Italy's national air safety agency, ANSV, late last week formed an investigation team to determine why a BAE HS 125 corporate jet nearly collided on July 18 with a SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 trainer near Milan. The twinjet had departed from Linate airport, en route to Marseilles, France, when it crossed the SF.260's flight path at 2,000-ft. altitude.
There are two new attachments for the company's self-propelled, walkie-style reversible boom crane. The gooseneck boom attachments will go over obstacles such as large containers or beyond obstructing walls to lift, move and handle loads. The winch-operated cable lift will pick up a load from ground up in a straight line and can also lift the load down to 50 ft. below ground level. The crane is designed to work where it needs to come in close to the work and maneuver the load to reach over objects that are in the way.
ROBERT WALL AND DAVID A. FULGHUMDOUGLAS BARRIE ( WASHINGTON LONDON)
MBDA versus Raytheon is quickly becoming a shining example of the fierce transatlantic competition that is resulting from Europe's move to integrate its defense companies and match consolidation in the U.S. MBDA won the first major battle between the two rivals two years ago. At Farnborough 2000, Matra BAe Dynamics (the name of the company at the time) saw its star in the ascendant, having just won a British program for a next-generation beyond visual range air-to-air missile with its Meteor proposal.
Faced with increasing competition in its munitions business domestically and abroad, Raytheon is looking for ways to leverage its existing precision-strike projects to win new customers and develop weapons that will secure the long-term financial health of the business. One of the large thrusts for Raytheon's munitions business will be to share components across products, such as focal plane arrays, processors, guidance and navigation subsystems, says Louise Francesconi, who runs the business unit.
UltraLOC economy-class seat recline locks offer improved structural integrity and variable positioning in aircraft passenger seat recline use. Constructed of a corrosion-resistant lightweight aluminum, the locks can handle 3,200 lb. compressive and 4,800 lb. tensile loads over a wide temperature range. The product can operate at a minimum of 250,000 cycles, nearly double industry standard, according to the company. A safety override and tamperproof adjustment feature prevents unauthorized stroke changes. The lock meets 16g loading.
Four companies will work on cargo vehicle and automated docking technology that could give NASA alternate ways to get supplies to the International Space Station. The agency's Space Launch Initiative (SLI) awarded contracts totaling $10.8 million to Andrews Space and Technology of Seattle, $2.9 million; Lockheed Martin of Denver, $3 million; Boeing in Huntsville, Ala., $2.6 million; and Constellation Services International Inc. of Woodland Hills, Calif., $2.3 million.
This line of fast-hole and electrical discharge machines (EDM) is capable of drilling in high-strength aerospace alloys, with recast as low as 0.0005 in. and holds diameter tolerance to 0.0005 in. throughout. The FH (Fast Hole) Series offers 20-150-in. travel, six-axes or more motion of the electrode and a 15-in. screen with online programming capability, plus the ability to program on/off time, current and capacitance all on one page, with up to 100 pages accessible.
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space Operations will design and build systems for the Hubble Space Telescope under a $123-million contract modification from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, which manages the orbiting telescope. Among equipment the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based unit of Lockheed Martin Space Systems will develop is a new cooling system for the instrument bay beneath the telescope's aft shroud, as well as new batteries and gyroscopes. Astronauts are scheduled to install the gear on the fourth servicing mission to the Hubble, now slated for February 2004.
The Airbus A380 cabin pressure control system will rely on a new internal communication system developed for automotive use, the Time-Triggered Protocol. TTP is based on the time domain multiple access bus protocol in which each module has an assigned time slot for communicating. Hamilton Sundstrand's Nord-Micro business unit in Frankfurt selected TTTech of Vienna to supply the two-channel safety-certified system. Honeywell is investigating TTP for use in a full authority digital engine control.
