Rockwell Collins Aviation Services has signed a five-year Dispatch 100SM contract with Delta Air Lines' Atlanta-based subsidiary, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, for service and support of ASA's Canadair Regional Jets.
With the U.S. Air Force's decision to begin buying some of the new turboprop-powered Predator B unmanned reconnaissance and strike aircraft (which offer larger payloads and higher operating altitudes), the services will have to find higher performance missiles to arm them.
An Israeli company believes it can help the new U.S. Transportation Security Administration deal with long lines of frustrated passengers inching through airport security screening checkpoints.
Richard A. Clarke, the Bush Administration's cyber security czar, said last week at a computer security conference in San Jose, Calif., that it's only a matter of time before terrorists launch a large-scale cyberspace attack on critical infrastructure in the U.S. such as the electric power grid or the air traffic control system. According to the Associated Press, Clarke said just as airlines knew of their security weaknesses prior to Sept.
Goodrich Corp. executive Marshall O. Larsen, 53, last week was named president and chief operating officer, putting him in line to succeed Chairman and CEO David L. Burner, who is expected to retire in 2004. He also will be a nominee for the corporation's board of directors. Larsen joined Goodrich in 1977 and was instrumental in helping to transform the company into predominantly a tier-one aerospace supplier, from a conglomerate with interests in a variety of industries.
L-3 Communications' Interstate Electronics Corp.'s (IEC) division has won a three-year, $6-million contract to support the ground-based midcourse defense segment by the U.S. Army Strategic Missile Defense Command. IEC will supply 30 digital GPS translators and two translator processors, along with engineering, logistics and field launch support. The contract includes options for two, one-year extensions that would bring the total potential value to approximately $9 million.
Boeing plans to cut the combined employment level at its Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) and Boeing Electronic Dynamic Devices operations in Southern California by about 11%. BSS in El Segundo and Torrance-based Electronic Dynamic Devices, a subsidiary of BSS, now have a combined employment of more than 9,000 persons, but the company plans to reduce the number in El Segundo by 900 positions and another 150 jobs in Torrance.
A wide range of software takes mechanical things from design to production, but the same linked set of tools is rare for electrical harnesses. Mentor Graphics, a British company that makes design and manufacturing software for electronic products such as integrated circuits, aims to change that with a Capital Harness set of integrated tools that is being introduced this week. Most existing harness software has been developed in-house by users like Boeing, and goes back a long way to Fortran-style roots.
Designed for use in manufacturing and MRO operations configured as work-cells, these bi-directional shelves have a 2,000-lb. capacity. When the work is completed it is put on the roll-out shelf and moved to the aisle side where it can be retrieved. It is also used for issuing large tooling, which is placed on the shelf from the tool room side and rolled to the aisle side for retrieval. Normally, units will have lockable doors on the aisle side. These units can also be used between machining areas, which allow common tooling to be shared by two areas.
Capt. John Sluys has been reelected to a second term as chairman of the Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Assn. Other officers are: Capt. Rich Madden, vice chairman; and Capt. Paul Emmert, secretary-treasurer.
Evans&Sutherland and SimAuthor are teaming to bring their visualization software together for aviation safety and training programs. E&S produces detailed, FAA-certified airport databases that are used to create the highly realistic visual images in full-flight simulators. SimAuthor specializes in real-time, interactive, graphical depictions of actual flight or simulator data for replay on standard PCs.
``Space Control,'' the ability to protect one's own space assets while denying an adversary the use of in-orbit resources, is ``still at idle. It's time to move that up,'' Gen. Ralph E. Eberhart, commander-in-chief of U.S. Space Command (Cincspace), told attendees of the ``SpaceComm 2002'' conference in Colorado Springs last week. His analogy to aircraft throttle position underscored a concern that U.S. military, civil and commercial satellites are still vulnerable to attack or disruption of service. That deficiency must be rectified sooner rather than later.
Rolls-Royce has signed a $250-million, 15-year contract with Air Canada covering maintenance on the Trent 772B engines that power the airline's eight Airbus A330-300s. The Trent also will power the A340-500/600, of which Air Canada has up to 15 on order.
Tokyo's Narita airport is proposing an 8.3% increase in landing fees and, predictably, the International Air Transport Assn. is up in arms about it. IATA says Narita is already the world's most expensive airport. In the midst of an airline recession, it's time for the airport to follow the example of Hong Kong International Airport and Singapore's Changi Airport and cut fares. HKIA dropped its 15% and Changi 10%. Narita has reduced rental charges, but IATA is after landing and aircraft parking charges.
Roger N. Seager has been appointed vice president-marketing and sales for General Electric Aircraft Engines, Fairfield, Conn. He was general manager for military market development.
Switzerland's revamped flag carrier, Swiss, plans to position itself as the leading premium airline in Europe, maintaining a largely unchanged long-haul network featuring superior inflight service. The ``new'' carrier--which is based on Crossair, formerly Swissair's regional subsidiary--received a SF2.7-billion ($1.6-billion) capital injection from the federal government, regional authorities and private investors. Swiss plans to retain a large long-haul route system centered on Zurich.
International Space Station astronauts Carl Walz and Daniel Bursch performed a 6-hr. extravehicular activity Feb. 20 to further evaluate the new U.S. airlock on the station and prepare hardware for complex station assembly EVAs to be performed by the STS-110 Atlantis crew in April. The mission will install the first large section of the station's 300-ft. solar array truss. The tasks performed by Walz and Bursch verified new airlock procedures and positioned tools to give the shuttle EVA crew extra time margins for the truss installation work.
Robin L. Beard has been appointed Raytheon executive lecturer at the National Defense University at Ft. McNair in Washington. He has been president of Raytheon International Europe and is a former president of Raytheon Government Relations and an assistant secretary general of NATO.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has received a $101-million contract from the U.S. Air Force to begin low-rate initial production of the Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle. Northrop Grumman will provide two Global Hawks and the mission control element of the aircraft's ground station.
If history is any guide, aviation services will be among the first areas to recover as the recession in commercial aerospace runs its course. But that's probably small consolation to companies that are now struggling to remain on a straight and level course.
The Tri-Grip 5C high-pressure hydraulic collet closer is designed for heavy duty clamping/workholding applications in vertical and horizontal machining centers. It operates three collets at a time with each one on a uniform 2.5-in. center, and its patent-pending design locates the collet locking screw access on top of the collet block, which allows infinite collet or part orientation. The collet closer operates at a maximum of 5,000 psi. hydraulic pressure.
Snecma Moteurs, which seeks to strengthen ties with the Russian aerospace industry, is betting that a new joint venture with NPO Saturn will contribute to achieving that long-term goal.
The Allied Pilots Assn. has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth, seeking approval of its plan for integrating more than 2,000 TWA pilots into the APA's seniority list. APA represents 11,000 pilots at American Airlines. Former TWA pilots strongly oppose the plan, which would determine their new seniority based on American's acquisition of TWA in April 2001, not when the pilots began flying for TWA.
SWEDEN HAS SELECTED RECON/OPTICAL TO PRODUCE POD-MOUNTED reconnaissance cameras for the JAS 39 Gripen. The initial version is intended for international peace-keeping missions and border surveillance. The first cameras are set for delivery to Saab Avionics in 2003.
