Dallas-based Legend Airlines tentatively plans to begin service from Love Field next week following a decision to temporarily install conventional galleys in the airline's DC-9 aircraft. T. Allan McArtor, president and CEO, said the first airplane so equipped was scheduled to begin route-proving flights last weekend. Certi- fication of more sophisticated ovens and closets will continue.
Randall A. Tassin (see photo) has been named vice president-program management and technical operations and Ronald W. Wetmore (see photo) vice president-external tank project for the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co.'s Michoud Operations in New Orleans. Tassin was vice president-reusable launch systems and Wetmore director of operations for Lockheed Martin at the Kennedy Space Center. Other recent appointments were: Brad P. Cartwright, director of contracts and estimating; Wanda A. Sigur, director of engineering and technical laboratories; and M.
The International Telecommunications Union will meet next month to examine a set of recommendations aimed at reforming the organization and making it more responsive to the needs of the telecom industry.
General Electric has established a moving line, similar in concept to the classic automobile assembly line, to reduce the time it takes to manufacture CFM International powerplants.
John Welch has been named senior vice president of General Dynamics and president of Marine Systems Group in Falls Church, Va. He succeeds James Turner, Jr., who has retired. Welch was corporate vice president and president of Electric Boat. Brice Allen has been named service manager for flight support of Atlantic Aviation's Northeast Philadelphia FBO. Allen was operations manager for Atlantic Aviation's Chicago Midway Airport facility.
The FAA's program to set workplace standards for the safety and health of airline employees will be put under a microscope by the Transportation Dept.'s Inspector General. Rep. Peter De Fazio (D-Ore.), a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure aviation subcommittee, asked the IG to concentrate on five categories of potential on-the-job hazards, including contact with blood-borne pathogens, repetitive motion injuries, equipment injuries, cabin air quality and carry-on baggage. A coalition of flight attendant groups, headed by the Assn.
The BEI Sensors&Systems Co. has added the new KX21 Series modular kit encoder to its line of brushless DC motors, linear and rotary actuators and controllers. The encoder is suited for use with 2-in. servo and stepper motors and other high-volume OEM applications. The series uses simple set screw mounting and an installation tool (included) for concurrent air gap and electronics alignment. It's available in 1.5-in. and 2.1-in. diameters, and provides jitter-free outputs and resolution to 1,024 pulses per rev. with index.
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace and DaimlerChrysler Research have selected a custom 3D software module that entered beta testing last November for designing aircraft cabin interiors. Developed by PACE Aerospace Engineering and Information Technology GmbH. of Berlin, the software is designed for aircraft manufacturers, airlines and maintenance and overhaul operators who design or modify cabin interiors. It allows designers to monitor compliance with structural limitations and certification regulations as they lay out a cabin design.
We applaud the U.S. Congress' passage of three-year reauthorization of the FAA. The House of Representatives approved it last week, the Senate earlier in the month. This bill, which will now be sent to President Clinton, has many of the features of the Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR 21).
Japan Airlines is continuing to tighten its belt, driving down group-wide employment from 36,000 in 1998 to an expected 31,800 by Mar. 31, 2003. Last year, the airline said it would reduce 3,500 jobs by 2002, mostly on the ground. On Mar. 14, President Isao Kaneko said another 700 jobs are to be cut by Mar. 31, 2003. Further cost-cutting is to be achieved by accelerating JAL's use of subsidiary carriers with lower labor costs.
The Airborne Systems unit of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace will supply the Tiger attack helicopter's electronic warfare suite in cooperation with LFK and Thomson-CSF's Detexis Div. The initial contract covers 160 suites valued up to $48 million.
The third F-22 Raptor joined the flight test program at Edwards AFB, Calif., last week, bringing a beefed-up airframe that should be able to fully clear the high-speed part of the flight envelope.
Isoloss LS Microcellular foams are ultra fine-celled foams suitable for gasketing and sealing applications. They effectively resist compression set, offer high tensile and tear strength and exhibit excellent environmental resistance properties. They range in thickness from 0.01-0.5 in. and in densities from less than 10 pcf. to more than 20 pcf. Easily and cleanly die cut, they can be combined, online during production or afterward by adhesive lamination, with various facings, backings, films or scrims.
Searching the ocean depths for flight data and cockpit voice recorders, or scouring a crash site in hopes of finding units, could be a thing of the past if aircraft carried deployable recorders.
Integral Systems Inc. has won a program definition contract from Lockheed Martin Missiles&Space to design satellite operations centers for polar-orbiting weather satellites to be operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Integrated Program Office.
Lufthansa German Airlines posted before-tax earnings of 970 million euros ($938 million) in 1999, down from 1.3 billion euros in 1998, on 9% greater sales of 12.8 billion euros, according to preliminary results. Earnings included a large gain from the sale of shares in the Amadeus reservation system, while the sales increase was driven largely by external growth.
An NTSB official said last week investigators are continuing their probe into the crash of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 on Mar. 5 in which it went off the departure end of Runway 8 at Burbank, Calif. (AW&ST Mar. 13, p. 40). He said the NTSB has conducted interviews and performed friction tests on the runway. The FAA says older airports such as Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena are safe, but its two runways are exempt from agency requirements for 1,000-ft. safety zone overruns.
James B. Melvin has been promoted to director of marketing from general aviation marketing manager of Unison Industries, Jacksonville, Fla. Other recent promotions include Charles J. Currier to director of aftermarket sales from support manager for turbine products; Zouheir A. Abdelnour to director of piston products from director of new business development; James M. Porterfield to director of accounting and financial reporting from corporate controller; and Christopher M. Gould to director of materials and information systems from materials manager.
These bearings are designed to absorb, dampen and/or control large forces simultaneously occurring in several directions. They are made by layering special elastomers between disks of various metals such as steel, aluminum, titanium and composite materials, reducing a multicomponent assembly to a single-unit design requiring no lubrication. The technology, developed and proven on aircraft and helicopters, is available to help solve load and motion attenuation challenges for many industrial applications.
The European Space Agency has selected CASA Space Div. to develop the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity instrument for the Living Planet Earth Observation Program, under an $80-million work order.
The U.S. Air Force's Weapon System Evaluation Program remains a cutting-edge ``Consumer Reports'' of combat aircraft, crew and armament assessments, but is stretched to its limits by resource shortages.
Frontier Airlines has ordered six 132-seat Airbus A319s and five 114-seat A318s, set to replace aging Boeing 737s. First delivery is scheduled for June 2001. Frontier also optioned nine additional A320-series twinjets and concluded leases with General Electric Capital Aviation Services and the International Lease Finance Corp. for 16 more A318/A319s. Frontier's A318s will be powered by Pratt&Whitney PW6000s and its A319s by CFM International CFM56 turbofans.
In a meeting with stock market analysts in California earlier this month, top officials at Boeing said they intend to increase the company's value fivefold over the next five years by expanding into new ventures related to its core businesses. Chairman/CEO Phil Condit and Chief Financial Officer Debby Hopkins said growth opportunities being pursued include customer service, financing aerospace products, commercial navigation and air traffic management systems, and satellite-based communications systems that would allow passengers to log onto the Internet while in flight.
Unions representing about 30% of U.S. airline pilots remain opposed to FAA's proposed 15% increase of its extended twin-engine operations limit for the Boeing 777. They believe the extension would subject passengers to unnecessary risks and are lobbying the agency to derail or force major revisions to the rule.
