Boeing offers more clues about the intended direction of its new Air Traffic Management Group. But its president, John Hayhurst, says its proposal for systemic changes to the ATC will not be announced until the spring. There was general surprise in the industry last November when Boeing announced its entry into the ATC arena, with the bold statement that it would develop new approaches for enhanced air traffic control and airport operations.
Both Boeing and Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter demonstration programs are about halfway toward completion of their flight tests. The conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) versions are near the end of their trials, while the short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) versions are preparing for first flights in the spring. Defense officials plan to select a single contractor team to continue development of the U.S./U.K. project in the fall.
The Destiny laboratory, set for launch to the International Space Station Feb. 7 on board the space shuttle Atlantis, is to bring much needed communications improvements to the ISS. Once the lab is activated, the ISS should have high data rate S-band capability on two new audio channels. They will function through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System providing 60-70% communications coverage on every orbit compared with only about 20% coverage via UHF communications now. ``The biggest problem we have had is communications,'' Expedition 1 commander Navy Capt.
Two pilot groups represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn. (ALPA) are stepping up their efforts to reach management on new labor accords. ALPA has asked the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for a rehearing of a three-judge panel's decision telling a lower court to issue an injunction against the union because its Delta pilots refused to fly overtime. Last month, Delta Air Lines took the unusual step of suing 51 pilots and ALPA over an alleged ``no-overtime'' campaign against management.
Pratt&Whitney has acquired the Seattle-based Astronautics and Aerosciences Div. of Adroit Systems Inc. and plans to rename the unit Pratt&Whitney Seattle Aerosciences Center. The new business, which employs about 25 people, will focus chiefly on fluid mechanics and advanced combustion concepts including pulse detonation technology.
Key Senate committees are against the American Airlines/TWA merger, but the deal's potent economic logic may prove decisive. Leading Republicans on the Senate's transportation and judiciary panels deplore what they believe will be the baleful effects on consumers of accelerating airline concentration. The lament is a litany: dwindling competition, exorbitant fares, maimed service.
After a fling and a rendezvous, it's time for NEAR to settle down. The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft has completed a successful mission orbiting and studying Eros for a year. So why not try to bring the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous spacecraft to rest on the asteroid? Indeed, that's exactly what controllers plan to do next week.
Richard S. Danforth (see photos) has been appointed senior vice president-aircraft business at the Raytheon Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan. He has been succeeded as vice president-operations by Paul Schumacher, who held the same position at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
U.S. business aircraft builders posted strong sales last year. Raytheon Aircraft Co. delivered 525 new airplanes--30% more than in 1999 and the highest number in the past 20 years, according to a company official. Deliveries of business jets and the King Air line of turboprop aircraft were up 15% and 18%, respectively, and the order backlog stands at $4.4 billion. In addition, the company's Travel Air fractional ownership business is adding Challenger 601 intercontinental business jets to meet customer demand for aircraft with larger cabins and more range.
FAA data are pointing to pilot deviation or pilot error as the main cause of runway incursions, although operational or controller errors also are increasing. There were 429 runway incursions in 2000, 108 more than recorded in 1999. In 2000, pilot deviation accounted for 256 of them, controller error for 88 and vehicle/pedestrian deviation for 84. In 1999, the respective figures were 182, 78 and 61. As of Jan. 31 this year, 22 runway incursions had occurred, 13 of which were caused by pilot error. Further, nine of the 13 were in the FAA Western Pacific Region.
Europe's Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation (Occar) has received legal status as an independent international organization, allowing it to employ its own staff and place contracts directly with industry. Occar was created in 1996 by France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. to manage collaborative defense programs. Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain have applied for membership. From its central office in Bonn, Occar already manages several collaborative projects including the Tiger attack helicopter and the Hot/Milan antitank weapon system.
EUROCONTROL WILL TEST A PROTOTYPE head-worn display for tower controllers. Microvision's Nomad projects high-resolution, computer-generated images directly onto the user's retina, giving ``see-through'' images so the controller can scan aircraft and the airport but still see computer-generated advisories. Evaluations of the retinal scanning display technology will begin in Eurocontrol's flight control tower simulator to define application requirements for improving data display visibility for air traffic controllers.
