Telair International has introduced a bulletproof cockpit door material that weighs under 2 lb. per sq. ft., or roughly half what other bulletproof door panels weigh, according to company officials. The Telair panels contain a bulletproof coated Kevlar fabric about 1/4-in. thick inside the core. The fabric is a product of the company's research on blastproof cargo containers. The panels have glass phenolic face sheets, and thickness can be varied from 1/2-1 in. by altering the amount of Nomex honeycomb core.
Final assembly and painting have been completed on the first of five reproduction Messerschmitt Me262 jet fighters in preparation for installation of two General Electric J85 turbojet engines (without afterburners). The airplanes are being completed by the Me262 Project, based at Paine Field, Wash. The program is led by former Boeing vice president Bob Hammer. The twin-engine jets will be tested and certified in the FAA's Experimental Category by Wolfgang Czaia, a retired American Airlines captain.
The European Commission's competition directorate ratified a 120-million-euro ($108-million) capital injection in LTU guaranteed by North Rhine Westphalia. The troubled German charter operator was an affiliate of the Swissair Group and, in addition to its parent company's bankruptcy, was severely hit by the post-Sept. 11 market downturn. The bailout funding, a loan that must be reimbursed, helps to save 2,500 jobs, EC officials pointed out. Competitors such as Thomas Cook dispute the state-backed loan guarantee.
eReview 3.5 provides Web-based, interactive document review and conferencing capability, and has the ability to view and annotate more than 150 documents, drawings and CAD file formats in real-time over the Internet. Records of discussions and action logs are maintained and distributed via e-mail. Review documents are synchronized so that all attendees can view comments made by other team members. When deemed necessary, parts of a document can be blocked from certain attendees during an online meeting.
The Utah Olympic Public Safety Command (UOPSC) will use a Groen Brothers Aviation Hawk 4 Gyroplane for additional airborne security around the Salt Lake City International Airport during the 2002 Winter Games.
The Bush team's much-heralded Nuclear Posture Review repeats the Clinton Administration's mistakes of making Russia the chief target of U.S. strategic weapons, and failing to shift radically to conventional arms modernization, critics say. Defense insiders assign the blame largely to the military's classic bureaucratic inertia, but add that President Bush made the cardinal mistake of assigning the review to the Pentagon instead of the larger civilian defense establishment, including his own National Security Council. The result: the U.S.
Britain's fifth largest airport, Birmingham International, was closed for 48 hr. starting Jan. 4 following the fatal crash during takeoff of a Bombardier Challenger 604 business jet. The aircraft, serial No. 5414, was being operated by EPPS Aviation and had entered service in the third quarter of 1999. The flight was departing for Bangor, Maine. Some 400 commercial flights from Birmingham did not operate as a result of the crash, which is now under investigation by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) of the government's Transport Dept.
Contrary to public perception, the number of people who survive airline accidents is frequently higher than those who die, and passengers can improve their chances of survival by becoming more familiar with emergency exit routes in the cabin and adhering to safety briefings. According to a report published by the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) based on data provided by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, from 1983-2000 more than 95% of passengers survived accidents involving U.S.-based airlines, and 55% survived serious crashes.
Hispasat has selected Astrium to build a new satellite, dubbed Amazonas-1, to serve the Latin American market. Launch is tentatively set for 2003. The unit, which will weigh 4 metric tons (2,200 lb.) and generate 9.5 kw., will feature 51 C- and Ku-band transponders and is projected to cost about $270 million. Hispasat recently completed a C-band lease agreement for Amazonas-1 (AW&ST Dec. 10, 2001, p. 27). Amazonas-1 would be operated through a joint venture featuring Hispasat, Eutelsat and Telemar, a Brazilian telecom provider.
THE U.S. COAST GUARD will equip its HH-60 helicopters with C-Map/Aviation's EKP kneeboard-style moving map displays. GPS positions are integrated with Jeppesen aeronautical navigation information, and displayed on a color display on a 9 X 6 X 1.5-in. kneeboard. AvMap, based in Italy, produces C-MAP based GPS air and land navigation systems.
The Transportation Dept. has hired recruiter Korn/Ferry International to help find security directors for the largest 81 airports in the U.S. The directors, who senior Transportation Dept. officials are calling the ``backbone'' of the Transportation Security Administration, will manage the new workforce of federalized screeners of passengers and cargo at each of the 429 commercial service airports in the U.S.
Aerospace and defense companies seeking to exchange electronic data in a common format--which is essential to seamless supply chain integration--may find a practical solution in GoXML Transform.
A Titan IVB is scheduled to carry the Milstar II Flight 5 U.S. Air Force communications satellite into orbit Jan. 15 from Cape Canaveral Air Station. The Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co.-built satellite is the fifth in a six-satellite constellation (AW&ST Dec. 10, 2001, p. 74).
