FlightView flight tracking software will be enhanced to display Kavouras National Radar Mosaic weather data on the same display under a joint venture between RLM Software and Kavouras Inc. RLM Software, the developer of FlightView, will market the enhanced product. The Kavouras system incorporates six levels of radar weather intensity and updates every 5 min. Previously to integrate such data, users had to acquire data from separate sources and develop a custom application to bring the two together. RLM Software, 214 Lincoln St., Suite 213, Boston, Mass. 02134-1346.
John J. Lombardi, vice president-product integrity and technical services for the Electronic Systems Div. of the Parker Hannifin Corp., has been named a fellow of the Milwaukee-based American Society for Quality.
Kevin J. Ramundo has been named vice president-public affairs and investor relations for Coltec Industries Inc., Charlotte, N.C. Michael A. DeBonis has become vice president-human resources of Coltec subsidiary Menasco Aerospace Oakville. Ramundo was vice president-corporate communications for the Westinghouse Electric Co., while DeBonis was director of human resources for a unit of Domtar Inc.
Russian defense companies have stabilized, putting their most difficult times behind them and accepting their new market environment, claims Russia's staunchest economic reformer, Anatoly B. Chubais. The chief Russian negotiator with the International Monetary Fund, Chubais told an American Enterprise Institute audience last week the defense sector ``understands there's no reason to press the government for money because the government has no money.
Cirrus Design Corp. has completed eight deployments of its Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) and plans to complete crashworthiness tests leading to FAA certification of the SR20 light airplane later this year.
Airlines and weather researchers are crafting new tools for forecasting, detecting and avoiding turbulence, a stealthy and persistent problem that has disrupted operations and spooked customers since the first revenue passenger flights. Short of avoiding it, conventional thinking has long held, pilots have no defense against turbulence--especially the most treacherous type: clear air turbulence. ``Until they can paint clear air turbulence purple, there's not much we can do,'' said Dave Thomas, head of accident investigations for the FAA.
Northwest Airlines' reputation for having the fewest turbulence encounters among U.S. airlines was demonstrated on a July 7 flight across the northern tier of the U.S. The weather was warm and generally muggy, a condition usually conducive to a bumpy ride. The airline's turbulence plot, a tool developed more than 30 years ago by carrier meteorologists, played a role in turbulence avoidance. The plot provides the crew with an area warning for turbulence, defined by coordinates, altitudes and intensity.
The Clinton Administration has reneged on a long-standing pledge that U.S. commercial imagery systems would be shuttered under only the most extreme circumstances. The Administration last week barred companies from selling imagery of Israel with resolution better than 2 meters, saying the new restrictions were needed to comply with the Kyl-Bingaman law passed by Congress in 1996. Industry executives charged the Administration was really bowing to the influential Israeli lobby.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has chosen a local bureaucrat and former chairman of the stock exchange to head a six-month investigation of breakdowns in the opening of the city's new airport at Chek Lap Kok--after promising to appoint a panel of international aviation experts to handle the task. Meanwhile, the recovery efforts for the new airport continue. As of late last week, 75% of the daily average of 90,000 passengers using the facility departed within 15 min. of schedule, and the average waiting time for baggage was 12 min.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bill Clinton are considering agreeing to calls for the trial in a neutral country of two Libyan intelligence agents suspected in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. ``We are prepared to look at alternative ways of giving families [of Flight 103's victims] the justice they deserve,'' Blair told the House of Commons July 22. He said he also has discussed with Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok the possibility that the Netherlands would host the trial.
Delta Air Lines will complete by month's end an extensive safety survey of code-share partner Korean Air, including recommendations and an implementation plan aimed at upgrading the safety of the Seoul-based carrier's pilot training and cockpit procedures.
Boeing's second-quarter net earnings plunged 45% to $258 million compared to the same period last year, due to late deliveries of next-generation 737 transports and a $78-million after-tax charge associated with phaseout of the MD-11. Further consolidation of facilities is planned, including assets acquired in recent mergers with McDonnell Douglas and the aerospace sector of Rockwell. The company also set ambitious financial performance goals and linked compensation for top executives directly to increases in share value.
Air Canada Pilots Assn. said 97% of pilots casting ballots authorized a strike action against the airline. Pilots, who have been working without a contract since April, have proposed pay increases of 10% in each of the next 10 years. Talks are set to resume after Aug. 10 with the aid of federal mediators.
Pedro L. Rustan, Jr., has been appointed vice president-space segments of Mobile Communications Holdings of Washington. He was director of small satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office and mission director for the Clementine spacecraft for the Defense Dept.
John H. Davies has been promoted to vice chairman from executive vice president and Kenneth S. Wood to president/chief operating officer from vice president/secretary of Barringer Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, N.J. Wood succeeds Stanley Binder, who will remain chairman/CEO.
While the U.S. Congress investigates whether American satellite builders transferred technology to China, Europe continues to eye China as a fertile market. On July 18, China successfully launched the first European-made telecommunications satellite to use a Long March booster. The Sinosat-1 spacecraft utilizes a Spacebus 3000 platform from Alcatel (formerly Aerospatiale Espace) that was commissioned for EuraSpace, a 50/50 joint venture between Germany's Daimler-Benz Aerospace and China Aerospace Corp.
Philip L. Jackson has been named vice president/general manager of the Elkhart, Ind.-based CTS Corp.'s electrical components manufacturing businesses. He was vice president/general manager of Landis Gyr Utility Services Inc.
The Boeing Co. has canceled two subcontracts with Sabreliner Corp.'s Dimension Aviation subsidiary for conversion work on DC-10 and MD-11 aircraft owned by FedEx. Boeing cited a contract provision that allowed Boeing to terminate the contract at its convenience. A Boeing spokesman would only add, ``the deliveries were unacceptably late.'' One DC-10 was delivered early in July, according to Boeing. Two DC-10s and an MD-11 were undergoing modifications at Dimension's Goodyear, Ariz., facility.
Keith A. Harvey (see photo) has been named vice president-aerospace distribution for the Engineered Products Div. of the Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp., Jackson, Tenn. He was vice president-sales and marketing.
Engineers at Goddard Space Flight Center are due to make a recommendation this week on whether to fix faulty software that has delayed the launch of NASA's first Earth Observing System spacecraft or switch to commercial software. The launch of EOS AM-1, originally scheduled for June, had to be postponed because of problems with custom flight operations software developed by Lockheed Martin (AW&ST Apr. 20, p. 27). Lockheed Martin has since corrected many of the problems, a NASA official said.
Primex Aerospace Co. has won a $10.7-million firm-fixed-price contract from the U.S. Air Force to provide for 72 Store Management and Release Test Sets for the F-16 aircraft.
Coherent Technologies Inc. is seeking an industry partner as well as airline user input to help ready its infrared Doppler radar-based airborne turbulence detection and measurement technology for the commercial market.
