Sean O'Keefe gets a chance to put his full imprimatur on NASA next month when the first budget drafted completely under his supervision goes to Capitol Hill. O'Keefe had only been administrator for a month when the Fiscal 2003 budget was submitted a year ago, and most of the work had already been done. But the Fiscal 2004 document will flesh out the approach he has taken since.
The Army is quickly fielding helicopter upgrades for use in a looming military confrontation with Iraq, but there are clear signs that long-term winners in the service's perennial budget battles are the Army's special operations forces and unmanned aircraft.
Hawaiian Airlines started nonstop service between Honolulu and Las Vegas last week with Boeing 767-300ER equipment. Between June 13 and Aug. 31, the carrier will operate daily flights between the city pairs, while the rest of the year will be serviced with three-day weekly flights. Previously, the flights were operated with stops in Ontario, California.
The company says this is the first aircraft cabin floor mat preheater. Utilized as a self-regulating heating element that can be laminated between two layers of silicon into a floor mat, the design gives two floor mats the ability to produce 600 watts of heat--enough to raise the temperature of a small plane 40 deg. above outside temperature. Tests conducted utilizing 110V power showed that the self-regulating heating element was able to produce sufficient heat while not offering a fire potential if maps or other combustible materials were left on the cabin floor.
A wireless hand-held remote load positioning control system was approved by NASA for use with the Hydra Set Precision Load Positioner. The system provides a remote means for controlling the mating or demating of loads up to 250 tons. The Hydra Set Load Positioner, placed between the load and the crane or hoist, can now be remotely operated to position critical loads to within 0.001 in. The hand-held control permits wireless operation with instant data feedback of load weight, linear travel, rate of travel, weight deviation, battery status and other conditions.
German state authorities are putting together proposals aimed at bolstering security at the country's hundreds of general aviation airfields, following the hijacking of a single-engine aircraft near Frankfurt.
L-3 Communications Space & Navigation Div. will retrofit electronics assembly for the Space Shuttle's solid rocket booster. Initially worth $22 million, the contract includes follow-on awards that could increase its value up to $27 million.
Boeing delivered 381 commercial aircraft--one more than forecast--in 2002, including 86 in the fourth quarter. The company's updated 737 family led the list with 223 deliveries, including two under operating lease, three for military C-40 transports and one for the Royal Australian Air Force's Wedgetail airborne early warning and control system contract. There were 20 717s, 27 747-400s, 29 757s, 35 767s and 47 777s. Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems military programs delivered 98 aircraft, with F/A-18E/Fs accounting for 40 of them.
UK aerospace engineering specialist Cobham plc last week announced three acquisitions: BAE Systems LPC business unit which specializes in communications for land platforms, the applied composites division of Saab, and Drager Aerospace. The last is subject to regulatory approval.
The Air Transport Assn. elected James C. May to succeed Carol B. Hallett as president and CEO. May takes over leadership of the association on Feb. 3, when Hallett retires. He comes to ATA from the National Assn. of Broadcasters, where he was executive vice president since 1988. Previously, he held other senior executive positions in public affairs and government relations at major corporations.
Performing well during the next couple of months of testing could do more than just save the V-22, it could speed the fielding of the special operations CV-22. "If we find that the airframes are what we wanted and they're going to be viable, then the question will be is there some way that we can begin to accelerate use of those aircraft," said a senior Pentagon official.
Military officers charged with conducting a war with Iraq, if it occurs, will get far more assistance and information from U.S. space forces than their predecessors did during the 1991 Persian Gulf war. And in any future conflicts, milspace forces may bring even more firepower to the fight, such as quick-response conventional versions of today's Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
The third pre-production AB139 helicopter has arrived in the U.S. for certification of the Honeywell EPIC avionics suite. The tests will be conducted at Honeywell's facilities in Phoenix. Tim Brookman, executive marketing director for the Bell/Agusta Aerospace Co. that is developing the aircraft, said plans call for the AB139 to achieve Italian certification this summer followed by FAA approval. Initial certification will include single-/dual-pilot IFR using the EPIC suite with a 3-axis automatic flight controls system (AFCS).
The Model 84 disk-based telemetry recording system allows transfers of a single stream of digital PCM instrumentation data plus IRIG A, B and G, and an auxiliary analog channel. The unit records up to 288 gigabytes of instrumentation data to internal disk drives, or up to 9terabytes to an external RAID. The Model 84 was created to provide customers a transition from legacy rotary or longitudinal tape recorders to disk-based recorders that utilize advances in computer and networking technology.
A Turkish Airlines Avro RJ100 crashed Jan. 8 during an attempted landing in fog at the southeastern city of Diryarbakir, killing 72 people. Five injured survivors were evacuated to the local hospital according to the Associated Press. The plane was en route to the town from Istanbul, which is more than 600 mi. away.
As aerospace and defense companies begin reporting fourth-quarter results next week, expect to see a continuation of the pattern of the last year or so: generally favorable numbers from military contractors and generally dismal results from commercial aviation suppliers. No less important to investors will be companies' cash flow and earnings guidance for the next four quarters.
Modeling and simulation capabilities designed to improve operation of space vehicles and platforms, as well as to understand the flow of gases over aircraft, were key attributes of two software programs selected by NASA to share its 2002 Software of the Year Award.
These 1.250 Gigabit per second (Gbps.) and 1.485 Gbps. Copperhead transformers for point-to-point coupling and transceiver modules for buffered short- and long-haul applications are ruggedized to military standards and are used in satellites, military aircraft, UAVs and tactical ground communications systems. Applications include high-speed video transmission, fiber channel over copper, and Gigabit Ethernet.
Production of the Global Hawk UAV should be assured through 2011, now that Pentagon officials have approved an Air Force scheme to slash the price of the surveillance aircraft and extend its capabilities, but the hopes that some of the purchases would be accelerated were dashed.
At the dawn of the jet age, a small group of test pilots, engineers, technicians and maintenance troops secretly evaluated the Bell XP-59A, America's first military jet, at the remote Materiel Center Test Site in Southern California. This windswept, dusty camp, on the edge of what is now Rogers Dry Lake, eventually would become the secretive North Base section of Edwards Air Force Base, home of today's U.S. Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC).
The U.S. Transportation Dept.'s November 2002 Air Travel Consumer Report shows the 10 largest U.S. carriers posted an 85.2% on-time arrival record, compared with October's 84.2% and November 2001's 84.7%. US Airways had the best on-time arrivals rate, at 88.7%, followed by United at 87.9%, and American at 87.6%. American Eagle Airlines ranked lowest in on-time performance for the month, at 79.3%.
Honeywell has purchased Baker Electronics Inc., a supplier of audio systems, liquid flat-panel displays and other cockpit electronics. Honeywell will use the acquisition to help provide business-jet manufacturers and operators with completely integrated cabin management systems. The business will continue to be located in Sarasota, Fla.
