JOHN D. MORROCCO/LONDON and MICHAEL A. TAVERNA/PARIS
Defense and aerospace officials are seeking to turn up the heat on the French government, which they believe holds the key to unlocking the door to industry consolidation in Europe. Airbus Industrie partners are basically united in their ultimate goal of creating a single European aerospace and defense company that could be broadened to include elements of the Italian and Swedish industry as well. But a specific blueprint to achieve that goal remains elusive, with several thorny issues still to be worked out.
The primary cause of the 1997 midair collision between a U.S. Air Force C-141B and Luftwaffe Tu-154 off the coast of Namibia, Africa, was attributed to the German aircraft flying at an incorrect cruise altitude, according to USAF's accident investigation report. The executive summary of the report cited Luanda, Angola, air traffic control for ``poor management of traffic in its airspace'' and the ``convoluted'' message routing to ATC agencies as contributing factors in the Sept. 13, 1997, accident that killed nine Americans and 24 Germans.
NASA has launched a 465-lb. mini-satellite from its low-cost, quick-launch inventory that should fill an important niche in ongoing solar studies while bringing real-time science to the Internet. Trace, the Transitional Regional and Coronal Explorer, was launched Apr. 1 by an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL dropped from an L-1011 flying at Mach 0.8. After takeoff from Vandenberg AFB, the aircraft reached an altitude of 39,500 ft. off the California coast when the drop occurred at 6:42 p.m. PST.
NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin takes issue with critics who charge the agency is bleeding its science and technology programs dry to pay for cost overruns and delays in the International Space Station project. Goldin notes that when he took charge of NASA in 1992, science, aeronautics and technology accounts made up just 31% of its budget. That share is now on track to rise to 49% by 2003, though the overall NASA budget is smaller than it was in 1992.
Photograph: SOCIETE DE MOTORISATIONS AERONAUTIQUES (SMA), an Aerospatiale/Renault joint subsidiary, plans to deliver in mid-1999 the first MR250 piston-engine. European Joint Aviation Authorities JAR E certification is tentatively scheduled for the second quarter of next year with FAA FAR 33 certification expected soon thereafter, company officials said. The turbocharged, 4-cylinder, 250-hp. MR250, which is now being tested on a four-seat TB20 Trinidad, burns Jet A1 kerosene. Specific fuel consumption is 0.32 lb./hp./hr.
Few lower-tier aerospace suppliers have employed acquisitions as effectively as BE Aerospace Inc. to achieve market domninance across such a wide range of products; the company has become the commercial aircraft industry's primary source for cabin-interior equipment. It's a strategy that continues to serve BE Aerospace well--financially and operationally.
U.S. EXPORTS, IMPORTS and trade surplus of aerospace products were all at record highs in 1997, according to Aerospace Industries Assn. research. Exports soared to $50 billion, a $10-billion increase, while imports jumped to $18 billion, up $4.5 billion. The U.S. aerospace industry also posted a trade surplus of $32 billion, up $5.6 billion from the 1996 surplus. Exports of commercial transports rose 54% to $21 billion, accounting for the majority of the increase in exports.
David A. Rossi (see photos) has been appointed president/chief operating officer of Spacehab Inc., Vienna, Va. Rossi was senior vice president-business development and succeeds Chester Lee, who is now chairman of Spacehab's Astrotech Space Operations subsidiary.
Donald W. Nyrop served both as administrator of the Civil Aeronautics Administration and CAB chairman in the early 1950s before his 24-year stint as chief executive officer of Northwest Airlines. Last week, he reminisced about his career when he was given the Golden Eagle Award by the Society of Senior Aerospace Executives. At Northwest, he remembered, he held a meeting every Saturday morning at headquarters to discuss the carrier's operations, costs and productivity.
Kistler Aerospace plans the first test flight of its K-1 reusable launch vehicle from the Woomera test range in South Australia in the fourth quarter of this year. ``It's an aggressive schedule but we expect to accomplish it,'' said Executive Vice President Dan Brandenstein. Early last month, Australia's Environmental Ministry and its Industry, Science and Tourism Ministry gave an environmental clearance for K-1 launches. Still to be granted is a license to launch.
Richard J. Rosa, professor emeritus at Montana State University, has won the 1998 Plasmadynamics and Lasers Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Patricia Sanders, director of test, systems engineering and evaluataion for the Defense Dept., has won the DeFlorez Award for Modeling and Simulation.
