Chris Brandin, co-chairman and chief technical officer of NeoCore, for developing an ``associative'' computer processing method that boosts data manipulation speed and performance by 10-100 times over that of conventional computer systems.
Robert Xiao has become director for strategy and business development of the China Aero-Information Center in Beijing, He will continue as vice president of International Aviation, which is published as a joint venture with Aviation Week&Space Technology.
However, there is still interest in basing the MiG-29s at the classified Tonopah base north of Las Vegas, so the short-range fighters could participate in Red Flag exercises. That's where the U.S. still secretly flies Soviet-built Mi-24 ``Hind'' attack and Mi-8 ``Hip'' transport helicopters and Antonov An-2 biplanes. The aircraft are used to test not only the ability of U.S. surveillance aircraft such as the E-3 AWACS and E-8 Joint-STARS to spot such low-speed, low-altitude birds, but the ability of U.S. special forces to infiltrate enemy airspace in such aircraft.
Ruzmetov Arslan, director-general of Uzbekistan Airways. While many of the baby Aeroflots are languishing and struggling to provide safe service, Arslan, who also is director of civil aviation in Uzbekistan, obtained foreign funding to nearly completely replace antiquated Soviet-style ground navaids and air traffic control equipment throughout Uzbekistan with modern Western equipment. He also is upgrading the airline's fleet by acquiring modern Western equipment.
U.S. Navy aircrews and support staff of Patrol Sqdn. 8 (VP-8 flying P-3Cs) and Fleet Airborne Reconnaissance Sqdn. 2 (VQ-2 flying EP-3Es), for switching their missions in mid-flight from monitoring peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia to tracking the unpredicted, fast-moving crisis in Albania. VP-8 used its unique long-range optical sensors, and VQ-2 employed its classified, signals intelligence-gathering and communications-monitoring capabilities to maximize the effectiveness of NATO intervention in the crisis and avoid military confrontations.
Pilot Peter Hope, air crewman Ian Callaghan and rescue crewman Angus McDonell of Queensland Emergency Services for rescuing two people from a yacht during a cyclone on Mar. 9. The yacht was in danger of sinking 160 naut. mi. off northern Queensland, Australia, in 30-ft. waves. Flying in 60-kt. winds and visibility as low as 300 ft. in their Bell 412, the crew located the yacht, and both survivors were hoisted on board with about 2 min. remaining before the 412 would have needed to depart due to low fuel.
NASA sent a procedural notice to Orbital Sciences Corp. that could lead to the termination of a contract to build the Clark spacecraft, not Lewis, unless the company can justify continuing work (AW&ST Feb. 2, p. 19). Lewis was built by TRW and lost in orbit last year.
Roy Norris, former president of the Raytheon Aircraft Co., has been appointed to the executive board of the Century Aerospace Corp., Albuquerque, N.M. Eric Burgoyne has become general manager of Lufthansa's operations in the U.K. and Ireland.
British investigators are assessing whether recent maintenance and the use of polyimide-insulated wiring contributed to an inflight electrical fire on a United Airlines ETOPS 767. The U.K.'s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is running the investigation into the Jan. 9 incident, which led to the diversion of the Zurich-Washington flight to London. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is participating.
A researcher affiliated with the Los Alamos (N.M.) National Laboratory has developed a miniature fuel cell suitable for portable electronics. The methanol-fueled devices are expected to be similar in size and price but half the weight of conventional nickel cadmium batteries, according to Robert Hockaday, a physicist on entrepreneurial leave from the lab. Demonstration versions of the fuel cell are being refined for mass production. Initially they will be used to keep an electronic device's regular battery fully charged. Ultimately they could replace battery packs.
A TERRORIST GROUP OPPOSED to expansion of Tokyo's Narita airport claimed responsibility for a Feb. 3 mortar attack that caused one slight injury. Called Karurokyo, or ``Revolutionary Laborers Union,'' the group is one of three that has periodically struck at the airport in the past few years. The airport is planning to add a second runway. Police found three steel tubes hidden in a nearby bamboo grove that were used to launch 10-in. projectiles, two of which fell inside the airport grounds. A third fell wide of the airport. One cargo handler was slightly injured.
