The CRJ900, Bombardier Aerospace's latest and longest regional jet, at 86-90 seats, made a ``flawless initial flight'' on the morning of Feb. 21, flying for 2 hr. 45 min. and achieving an altitude of 35,000 ft. before returning to Montreal's Mirabel International Airport.
BAE Systems has extended a lease agreement with Australian Air Express, a joint venture of Qantas Airways and Australia Post, for three BAe 146QT freighters.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT CHARTER AND MANAGEMENT (RACM) has added 32 aircraft to its worldwide fleet, bringing the number of airplanes on its charter certificate to 77, according to Jim Rice, vice president of operations for RACM. These include a 10-seat Challenger 600 and a 12-seat Falcon 900, he said. The long-range jets allow international charters. In addition, the company has received FAA authorization to fly routes across the North Pacific and to fly North Atlantic routes through airspace approved for Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums.
Barring an economic recession, a survey by Honeywell indicates about 2,500 new commercial, turbine-powered helicopters will be delivered in the next five years, resulting in annual fleet growth of 2.5%. Key factors driving the market include the need to replace aging aircraft and a desire for new technology, increased payload and improved performance compared with older aircraft.
Sitting on a $5-billion backlog with more than 40 satellites to be built, Boeing Satellite Services President and CEO Tig H. Krekel predicts a 15% growth in revenue this year, much of it based on marketing huge, lower cost-per-transponder platforms. A year ago, Boeing had just launched the first of its new 702 satellites. Krekel was optimistic that the company's answer to the industry's demand for high-power platforms would be a quick success (AW&ST Feb. 14, 2000, p. 74).
Ambassador Alessandro Minuto Rizzo will become deputy secretary general of NATO this summer. Rizzo is currently Italy's permanent representative to the European Union's policy and security committee. He will succeed Ambassador Sergio Balanzino, who is scheduled to retire.
In the next few weeks, Snecma is scheduled to restructure its thrust reverser/engine nacelle businesses. The French group plans to form Hurel-Hispano--a holding company that will coordinate and streamline Hispano-Suiza Aerostructures and newly acquired Hurel-Dubois and Hurel-Dubois UK. Each of Hurel-Hispano's units will be renamed, but will retain production facilities and the ability to conclude alliances and partnerships.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems has opened a 16,000-sq.-ft. test facility for the Beam Control/Fire Control system it is contributing to the $1.6-billion U.S. Air Force Airborne Laser (ABL) theater ballistic missile defense system.
Raisbeck Commercial Air Group will supply five Stage 3 kits for Ecuador's TAME Airlines fleet of Boeing 727-200 (Advanced) aircraft, under a contract valued at more than $6 million.
A ban on U.S. weapons offsets would cut more domestic jobs than it would save, according to preliminary findings of the Presidential Commission on Offsets in International Trade. That conclusion supports the aerospace industry's contention that it would lose export sales and competitiveness if it could not offer foreign buyers offsets, which are coproduction, subcontracting and technology transfer incentives to promote the sale of American defense goods (AW&ST Dec. 11, 2000, p. 48).
THE FAA HAS AUTHORIZED KAISERAIR INC. to install the Universal Technical Standard Order (TSO) Terrain Avoidance and Warning System (TAWS) in Gulfstream III-series business jets. The Oakland, Calif.-based company is one of only a few facilities in the U.S. approved to install TAWS, which eventually will be required in turbine-powered business aircraft operated for hire.
Air Intelligence Agency, now part of the Air Force's combat strike force, is deeply immersed in the task of learning to fight with information as a weapon. Information warfare, along with dozens of other technologies, involves enemy computer network attacks. The exact methodology is among the nation's most closely guarded secrets. It assumes the premier place occupied by stealth 20 years ago. However, Air Force officials can talk about the importance of the technology and how it might be applied.
Of 29 people on board a Myanmar army Mi-17 helicopter that crashed Feb. 19, there were 13 survivors, 10 missing and six confirmed dead as of Feb. 21. According to press reports out of Myanmar, the Russian-made helicopter crashed in bad weather in the Salween River about 100 mi. southeast of the capital, Yangon. Several members of the cabinet and top-ranking military officials, including army chief of staff Tin Oo, were on board, but reports say there was no evidence of sabotage.
NASA-funded scientists have found evidence a celestial impact triggered the mass extinction that wiped out 90% of the lifeforms on Earth 250 million years ago, when the planet's land mass was concentrated in a single continent known as Pangea. Researchers at the University of Washington estimate the object was 6-12 km. (3.7-7.5 mi.) across, but the impact was too remote in time to know whether it was a comet or asteroid.
The Massachusetts Port Authority's precedent-setting proposal threatening airlines with punitive action unless they abide by new performance standards is likely to be challenged in federal court, but could set the stage for similar plans by other authorities, say legal experts.
Boeing has joined BAE Systems to bid for the U.K.'s Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) program. A final agreement is expected shortly on the teaming arrangement, which is expected to include other parties and propose a Boeing aircraft as a platform. BAE Systems was one of three bidders short-listed by the Ministry of Defense for the FSTA program to provide air refueling services for the Royal Air Force under a 25-year contract.
J.P. Stevens has become vice president-special projects of the Washington-based Aerospace Industries Assn. He was assistant vice president-supplier management.
EADS' Defense Electronics unit is providing its new STR2000 identification-friend-or-foe transponders and TTR921 airborne collision avoidance systems, developed by Rockwell Collins Deutsch- land, for NATO AWACS aircraft. EADS' Dornier subsidiary, selected by NATO as the prime contractor for the upgrade, has ordered four systems from EADS Defense Electronics for installation and testing this summer. The contract includes options for another 19 systems.
Current and former Pentagon and defense industry officials--declaring the U.S. at a critical juncture in its military posture--will urge Congress and the Bush Administration to make acquisition reform and defense modernization one of their top priorities.
Ronald A. Hess and Robert A. Stengel have received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Mechanics and Control of Flight Award. Hess is vice chairman of the Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering Dept. at the University of California, while Stengel is a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University.
American Airlines flight attendants have voted overwhelmingly to allow their union to strike if a new contract is not signed. The National Mediation Board must first release the parties from mediation, triggering a 30-day cooling-off period, before a strike can occur. Mediated talks between American and the Assn. of Professional Flight Attendants will resume in Chicago on Mar. 2-3 and continue in Washington on Mar. 12-14, if necessary. Issues involving increased compensation, retirement benefits and work rules have yet to be resolved.
Donald R. Sinclair has been appointed to the advisory board of PROS Revenue Management of Houston. He is a consultant to the energy industry and was president of Duke Energy Trading and Marketing.
In a tight budget environment, the DGA French armaments agency is being rapidly streamlined to raise the overall efficiency of military procurement spending. Its activities are in line with the aerospace/defense industry's efforts to acquire more export orders so that production runs can be extended and unit costs lowered, according to the agency's top officials.
Mary Simmerman has been named vice president-supplier management for the Boeing Space and Communications Group, Seal Beach, Calif. She was general manager of supplier and materials management for the airlift and tanker programs at Boeing Aircraft and Missiles, Long Beach, Calif.
United Airlines has confirmed an order for an additional 44 Airbus A320s, all powered by International Aero Engines (IAE) V2500 powerplants. The order is worth more than $500 million to IAE. The first A320 is set for delivery in 2002. To date, United has ordered 177 aircraft equipped with the V2500 engine.