Despite the recent assertion by a senior Brazilian aerospace industry official that the Chilean air force might still cancel its letter of intent to buy advanced trainers from the U.S., Raytheon officials said Chile has not indicated in any way the agreement has changed.
The first element of the International Space Station is slated for launch this summer, but whether assembly will actually begin then or face yet another delay is a question that now lies largely beyond NASA's control. The key is whether the Russian government, recently shaken up by President Boris Yeltsin, can come up with the money needed to complete the service module, a critical piece of station hardware needed early in the assembly process to provide long-term attitude control and initial life support for crews.
Hughes has upped the ante in the competition to build the world's biggest and most powerful commercial spacecraft. The company has signed a contract to build a 15-kw., HS 702-model geosynchronous satellite for Telesat Canada. Slated for delivery in early 2000, Anik F1 is being designed with 75% more capacity than Hughes' HS 601-model satellites. The spacecraft is to provide telecommunications services to North and South America via 48 Ku-band and 36 C-band transponders. Hughes is also building a 13-kw.
A BAE 748 OPERATED by Liverpool-based Emerald Airways made an emergency landing at London Stansted Airport on Mar. 31 after the pilot aborted a takeoff when the right engine caught fire. The twin turboprop had climbed to only 150 ft. when the pilot set the aircraft back down on the runway. The nose gear collapsed as the aircraft overshot the runway and came to a halt 300 ft. from the perimeter fence. The four crewmembers and 40 passengers, including 18 members of the Leeds United soccer team, were evacuated, and no one was seriously injured.
The first of four Kaman SH-2F Seasprite helicopters--stand-ins for upgraded SH-2G Super Seasprites due to arrive in 2000--have entered service with the New Zealand Defense Force in Auckland. All of the -2Fs are expected to be in operation by September, replacing navy Westland Wasps in antisubmarine, surface warfare and search and rescue roles. The -2Fs were taken from U.S. military desert storage.
David J. Bronczek has been promoted to executive vice president/chief operating officer from senior vice president-Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), for the Federal Express Corp. Other recent promotions were: Tracy G. Schmidt to senior vice president/chief financial officer from senior vice president-air, ground, terminals and transportation (AGT&T); Karen M. Clayborne to senior vice president/general counsel from vice president-legal; Bob Elliott to senior vice president-EMEA from vice president-sales there; and Christopher T.
The Iridium mobile telephone constellation is now 80% deployed following last week's launch of five more satellites into low-Earth orbit on a Delta 2 booster. With 56 of the system's 66 operational satellites in orbit, the $5-billion venture has begun a six-month countdown to the start of commercial service on Sept. 23. Three more launches are set over the next five weeks to complete the constellation.
Interplanetary missions, cooperative military programs, expanded collaboration with foreign space agencies and partnerships with industry in the area of telecommunications will highlight CNES' strategy for 1998 and beyond. The new strategy will include: -- Participation in both the European Space Agency's proposed Mars Express Orbiter, scheduled for 2003, and planned NASA Mars sample return missions in 2005-08.
Park Express, a new Turkish startup carrier, has signed an agreement to buy five Avro RJ100s from Aero International Regional (AIR) with an eye to inaugurating domestic services by the end of the year. The RJ100 order is valued at $130 million and includes options for additional aircraft. The first two aircraft are to be delivered in November and December, with the remainder to be delivered in the second half of 1999. The new regional airline is a subsidiary of Turkish conglomerate Park Holdings, which owns Havas, the country's leading airport ground handling company.
Recent changes to the Royal Australian Air Force specification for its light transport aircraft requirement and a memorandum of understanding signed with Australia's National Jet Systems for a surveillance version of the CN-235 have breathed new life into Indonesia's Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara's factory programs.
Air Bridge flights between Rio de Janeiro's Santos Dumont airport and Sao Paulo's downtown Congonhas airport are expected to resume in July. The shuttle flights had to be moved to Rio's international airport after the 61-year-old passenger terminal at Santos Dumont was destroyed by fire on Feb. 13. A temporary passenger terminal will be completed by this summer, but the new terminal is not scheduled for completion until late 1999.
Despite recent political uncertainties that threatened plans to ensure that Roissy/Charles de Gaulle airport remains continental Europe's No. 1 international hub, ADP Paris airports authority intends to invest $2.5 billion over the next 5 years to provide additional runway and passenger capacity at the facility.
