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.
ViaSat has received a five-year $13-million contract from the Raytheon Co. to supply UHF Satellite Communications Demand Assigned Multiple Access modem modules for multiband terminals.
PACIFIC AEROSPACE&ELECTRONICS of Wenatchee, Wash., has developed a tiny capacitor for filtering electrical interference noise from sensitive circuits. The multilayer ceramic discoidal capacitor, with a diameter of 0.05 in., and a length of 0.03 in., can be provided as a bare capacitor chip or included in other packages. The small size allows it to be incorporated in a variety of hermetic feedthru applications that have stringent electromagnetic interference requirements.
The Pentagon would like to explore some different technologies for its National Missile Defense system in case its single-track approach runs into problems. But there isn't money in the current $13-billion program for that insurance policy. Asked by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) during a hearing in the House whether the program could use more funds for testing, Air Force Lt. Gen.
Gerard Chauvallon has been appointed Washington-based senior vice president-U.S. for Aerospatiale Matra. He will remain chairman of American Eurocopter. Jacques Jacob de Cordemoy has been named deputy vice president-technical affairs and programs of the Aerospatiale Matra Launchers Div. He was industrial director and has been succeeded by Michel Freuchet, who was head of electric systems at Eurocopter France.
Lockheed Martin once again is the Pentagon's largest contractor with $12.7 billion out of $125 billion in contract awards in 1999. There were no changes among the top six companies, with Boeing second and Raytheon third. Further down, General Electric moved from eighth last year to 13th in 1998, while Textron slipped to 10th from seventh.
Reinhard Schnabel has been appointed Stuttgart, Germany-based vice president-Europe for the Hughes Space and Communications International Service Co. He was vice president-business development and programs for the Space Communications Div. of Bosch Telecom.
Laurette Koellner, Boeing vice president/corporate controller, will assume responsibility for the company's insurance organization in March. She will succeed Denny Crispin, vice president-insurance and taxes, who plans to retire on Mar. 1.
Precision dovetail slides are computer designed to ensure accuracy and repeatability in test, gage, motion control and machining applications. They are available in three models: Express, Select and Super Select. Each meets specific design, choice, delivery and price needs. A CD-ROM is available so the entire DS slide series, and related CAD drawings, can be downloaded to PCs, providing instant reference and engineering data to the design process. Setco Group, 5880 Hillside Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio 45233.
MICHAEL A. TAVERNAPUSHPINDAR SINGH and NEELAM MATHEWS
To help promote renewed growth in air transport following several years of stagnation, the Indian government has begun accelerating plans to open up the domestic airline industry to market forces.
Plans to modernize Russia's aging civil satellite communications network, derailed by a Proton failure last October, are now back on track, with two new satellites scheduled to be launched by midyear. The first, Express 6A (formerly designated Express A2), will be orbited on a Proton booster in early March, according to officials at Intersputnik, which will operate the satellites. The Proton resumed operation on Feb. 12 (see p. 47).
Russian space managers, in an important Moscow-based meeting with U.S. and other station partners, have agreed to launch the critical Service Module for the International Space Station (ISS) between July 8-14 on a Khrunichev Proton booster. But NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin expressed sharp criticism before Congress last week about the Russian Energia Corp.'s attitude toward ISS cost issues and the possible diversion of ISS Soyuz and Progress resources toward extending the old Mir station for Energia's commercial gain.
THE FAA HAS GRANTED TSO CERTIFICATION to UPS Aviation Technologies' MX20 multifunction display. The 6-in.-dia. active matrix liquid crystal display gives pilots a visual picture of the relationship between the aircraft's flight path and surrounding terrain, warning the pilot when the aircraft comes within 2 min. of a close encounter with the ground. In addition to the terrain mapping, the MX20 can provide weather and traffic. It is the only multifunction display certified to show Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) traffic reports, according to UPS.
Boeing has installed a radar simulation pod (RSP) on one of its T-33 jet trainers. The pod, which resembles an underwing fuel tank, emulates the radar characteristics of various U.S. and international military aircraft, including radio-frequency waveform and antenna scan pattern. The RSP-equipped T-33 already has flown in conjunction with Boeing's Flying Test Bed, a modified 757 transport being used to integrate and test F-22 avionics.
