Three weeks into its war on terrorism, the Pentagon is recognizing it may not have the tools to be successful. So, the Defense Dept. is turning to industry to find new ways to combat terrorism, defeat difficult targets, conduct protracted operations in remote areas and counter weapons of mass destruction. The goal is to find ideas that can be fielded within 12-18 months.
American Airlines will lay off another 409 pilots beginning Nov. 7 in addition to the 380 new-hire pilots already furloughed who were in the training pipeline or serving probationary periods. In addition, American has reduced overtime for its maintenance workers in an effort to further reduce costs, which could result in fewer mechanics losing their jobs. To date, the airline has furloughed about 2,000 mechanics.
GERMANY HAS CERTIFIED RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT CO.'S Premier I entry-level business jet, clearing the way for deliveries of 26 airplanes to operators based in that country. The first delivery is scheduled for January 2002. Of the 300 Premier I jets on order, 51 will go to European operators, according to Raytheon Aircraft officials. Certification is pending in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, the U.K. and Switzerland.
Thomas E. Schick has been appointed to the board of directors of Panama-based Copa Airlines. He is a retired executive vice president of Boeing Commercial Aviation Services.
America West Airlines says it will dispute $667,050 in FAA-imposed civil penalties linked to alleged maintenance and flight violations from 1997 to 2000. According to the FAA, the carrier used the wrong bolts in the elevator systems for 13 aircraft and knowingly flew 1,605 passenger flights with the discrepancy in May and June of 1999. The airline also flew thousands of passenger-carrying flights, the FAA contends, with numerous other aircraft that had not been modified in accordance with 11 airworthiness directives through the period.
NASA's Odyssey spacecraft, the space agency's first Mars mission since the loss of two science probes there in 1999, scored a ``bull's-eye'' by flying to within 1 km. of its target aimpoint prior to entering orbit around the planet, according to project officials. Matt Landano, Odyssey project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said the 1,600-lb. spacecraft ``flawlessly achieved its most critical one-time event'' Oct. 23 in preparation for its primary 2.5-year science mission. ``Our navigation was superb.''
AVIATION SAFETY TRAINING IN HOUSTON IS OFFERING flights in a Cessna Citation business jet to demonstrate the effects of ``unloading'' an aircraft ``as a means of neutralizing, disabling or injuring a terrorist.'' The training, which is part of the company's unusual attitude recovery course, involves placing the jet into a 0g unload for about 2 sec. followed by return to 1g. Chief pilot Donald Wylie said the techniques can be applied to Transport Category aircraft.
NASA breathed a sigh of relief when the Mars Odyssey spacecraft phoned home upon reappearing from the back side of the planet (see p. 64). Interestingly, until that critical radio signal, Goldin was nowhere to be seen, certainly not on television from the control room. Space science chief Ed Weiler was on tap to answer reporters' questions after the event. But once MO phoned home, Goldin appeared in the control room footage, and Weiler got the hook. Would Goldin have remained the invisible man had MO's orbit insertion failed?
ALIEN TECHNOLOGIES of Morgan Hill, Calif., developed a manufacturing technology to reduce the cost of displays. The company's first product will be a small, flexible monochromatic display for a smart card; among the potential uses is personal identification. The manufacturing process is called fluidic self-assembly. Integrated circuits produced on wafers are cut apart and floated over a plastic substrate in a bath. The substrate has holes the shape of the chips. When a chip crosses a hole with the correct shape and orientation, it slides in.
GE CAPITAL SIMUFLITE IS EXPANDING ITS TRAINING FACILITIES at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport for the third time in six years. Plans call for construction of a 70,000-sq.-ft. addition that would house six simulator bays, classrooms and office space. The new unit is scheduled to be completed in mid-2002 and will bring total area at the facility to 411,000 sq. ft., according to the company.
Primagraphics has won an additional $1-million contract from DRS Techno- logies Inc. to supply its commercial-off-the-shelf Vantage VME-based radar scan converters.
CESSNA HAS SOLD A CITATION X BUSINESS JET TO THE AIR TRAFFIC Management Bureau of the Civil Aviation Authority of China. It will be based in Beijing and flown along with two other Citations to monitor and calibrate navigation aids and for other special mission applications.
THE FAA HAS ISSUED A SUPPLEMENTAL TYPE CERTIFICATE for installation of the Enhanced Vision System (EVS) on Gulfstream V business jets. The approval permits Gulfstream Aerospace to offer the EVS as an option for new airplanes and to retrofit the system into existing GV aircraft. The EVS uses Flir technology to project a real-world image on a Honeywell head-up display.
The Canadian government will consider--but is not committed to--financial help for airlines beyond its agreed-to compensation for direct losses during the six days that followed Sept. 11, Transport Minister David Collenette told reporters during a Washington visit. The U.S.
Terrorism is the latest target for avionics companies, which are rushing in to offer the FAA a wide range of proposals that would exploit their technologies to help spot terrorists at airports and thwart any that board aircraft.
Henri Courpron will become president/CEO of Airbus North America Holdings on Jan. 1. He will succeed Nick Tomassetti, who is scheduled to retire. Courpron heads Airbus' marketing and sales unit for the U.S. and Canada.
Colin Hall has become managing director in the London office of Avmark. He was alliances manager for British Airways. Brendan Gallagher has been named editor of Avmark's Aviation Economist and Gael Cusenier senior analyst.
A congressionally chartered commission to review the U.S. aerospace industry will try to strike a balance between addressing near-term problems resulting from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and longer-term, systemic problems that have bedeviled companies' prospects for years.
USAF Capt. Jodi A. Neff has been chosen to receive the Katherine and Marjorie Stinson Award for Achievement for 2001 from the National Aeronautic Assn. Neff is the first woman to command a special operations low-level C-5 and is assigned to the 3rd Airlift Sqdn., Dover AFB, Del. Her missions have included airlifting equipment to Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm, transporting munitions during the air war in Yugoslavia and humanitarian flights into East Timor and the Korean peninsula.
Boeing's X-45A unmanned combat air vehicle is in final preparations for first flight, which Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency managers expect will occur before year-end. Low-speed taxi testing at Edwards AFB, Calif., should commence this month, followed by a quick transition to medium-speed tests.
Arthur L. Money has been appointed to the board of directors of Silicon Graphics Inc., Mountain View, Calif. He was assistant secretary for command, control, communications and intelligence/chief information officer of the U.S. Defense Dept. Money succeeds Robert Lutz, who has resigned to become vice chairman-product development of the General Motors Corp.
Brian Gora has been named president for Landing Gear Systems of the Goodrich Corp., Charlotte, N.C. He was vice president/general manager of the Landing Systems Services division. Gora has been succeeded by Theunis Botha, who was vice president/general manager for the Turbine Component Services division. Bill Walthall has become company-wide vice president-customer relations. He was group vice president of the Engineered Products division.
Vought Aircraft Industries has delivered the 1,000th shipset of empennages and graphite composite wing spoilers for the Boeing 757, and the 1,000th shipset of doors for the Boeing 737. The company's facilities in Milledgeville and Perry, Ga., and in Dallas build large airframe assemblies for Boeing, including the main fuselage, doors and empennage for the 747.
