Photograph: LOCKHEED MARTIN AND THE U.S. Air Force have tested an F-16C fitted with self-adhesive appliques designed to improve affordability and maintainability of the Joint Strike Fighter, according to William Campbell, engineering specialist at Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems. He said the applique was made from an aluminum alloy metallic foil with a pressure-sensitive adhesive backing. The F-16 Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB, Calif., applied the film to the upper fuselage and wing surfaces that are equivalent to about 600 sq.
Joe Leach, manager of onboard products for Delta Air Lines, has been elected president of the World Airline Entertainment Assn. (WAEA). Other officers elected were: vice president, Patrick Brannelly, manager of passenger entertainment for Emirates; secretary, Joan Barker, sales and marketing director of Inflight Productions; and treasurer, Linda Palmer, senior vice president of Buena Vista Non-Theatrical.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has delivered its first flight element for the International Space Station--computer hardware and software for the Data Management System (DMS-R)--to the Russian Space Agency. The element will be installed on the Russian Service Module, which is being built by RSC Energia, and is to be launched in December 1998.
Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers have patented a method of embedding information in the quantization noise of image files and other data, without increasing the size of the host file. The general technique is not new, but the Los Alamos approach does it without making the changes detectable. Noting that the eye can detect about 6 bits of information per pixel while many image files have 8 bits, researcher Ted Handel said the lower bits can be encoded covertly.
The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, is complaining that Japanese supercomputers are being excluded from the U.S. market by anti-dumping taxes that range from 173-454%. A recent report by Cato analyst Christopher Dumler said the practice ``demonstrates everything wrong with U.S. anti-dumping law.
Alicia Gardiner has become director of marketing, Dan Ciomek purchasing and inventory control manager and Robin Lemoine controller, all of Professional Aviation Associates of Atlanta. Gardiner was a sales representative. Ciomek was a regional sales manager for Raytheon Aircraft, and Lemoine was assistant controller of Banner Distribution Inc.
AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY has been testing a laser-propelled projectile and hopes to reach an altitude of 0.6 mi. in 18 months. A 10-kw. pulsed laser is aimed at a 6-in.-dia. aluminum craft, which is machined to focus the energy into an annular chamber where it bursts the air into a plasma, creating thrust. The craft weighs 40-50 grams and has risen 14 ft. vertically in 2-sec. gyroscopically-stabilized flights at the White Sands Missile Range, N.M. An orbital concept uses a ground-based laser to heat air while in the atmosphere, and an onboard gas when in space.
David Lamm has become chief financial officer of Interactive Entertainment, Memphis, Tenn. He was vice president-finance for information technology and capital investments of the McKesson Corp.
NASA's Ames Research Center is using ``adaptive fuzzy logic'' to improve the pitch axis response of the Gulfstream 2 Shuttle Training Aircraft. The key breakthrough is an algorithm developed by Ames project manager Hamid Berenji to automatically optimize the fuzzy logic controller, instead of the usual manual optimization.
Trans World Airlines Inc.'s future appears to be looking up, based on an encouraging third-quarter financial performance, but the carrier's weak cash position provides a sobering reminder of just how little margin TWA has for error. Also reporting third-quarter results last week was UAL Corp., parent company of United Airlines, which posted a 70% increase in net income to $579 million, or $5.61 a share.
Sabena Belgian World Airlines executives hope a Swissair-inspired recovery plan will pay off next year with a long-awaited financial turnaround. Last year, Sabena posted losses of BF8.31 billion ($218 million) on BF56.8 billion ($1.53 billion) in revenues. However, 1996's results included ample restructuring provisions that nearly doubled the company's losses.
Atlas Air Inc. is girding for the strong possibility that new 747-400s it has on order could be delayed 30-60 days because of the Boeing Co.'s production problems.
Wall Street is giving Boeing Co. the benefit of the doubt and buying into the notion that the company's production problems, although severe, are only temporary.
A laser jammer derivative of the U.S. Army's Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures, being developed at Lockheed Martin Sanders to protect fighter and attack jet aircraft from IR missile attack, is slated for flight test next June.
