With more than 50% of the world's commercial launch market, Europe's Arianespace stands to lose the most from the U.S. decision to develop two new EELVs. Pentagon officials say they want the EELVs to capture at least 50% of the commercial launch market after they come on line in 2002. ``Ariane [5] is sized incorrectly for the market,'' said one U.S. launch executive. ``We're going to blow them away.'' He said his biggest worry is launches sold by ``nonmarket economies'' such as Russia and China. But Arianespace officials wave off such confident talk.
Photograph: Photograph: THE GERMAN PARLIAMENT IS READY to approve moving ahead with production of the Eurofighter, the final hurdle for the $45-billion, four-nation project. German funding was approved by the budget and defense committees of the Bundestag in late October. The measure is expected to be passed by the lower house by the end of this week, according to officials close to the project. Passage through the upper house is considered a formality.
Eurocontrol's 26 member states are expected to approve in 1999 the European organization's far-reaching ATM 2000+ plan that extends to 2015. It paves the way for a unified air traffic management system that also will coordinate commercial and military flights in the European airspace. In the meantime, intermediate steps are being taken. This month, Eurocontrol's ATM Surveillance Tracker and Server (ARTAS) is being tested for the first time and later will be integrated into a cross-border ATM system.
BOEING HAS BEGUN FABRICATION of mid-fuselage components for its Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator aircraft. Boeing plans to build two X-32 JSF demonstrators for the Pentagon under a Concept Phase Demonstration contract. First flight is scheduled by mid-2000. One of the demonstrators will be configured for the USAF conventional takeoff and landing role and later converted to a carrier landing version for the U.S. Navy. The second X-32 will be equipped to perform short-takeoff and vertical landing operations for the U.S. Marine Corps and U.K. Royal Navy.
MEMORIES OF THE $500-MILLION loss of its last experimental test satellite (ETS-6) in August 1994 have prompted the National Space Development Agency to insure ETS-7 (AW&ST May 15, 1995, p. 70). But reimbursement will be for a fraction of the program's $260-million cost. Coverage has been limited to just 1.5 billion yen ($12.1 million) and is being spread among 20 insurance companies. Their combined premium is a whopping 375 million yen ($3.02 million).
Talks between United Parcel Service and its pilots about a new contract will resume on Jan. 12, giving the package carrier a peak holiday shipping season preumably free of labor concerns. The talks, under the auspices of the National Mediation Board, will tackle the contentious issue of pilot compensation. Most other issues have been resolved. UPS pilots, represented by the Independent Pilots Assn., turned down an earlier contract offer.
Data from a European/U.S. spacecraft point to an explanation for one of the most perplexing facts about the Sun: its far-out corona is much hotter than its surface.
President Clinton's decision to sign 1998 defense policy legislation leaves intact a provision on weapons maintenance at Air Force logistics centers that high-ranking White House officials had warned might trigger a veto. The provision increases to 50% from 40% the share of weapons repair, known as ``depot maintenance,'' that the Pentagon can contract out to private companies.
It is no accident that the RC-7B looks like a commuter aircraft when on the ground with its antennas and sensors retracted. To heighten the illusion, the exterior of the U.S. Army aircraft is purposefully painted in nonmilitary white with red stripes. The disguise is successful enough that during the 1994 Haiti invasion, local tour aircraft operators were up in arms about the new competition that suddenly appeared on the ramp at Port-au-Prince.
James L. Russell has become chief financial officer of the American Materials and Technologies Corp. of Los Angeles. He succeeds William Timmerman, who has resigned.
The latest bird-strike survey by the International Civil Aviation Organization recorded a total of 11,433 incidents in 1994-95. A total of 45 ICAO member states contributed to the report. A recent FAA Advisory Circular on wildlife-related airport land use reveals that gulls and waterfowl were each responsible for 28% of the wildlife strikes damaging civilian aircraft in the U.S. between 1993-95. Raptors and deer were responsible for 11% each, while vultures were the culprit 5% of the time.
Fairchild Dornier has confirmed that it is studying a new model for the 70-seat regional jet market. The project, dubbed the Dornier 728, would not be a derivative of the existing 32-seat 328JET, scheduled to be rolled out on Dec. 6, but an all-new aircraft featuring a low-wing design and engines mounted under the wings. The 728 would carry 70 passengers in standard configuration, have a maximum takeoff weight of 33,000 kg. (72,750 lb.), a top cruise of Mach 0.8 and a range of 1,200 naut. mi. with reserves.
Associate Administrator Wilbur C. Trafton's announcement that he will leave NASA next month may have seemed sudden or oddly timed. It came a week after he was grilled by a congressional committee on the space station cost overruns and a week before a shuttle mission was to launch. But he had been thinking about leaving for some time, and the motivation was really more personal than professional. The announcement was rushed, however. When Trafton called Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to tell him of his decision to leave at year's end, Goldin was in Paris.
Mark Bolton has been named general sales manager for Meggitt Aerospace Components, Hemel Hempstead, England. Roger Tyson is now vice president-sales and marketing, based in San Fernando, Calif., and Dallas.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT CO. rolled out the first production Citation Excel on Nov. 21 at the company's production facilities in Wichita, Kan. The airplane will be flown by the Citation marketing department as a demonstrator. Cessna officials expect FAA certification and initial deliveries in the first quarter of next year. The company has about 200 orders for the Excel.
Honeywell's Technology Center in Minneapolis is developing a common-sense operational programming method for flight management systems and autopilots that mirrors air traffic controller clearances. If successful, the technique could help eliminate the potential for ``mode confusion'' by pilots flying aircraft with highly automated cockpits. Adoption as a cockpit's single source of guidance also would clear the way for direct uplink of ATC clearances and instructions to autoflight systems, with only pilot approval required prior to execution.
BRITISH AIRWAYS PLANS to start a low-cost/no-frills carrier early next year to compete with several new entrants on European routes including Debonair, EasyJet and Ryanair. The new airline will be named Operation Blue Sky and will operate a fleet of leased Boeing 737-300s to European destinations.
Honeywell has developed a ground support system for airlines flying--or hoping to fly--more efficient Future Air Navigation System routes. FANS uses satellite-based navigation, communications and surveillance systems to provide air traffic management and separation over remote and transoceanic areas.
Iraq's biological warfare capability and remnants of its missile and chemical warfare programs remain unaccounted for and concealed, according to the latest U.N. report on Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction.
Kevin Wright has been appointed vice president-sales and marketing and Robert Mackness vice president-engineering of Hydro-Aire Inc., Burbank, Calif. Wright was director of en- gineering for Hydro-Aire and Mackness chief of engineering for hydraulic systems for all Boeing commercial aircraft.
Egypt Air has become the fourth airline to place an order for the A340-600. But the failure of the British government to approve a request from Airbus partner British Aerospace for more than $200 million in launch investment funding has held up the consortium's plans to launch the A340-500/600 program. Egypt Air said it will buy two A340-600s, joining three other airlines--Air Canada, Eva Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways--which have already committed to purchasing 43 of the new aircraft.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace intends to mount a serious challenge to its Airbus Industrie partner, Aerospatiale, for the final assembly rights to the A320 commercial jet. DASA wants to move it to Hamburg, Germany, from Toulouse, France, where the 150-seat aircraft's various subsystems are now integrated. DASA already is in charge of final assembly for the A319 and A321.
Lee Monson has become vice president-sales of Boeing Business Jets of Seattle. He was a sales manager for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga.
