General Electric and Pratt&Whitney are optimistic that full-scale versions of their HSCT combustor designs will meet the program's stringent emissions criteria. Current guidelines call for HSCT engines to generate no more than 5 grams of oxides of nitrogen per kilogram of fuel burned. The combustor also is to demonstrate a 99.9% efficiency at supersonic cruise and a 99% efficiency at other steady-state operating conditions. The HSCT powerplant team--NASA, GE and Pratt--is expected to select one preferred combustor approach by next May.
U.S. researchers are examining a wide variety of new materials to meet the stringent emission, noise and durability requirements needed to develop a propulsion system for the High-Speed Civil Transport (HSCT). Ceramic matrix composites are being investigated for the engine's combustor and exhaust nozzle. Gamma titanium aluminides may be used as nozzle flap materials, and advanced superalloys appear destined for compressor and turbine disks.
Flight Dynamics of Portland, Ore., is proposing the integration of infrared sensor imagery on its commercial head-up guidance systems for improved pilot situational awareness during climb and descent phases of flight. The technology adapts easily to the company's wide-view, stroke/ raster HGS systems and would boost safety for flights operating in mountainous regions and to remote runways, particularly during circling approaches.
Fabrication is underway on the Hyper-X program in preparation for a Mach 7 flight test of the air-breathing aircraft, scheduled to be conducted in mid-1999 on the Western Test Range. Hyper-X is a NASA propulsion demonstration program intended to validate design tools which could be used in the future for development of hypersonic propulsion technology and air vehicles.
Some airlines awaiting new Boeing jets during the next 6-12 months may be operating on the knife's edge until the aircraft builder eliminates acute supply-chain bottlenecks. Major U.S. carriers that have placed sizable orders don't seem alarmed. However, the financial and logistical impact of even a single late delivery can be substantial, so the cooperative mood of the industry could wear thin if problems persist longer than expected.
David Smukowski has been appointed deputy president of FlightSafety Boeing International of Seattle, the joint venture between FlightSafety International and Boeing. He was director of business strategy and development for Boeing Enterprises.
Louis J. Churchville (see photos) has been appointed senior vice president-marketing and Kevin Worley vice president-airline sales for Signature Flight Support, Orlando, Fla.
The success of American Airlines' Advanced Maneuvering Program (AMP) is prompting interest by other major U.S. and international carriers to have American present the one-day program to their pilots or develop a similar course of their own. In response to the increasing levels of cockpit automation, AMP is aimed at increasing a pilot's knowledge of transport aircraft aerodynamics, honing basic flying skills for recovering from unexpected upsets and extracting maximum performance from the aircraft to avoid accidents.
Japanese officials attending the International Astronautical Federation conference in Turin, Italy, last week said they are all for multinational cooperation, but gently suggested that the NASA-led International Space Station is not a good model. One senior Japanese executive said Tokyo's ``rigid'' government bureaucrats have been driven nearly crazy by the failure of the other station partners to stick to their financial and design commitments. No one in Japan can understand why the U.S. Congress debates the merits of the program year after year.
Western Pacific Airlines continued to operate a normal schedule last week after filing for protection under U.S. bankruptcy laws while it searches for capital from new investor groups.
Henry Ma has become general manager for Hong Kong for United Airlines' Pacific South Div. He succeeds Barry Bergmann, who has resigned. Chris Lin has been named general manager for China, succeeding Robert Copeland, who has become general manager for Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport project. David Solloway is now general manager for India, succeeding Richard Snyder, who is retiring, and Bruce Kerr has become manager for marketing and sales.
The natives are restless. The 30-year moratorium on all things progressive in aeronautics is showing cracks, and once again the prophets and soothsayers are daring to forecast a bright future. Aviation Week&Space Technology wants to know what to expect.
THE AVIATION WEEK GROUP HAS BEEN NAMED to receive two prestigious awards next month. The Airport Consultants Council, based in Alexandria, Va., has named the division of The McGraw-Hill Companies as winner of its 1997 Aviation Award of Excellence. The Aviation Week Group is being honored for the significant contribution it makes to the commercial aviation business by virtue of its diligent, in-depth and respected reporting.
The U.S. Navy has the AGM-154A Joint Stand Off Weapon (JSOW) ready for operations nine months early. The Raytheon/ Texas Instruments' product is a glide bomb that allows F/A-18 pilots to launch weapons outside the range of most anti-aircraft weapons. Depending on launch altitude, this could be 12-40 naut. mi. from the target. Following successful operational tests in June, the Navy opted to keep six extra test JSOWs on board the U.S.S. Nimitz for training and operational contingencies rather than return them to the company.
NASA is throwing its support behind a proposal to rescind an 11-year-old presidential edict and a provision in U.S. law that virtually prohibits the space shuttle from carrying commercial satellites into orbit. The policy reversals are being pushed by United Space Alliance (USA), the venture that manages shuttle operations, as part of a plan it has begun to develop with NASA to completely privatize the shuttle in five years.
BOULLIOUN AVIATION SERVICES has purchased three 737-300 transports from Boeing. The Bellevue, Wash.-based leasing company now has a total of 20 737s in service or on order. The company is a subsidiary of Japan's Sumitomo Trust.
SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT HAS COMPLETED FIRST FLIGHT of the CH-60 helicopter, a Black Hawk derivative that could replace aging CH-46s in service with the U.S. Navy. Sikorsky pilot Bob Spaulding and copilot Chris Geanacopoulos made the 15-min. first flight from Sikorsky's Stratford, Conn., facility on Oct. 6. During the flight, the crew performed basic aircraft controllability tests and conducted several minutes of ``up and away'' flying, including forward and side-to-side flight. Maximum altitude reached was about 1,000 ft.
THE NEW UNMANNED Progress M-36 resupply spacecraft docked with the Mir station Oct. 8. The Progress carried a second new computer to Mir along with additional water and maneuvering propellant. Operations to dock M-36 with Mir had to be delayed for a day when the old Progress M-35 vehicle failed to undock properly because the station's crew accidentally left a retention device in place. The new Progress arrived two days after the space shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center ending its 11-day mission to the station.
THE FAA HAS APPROVED Part 135 single-engine commercial operations under instrument flight rules for the Pilatus PC-12 turboprop. Pilatus expects to see an improvement in sales as a result. Increased interest is coming from medical services, cargo and charter carriers, as well as regional airlines (AW&ST June 2, p. 56).
Airlines throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia are launching a 2.5-year program to survey their aircraft for flawed components that could cause a fuel-tank explosion like the one that destroyed TWA Flight 800. The program calls for carriers to do detailed inspections of fuel systems in about 2,000 aircraft during previously scheduled heavy maintenance visits and to report their findings to a central coordinating group that will compare the results and alert operators to any potential problems that are uncovered.
