U.S. negotiators reached agreement on Jan. 7 with officials of the Slovak Republic on an open skies air services accord that will enable airlines of both countries to immediately serve any destinations between the nations.
Two companies have given large outsourcing contracts to Computer Sciences Corp. of El Segundo, Calif. United Technologies has extended its 10-year outsourcing agreements with CSC to include Pratt&Whitney Canada and Hamilton Sundstrand. The new contracts are expected to generate $350 million in revenue from Pratt Canada and $157 million from Hamilton Sundstrand, and add to a $1.2-billion contract that CSC signed with Pratt&Whitney and other UTC units last year.
The Sound of Silence Headset Series by Sennheiser is targeted at pilots of loud propeller and turboprop aircraft. The series consists of two full-sized headset models: HMEC300 and HME100. Both come in several variants to accommodate use in genav, commuter airlines and helicopter service. Noisegard electronics are powered by the onboard power supply (headset ships with an installation socket) or by a separate battery pack fitted with an on/off switch. Various adapter cables are available for connection to a cigarette lighter.
United Airlines is withdrawing from its Hong Kong-Bangkok service to increase flights to Singapore. The last flight to Bangkok will be Feb. 15, with added services to Singapore starting the next day.
A congressional decision not to fund production of the Defense Dept.'s next-generation short-range air-to-air missile has effectively delayed fielding by a year.
Southwest Airlines will begin revenue operations at Albany International Airport in May, bringing to 56 the number of cities in 29 states served by the Dallas-based, low-fare carrier. Southwest will occupy two gates at the Albany facilities, which were extensively upgraded in an effort to secure the airline's service. An official said fares and flight schedules will be available later this month.
Parametric Technology Corp. has won what presumably will be an important placement with Boeing Space and Communications. PTC is best known for its Pro Engineer design software but has been emphasizing its new Windchill product lately as the market for CAD/CAM products has cooled and business-to-business collaboration over the Internet has taken off. Windchill allows designers to collaborate over the Internet and is in the portfolio of Airbus' partners, among others.
The Boeing Co. appeared to be on track last week to purchase Hughes Electronics Corp.'s $2.3-billion satellite-manufacturing business for about $4 billion, according to industry securities analysts. If their expectations are fulfilled, Boeing would immediately become the world's largest producer of commercial satellites--while still retaining the distinction of also being the largest builder of commercial and military transport and fighter aircraft worldwide.
Long-time aviation journalist and author John W. R. Taylor died last month at the age of 77. Taylor will be most remembered for his 30-year-long editorship of Jane's All The World's Aircraft, from 1959 to 1989.
United Defense has been awarded a $23.7-million contract by the U.S. Army's Tank-automotive and Armaments Command to provide 18 M993 Multiple Launch Rocket System carriers for Greece and four M993 MLRS carriers for Denmark.
This electronic system provides high-precision measurement of aircraft refueling. It records time, gallons or pounds delivered as well as the fuel's density and temperature. It also logs the operator's identity, tail and flight number. Transactions are downloaded into a fuel management software and are simultaneously saved for backup. Contrec Systems believes this is the first time in commercial aviation that the system will allow truck drivers to give pilots a fuel weight/volume cross-check readout.
RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE in the U.K. say they are making progress on single electron transistors (SET), which can in principle be the basis for logic circuits and memory applications. Memory cells based on single or few electron devices will be necessary to advance to multi-giga-scale memories with high-speed operation, according to the researchers, who are working with SET devices fabricated conventionally in silicon on insulator material.
The U.S. Supreme Court ended a fee dispute between Los Angeles International Airport and airlines, which will result in LAX having to refund more than $100 million to the carriers.
The Deep II unmanned deep-sea surveyor has located a major portion of the first-stage LE-7 engine from the H-2 launcher that failed last November. Japan' s Space Development Agency said the part, located in a flat seabed 2,917 meters (9,567 ft.) beneath the surface, appears to be nearly the complete engine minus its nozzle skirt. NASDA will attempt to raise the full structure, which weighs about 1,000 kg. (2,200 lb.).