WESTERN PACIFIC AIRLINES ceased operations on Feb. 4 after Smith Management Co., which had promised $30 million to bail the carrier out of bankruptcy, refused to provide additional operating funds. WestPac spent more within the last two months than it had planned, and passenger loads were below projections, which prompted Smith to curtail further investment.
Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station at Clearwater, Fla., and USAF Reserve's 920th Rescue Group at Patrick AFB, Fla., for the rescue in 60-kt. winds and 40-ft. seas of 28 seamen forced to jump from a sinking 493-ft. freighter 270 mi. off Cape Canaveral on Dec. 30. Three USCG HH-60 helicopter crews and an HC-130 from Clearwater plus two USAF HH-60 crews and an HC-130 from the 920th spent 4 hr. over the ship to save its crew. Special recognition goes to 920th pararescuers Senior MSgt.
Despite assurances that U.S. Air Force and Marine aircraft have not strayed close to commercial transports, officials of Japan's Ministry of Transport and Federation of Japanese Flight Crew Unions say that F-16s have repeatedly violated good flying practices and pose a risk to passenger safety.
Olimpio DeMarco has been named director of marketing and support for the MSC/In-Check product line of the MacNeal-Schwendler Corp. of Los Angeles. He was manager of marketing for the PT Products Div. of the Parametric Technology Corp.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mike Ryan says the service can afford to restore to flying status just ``two or three'' of the 21 MiG-29s that were recently bought from Moldova, mostly to keep them out of Iranian hands. Having so few of the MiG-29s will be barely enough for the F-22 and Joint Strike Fighter programs. They want to use the Russian aircraft to help develop their sensor systems. There's too little money to restore enough aircraft to practice eight-on-eight aerial combat. Russian reaction to the sale has varied, a USAF official said.
Edward C. Kittel, FAA civil aviation security explosives specialist, who led the effort to create an automated explosives incident analysis system for the TWA Flight 800 investigation. This marked the first time that various relational databases and digital imagery were linked and used to ensure all parts of the recovered aircraft and its contents were examined for indications of explosives damage.
Craig Brown (see photo) has been appointed director of operations of the Microdot Division of Kaynar Technologies Inc., Placentia, Calif. He was director of engineering for Kaynar.
BOEING LAST WEEK ROLLED OUT the first forward-fuselage section of its new 757-300 transport. Boeing's Wichita factory manufactured the section, which includes the cockpit. At 177.6 ft. in length, the -300 will be 23.3 ft. longer than the -200 and the longest single aisle commercial transport ever built by Boeing. First delivery to launch customer Condor Flugdienst, a German charter carrier, is scheduled for January 1999. The -300 can carry up to 279 passengers.
Fixes being eyed for the F/A-18E/F wing drop problem have moved from the leading edge and the point where the wing folds--to the trailing edge. At least one ``elegant and inexpensive option'' has just been found, according to a senior Navy official. By removing the ``inter-leaf seal'' between the body of the wing and the trailing edge flap--a 1-ft.-long, 4-in.-wide panel--a path could be opened for high-pressure air to escape from the underside of the wing to the top of the flap.
Airbus Industrie Managing Director Jean Pierson, for being instrumental in boosting Europe's efforts to acquire a major share in the commercial transport market. He played a critical role in convincing the consortium's partners and associate members to launch additional programs such as the high- capacity A330/A340, 185-seat A321, 125-seat A319 and, more recently, 380-seat A340-600--``the 747's long-waited rival.'' Airbus' market share gradually increased to 40-45% and undoubtedly can be called ``Boeing's archrival.''
Flight testing being done here at NASA's Lewis Research Center shows that a pilot responding to what is believed to be a wing stall during an approach to landing could be applying the wrong recovery procedure--what the pilot may be actually encountering is a stall due to tailplane icing. The normal recovery procedure from a wing stall requires the pilot to lower the nose of the aircraft and add power while leaving the flaps in their present position.
