SNPE is hoping the arrival of a new chairman/CEO can get the French solid propulsion manufacturer back on track, following a catastrophic explosion last month in Toulouse, where three of its chemical plants are located. The new boss, Jacques Loppion, hails from tank-builder Giat Industries, where he has engineered a revamp of operations and structural alliances to turn around the perennial money loser. The municipal government has requested a shutdown of the facilities, which generate 40% of the company's chemical revenues.
USAF/Lockheed Martin Titan IVB lifts off on 3.4-million-lb. thrust from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on Oct. 5 carrying a National Reconnaissance Office advanced KH-11 imaging spacecraft. At about $1.3 billion for the satellite and booster, KH-11 missions are among the most expensive of all military space operations. The spacecraft will help support antiterrorist operations in Afghanistan and monitor other countries such as China.
A secret National Reconnaissance Office/Boeing data relay satellite is undergoing checkout in space for use in routing critical U.S. intelligence data, following its launch on Oct. 10 from Cape Canaveral on board a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS booster. As preparations for the flight were underway, the U.S. Air Force queried both Lockheed Martin and Boeing on what levels of emergency launch surge capability they could maintain if it was necessary to launch larger numbers of military spacecraft to support the U.S. war on terrorism.
Release 4.0 of Zontec's Synergy 2000 statistical process control software contains more than 20 new features and program enhancements. The software is designed for mission-critical plant computing environments that want an enterprise-wide approach to quality management. The software includes facilities for real-time data collection, charting, monitoring, analysis, messaging and reporting across geographically distributed facilities.
Preston A. Henne has won the Hap Arnold Award for Excellence in Aeronautical Program Management from the Reston, Va.-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, for his management of the Gulfstream V program.
The European Space Agency has decided to include Canada's Radarsat 2/3 mission in the first round of projects to be proposed for the agency's Earth Watch program, but will pare back its overall budget request for this and other Earth-observing initiatives.
To conserve cash in the airline crisis, British Airways will eliminate the Christmas bonus for 36,000 employees, saving 37 million pounds ($53.4 million), an airline spokesman said. The Christmas bonus used to be the equivalent of one week's pay. Eliminating the bonus comes on the heels of executive pay cuts of 10-15%. Unions will be asked to approve a 5% pay reduction for middle management employees. In another possible reduction, Irish carrier Aer Lingus said it may furlough 2,500 of its 6,300 employees if its recent promotions do not stimulate traffic.
Gill Hazel has become director of business development for Datalex, Manchester, England. He was a principal consultant for Strategy, Sydney, Australia.
Production is underway on a redesigned solar array for Boeing Satellite Systems' flagship 702 communications satellite after it was determined the spacecraft's in-orbit power-generating capabilities have been degrading faster than expected. The problem has been traced to solar radiation reflectors installed at an angle along the length of both solar-panel wings on 702 models, which form a shallow trough that concentrates more radiation on the surface of the solar cells for increased power output.
A-CARB, the U.S. subsidiary of France's Messier-Bugatti, has completed a $30-million, 30,000-sq.-ft. addition to its Walton, Ky., facility to support the production of carbon brake disks for the C-17 military transport.
NASA's partners on the International Space Station, caught in the turbulence left by the U.S. shortfall in ISS funding, are awaiting the outcome of budget deliberations in Washington before deciding how to proceed.
For more than three years, the air transport industry has warned that a projected shortage in aviation maintenance technicians could bring flights to a grinding halt. The reasoning includes an assertion that too many young people are being told they must go to college instead of adopting a technical trade.
Mike McClain (see photo) has been named director of business development for Pro Star Aviation, Manchester, N.H. He was vice president/general manager of West Star Aviation.
Sikorsky's final S-92 prototype, and the first to completely reflect the aircraft's planned production configuration, made its first flight at the company's Stratford, Conn., headquarters on Oct. 5. During the 1.9-hr. flight, pilots Robert Spaulding and Rick Becker completed a series of maneuvers that ``covered virtually the entire S-92 flight envelope,'' company officials said. Following additional tests to be completed over the next several weeks, the helicopter will fly to Sikorsky's Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., for more trials.
Peter Bakker has been appointed CEO of Amsterdam-based TPG. He succeeds Ad Scheepbouwer, who is now head of KPN Telecom. Bakker has been chief financial officer.
Using a new process for continuous manufacturing of silicone-encapsulated ribbon cable, Cicoil says its cables provide improved life, performance and current-carrying capacity. The company's process, called 700X, produces cables with as many wires as necessary and in any length, with widths to 4.5 in. and thickness to 0.5 in. The ribbon cables are used in applications involving temperature and environmental extremes, vibration, shock and repetitive motion.
Marjorie K. DeLong (see photo) has been appointed director of marketing for SimuFlite Training International Inc., Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. She was manager of marketing and sales for the Americas for parent company GE Capital Aviation Training.
Battery technology from iQ Power Technology of Vancouver and Munich, combines a microprocessor, imbedded software and sensors into an integrated, computer-controlled energy management system. It can collect and store historic data and compute the state of charge and state of health. It addresses the major problem that traditional lead-acid batteries pose to equipment designers: unpredictability.
Spring-Fast grommet edging is designed to prevent electrical wire chafing and wear-critical issues that have come to prominence following the Trans World Airlines and Swissair accidents. The hardware is a composite grommet edging installed around the structural openings inside an aircraft, through which run wires linking electrical systems from nose to tail. Manufactured to replace nylon grommets, this product does not become brittle with time, according to the company, and does not require an adhesive for installation.
It's not often that the Defense Dept. is held up as an exemplar. But James O'Bryon, the Pentagon's operational test and evaluation guru for live-fire testing, may have a case here. He thinks FAA equivalents of several Defense Dept. institutions would help the civilian agency develop and field better airport explosives-detection systems. After reviewing FAA programs, O'Bryon told the House aviation subcommittee that the agency has no organization that provides for people in the field to test new equipment they and their cohorts might end up using.
James P. Donlan has been named president/CEO of Dallas Airmotive Inc., a subsidiary of BBA Aviation. He succeeds George Derby, who has resigned. Donlan has been vice president-sales and support for business and general aviation for Honeywell. Terry G. Scott has been appointed president/CEO of another BBA subsidiary, International Turbine Service Inc. He was senior vice president-sales and marketing for Dallas Airmotive.
