GEOFFREY THOMASContributing to this report were Michael Mecham in Langkawi, Malaysia, and Paul Proctor in Seattle.
Illustration: Illustration: Diagram: The 777-200X/300X will require a 13-ft. increase in wingspan compared to the -200IGW. Fuel will be carried in the wing and in removable cargo bay tanks. Boeing is refining customer options on its 777-200X and -300X models, which the company believes will start the fragmentation of the Pacific market in the same way as the Airbus A300 and Boeing 767 did on Atlantic routes 15 years ago.
ROCKWELL COLLINS WILL BE THE PRIMARY avionics supplier for American Airlines' new fleet of Boeing transports under a 10-year, $200-million agreement. The pact provides for stable long-term pricing, flight-hour-based service, maintenance and logistics support, on-site systems engineering and guaranteed performance. American will start installing Collins systems on the 75 Boeing 737s and another 11 777s the carrier recently ordered.
EarthWatch Inc. launched its EarlyBird-1 high-resolution commercial imaging satellite on Dec. 24 from Russia's Svobodny Cosmodrome. Initial data received by a ground station in Norway indicated the vehicle separated successfully from its booster and was placed in a 473-km. (294-mi.) near-polar orbit. Provided by STC Complex of Moscow, the Start-1 launcher is based on the Russian SS-20 and SS-25 ICBMs.
Photograph: Photograph: The aft fuselage of the first C-32A executive transport is lowered into position by a crane at the Boeing factory in Renton, Wash. The C-32As are modified Boeing 757-200s. The U.S. Air Force has exercised an option to buy two of four C-32A transports from the Boeing Co. under a new program similar to a commercial acquisition. The two C-32A aircraft, modified Boeing 757-200s powered by Pratt&Whitney PW2000 engines, are scheduled to be delivered this March to the 89th Airlift Wing of the Air Mobility Command at Andrews AFB, Md.
William G. Laynor of the NTSB won the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award for work to counteract the threats of wind shear and midair collisions. And, Dries Viljoen of South African Airways received the Air BP Ramp Safety Award for developing ramp-safety audit and reporting systems tailored to conditions in Africa, including those in developing nations.
Advanced composite manufacturing was one of the skills that McDonald Douglas was expected to help Malaysia develop as an offset to the Royal Malaysian Air Force's purchase of eight F/A-18 fighters.
Andrew Vesel has become director of engineering of the ITT Gallium Arsenide Technology Center, Roanoke, Va. He was director of the Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Product Development Center of AlliedSignal Commercial Avionics Systems.
Photograph: Photograph: AlliedSignal aims to supply customers with all their consumable aircraft parts on a ``just-in-time'' basis. It's now replenishing some of United Airlines' needs. A recent miniwave of proposed acquisitions and divestitures involving second-tier U.S. aerospace companies offers a preview of the extensive consolidation to be played out among subsystem suppliers. In two of the most notable transactions, AlliedSignal Inc.
A DELTA 2 BOOSTER LAUNCHED five more Iridium satellites into orbit on Dec. 20 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The Iridium venture, which plans to provide mobile voice communications worldwide, now has 46 of its 66 low-Earth orbit satellites in orbit and is on track to begin commercial service this fall.
BACK TO THE MOON LUNAR PROSPECTOR MISSION Lockheed Martin Athena 2 Booster Total Height 100 ft. Total Weight 265,000 lb. Payload Capacity 4,350 lb. First, Second Stage: Length 347 in. Diameter 93 in. Thrust 435,000 lb. Propulsion Thiokol Castor 120 Motor Propellant Class 1.3 HTPB Third Stage
Applied Microsystems has broadened its basic software verification tools for embedded systems that it brought out 2.5 years ago for aerospace applications. The new products, CodeTEST ACT (Advanced Coverage Tools), are designed to let developers efficiently test embedded software under the DO-178B (Software Consideration in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification) guidelines developed by RTCA Inc. for the FAA. They also will work for DO-178B's European equivalent, EUROCAE ED-12B.
