With their worth being proven in the automotive industry, a nonprofit organization intends to employ fuel cells in conjunction with a combustion engine and eventually use fuel cells only to power a new electric airplane.
Japan's three largest defense contractors have submitted proposals for the next two big Japanese defense projects, a $1.6-billion replacement for the navy's Lockheed Martin/Kawasaki P-3C Orion submarine hunter and a $1.2-billion replacement for the air force's Kawasaki C-1 tactical transport. But they have decidedly different strategies on how to tackle them.
Version 7.0 of ASA's IFR desktop simulator is now available, with new features that include updated U.S. database (all airports--both VFR and IFR), airways, navaids, intersections, fixes and approaches; updated worldwide database (includes many airports, navaids, intersections, fixes and airways outside the continental U.S.); and database editor. Version 7.0 includes the Cessna 172P Skyhawk, 182R Skyland, 82R Skyland RG, Piper PA-28-161 Warrior II, PA-28R-201 Arrow IV, Mooney MSE, Lancair Columbia 300, Beechcraft V-35B Bonanza, BE-58 Baron and 1900.
SriLankan Airlines said damages to a second A340-300 transport in the July 24 attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil were sufficient that the aircraft is unrepairable. The airline lost another A340 and two A330-300s in the attack and had two A320s damaged. One of those is repairable; the fate of the other is uncertain.
The global airline industry is not entering a major downturn, but the market is suffering from ``softness,'' according to Airbus officials. As a result, the European manufacturer is revising its combined production schedule for the next three years to reflect changes in demand for new jet transports, as airlines defer deliveries or cancel options for additional airplanes. In 2002, Airbus plans to deliver 390 jets--up from 330 this year--and in 2003 would stabilize annual production at about 400 aircraft.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. tentatively approved code sharing between the U.S. and Vietnam by three U.S. carriers--Delta Air Lines, Northwest and United--with third-country partners. A March 2000 U.S.-Vietnam memorandum of discussion authorized as many as 21 such round-trip flights per week by as many as three U.S. carriers, and the department parceled them out to seven per carrier. The agreement permitted service to three points in Vietnam, but the approvals were limited to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems will deliver the first of six Predator remotely operated aircraft systems to the Italian air force within nine months. The sale includes options for additional aircraft, as well as two General Atomics Lynx synthetic aperture radars to support all-weather operations. The company is teaming with Meteor, an Italian manufacturer of UAVs and flight simulators, to assist with program support in Italy.
Startup company Eclipse Aviation is focused on improving performance and lowering manufacturing costs vis-a-vis a series of aerodynamic and structural design changes to its Eclipse 500 business jet.
PARK AIR SYSTEMS IS SUPPLYING the T6 multimode ground-based VHF radios to Speedwing for its worldwide communications network. Speedwing, a wholly owned subsidiary of British Airways, provides operational mobile communication services for the air transport market. The radios support both 25 KHz. and 8.33 KHz. channel spacing. The initial deployment of the T6 will be at Greece's new Athens Spata airport this summer, followed by the rest of Europe.
Boeing is continuing on the infotech and aviation services acquisition trail with the purchase of SBS International, a supplier of airline crew scheduling systems. Terms have not been disclosed, but the move is being portrayed by Boeing as complementary to other acquisitions. In 1999 the company gained traffic management simulation and scheduling expertise by buying The Preston Group, and last year it added Jeppesen for flight operations, Continental Graphics and AeroInfo Systems in the maintenance area.
Marcus Agius has been appointed chairman of BAA plc, effective Apr. 1, 2002. He will succeed Lawrence Urquhart. Agius has been a non-executive director and chairman of the Audit and Assurance Committee and deputy chairman. He is chairman of the London division of the investment bank Lazard.
Walter Kroell has been elected chairman of the Advisory Council for Aeronautic Research in Europe. He is chief executive of the DLR German aerospace research agency.
Japan's aerospace industry experienced a 6%-sales increase in the fiscal year ended Mar. 31, according to the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies. Manufacturers had revenues of $6.82 billion from aircraft components and assemblies, and $1.57 billion from overhaul and maintenance business. The largest customer was Japan's Defense Agency (JDA), followed by U.S. military forces in Japan, domestic civil customers and exports. Sales to the JDA jumped 13.8%, but work for the U.S. fell 31.2%. Civil and export markets both showed gains.
