CLUSTERS OF LOW-COST PERSONAL COMPUTERS can be linked to attain low-end supercomputer capabilities, according to Penn State University Prof. Lyle Long and NASA Langley researcher Kenneth Brentner. Scientists and engineers who do not need the full parallel power of 200 or more processors may find these ``Beowulf clusters'' to be a faster alternative than waiting for supercomputer time and much cheaper to buy, they say.
Boeing's new 717 transport is achieving dispatch reliability in the high 98% range during initial operations with AirTran Airways. The Orlando, Fla.-based carrier began revenue service with the 717-200 in mid-October and has built to a fleet of nine. AirTran, then a much smaller airline called ValuJet, was the launch customer for the 717 in October 1995, placing a firm order for 50 and optioning another 50. The carrier is scheduled to take another eight deliveries this year and 16 in 2001.
The Oneworld airline alliance is creating a central management company to run its customer service, marketing, information technology and finance activities. Peter Beucking, sales and marketing director for Oneworld member Cathay Pacific Airways, will head the new central management team, which will be based in Vancouver starting in April. Beucking is recruiting a small group of executives to join the team, which is expected to be fully up and running by mid-year.
James Manchisi has been named vice president/general manager of the Government Intelligence Market Segment of Eastman Kodak Commercial&Government Systems (C&GS), Rochester, N.Y. Manchisi was general manager of the Barnes Div. of the EDO Corp. Sandra Thompson has been promoted to finance director from controller of C&GS.
The primary reason for developing a new generation of radar is to significantly improve the ability of U.S. forces to search areas for important but elusive targets, a job most easily conducted from the air or space.
Aviation Week&Space Technology's editorial team has selected the following individuals and teams from those who have earned 1999 Laurel citations to be 1999 Laureates. Recipients also have been selected for the Lifetime and Special Achievement Awards. Each winner will receive the Laureate Trophy at ceremonies in Washington on Apr. 12 at the National Air and Space Museum. The accomplishments of the 1999 Laureate recipients will be recounted in the Apr. 10 issue. COMMERCIAL AIR TRANSPORT Sir Richard Branson,
Martin Stein has been appointed vice president-business development of Innovative Concepts Inc., McLean, Va. A former NASA deputy administrator, Stein was a consultant on aerospace matters with Kelly, Anderson&Associates.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries has delivered the first OH-1 light helicopter from its Gifu plant near Nagoya to Japan's army. The 3,500-kg. (7,700-lb.) helicopter is powered by two 800 shaft hp. Mitsubishi TS-1 engines. The army ordered eight of the 12-meter-(40-ft.)-long aircraft in the current fiscal year at a unit price of 1.5 billion yen ($14 million). Four more are to be delivered in fiscal 2000, which begins on Apr. 1. In all, the army is expected to buy 190 OH-1s to replace 193 McDonnell Douglas OH-6Ds built by Kawasaki under license.
Airbus Industrie officials have told investors and securities analysts in New York that this year's annual Wall Street briefing probably was the last by Airbus as a partnership. As now envisioned, Airbus will become a division of the European Aeronautic, Defence and Space Co. (EADS), according to John J. Leahy, senior vice president-commercial. ``Eighty percent of [Airbus] is transitioning into EADS, and discussions with BAE Systems are underway,'' he said last week.
Ivory Coast civil aviation authorities are seeking to determine why a Kenya Airways Airbus A310-300 twinjet plunged into the ocean shortly after takeoff from Houphouet Boigny airport, near Abidjan. Flight 431 crashed on Jan. 30, at 9:08 p.m. GMT, about 1 min. after takeoff, killing 170 passengers and crewmembers. Nine persons survived. The accident site is 1.2 mi. east of the airport, off the coastline.
The Turkish government has replaced the chief of the Defense Industry Undersecretariat, who plays a major role in procurement, just weeks before an expected decision of the winner in the country's $3.5-billion attack helicopter competition. Yalcn Burcak was succeeded by Dursun Ali Ercan, a nuclear scientist and advisor to the Turkish defense minister.
Under terms of last year's expanded U.S.-China air services agreement, China Southern Airlines will open the country's first dedicated cargo service into the U.S. beginning on Mar. 29. The flight from Shenzhen (near Hong Kong) to Chicago will use a wet-leased 747-200 freighter from Denver-based Atlas Air.
