The Pentagon and intelligence agencies are seeing Iraq rebuild many of the structures damaged during four days of air strikes in December 1998, but no one is certain what that means. ``We know he has put some roofs back on buildings,'' says the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Henry H.
Logicon leads a team that will provide engineering services for the U.S. Air Force Material Command through its Design Engineering Support Program under a five-year contract.
A Seoul District Court sentenced Korean Air Chairman Cho Yan Ho, son of the airline's founder, to four years in prison for failing to report 27.3 billion won ($24.2 million) and for sending overseas another 270 billion won in foreign funds in illegal transactions. He also was fined 30 billion won. The court ruled that the airline must pay 80 billion won in fines from its funds. Cho became chairman in December as part of a management shakeup in response to Korean Air's poor safety record. He gave up day-to-day control of the airline.
The European Shippers Council requested the European Commission to scrutinize the recent decision to levy a fuel surcharge of euro 0.10 ($0.167) per kg. on cargo. The Brussels-based council, which represents shipping interests running the gamut from telephone companies to the transport industry, acted out of concern that the surcharge would have a more serious, and therefore discriminatory, impact on cargo operators as opposed to passenger carriers.
The controversial move to restructure Milan's airports has prompted entrepreneurs and investors to form Gandalf Airlines. The startup carrier seeks to attract time-sensitive business travelers to Bologna Orio al Seco airport, in Eastern Lombardy. Gandalf recently inaugurated routes to a dozen European points including Paris, London City Airport, Amsterdam and Prague. It also concluded code-share agreements with Swissair and Deutsche BA (British Airways' German subsidiary), and expects to forge a similar partnership with Air France.
The trading floor goes to the airline passenger. Northwest Airlines plans to introduce the Stockwalk.com investment service to its WorldClub members in early April. The trading terminals are to be installed at the carrier's Minneapolis, Detroit and Memphis hubs for a three-month trial period, and then at other locations, depending on results of the test run. WorldClub members may access stock quotes, obtain news stories as well as open an online account and eventually trade securities, according to Stockwalk.com.
Ranoda's new model BCS telecommunications systems connector is ruggedized to withstand a minimum 1,600 volts rms. (2,20 volts DC or peak) before corona discharge arc-over occurs between any two pins. It is a direct form, fit and function replacement upgrade for standard board-edge (``centronic'') type business systems connectors. Its contact pitch is 2.160 mm. Contact resistance is specified at 15 milli-ohms typical; maximum operating current per contact is 2 amps. Minimum operating lifetime is specified at 200 mate/demate cycles. Ranoda Electronics Inc., 1095 E.
Gerald A. Goguen (see photo) has been named vice president-customer service of Dassault Falcon Jet , Teterboro, N.J. He succeeds Peter L. Ginocchio, who has retired. Goguen was director of administration for customer service.
ATR is counting on a quick breakthrough in India and a longer term rebound in U.S. sales to help maintain a 50% share in the turboprop aircraft market, and make the company an attractive partner for regional aircraft suitors.
Thirteen people were charged in a U.K. court last week with the hijacking of an Ariana Airlines Boeing 727, which ended peacefully on Feb. 9 at London Stansted airport. A 14th person was still under questioning. All face possible life prison sentences. Out of the 150 passengers on the aircraft, 73 were returned to Afghanistan on a chartered aircraft. The remainder are seeking asylum in the U.K.
An executive order by President Clinton that raised limits on computer performance for exports is hailed by the computer industry as an opportunity to be more competitive in world markets, and could be advantageous for aerospace design and analyses.
The aerospace industry's use of electronic commerce, with links that span the entire manufacturing chain, is poised for explosive growth. But close industry observers expect many of the ventures to fail, leaving only one or two dominant Web sites. Within the next 45 days, Honeywell International, United Technologies and i2 Technologies Inc., a Dallas-based software firm, plan to launch a World Wide Web portal called MyAircraft.com. Any company will be able to participate, and it will provide access to a broad range of information, products and services.
A private firm, MirCorp, has signed a lease to keep the aging Russian Mir space station in orbit for commercial use. Mir builder RSC Energia owns 60% of MirCorp. Two outside investors--Gold&Appel Transfer S.A. and Chirinjeev Kathuria, president of New World Telecom LLC--hold the remainder.
Software problems will delay the availability of nonprecision approaches with vertical guidance using the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) for GPS navigation, but the FAA and technical experts are optimistic the problems can be resolved in a timely manner.
Paravion has designed a blade folding kit for the Bell 407. The company states that an operator can now store a Bell 407 in the same space that a Long Ranger occupies. The blades can be folded in about 4 min. by one person. The lightweight fold-up design of the kit enables the blade supports to be placed in accompanying tote bag and stowed in the baggage compartment. All permanently installed hardware is FAA STC and PMA approved. Use of Bell pins part # 406-310-103-103 is required. Paravion Technology Inc., 2001 Airway Ave., Fort Collins, Colo. 80524.
Boeing toughened its stance with striking engineers and technical employees last week, saying it could work through the labor action using non-striking employees and management personnel to perform critical tasks.
Computer Sciences Corp. has won a contract from the FAA to provide components for the Controller Pilot Data Communications Link system. The initial award is worth up to $18 million and is valued at up to $68 million with all options exercised.
PerkinElmer has an integrated detector dewar cooler assembly guaranteed for 20,000 hr. of continuous operation, 100 times longer than service life of a conventional rotary cooler. Its longevity is attributable to elimination of contact between moving parts that operate at cryogenic temperatures. The compact LC1 requires 6 watts of power and weighs 1.5 lb. It reaches its operating temperture in under 7 min. and maintains it within 1K. The unit adds no excess noise to detector performance and doesn't have to be charged with liquid nitrogen.
Magic is a new line of products that offers unprecedented speed and productivity in depainting. It performs up to four times faster than U.S. Technology's best plastic blasting media. The company states that a typical operation can depaint a cargo aircraft in two days with Magic versus four days for competing materials. It is manufactured from an engineered nanocomposite material and is usable for a wide range of coating removal and surface preparation applications. U.S. Technology Corp., 220 Seventh St. S.E., Canton, Ohio 44702.
NASA has stopped searching for the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft after spending several weeks trying to detect weak UHF signals. Officials now doubt that signals received Jan. 4 were from the lander, though results are not definitive.
Jon Feetham (see photo) has been named director of operations for Pentar Avionics, Bothell, Wash. He was head of the ground-based engineering group at Honeywell's Redmond, Wash., facility.
The hard part may be over, but now the real work begins. After being flung on a four-year flight, missing one rendezvous attempt and finally arriving at the smallest--and one of the most distant--objects ever orbited by a spacecraft, NEAR is beginning a year of ever-closer scrutiny of the asteroid 433 Eros.
Raytheon Systems Canada Ltd. has received a certificate of acceptance from the Civil Aviation Administration of China following approval of Raytheon's air traffic control radar system at Kunming International Airport.
Rick Glass has become vice president-sales and marketing for Airfoil Technologies International, Limerick, Pa. He was director of European sales for the Aviation Sales Co.
The U.S. government has quietly allowed its once-powerful nuclear intelligence infrastructure to atrophy, significantly weakening the nation's ability to counter proliferation of these deadly weapons, a laboratory executive recently warned.
