Researchers at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, have flown a small, proof-of-concept ``dirigible'' unmanned aerial vehicle. Potential uses include economical aerial surveillance, remote sensing, mapping and hazardous site monitoring, according to Pavel Haintz, engineering team head, and Andrew Rawicz, faculty adviser. The remotely controlled, lighter-than-air vehicle, approximately 9 ft. across when fully inflated, uses four variable-speed electric thrusters for horizontal and vertical control. The 26-lb. airship can carry a 19-lb.
Are confident that the second attempt to launch the Ariane 5 heavy lift rocket will take place later this month. The launch campaign for flight 502, which began on June 16 , is ``going smoothly and according to schedule,'' European Space Agency Launch Director Frederik Engstrom said in Kourou, French Guiana last week. Engstrom said all checks on the launch vehicle itself had been completed. The booster was scheduled to undergo a full dress rehearsal on the launch pad on Sept. 4 before being moved to the final assembly building to receive its payload.
Angel Technologies Corp. of St. Louis has unveiled the design of an aircraft it plans to use as a platform for 24-hr.-per-day broadband microwave communications for corporate networks and Internet service providers. Dubbed Halo (High Altitude Long Operation), the 90-ft.-wing-span, dual turbofan-powered aircraft was designed by Burt Rutan and his team at Scaled Composites. First flight is expected by mid-1998. The 18-ft.-wide, large-aperture, high-power communications pod attached to the ventral side will weigh about 1,800 lb. On station at 52,000-60,000 ft. for 8 hr.
Northwest Mettech, Richmond, British Columbia, has refined the plasma thermal spray process with a new axial injection plasma torch. The technique, originally developed at the University of British Columbia, injects metal powders and coating materials directly into the center of the plasma jet. This promotes higher deposition efficiencies and powder feed rates while reducing detrimental oxygen entrainment. The technology also cuts job times and production costs.
Olympic Airways is moving ahead with fleet modernization plans in expectation of receiving final approval next month from the European Commission for loan guarantees and the last two installments of state aid conditionally approved in 1994.
The average U.S. corporate flight department flew 800 passengers during the past half year, according to a Harris poll commissioned by the National Business Aviation Assn., Washington. The survey, which interviewed 356 business aircraft passengers as well as chief pilots, found companies using one aircraft averaged 425 passengers over the same time period and those with multiple aircraft flew 1,400 travelers.
The German government in mid-October is scheduled to sell out its stake in Lufthansa German Airlines. The carrier's strong traffic growth and healthy profits are expected to facilitate the long-waited transaction.
Roxanne S. Austin has become chief financial officer of the Hughes Electronics Corp. of Los Angeles. She succeeds Charles H. Noski, who is now executive vice president/chief financial officer of the United Technologies Corp. Austin was corporate senior vice president/treasurer/controller.
Steven Tracas has been named vice president-sales and Martin White vice president-programs and services for US Airways. Tracas was managing director of passenger sales for the Western U.S. for American Airlines, and White was senior vice president of Brierley and Partners of Chicago.
Garrett Aviation Services is field-testing an extended maintenance service plan for owners and operators of new Dassault Falcon Jet business jets. Called the Total Aircraft Service Plan, the program will cover all scheduled and unscheduled maintenance for up to six years with one predictable monthly, periodic or annual payment. Enrollment could begin as early as this month. As envisioned, operators will be allowed to select from various levels of coverage or request a plan tailored to their needs.
The U.S. is poised to launch $2 billion in new military spacecraft this fall including an upgraded Lockheed Martin Lacrosse imaging radar and a massive Hughes ``Trumpet'' signal intelligence (sigint) spacecraft with an eavesdropping antenna about the size of a football field. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) missions, set for launch by October or early November, involve the two largest military spacecraft operated by the U.S.
(MGS) has performed its last trajectory correction maneuver prior to the spacecraft's planned orbit insertion around Mars Sept. 11. The 11-sec. burn, which occurred at 9:30 a.m. PDT Aug. 25, changed the spacecraft's velocity by about 0.3 meters/sec. (0.67 mph.). MGS will perform a 22-min. burn with its main engine when the spacecraft arrives at the planet in order to slow sufficiently to be captured in orbit around Mars.
A Russian delegation recently proposed opening air routes from the U.S. to Asia over the North Pole and Siberia, which could save as much as 3 hr. of flight time and gain overflight revenue for Russia. Since the new routes would also pass over China, Chinese authorities would have to agree to the plan, but gaining their acquiescence would probably take longer than resolving technical problems.
Raymond P. Urtz, director of the USAF's Rome (N.Y.) Laboratory, has been named director of the Information Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory, which will be in Rome.
200 employees from its 767 transport line to 747 manufacturing to alleviate production delays and head off potential late deliveries. The company also is exploring options that would bring in additional workfloor and training resources, new production and business processes and adjust internal work schedules, Bob Dryden, executive vice president of production for the Boeing Commercial Aircraft Group, said.
Loretta L. Dunn (see photo) has become corporate vice president-government affairs for the Hughes Electronics Co., Arlington, Va. She was vice president-trade and commercial policy. Dunn succeeds William D. Merritt, who has retired. David Henderson has been named vice president-corporate and international affairs for Edelman Public Relations Worldwide of Washington. He was director of corporate communications and advertising for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga.
The U.S. Defense Dept.'s space architect is assessing how differently the military services would utilize space assets if their satellites could be launched ``on demand'' in a matter of days or weeks.
Terry A. Graham has been appointed chief operating officer of the Allison Engine Co. of Indianapolis. He was executive vice president-business operations.
Recent rock measurements on the surface of Mars have supported what was a surprising finding early in the Pathfinder mission and have set off discussions among scientists over what appears to be a second type of rock at the spacecraft's landing site in an ancient flood plain.
Pilot hiring in July remained ``brisk,'' according to Air Inc., the Atlanta-based pilot career services firm. The month's 904 new pilot hires brought 1997's total (through July) to 6,734; the majors accounted for 305; the national carriers, 242; jet operators, 177; non-jet (regionals) operators, 136, and startups/others, 44. But there is no magic qualifications formula that guarantees a slot at the airlines, according to Air Inc.
The individuals who run ValuJet Airlines have yet to come to terms with the crash of Flight 592 in the Florida Everglades. The two other parties identified by the National Transportation Safety Board as contributors to that crash--SabreTech and the FAA--have admitted to at least some mistakes in the chain of errors that led to the May 11, 1996, crash. Other airlines and some repair stations absorbed the lessons of that crash. They have intensified control over maintenance performed under contract and supervision of noncertificated mechanics, respectively.
Mike Farge has been named managing director of Singapore-based Meggitt Asia Pacific. He was group director of marketing at Meggitt. Richard Needham, former minister of state at the U.K. Trade and Industry Dept., has been named a special adviser.
Robert P. Emge has been appointed vice president/general manager for CTS' crystal and oscillator product operations, Sandwich, Ill. He was general manager of AMP Circuits, Riverhead, N.Y.
Electrical power has begun flowing again from the solar arrays on the damaged Spektr module into the overall Mir space station, indicating the Aug. 22 internal extravehicular activity by two Mir cosmonauts to reconnect power was successful.
