A careful examination of the U.S. airline industry leads to the sober conclusion that its current plight is substantially worse than in the early 1990s, and that its condition is likely to get worse before it gets better.
CMC Electronics has won a contract from Britain's Marshall Aerospace to provide GPS-based flight management systems for three C-130 aircraft to be upgraded by Marshall for the Austrian air force.
Embedded systems and their development tools come in a wide range of flavors, and Wind River Systems is trying to standardize and simplify the development environment with its new Platform AD product. Embedded systems are dedicated computers typically performing real-time functions with near-instant startup. Wind River is the leading provider of real-time operating systems and development environments for embedded systems, and 20-25% of its business is from aerospace and defense (A&D) customers.
Britain's major airports face industrial action from late November through December, with firefighters threatening to strike. Should the series of one-day strikes proceed, the affected airports would likely be closed.
U.S. high schools previously had a balanced emphasis on teaching technical subjects--basic electronics, radio and television repair, and basic automotive mech- anics. Many of these programs have been discontinued with the idea that students can pursue them in technical colleges. While this reasoning sounds good, these new educators are overlooking the fact that motivation, as you brought out in your editorial, is an important driving force.
Beauty may prove to be only skin deep once Honeywell's Structural Anomaly Mapping (SAM) is unleashed on the business jet market, for SAM can see through the gloss to flaws within, discovering cracks and corrosion in metal, and debonding and delamination in composites--flaws that quietly lurk in wait of a structural failure. SAM is, in effect, the first CAT scan for business jets. Its robotic sensors can inspect and diagnose an airplane overnight, without taking it out of regular service.
Phillip K. Heacock has been named vice president-space and mission support programs for Harris Technical Services Corp. of Colorado Springs. He was head of the company's Western U.S. region.
Joseph Cipriano has been named vice president-advanced solutions for the Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md. He was head of development for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Intranet program and other Defense Dept. enterprise-wide applications.
The Universal 60 charger/analyzer for aircraft battery maintenance is designed for in-house servicing of all vented NiCad and vented/sealed lead-acid batteries. It features several servicing functions (constant potential charge, constant current charge and constant current discharge), digital current settings and labeled indicators. It allows for charging of all main aircraft batteries, 60A charge and discharge, and on-site self-calibration without disassembly. Features include digital voltmeters and ammeters and single-cell charging capability. Christie, Div.
This line of protective cases, called Storm Case, incorporates a proprietary latch design to prevent bruised knuckles. The cases are designed for aviation equipment and range from briefcase sizes up to standard shipping-case size. They incorporate press-and-pull latches that won't pop open when the case is dropped. Available in 10 sizes, Storm Cases are watertight, dent-resistant and shatter-resistant; they are constructed of the company's HPX resin, and are guaranteed for life.
As the House approved creation of a Homeland Security Dept. and the Senate moved to follow suit, the aviation industry found a couple of things to like. Not only did the House vote to extend Transportation Dept. third-party terrorism insurance for airlines through next Aug. 31 (at least) or Dec. 31 (at the administration's discretion), it also broadened coverage to include hull losses, passengers and crewmembers.
WORLD NEWS ROUNDUP European travel giant to set up venture in China Germany's TUI in move to overcome sluggish growth at home 24 WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS Aerospace bids for help at home and abroad Problems turn horizontal, government stays vertical; panel wants major executive branch presence 28 Recommendations run gamut Among them is government commitment to facilitating private investment in the aerospace sector 29 Europeans embark on massive R&D effort
Airbus Industrie 20 Aviation Week & Space Technology Aerospace Source Book 2003 11** Aviation Week Conferences & Exhibitions MRO Asia 31 & Card AviationNow.com/oic Online Information Center 3 BAE Systems 42-43 Breitling 41 EADS North America 11* Eurocopter 18 GE Aircraft Engines 2nd Cover HydraElectric Co. 3 Lockheed Martin 26, 49, 4th Cover Messier-Dowty 7 Montreal International 13 OCLI 58 Oracle Corp. 15
Honeywell Aerospace President/CEO Robert D. Johnson, speaking recently before the Society of Automotive Engineers World Aviation Congress, called for the technical community to lead the effort to improve efficiency and viability of the air transportation system. He said the aerospace business needs to take a number of actions to revitalize the industry. "If we fail to do so, we will be having this conversation again when the next downturn happens in about 2013," Johnson said.
