Structural fatigue can be analyzed during the design process with Parametric Technology's Pro/Mechanica Fatigue Advisor. It uses durability simulation and assessment techniques provided by nCode International of the U.K., adapted to work within the company's Pro/Engineer product development environment. By considering durability early, the cost of change is low and opportunity for change is high, said nCode Chairman Brian Dabell.
Rolls-Royce has signed a fleet hour agreement with Continental Express for engine spares valued at up to $700 million over the next 10 years for its Embraer ERJ-145 and -135 aircraft.
Flying Vietnam-era fighters converted to remotely piloted drones, a unique U.S. Air Force unit is helping improve today's air-to-air missiles while building a database of expertise that eventually could shape tomorrow's unmanned combat air vehicle operations.
Thomas Corcoran, president/CEO of Allegheny Technologies Inc. of Pittsburgh, also will be chairman, effective May 11. He will succeed Richard P. Simmons, who will retire.
Greece has agreed to buy 50 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters configured to Block 50/52 specifications, with initial deliveries scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2002. The sale, worth about $2.1 billion, includes an option to buy 10 additional airplanes, according to Lockheed Martin. The Hellenic Air Force has specified that 16 aircraft will be single-seat F-16Cs and 34 will be two-seat Ds, a Lockheed Martin official said. Greece also plans to buy 60 Eurofighter Typhoons with options for another 30 aircraft (AW&ST Mar. 13, p. 25).
Daniel W. Culleton has become vice president/site manager in St. Augustine and Cecil Commerce Center, Fla., for Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems and Aerostructures. He succeeds Pat DiMarzo, who is retiring. Culleton was deputy site manager in St. Augustine for airborne early warning (AEW) and electronic warfare systems. John Michaelsen has been named vice president/integrated product team leader for AEW systems, based in Bethpage, N.Y. He succeeds Robert Schwarz, who is retiring. Michaelsen was AEW program director.
ITT Industries of Fort Wayne, Ind., will provide the voice control system for Boeing's Joint Strike Fighter candidate. Called Command Voice, the tactical voice recognition system will allow pilots to operate some cockpit controls solely with speech commands (AW&ST Feb. 21, p. 107). Voice control allows the pilot to remain focused on a target without having to move his head or hands to activate switches, knobs or buttons.
SAP will implement the Air Transport Assn. SPEC 2000 industry standard for electronic business documents in its March update of the mySAP.com for Aerospace&Defense service. The update will provide e-commerce software for buying and selling aircraft parts using the SPEC 2000 standard delivered by the XML language over the Internet. The transaction documents should be able to directly link to each company's internal business software.
Raytheon Aerospace has won a one-year $55.1-million contract from the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps to provide logistics support for C-9 aircraft. With six one-year options, the contract could be worth $479.9 million.
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace Airbus has successfully completed fatigue and endurance tests, simulating 90,000 flights, of a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) wing and wing box. The structures were based on a 100-seat aircraft with a take-off weight of 40-50 tons. DASA Airbus engineers said that in all cases, which included damage tolerance behavior and extreme load tests, the results met or exceeded expectations. The program, which began in 1998, was carried out at DASA Airbus' Aviation Test Center in Hamburg.
European airlines and trade associations are poised for fierce opposition to the European Union's (EU) planned ``environ- mental'' tax on aviation fuel. The EU met last week to consider imposing the tax, which would be applied to efforts that would help reduce environmental damage caused by aircraft. Initially, such a tax would only affect domestic city-pairs but later could be applied to the EU's ``transnational'' routes.
USAF's erosion resistance test labs are available to aerospace manufacturers wishing to evaluate the performance of their products in hostile environments. A cooperative research and development agreement between the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Materials Degradation Test Facility at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and the University of Dayton Research Institute allows UDRI to perform the testing for nongovernment sponsors.
The XT Precision collet system features accuracy and gripping pressure at any speed. It is suitable for long run repeatability on CNC milling, drilling and reaming operations. The extreme accuracy and pressure ensures precise tool centering and rigidity. The balanced chip-cutting feature increases metal removal up to 200%, according to the company. XT Precision collets are interchangeable with the Micro Precision collet chucks. Command Tooling Systems, 13931 Sunfish Lake Blvd., Ramsey, Minn. 55303.
