Airlines and security companies don't pay enough to keep skilled, experienced screening personnel on the job, according to the General Accounting Office. The FAA's top security official agrees. The GAO's Gerald L. Dillingham told a House hearing recently that most large U.S. airports have a complete turnover every year of the workers who check passengers and luggage on departing flights. One airport lost the equivalent of its entire screener workforce more than four times in a single year.
Aviation in Hong Kong has long been a cramped affair. The old one-runway Kai Tak airport was squeezed between high-rises in one of the most densely populated areas of the world.
Four industrial-academic teams have been selected by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to design a mission called Terrestrial Planet Finder, which has the aim of looking for possible life-supporting planets around other stars. The teams will be led by Ball Aerospace, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, TRW and SVS of Albuquerque, N.M.
A small explorer spacecraft was damaged at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on Mar. 21 when the satellite was inadvertently vibration tested at 20g instead of the planned 2g. Initial indications were that the solar panels of the High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager spacecraft were damaged and will probably have to be replaced. The spacecraft had not been opened up for further inspection the day after the incident, which occurred in a clean room in JPL's environmental test facility.
Tensions have eased on the Korean peninsula, but North Korea has done more in the last 12 months to improve its military capability and arrest a decline in combat readiness than in the last five years combined, according to U.S. theater commanders. Despite the North Korean economy's now 10-year-old plunge, Pyongyang continues its production and deployment of medium-range No Dong missiles, capable of striking U.S. bases in Japan.
The U.S. Air Force is planning to lease up to 10 aircraft to support transport requirements of regional commanders-in-chief and to replace the District of Columbia Air National Guard's C-22s (Boeing 727-100s). As many as six aircraft would be assigned to CINC support, operating out of Hickam AFB, Hawaii, and MacDill AFB, Fla. The aircraft would have to deliver a 5,000-naut.-mi. range while carrying 12 passengers and five crew. The C-22 replacement will be required to transport 40 passengers and seven crew nonstop from Andrews AFB to Moscow.
Plans by Societe Europeenne des Satellites to expand its flourishing television and multimedia activities around the world received a boost last week when the company reported a spectacular increase in its financial performance. Last year, SES registered a 40% jump in revenues, to 725 million euros ($696 million) and a 46% leap in operating earnings, to 407 million euros. Net profit rose 14%, to 201 million euros--corresponding to an enviable net margin on sales of nearly 28%--while net cash flow more than doubled, to 633 million euros.
The European Commission will speed up assistance for the construction of cargo facilities at Gaza International Airport and temporary facilities will be completed next year. ``Without independent access to the outside world, Palestinian economic development is severely curtailed. As the peace talks advance, the early completion of Gaza airport's cargo facilities becomes ever more urgent,'' EC Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten said last week.
Wolfgang Warburg (see photo), former deputy chairman of the managing board of the German Public Service and Transport Workers Union, has become board member in charge of personnel for Lufthansa Technik. August-Wilhelm Henningsen (see photo) will be in charge of products and services. He was general manager of Ameco Beijing. Walter Heerdt (see photo) will succeed Henningsen. Heerdt has been head of the Lufthansa Technik engine division in Hamburg. He will be succeeded by Gerald Korbler, who has been head of planning and control, finances and accounting.
The C-17 Special Program Office is working with the High-Performance Computer Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, to determine the feasibility of using ``data mining'' techniques on existing USAF logistics databases. The SPO wants a way to quickly analyze multiple C-17 databases to gauge the health of the C-17 fleet plus identify other trends and causality relationships that traditional, labor-intensive analysis methods and tools may miss.
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.
