Alenia Aeronautica has signed a $4.5-million contract with IBM for its Enovia Product Manager software to support data management for Eurofighter 2000.
Tickets went fast for Skymark's inaugural flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka on Sept. 19 (AW&ST Aug. 3, p. 37). Opening day for the first independent Japanese carrier in 35 years had been pushed back a week, but all of its discount tickets for first day operations were sold in 20 min. Japan Airlines and Japan Air System instituted a discount fare plan on half of their round-trip tickets between the two cities--but only for the five that correspond with Skymark's operating times, not the five that do not match. All Nippon Airways is expected to follow suit.
Officials of Rolls-Royce Turbomeca are in the ``final stages'' of discussions with Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. to install two RTM322-04 turboshaft engines in an S-92 airframe for testing late in 1999 or 2000. Louis Scipioni, director of sales and business development for Turbomeca Microturbo here, said the RTM322-04 would offer significantly more power than the General Electric CT7-8 engine that is being installed in prototype S-92s. The CT7-8 is rated at 2,000 shp. and is equipped with a dual channel, full authority digital engine control.
FLIGHT VISIONS EXPECTS TO BEGIN DELIVERING 82 head-up displays in spring of 1999 to upgrade U.S. Navy F-14B aircraft. The Sparrow Hawk HUD and FV-3000 Modular Mission Display Processor System will give ``B'' pilots similar symbology to that on the F-14D and a big increase in reliability. Six years of field test data shows mean time between maintenance action should go from 11 hr. to at least 750 hr. with the new HUD. The HUD has an integral combiner, which will let the Navy replace the F-14B wind screen with the night vision compatible version used on the F-14D.
Boeing is using a roving remote visual inspection team to fight foreign object damage in its manufacturing and flight test functions. The six-person, dedicated RVI unit is based at Boeing's Everett, Wash., wide-body factory and uses a range of flexible borescopes to perform scheduled and on-call inspections, according to John Winn, team member. The capability helps eliminate potential safety problems, expensive repairs or partial aircraft disassembly to retrieve tools or other unwanted objects lost deep in transport structures.
Brussels-based CityBird Airlines would begin nonstop flights to Baltimore next spring if it could work out a marketing agreement with Southwest Airlines. CityBird currently operates low-fare scheduled services from Orlando, Miami, Los Angeles and Oakland to Brussels, with onward services to more than 40 European destinations on Sabena Belgian World Airlines. It would like to offer similar services in the U.S., and Southwest is its choice but the carrier generally eschews such relationships.
Gulfstream is using CST's Jacada application development suite to provide a graphical interface for CA-CAS/AD to enterprise resource planning software from Computer Associates International Inc.
Going far beyond original projections, Singapore Airlines is expected to take up to a 30% equity stake in China Airlines and to provide the troubled Taiwanese carrier with its next chief operating officer.
The Bombardier Aerospace Training Center has the ground school and simulators ready to train pilots and mechanics in the Global Express prior to first aircraft delivery for operational service later this year. A visit here last month before flying the Global Express from Wichita was very informative as to the corporate aircraft's systems and performance, as well as the planned training program for pilots--a joint effort between Bombardier and CAE, the builder of simulators for Bombardier aircraft.
Philippe Calavia has been appointed deputy CEO for finance of Air France. He succeeds Patrice Durand, who has resigned. Calavia was president of Natexis.
Tim Olson, who helped develop the ACAD solid modeling program for the former General Dynamics, which remains an in-house CAD/CAM system at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, went on to found Ashlar Inc. It specializes in hybrid modeling programs to ease the transition from 2D to 3D modeling. In its newest product, Ashlar uses an ACIS 4.0 solids modeling engine from Spatial Technology and adds its own Vellum Solids interface that can combine wireframe, surface and solids modeling in the same user environment.
Northrop Grumman plans to acquire Inter-National Research Institute, a software development company specializing in command and control, tracking, data fusion and mapping for the Defense Dept. and aerospace industry. INRI has estimated 1998 revenues of $60 million. Northrop Grumman signed a definitive agreement to acquire INRI for $55 million on Aug. 10.
Release 2.2 of the Marc/AutoForge nonlinear finite-element software for simulating metal forming processes can automatically remesh entire three-dimensional solid models. It is designed for simulating hot and cold bulk metal forming processes such as forging, extrusion, rolling and multistage forming. By recreating the mesh using hexahedral elements when necessary, due to the large flow of the material during the simulation, the software preserves element quality.
