NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN), which tracks spacecraft en route to the planets and beyond, is becoming overwhelmed with U.S. and international missions consuming its available tracking time and bandwidth. The primary DSN sites are at Madrid; Canberra, Australia; and Goldstone, Calif. (see photo). This is prompting NASA, Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency to study how the DSN might be converted from a U.S. operation to an international one with more non-U.S. antennas.
Pacific Rim-based commercial transport fleets will more than double in the next 20 years, a promising trend that is expected to play a key role in Airbus' quest for a 50% share in the Pacific Rim market, according to company executives. In the shorter term, however, economic and financial uncertainties could impede some orders.
United Airlines' new schedule to Asia, billed as its largest expansion ever to the region, features a 7,339-naut.-mi.-flight between New York and Hong Kong, a resumption of its around-the-world service linking Delhi from the east and the west, and additional flights to China.
The FAA is losing nearly 40% of its funds for fuel systems research, even as a center fuel tank explosion is being cited as the preliminary cause of the fatal Thai Airways 737-400 blast Mar. 3 at a gate at Don Muang International Airport in Bangkok. Early last week, the White House budget office recommended scaling back several FAA research, engineering and development (RD&E) accounts, including propulsion and fuel systems research, which would fall to $5.2 million in Fiscal 2002, a 37% cut.
Reducing the risks of weapons of mass destruction requires a radical shift in security strategy, former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) argued in a recent speech at the National Press Club in Washington.
The volatile Pacific Rim will play a vital role in Airbus' and Boeing's future. Aircraft sales are forecast for the region in record-breaking numbers. The divergent approaches taken by the manufacturers are heightening the competition. Boeing continues to be influenced by the prospect of market fragmentation. Airbus traditionally has stressed technology advances. New aircraft designs exemplified by the A380-800 and the Mach 0.95 ``sonic cruiser'' have added fresh seasoning to an already interesting marketplace--The Editors
William R. Carmichael, a principal communication systems engineer for Rockwell Collins Government Systems, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been elected chairman of the High Frequency Industry Assn.
Current aircraft purchase plans indicate that Japan Airlines will continue to acquire Boeing aircraft, while recent buys by All Nippon Airways reflect ANA's pattern of mixing its fleet between Boeing and Airbus aircraft.
FedEx has decided to acquire the Airbus A380-800. Why? The Asia-Pacific region, FedEx's fastest growing international market, already has prompted the Memphis-based parcel express and cargo operator to acquire 60 MD-11s to meet forecast demand.
The plan to privatize Air Niugini is back to the drawing board. The Privatization Committee asked the Papua New Guinea government to explore options to achieve the goal. The group said it could proceed no further because none of the offers for a 49% stake in Air Niugini complied with key requirements. In addition, union resistance was cited as a ``serious disincentive'' to investment.
Capt. David Webb (see photo) has been elected president of the FedEx Pilots Assn. for a two-year term. Also elected were: vice president, Capt. Willy Huggins; and secretary/treasurer, First Officer Tony Hauserman.
A Presidential Emergency Board may be needed despite plans to resume contract talks on Apr. 18 between Delta Air Lines and its pilots, the company stated late last week. Refuting reports by the Air Line Pilots Assn. (ALPA), which represents Delta's 10,000 pilots, management said there is still a $1.7-billion gap between the respective proposals.
Timothy J. Puckorius has been named senior vice president-worldwide marketing and sales, Yajaman N. Bhushan senior vice president-business integration and product strategy and John M. Novack senior vice president-finance, all of the Washington-based WorldSpace Corp. Puckorius was vice president-international marketing and business development of Orbimage, while Bhushan was senior mission system engineer for ICO Global Communications Services Inc. Novack held a similar position at Access Teleconferencing International.
Despite manufacturers' generally upbeat outlook for commercial aircraft demand in the near-term--based partly on aircraft retirement rates and more rational ordering by airlines compared with previous cycles--some analysts in both the U.S. and Europe are growing increasingly nervous.
For the second time, accident investigators have determined that the V-22's proprotor configuration led to asymmetric forces that made the tiltrotor more difficult to fly to avoid a crash. While neither the Apr. 8, 2000, crash near Marana, Ariz., nor the Dec. 11, 2000, crash near Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., were initiated by asymmetric flight conditions, pilots in both cases faced control difficulties that presented hurdles to recovering the aircraft once it encountered problems.
The FAA has ruled that U.S. airlines must begin carrying automated external defibrillators on all domestic and international flights by 2004, a move the agency says will cost airlines more than $16 million in the next 10 years.. The mandate applies to aircraft with more than 7,500-lb. payload capacity requiring at least one flight attendant, a description that covers more than 1,200 aircraft in the commercial fleet.
NASA has banished rotorcraft research and development from its latest budget request, igniting a storm of concern and indignation among the agency's soon-to-be former partners and collaborators. Word that the agency had excised the $25.5-million line item from its 2002 budget had been suspected, but it was only communicated to its Army partner in early March. The cut was finally publicly confirmed last week, when the budget was actually released.
Northwest Airlines and its mechanics union have reached a tentative multiyear contract that calls for a 24% increase in base salary, sources within the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. (AMFA) have confirmed. The accord also calls for retroactive compensation for the mechanics, equivalent to 3.5 % of their annual pay backdated to October 1996, the date when the last contract expired. In addition, the AMFA members will get a one-time $3,750 signing bonus.
Airbus may have crashed the Boeing-Qantas party with an order for 12 Airbus A380s and 13 A330/200/300s, but the 747-400 is expected to remain honored guest of the airline's fleet for the next five years. Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon said the carrier expects delivery of 25 additional -400s beginning in March 2002 to 2006, and has six of the Increased Gross Weight versions on order.
Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines were the top three carriers in passenger service last year, but quality overall was down over the previous year, a controversial study by two academics claims. The Airline Quality Rating, which analyzes Transportation Dept. data, reported that on-time arrivals dropped in 2000, while denied boardings and reports of lost or mishandled baggage were up over the previous year.
Helicopter pioneer Stanley Hiller, Jr., has received the Pioneers of Vertical Flight Award from Groen Brothers Aviation Inc. of Salt Lake City. Among his many helicopter designs was the XH-44 Hiller-Copter, the world's first helicopter with twin coaxial counter-rotating blades. The award recognizes the dedication and contributions of early aviators and designers who advanced vertical flight.
Bert Zaccaria, a partner in New York-based venture capital firm East River Ventures, has been appointed to the board of directors of Seattle-based Avolo.
Steven X.S. Bauer, an aerospace engineer at the NASA Langley Research Center, has been selected to receive the 2001 Engineer of the Year Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He was cited as an expert in aerodynamic design, advanced aerodynamic control effectors and passive porosity technology.
The U.S. Air Force is considering fixing and fielding C-130J capability incrementally rather than waiting until the entire system can pass muster after it failed its operational evaluation. Lockheed Martin's C-130J development suffered a significant setback when Air Force operational test officials last year deemed the aircraft neither operationally effective nor suitable. As a result, U.S. forces already flying the aircraft have been limited in how they can use the transport, including restricting operations to North America.
