KLM Royal Dutch Airlines plans to take over full control of British carrier Air UK. KLM, which already owns 45% of Air UK and its engineering subsidiary, has reached an agreement to purchase the remaining 55% from British Air Transport Holdings. Air UK would continue to operate as an independent airline under the deal, which is subject to European Commission approval. The two airlines have been collaborating since 1980, with Air UK now operating feeder flights from 14 cities in the U.K. to KLM's hub in Amsterdam.
Peter Wright, Jr., chief executive officer of the Keystone Helicopter Corp., has been elected treasurer of the Alexandria, Va.-based Helicopter Assn. International. Elling B. Halvorson, chairman/CEO of Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters, has been appointed assistant treasurer and Paul H. Schwiezer, president of the Schwiezer Aircraft Co., airframe representative on the board of directors.
A final ruling by the FAA mandates major changes in the number of parameters monitored by flight data recorders on new and existing transport aircraft, and calls for a retrofit of the U.S. fleet with the upgraded units by 2001. In general, the regulation will require new transport category aircraft to have flight data recorders (FDRs) capable of monitoring a minimum of 88 parameters, and recorders used in older jets must increase parameters to 17 or 18 from the current 11 channels.
Official Pakistani sources confirm the successful firing of the Hatf 3 medium-range ballistic missile, which Indian defense planners claim has sufficient range to hit all of northwestern India, plus some parts of the central subcontinent.
John J. Sheehan has become secretary-general of the International Council of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assns., based in Frederick, Md. He succeeds Steven J. Brown, who now heads the National Aeronautic Assn. Sheehan was a consultant with Phaneuf Associates of Washington.
Photograph: Vela satellites' optical and EMP sensors detected a South African nuclear test in 1979, but data were dismissed by the White House. A South African government official has confirmed that his nation detonated a nuclear weapon in the atmosphere in September, 1979, vindicating data from a then-aging Vela satellite and bolstering arguments for carrying detectors on board new GPS spacecraft. Eighteen years after the event, an admission by Aziz Pahad, South African deputy foreign minister, ended a controversy that pitted U.S.
The U.S. Air Force is testing a sophisticated new satellite-tracking telescope, a 3.67-meter system that ranks as one of the world's largest. Located at the Maui Space Surveillance Complex, it was unveiled early this month.
Columbia Helicopters has added a sixth Boeing 234 Chinook to its heavy-lift fleet. The Aurora, Ore.-based company will use the helicopter, which can heft up to 28,000-lb. sling loads, for its North American logging operations, where one CH-234 already is employed. Columbia's other four Chinooks continue to perform oil exploration work, with two in Indonesia and the others in Peru and Papua New Guinea. Columbia also operates 15 Boeing Vertol 107s and has three more Chinooks in its inactive fleet.
DARPA's Rapid Design Exploration and Optimization Program (RADEO), Boeing and Arizona State University's Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering Dept. are using Oracle Corp.'s new Oracle8 Network Computing (NC) database in a two-year beta test, or trial run, to assess its potential for increased efficiency for geometric design and static stress analysis.
Photograph: Tooling to build the Model 206 Stationair is being installed, and construction of the first aircraft began this month. Cessna's single-engine production facility currently employs between 850-900 people, and is scheduled to reach 1,000 workers by the end of this year to handle increasing demand for new Skyhawk and Skylane aircraft. Contractors finished construction of the complex, which cost $40 million, on July 3, 1996, and Cessna began moving in tooling and equipment within two weeks.
Richard D. Stafford has been promoted to manager of simulation and scheduling services from senior simulation analyst for AutoSimulations Inc., Bountiful, Utah. He assumes this role from Matthew Rohrer, who is vice president-product management.
Has added two correspondents to its news team to expand its coverage in the Asia-Pacific region. They will cover Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia from their bases in Australia.
$100,000 in getting Russian certification for its G4-SP, the first American business jet to be certified in Russia. The company used a commercial, validated mechanical system simulation software program from Computer Aided Design Software Inc. of Coralville, Iowa, to prove the ability of the G4-SP's landing gear to safely operate on rough Russian runways.
Has introduced a Windows-based business software program for flight school managers. Modules include point-of-sale, inventory, preflight dispatch, pilot and aircraft data tracking. The program also can import and export data directly to QuickBooks or PeachTree accounting software packages. Pilot reports include biannual flight reviews, medicals due and currency requirements.
Altech Defence Systems has selected Virtual Prototypes' VPI simulation software suite for projects by the South African army, navy and air force. VIP includes suites useful in flight simulation for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.
Stephen Lynch has become vice president-international special mission Hawker deliveries for Raytheon Aircraft, Wichita, Kan. He was production director for Hawker aircraft assembly in the U.K.
Aztex Inc., of Waltham, Mass., is transitioning to the manufacturing stage of a low-cost, low-weight process that fastens most composite materials using tiny fiber rods and ultrasonic pressure. The room-temperature technique, called Z-fiber, produces joints that are stronger and more damage tolerant than conventional fasteners, according to Glenn Freitas, company vice president. The technology places a preformed foam carrier mat filled with hundreds of fiber pins over the composite surfaces to be joined.
Nanjing, China's historic ``southern'' capital, opened its $277-million Lukou International Airport earlier this month. First- phase construction began two years ago and succeeded in building an 11,800-ft. runway, 990,000-sq.-ft. passenger terminal and 72,100-sq.-ft. air freight terminal for the opening, according to the official China Daily. It replaces the Dajiao Airport. First-year capacity is to be 8.6 million passengers and 119,800 metric tons of freight. When second-phase construction is completed, a second runway, 13,120 ft.
Jean-Paul Bechat, president/chief executive officer of Snecma, has been elected president of the GIFAS French aerospace industries association. He succeeeds Serge Dassault, chairman/CEO of Dassault Aviation.
Microvision of Seattle will deliver a virtual retinal display technology demonstrator to Boeing's Defense and Space Group next month. The lightweight, helmet-mounted single-eye system uses scanning, low-power lasers to ``paint'' rows of pixels on the wearer's retina, creating a high-resolution, full-color image, according to A.J. Yarmie, Microvision aerospace marketing manager. The VRD will be integrated with a Boeing simulation testbed with flight and various other imagery to be evaluated.
Unhappy with the FAA's use of its emergency authority to revoke pilot certificates, Sen. James Inhofe (R.-Okla.) and Rep. Elton Gallegly (R.-Calif.) are sponsoring a bill to curb the ``unbridled abuse of power.'' Inhofe, an active pilot and flight instructor, said the FAA uses its emergency revocation power when circumstances ``do not support such drastic action.'' The bill would give pilots two days to request an expedited hearing before the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB would then have seven days to decide if the action was justified.
To begin giving away its flagship product, the Satellite Tool Kit software. The software has thousands of features designed to help engineer, build and operate spacecraft, such as calculating how big solar panels should be by determining how long a satellite will be in shadows. The company has sold 1,500 copies of the software since 1992 at $10,000 a pop. But Analytical President and CEO Paul Graziani believes giving it away will greatly increase market penetration, thus spurring sales of ``add-on'' products that will more than offset the revenue loss.
Photograph: Consolidation is expected to strengthen Europe's research and development effort. An Aerospatiale 1,000-passenger ``flying wing'' transport concept is depicted in rendering. The French government has formally terminated plans to privatize Thomson-CSF despite vigorous calls from top European industry officials for the rapid privatization of state-controlled aerospace/defense companies.
