Regarding the survey conducted by Richard Branson. I am an aerospace engineer and a former pilot, so am familiar with the low risks involved in twin-engine flight and the analysis. Nonetheless, over large bodies of water, I prefer four-engine Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747s to twin-engine alternatives and fly Virgin between Boston and London for that reason.
China is testing a subscale model of a complex computer-controlled robotic manipulator arm system that could be used on a future Chinese space station. The development is another indication of the depth of work being undertaken by the Chinese on manned space developments. With two booms making up its arm, the manipulator has a total of nine joints--including shoulder, elbow and wrist--and 14 pairs of sensors to control the software that directs joint movement.
A European technology program dubbed Aircraft Wing with Advanced Technology Operations (Awiator) is expected to significantly advance studies on airflow control, wake vortices and aeroelasticity.
With the threat from shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles against aircraft growing, Defense Dept. researchers are mulling the possibility of establishing a program to equip fighters and possibly even commercial airliners with a podded laser infrared countermeasures device.
Mar. 10-11--European Transport Leaders Conference. Landmark Hotel, London. Mar. 12-13--Toulouse Symposium. Toulouse (France) Congress Center. Mar. 27-28--Defense Budget Conference. Holiday Inn, Rosslyn, Va. Apr. 15-17--MRO 2003 & MRO Latin America. Broward County Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. May 6-8--Aerospace Defense & Finance Conference. Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York. May 14-16--Homeland Security Summit & Exposition. Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington, Va.
France's SNPE has completed the spinoff of its propulsion and munitions businesses into a wholly owned subsidiary, easing the way for a long-awaited consolidation of Europe's space and missile propulsion sector. Creation of the affiliate, called SME, had been stalled by valuation problems and the long shutdown of SNPE's perchlorate production facility in Toulouse, France, following a nearby explosion there in September 2001. Snecma hived off its solid propulsion activity into a subsidiary, SPS, in February 2002.
To broaden its business base for defense and intelligence work, Boeing will buy Conquest Inc., of Annapolis Junction, Md.--specialists in enterprise architecture, systems engineering and software technology that are useful in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) activities. Acquisition of the unit, which has contracts valued at $250 million for the next three years, is to be completed by the close of the third quarter. Terms were not disclosed.
Michael Cawley, who has been chief financial officer of Ryanair Holdings, has been appointed chief operating officer/ deputy chief executive. He has been succeeded as CFO by Howard Millar, who was director of finance and also will be a deputy chief executive.
BAE Systems and Hispano-Suiza have formed Fadec International--a joint venture to produce full authority digital engine controls for large commercial jet engines. The two companies separately have provided Fadecs for the CFM56, GE CF680 and GE90-series engines.
The suite of HOBO Weather Station smart sensors now includes a 12-bit temperature sensor. It provides ±0.2C total accuracy and resolution of ±0.03C over a range of 0-50C. The sensor is available with cable lengths of two, six and 17 meters. The HOBO Weather Station can be user-configured with a combination of up to 15 channels of sensor inputs, and can log more than 500,000 measurements. Powered for one year on four AA batteries, the station eliminates the need for solar panels and battery packs. Onset Computer Corp., 470 MacArthur Blvd., Bourne, Mass. 02532.
The U.S. aerospace industry is in a slump due to the precipitous drop in civil aircraft sales and commercial space activity, but the military sector is picking up some of the slack as industry leaders and analysts look for civil aviation to recover starting in 2005.
Spirent Systems reports winning the first fleet-wide contract for the use of computer-aided debrief systems (CADS). The $2.3-million contract extends through 2004 and was awarded by the Commander, Naval Air Force for the U.S. Pacific Fleet (CNAP). CADS is a before-and-after computer-aided training/debriefing system based on digital recording and playbacks. Pilots use it before stepping into a flight simulator to review what the session will cover, and run it afterward as a debriefing tool.
New carriers and some members of the establishment are ready to challenge an article of faith among Asian airlines--that there's no yen for low-cost carriers in a region where high-class service and rich inflight amenities are taken for granted. But Singapore Airlines' Chairman Koh Boon Hwee cautioned the faithful in a recent edition of the internal magazine of that airline, whose Singapore Girl epitomizes high-class service.
The Pentagon has awarded Lockheed Martin a $341-million contract to buy 88 Patriot PAC-3 ballistic missile defense interceptors. The Pentagon earlier decided to accelerate interceptor purchases to increase the limited inventory for its only deployed theater ballistic missile defense system.
U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin officials are trying to understand and adjust to the Pentagon's $876-million restructuring of the F/A-22 program that at first blush would reduce total production by as many as 63 aircraft--to as few as 276 from the original 339 stealthy fighters requested by the service.
The Air Force/Navy Coriolis test satellite was placed into orbit from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on Jan. 6 after five scrubbed launches due to weather and technical problems.
Designed for mission-critical military uses requiring reliability and low power consumption in harsh environments, the CP321 low-power 3U CompactPCI processor board features Motorola's Kahlua II PowerPC processor. An extended temperature version uses passive cooling to provide operation from -40C to 85C; the processor draws 15% less current and provides 32% faster CPU performance and 33% faster memory performance than its predecessor. The processor, an integrated MPC8245, operates at up to 330MHz. The board can hold up to 256MB of soldered SDRAM at 133MHz.
Advantage Plus is an integrated radar scan converter and PC graphics card in a single-slot PCI form factor. The commercial off-the-shelf card is designed for applications in command and control consoles, vessel traffic display systems and radar head monitors. The card converts the radar data and combines the output with that from its onboard Silicon Motion Lynx 3DM+ graphics controller, which supports display resolutions up to 1280 X 1024 at 60Hz. Scan conversion is performed mainly in software running on the Motorola ColdFire processor.
The British Defense Ministry is to begin the call-up of an initial 1,500 armed forces reservists as a contingency against a possible war with Iraq. It also said last week it will bolster Naval Task Group 2003 with additional forces. Through a long-planned deployment, the task group will move to the gulf region if required. c
It's a fluke, but Delta Air Lines has become the first of the six big U.S. network airlines to report a month in which it carried more passenger traffic than it did in the same month prior to Sept. 11, 2001. The month is December, and the fluke arises from the 2002 calendar. Thanksgiving occurred later than usual last year, on Nov. 28, so two very big travel days, the Sunday and Monday after Thanksgiving, spilled over into December. This skewed comparisons with December 2000, which didn't benefit from a Thanksgiving boost.
The Hawkeye Blue line of precision borescopes have improved field of view (FOV) and direction of view (DOV) for applications in aircraft maintenance and parts manufacturing. Permitting rotation of the direction of view by 360 deg. in order to thoroughly scan and inspect machine parts, the scopes are available in diameters ranging from 1-8mm. and lengths up to 33 in. Applications include: inspecting turbine blades; inspecting combustion chambers; inspecting hydraulic valves, manifolds, cylinders and sleeves; and performing airframe inspections.
Late this month and into early February, the Air Force will perform three Global Hawk missions from Edwards AFB, Calif., to Ecuador to demonstrate the system's ability to aid in drug interdiction. Congress asked for and funded the demonstration to support the U.S. Southern Command that has responsibility for the region. The endurance UAV will carry its electro-optical/infrared payload, as well as a radar capable of air and maritime surveillance modes.
