Crystallume of Santa Clara, Calif., has demonstrated a process that diamond-coats the cutting surfaces of tungsten carbide rotating tools such as routers, end mills and drills. The technique should bring substantial productivity improvement to the machining of composites, according to product manager Ed Francis. Tests show diamond-coated tools last up to 50 times longer than tungsten carbide ones and more than twice as long as Polycrystalline diamond tools in aerospace applications.
Jean-Pierre Barthelemy has been named vice president-industrial relations of Eurocopter. He was general manager of N.H. Industries and has been succeeded by Philippe Stuckeberger.
Lew Lancaster (see photo) has become controller for the Honeywell Sensor and Guidance Products' Guidance and Navigation Operation, Clearwater, Fla. He was operations controller for Honeywell Satellite Systems Operations, Glendale, Ariz. Lancaster succeeds Patricia Martin, who is now controller of Honeywell Defense Avionics Systems, Albuquerque, N.M.
Presidential Counsel Charles F.C. Ruff told Congress all satellite launch waivers were premised ``on the explicit requirement that there be no contribution to China's capability to design, develop, operate, maintain, modify or repair launch vehicles.'' In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), Ruff said Clinton's decision on Feb. 18, allowing Loral to export a commercial communications satellite for Chinese launch, was based on a State Dept. recommendation, with the concurrence of the Pentagon and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.
It seemed 1998 would be the year, at long last, when no blue ribbon task force was working on an aviation issue--until last week. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater informed the Aero Club of Washington he plans to establish yet another task force, this one to focus on airport practices and their impact on competition. This spring, the department proposed a set of guidelines intended to ensure airline competition, which Slater believes is influenced by the interactions between carriers and airports.
IN AN ADVISORY RULING, the U.S. Justice Dept. has recommended that the Transportation Dept. disapprove the proposed alliance of American Airlines and British Airways unless the agreement is ``significantly restructured.'' Passengers would pay considerably higher fares unless the alliance led to an open skies bilateral, the Justice Dept. found. But it said not even a U.S./U.K. treaty would be enough unless slots and related facilities were made available in sufficient numbers to enable other airlines to fly at least 24 additional daily round trips between the U.S.
SINCE ITS FIRST FLIGHT in December 1997, the Galaxy super-midsize-cabin business jet has accumulated more than 120 hr. during 35 flights in preparation for Israeli and FAA certification, scheduled for late this year. The production prototype has attained speeds of Mach 0.85, and stall testing is nearly complete, according to a Galaxy Aerospace official. The airplane's aft center of gravity limit has been extended 3.5% to provide a more flexible CG envelope, and test pilots have begun measuring aircraft drag.
Bruce Gissing, retired executive vice president-operations of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group and chairman of Boeing Canada, has been named to the board of directors of the Bourton Group, Rockford, Ill.
Despite its increasing success in the surging global market for transport aircraft, Airbus Industrie intends to stick with its strategic plan of measured growth. But the consortium has a dual challenge in accelerating production of current model aircraft as it prepares to launch the ultra-high-capacity A3XX. Last week, during a meeting held at the Berlin air show, ministers of the four Airbus-participating countries urged the industry to move toward an early decision on the proposed A3XX program.
New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport will be the first location in the U.S. for a new currency exchange facility, called Aero-Cash, to be opened by American Express Foreign Exchange Services. Different than existing, fixed systems, Aero-Cash uses stand-alone, mobile ATMs that dispense foreign currencies at both arrival halls and departure gates. The Aero-Cash machines are to be staffed by attendants who also will be able to provide useful travel and foreign currency information, such as the cost of a taxi ride from the airport to the traveler's hotel.
Dr. Richard G. Snyder--military pilot, FAA research pilot, transcontinental racer, professor and research scientist--has been inducted into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame in Tucson. He is known for research into flight safety, occupant crash protection and crash impact tolerance of the human body.
The proposed alliances among U.S. major airlines cast a long shadow at last week's Regional Airline Assn. Annual Convention, but the uncertainties stemming from increased industry consolidation did not dampen the positive mood. ``The picture has changed in the last few weeks,'' said James A. Robinson, president of Fairchild Aerospace Corp. of San Antonio. Tex. ``The alliances are causing the regionals to ask, `who are we, what does it mean to be us?' ''
Mark Danin has become vice president-charter and flight operations of Raytheon Aircraft Services, Wichita, Kan. He was chief pilot for propeller aircraft demonstrations.
On the heels of solid profits in a difficult year, Singapore Airlines has opted to buy up to 10 Airbus A340-500s for $2.2 billion to open new transpacific services. After announcing a S$1.03-billion ($644-million) profit for the year ending Mar. 31, the airline (SIA) signed a letter of intent on May 15 with Airbus Industrie for five firm orders and five options for the new A340 variant, due for delivery in 2002. Airbus launched the -500/600 variant late last year with seven customers.
Aircraft maintenance is rugged work here, with no hangars for protection from the weather. After 42 years of operating ``on the ice,'' Navy personnel have learned how to cope and keep their small fleet of aircraft functioning.
Richard Anderson has been appointed executive vice president-technical operations, flight operations and airport affairs of Northwest Airlines. He was senior vice president-technical operations and airport affairs. Don Washburn has been named executive vice president/chairman of Northwest Cargo, succeeding Bill Slattery, who has retired. H. Clayton Foushee, Jr., has become vice president-regulatory affairs. He was vice president-flight operations and will be succeeded by Capt. Gene Peterson.
Despite currency devaluations of 50% or more in some of the region's economies, Boeing's order book for the 777-300 as an Asian regional workhorse is holding. Cathay Pacific Airways took delivery last week of the first of 53 777-300s (shown) that will begin flowing into the region in the next two years. So far, eight Asian carriers have bought the -300, the world's largest twin-engine transport. It has not penetrated other markets.
Germany is determined to press ahead with an evaluation of a Westernized version of the Antonov An-70 to meet its airlift needs despite a report from Airbus Industrie, which estimated the modifications will cost approximately 35% more than the nonrecurring costs to develop the Future Large Aircraft.
Flight testing of the Air Force's F-22A Raptor resumed last week at Edwards AFB, Calif., after the fighter was shipped from the Lockheed Martin factory in Marietta, Ga., where it made the initial two flights last September. Lt. Col. Steve Rainey flew the first production F-22, Lockheed Martin line No. 4001, for 1 hr. 15 min. from Edwards' concrete Runway 22 on May 17, reaching speeds of 300-350 KCAS and an altitude of about 15,000 ft. Rainey is the chief Air Force test pilot on the service/contractor combined test force.
U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and defense appropriations subcommittee, has received the annual Forrestal Award of the National Defense Industrial Assn. The award recognizes promotion of a close working relationship between government and industry in the furtherance of national security.
Encouraged by the success of the initial flyby of a commercial satellite around the Moon, Hughes Global Services plans to send its HGS-1 spacecraft around the Moon one more time early next month. The second flyby, scheduled for June 6, is being attempted to place the satellite in an improved geosynchronous orbit so that it could be used by a wider variety of potential customers (AW&ST May 18, p. 74).
The outspoken Krulak flatly asserted that digitization is too expensive for the Marines, a conclusion bound to astonish apostles of ``post-modern'' warfare--``virtual'' enemies duking it out electronically in urban terrain (AW&ST Apr. 27, p. 54). An icon of 21st century war planning for the last decade, digitization enables U.S. combat personnel to share a common, constantly updated vision of the battlefield. It also permits almost instantaneous transmission of intelligence and target data along a common communications network.
