Bell Helicopter Textron's single-engine Model 407 strikes a practical balance between mission flexibility, advanced technology and operating economics without sacrificing performance and versatility.
The addition of a shortwave infrared band to the new Spot 4 imaging satellite is providing France's Spot Image with significantly improved monitoring of landscape features. A Spot image of Europe (shown), taken shortly after the $590-million spacecraft was orbited in March, shows a differentiation between clouds and snow thanks to the new band. Snow appears as purplish red, while low-altitude clouds are white. High-altitude cirrus clouds also appear in white due to ice crystals.
NASA HAS SELECTED EIGHT INDUSTRY TEAMS to develop graphics-based Aviation Weather Information (AWIN) systems for commercial airline and general aviation aircraft. NASA's $8-million share will be matched by industry to fund projects over the next 18 months. Teams led by Honeywell and Boeing/McDonnell Douglas will each receive approximately $2.4 million to develop national and worldwide AWIN systems. A NavRadio Corp.-headed group will receive up to $1.2 million and an ARNAV Systems team, up to $400,000 for a general aviation weather information system.
A group of airlines, manufacturers and universities recently have organized the European Academy for Aviation Safety. EAFAS, based in Toulouse, France, is to pool resources of its members in France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain and the U.K. to develop standardized training courses based on International Civil Aviation Organization/Joint Aviation Authorities regulations and recommended practices. The first courses being structured are for airworthiness and flight operations inspectors.
FRENCH SPACE AGENCY CNES and aerospace R&D establishment Onera have concluded a partnership agreement to enhance synergies between them. The move was prompted by a two-year study of how best to improve their interaction. Among the solutions considered, but subsequently rejected, was their outright merger. CNES and Onera will strive to harmonize their activities, derive greater benefit from their respective areas of expertise and participate in joint undertakings, especially with foreign organizations.
RANNOCH CORP. IS UNDER CONTRACT to the U.S. Navy to develop a VME-based secondary surveillance radar system to decode and process all 1,090-MHz. and 1,030-MHz. SSR signals, including Mode S up- and downlinks, TCAS, SSR beacon, Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS) and IFF. Stand-alone radar decoding equipment previously developed using PC ISA bus formats was slated to go on-line in the New York area last month. That system identifies aircraft with details on model, type, owner and altitude, and can operate independently of other ATC systems.
CHILE IS GOING TO MAKE aircraft manufacturers wait another 4-6 weeks before announcing the winner of its fighter competition. Originally, the selection of a single contractor was to be completed in May, but best and final offers weren't submitted until the 25th. The decision had earlier been delayed from April. Dassault, Saab, Boeing and Lockheed Martin officials now don't expect the final choice of a new fighter until late this month or early July.
Although the European Commission has yet to approve their global airline grouping, Star Alliance carriers are already moving to expand membership and extend their cooperation into the technical support arena.
Challenge Air Cargo in September plans to lease the 205,000-sq.-ft. International Air Cargo Center now under construction at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The facility would serve as a second hub for Challenge and be used chiefly to help meet growing demand for shipping to Latin America from North Texas, a company official said. Challenge operates a fleet of Boeing 757 and 767 transports from its main base at Miami International Airport.
The International Federation of Air Line Pilots Assns.(IFALPA) is concerned about the rising potential for clashes between air safety advocates and environmentalists. The concerns have been heightened by legislation proposed in the Israeli Knesset that calls for criminal prosecution of pilots who violate noise abatement procedures. The bill has been sent back for review after concerns were expressed by IFALPA and the Israeli Air Line Pilots Assn.
I wish I could say this year's Berlin-Brandenburg ILA show was an unqualified success. There were some high points during the weeklong show, but there are issues that need to be resolved if it is to appeal to aerospace industry officials as well as the public. If these issues aren't addressed, industry will abandon the show and Berlin will become just another flying exhibition.
Antonio Fernandez-Stoll has been appointed chief financial officer of Spar Aviation Services, Mississauga, Ontario. He was vice president-finance operations of Bell Canada.
