The European Space Agency's Cluster satellites are now transmitting scientific data on the Earth's magnetosphere and solar wind in a period of maximum solar activity. The four spacecraft were launched last summer from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Starsem Soyuz/Fregat boosters and earlier completed a three-month checkout period. Salsa, Samba, Rumba and Tango are installed in a lopsided pyramid formation in a 19,000-119,000-km. (11,780-73,780-mi.) orbit with a 90-deg. inclination and 57-hr. period.
Air travelers are growing more concerned about the possible risks of developing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) (AW&ST Jan. 29, p. 50). Many airlines are now providing discreetly worded DVT-aversion advisories in placards and inflight audio/video sources--stretch, walk around the cabin periodically, drink plenty of water. Dubai-based Emirates last week said it will provide long-haul passengers with a device--designed by an airline captain--to help improve circulation.
Maarten Schoenfeld has been appointed chief financial officer of Netherlands-based Stork N.V., effective in May. He will succeed Hans van den Boogaard, who is scheduled to retire on July 1.
Jeffrey J. Brundage has been appointed vice president-employee relations of American Airlines. He was managing director of employee relations for flight. He succeeds Sue Oliver, who was promoted to senior vice president-human resources.
The Russian Aviation and Space Agency signed long-term cooperation pacts this month with Boeing and EADS, covering space, military and commercial aircraft and technology.
Steve Hawkins has become vice president-multisource information systems, based in Garland, Tex., for the Raytheon Co. Guy DuBois has been appointed vice president/general manager of information management and dissemination systems, based in Reston, Va. He will be succeeded by Anita Miller as vice president-business development.
U.S. communications regulators are considering an orbital scheme for broadband Internet access via Ku-band satellites that avoids interference with geostationary communications satellites in the same frequency bands by moving the spacecraft into elliptical orbits, phased to give them the longest hang time over the biggest markets. Backers say the approach would effectively double the capacity of near-Earth space to handle broadband satellite communications.
The Boeing Next-Generation 737-900 transport received FAA certification Apr. 17, and was expected to obtain JAA validation later in the week. The certification clears the way for 737-900 deliveries to Alaska Airlines beginning in mid-May. The carrier was launch customer for the 737-900 program.
Lyell Strambi has been named executive director of airline services and Julie Southern executive director for finance of Virgin Atlantic Airways. Strambi was executive general manager at Ansett Australia. Southern succeeds Nigel Primrose, who has retired.
United Airlines is cutting costs and shifting to regional jets to stave off the ill effects of the weak economy, high fuel costs and labor troubles that battered its finances into a $391-million first-quarter operating loss.
Dassault Aviation and Honeywell's Enhanced Avionics System (EASy) cockpit for Falcon business jets combines features of Honeywell's Primus Epic electronic flight instrumentation system (EFIS) and Dassault's single-engine combat aircraft.
Andrea Fischer Newman has been named Washington-based senior vice president-government affairs of Northwest Airlines. She was vice president-state and local government affairs.
John Mergenthaler (see photo) has become vice president/general manager of the Aerospace and Defense Group of Greene, Tweed and Co., Kulpsville, Pa. He was director of sales and marketing.
Major aerospace contractors have revealed new stealth refinements to designs for the Joint Strike Fighter competition and other combat aircraft. Innovative sensors are being touted by Lockheed Martin and sensor-subcontractor Northrop Grumman, while Pratt&Whitney is examining ways to further reduce engine signatures, including radar returns from the exhaust cavity.
The Bell Boeing V-22 tiltrotor program should be restructured, have funding increased and protected, suffer a production cut and return aircraft to test flying with redesigned nacelles but without passengers, advises a blue-ribbon panel of aviation experts. The Marine Corps MV-22 should not resume operational testing until a long list of deficiencies are corrected, the panel members agreed, during a hearing on its findings. The panel will make these recommendations to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and to Congress.
The three U.S. Air Force hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet engines NASA is planning to integrate into each X-43C aircraft are intended to accelerate the research vehicle from Mach 5 to Mach 7 during a 2-3-min. engine burn, according to NASA officials. That X-43C test goal would represent another major advance in air-breathing hypersonic technology development beyond what is already anticipated with the approaching first flight of the X-43A, the initial model in the X-43 vehicle series.
The introduction of a new airspace structure over Germany, which is designed to streamline traffic flows, is expected to cause disruptions in Central European air traffic this week.
John Arscott has been appointed director of airspace policy and Chris Jesnick director of finance for the U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority. Arscott is a retired RAF air vice marshal and military air traffic controller. Jesnick was finance director-regulation and succeeds Tony Herron, who has retired. The assistant chief of the air staff, Air Vice Marshal Philip Sturley, has been named to oversee national security issues.
L-3 COMMUNICATIONS' Interstate Electronics Corp. intends to acquire the Secure Electronics product line from Alliant Techsystems, broadening its position in military GPS receivers. Alliant is the designer and developer of selective availability anti-spoofing module GPS receivers. Secure Electronics is also under contract for USAF's Combat Survivor Evader Locator radio for pilot rescue.
Hans Mark, director of defense research and engineering for the U.S. Defense Dept., is one of three new honorary fellows of the Reston, Va.-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). The others are: Dale D. Myers, who is retired from Rockwell International and NASA; and Harold W. Ritchey, president/CEO of the Thiokol Corp.
China has ordered 40 Embraer ERJ-140 regional jets worth about $1 billion for service with a number of Chinese airlines. The order comes after Sichuan Airlines, which bought five ERJ-145s last year, recommended the ERJ-series aircraft. The sale, however, still requires approval from the Chinese government.
British Airways saw traffic decline by 8.9% in March compared to the previous year. The carrier attributed the drop to lost bookings due to a spate of computer reservation problems last month, the economic slowdown in the U.S. and tourists being deterred by the foot-and-mouth livestock disease which has hit the country.
Embraer plans, over the next five years, to invest $1.4 billion for new production facilities at Eugenio de Melio, move its flight test unit to Gaviao Peixoto and install an additional spare parts depot at Weybridge, England. Last year, Embraer delivered 159 regional twinjets, up from 97 during 1999, and cut production cycles to 4.9 months, down from eight. Embraer has secured 31 firm orders for the Legacy, a corporate derivative of the ERJ-135. The first Legacy is scheduled to be delivered in August.
The NTSB's investigation of the Mar. 19 inflight tumble of an ice-laden Comair EMB-120 twin-engine turboprop, en route from the Bahamas to Orlando, Fla., will likely heat up a simmering dispute with the FAA over the board's position that crews should hand-fly their aircraft when encountering icing conditions.