Lockheed Martin has completed about 70% of tooling to build the first of two X-35 Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator aircraft, and conducted its second Interim Program Review late last month with U.S. and foreign officials. David J. Wheaton, vice president and program manager for the JSF team, said the review was ``very successful'' and indicated that the program is ``on schedule, within budget and technically strong.''
SEXTANT AVIONIQUE IS UNDER CONTRACT to supply navigation and attack systems to VPK MAPO and MAPO MiG to equip 15 MiG-AT advanced trainers. More than 25 products including displays, computers, sensors and radio communications equipment are included. Sextant is striving to be the European leader in avionics for trainers and light combat aircraft.
Photograph: Photograph: The airline pilot community does not unconditionally endorse Airbus' views about the strong safety record of automated aircraft. An A321 flight deck is shown here. FREDERIC LERT Airbus Industrie officials maintain that highly automated transports are safer to operate than older conventional aircraft. However, European pilots believe that the safety record is the product of more than just new aircraft.
U.S. AIR FORCE AND Coast Guard aircraft based in Florida and the Bahamas undertook major rescue operations on Dec. 30 to save the 28-member crew of a 493-ft. freighter that began to sink 270 mi. east of Cape Canaveral. The British-owned Merchant Patriot began sinking after a water pipe ruptured in its engine room.
US AIRWAYS HAS COMPLETED its purchase of the US Airways Shuttle and plans to extend the system to include nonstops between Boston Logan International and Washington National airports. Under a 1992 agreement, the Arlington, Va.-based carrier had a minority stake in Shuttle Inc., owned primarily by a consortium of banks, and a right to purchase the shuttle. The shuttle will be operated now as a separate company owned by US Airways Group Inc. The shuttle operates up to 32 flights a day to and from New York's LaGuardia Airport and Boston and Washington.
Wilbur C. Trafton has become executive vice president of International Launch Services of San Diego. He was associate NASA administrator for space flight.
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Metal Improvement Co., Paramus, N.J., are perfecting a laser peening method that could significantly improve the durability of critical jet engine components. Although the laser peening concept is not new, a Livermore-developed neodymium-doped glass laser with 600 watts of average power makes the process faster and economically feasible, according to Lloyd Hackel, a physicist at Livermore. The laser is capable of firing 10 pulses per second, compared with only one pulse every 2 sec. from commercial lasers.
ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP. WILL MERGE its Magellan Corp. subsidiary with Ashtech to form a $125-million company to offer GPS and satellite communication products. Magellan brings expertise in low-cost receiver design, manufacturing and distribution, and provides global voice, fax and data communications over Inmarsat-3 satellites. Ashtech is a leader in surveying and other precise geopositioning applications, including receivers that use both the Russian Glonass and GPS signals. The GPS Industry Council predicts global GPS sales will reach $8.5 billion by 2000.
The FAA will equip its Aviation Safety Inspectors worldwide with laptop computers programmed with On-line Aviation Safety Inspection System (Oasis) software. More than 700 FAA inspectors in 32 field and international districts now use the turnkey hardware/software combination, developed by Galaxy Scientific Corp., Atlanta. The $31-million follow-on contract also calls for the continued development and integration of new technology into Oasis, according to William Johnson, Galaxy vice president for advanced information technology.
Photograph: Photograph: Company officials expect civil versions of the new S-92 helicopter to cost about $13-14 million. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. is preparing to launch an aggressive marketing program for its S-92 Helibus helicopter and has scheduled first flight for the third quarter of 1998, followed by FAA certification in the third quarter of 2000. Although a Helibus production decision has not been made yet, construction of three of five prototypes is underway at Sikorsky's facilities here.
AN ARIANE 42L BOOSTER successfully orbited the Intelsat 804 telecommunications satellite on Dec. 21. The 3.5-metric-ton satellite, built by Lockheed Martin Telecommunications, was the fourth Intelsat spacecraft orbited by Arianespace this year. The launch was the 12th overall for the European space firm in 1997 and the 32nd in succession for the Ariane 4. Intelsat also awarded Arianespace an award for three Ariane 5 launches for its 4.3-4.8-ton Intelsat 9 series, to be deployed starting in 2000.
