Development of Lockheed Martin's X-35 Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstrator is being slowed by an overheating bearing on the short takeoff and vertical landing version. The anomaly has slowed powerplant testing, causing Pratt&Whitney and Lockheed Martin to be unable to finish writing engine-related software to operate the STOVL version under different flight conditions, said Frank Cappuccio, Lockheed Martin JSF program manager. The result is that the STOVL X-35 won't begin flying until at least late December.
Josef Dolecki has been named deputy director general of Intersputnik. He was director of strategic planning. Dolecki succeeds Istvan Kovach who has joined Lockheed Martin's London office.
A joint venture formed by ADP Paris airports authority, the French Vinci group and Ingenieros Civiles Asociados will acquire a 15% stake in Grupo Aeroportuario Centro-Norte, which comprises 13 airports in northeast Mexico. The joint venture will manage the airports, which last year handled a combined 10 million passengers, under a 50-year agreement with the Mexican government.
Singapore's Changi Airport has opened access to the Internet for passengers with personal digital assistants (PDAs), or laptops equipped with infrared ports, at eight kiosks in its departure and transit lounges. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said the advantage of the ``PointIR Kiosks'' is that passengers no longer have to subscribe to an Internet service provider or plug in a modem to reach the Net. On the kiosk team are Sunderland Technologies Pte. Ltd., which uses licensed technology from Clarinet Systems for the PointIR Kiosks.
Virgin Atlantic Airways plans to start twice-weekly round-trip London-New Delhi services on July 6. The carrier plans to launch a third weekly flight to New Delhi in October and hopes to operate six flights a week to India. Virgin is using Air India's unused rights to fly between the two countries and is to code-share with the airline.
The U.S. Defense Dept. is surveying its installations to determine whether they have the infrastructure to adequately support growing demand for e-commerce and other Web-based interactions the military is increasingly relying on.
Aviation Week&Space Technology has promoted two editorial staff members. Michael Mecham is now senior information technology editor. In his current location in Northern California, Mecham will cover the expanding editorial area of e-business and other uses of computers in aerospace. Mecham was Asia-Pacific bureau chief. Frances Fiorino, formerly a news editor, is now transport editor in the New York bureau. Fiorino will cover all aspects of the airline industry, and help coordinate AW&ST's broad editorial coverage of the Asia-Pacific region.
Boeing added four 757s and a 737--worth about $342 million at list prices--to its orderbook last week. The sales bring Boeing's commercial jet transport orders for the year to 188 aircraft, net. All of the aircraft in last week's sales will go to customers that have yet to be identified.
July is shaping up to be a busy month for Japanese space activities. On July 4, the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science is slated to launch Japan's first Mars Surveyor on an M-5 booster from the Uchinoura launch center at Kagoshima. The 1,177-lb. Planet B spacecraft is scheduled to arrive in a Martian orbit in October 1999 for a two-year mission. It will carry 14 instruments from Japanese, U.S. and German science teams.
The Atlantic Research Corp./Aerojet Agena 2000 prototype rocket engine for Lockheed Martin's evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV) concepts is test-fired at Aerojet facilities in Sacramento, Calif.
FedEx says its services to China will be unaffected by its decision to sever relations with EAS International Transportation Ltd. of Beijing, its primary partner in the country. FedEx uses 20 separate local agents serving 100 cities via Beijing and Shanghai. It plans to open an office in Shenzhen, a trade zone near Hong Kong, that will allow direct shipments to the U.S. FedEx currently operates four flights a week to Beijing and Shanghai.
Craig Fahning has become vice president-corporate aircraft sales of Fairchild Dornier. He was regional sales manager for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga.
Troika, a joint venture of Russia's NPO PM and France's Aerospatiale and Alcatel Espace, has finalized a contract with the Russian Space Agency and the State Committee for Telecommunications to supply three Express K telecommunications satellites to replace the existing Gorizont system. The venture and another team--led by Energia and GazProm--were selected earlier this year to provide a new network of satellites. The first Troika-built spacecraft is slated to be orbited in 2000 and will use an Aerospatiale Spacebus 3000 platform.
George J. Kleros has been named Northeast U.S. technical manager for Jet Support Services Inc. of Chicago. He was president of Shoreline Aircraft Maintenance, New Haven, Conn.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace has awarded an initial $3.6-million contract to Jamco for advanced pultrusion (ADP) carbon epoxy fin box stringers for the Airbus A320 and A330/A340 families. The Japanese manufacturer, best known for making galleys and lavatories, already makes ADP stiffeners for Airbus. It is looking for the combined stiffener and stringer contracts to reach $70 million within five years. Jamco developed the continuous molding method, which is five times faster than using traditional hand-layup pre-preg tapes (AW&ST Sept. 2, 1996, p. 43).
THE EUTELSAT W1 telecommunications satellite, which was damaged in a fire in mid-May, is likely to be declared a total loss. Although insurance evaluators are still assessing water damage, officials at prime contractor Aerospatiale said salvage of the $100-million spacecraft was unlikely, although some equipment items might be recovered. Loss of the satellite would require the acquisition of a new unit to replace W1, whose requirements differ from those of other W series spacecraft, officials added. W2 and W3 are at the integration stage.
Marsha Bell has become director of marketing for the Seattle Training Center of FlightSafety Boeing Training International. She was Wichita, Kan.-based product manager for FlightSafety International.
U.K.-based FLS Aerospace Ltd., which opened a new maintenance facility in Copenhagen in March, is renewing its search for further expansion opportunities in Europe and the U.S. FLS Aerospace had signaled its intent earlier this year to acquire the maintenance business of Aer Lingus. But it suspended its ``due diligence'' process after only 41% of employees at Team Aer Lingus approved an offer placed before them by the state-owned Irish carrier to transfer their contracts to FLS Aerospace (AW&ST June 8, p. 19).
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has rejected key portions of a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) patent for a low-power ultrawideband radar, possibly triggering a congressional investigation into technology commercialization practices at the lab.
Mark Danin has been named vice president-charter and flight operations of Ray- theon Aircraft Services, Wichita, Kan. He was chief pilot for propeller aircraft de- monstrations for Raytheon Aircraft Co.
Boeing has more than doubled its inventory of parts numbers at its Beijing Spares Center since it opened in December 1984. Now carrying 35,000 parts numbers, the facility is connected by a SITA/Boeing ``Skyform'' computerized link to Chinese carriers. Use of the SITA system offers Chinese customers major advantages: next-day delivery of parts in stock, no transpacific freight charges and the convenience of being billed for duties on parts (rather than settling charges at time of delivery).
Dennis Keith has become president of Bombardier's BusinessJetSolutions, succeeding Robert Gillespie, the new president of Bombardier Aerospace Regional Aircraft. Keith was vice president-sales and marketing of BJS and has been succeeded by Mike Riegel.
Norman R. Augustine, former chairman/CEO of the Lockheed Martin Corp. and now a professor at Princeton (N.J.) University, has received a Leadership Award from the Washington-based Private Sector Council for his work to improve U.S. defense effectiveness while reducing costs.
Robert J. (Jeff) Wilson has been promoted to vice president-procurement of the Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md., from vice president-operations of Lockheed's Electronics Sector.
