The thousands of travelers who hustle daily between Washington, New York and Boston on the US Airways Shuttle may soon be flying with American Airlines instead. Last week the Dallas/Fort Worth-based carrier signed an agreement to purchase Shuttle Inc., jointly owned by a group of investors and US Airways, which also manages the popular--and lucrative--mini-airline. Despite the offer, US Airways still has the option to buy the shuttle outright at fair market value, or match American's bid.
Researchers at the University of Buffalo (N.Y.) have developed a computer visualization methodology that shows how changes to complex, large system designs impact the rest of the system. A goal of the three-dimensional tool, called graf morphing and from which custom software can be developed, is to optimize multidisciplinary system design. Graf morphing allows the quick and comprehensive analysis of potential design trade-offs, according to Christina L. Bloebaum, principal investigator.
Maj. Gen. John D. Robinson (Ret.), vice president-operations of the Raytheon Aerospace Co., has been elected president of the Army Aviation Assn. He had been the association's senior vice president.
Richard B. Caime has been named vice president-Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Program for Lockheed Martin Electronics and Missiles, Orlando, Fla. He was vice president-international business development.
NATO and Russia have signed a Founding Act giving Moscow a voice in alliance affairs, which is aimed at uniting Europe and integrating Russia with the West. In an attempt to guarantee the peace and indivisibility of the Euro-Atlantic in the 21st century, NATO heads of state and Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin agreed last week in Paris to establish a joint security mechanism, anchored by a Permanent Joint Council. In building their relationship, the former Cold War enemies will focus on specific areas of mutual interest, including:
The Pilatus PC-12 may be an airborne version of a luxury sport utility vehicle--a workhorse that is changing ideas about what a single-engine, cabin-class turboprop can do. One of the few all-new turboprops developed in recent years, the aircraft's modern airframe, engine and systems technologies reflect a 1990s design philosophy.
Boeing is studying designs for a liquid propellant, fly-back booster for the space shuttle that would replace the system's solid rocket motors (SRMs) to provide significant cost savings for the shuttle program. The work is being conducted under a $1-million study contract that was awarded last month from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Lockheed Martin Manned Space Systems also received a study contract from Marshall for a fly-back vehicle design.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has written its first strategic action plan, which outlines a shift of traditional emphasis from development of safety standards to implementation of them. Assad Kotaite, ICAO Council president, described the new focus on implementation of standards as ``a quantum step forward.'' He called for increased powers for ICAO to oversee compliance around the world.
NASA expects 1997 will be the busiest year ever at Stennis Space Center's engine test stands. A firing program for the enhanced Block 2A space shuttle main engine, scheduled to fly in January, has a goal of 60,000 sec., according to Dave Geiger, manager for SSME testing. Stennis performed a record 18 SSME tests in April, totaling 9,753 sec., using Rocketdyne and new Pratt&Whitney fuel turbopumps, although it is uncertain the Pratt&Whitney pump will be qualified in time for the flight.
THE U.S. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION HAS awarded an operating license to Lockheed Martin Telecommunications for Astrolink, a proposed Ka-band geosynchronous satellite system. The system is designed to offer high-data-rate communications services to customers anywhere on the globe via nine Astrolink satellites operating from five geosynchronous orbits.
Aerospatiale, LFK of Daimler-Benz Aerospace and Italmissile (a consortium of Alenia and Fiat) successfully conducted the first complete system test firing of a Polyphem fiber-optic guided missile. It was launched on a preprogramed trajectory at a vehicle 16 km. (10 mi.) away at the Landes test center in France. A ground operator, viewing imagery from the missile's infrared sensor passed along the fiber-optic cable, designated the target to the antiarmor weapon. The missile can carry a 20-kg. (44-lb.) warhead and enough optic fiber to reach a target up to 30 km.
SILKAIR, THE REGIONAL wing of Singapore Airlines, has ordered three A319s and five A320s, plus options for a further 10 aircraft of any type from the family, including the A321. The carrier said the aircraft will allow longer distance flights than the eight Boeing 737-300s they are to replace. They will be powered by IAE V2500 engines. Value of the order is about $345 million. Airbus is to begin deliveries in September, 1998.