Fred Agnew has been appointed president of Wicat Systems Inc., Lindon, Utah. He succeeds Mark Nelson, who is now president of Wicat.com. Agnew was an executive in the CAE Commercial Simulation and Training Div.
Navigation and launchers are among programs that will benefit from a 150-million euro hike in spending for ESA programs this year, to 2.85 billion euros ($2.7 billion). Increases are earmarked for telecommunications, manned spaceflight and Earth observation as well. Some of the projects are Vega, an all-new small booster intended to fly in late 2005; and the P80 advanced solid propulsion stage project, planned to demonstrate solid motor improvements that could be applied to Vega.
Air Vice Marshal (ret.) Johnnie Johnson, the top-scoring fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II, died at home in England on Jan. 30, according to the Associated Press. He was 85. Johnson recorded 38 ``kills'' in about 1,000 combat sorties. He was never shot down, although his aircraft was hit during one encounter with six German fighters. He was at first rejected for service in the air arm and finally managed to be accepted by the RAF in 1940.
Sakhalin Island-based Sakha Avia plans to inaugurate once-weekly Antonov An-24 service in mid-April between the island's capital, Ujino-Sakhalinsk, and Sapporo, capital of Japan's Hokkaido Island. The Russian regional carrier now operates scheduled service between Ujino-Sakhalinsk and Hakodate, a harbor city in southern Hokkaido.
The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace has criticized Boeing leaders for studying the possibility of closing the Renton manufacturing plant in Washington without consulting with union officials. SPEEA represents 25,000 engineers and other technical employees at Boeing facilities in seven states, including 4,200 at Renton. Boeing officials said last week they have been evaluating how best to organize company facilities for years in an effort to increase competitiveness, and have made no decisions yet.
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft completed its 687-day primary mapping mission last week (see rendering). Completion of planned science objectives on Jan. 31 is to be followed by a 14-month extended mission during which MGS science instruments will be used to make close-up observations of possible landing sites for future missions, and to make comparisons in annual variations of global seasons. Plans also call for use of MGS for relay of telemetry data during landing of the twin Mars Exploration Rovers planned for January of 2004.
The Brazilian government may soon launch a boycott of certain Canadian products in response to Canada's plan to issue sanctions against Brazilian imports. But, unlike Canada, Brazil has not received permission from the World Trade Organization, which last December awarded Canada the right to impose sanctions against Brazil after it found Brazil's ProEx export subsidy program to be illegal. Nevertheless, the Brazilians may have found some ammunition to use against its Canadian competitors when it meets with the WTO in February, according to one source.
India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) reports that domestic commercial air traffic increased by about 10%, from 12.2 million in 1999 to 13.3 million last year. The growth is significant, especially when compared with the 1997-98 period, according to the DGCA. Traffic increased from 11.6 million in 1997 to only 11.8 million in 1998, then rose to 12.2 million in 1999. Cargo traffic in India is expected to increase about 12-15% in the current fiscal year.
HONEYWELL WILL INTEGRATE BAE Systems Canada's GPS receivers into its local area augmentation system (LAAS). The new 24-channel aviation grade GPS receiver, CMA-4024, has a growth path to full wide area augmentation system (WAAS) Category 1 and LAAS Category 3b approach capability, according to BAE Systems Canada, which collaborated with NovAtel in the design of the receiver.
SES-Astra has selected International Launch Services to orbit its Astra 2C and Astra 1K telecom satellites. Astra 2C will be launched in June and Astra 1K, SES' second Ku-/Ka-band spacecraft, in December. In other launcher news, the European Space Agency chose Arianespace to launch the Artemis telecom, navigation and relay satellite. The spacecraft will be launched with another payload on an Ariane 5 booster this summer for 80 million euros, which is to be recovered through user payments.
John Hornsby has become vice president-strategic developments, Adrian Bohane director of worldwide sales and R. Shawn Burns director of the Information Communications and Technologies Development Group, all of Radarsat International, Richmond, British Columbia.
Building on the successful flight test of the Standard Missile SM-3 ballistic missile interceptor, the U.S. Navy and prime contractor Raytheon are now sifting through huge amounts of seeker and telemetry data to ensure there are no hidden hurdles toward achieving a first target intercept later this year.
