The aerospace and defense industry is just beginning to adopt customer relationship management (CRM) software to automate support of its products and gain more control of the profitable aftermarket revenue stream.
Boeing may be able to demonstrate in less than two years that an F-15E, or similar two-seat strike design, could function as a mothership for fast, unmanned, stealthy aircraft sent ahead of strike aircraft to locate air defenses or verify the location of time-sensitive targets.
Angela Robinson has been named human resources manager and Dan Bailey avionics sales manager for Western Aircraft Inc., Boise, Idaho. Robinson was a human resources consultant, while Bailey was avionics sales and service manager for Berry Aviation, San Marcos, Tex.
Declaring "the damage already has been done," some airline industry observers last week expressed disdain for Delta's recent decision to stop funding bankruptcy-proof pensions for top executives, and predicted the special trusts will greatly complicate the carrier's efforts to obtain wage concessions from pilots.
To improve the resistance of combat aircraft to electro-magnetic interference (EMI), a brute force fly-by-light system impervious to large spikes of electrical energy is under development. The fly-by-light technology also cuts the weight of flight control systems, a critical factor in reducing the weight of unmanned aircraft, according to Oved Zucker, director of solid-state technologies for Advanced Technologies, a newly acquired business activity of BAE Systems Information & Electronic Warfare Systems.
Honeywell has signed an agreement to provide the U.S. Navy with an aircraft integrated maintenance system for the Naval Air Systems Command CH-46E helicopter, deployed by the U.S. Marine Corps. Production for the four-year $15- million contract will be conducted at Honeywell's Chadwick facility in California. The system performs vibration analysis, rotor track and balance, engine setup and engine monitoring functions.
Down But Not Out U.S. airlines canceled more than 1,200 flights following the blackout in parts of the U.S. and Canada last week while Air Canada was forced to drop most of its 700 flights on Friday, Aug. 15, alone owing to unreliable power at its operations center.
EXPANSION PLANS In October, Air-India is scheduled to dry-lease two Boeing 747-400s and two Airbus A310s as part of an expansion that includes doubling its capacity to 20 flights a week to the U.S. by December. The 747s would serve Newark, N.J. Service would be reintroduced to Chicago via Frankfurt, and expansion targets include the carrier's first service to China. In related news, India Airlines, the country's state-owned domestic carrier, also is expanding. In December the airline plans to lease five Airbus A310s.
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The Museum of Flight opens its Birth of Aviation exhibition in Seattle Aug. 23 as part of the nation's centennial of flight honors. Besides historical exhibits from the Boeing and Douglas aircraft lines (including the Red Barn where Boeing started), the exhibit will include the Museum's extensive collection of Wright Brothers documents.
Mary L. Leopold has been appointed controller of the tactical systems unit of Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems, Eagan, Minn. She will continue as director of pricing.
Navy and Air Force versions of Northrop Grumman's unmanned combat air vehicle design operating in their initial, specialized roles are depicted. The Navy aircraft are locating, identifying and determining coordinates of targets. The Air Force's strike variant is unloosing its missiles to destroy the designated threat. Some industry and Pentagon planners believe UCAVs will eventually carry interchangeable or mixed payloads of reconnaissance sensors and weapons. Kent Rump is a graphic illustrator for Northrop Grumman.
The "PropLock" is designed to help prevent theft of small aircraft. About the size of a clock radio, the unit clamps onto the propeller base close to the airplane spinner. Cranking the motor throws the propeller out of balance, which creates severe vibration and prevents takeoff. The Zshaped manganese device transforms into an elongated egg shape as the locking cylinder moves into the upper part of the mechanism, where it is protected from being drilled out. The arms are coated with a polyurethane epoxy to prevent scratches to the propeller.
ROCKETS INTERRUPTED Arianespace has rescheduled the Kourou launch of an Ariane 5 with three payloads for Sept. 3 after Indian space managers asked that the mission be delayed from its original Aug. 28-29 target. The Indians needed the extra time to verify that no problems exist with the Insat-3E satcom that will share the payload shroud with the Eutelsat E-Bird satcom and the European Space Agency Smart-1 lunar mission. Boeing and the U.S. Air Force have also settled on Aug.