Ableluxtm AA50 single pack, photocurable adhesive is formulated to enhance productivity in the assembly of optical, fiber optic and optoelectronic devices. It cures in seconds when exposed to the appropriate intensity of visible (blue) or UV light. Adhesives may also be provided with a secondary thermal cure instability. It is well suited for LED mounting, laser diode packaging, fiber pigtailing and transceiver active alignment and potting. Ablestik, 20021 Susana Road, Rancho Dominguez, Calif. 90221.
Safety experts are working on techniques to help reduce accidents and crashes resulting from inappropriate crew response to powerplant system malfunctions. The high reliability of modern turbine engines and inability of full-flight simulators to accurately replicate the loud noise--which can be as dramatic as a shotgun blast 10 ft.
GE Capital Aviation Training and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. have signed an agreement to offer airlines commercial flight training at Hong Kong International Airport.
Eaton Aerospace has received a contract award to supply electrically locking cargo door actuators for 30 Airbus A3000F aircraft to be delivered to United Parcel Service, with an option for 30 additional aircraft.
The Pegasus by S.I.R.S. Navigation provides extremely accurate readings due to its fully integrated, 4-magnet correction facility. It is filled with silicone fluid to damp movement of the compass card, reducing the inaccuracies found in the usual liquid compasses. Pegasus uses metal bellows to compensate for expansion and contraction of the fluid caused by changes in temperature and altitude, providing long-term stability. It is highly visible in all lighting conditions and mounts in a standard 2.25-in. instrument hole. Lighting comes in 6, 12 or 28 volt illumination.
Up to 6,000 general aviation aircraft were grounded in eastern Australia last week because of a contamination of Mobil 100/130 aviation gas by ethylene di-amine. Mobil detected the problem Dec. 23 after an aircraft suffered an engine failure. The contamination first appeared as black deposits, which signaled a reaction of the ethylene diamine with copper in fuel system parts. Later, white and clear deposits were observed, a result of the contaminant reacting with carbon dioxide.
Boeing added five more sales to its commercial jet transport order book during the last week of December. Sales totals for the year now stand at 391. The new orders included a 757-200 to Turkmenistan Airlines, valued at $67 million. Airbus also announced additional orders for 1999 (see p. 425).
The cPRO3 is an extension of the Proteus family of embedded computers and was designed to facilitate customization for specific needs. It offers processor speeds up to 333 MHz., up to 128 MB of EDO DRAM, 515 kb. of Level 2 cache and up to 144 MB of Flash Disk-on-Chip. The board comes standard with rear panel COM ports and front panel mouse and keyboard ports. It uses an Award BIOS in Flas Rom to allow future BIOS upgrades to be programmed on site. The board is standard with rear panel COM ports and front panel mouse and keyboard ports.
Australian anti-monopoly watchdogs have warned Qantas and Air New Zealand they will investigate fare hikes now that an upstart carrier called K2000 has abandoned its attempt to compete against them on flights between Australia and New Zealand. K2000 officials say the two established carriers unfairly cut fares against them. Also to be noted will be whether Ansett and Qantas introduce extra-deep discount fares against Virgin Atlantic, which is expected to enter the Australian domestic market with a no-frills competitor in June.
In-Flight Icing by Porter J. Perkins and William J. Reike of the NASA Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, is a 40-page paperback covering meteorological and operational factors involved with icing including the probability of encountering icing, ice shapes and types, tailplane stalls, recovery techniques and limitations of ice protection systems. Icing for Regional and Commuter Pilots is a 37-min. video geared to pilots of turboprop and other aircraft with deicing boots and highly sophisticated wings. Tailplane Icing is a 25-min.
U.S. national security officials got their first real taste of the new era of high-resolution commercial imagery last week when Space Imaging Inc. released detailed satellite pictures of a secretive North Korean missile complex.
