Rockwell Collins will supply its Flight Dynamics head-up guidance system for the Dassault Falcon 7X business jet, currently under development in France. Designated the 7X HGS, the system provides a wider field-of-view and allows takeoff with a Runway Visual Range (RVR) of 300 ft., as well as all-weather approach/landing in visibility as low as 600 ft. RVR. In addition, the HGS is fully integrated into the 7X's avionic package.
The U.S./German Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace), two small satellites (shown during testing) designed to give scientists a reading of the gravity component in several Earth-science measurements, is performing extremely well in its on-orbit commissioning phase and should begin to return unprecedented scientific results when calibration is completed next spring. Launched on Mar. 17, the two 950-lb.
Boeing has stepped outside its traditional commercial airplane circles to choose a new president for its China operations by selecting David Wang, the former chairman and CEO of GE China. He is succeeding Fred Howard, who is leaving the Beijing post after three years to become vice president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes under Senior Vice President Larry Dickenson, who heads Asia-Pacific sales.
Integrated air defense systems, particularly on the Russian-made SA-10 and SA-20 as well as the S-400, S-450 and other next-generation surface-to-air weapons, have linked communications so that each radar in a complex can take a quick look for targets and then shut down before it can be attacked by U.S. aircraft. Each "blink" is then integrated with those from other radars to form a complete air picture and show operators where to fire their antiaircraft missiles.
International Space Station crewmembers are using the facility's optically pure window and hand-held cameras to take spectacular and scientifically significant pictures of Earth terrain features and phenomena. Used in connection with unmanned Earth resources spacecraft, the ISS camera capability provides an important new tool for Earth science studies.
The U.S. Senate passed landmark legislation last week establishing the Homeland Security Dept. out of 22 agencies by a vote of 90-9 after the Democrats tried unsuccessfully to roll back some Republican amendments that they said catered to special interests. Legislative experts described the bill, which President Bush says he looks forward to signing, as the most significant government reorganization since the creation of the Defense Dept. in 1947. But the bill raises as many questions as it answers.
was cleared for launch on Nov. 22 to the International Space Station after NASA decided to delay launch beyond Nov. 18 for further study into the leak of a gaseous oxygen line that forced a countdown scrub on Nov. 11 and subsequent damage to the orbiter's carbon fiber manipulator arm. The arm was struck by a work platform being used to reach the leaking line (AW&ST Nov. 18, p. 45). Weather at the shuttle's transatlantic abort landing (TAL) sites was a concern. However, if the Nov.
Weak demand for new business jets is exerting a significant drag on Bombardier Inc.'s financial performance. Still, the Canadian aerospace company managed to reverse a sizable year-earlier loss and to post fiscal third-quarter income of U.S. $131.7 million.
Although aft-facing seats in passenger aircraft can provide greater protection to occupants during impact than forward-facing seats, they present a serious safety issue. Even in a survivable crash, heavy articles in the overhead bins and even the bins themselves, may break free and fly forward. Since passengers in aft-facing seats are sitting upright, this debris would hit them in their heads, causing severe injury or death. In forward-facing seats, occu- pants would be in the bent-forward brace position.
Despite threats posed to the region's vast tourism business by terrorism in Indonesia, there's more reason for optimism now than a year ago when Asia was reeling from the aftershocks of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., according to the Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines.
Has anyone who is against rear-facing seats ever flown in one? I flew many times in Royal Air Force transports that had rear-facing seats and felt very safe. Apart from the slightly unfamiliar feeling at takeoff, the rest of the flight is no different. On landing, instead of being thrown forward, you are pressed back into the seat. In an emergency landing, instead of "head down between your knees and hands on head," it's "press back into the seat." Bob Hook Preston, England
Raytheon has delivered the first Track Illuminator Laser (TILL) for installation in the Air Forces' YAL-1A airborne laser designed for boost-phase ballistic missile defense. It is the first diode-pumped, solid-state YAL laser qualified for flight on a military aircraft. The TILL will be integrated with beam transfer optics for an end-to-end test of the system's beam and fire control system.