ARINC will install its Data Link Delivery of Expected Taxi Clearances product at the Washington Dulles International Airport under a $1.5-million contract.
GKN Westland Helicopters has delivered the first WAH-64 Apache attack helicopter to the British Army. Eight more are scheduled to be handed over before the planned in-service date at year-end. The aircraft, a derivative of the U.S. Army's AH-64D Apache Longbow, is one of eight built by Boeing at Mesa, Ariz., and shipped to Yeovil, England, for final assembly and test by Westland. The U.K. manufacturer will produce the remaining 59 aircraft in the $3.2-billion program. The army will receive all 67 WAH-64s by 2003.
The new Adelok is designed to aid in the assembly of clamped components by holding itself closed and in place during installation. The heel lock technology promotes ease of installation by allowing workers to install several clamps at one time on a single attach point, creating easy clamping in hard-to-reach areas. The clamp has received TSO approval for airline use and meets all current industry performance specifications including MS21919 and PWA 36453. Clamps are available to handle payloads from 0.062-3.50 in.
Rocket propulsion pioneer Cordant Technologies will cease operating as an independent entity soon and become part of a much larger organization, but its new parent won't be a company dedicated to aerospace. Cordant's board of directors last week accepted an all-cash offer of $57 a share--nearly double the Mar. 13 closing price--from giant aluminum producer Alcoa. The whole transaction, which includes the assumption of Cordant's $685-million worth of debt, is valued at $2.9 billion. The deal is expected to close by May 1.
Tom Quinly (see photo) has been named vice president-business systems/chief financial officer for DY 4 Systems Inc., Kanata, Ontario. He will remain general manager of subsidiary Ixthos Inc., Leesburg, Va.
Jean-Luc Engerand (see photo) has become chairman/CEO of Hispano-Suiza. He succeeds Marc Ventre, who has been appointed chairman/CEO of Snecma Services. Engerand was vice president of the Messier-Bugatti Wheels and Braking Div. Pierre Fabre (see photo) has been appointed head of that division. He was vice president of CFM International.
Brown&Sharpe's Microxcel PFX 454 is available with Reflex. This low-cost intuitive software brings manual CMM simplicity to high-speed, direct computer control measurement and inspection operations less expensively than the traditional DCC CMMs. It can be switched between manual and fully automated DCC operation while running the same software. A machine-mounted controller with built-in VGA monitor and highly intuitive Reflex graphics user interface allows users to perform 1-, 2- and 3-dimensional measurement without the need of an expensive computer system.
Amistco custom manufactures a wide range of compressed wire knitted mesh seals and gaskets to solve problems in applications subject to extreme temperature, corrosion and vibration. The wire is available in most metal, composite, alloy and plastic material. The knitting process creates a strong yet stretchable matrix or uniform interlocking loops. Materials can be combined and knit into single-piece tubes in a wide variety of sizes. The tubes are then compressed to various degrees to create a wide range of sealing characteristics.
One of the ``lessons learned'' in the failure of Mars Climate Orbiter is the importance of establishing a fully staffed systems engineering team at the start of each space science project, according to a follow-up by the MCO Mishap Investigation Board. Last week, the board filed its latest report on project management in NASA as a broader look at issues involved in the MCO case and other space science projects in the agency's faster-better-cheaper (FBC) operating environment. The panel included officials from field centers and NASA headquarters.
The Heli-Tube Spirally Cut Teflon applies like tape around hydraulic hoses to add a layer of protection against chafing. The abrasion protector is nonflammable, chemically inert, and can be used in environments from -450F to +500F. The product is UL recognized and meets a variety of MIL, AMS and ASTM specifications. It's available in 1/16-1-in. O.D. sizes for hoses and bundles up to 5 in. in diameter. M.M. Newman Corp., 24 Tioga Way, P.O. Box 615, Marblehead, Mass. 01945.
