Photograph: At Paris-Orly airport, Air France Europe's main domestic hub, La Navette (the shuttle) has dedicated passenger check-in facilities and gates. FREDERIC LERT Air France's high-frequency shuttle services, inaugurated late last year, are operating smoothly despite traffic congestion at Paris-Orly airport. The French flag carrier's Airbus twinjets carry an average 15,000 passengers per day on the domestic route system's three busiest city-pairs.
Eight bidders have filed tenders to purchase a 50% stake in Germany's Dusseldorf Airport in a transaction that could have profound repercussions for the European airport system. The other 50%, held by the city of Dusseldorf, is not for sale.
Wendy Mann has become director of communications for APICS--The Educational Society for Resource Management, Falls Church, Va. She was vice president-government and public relations of the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives.
Photograph: CFM56-7s are being used in the latest versions of the Boeing 737. The powerplant has increased reliability and reduced maintenance requirements. These features are now being emphasized by airline customers as carriers attempt to boost profitability. The pressures on airlines to cut costs and operate profitably have prompted commercial engine makers to deemphasize powerplant performance and to refocus design efforts on reducing the cost of buying, operating and owning aviation gas turbines.
The DM-365X is a digital ultraviolet radiometer for measuring in the 340-400 nanometer range. Manufacturer Spectroline says the device is reliable within 5% over its measurement range of 0-19,990 milliwatts/sq. cm. The 1-lb. meter is calibrated by pyroelectric methods and runs on four ``AA'' alkaline or nicad batteries. The sensor head is connected to the digital readout by a 2-ft. cord. The unit meets MiL-Std-1949A and MiL-Std-6866E. Spectronics Corp., 956 Brush Hollow Road, P.O. Box 483, Westbury, N.Y. 11590.
Cruise missile defenses will continue to be unfocused because the services can't agree on the nature of the threat, according to some Ballistic Missile Defense Organization officials. Perceived threats shift from high-altitude missiles launched from bombers, to supersonic sea-skimmers, to stealthy land attack missiles and even to low-cost GPS-guided parafoils that don't show up on radar but carry chemical or biological weapons.
Illustration: Graph: Number of Employees/Estionian Air Taking a leaf from the Estonian government's ``shock treatment'' approach to economic reform, Estonian Air has made a radical break from its Aeroflot roots. The carrier replaced all the Russian-built aircraft it inherited when Aeroflot broke up with Western aircraft and is drawing heavily on outside expertise to complete the transformation to Western-style operations. The latter is largely coming from Estonian Air's new partnership with Maersk Air of Denmark.
Photograph: Semisubmersible platform A semisubmersible platform modified as an open seas Zenit booster launch site is shown below with its checkout facility doors open prior to delivery in mid-May. The 21,500 ton, self-propelled rig, named Odyssey, completed sea trials and sailed for Vyborg in Russia shortly after delivery for installation of Russian launch equipment.
Barely two months after having announced a code-sharing cooperation agreement with British Midland, Lufthansa German Airlines con- cluded a similar accord with Air Littoral of France, further consolidating its growing web of European partnerships.
Antonio Rodota has become director-general of the European Space Agency for a four-year term. He succeeds Jean-Marie Luton, who will be chairman/chief executive officer of Arianespace. Rodota has been director of the space division of Finmeccanica. Daniel Sacotte has been appointed for a four-year term as administrative director of ESA. He has been general manager for administration, finance and human resources of the French space agency CNES. Roger Bonnet has been reappointed ESA director of scientific programs for another two years.
A fast, low-cost service to help commercialize new technologies is being offered by Foresight Science&Technology of Port Townsend, Wash. The service costs $4,000 and includes a 4-6-week program to develop a marketing strategy, as well as qualified leads, according to Foresight President Phyl Speser. The service also includes extensive data base searches and telephone interviews with subject matter experts and potential end-users of a technology.
Photograph: The NTSB plans to place small charges on the rear fuel tank wall of this 747-100 to determine the evidence they would leave. The aircraft tested cargo explosions in May. MIKE VINES The National Transportation Safety Board is planning several novel experiments in its investigation of the TWA Flight 800 accident that are designed to expand the limits of knowledge of fuel tank design.