Stephen E. Schlachter has been appointed director of advertising and promotions for Trans World Airlines. He was vice president-market development for Vanguard Airlines.
The House of Representatives has ordered selection of an additional contractor and a major funding shift in a bid to fix an Army/Lockheed Martin antimissile interceptor that has failed five times in five flight tests and is four years behind schedule. Deciding to attempt to salvage the Theater-High-Altitude-Area-Defense (Thaad) interceptor program rather than shelve it, the House put language in its version of the Fiscal 1999 defense authorization bill that, if adopted by Congress, would:
A new facility for drop-testing landing gear is being built at the crash dynamics lab at the National Institute for Aviation Research in Wichita, Kan. The facility will be able to test complete gear assemblies for aircraft up to 15,000-lb. gross weight, according to Steve Hooper, project head. The capability will cover almost all general aviation and business jet aircraft.
THE U.K.'S GENERAL ELECTRIC Co. Plc. has extended to June 17 its tender offer for the outstanding shares of Tracor common stock at $40 per share. The offer is subject to completion of a 30-day review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. The review period is set to expire on June 10. The waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act has expired, and this condition to GEC's proposed acquisition of Tracor has been satisfied.
Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet is looking at declassifying the first U.S. signals intelligence satellite program. Known as ``Poppy,'' the sigint program's spacecraft components were apparently built by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). A declassification would coincide with the NRL's 75th anniversary celebration. The first U.S. imagery satellite program, Corona, was declassified in 1995.
The high cost of launching small payloads on the J-1 booster has prompted a crash study by Japan's Science and Technology Agency (STA), the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) and Nissan to find a solution. Japan's Management and Control Agency, a government watchdog, suggested killing the booster because of high costs and low demand (AW&ST May 11, p. 41). The STA and NASDA have until August 1999, when the fiscal 2000 budget will be set, to come up with a plan to save the J-1. Otherwise, the program will end with the second J-1 launch in 2000.
Boeing has begun detailed design of an increased gross weight, longer-range 747-400 transport, chipping away at the potential market for the planned 550-seat Airbus A3XX family. Although Seattle-based Boeing usually waits for a launch customer before beginning detailed design, it is confident this new version, designated the -400X, will sell, according to Brian Norwood, product strategy manager. ``Our customer base has been asking for this airplane for a long time,'' he said. The program is oriented toward Asian markets, Norwood added.
Northrop Grumman Commercial Aircraft Div. in Grand Prairie, Tex., has delivered the 50th production wing shipset for the Gulfstream 5 ultra-long-range business jet. The company is a risk- and revenue-sharing partner with Gulfstream in manufacturing the wing, which spans 94 ft. Northrop Grumman delivered 41 wing shipsets for the Gulfstream 5 in 1997. Savannah, Ga.-based Gulfstream Aerospace has delivered 36 Gulfstream 5s to customers and has received a total of 88 orders for the aircraft.
U.S. Air Force electronic warfare experts now say the major antiaircraft threat to allied warplanes is not the relatively new 120-mi.-range SA-12 and 100-mi. range SA-10 surface-to-air missiles. So far, they are too expensive to have proliferated extensively. The greater danger is 1960-70s vintage SA-2, SA-3 and SA-5 missiles and the ``Flatwheel'' radars that control 57-mm. antiaircraft artillery. The reason is, all these systems are being modernized.
The Mission 91 launch to Mir will mark the first use of the Lockheed Martin Super Lightweight Tank that weighs 7,500 lb. less than earlier tanks, giving the shuttle more payload performance for International Space Station missions. Development of the new 154-ft. tank is one of the most significant system upgrades in the history of the shuttle program. Without it, the shuttle cannot lift the payloads needed for ISS assembly. Mission 91 will be a critical flight test of the new system.
Motorola is planning to build another spacecraft manufacturing facility that will be used to support production of the currently planned 288-satellite constellation for the Teledesic global broadband communications system.
