The Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Co. has been created to supervise construction of an international airport in China's Guangdong province. It would replace the aging Baiyun facility, which is the country's busiest hub but is constrained by size. Plans call for building the airport in stages, beginning in May 2000. The first phase is scheduled for completion in 2003. Located near the city of Huadu, the facility would be about four times the size of Baiyun.
Too-frequent engine inspections and excessive preventative maintenance on the turbine engines of large commercial airplanes may increase the risk of inflight shutdowns, according to a report by General Electric Aircraft Engines. The probability of maintenance error needs to be considered when determining the requirements for, and frequency of, inspection and scheduled component replacement programs, according to Joseph P. Marksteiner, manager of propulsion system safety for GE.
Recent combat in the Balkans has confirmed the prescient wisdom of the 1997 decision to develop a ``smarter'' version of the AGM-88 Harm antiradar missile (AW&ST Oct. 27, 1997, p. 74). The development, projected to cost approximately $103 million, is a three-nation effort of Germany, Italy and the U.S.--called the International Harm Upgrade Program (IHUP). The U.S. will provide roughly 39% of the projected cost of engineering and manufacturing development (EMD), while Italy and Germany each supply 30.5% of the total.
Pratt&Whitney has completed assembly of the first flight test engine for the Boeing X-32A Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator. After acceptance testing, the JSF119-614 engine will be delivered to Boeing in Palmdale, Calif., where the X-32A is undergoing final systems installation and check out. Flight testing of the X-32A is scheduled for this spring.
The Series 170 and 176 position transducers deliver extended-life, high-reliability position measurement in a compact size. Developed as a space-saving alternative to rod-and-cylinder products such as LVDTs and linear potentiometers, these flexible, easy-to-install items use a stainless steel cable wound around a spring-powered drum. The bearing-mounted drum is mated to a precision potentiometric element that translates linear position information to an electrical signal. The products weigh less than 4 oz. and are available with right- or left-hand cable pull.
British Midland's decision to join the Star Alliance nearly doubles the number of takeoff and landing slots the group controls at London Heathrow Airport, creating a formidable competitor to British Airways on its home turf.
Fuji Heavy Industries was awarded a contract to work with Japan's National Aerospace Laboratory to develop two flight demonstrators as precursors to the planned Hope-X mini-shuttle program. The contract from Japan's NASDA space agency calls for two ``High-Speed Flight Technology Demonstrators'' to be delivered by March 2002 for flight tests in 2002 and 2003. The vehicles will be one-quarter the scale of Hope-X, with a wing span of 2.5 meters (8 ft.), a length of 4 meters and a height of 1.2 meters. One vehicle will weigh 600 kg. (1,320 lb.).
Amid the clamoring for remedies for the U.S.' air travel crisis, Congress is taking a bye. Senate and House negotiators broke off talks Nov. 10 on legislation to reauthorize FAA operations and improve airports. Senators rejected the demands of House infrastructure guru Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) that all of the $11 billion in the Airports and Airways Trust Fund be spent on aviation infrastructure improvements over the next several years. The best the senators could offer was a letter from the leadership promising to consider spending general funds on aviation in the future.
Lessons the U.S. learned from the Kosovo conflict emphasize the need for airborne electronic warfare aircraft, but point to problems with the number of assets. The experience affirmed that the upgrade priorities are valid, and ``we're not in the process of buying anything that would not have been used,'' said Capt. John Scheffler, the Naval Air Systems Command's EA-6B program manager.
Northrop Grumman's AAQ-24 Directed Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM, also known as Nemesis), was tested in a live-fire demonstration in late August against a heat-seeking missile. The target was a UH-1 helicopter suspended below a cable car at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The test was designed to assess the ability of the Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin DIRCMs to protect a large four-engine transport. The grid under the helicopter fuselage held four infrared (IR) generators, with spacing and IR output that emulated transport jet engines.
Photograph: International Aviation magazine, a Beijing-based publication of the China Aero Information Center and a joint venture partner with Aviation Week&Space Technology, recently inaugurated its fifth editorial board, an event that coincided with the 12th anniversary of the joint venture. The inaugural dinner was attended by Chinese aerospace industry and military officials who also are members of the editorial board (seated) and editors of International Aviation (standing).
Finance and science committee members of the Bundestag met last week for high-level talks with Research Minister Edelgard Bulmahn to unblock an ongoing dispute over the federal budget proposal. Bulmahn wants to limit space spending for national programs to last year's level--DM310 million ($165.7 million)--an amount that German aerospace industry association BDLI considers inadequate to maintain the long-term competitiveness of German firms. BDLI is urging the minister to add DM40 million to yearly spending to compensate for commitments to European space programs.
