Textron Lycoming is introducing a number of initiatives aimed at resolving metallurgical anomalies for crankshafts installed in more than 1,000 IO-540-series, 300-hp. piston engines. On Oct. 23, officials of the Williamsport, Pa.-based company said a number of service bulletins addressing the problems have been issued to affected customers, detailing a recall program as well as plans for replacement of defective components.
Galaxy IIIC, the first Boeing 702 satellite with new solar array panels, has demonstrated slightly better-than-expected solar power performance in its first four months of operation, and has been formally accepted by PanAmSat Corp. The result is an important turnaround for the 702 model, which had faster-than-expected declines in solar array power in its first six spacecraft due to dropping reflectivity of concentrator panels that throw extra light on the cells (AW&ST Sept. 23, p. 60).
By ROBERT WALLBy DAVID A. FULGHUM ( WASHINGTON NASHUA, N.H.)
New threat systems, technology advances and looming military action are stirring the electronic warfare community, but the Pentagon has yet to address these developments with new programs. One of the most prominent advances in threat is the emergence of air-to-air missiles with imaging infrared (I2R) seekers, replacing comparatively easy-to-spoof IR sensors. A second is the fielding of more capable ground-based air-defense radars relying on electronically scanned array technology. These have longer range, are more frequency-agile and, therefore, harder to jam.
Seven airlines are competing for two slot exemptions at Washington Reagan National Airport for service to points beyond the facility's 1,250-mi. perimeter. National Airlines, which received the exemptions in 2000 for daily round trips to Las Vegas, is surrendering them, and the Transportation Dept. intends to choose a successor ``expeditiously.'' America West, Frontier and Alaska airlines, which already hold exemptions, are proposing a second daily Las Vegas round trip, a second Denver flight and new service to Los Angeles, respectively.
Astronomers are expecting a newly launched European gamma-ray telescope to greatly enhance their knowledge of super-dense objects like black holes and neutron stars, and provide important insights into gamma-ray bursts and other extreme radiation phenomena. Integral (the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory), developed by the European Space Agency, was lofted from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, by a Proton booster on Oct. 17 (AW&ST Oct. 21, p. 18).
Raytheon Co. has reported third-quarter net income of $228 million, or 56 cents a diluted share, from continuing operations. That compares with a loss of $280 million, or 78 cents per diluted share, for the same period last year. Sales were up 3.3%, to $4.1 billion, with stronger growth from defense businesses slightly offset by a flat performance from Raytheon Aircraft.
Advanced weapons are usually countered by turning their own sophistication against them. But dumb weapons fired from close range, with no sensors to jam or electronics to damage, have proven over the decades to be almost impossible to stop. Therefore, developing a system to at least change the trajectory of dumb weapons is one of several concepts that BAE Systems researchers here think could change the complexion of future wars and possibly serve as major profit centers for the company.
ShinMaywa Industries Ltd., Yokohama Rubber Co. and Nikkiso Co. will join the Airbus A380 manufacturing team. ShinMaywa is set to produce the main wing root fillet fairing; Yokohama Rubber will supply tanks for the water/waste management system and Nikkiso will supply carbon fiber-reinforced plastic cascades for engine nacelle thrust reversers. With seven firms who have already joined the A380 team, Japanese companies expect to earn $1.75 billion in revenues over the next 20 years.
Information technology officials at NASA are looking for sources to provide an ``enterprise-wide messaging system.'' The objective is to help begin the process of pulling the agency's disparate field centers into the ``One NASA'' organization Administrator Sean O'Keefe is pushing.
Arthur Money, a C3I consultant and former assistant Defense secretary and Defense Dept. chief information officer, has been appointed to the board of directors of Rainbow Technologies, Irvine, Calif.
This is the second in a series of editorials dealing with the most vexing problems facing aerospace and aviation--and the opportunities these problems present. Americans seeking to solve the riddle of how to make their homeland secure in an age of terrorism and asymmetric warfare would do well to turn first to a Prussian for advice, for it was Frederick the Great who said, ``He who wants to defend everything defends nothing.'' The post-Cold War world has no bipolar standoff, but it certainly seems to be more vulnerable in the post-Sept. 11 era.
Paul Bevilaqua and seven other Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. engineers have won the Washington-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Aircraft Design Award for 2002 for contributions to the design of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The others are: Dave Butcher, George Law, Gerry Murff, Paul Park, Brian Quayle, Kevin Renshaw and Rick Rezabek. The award is presented for ``the conception, definition or development of an original concept leading to a significant advancement in aircraft design or design technology.''
C. Phillip Combs (see photo) has been named president/CEO of the Belcan Corp. of Cincinnati. He was general manager of the Joint Strike Fighter F120 Projects and Advanced Military Programs Dept. at GE Aircraft Engines.