When Henry DeGeneste began teaching airport and transportation security to graduate students in 1993, he soon found a real problem--no textbook existed. ``Up until just recently, security careers were not thought of very highly,'' DeGeneste recalled. ``There wasn't even a college undergrad or graduate degree until the last decade.''
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. has signed a 10-year outsourcing agreement with Computer Sciences Corp. valued at $510 million to run the executive jet maker's information technology services. CSC is to be responsible for Gulfstream's mainframe, mid-range and desktop computer operations. Some 220 Gulfstream IT personnel will transition to the CSC payroll as a result of the agreement.
The retirement last week of Seddik Belyamani, 59, as executive vice president of sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes has prompted a shift in the company's top ranks. Belyamani, a 28-year company veteran who become chief of sales in October 1998, will be replaced by Toby Bright, 48, formerly vice president of business strategy and marketing. Bright, who joined Boeing in 1977, was formerly responsible for leading business planning and marketing its products and services. Nicole Piasecki, 39, formerly vice president of sales for leasing companies, will succeed Bright.
European experts believe that the basic aerodynamic concept of Boeing's Sonic Cruiser hides a built-in capability to eventually develop a Mach 2 derivative. Its two conventional turbofans would have to be replaced by four variable-cycle engines, but the current design, including the double delta wing planform, could remain virtually unchanged, according to Philippe Poisson-Quinton. He is a noted French aerodynamicist who played a key role in the design definition of the Concorde and is an honorary adviser to the Onera French aerospace research agency.
Savvy Washingtonians will tell you: members of Congress can be dangerous. But attacks on airliners probably isn't what they will have in mind. Nonetheless, if someone sets off an airport alarm, action must be taken--even if the suspect is a solon who has just ambled in from a reserved parking spot at Reagan Washington National Airport. Just ask Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the powerful (that's almost part of the committee name) House Energy and Commerce Committee. Last week, he was asked to strip to his skivvies to show he posed no threat.
The company will accept drawings of gaskets via e-mail, and convert them to G-code for driving CNC equipment, in order to produce prototype gaskets for OEM aerospace applications. The process involves customers sending by e-mail an electronic drawing file in .dfx or .dwg format as an attachment. The file is translated into G-code and directed to CNC equipment, which cuts the gasket. A single gasket may be produced for $50, as opposed to conventional steel rule die cutting, which could require weeks to produce and hundreds of dollars in die charges alone.
Loral Space&Communications paid a $14-million civil fine in settlement of a U.S. Justice Dept. probe of its role in the failure review of a 1996 Chinese Long March rocket carrying one of its satellites. The company said the Justice Dept. had dropped its investigation of the incident, which supporters of tougher export controls for satellite technology used in a successful bid to transfer export licensing authority back to the U.S. State Dept. from the Dept. of Commerce.
The number of National Guard troops performing security functions at Denver International Airport is being reduced, even though new government funding allows them to be deployed at airports indefinitely. Originally, the Guard was to augment airport and city security forces only through Jan. 6. The troops had been manning various DIA sites, including standard security screening portals, vehicle inspection checkpoints and inter-concourse train exits. Officials said there is no word yet on how many troops will now be assigned to DIA.
India is using Israel Aircraft Industries' Malat Div. Searcher I/II and Heron unmanned aerial vehicles for reconnaissance in the Kashmir-Jammu region disputed by Pakistan and India. India Defense Ministry officials claimed last week they shot at a Pakistani UAV that entered Indian airspace along the border, but were unsure if they hit it. India reported losing a UAV on Jan. 4, which crashed at Chatha near Jammu. India is developing the Mishant UAV that has been tested at Kolar in Karnataka. The aircraft weighs 792 lb. and has an estimated range of 62 mi.
Clever use of the spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope has paved the way for study of the atmospheres around extra-solar planets far earlier than anticipated, possibly advancing the search for signs of life elsewhere in the galaxy.
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control will collaborate with Pulse Specialty Components to upgrade the combat video imaging system for the U.S. Army's AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. The program, which is part of Lockheed Martin's Arrowhead Apache Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor package, will include development of a high-speed digital video transmission system using the fiber channel standard that is a part of the Arrowhead initiative.
The SOTA RF Series 0402 thin film chip resistors are designed for microwave and RF usage in military, aerospace, satellite and other mission critical applications. These compact, lightweight resistors provide low return loss in frequency ranges to 16GHz., and feature an ultra-miniature case size of 0.040 in. X 0.025 in., with a choice of termination styles. Prices for the RF Series 0402 resistors start at $1 each in production quantities, with delivery in 12-14 weeks. State of the Art, 2470 Fox Hill Road, State College, Pa. 16803.