The EAA's AirVenture 2001 international convention saw the introduction of new avionics, aircraft and engines that are spurring growth within the general aviation industry--despite an economic downturn. About 750,000 people from around the world attended the event here last week at Wittman Regional Airport. In addition, more than 10,000 aircraft including ultralights, warbirds, antique, classic, experimental and production aircraft, and U.S. military jet fighters and transports were parked along the mile-long flight line.
THE FAA IS REPLACING radios that form a communications network in the Gulf of Mexico with Cubic Corp.'s ATC-100 transceivers. The network consists of ``floating communication sites,'' which extend the ATC communication capability across the Gulf between Florida and Texas.
Arianespace is tentatively scheduling launch of the next Ariane 5 for November following an investigation into last month's failure that shows the European heavy-lift booster's upper stage requires only minor fixes to return it to service.
The Model 3315A dual-channel function/arbitrary waveform generator--built as an extension to Pragmatic's single-channel line of instruments--gives the user two channels in one instrument. Both channels may be operated independently or interconnected. The 3315A supports five standard waveforms: sine, square, ramp, triangle and noise, as well as arbitrary. All waveforms, with the exception of noise, are available as modulation waveforms for AM, FM and PM modulation. Likewise, burst modulation offers phase angle control from 0.00 to 359.99 deg.
The newest missile defense concept to emerge from the Pentagon's expanded research effort is sea-based boost-phase intercept. Although never tried, Defense Dept. officials believe it may offer a promising path, especially if other BPI efforts founder.
Two new state-of-the-art computer numerically controlled milling machines were installed at the AMW Cuyuna Engine Co., DBA 2 Stroke International engine manufacturing facility at Beaufort, S.C. An FH-4000 horizontal machining center (or horizontal mill) from the Mazak factory (Mazak Corp., Japan) in Florence, Ky., was just received and is being installed. A Haas Mini-Mill from Haas Automation in Oxnard, Calif., is already making parts for the company. 2 Stroke supplies engines worldwide and is now delivering diesel-fuel engines for a Marine Corps contract.
These custom-fabricated sapphire optics feature a surface hardness that is second only to diamond for abrasion resistance, according to Meller Optics. Optics from the company feature Moh 9 surface hardness and can be manufactured to specification as lenses from 0.5-4 in. O.D., windows up to 9 in. O.D., and domes with angles to 160 deg. and sizes up to 4 in. Available from 0.5-3.00 mm. thick, depending on diameter, they have surface finishes from 10-5 scratch-dig, surface figures to 1/8 wave, and lenses are offered in focal lengths from 10-100 mm. at 633 naut. mi.
The Defense Dept. has made it easier for its people to buy mySAP.com e-business software by establishing a blanket purchase agreement that streamlines acquisition. The Naval Air Systems Command has signed a 33,000-user order for mySAP supply-chain management and customer-relationship management software, following a pilot project where KPMG Consulting helped Navair implement SAP enterprise software.
Both left and right are blackballing President Bush on global security policy while he vacations in Texas. Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) lit in to the commander-in-chief's preoccupation with missile defense, noting acidly that ``it did not take a long-range missile to deliver lethal force to the USS Cole, to the World Trade Center, to our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, or to disperse sarin gas in the Tokyo subway.'' He accused the White House of abdicating instead of asserting U.S.
Groen Brothers Aviation is moving its corporate headquarters to Glendale, Ariz., from Salt Lake City, and plans to build a 200,000-sq. ft., $14-million facility to produce Hawk 4 gyroplanes. When completed late in 2002, the facility will be capable of producing up to four aircraft per day, according to the company. The Hawk 4, powered by a Rolls-Royce turboshaft engine, is aimed chiefly at law enforcement, aerial surveillance and agricultural application markets.
Airline unions are enjoying a renaissance after the streak of contracts that featured labor concessions. Only the most blatant union demands have been rejected in contract negotiations, so fearful are U.S. carriers of taking a strike. But labor costs are showing the consequences. In the first quarter, the labor price tag jumped 13% over the previous first quarter. According to an estimate by Air Transport Assn. chief economist David Swierenga, in 2000-02 the labor cost portion will rise $6 billion.
Stennis Space Center engineers completed a three-test series with twin Rocketdyne XRS-2200 linear aerospike engines, running the tandem setup for the planned 90 seconds at 85% power. Although the engines were built to power the terminated NASA/Lockheed Martin X-33 testbed, the three tests evaluated electromechanical actuator technology that may be used in a different second-generation launch vehicle (AW&ST July 30, p. 61).
