Foreign carriers' long-lasting opposition to the restructuring of Milan's airports has prompted the Italian government to revise the proposed plan for a traffic split between the newly revamped Malpensa 2000 and Linate, which is located close to the city's center (AW&ST Feb. 21, p. 60). Selected flights originating from European Union points would be authorized to use Linate. But, according to major European carriers such as Air France and British Airways, such an arrangement would be discriminatory.
Rolls-Royce pre-tax profits for 1999 were up 11% from the previous year at 360 million pounds ($569 million), and the company said it expected continued double-digit growth in 2000 despite challenging conditions. Civil aerospace sales rose 19%, based on deliveries of 1,080 engines and a 9% growth in spares sales. The company says it expects to deliver 1,120 civil engines in 2000 though large engine deliveries are expected to decline. Military aerospace sales in 1999 were down by 5%, although the company sees demand growing over the next 10 years.
Carole Pammer, former director of marketing of the National Defense Industrial Assn., has become director of marketing and business development of the Flight Safety Foundation, Alexandria, Va.
MSC.Software has released a version of its Nastran structural program that works with the Linux operating system. Customers who purchase a license of Nastran for Linux directly from MSC.Software by Mar. 31 will receive a free Dell Precision Workstation 410 Pentium III Class computer.
Legend Airlines is studying whether to replace troublesome custom-built galleys with conventional airline units in an effort to break the certification logjam delaying its introduction of service from Love Field.
Virtual piston engines can be modeled with DADS/Engine software by LMS International. The entire engine can be animated, and DADS/Engine simulates the nonlinear dynamics caused by deformation of engine components that simultaneously undergo high-frequency excitation, large displacements and intermittent contact. It will analyze valve train dynamics, temperature-dependent hydrodynamic bearings and flexible rotating crankshafts interacting with flexible engine blocks. The program was developed in conjunction with BMW, DaimlerChrysler and several other manufacturers.
Ken Grimsley has been named vice president-sales, Kevin Adams vice president-program management, Jim Dunn vice president-business development and Max Peterson vice president-technology solutions, all at Government Technology Services Inc., Chantilly, Va.
While Asian countries are showing increasing interest in unmanned aerial vehicles, there are some strong indications this will not translate into a boon for established makers of those systems.
Japan's National Space Development Agency, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and National Aerospace Laboratory have been directed by the government to begin cooperating on future space programs following back-to-back failures of NASDA's H-2 and ISAS' M-5 launchers.
A pilot plant to produce low-cost carbon fibers is in production in Cedarville, Ohio. The composite synthesis technology is making short, hollow Pyrograf-III nanofibers from coal and natural gas at a fraction of the cost of traditional carbon fibers, according to process developer Applied Sciences Inc. Estimated long-term cost of Pyrograf-III is less than $3 per lb. with a market potential of up to 200 million lb. a year. Technology development and construction of the plant was supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory and various other federal and state agencies.
Hawaiian Airlines has finalized a contract for 13 Boeing 717s with rights to purchase another seven. Value of the firm order is $430 million. First delivery is scheduled for February 2001, with the remaining 12 aircraft to be delivered by year-end. The 717s will replace Hawaiian's 15 aging DC-9s, which are used on short-turnaround, inter-island routes. The 717s will be configured for 123 passengers in two classes.
Russia's Vladimir Putin went to the Star City cosmonaut training center last week and, according to Russian news accounts, proclaimed that his country ``will fulfill all its commitments'' to the International Space Station (ISS). The acting president's views of the NASA-led station had not been known, and his government had approved a commercially oriented effort to reactivate the aging Mir station, using funds it is ``borrowing'' from those NASA sent to Moscow for the ISS.
Weak military air traffic management in Kosovo's airspace and the flight crew's lack of vigilance are cited by French investigators as probable causes for last November's accident, near Vociturn, of an ATR 42 twin turboprop operated on behalf of the U.N. All 24 persons on board were killed when the aircraft crashed near the top of a mountain (AW&ST Nov. 22, 1999, p. 19). According to the investigators' preliminary report, which was completed late last week, military controllers may have ``forgotten'' the ATR 42 during its holding pattern over a mountainous area.
Snecma last year made a $260-million net profit on $4.9 billion in revenues, including 71% in the export market, and booked orders valued at $4.6 billion. Sales in 2000 are expected to continue at a robust pace, according to company officials.
Australia's largest financial institution, AMP, has taken a 20% stake in Impulse Airlines of New South Wales, clearing the way for it to acquire five Boeing 717s. Three of the five are expected to be from Boeing's 717 test program. The AMP investment is said to be A$15 million ($9.75 million).
Long known for its launchers, Russia's Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center is making a push into the remote sensing business with plans for a constellation of electro-optical and radar imaging satellites.
The Pentagon is calling for profit incentives to encourage the defense industry to pursue high-risk research in new technologies. Industry also needs greater latitude in allocating the independent research and development (IR&D) funds it invests in military-related projects, Undersecretary of Defense Jacques S. Gansler told a House panel last week.
Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems and Aerostructures division will supply two additional Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles, one synthetic aperture radar and engineering/manufacturing support, under a $71.9-million contract modification from the U.S. Air Force.
MiG Russian Aircraft Corp.'s Project 1.44 fighter technology demonstrator has made its long-delayed maiden flight. The 18-min. flight on Feb. 29 was conducted at the company's flight test facility at the Gromov Flight Test Institute in Zhukovsky, 30 mi. southeast of Moscow. After takeoff, the aircraft climbed to 1,000 meters (3,280 ft.) and flew two circles at about 600 kph. (375 mph.) above the airfield before landing.
FLS Aerospace has won a seven-year contract from Sabre Airways to provide technical services and heavy maintenance for five Boeing 737-800s that the carrier will introduce this year.
Congress and the Transportation Dept. are prodding the FAA to improve its performance along a broad front, from budget management to airport security. At both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, officials say the FAA needs to straighten out accounting procedures for research and development (R&D) funds, coordinate more closely with NASA and buck up the training of security officers.