Alan L. Freece has become president/chief operating officer of Skydata Inc., Melbourne, Fla. He was vice president-business development of G.E. Capital Spacenet Services Inc., McLean, Va.
A new version of Free Flight simulation software will provide ground proximity warning system visual cues in the form of vertical red bars, in addition to its current moving map display. The FAA is using the program for research on controlled flight into terrain on two general aviation research simulators. Free Flight is also being used by members of the NASA Solar Pathfinder team to define user waypoints for flight planning purposes. Free Flight Inc., 975 N. Michillinda Ave., Pasadena, Calif. 91107.
During the next several months, U.S. airlines, aviation manufacturers and aircraft mechanics will maneuver to shape a debate in Congress on a bill that would revive restrictions on maintenance abroad of U.S.-registered aircraft. The bill, H.R. 145, represents more than a labor-industry turf battle. It addresses a loophole in the safety oversight system. At a time of clamoring for a decrease in commercial aviation accident rates, this bill should present a wake-up call for the FAA and industry. Still, it isn't the best way to close the loophole.
The U.S. Air Force is finally going to buy a number of air-launched decoys, to give the service a capability that was found unavailable but desperately needed to confuse and expose Iraqi air defenses during the 1991 Persian Gulf war. Visually, the new Miniature Air-Launched Decoy (MALD) looks like a small cruise missile. It's only 91 in. long and weighs just 89 lb. But once in the air and emitting, the MALD looks to an enemy radar like a fully loaded U.S. attack aircraft traveling at high speed toward some crucial, highly defended target.
The GV3 Vertical Honing Machine features variable spindle and stroking speeds to meet critical specifications required for aircraft landing gear and other applications. The machine can accommodate diameters of 0.5-12 in. and lengths up to 40 in. A control panel displays parameters such as rpm. speed, stroke speed, stroke position and cycle timer status to the operator. The spindle speed can be varied over a range of 0-500 rpm. The GV3 features a 5-hp. electric spindle drive and 10-hp. hydraulic drive motor. Sunnen Products Co., 7910 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, Mo.
The Pentagon has rejected a recent General Accounting Office recommendation that the Navy outfit its F/A-18C/D aircraft with ALE-50 towed decoys, developed by Raytheon E-Systems. The ALE-50 will be used on the Navy's next-generation F/A-18E/Fs until the more versatile ALE-55 fiber-optic towed decoy (FOTD), now under development by Lockheed Martin Sanders, enters production (see p. 52). Recent flight tests of the ALE-50 on an F/A-18E have revealed some decoy deployment problems, which Boeing/McDonnell is now working to resolve.
Raymond J. Rought, director of the Minnesota Aeronautics Office, has been elected chairman of the board of directors of the National Assn. of State Aviation Officials' Center for Aviation Research and Education. Kim J. Stevens, director of the Nebraska Aeronautics Dept. was elected treasurer. Other directors for 1998 will be Jack W. Ferns, director of the New Hampshire Aeronautics Div.; Maria Muia, manager of the Indiana Aeronautics Section; and John S. Penn, executive director of the New Jersey Aeronautics Div.
The EM-2701A Preselector has been improved to incorporate seven bandpass filters covering the frequency range of 9 KHz.-1 GHz., as well as a 1 GHz. highpass filter to 1.8 GHz. The unit is controlled by a built-in microprocessor but also can be controlled using an external computer via a rear-panel IEEE-488 interface bus connector. Input is keyed in using front-panel controls. The unit measures 3.5 in. X 12.9 in. X 17 in. Electro-Metrics Inc., 231 Enterprise Road, Johnstown, N.Y. 12095.
THE ALLIED PILOTS ASSN., which represents 9,000 American Airlines pilots, issued a resolution calling for development of four-dimensional (including time) cockpit displays for air transports. Aimed at preventing controlled-flight-into-terrain accidents, the displays would depict 3D terrain and a graphic presentation of the aircraft's flight path. A composite moving image would be generated from a terrain database, as well as air data and navigation sensor inputs.
