Ron Farmer has become vice president-information systems, Allan Treutlein vice president-product assurance and Stephen Esposito (see photos) director of business development for the Communications Systems Div., of the Telephonics Corp., Farmingdale, N.Y. Farmer was director of information technology and Treutlein director of product assurance. Esposito was business development manager.
Jim Annesser (see photo) has been named vice president-sales and marketing of Barfield Inc. of Miami. He was manager of marketing and resources for Aviall Accessory Services.
TRANSPORT CANADA certified the Raytheon Hawker 800XP mid-size business jet last month, and Raytheon Aircraft Co. has delivered the first airplane sold into Canada to IPL Energy of Calgary, Alberta. The 800XP is an upgraded version of the former British Aerospace BAe 800, and features AlliedSignal Engines TFE731-5BR powerplants, a new interior, increased payload and a NBAA IFR range of more than 2,500 naut. mi. with six passengers. Raytheon also has delivered 800XPs to operators in South America, Europe, Australia and the Pacific Rim region.
Illustration: Illustration: Diagram: Nuclear sensors on DSP satellites may be replaced by a more compact ``SABRS'' package on next-generation Space-Based Infrared System spacecraft. The U.S. capability to cross-check and verify nuclear explosions from space could degrade if the Air Force, Energy Dept. and national intelligence agencies do not resolve a dispute over funding for a key sensor.
Daniel Mugnier has been appointed vice president-technical and industrial affairs of Arianespace. He was CNES French space agency launcher director. Mugnier succeeds Claude Quievre, who retired.
TRW Inc. has beat Alliant Techsystems for a lucrative contract to take over management of the U.S. Air Force's arsenal of ICBMs and oversee upgrades to the Minuteman 3 system. If all options are exercised, TRW will be paid $3.4 billion over a period that runs through 2012. The first increment of the contract begins Feb. 2.
DICK RUTAN AND DAVID MELTON plan to launch the ``Global Hilton'' balloon from Albuquerque, N.M., this week in an attempt to fly nonstop around the world. The pilots will occupy a 12,000-lb. pressurized capsule developed by Burt Rutan, who also designed the ``Voyager'' aircraft that his brother, Dick, and Jeanna Yeager flew nonstop around the globe in 1986. Rutan and Melton hope to pilot the ``Global Hilton''--a combination hot air and helium balloon--into the jet stream and ride the high-speed current around the world in 9-14 days, according to project officials.
In the development of its STRV-1d international satellite, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center will use electronic miniaturization technology developed by Pico Systems of Toledo, Ohio. Pico has built custom multichip modules specifically for satellites, solid-state data recorders and other electronic subsystems where high reliability is essential. STRV-1d is due for launch in early 1999 on an Ariane 5. It's jointly sponsored by the U.K.'s Defense Evaluation and Research Agency and carries science experiments from the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, U.S.
EARTHWATCH INC. LOST CONTACT with its EarlyBird-1 high-resolution commercial imaging satellite on Dec. 28, four days after a successful launch on a Russian Start-1 booster (see p. 29). EarthWatch officials, who initially kept the problem under wraps, admitted the loss of communications on Dec. 31. A company official said efforts were underway to reestablish contact with the satellite and that ground controllers were optimistic. The official said the spacecraft appeared to be stable in its near-polar orbit at 473 km. (294 mi.).
C.J. (Jerry) Waylan has become president/CEO of Constellation Communications Inc., Reston, Va. He was executive vice president of NextWave Telecom Inc.
Orbital Sciences Corp. executives received a nice gift for the holidays--the successful launch of eight Orbcomm communications satellites. Company officials were caught red-faced last month when the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation abruptly suspended their license to launch the low-Earth orbit satellites on a Pegasus XL. The government regulators were furious that the company had eliminated a plan to vent any leftover hydrazine from the Pegasus fourth stage to guard against any post-launch explosion in space (AW&ST Dec. 15, 1997, p. 25).
