The FAA and National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. have ratified a 5-year contract that both characterize as a fresh start and sign of increased cooperation. A key feature is reclassification of facilities, and associated salaries, to 12 levels from five, taking into account airspace complexity as well as traffic volume. The union agreed to a 3-year freeze on the number of controllers at 15,000--up from 14,900 now--with a 2% annual increase for the following two years. Supervisors will be reduced by attrition.
Manufacturers of commercial gas turbine engines are pursuing innovative technologies, manufacturing methods and organizational techniques in a bid to lower the acquisition and maintenance costs of their products. During the past decade, engine cost of ownership has gained increasing importance in determining which products an airline will buy, outstripping even performance as the main driver behind product acquisitions, Mike Benzakein, general manager of advanced engineering programs at General Electric, said.
The pilots' ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement at Trans World Airlines has freed the carrier to begin rebuilding its fleet with either Boeing or Airbus single-aisle aircraft.
Fred Hill, Richard Moffett and Jack Strite have been promoted at Textron Lycoming, Williamsport, Pa., to vice presidents of operations, engineering, and strategic planning and business development, respectively.
Owners and operators of business aircraft will greatly benefit from a wide range of emerging technologies, but the affordability and effectiveness of these innovations depends on simplifying U.S. and European certification processes and creating a truly seamless, global air traffic control system that incorporates their use.
Austin Yerks (see photo) has been appointed senior vice president-business development for the Computer Sciences Corp. Defense Group, Falls Church, Va. He was senior vice president-business and sales development for the PRC subsidiary of Litton Industries Inc., McLean, Va.
The RCC-223-SYN Series Airborne Command Control Receiver is a dual conversion, superheterodyne UHF receiver capable of operating in S band with a 200 MHz. turning range in 1 MHz. increments. Tuning is done via remote BCD code or a local thumb wheel. Frequency stability is 0.003% over an operating range of -30-70C. The unit is also suitable for telemetry applications. It measures 6 in. X 3.25 in. X 2.065 in. and weighs 42 oz. It operates on an input voltage of 24-36 volts d.c. with a maximum input current of 420 milliamps. Aydin Telemetry, P.O. Box 328, Newtown, Pa.
Russia retains thousands of nuclear weapons, despite considerable reductions under the first U.S./Soviet Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1), signed in 1991 but not brought into force until late 1994.
Boeing has begun assembly of the mid-fuselage for its Joint Strike Fighter X-32A concept demonstrator aircraft two months ahead of schedule. The work, being performed at the Phantom Works Development Assembly Site in Palmdale, Calif., requires fewer than 15 people, in keeping with the program's ``lean'' manufacturing focus, according to Frank Statkus, Boeing vice president and JSF program manager. Boeing is building two JSF concept demonstrators, designated X-32A and X-32B. Assembly of the forward fuselage began in July in St.
Vast technological advances are underway that promise to reshape the role of space worldwide, creating new commercial markets, altering military strategies and enabling great advances in scientific exploration. The technologies should greatly reduce the cost of operating in space and usher in new generations of ``thinking'' spacecraft that can process and distribute massive amounts of information and maintain themselves without ground support.
Jeff Price has been named director of marketing, public relations and property management for the Jefferson County Airport, Broomfield, Colo. He was assistant director airport security at Denver International Airport.
The Boeing investigation into the failure of its first commercial Delta 3 booster will center on whether the vehicle's flight characteristics were modeled incorrectly by the company or whether more specific flight control hardware or software errors sent bad commands to the Delta's steering systems.
The governments of the U.S. and the Russian Federation agreed last week in a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation on civil aircraft accident and incident investigation and prevention including mutual assistance and data sharing. In a second air safety memorandum, the governments pledged to work to improve air safety and enhance cooperation on airworthiness approvals.
The 21st century aerospace industry will find its customers putting a premium on affordable products and lower operating costs, rather than on raw performance. And that spells an even stronger emphasis on reliability, maintainability and efficiency of operations in the next decade.
Jim Ziegler has been appointed vice president/general manager of Learjet operations and will continue as vice president/general manager of aviation services for Bombardier Business Aircraft, Wichita, Kan. He succeeds Lachlan Beatson, who has retired.
Jerry Henry has been appointed Western U.S. sales manager for the Avidyne Corp., Lexington, Mass. He was general manager of Cinema Air Avionics, Carlsbad, N.M.
The LP429-3 is an Arinc 429 interface card for PCI computers that serves as a tool for avionics developers. It supports from 2-8 Arinc channels in a wide variety of user-specified configurations. Features include automatic bus speed detection, transmit scheduling, error detection, error injection and extensive monitoring capabilities. Ballard Technology Inc., 3229A Pine St., Everett, Wash. 98201.
The U.S. Defense Dept. is considering delaying by two years a key missile defense system being developed to ward off medium-range ballistic missiles, such as those fired recently by North Korea and Iran, so trouble-plagued missile interceptors can be replaced. At the same time, the director of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) is warning that the agency may not be able to afford to continue all of the U.S. anti-missile efforts under development because of rising costs.
The International Satellite Directory is a two-volume set that provides information on hundreds of commercial satellites and thousands of companies. The first volume covers satellite systems, including international organizations, operators, payloads, Earth stations and geosynchronous satellites and maps. The second volume covers spacecraft, manufacturers, network systems, users and providers of satellite services and includes an index and general information. Design Publishers, 800 Siesta Way, Sonoma, Calif. 95476.
U.S. Air Force investigators probing the cause of the Aug. 12 Titan 4A failure here believe the accident was caused by a momentary electrical fault that shut down, then restarted, the vehicle's Litton guidance system in the Titan core vehicle. They believe this caused the guidance system to send erroneous commands to the Titan's solid rocket boosters, which then steered the vehicle into a hard pitchdown causing it to breakup and explode at 41 sec. into the flight.
The Spectroline C-100 is a compact, high-intensity ultraviolet inspection lamp that weighs 1.75 lb. The light weight and small size make it comfortable to use for long periods and in hard-to-reach spots. The 100-watt light has a steady-state long-wave ultraviolet irradiance of 4,000 milliwatt-cm.-sq. at 15 in. Visible light emission is less than 2 footcandles. Its heat-resistant filter holder can be removed without tools to change the filter or bulb. Spectronics Corp., 956 Brush Hollow Road, P.O. Box 483, Westbury, N.Y. 11590.
Model Center is designed to integrate models for a given project from a variety of programs. It helps track the active models in a system and displays how they interact. The program, which is designed to shorten design and analysis cycle time, is compatible with Cobra, Java, C++, COM, Fortran and Cobol. It also eases the process of reusing old models in a new environment. Phoenix Integration, 1872 Pratt Drive, Blacksburg, Va. 24060.
G. Wayne Finger has been named vice president/assistant director of aerospace and defense programs for Reynolds, Smith and Hills Inc., Merritt Island, Fla.
Alan Will (see photo) has become remote sensing department and surveillance program manager for the remote sensing laboratory operated by Bechtel for the U.S. Energy Dept. at Nellis AFB, Nev.
