A malfunctioning aileron control system has been identified as the probable cause of the May 18 crash of a CN-235-100M maritime patrol aircraft at Akinci airport, Turkey. The EADS-CASA aircraft, built under license by Turkish Aerospace Industries, was on its first test flight when it crashed shortly after takeoff (AW&ST May 28, p. 37). EADS-CASA and TAI said they are instituting measures to prevent further such faults.
The FAA's 10-year plan for increasing commercial aviation capacity is drawing skepticism as well as support in Congress, and the chairman of the House Transportation aviation subcommittee wants to add demand-management measures to the mix.
GE Engine Services said it will refine and market aviation business applications software from Industrial&Financial Services for commercial aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul, a market with sales exceeding $1 billion a year. The strategic alliance accelerates the position of both companies in MRO. GE Engine Services is a market leader in aviation services and IFS reports three straight years of sales for its MRO software, which involves engineering, planning, maintenance operations, inventory and other functions.
Rebecca Rhoads has become vice president/chief information officer of the Raytheon Co., Lexington, Mass. She was vice president-information technology for Raytheon Electronic Systems, El Segundo, Calif.
George Gonzalez (see photo) has become vice president of Bombardier Aerospace's Business Aviation Services, Wichita, Kan. He was director of aviation operations for DHL Worldwide Express.
The XL6 VideoProbe system consists of a 6.1-mm. tungsten braided insertion tube for greater wear resistance. The combination of a high-resolution CCD camera, advanced digital signal processing and an integrated high-intensity arc lamp produces easy-to-see images. Joystick-controlled all-way articulation through electronic servos gives better tip maneuverability and reduces life-cycle costs by protecting the cable mechanism from manual overtorque. Six interchangeable tip adapters provide multiple viewing options, three direct viewing tips and three side viewing tips.
Santiago Astrain, the first secretary general and later the first director general of Intelsat, has received the first Arthur C. Clarke Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. Astrain was cited for ``taking Sir Arthur C. Clarke's 1945 vision of geostationary satellites and making it the technological reality that now connects the people and countries of the world.''
John Rishton, who has been commercial financial controller of British Airways, has been named to succeed Derek Stevens as chief financial officer. Stevens is scheduled to retire this fall.
Carolyn Griner, who until recently was deputy director of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., has become vice president/general manager of Huntsville operations for Spacehab.
A fully programmable, microprocessor-controlled bench-top adhesive dispensing system featuring a precise linear drive mechanism that creates positive displacement from a plastic syringe has been introduced by Fishman. The LDS9000 linear dispensing system features a hand-held gun that employs a linear actuator-driven mechanical lead screw to push an adhesive through a plastic syringe and out the tip in precise volumes, without air.
Operating revenues of the world's scheduled airlines increased 7.6% in 2000, from $305.5 billion in 1999 to $328.7 billion, according to analysis of preliminary estimates issued June 11 by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). But operating expenses increased faster, by 8.4%, and operating profits fell from $12.2 billion to $10.8 billion. Operating profit as a percentage of operating revenue slipped from 4% to 3.3%.
John Hennebery has been appointed vice president-sales of PressCut Industries of Dallas, succeeding Greg Watson, who is now vice president/general manager of the O-Ring Div. Hennebery was vice president of the Beckett Corp.
General Atomics President Thomas Cassidy is appealing to NASA chief Daniel S. Goldin to reject a headquarters recommendation to cancel the 2002 science demonstration missions of the Altair UAV. Insiders say NASA doesn't want to fight through the FAA's bureaucracy to get permission for the unmanned craft to fly in national airspace. But Cassidy argued such access ``is pivotal to the future of remotely operated aircraft, not only in the U.S., but also worldwide.'' He added, ``Gaining FAA approval will require strong support of the type that NASA and the U.S.
Firefighting--a new use for the Russian Mi-171 helicopter--is scheduled to be demonstrated at Pontoise-Cormeilles Airport near Paris this week. Helion Procopter, a German/Russian joint venture, will equip the military cargo helicopter with a set of avionics developed for the FAA's Capstone demonstration in Alaska to enhance bush-pilot safety by displaying terrain warnings and the locations of other aircraft on a cockpit display (AW&ST Sept. 18, 2000, p. 68).
An inexpensive disaster monitoring satellite constellation Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) is building for a consortium of developing nations could have a role alongside more expensive spacecraft developed on the Continent in the proposed European Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) system, according to Britain's top space official.
The A380 is facing an uphill battle against weight, yet is supposed to have 20% lower operating costs. How can it be cheaper if it's going to be heavier? The higher empty weight per passenger comes from engineering basics--the square-cube law--and new certification rules that do not apply to its nearest competitor, the Boeing 747-400. But it turns out that weight is not that important to direct operating cost, at least by Airbus' calculations.
SKF Aero Bearing Service Center has launched a CF6-6/-50 and -80 gearbox/accessory bearings overhaul service. A division of SKF USA, the service center will provide Level 1 and II bearing overhaul support for operators of Pratt&Whitney, GE and Snecma/CFM International aero engines. CF6 mainshaft bearing support is offered by the MRC Jamestown, N.Y., remanufacturing business unit. The CF6 gearbox/accessory program is the company's second recent one, following the launch of a PWA JT8 mainshaft/gearbox program. Two more programs are expected by fall.
C. Jim Stewart, 3rd, vice president-marketing of Stewart&Stevenson Services Inc. of Houston, has been appointed to the board of directors. He fills the seat vacated by Brian H. Rowe, who is the new chairman of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings.
John Scelfo has become chief financial officer of Sirius Satellite Radio of New York. He was vice president-finance of the Asian operations of the Dell Computer Corp.
Airbus is betting that size matters, and while the A380 will be the largest passenger jet in the world, there are more important issues here than just physical size or an impressive maximum takeoff weight. Like the euro, the mega-transport is a symbol of Europe's economic unification and political transformation because it shows how the partner nations can develop world-class products in critical industry segments. And with sales underway, the A380 has already started cutting into Boeing's lucrative 747 monopoly on the high end of the market.
Just as the need is increasing for airlift capability that can move large numbers of troops and mountains of supplies from the U.S. to anywhere in the world, the number of bases with room for giant transport aircraft is shrinking.
The European Union Military Staff, consisting of 135 officers, was established as a permanent body on June 11. It is intended to provide the EU with situation assessments of potential crises and carry out strategic planning for activities ranging from humanitarian missions to military intervention. While it will not have an operational planning function, the EU is still working to define arrangements with NATO that would allow it access to the alliance's planning capabilities.
The Red Crown line of pencil probes are designed to help reduce shop-floor dimensional problems. An alternative to conventional LVDT and Half Bridge transducers, the Red Crown pencil probe is available in 52 standard models covering a measurement range of 0.5 to 5 mm. Designed as two modular components, the probe provides easy repairability. This will allow customers who have large inventories of traditional probes to reduce repair and replacement costs. The probes are supplied with either LVDT or HBT transducers, making them adaptable to most existing electronics.
