Joseph Sutter, Kenneth F. Holtby, Everette Webb and Robert A. Davis, four engineers who designed the Boeing 747, have been awarded the third Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Aerospace Prize, at the final Sion (Switzerland) Air Show. The prize is named in memory of Francois-Xavier Bagnoud, a pilot who participated in more than 300 helicopter rescue missions in the Alps in addition to his flying duties with Air Glaciers, the rescue and mountain flying company owned by his father.
Jeff Kerridge has become director of defense/intelligence programs within the Government Operations Dept., John E. Lee international channel sales manager and Cindy Peck director of product engineering, at Earthwatch Inc., Longmont, Colo.
The Cockpit Headset Interface Panel allows pilots to use Teledyne Controls' MagnaStar phone system without removing their headsets. CHIP allows remote dialing. Pilots can switch back and forth between the phone mode and normal headset operation at the touch of a button. The new panel replaces the identically sized C-118 Flitefone cockpit controller. Teledyne Controls Business&Commuter Avionics, 8414 154th Ave. N.E., Redmond, Wash. 98052.
Valley Metals has developed a technique for single-seam welding of perforated Alloy 625 cones and Hastelloy X tubes while maintaining their dimensional integrity. The cones were made of 0.020-in.-thick Alloy 625 for use in the aft end of a turbine engine nacelle in order to reduce noise emissions. The Hastelloy X parts, measuring 0.035 in. thick, were used in an engine hot section. Valley Metals, P.O. Box 1111, El Cajon, Calif. 92022-1111.
This Weather Radar Test Set is designed to automate the process of testing Rockwell Collins' standard and Forward Looking Windshear weather radar units, reducing evaluation time from 8 hr. to 1 hr. or less. The automated system eliminates the RS-232 terminal previously used to access the maintenance data port on the radar. Instead, the operator uses an interface on the host controller. Pacific Avionics, 8640 154th Ave. N.E., Redmond, Wash. 98052-3556.
Illustration: Graph: 1996 Revenue Lockheed Martin's proposed acquisition of Northrop Grumman will culminate the consolidation among U.S. top-tier contractors and set the stage for an intense rivalry with Boeing--effectively creating a U.S. Aerospace East versus a U.S. Aerospace West. Of course, that's assuming the $11.6-billion transaction receives the necessary regulatory approvals, including Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust review. The deal was announced July 3, the day after the Justice Dept.
Photograph: U.S. Air Force F-15s and Navy F/A-18s that carry upgraded AIM-120 Amraam and AIM-9X air-to-air weapons will form the final line of defense against small, stealthy land-attack cruise missiles. JIM HASELTINE U.S. Air Force officials say that, without question, there is a looming cruise missile threat to allied forces. As ballistic missile defenses are stiffened with new sensors and weaponry, potential foes will turn to developing cheap, hard-to-detect cruise missiles as a way to renew their military might in confrontations with the U.S.
Kent E. Hutchinson has been appointed senior vice president of the Kaman Corp., Bloomfield, Conn. He was president of the Norden Systems subsidiary of the Northrop Grumman Corp.
This new series of annunciators uses light emitting diode technology to provide high brightness while generating very low levels of heat. They are designed primarily as replacements for T13/4 incandescent lamps in aerospace and defense applications. The annunciators are available in all LED colors, including white and high-brightness green. TEC Electrical Components Ltd., Progress Way, Enfield, Middlesex EN1 1UZ, England.
The COMPstation U2300 is a 64-bit workstation with two 300-MHz. microprocessors. It is compatible with the Sun Ultra 2 line of workstations and servers running the Sun Solaris operating system. Standard features include 128 megabytes of RAM, a 4-gigabyte hard drive, a 2-gigabyte external cache, choice of graphics cards and a 20-in. monitor. Tatung Science&Technology Inc., 1840 McCarthy Blvd., Milpitas, Calif. 95035.
Photograph: JPL microrover performs first chemical analysis of a Martian rock. Spectrometer is touching ``Barnacle Bill'' but obscured by solar arrays in this first view of the work. Pathfinder scientists are beginning to question some generally held beliefs about crust melting cycles at Mars, based on the first analysis, performed while on the planet, of a Martian rock. The scientists were responding to data provided by the Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) during the microrover's first measurement of a rock on the Pathfinder mission.
