United Space Alliance inspectors found multiple cracked bearings in the lifting mechanisms of the two 5.5-million-lb. crawler transporters that carry the space shuttle to and from the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center. The initial assessment is that by using spare bearings and cannibalizing parts from one crawler, the other can be kept operational to maintain the shuttle's return to flight schedule of late September or early October. This would also provide enough time to secure replacement bearings to put both units back in operation.
As of Aug. 12, Japan's nine airlines had operated 17 full years since the country's last fatal accident involving a Japanese carrier. That occurred Aug. 12, 1985, when a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 crash killed 520 of the 524 people on board. One Japanese carrier had one crash during the period, a DC-9 hard landing in 1993, but there were no fatalities.
Michael O'Leary (see photos) has been appointed director of avionics and Jan Calloway manager of business development at Thunder Aviation of St. Louis.
While recession-hit European and U.S. carriers keep their checkbooks closed, Asia-Pacific carriers are starting to update or expand their fleets. Latest on the list is Thai Airways International, which has in principle received approval from the Thai government to acquire 16 wide-body aircraft. Formal approvals are still required from the Thai government, which controls the carrier, but these are regarded as formalities. Deals are expected to be placed by the end of the year.
Julian M. Earls has been appointed deputy director of the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. He was deputy director of operations/acting director of acquisition.
Middle East Airlines is scheduled to take delivery in 2003-04 of six Airbus A321s powered by International Aero Engines IAE V2533 turbofans. The contract, signed last week, is MEA's first purchase of new aircraft since the 1970s and is expected to play a significant role in the Lebanese carrier's restructuring and quest for profitability. Its A321s will be equipped with 149 seats and a sophisticated inflight entertainment system. MEA also plans to lease three long-range A330-200s to replace aging A300/A310s.
The Army is looking overseas to give its stealthy RAH-66 Comanche helicopter a bit of extra protection with improved armoring. Perhaps even more importantly than the extra ballistics protection, it would weigh less than the current armor, the service hopes. Weight growth has been a challenge for the decades-old, yet-to-be-fielded Comanche. The initiative is one of the latest ``foreign comparative test projects,'' an effort to assess technology from foreign companies that provides one of the few avenues for offshore suppliers to sell wares to the Defense Dept.
Anticipating a shortfall of skilled aviation technicians, Air Canada Technical Services created a new unit, Tracor, to train technical and safety professionals. According to the company, industry studies show Canada alone has a requirement for 11,000 skilled aviation workers in the next five years. Tracor is expected to be up and running by late fall.
Laser weapons on fighters have moved closer to reality with modification of an F-16 simulator to include high-energy laser weapon computer models. Pilots of the New Mexico Air National Guard's 150th Fighter Wing at Kirtland AFB, N.M. (where Air Force directed energy efforts are headquartered) are testing one design for air-to-air combat and another for attacking ground targets.
Aeronautical engineer and designer Roy LoPresti died Aug. 7 of a heart attack. He was 73. LoPresti established LoPresti Speed Merchants which offers modifications to a broad range of general aviation airplanes to increase their speed and handling. His career in aviation began in the late 1940s when he won the Chance Vought Design Award while attending New York University. In addition, LoPresti developed the two-seat ``SwiftFire'' based on the Globe Swift aircraft.
Japan's domestic traffic remained relatively steady in the fiscal year that ended Mar. 31. Passenger counts dropped to 91.97 million from the fiscal 2000 year level of 93.43 million, but the average load factor was 64.3% compared with 63.3% the previous year. Japan's nine carriers served 240 city-pairs last year, nearly 31% of which flew on five trunk runs that all connected with Tokyo's Haneda airport.
NASA has picked two new Small Explorer (SMEX) missions from a field of seven finalists. An $89-million Boston University mission to map the hot gas that makes up half the normal matter in the nearby universe was picked for launch in 2005. In 2006, the second mission--a $92-million effort headed by Hampton University in Virginia--is set to launch. It aims to determine if growing concentrations of greenhouse gases at high altitudes are responsible for an increase in the number of clouds in the upper atmosphere.
Tim Sheahan has been appointed president of the Enforcement, Security and Intelligence Div. and Pat Ways president for business development of the Federal Sector unit of the Computer Sciences Corp., Falls Church, Va. Ways was senior vice president-business development for the Federal Sector Civil Group.
PIAGGIO AERO INDUSTRIES IS TESTING a second prototype of the upgraded P.166DP-1 business aircraft that features new Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-121 engines, new avionics and a reconfigured cockpit. Piaggio plans to upgrade the P.166 fleet serving with the Italian customs service, coast guard and air force.
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. (ret.) Ellis D. (Don) Parker has been named chairman of CAE USA, and USAF Gen. (ret.) Michael E. Ryan and USN Adm. (ret.) Leighton W. (Snuffy) Smith, Jr., have been appointed to the board of directors.
Craig Sinclair has been appointed chief information officer for Air New Zealand. He was chief executive of the country's air traffic control operator, the Airways Corp.
A proposal to trim costs of the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft is in trouble because Air Force officials can't agree on which of a laundry list of initiatives they want to adopt. A panel of experts, the Joint Affordability Team (JAT), laid out various options for the Air Force to reduce the unmanned surveillance aircraft's average production price of $73.7 million to less than half.
Jim Youker has become director of military programs and Dennis Jones director of intelligence and national security programs for Denver-based Space Imaging. Youker was director of solutions strategy, while Jones was director of global alliance programs.
Raytheon Co. last week received provisional acceptance and turned over operation of the second of four construction projects the company had to complete as guarantor following the bankruptcy of Washington Group International. The two remaining Massachusetts projects (Fore River and Mystic Station) are on schedule and on budget for completion by the end of this year.
Eurowings, an aggressive regional carrier, is preparing to launch a new low-cost, no-frills airline dubbed Germanwings. A target date of Oct. 27 has been set for Germanwings to begin operating five Airbus A319 twinjets from Cologne/Bonn airport, its parent company's home base. The new venture is expected to further exacerbate competition on Germany's domestic route system while Deutsche BA is being merged into EasyJet. Eurowings' initiative is backed by Lufthansa German Airlines, which owns a 24.9% stake in the regional carrier.
During Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's visit to the U.S. in September, India is expected to complete an agreement to buy a Boeing Business Jet as the country's first dedicated transport for its leader. The aircraft is to be operated by state-owned Air India and is expected to be fitted with secure communications systems, including one for India's nuclear command. A U.S. team visited New Delhi in early July to discuss technological assistance for the aircraft.
Jeffery Quirk has been named associate general manager of the Space-Based Surveillance Div. of The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, Calif. He was senior program manager for government programs for Boeing Satellite Systems.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will provide U.S. Air Force Academy cadets 50 hr. of flight training and a private pilot's certificate under a five-year, $14.5-million contract. The Introductory Flight Training (IFT) program will begin on Oct. 1, operate from the academy's airfield and train 300 cadets initially. As the program evolves, it may expand to 500 students. Cadets will fly the two-seat Diamond Katana DA20-C1, which has both a lower noise limit and better climb performance than previous training aircraft, according to academy officials.
Roxanne Butler has become investor relations specialist for American Trans Air. She was corporate sales account executive for the carrier's Ambassadair Travel Club.