The U.S. government is offering Advanced Block 52 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D fighters to the Polish government's tender for 48 multirole aircraft for the Polish air force. Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engines would power the F-16s. The aircraft would be equipped with the APG-68(V)9 radar for ground imaging and day/night weapons delivery, as well as the ALQ211(V)4 electronic warfare suite for countermeasures.
Inspired by the European Court of Justice's recent decision vetoing national bilateral agreements, Virgin Atlantic Airways CEO Sir Richard Branson vows he'll do "what it takes" to start up a low-cost airline in the U.S. Stirring up the competition in America would lower airfares and "benefit everyone," just as it had when his low-fare carrier Virgin Blue debuted in Australia, said Branson on a recent visit to New York.
The U.S. Aerospace Commission wants wholesale changes in the way the government deals with aerospace issues and an invigorated defense of American industry in what the commission portrays as an increasingly tilted international playing field. The final report of the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry, being issued today after a year of fact-finding and deliberations, contains more or less predictable proposals for financial and other support for the industry (see box). But it also advocates:
The company has redesigned, improved and expanded its line of mobile maintenance and repair shop products called RollaBench. The product is equipped with a wheel system that provides a pushing or pulling effort of less than 8 lb. for each 2,000 lb. of gross vehicle weight. That makes it practical to move 2,000 lb. or more of tools, equipment, parts and supplies directly to the job site. A primary role of the RollaBench is for maintenance and repair of most types of production equipment in different types of factories.
U.S. Air Force officials are scrambling to determine how big a financial mess the F/A-22 program is, with the prospect of a massive cost increase hanging over the development program.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's idea for a Total Information Awareness (TIA) system is stirring up a hornet's nest. It is one of 15 projects at Darpa's "information awareness office" aimed at using information technology to prevent and preempt terrorist attacks. The gist of TIA is to use signal processing similar to that used in anti-submarine warfare to ferret out the signature of terrorist transactions in cyberspace.
Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems has delivered the NSS-6 multimedia communications satellite to Kourou, French Guiana, for an Ariane launch early next month. The spacecraft carries 60 high-power Ku-band transponders that can be assigned in orbit to any of six spot beams covering the territory between the Eastern Mediterranean and Southern Africa to Australia, Japan and the Korean peninsula. It also has 12 Ka-band uplinks for interactive Internet access. New Skies Satellites, based in The Hague, owns the satellite.
Bombardier Aerospace has chosen Goodrich Hella Aerospace Lighting Systems' LED technology for the internal and external lighting on its Global 5000 intercontinental business jet. Deliveries of the lighting system are scheduled to begin early next year.
Steven Weinert has become division maintenance manager for flight services for the Keystone Helicopter Corp., West Chester, Pa. He was president of the Flite Tech Consulting Group, Vancouver, Wash.
As a result of Germany's reluctance to commit to earlier plans to procure 73 Airbus A400M airlifters, program go-ahead is now expected to be delayed until 2003. Service entry date would further slip to 2009. German Defense Minister Peter Struck is scheduled to submit an updated procurement plan by the end of the month. If Germany reduces its A400M order, he said, the aircraft price would remain unchanged--a key concern for other participating countries.
Raytheon has received a one-year, $74-million option on its Live Training Program from the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation, to continue providing life-cycle contractor support for tactical engagement, instrumentation and range training devices and systems. The award is the fourth of seven one-year options under an eight-year $414-million contract awarded in 1999.