Vincent F. Gallagher has been appointed vice president-Eastern sales for Emery Worldwide, Newark, N.J. He succeeds Gerard Trimarco, who has been named to direct Emery's U.S. Postal Service contract. Gallagher was director of the pharmaceutical and health care group.
The air transport industry convened a broad meeting last week in Seattle to devise a united response to the NTSB's recommendations to reduce flammability inside fuel tanks.
This year's Aerospace North America, formerly known as Airshow Canada, is expecting more than 15,000 trade visitors. The Aug. 6-10 show, located in Abbotsford, British Columbia, near Vancouver, has scheduled two trade days, Aug. 6-7. There will be more than 500 exhibitors plus related civil aerospace and defense conferences, according to Canadian government officials. To attract neighboring Washington State's large aerospace workforce, the Canadian Consulate is offering courtesy bus service from Renton and Everett for the first trade day.
Illustration: Diagram: C-17 On-Board Nitrogen-Generating System Boeing is studying new-technology nitrogen inerting systems based on F-22 fighter practice, in its response to the NTSB recommendation to preclude explosive fuel-air mixtures from fuel tanks. Prior tests and studies of inerting systems have concluded that they are not worth the expense, performance penalties and maintenance headaches. It is not yet known how the latest devices fare under this scrutiny.
Photograph: Canada's Airborne APT system lets aircraft capture satellite imagery inexpensively. The editors of Aviation Week&Space Technology assembled a panel of 16 judges to select winners of the first Technology Innovation Awards. The judges' expertise ranges from materials to avionics. They represent the military, commercial and space sectors. Some are pilots, while others are engineers or have decades of experience in aircraft maintenance. The judges were: Ronald A.
Photograph: A plate with plugs on either side (yellow) will be installed on docking cone (brown). Cables from Spektr will be attached to front of plate, while cables from Mir core will be attached to back. Cone will be placed in node hatch. The emergency repair of the Mir station scheduled to begin late this week is now expected by Russian managers to recover only about 20% of the electrical power lost during its space collision. This will leave the orbital base somewhat short of power for normal operations even if the repair is successful.
The MFC050 is a ruggedized navigation and communications computer with a sunlight-readable, active matrix liquid crystal diode 5-in. diagonal screen. Applications include GPS navigation, engine monitoring and servicing as a weather map and radar display. The device uses an Intel microprocessor and runs on Microsoft Windows NT. Electronic Designs Inc., 1 Research Drive, Westborough, Mass. 01581.
Bob D. Hanks has been promoted to group vice president from vice president-engineering, quality assurance and environmental compliance, and Gene L. Harbula to senior vice president-corporate marketing and communications from vice president-government marketing and corporate communications, of the Sabreliner Corp. of St. Louis.
Virgin Atlantic Airways has signed a five-year maintenance contract with British Midland Airways. The latter airline's recently established subsidiary, BM Engineering Ltd., will perform maintenance checks on Virgin Atlantic's fleet of 20 Boeing 747 and Airbus A340 aircraft at its Heathrow facility. In a poke at rival British Airways, Virgin has decided to incorporate the Union Jack into its livery. BA is eliminating the British flag on its tailfins in favor of artistic images from around the world.
The FineCut laser system is designed to cut slots, rectangles and holes as small as 0.01 in. in materials ranging from stainless steel to Teflon, as well as acrylics and high-temperature polymers. The system includes a sealed carbon-dioxide laser with average power of up to 250 w. and a linear, motor-based laser positioning system. The system is accurate in the X and Y axes with 0.0002 in. and within 0.001 in. in the Z axis. Lumonics, Eden Prairie Operations, 6690 Shady Oak Road, Eden Prairie, Minn. 55344.
Photograph: Galaxy Scientific's ECOS-3 luggage container prototype passed an FAA blast test. A number of technologies have the potential to provide major benefits to the aerospace industry. Some are on the market now, while others are either in development or attainable in the future. Among those cited by the TIA judges are: -- Superconducting antennas. These would allow use of smaller antennas and improve performance. -- More efficient solar cells.
Photograph: The lander is cocooned inside four six-lobe airbags. The inner bladders are covered with four loose layers of protective fabric. Mars Pathfinder's airbag was developed using classic test-analyze-fix methods and went through about 30 design iterations to meet stringent abrasion requirements at the lightest weight. The airbag was designed and built by ILC Dover in conjunction with JPL. ``It was trial and error and intuition,'' said Tommaso P. Rivellini, the JPL airbag designer.