U.S. and Portuguese negotiators will discuss a new open skies bilateral aviation agreement here Jan. 13-15, kicking off what promises to be a busy year for negotiators. The following week--Jan. 20-21--officials from the U.S. and Japan will meet for their next round of talks. Discussions on code-sharing with Mexico will take place in Mexico City on Jan. 23. Talks on aviation liberalization in the Pacific Rim will take place at a meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries the week of Feb. 23.
Fleming Systems of Ontario, Canada, has introduced 4Site for Windows for management of maintenance and materials in medium to large production facilities. . . . Raytheon E-Systems Transportation Management Solutions will partner with Communications Technologies Inc. of South Korea on tracking vehicles in the Pacific Rim using GPS. . . . The Sabre Group will take over management of US Airways' entire information technology infrastructure--facilities, hardware, software and personnel--in a multibillion-dollar, 25-year contract.
Edward M. Boothe of the FAA won an FSF President's Citation for his leadership in the progress of flight simulation. Other citations were awarded to: William D. Forsythe and Capt. David C. Carbaugh, both of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, for their roles in developing training aids that reduce the threats of wake turbulence and controlled flight into terrain; and Frank W. Burcham and C. Gordon Fullerton, both of NASA, for developing the concept of propulsion-controlled aircraft.
MERCURY COMPUTER SYSTEMS OF CHELMSFORD, MASS., has entered into a long-term manufacturing and technology agreement with Ericsson Microwave Systems of Sweden. The pact provides for engineering development, prototyping and licensed manufacturing of Mercury's RACE signal processing computer systems for the Ericsson multimode radar deployed on the JAS 39 Gripen fighter, as well as planned avionics upgrade programs.
Photograph: Photograph: The commission endorsed programs in which pilots and airlines report emerging safety issues, without fear of enforcement action, before an incident occurs. JOSEPH PRIES General support from the Clinton Administration and various sectors of the aviation community has led to optimism that the recent report of the National Civil Aviation Review Commission will not collect dust on a shelf with all the other commission reports on aviation. Commission Chairman Norman Y.
THE INSPECTOR GENERAL of New York State has completed a review of the controversy over the training of a female fighter pilot in F-16s at the New York Air National Guard's 174th Fighter Wing during 1994-95. The report finds fault on many fronts, saying the unit missed an historic opportunity to qualify a female combat pilot. It notes training standards were at times ``elusive and shifting'' and that Maj. Jacquelyn S.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger has been named to the board of directors of the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga. Patricia Bergeron has been named vice president-corporate communications and investor relations and Diane Rigney vice president-human resources. Bergeron was director of investor relations and public affairs at Abbott Laboratories, and Rigney was a senior corporate human resources leader for the Eaton Corp. She succeeds Don Laidlaw, who is now vice president-community affairs.
Peter Pusztai has been named director of maintenance at ACE Aeroplex of Central Europe in Hungary, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Malev. Floyd M. Gering, has left his position as adviser to the managing director at ACE for an assignment with the Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co., another Lockheed Martin joint venture, in China.
George T. Singley, 3rd, acting director of defense research and engineering for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, has been elected board chairman of the American Helicopter Society, Alexandria, Va.
ABOUT 600 UNITED SPACE ALLIANCE workers at the Kennedy Space Center are to be laid off starting in mid-January due to an anticipated $100-million Fiscal 1998 shortfall in the NASA shuttle budget. The timing and nature of the layoffs will depend upon final reviews by NASA, its Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel and the alliance, which manages shuttle processing under a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
The Discovery planetary science program is one of the most visible of NASA's efforts to move toward more affordable missions. The idea is to lower costs to allow more to be flown--and to make missions more focused, innovative and responsive to new directions in science (AW&ST Dec. 5, 1994, p. 40). Discovery accepts higher technical risks, but so far it has paid off handsomely. Missions approved to date are:
Photograph: Photograph: Air France operates its supersonic Concorde aircraft on a New York-Paris scheduled route and for charter flights. FREDERIC LERT In an effort to boost revenues on its sole scheduled supersonic route, Air France is evaluating the merits of operating additional Concorde flights between Paris and New York. Today, the French flag carrier operates one daily Concorde flight in each direction, down from 11 round trips a week in the early 1980s.