Boeing expects to maintain an annual growth rate of 15% in its space-related business over the next several years, nearly double the 8% rate the company forecasts for its military aircraft and missile systems, said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. Albaugh's comments at the World Space Congress came as Boeing conducted a successful flight-readiness firing of the first Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle on Pad 37 at Cape Canaveral. The critical test will allow Boeing to schedule the first launch of the Delta IV between Nov.
Frank W. Otto has been promoted to executive vice president of the New York-based EDO Corp. from vice president of its Integrated Systems and Structures Group. USN Adm. (ret.) Dennis C. Blair and James Roth have been named to the board of directors. Blair was commander of the U.S. Pacific Command. Roth is the retired chairman/president/CEO of GRC International Inc.
Breaking down the air defenses around Iraq's main urban centers to open the way for an allied offensive would be far tougher than pounding the less sophisticated systems operating in the no-fly zones. ``The no-fly zones are dangerous places, but we own them when we want to,'' a senior Air Force official said.
USAF Col. (ret.) Leonard Friedlander has become vice president of the Defense Programs Div. of RS Information Systems Inc., McLean, Va. He was an executive with Apple Computer Inc. and had been a field team director for the Commercial Information Technology Dept. of TRW.
European regional airlines are facing massive restructuring, bedeviled by slow traffic growth, weak yields and the emergence of no-frills, low-cost competitors. At the European Regions Airline Assn.'s (ERA) annual general assembly here, executives acknowledged that significant changes will be required to sustain or restore healthy results. ``Independents have no chance of survival without links to a major carrier,'' Olaf Dlugi, an airline consultant and former chief executive of Augsburg Airways, claimed.
Jodi Balestrieri, Pamela Scharlach and Matthew Betty have been appointed regional vice presidents-charter services for the Southeast, Western and Central U.S., respectively, for Executive Jet Management Inc. of Cincinnati. Balestrieri and Scharlach were sales directors and Betty a regional sales manager for business jet services, all for the FlightTime Corp.
Axel Arendt has been appointed chairman of Rolls-Royce Deutchland, Dahlewitz, Germany. He was chief financial officer of Munich-based EADS and has been succeeded by Hans Peter Ring, who was a senior vice president. Pierre de Bausset has been named senior vice president-investor relations and financial communications of EADS. He was a New York-based investor relations executive for EADS. De Bausset succeeds Marc Paganini, who has been named chief executive of American Eurocopter, Grand Prairie, Tex.
Russia's Beta Air, supported by Airbus parent company EADS, is accelerating efforts to market the Be-200 amphibian firefighting aircraft in the U.S. and Europe, and certify it to Western standards. The revamped strategy is driven largely by a perceived window of opportunity as the U.S. Forest Service reassesses the need to modernize its aging fleet following a series of accidents this past summer (AW&ST Sept. 30, p. 35). Beta Air officials, who were here last month, said they are planning a demonstration tour of the U.S.
Wayne Dodds, director of aviation/ chief pilot for the International Paper Co., has received a painting by Peter R. Westacott in recognition of the company's contribution to the Corporate Angel Network. The painting depicts one of International Paper's plants with three of its Falcon Jets flying in formation overhead. The award was sponsored by the National Business Aviation Assn. to honor a member company for using its business aircraft to help the Corporate Angel Network transport cancer patients in need of medical treatment.
Trying to stuff encrypted data at high speeds through a satellite communications link can be difficult. The standard TCP Internet protocol doesn't work well over satellites because of the long delays, differences in uplink and downlink speeds, and high loss and error rates. Mentat Inc. has several SkyX products that, unseen to the user, replace TCP with a special satellite protocol to improve performance. SkyX also has acceleration features to boost speed.
Link's Simulation and Training Div. will build a P-3C Partial Aircrew Coordination Trainer (PACT) for the U.S. Navy to help maintain proficiency for aircrew assigned to intelligence-gathering missions. Plans call for the trainer to be installed at NAS Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, in about 19 months. It will be used by P-3C crews with Patrol Reconnaissance Forces Pacific, with the responsibility of monitoring activity in the western Pacific. The PACT simulates the airplane's systems layout, display screens, sensor systems, and navigation and communications equipment.
Last week, Congress told the Army to boost the number and rate of CH-47F Chinook helicopters it builds. The Army was planning to modify only 300 CH-47Ds, but now Congress, in its Fiscal 2003 spending bill, directed the service to upgrade all of them. The production rate is slated to increase to 36-48 instead of the original plan of just 26 aircraft per year. Production is to be completed no later than 2016. The total, more than 460 helicopters, would include Army special operations MH-47Gs. Additionally, the U.K. might be in line for MH-47Gs.