George Field, vice president/general manager of product support at the Douglas Aircraft Co., Long Beach, Calif., has received the 1997 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Reed Aeronautics Award. He was cited ``for engineering/production turnaround on the C-17 Globemaster 3 and as a leading figure in fielding the DC-10 and MD-11.''
A Russian Proton heavy booster has been used to launch the four-ton Space Systems/Loral Telstar 5 spacecraft, the highest-capacity satellite ever launched by the U.S. telecommunications industry. The May 24 mission, valued at $200-250 million including both the satellite and booster, should help the Proton and Telstar/Skynet programs recover from recent costly failures. The mission launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome also illustrates how Russian commercial Proton launches have begun to cut deeply into the market share held by Europe's Arianespace.
Russ Meyer, chairman/chief executive officer of the Cessna Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan., has received the 1996 Robert J. Collier Trophy from the National Aeronautic Assn. on behalf of the company and its Citation 10 design team. They were honored ``for designing, testing, certifying and placing into service . . . the first commercial aircraft in U.S. aviation history to achieve a cruising speed of Mach 0.92.''
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that the FAA require operators of all Beechcraft 1900 aircraft to inspect and repair cockpit voice recorders to improve the intelligibility of radio transmissions and crew communications. Investigators are concerned that ``critical information may not be retrievable in future accidents involving the 1900, and that accident investigations may be severely hindered'' by the poor quality of CVR recordings in these aircraft.
An improved electro-impulsive deicing system that can shed ice layers as thin as 0.050 in. has been developed by Innovative Dynamics, Ithaca, N.Y. EIDI uses strategically placed actuator coils located just beneath the wing's leading edge material to apply impulsive loads and shatter and debond ice, according to Joseph Geradi, president. The modular actuator's rapid impulsive force is generated by a high-current, high-voltage DC electric pulse from adjacent capacitors. The sequential, spanwise actuation pattern rapidly ripples the leading edge skin up to 0.03 in.
United Airlines, which is testing the InVision CTX 5000 explosive detection system for screening passenger bags at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, disapproves of using the system for 100% baggage screening. Edmond L. Soliday, United's vice president for safety and security, listed the CTX 5000's shortcomings as its $1-million acquisition price, $100,000-annual maintenance cost and a 30%-alarm rate on all processed bags. Soliday said the system processes fewer than 150 bags an hour and sounds alarms on toiletries, shoes and foodstuffs.
THE McDONNELL DOUGLAS MD 600N has received FAA certification, and initial deliveries of up to 30 of the single-engine, 8-place helicopters planned for this year are scheduled to begin in June. The first MD 600N will be delivered to AirStar Helicopters for tour operations in the Grand Canyon. The aircraft is an upgraded version of the MD 520N and features a larger cabin and an 808-shp. Allison 250-C47M powerplant equipped with full-authority digital engine control.
Accessing of FAA's aviation safety information on the Internet is modest but growing, averaging nearly 6,000 hits a week. Congress requested that the agency make airline-specific safety information available to the public in the wake of the ValuJet Flight 592 and TWA Flight 800 accidents. Available on the FAA's Web page (www.faa.gov) are the National Transportation Safety Board's aviation accident/incident data base and the FAA's more extensive data on incidents that did not involve personal injury or meet the aircraft damage criteria to be classified as accidents.
DESPITE ADDITIONAL FUEL COSTS estimated at $210 million, Air France made a $37-million net profit in 1996-97, up from $503 million in losses in 1995-96 (at current exchange rates). The French flag carrier's passenger traffic increased a healthy 13.3% and revenues rose 8.3% to $7.49 billion. Air Inter, a domestic-regional subsidiary now being merged into the parent company, posted still unspecified losses, but other affiliates were profitable. The Air France group's profit for 1996-97 is estimated at $69 million.
