J. Stephen Tosi (see photo) has been appointed president of Magellan Aerospace USA of Boston. He was vice president of the Middleton (Mass.) Aerospace Corp.
Practical Accident Investigation is a four-part multimedia training course for training employees how to investigate accidents in the workplace. The series encourages employees to go beyond looking at obvious actions that caused an accident to determine the deeper causes. DNV Loss Control Management, 4546 Atlanta Highway, Loganville, Ga. 30249.
Vela M. McClam-Mitchell (see photo), associate director of sales and marketing for Worldspan of Atlanta, has been elected to the board of directors of the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Foundation Inc.
This Serck Aviation high-efficiency tubular heat exchanger was designed for oil cooling in Pratt&Whitney PW 4000-series engines. The new exchanger uses high-temperature thermoplastics instead of metal disks to support matrix cooling tubes and provide the flowpath for the oil. The plastic disks, made of Amoco's Polyamide Imide, make assembly of the exchanger easier and actually can hold the cooling tubes tighter, reducing the danger of a leak and improving pressure drop. Serck Aviation, Warwick Road, Birmingham, B11 2QY, England.
Lufthansa German Airlines recorded pre-tax earnings of $11.8 million for the first three months of the year--the first time in its history that it has shown a profit for the opening quarter. This represented an improvement of more than $40 million over the same period last year. Full-year pre-tax earnings in 1996 were $404 million (at current rates of exchange), down 9.3%, although the dividend remained unchanged.
The Colt boarding lift allows wheelchair-bound passengers easy access to aircraft when boarding bridges are not available. The chair is rolled onto a partially enclosed platform, which is then pulled to the top of the air stairs with an electrically powered screw drive. The lift allows physically challenged passengers a more dignified way of boarding while reducing the risk of injury to employees who would carry a wheelchair up the stairs. The lift also can be used to keep a stretcher horizontal during boarding. Colt Industrier, N-4900 Tvedestrand, Norway.
Michael Kropf has become business development director of the Maxwell Federal Div. of San Diego. He was a product line director for TV/COM International.
U.S. regional airlines are thriving, carrying record numbers of passengers, buying new aircraft, expanding their route systems and providing indispensable air services to many American cities.
John Richardson has been named vice president-sales of Brown and Root Services of Houston. He was vice president-business development and applications engineering of Fairchild Controls.
Edwin I. Colodny has become chairman of the Comsat Corp., Bethesda, Md., following the resignation of C.J. Silas. Colodny has been a director of Comsat and chairman/chief executive officer of the USAir Group Inc., now USAirways.
Fred Berkobin has become senior director of marketing for American International Freight, Ypsilanti, Mich. He was senior business development and marketing officer for Aircrafters Inc., Wilmington, Del.
As part of increased security measures after the TWA Flight 800 disaster, U.S. airlines and the FAA are conducting limited tests this month to determine if 100% matching of passengers and baggage is feasible on scheduled, domestic flights.
THE SOCIETE EUROPEENNE des Satellites (SES) has again passed over Arianespace in favor of Russia's Proton booster. SES picked the Proton to launch its Hughes-built Astra 2A television broadcast satellite from the Baikonour Cosmodrome in the fourth quarter of this year. The launch was purchased from International Launch Services, a Lockheed Martin-Khrunichev-Energia venture.
Jet A fuel contaminated with red dye used in diesel fuel poses no threat to flight safety, but may induce coking of fuel nozzles and accelerate wear and replacement of engine components, according to the FAA and engine manufacturers.
The GlaStar kit-built aircraft can now be purchased with the composite fuselage shell assembled to the internal steel tube cage. Cage attach handpoints and hardware are installed, including factory lay-up of the belly and dorsal seams. A zero-drag dipole communications antenna also is installed in the vertical fin. The so-called jump start fuselage option is estimated to save the average builder 40-60 hr. of assembly and eliminates the need to rent factory jigs. Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft Inc., 18701 58th Ave. N.E., Arlington, Wash. 98223.
Japan's air commuter network is the biggest in Asia, but only three of its 10 operators are finding enough passengers and slots to assure profits. The carriers face two major impasses: a well-developed ground transportation network and a lack of takeoff and landing slots. The ground network includes the famed Shinkansen, or ``Bullet'' trains, and highways that criss-cross the country.
Gary W. DeLuca has become general manager for JT8D engines for Greenwich Air Services of Miami. He was manager of engines, auxiliary power units and landing gear for Miami Air International Inc.
The U.S. Navy is studying converting four older Trident submarines into multimission ships. The submarines, which are to be phased out of nuclear missile service to meet terms of the Salt 2 treaty, could be fitted with up to 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles each. They also could house large U.S. Navy Seal teams or other special forces.
JAPANESE CONTRACTORS ARE STUDYING the basic design of a first-stage turbopump for the new cryogenic H-2A commercial booster after discovering a second hairline crack. The crack caused the fifth test of the LE-7A first-stage motor to be stopped 3 sec. short of its nominal 350-sec. test run. To cut costs, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has radically altered the basic design of the LE-7A and has shifted the position of its IHI liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen turbopumps.
Canpolar East Inc., Newfoundland, Canada, is seeking industrial partners to develop a laser aircraft ice detector. The technique, developed by the National Research Council of Canada and licensed to Canpolar, has successfully flown on NRC's Convair 580 test aircraft and measured deicing and anti-icing fluid thickness during simulated takeoffs in wind tunnels. The laser-based system also has measured ice accumulation on a model airfoil and rotating model helicopter rotor.
John R. Reimers (see photo) has been appointed senior vice president of Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical of San Diego. He was senior business analyst at Allegheny Teledyne Inc.
As FBI officials prepare to end their criminal probe into the destruction of TWA Flight 800, National Transportation Safety Board officials are debating how to present the findings of their investigation into that crash in a way that a curious and skeptical public will believe.
Japan's government is freezing contracts already approved for fiscal 1997 to save money in its fiscal 1998 budget. Payments for the Japan Defense Agency's most expensive programs are made on a 2-5-year installment plan with the second year's payment typically being the largest. For example, a $100-million aircraft purchase involves a payment of only $5 million the first year, $50 million the second and $15 million each of the next three years. So some contracts awarded in fiscal 1997 will be cut to avoid large outlays next year.
Sandia National Laboratory researchers are attempting to develop a generic composite fuselage patch, following the FAA's certification of such a patch for use on Lockheed L-1011 doorframes. A team at the FAA-funded and Sandia-run Airworthiness Assurance Non-Destructive Inspection Validation Center near Albuquerque, N.M., alternately developed the boron-fiber-and-epoxy patch for a Delta Air Lines L-1011. A Delta/FAA inspection on Apr. 23 verified the integrity of the patch after 45 days of use in the test aircraft.
