George J. Kleros has been named Northeast U.S. technical manager for Jet Support Services Inc. of Chicago. He was president of Shoreline Aircraft Maintenance, New Haven, Conn.
Final revised bids are in for the U.K.'s competition to acquire a Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (Bvraam), a dogfight which will have widespread implications for the future of European missile makers and attempts to consolidate them.
A change in how the aerospace, financial and insurance industries approach the development of space launch systems could reduce the cost of deploying and operating satellite telecommunications systems dramatically.
Japan Airlines says it is the first carrier to issue sunglasses-like audio-visual entertainment systems to passengers. Starting this month, first-class passengers on the carrier's long-haul 747-400 flights can request the glasses, which weigh about 4 oz. and unlike seat-back and arm-mounted screens allow the wearer to comfortably view video while fully reclined on 180-deg. sleeper seats. Called the Eye-Trek Face-Mounted Display unit, the entertainment devices are produced by Olympus and are expected to sell for about $500 each.
Jacques Roussarie has become vice president-total quality, Robert F. Clossin director of interior engineering and Robert Smith director of commercial completions, all at the Little Rock (Ark.) Completion Center of the Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. Roussarie headed quality assurance at the Merignac, France, plant. Clossin succeeds the late Loy Carroll and was chief of interior engineering for Learjet Inc., Wichita, Kan. Smith was director of operations for American Eurocopter in Dallas.
Responding to surging market demand, Alcatel-led SkyBridge has decided to augment the number of satellites in its proposed high-speed multimedia constellation.
Ed Portner has been named assistant director for laboratory operations at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md. He was assistant director for business operations and has been succeeded by Ruth Nimmo, who was head of business and information services. She has been succeeded by Larry Kohlenstein, who was associate head.
The Atlantic Research Corp./Aerojet Agena 2000 prototype rocket engine for Lockheed Martin's evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV) concepts is test-fired at Aerojet facilities in Sacramento, Calif.
Santos Contreras, director of union relations for the Seattle Professional Engineering Employees Assn., which represents Boeing engineers and technical employees, has received the President's Award at the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference in San Antonio, Tex.
Industry-wide studies aimed at achieving a 50% worldwide reduction in jet transport accident rates within the next decade are generating new insight into the importance of local aviation infrastructure and the need for strong airline safety cultures. Despite planned improvements, however, there currently are no programs or corrective actions planned to address many critical issues.
AMERICAN AIRLINES HAS ADVISED its pilots to decline land and hold short requests for runway 27L at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in the wake of a go-around incident on June 2 that involved an American Boeing 727 and a United Airlines 777 on final approaches. Cecil Ewell, American's vice president, flight, will meet with FAA officials this week to clarify issues surrounding the incident including runway lighting and signs on 27L. According to a Chicago FAA official, the American pilot accepted a clearance to land and hold short on runway 27L.
Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) and Nissan Motors are talking with Lockheed Martin Astronautics about bidding to replace Japan's J-1 launch vehicle. Meanwhile, competitor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has been talking with Boeing about teaming on a separate bid for the work. The goal of Japan's NASDA is to have a replacement ready by fiscal 2000 that will cost about $14.5 million each. The Nissan J-1, which launches 1,000-kg. payloads into low-Earth orbits, is regarded as too expensive (AW&ST May 11, p. 41).
Boeing has more than doubled its inventory of parts numbers at its Beijing Spares Center since it opened in December 1984. Now carrying 35,000 parts numbers, the facility is connected by a SITA/Boeing ``Skyform'' computerized link to Chinese carriers. Use of the SITA system offers Chinese customers major advantages: next-day delivery of parts in stock, no transpacific freight charges and the convenience of being billed for duties on parts (rather than settling charges at time of delivery).
The Senate may decide as early as this week whether to join the House in voting to ban the export of satellites to China for launching. Last week, Aerospace Industries Assn. President Don Fuqua, a former House member, blasted his erstwhile colleagues' ``stampede mentality.'' He urged the Senate to wait until Congress completes inquiries into whether previous exports have transferred technology that China could use to improve its ICBMs. ``Let's not pre-judge what's under investigation,'' he said.
Washington State is threatening to withhold thousands of dollars in state transportation monies and suspend the authority of The City of Des Moines to levy real estate excise taxes as the city continues to resist planned expansion of adjacent Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The city has refused an order to properly amend its comprehensive plan, according to a state growth management board. The plan still is aimed at preventing, not mitigating, the impact of airport expansion, the board said.
Dassault Aviation moved one step closer to launching an 8-seat supersonic business jet in 1999. The SuperSonic Business Jet (SSBJ) concept, which was unveiled at last year's National Business Aviation Assn. convention, recently evolved into a defined project, although company executives have not finalized development costs or the aircraft's price tag. A considerable amount of work still must be completed before go-ahead, Bruno Revellin-Falcoz acknowledged. He is Dassault Aviation senior vice president.
July is shaping up to be a busy month for Japanese space activities. On July 4, the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science is slated to launch Japan's first Mars Surveyor on an M-5 booster from the Uchinoura launch center at Kagoshima. The 1,177-lb. Planet B spacecraft is scheduled to arrive in a Martian orbit in October 1999 for a two-year mission. It will carry 14 instruments from Japanese, U.S. and German science teams.
Cessna has placed the 250th C-525 CitationJet into service as a company demonstrator and plans to deliver 60 of the entry-level, twin-engine jets this year. First deliveries were made in March 1993, and the aircraft now operates from more than 20 countries, according to Roger Whyte, senior vice president of sales and engineering. Cost of the seven-place CitationJet is about $3.4 million.
FREDERICK W. REID, PRESIDENT and chief operating officer of Lufthansa German Airlines, has been named executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Delta Air Lines. A U.S. citizen who has worked at both American Airlines and Pan American World Airways, Reid joined Lufthansa in 1991 as senior vice president for the Americas, became executive vice president and chief operating officer in 1995 and president last year. Reid played a key role in formulating Lufthansa's strategic alliances.
Norman Y. Mineta, senior vice president/managing director of Lockheed Martin IMS Transportation Systems and Services, has been nominated as a member of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority by President Clinton.
Asia-Pacific's deep economic malaise and its severe impact on commercial aviation in the region will lead Boeing to scale back production of 747-400s later this year and 777s late next year, although not by much.
Joe Vreeman has been named senior vice president-customer support of the Fairchild Aerospace Corp., San Antonio, Tex. He was vice president-engineering and fleet reliability of Northwest Airlines.
Despite a sharp decline in production volumes, to roughly 20% of the levels achieved in 1990, there has been little progress toward restructuring Russia's aircraft engine manufacturing industry. ``Integration is the only correct solution under the market conditions,'' said Victor Chuiko, president of the Aircraft Engine Manufacturers Assn. (ASSAD). There are now 11 engine manufacturing plants in Russia, six design bureaus and five plant-based design bureaus. Some facilities are only operating at 8% of their 1990 level.
As part of its lean initiative programs, Northrop Grumman's Commercial Aircraft Div. has begun using a laser-based system to precisely position wing panels during Gulfstream 5 final assembly. During the wing-positioning procedure, the left wing serves as a fixed reference to position the right wing, shown being lowered into position to obtain a visual best fit. After initial measurements are taken, the laser system is activated and sweeps across both wings.
