The first MD-90-30 built in China has completed test flights and received FAA airworthiness certification. In 1994, after years of negotiations, China signed an agreement to license-produce 20 V2500-powered MD-90s with the then-McDonnell Douglas Corp. Initial projections for the program, called Trunkliner, had been as high as 150 aircraft. The pact followed the successful coproduction of 35 MD-82/83s at the Shanghai Aviation Industry Corp. China cut the order to just two of the 150-seat MD-90s after Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas.
The European Space Agency has unveiled a quartet of Cluster II scientific satellites designed to measure interactions between the solar wind and the Earth's atmosphere.
ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP.'S HIGH-SPEED Solid-State Recorder (HSSR) is being used for flight tests on Lockheed-Martin's F-22 and has demonstrated the ability to record data at altitudes above 50,000 ft.--a height where conventional tape recorders have proven unreliable. HSSR's solid-state flash memory chips record 40 gigabytes of data. Competitive in price and superior in function to tape systems, it is smaller in size, weight and power consumption, according to its manufacturer, Orbital's Fairchild Defense Div.
The U.S. military has achieved a 21st century combat capability, successfully converting the forces of 1989 into the lighter, faster, more agile forces of today, claims Defense Secretary William S. Cohen. Disputing accusations that the Pentagon has failed to transform itself to meet the unique threats of the new century (see story above), Cohen argues that the military now on the front lines and flight lines is far closer to the mobile, rapidly deployable military proposed in Joint Vision 2010 than to the massive, forward-deployed force of 10 years ago.
Boeing last week delivered to USAF the first six conventional air-launched cruise missiles produced at its Weapons Programs facility in St. Charles, Mo. The company is on contract to convert a total of 322 of the nuclear air-launched cruise missiles to nonnuclear Calcm AGM-86C Block 1 and Block 1A status to replace stocks depleted during the Kosovo conflict. Boeing also received a contract modification to convert the last 50 missiles in the production run to a hard target penetrating warhead configuration.
PREDEPARTURE CLEARANCES (PDCS) delivered by data link into cockpits are cutting voice traffic by 90% at the 57 U.S. airports that use them, and significantly increasing on-time departures, according to ARINC. PDCs give pilots departure time, routing, assigned altitude, frequencies and departure instructions. The FAA has delivered more than 25 million PDCs over the Airline Communications Addressing and Recording Service (ACARS) data link since it began using that ARINC service in 1989 at Chicago O'Hare and Dallas/Fort Worth airports.
Boeing has picked Lockheed Martin's Advanced Unitary Penetrator (AUP) 1,200-lb. kinetic energy warhead for use on Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missiles, instead of BAE Systems' Broach multi-stage warhead. The Air Force plans to equip 50 missiles with the penetrator to attack hardened and deeply buried targets. U.K. officials were dismayed at the decision, noting that once again the Pentagon was unwilling to buy anything but U.S.-made hardware. Boeing said AUP better met the Air Force's near-term requirements.
The Pentagon has reinstated Korean Air as an approved carrier for U.S. military personnel, a move the carrier has long-awaited as it strives to reestablish its air safety reputation after a string of crashes.
A White House-chartered review of U.S. space-launch failures has produced a broad set of recommendations to improve Titan, Atlas and Delta launches and avoid problems with the new Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV). But the Pentagon faces a large bill if it decides to implement all of them.
Jupiter's moon Io may have crust-covered hot lava lakes and lengthy lava flows, based on the latest images from the Galileo spacecraft. The images were taken on Oct. 10 during a 380-mi. flyby, and were more than 100 times sharper than previously obtained (AW&ST Oct. 18, p. 23).
Anthony Broderick, former FAA associate administrator for regulation and certification, has been appointed to the advisory board of C-S Aviation of New York.
The Abu Dubai Investment Co. will place $121 million in the Teledesic global multimedia system. The money was raised from investors in the Gulf Cooperation Council member states.
Paul Foley has been appointed president/CEO of Mesaba Holdings Inc. and John G. Spanjers vice president-operations support of Mesaba Airlines. Foley was vice president-operations support at Atlas Air and Spanjers director of performance engineering for Northwest Airlines.
Teledyne Technologies Inc. began operations as an independent, publicly held company following its spinoff from former parent company, Allegheny Teledyne Inc. It produces electronic and communications products, as well as aerospace engines and components, and provides systems engineering. Revenues in 1998 were $780 million.
The pilot of a classified U.S. aircraft last week told the FAA's Albuquerque Center that he was ``above Flight Level 600'' (60,000 ft.), but couldn't disclose his actual altitude. Later, the aircraft was being refueled by ``Gasser 11,'' a tanker from Altus AFB, Okla., when he also declined to identify his aircraft type, noting that he ``wasn't allowed to say'' what he was flying. The unidentified vehicle was in AR-623, a refueling track over northern New Mexico at one point.
Andy Gordon has been appointed vice president-sales and marketing for Mesa Systems Guild Inc., Warwick, R.I. He was chief operating officer of the IntellAgent Control Corp.
In an interim report, Australia's Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI) has referred to Qantas' 747 operational procedures as possible factors in the airline's first crash since it began flying jets.
Wallace C. Sawyer has been appointed deputy director of the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. He held a similar position at the NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. Sawyer succeeds Kevin L. Petersen, who was promoted to director early this year.
Although Congress has pretty much wrapped up its business for the year, the F-22 program isn't off the hook, yet. The House Government Reform Committee's national security panel still plans a hearing on the stealthy, next-generation fighter's cost. ``We want to keep a close watch on the cost-control initiatives put in place to sustain this program,'' says subcommittee Chairman Christopher Shays (R-Conn.). Testifying next week will be Air Force acquisition officials, along with General Accounting Office watchdogs.
Christine M. Anderson, director of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate, recently received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' von Braun Award for Excellence in Space Program Management for leadership of the multi-agency Space Technology Alliance. c
The International Air Transport Assn. is urging the EU Council of Transport Ministers, meeting this week, to agree to the redesign of upper European airspace. This action, one of several initial steps required to help resolve Europe's ATC crisis, would increase ATC capacity up to 30%--and do it at minimal cost, according to IATA. ``Simple'' measures could result in major improvements.
Gerald McNichols has been named to the GRC International board of directors. He is senior vice president of GRC, general manager of its MCR Div., and president of MCR Federal, all in Vienna, Va.
The FAA this month is to begin testing whether production slipups at Boeing have created fire hazards in hundreds of the manufacturer's commercial transports that required emergency repairs. Fire researchers at the agency's Technical Center in Pomona, N.J., are developing test plans to quantify the fire hazard posed by improperly assembled cockpit wiring shields that may have been installed in about 1,000 transports over the last six years.
Lt. Gen. Richard Scofield (USAF, ret.) has received the Heritage Award from the Wright Patterson AFB (Ohio) chapter of the Air Force Assn. This award recognizes achievement in developing USAF operational front-line systems. Scofield was cited for his work in developing the F-117 and B-2. Donald Huber won the chapter's Ambassador Award for leadership in supporting aviation and USAF interests in the Dayton/Miami Valley, Ohio, area.
In the wake of an ongoing cost-cutting plan scheduled to be completed in early 2001, Air France is achieving record profits and strengthening its market share. Concerns about the impact of Asia's financial crisis and looming overcapacity on highly competitive routes have not materialized. ``We are implementing an aggressive growth strategy, which involves a significantly increased capacity--but we are certainly not `buying' market shares,'' Chairman/CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta said.
