The National Civil Aviation Review Commission will unveil its report on the state of aviation safety in the U.S. on Dec. 11. The 21-member commission produced a first report containing recommendations on funding the FAA and its activities in September. The second and last of the panel's missions was to tackle the adequacy of staffing and training for FAA safety personnel, the agency's ability to keep fraudulent parts out of civil aviation, and its adroitness at anticipating changes and developing policies to assure the highest level of safety in the next century.
Tatyana Grigorievna Anodina, chairman of the Interstate Aviation Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, has received the 31st Edward Warner Award from the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization. She was recognized for her work in developing communications, navigation and surveillance aids in the Russian Federation as well as guiding development of the Glonass navigation satellite system.
British Airways will form a low-cost/no-frills carrier early next year to compete against airlines such as Debonair, EasyJet and Ryanair on the European route system. The new airline, yet to be named but currently called Operation Blue Sky, will be based at London Stansted airport and fly leased Boeing 737-300s to destinations in France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Scandinavia. The carrier will operate under its own name with its own management and employees, British Airways officials said.
And in the ``free is smart marketing department,'' Analytical Graphics reports that since it made its Satellite Tool Kit software for design/build/operate functions available for free (AW&ST July 21, p. 61), use of the product has gone into orbit. From a base of 2,100 copies, use of STK 4.0 has reached 6,300 installed and registered copies. Well, STK CEO Paul Graziani said he wanted to penetrate the market.
TRACOR AEROSPACE IS PRODUCING for the U.S. Air Force a mobile air traffic control tower that can be set up and operational in 10 min. at a bare-base or can fill in when permanent facilities have been disabled. The AN/MSN-7 Tower Restoral Vehicle is mounted on two HMMWVs (high-mobility multi-wheeled vehicles); one has a shelter with a pop-up roof for three controllers, and the other carries the generator. The system, transportable by C-130, contains seven VHF radios, mobile land radios and weather stations.
Fairchild Dornier has completed three weeks of ground vibration testing of its new 328JET at the company's plant at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. Having launched the program in February, the company has been moving quickly on the 32-plus seat regional jet in order to be first in the market with this size turbofan-powered regional aircraft.
U.S. Air Force officials say their decision to subsidize development of two new U.S. launch vehicle lines instead of one will create a more competitive environment that will result in cheaper launch costs for the government (AW&ST Nov. 10, p. 41). But Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the two companies expected to win the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) contracts, say that won't be the case, at least initially.
Charles S. Stees has been appointed vice president/chief financial officer of Lockheed Martin Intersputnik, Bethesda, Md. He was controller/director of finance for Lockheed Martin Telecommunications.
Manufacturers and dealers of business aircraft are targeting Middle East markets for major growth. According to recent studies by the Teal Group and AlliedSignal, demand in the Middle East and other Asian markets will account for about nearly 6% of world business jet sales over the next decade, equivalent to 200-300 units worth $2.53-5 billion, despite cultural differences and infrastructure problems that inhibit growth.
Canada's National Defense Dept. and National Research Council have conducted a successful demonstration of the Canadian-developed Spotlight synthetic aperture radar system. The multimode imaging radar, lofted by NRC's Convair 580 research aircraft for the June flight tests, incorporates a high-resolution ``spotlight'' mode for imaging moving targets such as ships. About 53 hr. of flight operations were conducted in conjunction with a joint NATO naval exercise off Nova Scotia and in the Cabot Strait.
The French government will evaluate the merits of a unified space/ aeronautic research agency that could eventually resemble a NASA-like organization. At the initiative of Education and Science Minister Claude Allegre, two government-appointed ``wise men'' will prepare a report in the next few months that is expected to lead to the merger of CNES and Onera, France's space and aeronautic research agencies.
DELTA AIR LINES SAID it will exercise options to purchase 10 Boeing 777 transports in a transaction worth $1.42 billion. Delta holds options for 20 more 777s and ``rolling options'' for an additional 30. Deliveries of the 10 aircraft on firm order are scheduled to begin in August 1999 and continue through 2006. The sale brings Delta's 1997 Boeing orders to 106 firm aircraft worth $6.7 billion at list prices.
FBI officials hope to develop an international database of missile damage on aircraft to simplify any future investigation into the in-flight breakup of an airliner.
Researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., have developed a fiber-optic near-infrared fire detector that senses fires from their infrared signature and flicker pattern. Monitoring two near-IR wavelengths, the sensor quickly can discriminate between uncontrolled fires and other flame sources, such as candles, gas stoves and cigarette lighters.
The White House insists it struck no deals and no concessions allowing U.N. inspectors to resume their hunt for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Russia's pledge to press Iraq's case for relief from U.N. sanctions is not binding on the U.S. or the U.N., National Security Adviser Sandy Berger emphasized. He noted that Russia joined with the four other permanent members of the Security Council in their demand that the full complement of U.N. inspectors return to Iraq, without interference (see p. 24).
The repatriated remains of six crewmembers of a ``Jolly Green'' rescue helicopter (Sikorsky HH-53) were buried at Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery last week with full military honors, including a flyby of two MH-53J Pave Lows. The crew perished on Apr. 6, 1972, in South Vietnam when their helicopter was shot down during a search and rescue mission for downed airmen Lt. Col. Iceal Hambleton and 1st Lt. Mark Clark. Hambleton's call sign was ``Bat-21'' and his remarkable escape and evasion story became the subject of a book and a movie. He and Clark were later picked up.
The Air Force won't reinstitute anything like the once-secret ``Red Eagles'' aggressor squadron with the MiG-29Cs bought from Moldova, after all. Chief of Staff Gen. Mike Ryan says, ``No way.'' As part of a Defense Dept.-wide effort, Ryan is obligated to drastically cut spending on exercises. However, the Air Force will likely fly the MiG-29s in large numbers against U.S. aircraft for both technical and operational tests of the foreign systems.
Paul M. Gremaud has become vice president-sales and Mark Scott Western sales manager for the American Mobile Satellite Corp., Reston, Va. Gremaud was director of strategic accounts for MCI's Mid-Atlantic region. Scott was vice president-sales and marketing for the Centennial Communication Corp.
Last week, even as six F-117s were flying to Saudi Arabia, six B-52s were moving to Diego Garcia and a 36-plane air expeditionary force was being dispatched to Bahrain, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff official said it was already too late. The Iraqis have now had three weeks to preserve its weapons of mass destruction production capabilities even though the U.S. had an excellent clue to weapons production sites, he said, and predicted an early end to the confrontation.
Military leaders around the world find themselves in a classic peacetime quandary. They have an urgent need for aircraft and sensors that can gather sophisticated, fine-grained intelligence of enemy activity on future battlefields--much as the E-3 AWACS, E-8 Joint-STARS and RC-135 Rivet Joint do today--but they are unable to pay the high price of such technology.
Clayton Callihan has been named director of strategic communications and Don Purdy director of Boeing marketing for the Collins Air Transport Div., for Rockwell Collins Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Callihan was director of advertising for Learjet, and Purdy was director of strategic and product marketing for Honeywell's FMS products.
Michael J. Gaines has been appointed vice president/controller of the Hughes Electronics Corp. of Los Angeles. He has been assistant corporate controller.
Sabena Belgian World Airlines will add 34 Airbus Industrie twinjets to its fleet during the next few years to replace aging Boeing 737s and generate growth capacity. Last week, the carrier's board approved a decision to order 26 132-seat A319s, five 150-seat A320s and three 185-seat A321s to be delivered in 1999-2001. The aircraft are valued at about $1.4 billion.
