Asia's slow-to-develop corporate jet business is gaining momentum. Exhibiting at last month's National Business Aviation Assn. in Atlanta was Tokyo-based International Business Aviation Service (IBAS). It operates a flight handling and aircraft management network that provides full ground-handling services for business jets at Japan's Narita, Osaka and New Chitose airports as well as Manila and Seoul-Kimpo. About 800 business jets visit Japan annually, IBAS said.
Singaporean and Chinese investors have begun construction of a $90-million air cargo distribution center in Tianjin, China, a coastal city near Beijing. As envisioned, the facility will have a handling capacity of 1,000 tons a day and be able to service peak loads of up to 28 cargo flights in a 4-hr. period. The Singapore-based Craven Corp. will provide 95% of the funding. First phase of the project covers a total of 22 hectares at Tianjin Coastal International Airport.
Hainan Airlines last week received delivery of a 328JET at the Fairchild Aerospace facility at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. The carrier placed a firm order for 19 of the 32-seat twin-engine regional aircraft and holds options on 20 more (AW&ST Sept. 6, p. 15). Hainan's 328JET is the first jet-powered regional aircraft to operate in China.
Singapore Airlines is seeking approval from the U.K. government for fifth freedom rights to operate a transatlantic service from London Heathrow Airport to either New York or Chicago. The carrier notes that Singapore has granted such fifth freedom rights to U.K. airlines, such as British Airways, which operates 17 flights a week to Australia via Singapore. Singapore Airlines believes the time is ripe for such a move, which would increase competition across the Atlantic, given the current stalemate between the U.S. and U.K.
The National Transportation Safety Board and members of Congress last week criticized Boeing for not releasing a 1980 report covering fuel tank safety concerns on a military version of the 747 transport. The four-volume report, performed by Boeing's former Military Airplane Co., surfaced after a request from the office of Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). His investigators got wind of the documents as part of a May 10 subcommittee meeting looking into the FBI's role in investigating the TWA Flight 800 crash in 1996.
John Rampy (see photo), retired executive director of the Arnold (AFB, Tenn.) Engineering Development Center, has received the 1999 Allen R. Matthews Award of the International Test and Evaluation Assn. for his contributions to the field.
Launch of the space shuttle Discovery on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope will be delayed a few days beyond its original Dec. 2 target to enable Boeing/Rocketdyne personnel to change out the orbiter's right main engine as the vehicle sits on Pad 39B. Several months ago during engine processing, a 0.5-in. drill bit broke from a tool and became lodged in a noncritical coolant tube. Engineers initially believed the engine could be flown safely with the drill bit at that location, but conducted reviews to determine if that would be prudent.
The space telecommunications industry has reeled this year from the bankruptcies of high-profile satellite telephone ventures, but surging demand for high-speed Internet connections and other ``broadband'' communications services is emerging as a potential panacea that could drive a recovery.
The Dubai 2000 International Aerospace Exhibition, to be held on Nov. 14-18, will be ensconced in a new purpose-built home at the Dubai airport exhibition center in the United Arab Emirates.
Top airline executives brought olive branches to George Washington University's Global Summit on International Aviation Infrastructure last week, calling for aviation interests and government agencies to unite on an agenda for improving the U.S. air transportation system. United Airlines President Rono Dutta criticized the finger-pointing that dominated public debate over ATC delays and congestion this past summer. ``We need to
Duane E. Collins, president/CEO of the Parker Hannifin Corp. of Cleveland, is now also chairman. He succeeds Patrick S. Parker, who has retired but will become chairman emeritus.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense wants more time to study privatizing its Defense Evaluation and Research Agency after draft proposals on its ``public-private partnership'' scheme were criticized by industry. The plan to sell off large portions of the government's defense labs, albeit retaining certain safeguards, also raised concerns among allies, especially in the U.S. New British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said he wants to widen the scope of the consultation process begun in March. It now will continue into the new year.
While the pace of new military sales in the Middle East has slowed and appears to have hit a lull that could last for the next few years, the region is expected to continue as the largest market in the developing world for conventional weapons.