The Pentagon office in charge of developing an unmanned combat air vehicle for the Air Force and Navy won't be established until Oct. 1, but military and aerospace industry officials are already worried about delays in building demonstrator aircraft and integrating an important new directed-energy weapon.
Ivor J. (Ike) Evans has been appointed to the board of directors of Textron Inc., Providence, R.I. He is president/chief operating officer of Union Pacific Railroad.
Robert Wall's Tanker Turbulence (AW&ST July 21, p. 29) sharpens the edges on financial issues surrounding the Air Force proposal for leasing Boeing 767s to begin to replace the KC-135 aerial refueling fleet, but misses totally the strategic rationale for this initiative. U.S. defense strategy and military force structure--land, sea and air--are built upon the rarely recognized foundation of the availability of a large, reliable fleet of aerial tanker aircraft.
Lawrence Preston has become controller and Elizabeth Lozada manager of corporate accounting for Miami-based Astar Air Cargo Inc. Preston has been managing director/regional controller for the Latin America and Caribbean for the Federal Express Corp. Lozada was controller of Miami-based Arrow Air Inc.
CALLING ALL PILOTS The airlines are hiring. America West hired 12 pilots in July and American Trans Air signed up 14, according to FLTops.com, an Atlanta-based job counseling service. Frontier Airlines has been hiring for a September class and Trans States is accepting resumes. Mesa Airlines plans to develop a pilot pool and begin hiring after 100 pilots at its CC Air division have been added to the seniority list. USA3000 is interviewing candidates this month and next for October and November training classes.
An eight-page capabilities brochure presents an overview of the lean transformation journey and benefits attained by pursuing lean processes. Services offered by the two organizations presenting the brochure are highlighted. The organizations are experienced in the principles and practices of lean manufacturing, organizational development, human resource development, lean curriculum and transformation services. Industries served include aerospace, manufacturing and technology. Lean Learning Center, 40028 Grand River, Suite 300, Novi, Mich. 48375.
THAT'S NOT FUNNY! Philippe Riviere, a first officer with Air France, faces felony charges in the U.S. for transgressing the no-comment rule and allegedly telling a Transportation Security Agency (TSA) agent security screener that he carried a hidden bomb in his shoe. Riviere was immediately arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and the 11 p.m. New York-Paris flight with 350 passengers was canceled. Riviere, who later returned to France, faces up to seven years in prison if convicted--a prospect that has shocked Europeans.
I read your article about the alarms expressed by the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. over a recent series of runway incursions by general aviation aircraft operating at Chicago O'Hare (AW&ST July 28, p. 44). It would seem to me the ideal solution to this problem would be to construct a small, general aviation airport on a man-made piece of land in Lake Michigan immediately abeam downtown Chicago. Oh wait! Never mind.
Patrick Ford (AW&ST June 16, p. 12) suggests that the F-15E should be upgraded and the F/A-22 dumped. He is probably correct that an Eagle upgrade would result in "a substantial cost savings" over the Raptor. With the Pratt &Whitney PW-119 engine, it might even "super cruise" like the -22. Also the avionics could be upgraded to 2003 standards, but one thing it will never have is "stealth." If the anti- F-22 crowd took the blinders off they would recognize that the Raptor is really a replacement for the F-117.
SEA LAUNCH LOFTS KA The first commercial platform carrying Ka-band spot beam technology for broadband applications has been placed into orbit by a Zenit-3SL launcher using a block DM-SL upper stage (see photo). The spacecraft, which also carries Ku- and C-band transponders, will jointly serve EchoStar Communications (as Echostar IX) and Intelsat Ltd. (as Telstar 13). The Aug. 7 launch was the 10th from Sea Launch's floating Odyssey platform and the second in less than two months.
Drawing on engineers with one foot in the model airplane world and the other in Silicon Valley, NASA Ames Research Center and Clark University have established the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Applications Center. Housed in the former Aeronautical Building that was built in 1933 to serve airships, the center is focused on developing sensor and nanotechnology for UAVs, but at its dedication last week, the talk was much more general: how to extend the use of UAVs for civilian applications.
