Jerry Keating has been promoted to vice president-SkyTrack services from Chicago-based Midwest U.S. manager of Lynden Air Freight. He has been succeeded by Muggins Richards, who was promoted from district operations manager in Los Angeles.
Gordon Lewis, former Rolls-Royce technical director, has received the Otto-Lilienthal Medal for lifetime achievements in aeroengine technology developments. Lewis managed the Pegasus, Olympus 593 and RB199 engine projects.
George Sampson, sales and marketing director for Baxter, Woodhouse&Taylor Ltd., Macclesfield, England, is scheduled to retire this month and be succeeded by Roy Ford.
Robert C. Conlon has become vice president/corporate counsel of Emery Worldwide, Redwood City, Calif. He was associate corporate counsel and succeeds William F. McDonald, who has retired.
The Zaporozhye Machine-Building Design Bureau Progress is developing several new turboshaft, turboprop and turbofan engines and exhibited a range of products at the ``Engines 98'' show here last month.
Boeing delivered a record 61 jet transports in June, including 33 from its troubled 737 line, a clear sign it was solving its production bottlenecks and on track to meet its goal of 550 deliveries for the year. Top officials warned, however, that continuing softness in the Asian market could cause it to further lower its wide-body production rates in 1999. The company also is storing or remarketing 19 commercial transports for customers, up from a normal figure of 6-12, due largely to the Asian crisis.
A failure review board is blaming the loss of NASA's Lewis satellite on a ``flawed'' design of its TRW attitude control system and inadequate monitoring of the spacecraft during early operations. The panel's report, released last week, also highlights the pitfalls that can accompany NASA's ``faster, better, cheaper'' approach when the agency and its contractors don't communicate properly.
Saleem S. Naber has become president/CEO and Gary L. Joslin vice president/chief financial officer of Aviation Distributors Inc., Lake Forest, Calif. Naber succeeds Osamah S. Bakhit, who resigned but remains an adviser. Naber was managing director of the Lucas Aerospace Aircraft Systems Div. Joslin was a management and financial consultant.
A key decision by the Interagency GPS Executive Board to define the new signal format emitted by next-generation Global Positioning System satellites is expected to provide greater accuracy for civil users and increased security for military users. IGEB's decision is scheduled for mid-August but could slip.
The Boeing Delta 3, the first large new U.S. expendable booster in decades, is poised for its initial flight from Cape Canaveral. The 128-ft. booster is also the first large launch vehicle developed wholly with private capital and will inaugurate a new era in commercial unmanned launch operations here. Over the next three years, new versions of the Atlas, Athena and several versions of the EELV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle are to begin flying missions from the Cape along with the Delta 3.
FRENCH AIR CARRIER FAIRLINES IS FLYING the AirView combined inflight entertainment and real-time communication system on its MD-81 aircraft fleet. The Network Connection Inc. (TNCi) of Atlanta patented AirView, which provides inflight entertainment and communication in aircraft over a local area network. Developed for business jets, a system including displays for 150 passengers weighs 1,238 lb. and requires 6.8 kw. Each of the 11.3-in. color touch-screen displays is on a pedestal that pulls up for viewing and stows below the armrest. Travelers can choose from 500 hr.
The dominance of national carriers has declined in the past five years since the creation of a single air market in Europe, but airport congestion has worsened, creating more difficulties for smaller airlines to expand further and new startups to enter the market.
Boeing is using advanced, low ``touch labor'' manufacturing techniques to economically and efficiently build major components for its first two X-32 Joint Strike Fighter prototypes. The highly automated process is producing flawless composite and titanium parts on the first cut without trial runs. Affordability is key to winning the JSF contract, according to the Pentagon. If funded, JSF has an estimated 3,000-aircraft, $250-billion potential. The multirole fighter likely will be the last major U.S. fighter program for at least a decade.
Safety investigators are culling the wreckage of a PropAir Metro 2 for clues to why the turboprop aircraft crashed during an emergency landing at Montreal's Mirabel airport June 19, killing all 11 people on board. Investigators for Canada's Transportation Safety Board are trying to determine why the left wing and powerplant apparently separated from the 21-year-old aircraft before it touched down on Runway 24 at Mirabel International Airport. The aircraft was not equipped with a flight data recorder. Investigators have reviewed its cockpit voice recorder.
U.S. and Swedish air forces are developing an automatic ground collision avoidance system for fighter aircraft that should begin trials soon in a USAF F-16. Most of the tests will be based at Edwards AFB, Calif., although some--especially those conducted over mountainous terrain--will be directed from a mobile data acquisition van. The test program will be flown by both USAF and Swedish pilots and should consist of about 30 flights from early July through August. A modified two-seat Block 50 F-16 is being used to evaluate the auto-GCAS.
William Stromberg (see photo) has been appointed vice president-sales for Vickers Aerospace Marine Defense Group, Maumee, Ohio. He was director of advanced marketing for commercial jet engines.
THE GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. PLC. last week completed the merger of its U.S. electronics subsidiary with Tracor Inc. The subsidiary's name was changed to Marconi North America Inc. from GEC Marconi. It has combined sales of about $2.3 billion.
PHILIPPINE AIRLINES (PAL) said it would rehire some of the 575 pilots it fired June 15 provided they agree to 20% pay cuts. The carrier said the pilots would have to return by late last week. It also is considering hiring an untold number of laid-off Garuda Indonesia pilots in an effort to raise service levels beyond the bare-bones 20% level they reached when the strike hit (AW&ST June 22, p. 44). PAL is negotiating a delivery delay of five of 12 Airbus A320-200s that it has on order. Creditors gave the airline a reprieve on payments on its $2.1-billion debt.
Nice-Cote d'Azur, France's second busiest airport, will invest $416 million in the next 10 years to expand facilities and sustain a healthy traffic growth. In the longer term, a second airport will be required to serve southern France's flourishing French Riviera.
THE KLIMOV BUREAU, original designer of the MiG-29's RD-33 afterburning turbofan, has developed a working version of a thrust-vectoring, variable-area nozzle for the engine. Capable of 15 deg. deflection (relative to the engine axis) in all directions, the nozzle has completed 50 hr. of bench testing on an RD-133 vectoring version of the -33. The tests include runs in full afterburner.
Steve Mango has been named product development manager, and Richard J. Randall, Jack Shevlin, Daniel E. Brake and John Connelly sales and support managers for the Aerial Systems Unit of Eastman Kodak Commercial and Government Systems, Rochester, N.Y. Randall will cover Europe, the Middle East and Africa; Shevlin, the Northeast U.S.; Brake, Latin America; and Connelly, Asia-Pacific, China and Japan.