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill to strengthen military ties with Taiwan, but a presidential veto is virtually certain. The bill would set up direct military links between Washington and Taipei, increase military training and education contacts and foster sales of advanced U.S. weapons to the island nation (AW&ST Nov. 8, 1999, p. 80).
Several FAA Airworthiness Directives have been issued over the operational life of the MD-80 series of aircraft regarding problems encountered with the aircraft's horizontal stabilizer, according to the FAA. One directive, effective in 1995, required inspection of horizontal stabilizer primary trim motors and replacement of motors with certain serial numbers.
In a new cross-border effort to restore flight punctuality, Europe is seeking to unify and streamline air traffic management in its fragmented airspace. In the last few years, flight delays in European airspace soared to an average 30 min.--a condition that is seriously disrupting operations and increasing the airlines' production costs. Trade associations, the traveling public and consumer groups are sharply criticizing the absence of strong politically supported initiatives that would accelerate unification.
Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater expressed ``profound disappointment'' last week that the latest round of aviation talks with the U.K. ended without any agreement on restoring nonstop services between London and Pittsburgh. US Airways has been seeking to take up the service ever since British Airways dropped the route last year. Slater said the U.K.'s ``unwillingness'' to consider a broader open skies agreement was also ``regrettable.'' House Transportation Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) and ranking Democrat James L. Oberstar (Minn.) used harsher language.
THE CIVIL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION OF CHINA selected Harris Corp. to provide a turnkey system of VHF radios, antennas and operator audio panels for air traffic control systems at the new Xiaoshan International Airport near Hangzhou, in eastern China. The VDR-2000 and -3000 equipment being purchased is capable of both analog and digital voice/data communications. It includes a remote control and monitoring system that functions as a network manager, controlling multiple sites and radios from one location.
The Clinton Administration proposes boosting the FAA's facilities and equipment funding 22% in a $2.5-billion Fiscal 2001 budget it will submit to Congress next week, Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater told the International Aviation Club in Washington last week.
The U.S. Navy has conducted a successful live warhead firing test of the Boeing Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) against a ship target. The mission last month was intended to validate the missile's guidance system and ability to hit a predetermined spot on a ship as well as warhead effectiveness. Launch took place from an F/A-18 Hornet located more than 40 naut. mi. away from the decommissioned cruiser USS Dale at an offshore range near Puerto Rico. While en route, the missile received several inflight position updates.
American Airlines plans to remove two rows of seats from every one of its 700 aircraft to add 3-5 in. of legroom in each of the remaining seat rows while trimming the airline's capacity in the market place by more than 6%. The removals, part of a $70-million fleet overhaul, began last week and should be complete by November for American's domestic aircraft and by mid-2001 for its international fleet.
Arianespace will provide more than $100 million worth of vendor and long-term financing for iSky, a dedicated Ka-band satellite network, as part of an agreement to launch the two spacecraft. ISky-1, a 4,500-5,500-kg. spacecraft being built by Space Systems Loral, will be orbited to 109 deg. W. Long. in the third quarter of 2001. The second unit will be lofted to 73 deg. W. Long. in mid-2002. ISky (formerly KaStar) is the second major financing package arranged by Arianespace, after the Ellipso satphone network.
In a crowded launch field, China Great Wall Industries Corp. is presenting itself like a customer-oriented, Western-style business eager to reassure customers and find its niche. ``We are looking for a comprehensive risk-assessment policy,'' Zuoyi Huang, president of China Great Wall's U.S. marketing arm, GW Aerospace Inc., told the Pacific Telecommunications Council's PTC2000 conference in Honolulu last week.
The chairman of the House Appropriations panel that oversees the FAA and NTSB is calling on those agencies to convene a national summit this spring to identify solutions to ``the alarming number of runway incursions'' in the U.S. (AW&ST Jan. 31, p. 26). Rep. Frank R.
Trans World Airlines was No. 1 in on-time performance for the 12-month period ending November 1999, according to U.S. Transportation Dept. Air Travel Consumer Reports. For the period, 80.9% of the carriers' flights arrived on time or within 15 min. of published schedule. The monthly statistics are based on data collected from the 10 largest U.S. carriers.
Brig. Gen. Paul Nielsen is scheduled to become commander of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and the service's chief technology officer on June 1. He will succeed Maj. Gen. Richard Paul, who will retire. Nielsen has been vice commander of the Aeronautical Systems Center.