A company that wants to land a small commercial spacecraft on a near-Earth asteroid to gain scientific data and stake a claim for mining rights has run afoul of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC officials allege that SpaceDev Inc., a publicly traded company, and its chairman, James W. Benson, made ``false and misleading statements'' to investors. They charge SpaceDev issued earnings projections ``without a reasonable basis,'' made untrue statements about a financing agreement, and falsely claimed to have an agreement to use NASA's Deep Space Network.
HUGHES ELECTRONICS CORP. BELIEVES IT HAS IDENTIFIED the cause of three on-orbit failures of HS-601 communication satellites built by Hughes Space and Communications Co. The problem was traced to tin-plated relay switches that, under very specific conditions, can grow a hair-like crystalline structure that shorts out the switch. The problem was blamed for spacecraft control processor problems on Galaxy 7 and DBS-1 platforms, which continued to operate on backup processors, and one of two failures on Galaxy 4. It was not Hughes' first problem with tin. In 1986 the U.S.
General Electric has defined a growth path for the 22,000-lb.-thrust F414 that could boost the installed thrust of the powerplant in the F/A-18E/F by as much as 25%. Definition of the thrust-growth plan, which is aimed at evolving, future versions of the Boeing Super Hornet, and details of upcoming international competitions that could increase the profitability of the engine program have surfaced just as the Navy formally accepted the first two production F414s in ceremonies last week at GE's Lynn, Mass., facility.
Boeing 747 operators are preparing to check center tank fuel valves and pumps for signs of unusual wear following an FAA warning that degradation of the devices could cause sparking and increase risk of an explosion in the tanks. In an airworthiness directive effective on Aug. 24, the FAA ordered immediate examinations as well as recurrent inspections of inlet check valves and override/jettison pumps in the center tanks of all 747s.
BARCO DISPLAY SYSTEMS HAS DEVELOPED a video crossbar-board that can switch any of 25 video inputs to any of 5 video outputs. The video crossbar has a 180 MHz. bandwidth and can provide 1,600 X 1,200 resolution of RGB video signals.
Photograph: Alitalia operates leased Boeing 767-300s on long-haul routes. Under an agreement with the European Commission, the carrier's capacity is momentarily curtailed. The European Commission is threatening to suspend the Italian government's massive bailout funding of Alitalia if fair competition rules are distorted at Milan airports. The warning amplifies the EC's increasingly cautious policy on state aid and clearly indicates an intention to monitor very strictly the European airline industry's deregulated environment.
Jeremy Chan has been named Singapore-based Asia-Pacific customer support director for Honeywell Aerospace. He was managing director of Turbine Overhaul Services.
The 460L46 is a 460-cc., two-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine rated at 46 hp. It weighs 84 lb., including gearbox, muffler, carburetor and electric starter. It is a detuned version of 2 Stroke International's 50-hp. engine with a lighter exhaust system. The engine was developed for competition ultralights, but is also suitable for ``heavy'' ultralights such as floatplanes and amphibious models, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles. Kinetic Research of America Inc., P.O. Box 91000, Miccosukee, Fla. 32309.
Boeing plans to open an additional Next-Generation 737 assembly line at Douglas Products Div. in Long Beach, Calif., later this year in a move aimed at easing the company's strained commercial transport production operations. Final assembly of 737 Next-Generation aircraft is scheduled to begin with a Boeing Business Jet in October at Douglas Products, which has been renamed the Long Beach Div. as part of an overall company realignment (see p. 35).
U.S. Air Force investigators are focusing on specific scenarios that could have led to the catastrophic loss of flight control that caused the low-altitude explosion of a Titan 4A/Centaur during launch of a National Reconnaissance Office ``Mercury'' signal intelligence spacecraft here Aug. 12.
Thomas E. Corum (see photo) has been appointed sales and marketing director of BFGoodrich Aerospace-JcAIR Test Systems, New Century, Kan. He was vice president-sales and marketing for the Aero Corp. in Salt Lake City.
Jana L. Smith has been appointed operations director for Sikorsky programs for Dow-United Technologies Composites Products Inc., Wallingford, Conn. James Meadows has become plant controller and Gregory J. Henderson director of engineering for the Alabama facility. Also named at that facility were: Pat Blackwell, director of manufacturing operations; Michael Warren, manager of quality assurance; and Frank Greco, director of Pratt&Whitney programs.
