The Hummingbird personal flying platform made its first hovering flight on Aug. 28. The vertical takeoff and landing platform is designed to fly with a single occupant and 20 liters of fuel for 45 min. at a variety of altitudes, including out of ground effect. The Hummingbird is based on a demonstrator flown by Hiller Co. in the U.S. in the 1960s. The updated craft has four single-cylinder engines and can continue flying safely after a single engine failure. Its landing gear can withstand vertical impacts of up to 12 ft./sec. without damage.
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN met with Indian Minister of Defense Mulayam Singh Yadav early this month and agreed to extend military and technical cooperation between the two nations another decade--at least through 2010. Yadav's visit to Moscow marked the first time the president of Russia has met with the defense minister of India. In working group meetings on cooperation next month, India is expected to request Kamov Ka-31 RLD airborne early warning helicopters for radar surveillance and Ilyushin Il-78 aerial refueling tankers.
QANTAS HAS ORDERED three Boeing 747-400s in a deal worth approximately $475 million. Deliveries are scheduled to occur in 1999 and 2000. Qantas will then have 23 747-400s. The airline also is evaluating the Boeing 777-200IGW versus the Airbus A340-300E to replace four 747-200s and six -300s. A decision is expected early next year. All of the Qantas board visited Toulouse in August and September for briefings on the A340-300E. In other Boeing sales last week, Lufthansa exercised options for two 747-400s valued at $330 million.
Look for Daryl L. Jones to spend even more time in the cockpit than Sheila E. Widnall, should he succeed her as Air Force Secretary. Clinton has formally announced his intention to nominate the Florida state senator to the post. Jones told us he strongly approves of Widnall's heavy flight schedule and, if anything, would increase the secretary's military flight time. Jones, 42, is a 1977 graduate of the Air Force Academy and flew F-4s while on active duty and A-7s and F-16s with the Air National Guard before switching to a staff position.
THE NEW ALQ-211 SUITE OF INTEGRATED RF COUNTERMEASURES (SIRFC), which provides radar warning receiver (RWR), ESM radar location and jamming functions--originally developed for the U.S. Army's AH-64D Apache Longbow and other helicopters--now is expected to be used on Air Force Special Operations CV-22 Osprey aircraft and possibly the U-2. ITT Avionics, which is developing the ALQ-211, expects to begin delivering prototype hardware for Army tests by early next year (AW&ST Sept. 11, 1995, p. 63). Delivery of CV-22 prototype hardware is slated for mid-1998.
North Korea has purchased French Exocet air-to-ship missiles and shoulder-held Stinger missiles for reverse engineering production, a North Korean defector told a Senate panel. The Exocets were not obtained from France, Ko Young-hwan testified, but he had no information on when the missiles were purchased or from whom. He did supply the names of the North Korean organizations responsible for missile trafficking in the Middle East, among them the Yongak-san Trading Co. and the Changkwang Trading Co.
Mission controllers have not been able to communicate with the Mars Pathfinder lander for more than two weeks, project officials at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said last week. The communications breakdown is believed to be the result of key components of the lander's communications system becoming extremely cold, resulting in a significant frequency shift within the spacecraft's transponder.
Scott L. Cochran and Sarkis Garabetian have been appointed regional technical service and sales directors in Snohomish, Wash., and La Crescenta, Calif., respectively, for Premier Turbines of St. Louis. Cochran was managing director of Pacific Aerospace Services Inc., Kapolei, Hawaii, while Garabetian was sales and service manager of Acro Aerospace, Richmond, British Columbia.
EXECUTIVE JET INC. of Montvale, N.J., and Boeing Business Jets of Seattle have formed a joint venture that will introduce the Boeing Business Jet into Executive Jet's NetJets fractional ownership program. Executive Jet expects to place a firm order for BBJ, but the number will not be determined for another 30-60 days.
British Airways and Finnair are discussing entering into a long-term alliance to match the strength of Star Alliance partners SAS and Lufthansa in what Finnair CEO Antti Potila calls the ``battle of Scandinavia.'' The move could portend a broader link between the Finnish carrier and BA's prospective partner American Airlines if their alliance is approved. ``Finnair wants to be a member of a global alliance,'' Potila declared earlier this month.
This engine stand is designed for use with Allison 250-C18, C20, C28, C30 and C47-series engines. The tube-steel stand and its wheel system can be broken down into a small package for shipment to remote job sites and reassembled in a few minutes. The engine assembly or gearbox is installed by bolting the adapters to the gearbox and setting the engine between the stand uprights. The engine can then be rotated 360 deg. Red Barn Machine Inc., 4681 Isabelle St., Eugene, Ore. 97402.
