When its board meets at the end of May, Malaysia Airlines is expected to turn its back on the KLM/Northwest-led Wings Alliance in favor of the Oneworld Alliance. Officials in Kuala Lumpur and Sydney say the catalyst for the switch is the involvement in Oneworld of Qantas Airways and the success of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) that is entering its third year of operation.
ROCKWELL COLLINS HAS COMPLETED initial design of its Pro Line 21 Communications Navigation Surveillance sensor suite aimed at the business aviation and regional airline market. Production prototypes of the NAV-4000, RIU-4000, VHF-4000 components have been assembled, and plans call for producing flight-worthy hardware this autumn. The DME-4000 unit is scheduled to be ready for flight testing in the spring of 2001. FAA Technical Standard Order approval for the complete CNS suite is set for early in 2002, according to the company.
Dick Rutan, who flew unrefueled around the world in 1986, and four other men were briefly stranded a mile from the North Pole when their Antonov/PZL-Mielec An-2 biplane settled through the ice and sank on May 15. The men were rescued about 13 hr. later by a de Havilland Twin Otter operated by First Air of Resolute, Northwest Territories, that used skis to land on a stronger patch of ice. First Air has experience flying tourists and scientists to the polar region. The Alaska Air National Guard dispatched an HC-130 for monitoring and communications relay.
With production problems behind it and manufacturing costs coming down, Boeing is finally getting serious about airplane sales--including utilizing the company's broad and deep balance sheet to help win new orders.
One reason slipping the JSF could be attractive to the Air Force is that it would let F-22 advocates push the idea of a Raptor derivative for bombing airfields, hardened hangars, anti-aircraft missiles and radars, command and control centers, and communications nodes--tasks now assigned to the F-117 and F-15E. The F-22 derivative would need forward-looking synthetic aperture radar for targeting, satellite communications and modifications to allow it to carry the J-1000, an accurate, 1-ton bomb tailored for the stealth fighter.
Just about every in-production civil aircraft bigger than a Cessna Citation X business jet now includes provisions for fitting head-up displays. This includes all Boeings and large business jets from manufacturers Bombardier, Dassault and Gulfstream. Regional jets from Bombardier, Embraer and Fairchild also offer optional HUDs in their cockpits, according to industry officials.
AssureSat has signed an agreement through Space Systems/Loral, a subsidiary of Loral Space&Communications, for two launches on Sea Launch. AssureSat plans to launch two specially-designed satellites in 2002 to begin an in-orbit backup service for geosynchronous spacecraft in the event of a satellite or launch failure. Under a separate agreement, Sea Launch will purchase several AssureSat backup services (AW&ST May 8, p. 33).
German MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters will participate for the first time in this year's six-week Maple Flag international air combat exercise at Cold Lake, Alberta. The Fulcrums will fly as part of an opposing force. Eight nations with approximately 118 aircraft are conducting large-scale, all-weather operations on Canada's Cold Lake Weapons Range through June 23.
The U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center is conducting high-speed wind tunnel testing of Lockheed Martin's X-35 Joint Strike Fighter as a final validation of the company's Preferred Weapons System Concept proposal.
North Korea has been able to stem the decline its military was experiencing due to several years of severe economic turmoil. In the last few years, U.S. intelligence officials detected a reduction in the amount of training North Korean military forces were able to obtain. It raised the prospect that the economic decline affecting the country was starting to chip away at the military, the pillar of the Kim Jung-Il regime. ``The military has suffered, but not suffered as badly'' as the rest of the country, one intelligence official said.
In a move with global potential, Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management has teamed with Airways New Zealand to upgrade that country's air traffic control system and pursue ATC work throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The 10-year agreement, signed recently, builds on a September 1999 alliance between them to jointly bid for the replacement of the FAA's oceanic system.