The U.S. Navy announced plans last week to award a sole source contract to Alliant Techsystems for development of the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile. The deal includes an option to integrate the Quick Bolt feature that was demonstrated on Nov. 15. Two more tests are planned for next spring. Quick Bolt provides the anti-radiation missile with an encrypted battle damage indication transmitter and a signals intelligence cue to improve targeting.
I read with horror Aaron J. Penkacik's comment that a small radio-frequency weapon would be suitable to take out an air defense system that's on top of a hospital (AW&ST Oct. 28, p. 60). So apparently destroying a hospital with a bomb is unacceptable, but the chance of rendering all electrical equipment unusable is OK? Any weapon that fried respirators, X-rays, incubators and all other equipment in an hospital would be just as destructive as a bomb. And so we get to try out these weapons on Iraq to perfect them to inflict the least collateral damage?
A group of parliamentarians has issued a report asking European governments to block a potential takeover of satellite operators Eutelsat and Inmarsat by U.S. companies, and to make military functions a clear part of Europe's space policy. Meeting in London on Nov. 12-14, the European Interparliamentary Space Conference (known by its French initials CIEE) said European satellite operators, in particular Eutelsat, represent "a strategic activity" and should be prevented from "being controlled by non-European private interests."
Robert Sturgell is among four people to receive new high-level appointments at the FAA, all of whom served with the new administrator, Marion Blakey, when she was chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Sturgell has been named senior counsel and David Mandell chief of staff to Blakey. Greg Martin has become assistant administrator for public affairs and David Balloff assistant administrator for government and industry affairs. Sturgell was primary adviser and coordinator at the NTSB on its recommendations, policy programs and other safety initiatives.
The most visually striking aspects of an upgraded RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft are its four huge new engines. The replacement CFM 56-2B-1s have impressed aircrews with hot day performance, a major improvement given the escalating demand for operations in the Middle East and the increasing weight of signals-intelligence-gathering payloads.
Eurofighter Development Aircraft DA6 crashed on Nov. 21 during a test flight from Getafe, Spain. Both crew- members ejected safely. DA6 was the first two-seat Eurofighter to fly, in August 1996, and had been used for hot-and-high and environmental elements of the flight test program, as well as for airframe and avionics performance. The crash occurred 70 mi. from Madrid during what Eurofighter called a "routine test flight." The aircraft was flown by EADS-CASA chief test pilot Eduardo Cuadrado with Spanish air force pilot Ignacio Lombo on board.
As part of its strategy to convert four Trident submarines into conventional missile shooters, in January the Navy wants to demonstrate the versatility of the new construct and show the ability of the vessel to operate with unmanned aircraft and fire multiple Tomahawk cruise missiles from its ballistic-missile launch tubes. During Giant Shadow, the USS Florida is to connect with a land-based UAV and operate with P-3s that are to provide reconnaissance and communications for a special operations Seal team that is inserted from the submarine, says Vice Adm.
International Space Station managers at the European Space Agency have hired a Brussels-based marketing consultant to help boost interest in commercial activities on ISS. Ogilvy Brand Relations will help ESA get the word out about commercial opportunities in Europe's planned Columbus laboratory and "develop the station's brand image" in Europe.
"STRAINED SILICON," A NEW FORM of a fundamental semiconductor material, could lead to faster operating speeds for chips and to nanosecond transistors fabricated using essentially conventional techniques. Researchers from 10 companies will present papers describing some possibilities for the new material at the International Electron Devices Meeting in San Francisco on Dec. 8-11. In one, Intel Corp.
Washington-based Senior Military Editor David A. Fulghum (left), the only journalist to have flown on board the RC-135 Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft, was invited for a second flight this fall on the newly upgraded aircraft from L-3's facility in Greenville, Tex. He chats after the flight with U.S. Air Force hosts, who included (from second left): Maj. Erik H. Eckblad, Chief Master Sgt. Joseph J. Federation, Master Sgt. Mark S. Walters, Maj. Thomas W. Nicholson and Lt. Col. Christopher A. Cook--commander of the Det.
Let's hope the recently completed final report of the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry does not meet the same fate as have myriad other blue-ribbon commissions in Washington. Many end up having short legs and residing on dusty shelves or in long-forgotten file cabinets. That would be an affront to the very capable panel of 12 commissioners and the staff who spent a year working on this effort. It also would border on negligence to ignore the many specific recommendations.