MICHAEL T. SMITH has been named chairman and CEO of Hughes Electronics Corp. with the departure of C. Michael Armstrong, who has become chairman and CEO of AT&T. Armstrong, who worked toward re-setting the company's focus from a defense-related contractor to one with increased involvement in commercial markets, had been chairman and CEO of Hughes Electronics since 1992.
This shipping container, which is a simple cardboard box with a fiberglass insert, is approved for shipping oxygen generators on cargo aircraft under the competent authority numbers of the original equipment manufacturer. In a test, all but one of the nine containers in a sealed box were ignited. The exterior of the box did not exceed room temperature. After a 20-min. cooldown, the temperature inside the box was measured at 630F, but the insert protected the last generator and kept it from igniting. Viking Packing Specialist, 10221 E. 61st, Tulsa, Okla. 74133.
The Army Space&Missile Defense Command used the powerful ``MIRACL'' ground-based laser to illuminate the aging MSTI-3 satellite, in what the service said was a test of satellite vulnerability. However, it is not clear if all the desired data were gathered.
This swaging tool can be used for short run or high production installation or replacement of aircraft bearings. It fits standard drill presses and minimizes internal free play or torque changes due to outer ring distortion, develops full thrust capability on the swaged lip and ensures uniform swaging around the entire bearing circumference. Shafer Bearing Div., Rexnord Corp., 2400 Curtiss St., Downers Grove, Ill. 60515.
The U.S. Air Force's air intelligence agency has finished analyzing virtually all of the electronic data gathered during Desert Storm, and the information is influencing the look of a new generation of electronic warfare weapons. Along with exploring the use of computers as offensive weapons and building nonexplosive bombs to knock out electronics, the Pentagon is developing a new generation of airborne decoys.
Responding to concerns about English language proficiency standards for air traffic controllers and pilots, a House/Senate Conference Committee has approved a $500,000 addition to the FAA's Fiscal 1998 budget, earmarked for that purpose. The House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee had earlier voted for those funds, encouraging the agency to work with ICAO and the National Transportation Safety Board to develop standardized training and monitoring for English language proficiency around the world (AW&ST Sept 29, p. 46).
United Airlines will use a V-Cone Flowmeter to test bleed off from air conditioning packs in its Boeing 757, 767 and 777 aircraft at its San Francisco maintenance center. The V-Cone monitors the accuracy of existing orifice plate flowmeters, which measure flow from compressors used to simulate airflow reaching the aircraft's engine. The orifice plates become less accurate over time as they are worn by high airflows. McCrometer, 3255 W. Stetson Ave., Hewmet, Calif. 92545-7799.
Instead of traveling to a distant training center for a simulator check ride, Beech 1900 pilots could find a mobile facility complete with a full-motion simulator parked at their home base next year. TechniFlite America Inc. of Englewood, Colo., has developed a tractor trailer-based training facility with a Training Devices Inc. (TDI) Level B simulator for the Beech 1900D and a 12-seat classroom with a multimedia instructor's station. The facility will operate as an FAR Section 142 training center.
The U.S. Air Force and Army are preparing for a series of major new tests to demonstrate a more advanced laser radar sensor and other technologies involved with the new Low-Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCAAS) air-launched smart munition. The project is being headed by the Munitions Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Eglin AFB., Fla. Lockheed Martin Vought Systems is developing test versions of LOCAAS, while Alliant, Raytheon and Texas Instruments are involved in seeker development.
MacSema Inc. of Bend, Ore., is offering a button-sized, stand-alone computer memory that can be epoxied to aircraft components or equipment and serve as an electronic logbook. Called MiniButton, the rugged, battery-free device has up to an 8,000-byte, nonvolatile memory that can be used to record equipment history, configuration, maintenance records, parts lists or other data.
This research-quality portable wind tunnel is designed for heat-sink characterization. The Plexiglas tunnel is ideal for smoke flow visualization and allows easy access to the test specimen. The test chamber can be used for component and printed circuit board simulation is well. It can accommodate boards as large as 7 X 11 in. The tunnel's four d.c. fans can be controlled individually. Advanced Thermal Solutions Inc., 36 Jaconnet St., Newton, Mass. 02161.
The V-22 tilt-rotor is taking a bashing from congressional auditors. The General Accounting Office says despite 15 years of development, the system has not achieved stability in cost or design. As proof, the report cites flyaway cost-per-aircraft estimates that range from $40 million (contractor) to $58 million (President's budget). The problem, investigators contend, results from incomplete data on payloads, aerial refueling and downwash in the hover mode.