Kenneth A. Hill has been named corporate vice president-information systems for General Dynamics, Falls Church, Va. He was staff vice president-personnel relations.
Flitesoft for Windows is an integrated flight planning program with charting, weight and balance, weather briefing, flight plan filing, aircraft data and airport data features. The program's chart mode is based on Jeppesen NavData and can be interfaced with RMS Vista for Windows moving map program. Flitesoft is available in professional and commercial versions for pilots flying in North America as well as a worldwide version. RMS Technology Inc., 124 Berkley Ave., P.O. Box 249, Molalla, Ore. 97038.
A former SabreTech mechanic testified under oath in Orlando, Fla., this month that he had phoned SabreTech's former president, Steven D. Townes, and spoke to him three times about problems with maintenance at SabreTech's Orlando facility as they were occurring late last year. The mechanic, Eric McMaster, told NTSB Judge William Pope that he later quit when faced with suspension.
Former astronaut Edward G. Gibson has received the 1997 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Rochester (N.Y.) School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Gibson was the science pilot of Skylab 4, the longest American-manned space flight. Gibson and fellow astronauts conducted extensive observations of the Sun and the comet Kahoutek. During 84 days on board Skylab, he spent 16 hr. on three space walks. He now is president of the Gibson International Corp., Carlsbad, Calif.
Photograph: The JFK embarked for the Mediterranean with only two F/A-18 squadrons, spurring tacticians to refine plans for suppressing enemy air defenses. USN PHOTOGRAPHER'S MATE 2ND CLASS SCOTT A. MOAK Naval aviators are integrating new intelligence capabilities and using proven tactics with new weapons platforms to maintain their ability to fulfill an increasing variety of missions with limited resources. This aircraft carrier and the battle group around it have become a testbed for Navy and joint-service efforts to better project U.S.
LAN Chile plans to add service to Mexico and the U.S. this month to solidify its international traffic base. The airline will boost service from Santiago to Mexico City from five to seven weekly flights and to Cancun from one to three weekly flights. It also plans to add seven new flights to the U.S. by the end of the month. The Chilean carrier National Airlines also is increasing international service, with plans to add a Santiago-Miami flight on Aug. 31 and to seek a foreign airline partner to feed traffic to that and other services.
Photograph: Construction of the prototype Galaxy flight test aircraft is underway at Israel Aircraft Industrie's facilities in Tel Aviv. First flight is tentatively scheduled for late this year. A stable U.S. economy and emerging business opportunities in Europe, Asia and South America are fueling increased flight operations by business jet operators along with strong demand for new aircraft, but the specter of extended twin-engine operations (ETOPS) and imposition of user fees threaten to suffocate long-term growth.
Burbank Aeronautical Corp. has started flight testing of a Stage 3 hush kit for Boeing 707s following a three-year development program. Ground tests conducted last year indicated the hush kit would improve specific fuel consumption and engine performance, as well as reducing noise levels. The flight test program is scheduled for completion in August. Plans call for the hush kit to be used on both Pratt&Whitney JT3D-3B and JT3D-7-powered 707s. Burbank Aeronautical Corp., 3000 N. Clybourn Ave., Hangar 34, Burbank, Calif. 91505.
Photograph: Critics of recommended cuts to the E-8 Joint-STARS program say the NDP will not only reinstate the total to 19, its members will ask for an increase. RANDY JOLLY A member of a panel charged by Congress with overseeing the Pentagon's recent review of its long-range needs says the resulting decision to cut production of the E-8 Joint-STARS long-range radar aircraft is a major blunder and may be reversed. THE RECOMMENDATION, contained in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), was to buy only 13 of the aircraft instead of 19.
Lauri J. Fitz-Pegado has been named vice president-global gateway relations and Neal F. Meehan vice president-aeronautical services of Iridium LLC of Washington. Fitz-Pegado was assistant Commerce secretary and director-general of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service in the U.S. Commerce Dept. Meehan was executive vice president of the In-Flight Phone Corp.
Photograph: Japan Airlines uses the 777 domestically, but its rival ANA is set to begin flying regional routes in September as other Asia-Pacific carriers do. Asia-Pacific airlines, which account for the majority of Boeing's 777 orders, have diverse route needs for the new wide-body twin, but their emphasis is on regional rather than intercontinental operations.
