The growing popularity of ultra-long-haul business jets looks to be a bonanza for specialty equipment manufacturers. International Water-Guard Industries' new lightweight NPS-A3 aircraft on-board water treatment system is being offered as a standard option on new Gulfstream 5 and Bombardier Global Express business jets. It uses ultraviolet light to neutralize waterborne bacteria. Sales of the Vancouver, British Columbia-based company's NPS-A2 model have increased 50% this year, according to David Fox, company vice president of marketing.
In a validation of the industry consolidation remaining among lower-tier aerospace suppliers, BFGoodrich Co. expects to acquire Rohr Inc. within the next 3-4 months. The transaction, which was announced last week, is valued at about $1.3 billion and includes the assumption of about $425 million of Rohr debt. The merger will be implemented through a tax-free stock swap, and will be subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has begun drawing up plans for a new generation of signal intelligence satellites that will be smaller, more numerous and likely fly in low orbits.
To burn up in Earth's atmosphere after three weeks of futile attempts by NASA and TRW engineers to regain control of the spinning spacecraft (AW&ST Sept. 1, p. 31). The 890-lb. remote sensing technology satellite was on course to reenter the atmosphere around Sept. 27. NASA officials said that because of its small size and low mass, Lewis would probably burn up completely on reentry. A review board was established last week to determine what caused the spacecraft to go into a spin three days following its Aug. 22 launch.
The more than 24,000 people attending the National Business Aviation Assn.'s 50th annual convention last week exhibited an unprecedented level of optimism for the long-term future of business aviation. Vendors, manufacturers and operators displayed an unusually high level of confidence in business flying that has not been seen in the past 20 years, according to NBAA officials. A report compiled by AlliedSignal Aerospace and released at the show projects a $60-billion market for as many as 5,300 new business jets during the next 10 years.
Are opening a joint avionics test center to be operated by Russian technicians at Moscow's Shermetyevo Airport this year. First repair of the LCD vertical speed indicator avionics in the company's TCAS will grow to include electronic displays, flight control and central maintenance systems.
Have suspended the launch campaign for the Ariane 5 qualification flight (V502), begun on June 16, pending the completion of further verifications. The decision, which followed a successful countdown rehearsal earlier in September, was taken on Sept. 26. One series of checks involves the flight program software, which was to be qualified around Sept. 27-28, but will now take two additional weeks.
The SAirGroup, Swissair's parent company, recently concluded partnership agreements with TAP/Air Portugal and AOM, a French independent carrier. Swissair and TAP are scheduled to code-share flights and combine frequent-flier programs. The Swissair-AOM agreement is expected to involve code-share flights and joint marketing efforts, according to SAirGroup officials.
The purchase of fractional ownerships in business aircraft is rapidly becoming an affordable alternative to acquisition of new business aircraft, and provides customers with significantly more time and travel flexibility than scheduled airline service.
For NASA's Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) was completed by a team of Kodak engineers working at a TRW facility in Redondo Beach, Calif. Set for launch on the space shuttle next August, AXAF will be the third of NASA's orbiting ``great observatories,'' joining the Hubble Space Telescope and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. From its highly elliptical orbit, the TRW-built AXAF is expected to be able to detect X-ray sources 100 times fainter and produce images 10 times sharper than any previously flown X-ray telescope.
Rep. Connie Morella (R-Md.) reached out and touched new FAA Administrator Jane Garvey. The suburban representative said she was concerned about the antique equipment that controllers at National Airport must use. National's aging radar system conked out two days in a row before Labor Day. The agency does plan to replace the 25-year-old ASR-7 radar with an ASR-9 next year. But the agency was saying, sorry, National is still No.
Scheduled international flights to and from Montreal have been transferred back to Montreal Dorval Airport from less convenient Mirabel Airport. Aeroports de Montreal (ADM) will refocus Mirabel, located about 45 min. northwest of the city, on international charter and cargo services. Built in 1973, Mirabel has been operating at a little more than one-third of its 6-million-passenger capacity.
A14-year-old Air Force/Lockheed F-117A stealth aircraft disintegrated during an air show pass near Baltimore, crashing into a house after a falling leaf descent. The pilot ejected and sustained minor injuries. About a dozen bystanders also suffered minor injuries.
Nesa Hassanein has been named senior vice president/general counsel of Atlas Air Inc., Golden, Colo. She was a partner in the Denver law firm of Morrison and Foerster.
Configuration management software system to computerize what was originally a manual system. For the past six years the company has been transitioning all of its missile programs, including the ASRAAM, to the automated system. Starting with manual processes and procedures already in place for systems in production is more difficult than using the software from the start, as Lockheed Martin did on the F-22 (AW&ST Oct. 30, 1995, p. 58).
Bill C. Tankersley (see photo) has been appointed senior vice president-technology and operations of Mobile Communications Holdings Inc. of Washington. He was vice president-business development of CTA Space and Telecommunications Systems, McLean, Va.
David M. Boaz (see photos) has been named vice president-flight operations and Lyn F. Anzai vice president/general counsel/corporate secretary of Hawaiian Airlines. Boaz was managing director for China for Delta Air Lines, and Anzai was senior counsel for the Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate.
Of the Loran-C navigation system in 2000, as called for in the 1996 Federal Radionavigation Plan, is under review. Under a congressional mandate, the Transportation Dept. is assessing the technical merits of extending service beyond that time and cost/benefits of such an action. Booz Allen&Hamilton, hired as a consultant, hosted one user conference early this month and is soliciting factual comments, preferably with verifiable references, on any technical, operational or economic issues. Use and type of aircraft or platform should be identified.
NASA and the Russian Space Agency are going on the offensive to show the Mir space station is safe, in a move to garner support for continued U.S. astronaut flights to the damaged orbiting base. The initiative is designed to counter congressional criticism that has peaked, just as NASA this week prepares to launch the space shuttle Atlantis to Mir.
A new startup airline in the U.K. is set to launch scheduled services this week between the southern coast of England and Scotland. Euroscot Express will initially operate a daily service with a BAC 1-11 aircraft between Bournemouth and Glasgow. Another weekend service, between Bournemouth and Edinburgh, is planned by Euroscot Express chief executive Jack Romero, the entrepreneur who established British Mediterranean Airlines in 1994.
Recent lease placements by International Lease Finance Corp. include a new Boeing 737-500 transport to Rio Sul, of Brazil, and a 757-200ER to British charter startup carrier Flying Colours. China's Xinjiang Airlines also leased a 757-200 from Los Angeles-based ILFC. It will be based in Urumqi, China. Swissair leased two new ILFC Airbus A321-200s and one A320-200.
Dean Crawford has become group vice president-human resources of the Menasco Aerospace Div. of Coltec Industries, Charlotte, N.C. He was director of human resources and administration of the North- rop Grumman Commercial Aircraft Div.
Airlines expect 6.6% average annual passenger growth on international routes from 1997-2001, when 563 million scheduled passengers are expected to fly, according to the latest passenger traffic forecast from the International Air Transport Assn. As expected, the most significant growth will be in Northeast and Southeast Asia, but lower South America will also be in the spotlight in the next five years. For years, IATA's members have forecast that Asia will account for more than half of all international traffic by 2014, and the latest survey does not alter that view.
