version of the Austrian company Diamond's Katana Xtreme Motorglider, known as the Super Dimona in Europe. Sener, a Spanish engineering company, will develop the control system, and Advanced Technology Products of the U.S. will supply the motor, batteries and conduct the flight tests, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Under development today, the technologies selected as the recipients of Aviation Week's Technology Innovation Awards for 2004 are likely to pay dividends for years to come in new capabilities and improved efficiencies for aerospace manufacturing, aircraft maintenance and space exploration.
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) Sept. 16-18--MRO Europe, Cardiff, Wales. October--Network-Centric Conference. Washington. Oct. 28-30--A&D Programs & Productivity Conference & Exhibition. Arlington (Tex.) Convention Center. Nov. 11-13--MRO Asia Conference & Exhibition. Bangkok Intercontinental Hotel.
Faced with regulatory challenges at home and in Australia, stiff competition and a global aviation environment that is hardly conducive to profits, Air New Zealand is putting on a brave face.
Arc Second's "indoor GPS" system uses a series of infrared transmitters and receivers scattered throughout the manufacturing facility to make exacting measurements and alignments in aerospace manufacturing environments. It is designed to replace laser measurement systems that work one-to-one with a target.
Bombardier Challenger-300 received its European certification last week, following earlier approval by Transport Canada and the FAA. The first of the corporate jets is expected to enter service in December.
America West Airlines, which confounded much of the airline industry last year by adopting a simplified, low-price fare structure, will challenge the biggest network carriers this fall and winter with low-priced, business-oriented nonstop service in what are currently high-priced transcontinental markets. On Oct. 26, America West will launch service between Los Angeles International Airport and two East Coast points, New York Kennedy and Boston. Service between JFK and San Francisco will begin Dec. 19, and Boston-San Francisco will follow on Mar. 1, 2004.
A decision on Swiss International Air Lines' future strategy appears imminent, after the company's powerful administrative board urged management to accelerate its restructuring program designed to keep the struggling airline in business.
NOT KIDDING Current and former Capitol Hill staffers say the enmity between U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Air Force Sec. James Roche dates back to the years when Roche was working for powerful U.S. Sen. Henry (Scoop) Jackson (D-Wash.) and McCain was a Navy captain detailed as congressional liaison. Some Boeing officials hope that when Roche moves to Army secretary--a transfer McCain is blocking--the senator's opposition to the Boeing 767 tanker lease will disappear.
This line of flame-retardant expandable plastic sleeves can be applied to a range of military and commercial wire and cable protection requirements. The Protecto FPE expandable sleeve is a flexible, woven polyester that provides fire and abrasion protection for wires and cables. Featuring expansion up to three times its normal size, this self-fitting sleeve remains round for application over components and connectors. It operates up to 125C, and meets UL 224 VW-1/FR-1 flammability requirements.
Germany's economy last week was declared officially in recession, which would seem to suggest Lufthansa could be in for continued turbulence in the remainder of the year; its first half was absolutely awful, with a net loss that was substantially wider than in the same period in 2002 (see p. 38). But the worst may be over for the German flag carrier, thanks to tighter control of capacity and operating costs, and the outlook may be brighter than it might otherwise seem.
In a program valued at $1 billion over a 30-year life cycle, General Electric Aircraft Engines (GEAE) will provide CF680C2 powerplants for the C-X, Japan's tactical transport.
No doubt I was inspired to chose aviation as a career because aviation was in the news, in the theaters, on TV and on campus. Today the news is filled with murders, theaters show "terminators," TV is inundated with inane talk shows, and colleges are pushing brainless "basket weaving" courses to increase volume rather than promote quality. Both industry and government can do a great deal to reverse this trend by sponsoring aerospace-oriented films, TV programs and public school curriculum.
A seemingly innocuous FAA inquiry about the effect of airline bankruptcies on airports has touched off an airports-versus-airlines squabble like the two adversaries used to stage before Sept. 11, 2001.