The White House proposes to augment counter-terrorism spending by $300 million, on top of the approximately $9 billion it has requested for Fiscal 2001. Announcing the add-on in remarks at the Coast Guard Academy's 199th commencement last week, President Clinton said the extra money would be used to increase the number of joint terrorism task forces across the nation, aimed at integrating law enforcement resources and expertise from the federal to the local level.
Roswell, Ga.-based 27th Century Technologies has demonstrated a prototype ``thermal diode'' coating that forms a passive, solid-state junction for thermal energy when applied to a specially prepared substrate. The diode creates a superconducting path for thermal energy in one direction while heat transfer is retarded in the opposite direction, according to Jeff Baker, vice president for technology.
EARLIER PLANS TO USE A PORTION of the ALQ-211 suite of integrated RF countermeasures being developed by ITT Avionics for the Army's AH-64D Longbow and the Marine Corps' CV-22 Osprey to upgrade the U-2's defensive system capabilities have been dropped despite Pentagon pressure for commonality. The ALQ-211 variant for the U-2 was to provide radar warning and serve as a techniques generator for the Lockheed Martin/Sanders ALE-55 fiber optic towed decoy. Software problems with prototype ALQ-211 hardware, which have since been resolved, prompted the decision.
China's 25 largest airlines are chafing under a Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) directive they must pool and share 80% of revenues on the country's 108 key domestic routes.
Pratt&Whitney Canada has established a new customer-oriented Regional Airlines Engine Organization. The enterprise will combine the operations which support the regional aircraft manufacturers that buy the firm's engines as well as the regional airlines that operate those powerplants. P&WC Vice President Keyvan Fard will head the new venture, which will be based at the company's Longueuil, Quebec, headquarters. Formation of the new operation is seen as a reaffirmation of the company's strategy, which calls for aligning itself around market-based businesses.
Flight attendants at regional carrier Continental Express and the airline have reached a tentative agreement for a new, 4.5-year labor contract. According to Continental Express, the pact includes higher pay, profit sharing and changes in reserve scheduling. The 572 attendants are represented by the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
Engineers at Astrium (formerly DaimlerChryslerAerospace's Space Infrastructure unit) say they have resolved a thruster seal defect that threatened to disrupt launches of several European satellites, and the thrusters have been cleared for use by satellite prime contractors (AW&ST Apr. 24, p. 60). Tests carried out on two affected spacecraft--the Cluster II scientific satellites and two commercial units--showed that key parameters were within acceptable limits, and satellite lifetime would not be affected.
Francois Courtot has become chairman/CEO of Compagnie Generale des Turbo-Machines. He was vice president-aero engines for parent company Turbomeca. Courtot succeeds Raymond Heng, who has retired.
Isao Uchida, the head of Japan's National Space Development Agency, turned in his resignation on May 18 after submitting a report on the November failure of the H-2 launcher, which has since been canceled (AW&ST Nov. 22, 1999, p. 38).
The British decision to lease four Boeing C-17s will temporarily ease budget pressures on the airlifter program and perhaps reinvigorate the U.S. Air Force's consideration of a Boeing offer to sell an additional 60 C-17s over four years at $150 million each, about 25% lower than the current price.
The U.S. Marine Corps is replacing prop rotor slip ring assemblies on its low-rate production MV-22 after problems were found with the part. The slip ring transmits command signals and electric power to the blade fold system, mast torque sensors, blade tip lights and other rotor components. An improper seal was discovered in the assembly that could have disrupted the flow of electric current to the various rotor components. However, slip ring failure has been ruled out in the Apr. 8 crash of an MV-22 that killed 19 Marines.
Bell Helicopter Textron has selected Fuji Heavy Industries to manufacture composite fuselages for the Bell/Agusta 609 civil tiltrotor. The contract gives Fuji responsibility for the cockpit section, center and aft fuselage, as well as systems installation. Initial deliveries are scheduled for 2002.
Executive Jet is undertaking a further round of expansion in its European fractional ownership program and preparing to launch operations in Latin America and Asia.
