Aviation Partners Inc. of Seattle has begun flight tests of a winglet retrofit for ``classic'' 747-200 and -300 models. Initial results indicate a 6-7% drag reduction, according to CEO Joe Clark. In 4 hr. of flight testing to date, the company ``cleared all flutter issues'' and obtained pressure data, Clark said. The test envelope reached speeds of Mach 0.89 at an altitude of 41,000 ft. The test aircraft, a leased 747-200F, flew from the former George AFB outside of Los Angeles. Cargo airlines are expected to be prime customers for the retrofits.
The U.K. government has decided to forge ahead with plans to privatize the bulk of the Defense Research and Evaluation Agency, with a proposed stock market flotation in 2001. Defense Minister Geoffrey Hoon said the most sensitive parts of DERA, which is headquartered here and employs 12,000, would be retained under government control. The remainder, about three quarters, would be split off by year-end and subsequently sold to the private sector. The government will initially retain a 30-40% stake that eventually would be relinquished.
Following months of delay, Turkey moved ahead with its $4-billion attack helicopter project by selecting Bell Helicopter's KingCobra as its preferred supplier, with the Russian-Israeli Ka-50-2 as a backup in the event a suitable deal cannot be reached with the U.S. company. Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit invited Bell to begin detailed pricing and contract negotiations for an initial batch of 50 aircraft at a cost of approximately $1.5 billion. Turkey plans to subsequently acquire 95 more attack helicopters in two further batches for a total of 145.
The Air Force Research Laboratory is having three small satellites built that will fly in formation and act in concert as the dispersed points of a single antenna. The lab's Space Vehicles Directorate awarded a $35-million contract to ITN Energy Systems in Denver to build three TechSat 21 spacecraft, each weighing about 120 kg. (265 lb.). They will have X-band transmitters and receivers that form a large, sparse aperture system--a scheme that has been supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Linda Barker, vice president/owner of Business Aviation Services, Sioux Falls, S.D., has been elected chair of the Alexandria, Va.-based National Air Transportation Assn.
Mark Mazza has been promoted to vice president/general manager of U.S. international operations from international vice president-Western Region, Rick Whitaker to vice president-international gateways from international vice president-Central Region and Greg Davis to vice president-Latin America operations from international vice president-Eastern Region, all for BAX Global, Irvine, Calif. Dante Fornari has been named vice president-sales planning and support. He was director of field sales for the Northeast U.S.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China's control over airline ticket pricing is to relax somewhat, according to the official China Daily. Prices will be allowed to fluctuate with the market climate, and the role of the aviation authority is to be ``supervisor of air ticket prices'' rather than price fixer. With the airlines setting the figures, analysts say that Chinese passengers would welcome competitive pricing.
Despite record-breaking flight delays this peak summer season, the FAA claims its delay-reduction initiative is working. FAA boss Jane F. Garvey told vexed senators she had word from a number of airlines that collaborative efforts with the government have improved planning and execution of flight operations in advance of severe weather. Garvey hastened to admit delays would never be eliminated, but insisted they are being managed better.
Lori Krans (see photo) has become director of marketing for plans and proposals for Sextant In-Flight Systems, Irvine, Calif. She was senior marketing manager for Sony Trans Com, also in Irvine.
Allen E. Paulson, the self-made man who founded Gulfstream Aerospace, died in La Jolla, Calif., on July 19, after a long battle with cancer. He was 78. Born on a farm in Iowa, Paulson was passionate about aerospace and horses. After a stint in the Army Air Corps, he became a flight engineer for Trans World Airlines. In 1952, he formed California Airmotive Corp. In the mid-1960s, he became a Lear distributor. He formed American Jet Industries in 1970 and developed the Hustler.
Industry analysts continue to harbor deep skepticism about the long-term viability of Trans World Airlines, even though the carrier was able to narrow its losses and generate modest operating income in the second quarter. Despite TWA's best efforts to return to sustained profitability, it remains in the red, and market professionals on both the stock and bond sides see the carrier as ``muddling along.''