The continuing weakness in overall market demand for titanium metals products was a key factor in Titanium Metals Corp.'s recent decision to suspend the regular quarterly dividend on its common stock. ``The demand for titanium products remains at a depressed level, with a number of the company's major customers canceling and pushing out previously scheduled orders,'' Chairman and CEO J. Landis Martin said.
U.S. Space Command's recent assumption of responsibility for computer network defense within the Defense Dept. centralized a critical portion of U.S. information operations, but also brought a long menu of difficult issues yet to be resolved.
This multiPID (photo-ionization detector) weighs less than 800 grams and is operated via six keys. Two displays with background illumination provide fast and clear information. The upper display indicates measured concentration of contaminants in ppm, the lower one includes a menu-driven variable display making it easy to calibrate the instrument and enter substance-specific data into a computer. The instrument incorporates the following display modes: current concentration in ppm, maximum concentration determined during measurement, 25-min. average value and 8-hr.
The AAR-47, long used on a variety of military helicopters and fixed-wing transports to warn of an approaching heat-seeking missile, can now be upgraded to also alert the crew when the aircraft is being illuminated by a laser--a function that previously required a separate AVR-2 laser-detecting set.
When, oh, when will the space station's service module finally get to orbit? NASA officials are due in Moscow at the end of the month to try to find out. But Russian space officials are already saying February, not the Dec. 26-Jan. 16 window given a month ago. And the Russians maintain the new delay isn't related to the recent failure of the Proton, the same booster to launch the module. No, it's NASA's fault, the Russians say. NASA's grounding of the shuttle fleet earlier this year to inspect wiring problems set back the next station servicing mission.
The focus of the product data management (PDM) market is shifting from technology to enterprise business solutions, according to a CIMdata market survey of more than 200 manufacturers, including the aerospace sector. Globalization, a need for closer ties to customers, and faster product innovation are behind the shift, CIMdata President Ed Miller said. The Ann Arbor, Mich., research firm said customers are turning more frequently to systems integrators to help with installation of PDM tools.
IDECM's roughly two-year schedule slip has had a greater impact on USAF's plans to use it to replace the B-1B's deficient ALQ-161 defensive avionics system than on the Navy's new F/A-18E/F. A Milestone 3 production decision for the B-1B is not expected before 2004, which means that operational availability is not likely before 2006 or later. Current plans call for the B-1B to be outfitted with only a single on-board jammer--the ALQ-165's low-band unit.
Raytheon, manifesting some of the same financial and organizational problems dragging down Lockheed Martin, is counting on restructuring moves to bolster the company's performance. The actions come on the heels of a money-losing third quarter marked by write-downs, restructuring provisions, contract adjustments and downward revisions in near-term growth and profit expectations.
The National Reconnaissance Office may be forced to reduce the number of satellites in the Future Imagery Architecture (FIA). Members of the congressional intelligence committees are worried the ground infrastructure to exploit FIA imagery is insufficient. ``We have told the Administration to find the money to make FIA productive or revise the program downward in scope and use the savings to fund the [ground infrastructure] bill,'' says Porter Goss (R-Fla.), chairman of the House's intel panel.
The civil aviation authorities in Thailand will present a draft of an open skies plan to the five carriers affected next month. The airlines involved are: Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways, PB Air, Angel Airlines and Siam Flying Service. Generally the carriers have welcomed the government's decision, but smaller carriers say they face difficulty competing with Thai Airways. Angel has asked for protection if it launches services to domestic airports not currently served by Thai, but the government has not responded to that suggestion.
Generation Custom Battery Packs can feature nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride, lithium ion, sealed lead acid and all primary chemistries, with various packaging and connector alternatives. They are engineered to cost-effectively match the application relative to capacity, discharge rates and currents, environments and other factors. Designed to fit space constraints and meet specific criteria such as run time or operating temperature, packs range from coin to ``D'' cell size in series or in parallel. Generation Electronics Inc., 59 Technology Drive, Lowell, Mass.
Servometer has introduced a line of miniature gold-plated bellows contact springs for critical applications where contact with a delicate component or material is required. These contacts have low insertion forces, low insertion losses and low D.C. resistance. They come in diameters as small as 0.037 in. The contact springs are manufactured from electrodeposited nickel and gold-plated to Mil-G-45204 to enhance their conductivity and provide low D.C. resistance with a minimum of insertion loss. Servometer Corp., 501 Little Falls Road, Cedar Grove, N.J. 07009.
