Douglas C. Blalock has been appointed vice president-parts business development for International Airline Support Group Inc. of Atlanta. He was vice president/chief financial officer of Rovair.
Sonny Wulfe of Alamo Aircraft, San Antonio, Tex., has been elected president of the National Assn. of Aircraft and Communications Suppliers. Others elected are: vice president, Peter Beaulieu of Associated Aircraft, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and secretary/treasurer, Homer Garten of Camar Aircraft, Chatsworth, Calif.
CFM International is following a strategy of technology development and ``stockpiling'' to remain the leader in the small commercial turbofan engine field. CFMI has a backlog of about 1,200 firm orders and has garnered a 54% share of the firm propulsion orders for 100-seat transports during 1993-97, CFMI President/CEO Gerard Laviec said.
Vladimir Dmitriyev, former deputy designer general of Russia's Yakovlev Design Bureau, has been appointed director of the Central Institute of Aerohydrodynamics (TsAGI). He succeeds Vladimir Neiland, whose term had expired.
Pockets of opposition remain, but the U.S. Senate is considered virtually certain to ratify the ``accession protocol'' for NATO expansion that President Clinton officially submitted last week to the 100-seat body.
Thailand's government avoided a currency exchange crisis with foreign carriers by saying that they could apply for up to 100% fare increases to cover losses from the falling baht. The carriers wanted to switch their ticketing from the Thai currency to U.S. dollars, but the government held them off with the fare increase assurances.
Important modifications to new helicopter operating regulations due to be put into effect shortly by the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) should greatly improve commercial rotorcraft operations, while enhancing the safety of passengers and people on the ground.
John H. Moellering (see photo) has been named president/chief executive officer of Lear Siegler Services Inc., Annapolis, Md. He was president of UNC Aviation Services.
Staffers for Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) were dismayed to discover they had given Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mike Ryan an easy pass in a hearing on the Fiscal 1999 budget. Only later did they read of the general's unilateral intent to close more air bases (AW&ST Feb. 9, p. 30). Ryan said tight budgets are driving him to consolidate units on fewer bases, even if Congress doesn't approve new base closings. Inhofe now intends to call Ryan back for new hearings in early March.
Investigators are delving into the background of the pilots of SilkAir Flight 185 to determine whether a suicide attempt by one of them led to the mysterious crash of the 737-300 and the deaths of all 104 people on board.
Edward K. Reedy (see photo) has been named vice president/director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta. He has been interim vice president, succeeding Adm. Richard Truly (USN, Ret.), who is now director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colo.
The Air Force Electronic Systems Center is trying to attract non-military companies by making it easier, both technically and bureaucratically, to demonstrate software and hardware that improves the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) on Boeing E-3 aircraft. ESC is doing this by a cooperative research and development agreement with system integrator Boeing, where ESC grants access to its laboratory, test aircraft and experienced personnel in exchange for access to Boeing's R&D work.
A.P. J. Abdul Kalam, who is chief of the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization and scientific adviser to the defense minister, has won the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award. Kalam was cited for overseeing the Indian Integrated Guided Missile, Light Combat Aircraft and Arjun Main Battle Tank programs.
British Airways will close its 17 city ticket offices in the U.S. on May 1, ending years of having a flagship presence in prominent locations in major cities served, such as New York's Fifth Avenue. Fewer customers are going to ticket offices, BA officials reasoned, as more travelers are using the Internet, ticket by mail, electronic ticketing or travel agents. The airline expects travel agencies to pick up about $10 million in revenue as a result of the ticket office closures.
The FAA is weighing its response to an appeals court ruling against it on the controversial issue of overflight fees. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned a 1997 FAA interim final rule designed to assess fees on aircraft flying over, but not taking off or landing in, the U.S. The court ruled that the FAA's value-oriented pricing methodology had violated the statutory directive that fees for overflights be ``directly'' related to the agency's cost of providing such services. The suit was brought by the Air Transport Assn.
Kathleen A. Soled has been named senior vice president/general counsel, Capt. Thomas C. Irwin vice president-flight operations, Joseph R. Vilmain vice president-sales and reservations and Lisbeth Lee Mack vice president-marketing and services, all of Trans World Airlines. Soled has been vice president-legal and corporate secretary. She succeeds Richard P. Magurno, who has resigned. Irwin has been manager of pilots for the Eastern region. He will succeed Capt. Richard Roberts, who will retire Mar. 30.
Marine Corps officials here say the cable-car cable struck by an EA-6B stationed at Aviano, Italy, corkscrewed down the right side of the aircraft after being severed. The accident killed 20 people when a cable car plunged 300 ft. to the ground. Marine officials are admitting the electronic jamming aircraft was flying well under the minimum 1,000-ft. altitude authorized for the aircraft type.
USAF has ordered its first Boeing 747-400 freighter to be used in the Airborne Laser Program. The aircraft, scheduled to be delivered in 1999, is planned as the first in a fleet of laser-carrying aircraft that will use a high-energy chemical laser to shoot down theater ballistic missiles in the boost phase. Boeing is partnered with Lockheed Martin and TRW as ``Team ABL'' on the $1.1-billion, 6.5-year-long ABL program definition and risk-reduction contract.
Linda Fox has been appointed senior mechanical engineer at Unison Industries, Jacksonville, Fla. She was engineering group leader at Champion Aviation Products, Liberty, S.C.
Boeing has reshaped its Joint Strike Fighter program to move the design and construction of the prototype's forward fuselage and cockpit to St. Louis facilities acquired in its midsummer merger with McDonnell Douglas.
BittWare Research Systems has quadrupled the speed of its quickest analog-to-digital converter. The Concord, N.H., company makes digital signal processor boards for radar, sonar, imaging and other uses based on the Analog Devices SHARC processor, and the boards have plug-in A/D converters. The new ``Crossbow'' ADC samples up to 41 million times per second on each of its two channels, with 12-bit resolution. Data can be output to the processor at up to 25 MHz. and a 16K buffer has been added to handle the rate difference and take quick snapshots of pulse events.
NASA has revamped its Hyper-X program, cutting the planned numbers of vehicles and tests to stay within a five-year, $125-million budget. The agency is developing hydrogen-fueled, ramjet/scramjet unpiloted flight test vehicles to validate technologies for a wide variety of applications, ranging from hypersonic cruise missiles to reusable launchers. Each of the 12-ft.-long., 3,000-lb. vehicles is to be propelled to hypersonic speeds on an Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus booster dropped from a B-52.