Mark Owen has been named vice president-operations and Robert Avery vice president-solution sales for Boeing Airplane Services of Seattle. Owen was vice president/general manager of Boeing military maintenance and modification centers in Wichita, Kan., San Antonio, Tex., Shreveport, La., and Jacksonville, Fla. Avery was president of the maintenance, repair and overhaul group of BFGoodrich Aerospace.
The Spanish air force has awarded a $19-million contract to Israel Aircraft Industries' Lahav Div. to upgrade F-5 aircraft with new avionics, including head-up displays, mission computers, LCD displays and electronic flight instruments systems. Work is scheduled to begin soon on four prototype aircraft. The contract includes options for upgrading 18 additional F-5s.
Belgium-based Techspace Aero, a Snecma subsidiary, has concluded an agreement with General Electric Aircraft Engines to become an 8% risk-sharing partner in the CF34-10 turbofan. Techspace Aero's share will include the design and production of the low-pressure compressor. The C34-10 has been selected to power the 90-100-seat Fairchild Dornier 928JET and Embraer ERJ-190.
Col. Donald S. Lopez (USAF, Ret.), deputy director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, has won the Golden Eagle Award from the Reston, Va.-based Society of Senior Aerospace Executives.
Thirteen major airlines from the U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific have launched an Internet-based business market dubbed Aeroxchange. Carriers want to buy and sell aircraft-specific products and services in the venture, which is supposed to go online in a few months.
BFGoodrich Aerospace will maintain National Airlines' fleet of 12 Boeing 757 aircraft under a multiyear contract. The agreement includes nose-to-tail C checks and material support.
Airbus Industrie's and Boeing's record backlog, which further expanded last week, signals the airline industry's robust growth rate and continuing confidence in the future. Both aircraft manufacturers disclosed firm orders as well as letters of intent, options and purchasing rights for a total value of about $30 billion.
A long-awaited decision to allow the sale of high-resolution commercial space imagery is expected soon. Officials from the Defense, Commerce and State departments are in the midst of a series of meetings to determine whether to grant Space Imaging's request to sell 0.5-meter resolution imagery. The company already sells 1-meter-resolution pictures taken by its Ikonos remote-sensing spacecraft, and this year will have $200 million in revenue from the system, compared with $40 million last year. A senior Pentagon official says the application will be approved.
The signals of the Global Positioning System satellites are being used for more than position sensing on Germany's Champ satellite, which was launched by a Russian Cosmos 3M rocket from Plesetsk into a 450-km. polar orbit on July 15. Champ (Challenging Minisatellite Payload) is managed by the GeoForschungsZentrum agency, which was established in Potsdam in an attempt to stimulate space business in the former East Germany (AW&ST Sept. 6, 1999, p. 72). The 1,150-lb.
Matra BAe Dynamics hopes to boost export sales of the Mistral surface-to-air missile with an upgraded version (left). The ``fire and forget'' Mistral 2 has a 6-km. (3.7-mi.) range and can fly at Mach 3 at 6,600-ft. maximum altitude. The Mistral 2 will replace the initial version in the Franco-British company's product range after the delivery of an estimated 15,000 Mistral 1s to 24 countries. The Mistral 2 has a solid rocket booster and passive infrared guidance system, weighs 44 lb. and carries a 6.6-lb. warhead.
The first of 59 WAH-64 attack helicopters being built by GKN Westland for Britain's Army Air Corps made its initial flight earlier this month at the company's Yeovil facility. Crewed by GKN Westland project test pilot Richard Morton and Boeing production test pilot Walt Jones, the WAH-64 flew an 18-min. sortie on July 18 that included systems and other checks at speeds up to 140 kt.
U.S. Air Force officials took delivery of the first of 50 Bell Boeing CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft July 25 at Bell Helicopter Textron's Flight Test Facility in Grand Prairie, Tex. Plans call for beginning low-rate initial production of the electronic warfare systems this year, followed by flight testing and full-rate production in 2001.
Demonstrations of NASA's Aircraft Vortex Spacing System (Avoss) here indicate it could reduce arrival delays at major airports 5-10% by predicting wake vortex behavior, thereby allowing air traffic controllers to safely reduce aircraft spacing on final approach.