The 100 Series direct mount pivot allows flat-panel monitors and keyboards to be mounted with a minimum profile while still offering side-to-side, up-and-down and swivel adjustability. The patented friction system permits adjustment while maintaining touch-screen stability without the need for knobs or levels, according to the company. Different models provide different levels of adjustability: single pivot, single pivot with portrait/landscape (P/L) swivel, double pivot, double pivot with P/L, and keyboard/laptop pivot.
Thomas Wardell has become vice president-manufacturing for the Aurora Flight Sciences Corp., Clarksburg, W.Va. He was head of engineering, operations, quality, and scheduling for Alliant Techsystems at its Iuka, Miss., plant.
Richard Jennings has been appointed CEO of Logistechs Inc., Scottsdale, Ariz. He was vice president of the Supply Chain Solutions Group of Ryder Systems. Jennings succeeds Craig Ballard, who has become president/chief operating officer.
Stephen Louie has ben named vice president-sales for the Americas of Savi Technology Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif. He was senior director of sales for high-tech industry for i2 Technologies.
The manufacturers of the Eclipse 500 are determined to prove their new entry-level business jet is ``the little airplane that could'' revolutionize air travel. Skeptics, however, believe the Eclipse 500 is weighted with ambition and will never fly. A new company, with no experience in aircraft manufacturing, has set out to simultaneously integrate a new engine, new airframe and new avionics package. How could a small aircraft with jumbo jet capabilities be produced for under $1 million, they ask, and for an unproven market?
The SoftComm Centurion headset does not require an external power source; it works when plugged in by operating off the radio's microphone voltage so no power cords, batteries or recharging are needed. In a power failure, it automatically converts to a full-performance -24dB. passive headset. A five-pillow, gel-filled pad adjusts to the contour of the head. It is cellular telephone ready, provides internal amplification and will accommodate most cell phones with a 3.5-mm-headset jack. SoftComm Products, 2310 South Airport Blvd., Chandler, Ariz. 85249.
U.S. Air Force investigators are trying to determine how three 25-lb. BDU-33 training munitions were unintentionally dropped from an F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter during a routine training mission on July 16. One inert practice bomb struck a home and the others fell in remote areas near Maljamar, N.M., and Pecos, Tex. The F-117A carries ordnance internally, so the bomb bay door must have been open. The mishap was discovered after the aircraft landed at Holloman AFB, N.M., where it is assigned to the 49th Fighter Wing.
Stuart E. Schaffer has been named vice president-product development and marketing and Emery E. Skarupa vice president-operations for SpaceDev, Poway, Calif.
John Thomas has become vice president of Jet Aviation's Private Fleet, Teterboro, N.J. He was a captain for Avolar in Chicago and previously was director of flight operations for the Raytheon Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan., and vice president-flight operations for British Aerospace.
At the heart of the design for a new U.S. Air Force intelligence aircraft are a number of crucial dilemmas that will have to be resolved by the team of Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Boeing. The service wants to replace its E-3 AWACS air-surveillance, E-8 Joint-STARS ground surveillance and RC-135 Rivet Joint electronic intelligence-gathering fleets with the new, multi-sensor command and control aircraft (MC2A) and buy as few as possible--probably only 55.
Citing the increased cost of security and earlier budget cuts, the U.S. Navy has canceled this year's air show at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland. Originally scheduled for Sept. 28 and 29, the annual show has always been a big draw from southern Maryland and the Washington area. The Chesapeake Bay area station is the home of the Naval Air Systems Command and the Navy's test pilot school. Navy officials say they will have a show in 2003 to celebrate the first flight centennial.
Unexpected difficulties will delay the service entry of Europe's Artemis experimental satellite communications satellite by around four months, but are not expected to impair the important technology mission. European Space Agency officials said transfer of the spacecraft from a circular parking orbit 31,000 km. (19,375 mi.) above the Earth to its final 36,000-km. geostationary orbit, using ion thrusters, has been proceeding steadily. The satellite had been left stranded in substandard orbit following an Ariane 5 launch failure in July 2001.
