Avions de Transport Regional will begin delivering secure cockpit doors in November that comply with post-Sept. 11 rules. More sophisticated on-board security systems, including video surveillance, are also being planned by the Franco-Italian twin-turboprop builder. Although regionals are less likely than big commercial transports to become terrorist targets, the worldwide effort to tighten air transportation security involves all aircraft types in the U.S.
Brian Geary has been appointed to the board of directors of LMI Aerospace Inc. of St. Louis. He was owner of the Versaform Corp., which was acquired by LMI.
James Dotan has been appointed vice president-business development for Athena Technologies Inc., Manassas, Va. He was a director of programs for BAE Systems.
LCOR Holdings, a real-estate company, and Hochtief AirPort have agreed to undertake development of the proposed South Suburban Airport near Chicago. The companies have joined with suburban Chicago communities in a public-private partnership, the South Suburban Airport Coalition. The coalition selected the two developers after a review of more than a dozen candidates.
Danielle Tocco has been named area marketing manager for Los Angeles, Sharon Thompson for the Dallas/Fort Worth area and Ana Schwager for Albany and Buffalo, N.Y., for Southwest Airlines. All three were marketing representatives. Bill Showalter has become station manager for Albuquerque (N.M.) International Airport. He held that position in Norfolk, Va.
The depressed space launch market is going to keep NASA in the business of flying the space shuttle fleet for the foreseeable future. Bill Readdy, deputy associate administrator for space flight, tells the Space Transportation Assn. a preliminary Rand report on shuttle privatization was interesting but not surprising, given market conditions. ``The first answer was not right now, certainly not in the next five years, probably not in this decade,'' he said.
Merrimac Industries Inc. will supply microwave components for target detection for the U.S. Navy's Standard Missile under a $600,000, multiyear contract.
DARPA AND THE AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY LAUNCHED a major initiative to develop revolutionary software-enabled control (SEC) systems for intelligent unmanned aerial vehicles. The intent is to give UAVs more ability to autonomously respond to unexpected system faults, as well as increased agility to avoid hostile actions, without exceeding aircraft limits. Boeing Phantom Works and Georgia Institute of Technology recently demonstrated a key component--an Open Control Platform on a Georgia Tech UAV helicopter testbed.
More details have emerged on Airbus' $850-million contract with major Japanese manufacturers to build components for the 555-seat A380 (AW&ST July 1, p. 20). Mitsubishi Heavy Industry's contract to produce forward and aft cargo doors will be carried out at its Oye plant in Nagoya. The first shipset is due in September 2003. MHI already produces cargo doors for the A330/A340 and shroud boxes for the A320 family. For Fuji Heavy Industries, the A380 program marks its debut with Airbus.
The few young people that our industry is managing to attract to aircraft maintenance are studying under curricula and certification procedures burdened by decades-old Federal Aviation Regulations. It's as if pilot training were regulated by round-dial cockpit technology rather than the multifunction display screens of today's commercial and military aircraft. The FAA's current--but outdated--Part 147 regulations governing maintenance technician schools and Part 65 rules covering their certification do not allow adequately for modern, computer-based training.
Hoping to make its aircraft more resilient in the face of increasingly sophisticated infrared-guided air-defenses, the U.S. Air Force's Special Operations Command (Afsoc) is upgrading self-protection gear on some of its helicopters and specially configured C-130s. The planned deal would lead to the installation of Northrop Grumman's AAQ-24(V) Directed Infrared Countermeasures (Dircm) defensive system on MH-53 Pave Lows, the Air Force said. Afsoc has put the project on the fast track, designating it a quick-reaction capability which indicates it has urgency.
DRAPER LABORATORY, LONG A LEADER IN INERTIAL NAVIGATION systems (INS) and integrated inertial and global positioning systems (INS/GPS), is using Micro Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) technology to shrink the inertial part of an INS/GPS guidance system to a 100-gram (0.22-lb.) package for a micro UAV. INS holds the navigation solution during periods of GPS outages or denial. Using MEMS for INS has opened the door for INS systems in precision-guided and projectile-fired munitions.
NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland will develop an advanced ion propulsion system for spacecraft under a $21-million contract with the agency's Office of Space Science. The NASA Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) program will build on the ion engine technology used on the Deep Space 1 mission to develop an engine with greater payload capacity and longer service life. A team headed by Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices of Torrance, Calif., will develop carbon-based ion optics under a $4-million contract awarded in an effort to extend ion thruster life.
Adventurer J. Stephen Fossett became the first man to fly around the globe solo in a balloon on July 2, covering a distance of 18,827 mi. in 13 days 12 hr. 10 min. in the circumnavigation itself, or a remarkable average speed of 58 mph. It was his sixth attempt to fly around the world solo. His flight will likely gain an absolute record for the fastest time around the world by a balloon, which requires that the path not penetrate a polar cap subtending 60 deg. and adjustable in position, creating a minimum distance of 13,024 mi.
The White House will have to keep a sharp eye on nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, despite the ebb in tensions since the May/June crisis. Both countries are keeping their air forces and armies deployed in forward areas, and India has rejected Pakistan's call for demobilization. Despite Islamabad's renewed pledge to halt the infiltration of militants across Kashmir's Line of Control, India is highly skeptical, pointing to past promises that wilted without ripening.
Alliant Techsystems has won a $9-million contract from the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command to continue low-rate initial production of sensor upgrade kits for the AN/AAR-47 Missile Warning System.
A state-backed institute in Florida has reserved space on the commercial module Spacehab Inc. has proposed for the International Space Station. The Florida Space Research Institute has signed a contract to fly its Scanning Probe Microscope for Microgravity on the Enterprise module that Spacehab and RSC Energia are jointly developing. The microscope is intended to support researchers in such areas as advanced materials and nanostructures.
Improving the ability of scientists on the ground to operate experiments on the International Space Station could help ease the manpower crunch in orbit, where station crewmembers have been spending less than 20 hr. a week on the science ISS was built to serve. ``Telescience'' already plays a big role on the ISS, but telecommunications technology exists--or soon will--that could give ground-based researchers an even larger role in running orbiting experiments.
Recognizing that six restructurings don't exactly breed a lot of confidence in a program, Army officials laid out a metric with which to measure how the latest iteration of RAH-66 plans are proceeding. And so far the service has managed to stay ahead of schedule. The initial promised milestone was the first flight of software drop 10.0. It provides flight controls, displays and processors for the development program and was scheduled for June, but service officials point out they pulled it off May 22--30 days earlier than planned.
Aviation's profound dependence on computer and infrastructure networks, including electrical power, air traffic control and telecommunications, requires a federal initiative to address multiplying cyber threats, according to a new congressional analysis. Canvassing information warfare's ceaseless ramifications, the congressional Joint Economic Committee warns that the extent and effects of the nation's vulnerability to systemic disruption by terrorist cyber strikes is not yet understood, much less addressed.
Boeing delivered a total of 222 commercial transports during the first half of this year, ahead of the pace required for the company to meet its predicted target of about 380 aircraft for 2002. Of the total, 130 of the aircraft were 737s, almost 40 more than all other Boeing models combined. The company delivered 527 commercial transports last year, and estimated it will deliver 275-300 in 2003.
Thales says it has teamed with Israel's Elbit for the U.K.'s 600-million-pound ($875-million) Watchkeeper UAV program (AW&ST May 20, p. 25). The air vehicles proposed are the Elbit Systems/Silver Arrow Hermes 180 and 450, which are powered by UAV Engines Ltd. of Shenstone, England. A number of Thales defense facilities in the U.K., as well as British aerospace research outfit QinetiQ, are involved in the offer.
A hydrogen fuel liner crack has been found in the shuttle orbiter Columbia similar to those found earlier in Discovery and Atlantis. Endeavour has yet to be inspected. Columbia's main propulsion system liners are made from stainless steel, unlike the other orbiters which have Inconel liners. Several NASA/contractor teams are examining the metallurgy, safety and repair issues associated with the cracks, to guide NASA decisions on when the orbiters can be returned to flight.
Frontier Airlines applied for a government-backed $70-million line of credit to ``add to its liquidity,'' company officials said. The application is significant in that Frontier was one of the few airlines that had remained profitable during the post-Sept. 11 industry slump. However, the federal government's financial rescue of airlines staggered by the steep decrease in air travel has upset commercial market balances, forcing fairly healthy airlines to seek loan guarantees in order to compete with other recipients.
