Airbus' revised software covering the A319/A320's automated angle-of-attack (AOA) protection is scheduled to obtain certification by the end of the month. The software now being modified was not the A320 series' original AOA protection, Airbus officials stressed. The in-service protection's software was altered two years ago when operational feedback indicated that heavy wind shear could bring aircraft too close to a stall warning. However, the modification went ``slightly too far'' and needed to be revised, the Airbus officials noted.
Nepal's Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation says that fixed-wing aircraft services to Lukla Airport at the foot of Mount Everest will now be able to operate year round. The Asian Development Bank funded the renovation of the airstrip which included black-topping the 527-meter (1,730-ft.) runway.
When the FAA's new oceanic control system becomes operational in about two years, it will be based on a system proven by New Zealand. That system was developed by Adacel Technologies for the service provider Airways Corp. of New Zealand. The FAA selected Lockheed Martin, which teamed with those two, to replace oceanic systems at Anchorage, New York and Oakland, Calif., Air Route Traffic Control Centers. Together, they are responsible for some 80% of the world's oceanic controlled airspace.
A group of senior advisers to the Pentagon is advocating that the Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft's mission be expanded to include air surveillance and targeting. The Defense Dept. in recent weeks decided to accelerate some of Global Hawk's mission set by adding a signals intelligence capability several years earlier than planned. It augments the ground target tracking and imagery capability already resident on the high-altitude UAV.
Europe's Galileo satnav system is expected to be a special focus for growth Jet Aviation has added a Challenger 604, Falcon 900 and Galaxy aircraft to its European business jet charter fleet.
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport passengers may now do their shopping at home using the airport's new See Buy Fly Web site, www.schiphol.nl. Users may now select and pay for a variety of products--flowers, electronics, chocolates, cosmetics--from home in advance of the day of departure. Customers holding a reservation or airline ticket may place an order from 24 hr. to 30 days prior to departure from Schiphol. When the customer completes on-line shopping, he receives confirmation and order number by e-mail.
The U.S. Army expects to make several key decisions in the near future that will likely affect cost and weight of the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter and address two areas that have exposed the program to repeated outside criticism.
At Ryanair, the challenge during the past year--as it was earlier, is now and will be for the foreseeable future--was managing growth. The low-fares, no-frills carrier launched its first base in continental Europe--Brussels South Airport, or Charleroi--on Apr. 26. Ryanair operates as many as 30 flights per day between Charleroi and four of its bases in Ireland and the U.K.--Dublin, Shannon, London Stansted and Glasgow Prestwick--and three destinations on the continent, Venice, Pisa and Carcassonne.
In the wake of its failed bid for Lucent Technologies last week, Alcatel has decided to restructure its activities, jettisoning noncore businesses and focusing on networks, optical systems and space. The decision reflects a belief among Alcatel management that systems will play an increasingly important role in the information transmission chain, complementing the company's expertise in land-based systems. Earlier this month, the company acquired full control of its Alcatel Space affiliate to prepare the way for expansion of space activities (AW&ST May 21, p. 45).
Rebekah Nottingham (see photos) has become Washington-based vice president-business development, Walter Lennox vice president-business management and Jonathan E. Murphy vice president-human resources, all for the information and electronic warfare systems unit, for BAE Systems North America, Nashua, N.H. Nottingham was senior director of aerospace electronics business development for the Lockheed Martin Corp. Lennox was the EW unit's controller, and Murphy was director of human resources.
NovAtel Inc. of Canada will supply OEM4 receivers as GPS engines for the Beeline Navigator precision guidance system manufactured by Australia's Agsystems Pty Ltd., under a (U.S.) $1.35-million order.
AAR Corp. will be a subcontractor for the L-3 Communications Link Simulation and Training Div. under a lease with the U.S. Navy. AAR will provide leasing and maintenance support for two Boeing 737s for inflight training of Navy crews for the E-6 Tacoma program.
The Bush Administration will be asked to come up with $2.5-5 billion in new defense funding to back up its declared advocacy for unmanned airborne intelligence-gathering technologies.
The aerospace/defense industry has some world-class companies, but the picture that emerged from the 2001 Index of Competitiveness study should set off alarms. If the data are examined objectively, the overall business has little to show for its efforts in the last four years, despite all the rhetoric about rising to higher levels of performance (AW&ST July 10, 2000, p. 63). Among the more sobering findings:
Aeritas has introduced a ``nonstop'' curb-to-cabin wireless check-in and boarding service and has forged agreements with Sabre, Siemens and Lufthansa to market the technology. Designated Aeritas Express for Travel, the system combines voice and text interaction to allow passengers to complete check-in and receive a bar-coded boarding pass in one step on their mobile phones or PDA. The boarding pass is scanned at the gate using the airline's existing equipment. Sabre and Siemens will make the technology available to U.S.
Managers of NASA's space shuttle and International Space Station programs will meet in mid-June to decide whether to switch the next two shuttle missions to the ISS, after delaying them last week in the face of persistent problems with the station's new robotic arm.
The FAA has given the green light for major airports in San Francisco and Detroit to begin full-time operations of a high-tech runway safety system that warns controllers of impending collisions. The action completes a milestone that puts the agency on-schedule to roll out other individually tailored systems at 32 airports by November 2002.
Excel Airways has hired FLS Aerospace, under a six-year, $1.5-million contract, to provide line maintenance for five Boeing 737 aircraft at London Gatwick and Manchester airports in England.
James Van Schaick (see photos) has been appointed Teterboro, N.J.-based chief financial officer for Jet Aviation. He was controller of the Precision Valve Co. in New York. Van Schaick succeds Vernon Bieraugel, who is now vice president-Teterboro FBO services and U.S. facility services. Paul Engl has been named director of U.S. flight operations.
Some good news (for a change) from Comair. The company's wholly owned charter subsidiary, Comair Jet Express, earned a ``platinum rating'' from the Aviation Research Group/U.S. on May 29. Jet Express, whose 25 pilots are not part of the Comair pilots' union, continues to fly charters with a fleet of seven Bombardier Challengers, Learjets and Cessna Citations despite the Mar. 26 strike that has ravaged the Cincinnati-based carrier.
In a year that tested airline managers and ushered in trends that promise to challenge them further in the future, four diverse carriers exhibited an approach to their businesses that took them to--or kept them at--the top rankings in this year's Index of Competitiveness analyses. The approach: play to the strengths of your business model, try to neutralize its weaknesses and look for the marketplace to reward you.
Four officials from Pacific Command and one from Lockheed Martin have begun hammering out details of a deal with Beijing to ship the damaged Navy EP-3 eavesdropping aircraft out of Hainan Island. There were concerns that Lingshui air base runways may not be long or strong enough to handle the giant, Russian-built An-124 transport contracted to carry out the aircraft. The Chinese refused to let the aircraft be repaired and flown out, while the U.S. refused to chop the EP-3 into so many pieces it would never fly again.
The U.K.'s Defense Evaluation Research Agency (DERA) has succeeded in demonstrating the ability to automatically recover a Stovl aircraft on a moving platform, such as an aircraft carrier. The tests involved the agency's vectored thrust aircraft advanced flight control (VAAC) Harrier, which features a programmable digital flight control system. A trials vehicle, traveling at ship speeds along the runway at DERA's Boscombe Down facility, was used to simulate the recovery platform.