Cobham's FRA Aviation will receive a 32- million-pound ($52.8-million) settlement as a result of British Aerospace canceling a 1996 contract for rebuilding 21 Nimrod MRA.4 fuselages. Following a program review, BAe has decided to shift the work to its Woodford facility, near Manchester, where all Nimrod work will now be centralized. The move is part of an effort to get the program, already two years behind, back on track. BAe admitted to problems earlier this year on the program to modernize the maritime patrol aircraft for the Royal Air Force.
The Combat Survivor Evader Locator (CSEL) system has undergone testing by Boeing and the U.S. Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center at Hurlburt Field in Florida. Preliminary results indicate that overall testing of the military handheld search and rescue system was successful, according to Air Force officials. The recent tests follow a series of operational assessments conducted in 1998.
New Galileo close-up images suggest the Prometheus volcano on Jupiter's moon Io has similarities to Hawaii's Kilauea volcano. The new images were taken on Oct. 10 with resolution up to 50 times sharper than before, and are still being transmitted to Earth. Prometheus appears to have flows that travel 100 km. (60 mi.) along lava tubes and produce plumes when they interact with cooler materials, like Kilauea. But the ``cooler material'' on Io is sulfur dioxide-rich snow, as opposed to sea water on Earth. The Galileo spacecraft is set to make its closest Io flyby on Nov.
Don't look for any near-term recovery in Orbital Sciences Corp.'s (OSC) stock, which has been in the doldrums for months. Reason: Management plans to restate earnings for the last 10 quarters, from 1997 through the first half of 1999, and the non-cash changes will have an impact on the company's consolidated financials on a forward basis as well. Orbital also may be required to revise the valuation of its Magellan affiliate.
CANADIAN MARCONI BELIEVES it has the first low-cost GPS receiver to provide D-GPS accuracy without extra beacons or receivers, by tracking the FAA's Wide Area Augmentation System signal. Beta versions of the Allstar receiver have shown an accuracy of 4 meters CEP 95% of the time during 12 hr. of static tests. The Superstar version is slated for release by year-end.
Composite Structures has won a three-year contract extension with Boeing's Seattle operation to supply wing spoilers for next-generation 737 transports. Composite Structures also has received separate contract extensions with Boeing's Long Beach, Calif., facility to supply wing spoilers for the C-17 military transport and Mesa, Ariz., plant to supply tail rotor blades for the AH-64 Apache helicopter. The contracts are worth a total of up to $50 million.
Embraer will use 120 Enovia virtual product models, as well as 200 Catia and 260 IBM RS/6000 workstations provided by Dassault Systemes to develop the ERJ-170/-190 regional twinjets. In addition, Embraer has required 16 partners and suppliers to install Catia and Enovia systems.
Susan Opeka has been appointed director/financial controller for the Elkhart, Ind.-based CTS Corp.'s wireless components business. She was vice president-finance for North American operations for the Outboard Marine Corp.
Facing a $500-million bill for the F-22, the U.S. Air Force is looking to cut $258 million from the Airborne Laser program. The net effect could be a $700-million increase in the ABL's total cost. Congressional supporters of the ballistic missile defense program are fighting the move and have asked Defense Secretary William Cohen to overrule the Air Force. Past congressional cuts in ABL funding forced the Air Force to stretch the development program by a year.
BOEING WILL MODERNIZE the cockpits of the Navy's E-6 Tacamo aircraft with its next-generation 737-700 hardware and avionics architecture. The $123-million upgrade will add six flat panel color displays, three INS and two commercial GPS receivers with reliability and integrity monitoring. Dual flight management systems will have vertical navigation and the ability to calculate required navigation performance and time of arrival, and altitude comparison capability.
Rolls-Royce broadened its maintenance, repair and overhaul capacity in small turbine engines last week with the $73-million purchase of National Airmotive Corp. here at Oakland International Airport. Renamed as Rolls-Royce Engine Services-Oakland Inc., the company has had a 30% growth rate during the past two years, President Rajesh Sharma said. It was sold by First Aviation Services Inc. of Westport, Conn., which wants to concentrate on its core aircraft parts logistics and distribution business.
A House panel has added to the chain of developments complicating U.S.-China relations, ordering firmer Washington support for Taiwan's defense. Accusing the White House of failing to meet Taiwan's legitimate security needs in the face of China's continued military modernization, the House International Relations Committee sent a bipartisan bill to the full House intended to foster sales of advanced U.S. weapons to Taiwan and buttress longstanding bilateral defense ties with the island nation.
