High resolution miniature displays have great potential in aerospace, but making them bright enough to be seen, easily portable and low-power efficient is a challenge. Longmont, Colo.-based Displaytech has begun shipping developer kits of low-cost displays using high-speed spatial light modulators that are mounted in a 1-oz. housing no bigger than an egg. These have high enough resolution and pixel counts to replicate the visual display of a standard PC monitor.
Jim McDonough (see photo) has been named Houston-based Southwest U.S. sales manager for Bombardier Aviation Services of Montreal. He was regional sales manager for the AR Group.
John W. (Jack) Russell, crew chief on the Bell X-1 rocket plane that first exceeded Mach 1, died Apr. 14. He was 78. Russell also worked on the U.S. Air Force's first jet aircraft, the Bell XP-59 during its flight test program at what is now Edwards AFB, Calif. He later served 27 years as chief of the rocket propellant group at NACA and NASA, involved in testing X-series aircraft from the X-2 to the X-24B. Russell regularly flew as launch control operator on the B-52 ``mother ship,'' dropping the X-15 for 150 of its 199 flights.
An Aerospatiale/Alenia Aster 15 missile successfully intercepted a C 22 target drone simulating a sea-skimming missile at the Landes Test Center in France earlier this month. The air defense missile intercepted the C 22 flying 10 ft. above water at 625 mph. about 4.5 mi. distant. The unarmed Aster 15 did not hit the target, but telemetry equipment confirmed it passed well within range of its warhead. The trial marked the first interception test of the Aster program in an antimissile scenario where the target was performing evasive maneuvers at a low altitude.
Accutrack Systems, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is marketing a new system that laser-codes commonly used safety lockwire. The mini-barcode tracking system improves accountability of repairs and parts by encoding the bare wire, according to Robert Riebe, Accutrack president. The coding references independent, computerized records at Accutrack and provides physical evidence of who, when, where and what work was performed on engines and other critical aircraft components. Safety lockwire is commonly used on aircraft to prevent bolts from vibrating loose.
Flight Visions, Sugar Grove, Ill., plans to introduce an ``enhanced vision'' capability for its line of military and civil aircraft head-up displays. The raster display would superimpose infrared and millimeter-wave radar sensor imagery onto existing Flight Visions HUD optical ``combiners.'' The capability, once certified, will help pilots detect the runway environment earlier during limited-visibility conditions and fly safer approaches to lower minimums. First military versions are planned for midyear with business aviation applications following quickly.
BOMBARDIER BUSINESS Aircraft Div. and Lufthansa Technik have formed Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services, based at Berlin's Schonefeld Airport. The joint venture will center on maintaining Learjet 31, 35/36, 55 and 60 jets and Challenger 600, 601 and 604 aircraft, as well as the Bombardier Global Express, currently scheduled to enter service in 1998.
NASA has a $500-600-million surplus in its space shuttle account--considerably more than the agency has acknowledged publicly. It's also more than enough to fix the problems in the space station program. However, that bookkeeping bonanza won't do much to help the Clinton Administration get the $180-200 million of shuttle money it wants to pay for the Interim Control Module and other costs associated with Russia's schedule slippage on the Service Module.
U.S. OFFICIALS HAVE SAID they will respond appropriately to Iraqi violations of the no-fly zone in southern Iraq; however, the response does not include shooting down any of the nine or more civil helicopters sent by Saddam Hussein to pick up 70 sick and elderly pilgrims near the border with Saudi Arabia. The U.S. will continue to monitor Iraqi flights and support the international embargo. The government-controlled Iraqi press wrote that successful completion of the flights indicates the U.S. now lacks the support needed to maintain its hard-line stance.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a near mid-air collision between an America West 737 and a Beechcraft 99 on Apr. 18 near Las Vegas. The two aircraft came within 200 ft. vertically and had zero lateral separation at the time of the encounter, according to the NTSB. A cabin attendant was injured when the captain of the America West 737 ``pulled on the yoke to avoid a collision,'' a safety board official said. The other two cabin crewmembers and the 120 passengers were uninjured.
Lt. Gen. Paul K. Van Riper is the commander of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Development Command. He recently testified before the House National Security Committee on the corps' views on information superiority. Excerpts follow:
Wall Street is less than enthusiastic about the possibility of Boeing diversifying into nontraditional business lines, and some market professionals are downright skeptical. The principal source of their misgivings is Boeing's poor track record at both previous diversification attempts as well as acquisitions, which presumably would figure into such a strategy.
Swissair's parent, the troubled SAirGroup, expects to restore profitability next year after completing a major cost-cutting effort and weathering additional setbacks that could occur in the next few months.
Boeing has passed 25%-design drawing release on its newest airplane, the stretched 757-300. More than 23 ft. longer than the -200, the -300 is planned to have the shortest design-to-delivery cycle of any Boeing jet derivative program, about 27 months. German charter carrier Condor Flugdienst is scheduled to take delivery of the first 757-300 in January, 1999. Rollout is planned for May, 1998.
William S. Ayer and John R. Fowler (see photos) have been promoted to senior vice presidents for customer service and technical operations, respectively, of Alaska Airlines. Ayer was vice president-marketing and planning, and Fowler vice president-maintenance and engineering.
``We're on the verge of a fight'' over intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance,'' says USAF Maj. Gen. Kenneth Israel, chief of the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office. The results of the tussle will be far-reaching because they will affect what and how many munitions and aircraft are bought in coming years. ``For the very first time, Keith Hall [chief of the NRO] and I are signing up to do an end-to-end requirements scrub'' of satellite capabilities and airborne platforms, both piloted aircraft and UAVs.
James A. Robinson has been appointed president of the Fairchild Aerospace Corp., San Antonio, Tex. He has been president of Fairchild's Dornier Luftfahrt in Germany and will remain chairman of its management board.
A NEW ANTONOV AN-70 made its first flight on Apr. 24 at the Antonov Research and Technical Complex airfield in Kiev. The aircraft was airborne for 30 min. An earlier An-70 turboprop prototype crashed near Kiev in 1995 after a collision with a chase plane (AW&ST Feb. 20, 1995, p. 19). The Russian/Ukrainian development program began in 1993. Russia is providing 80% of the funding for the project and Ukraine the other 20%.
Sobering lessons from multiple military wargames and information-intensive field experiments are adding teeth to U.S. defense leaders' arguments that development of space control doctrine and enabling technologies should be accelerated.
Former President George Bush trained for his recent parachute jump using Systems Technology Inc.'s Virtual Reality Parachute Flight Training Simulator at Yuma, Ariz. These same simulators are being used by U.S. Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance units, which use them for training and rehearsal of dangerous missions.
The challenge for the U.S. Defense Dept. in using commercial-off-the-shelf technology is to find ways to take advantage of rapid developments in the commercial world without having to change the military's infrastructure.
Korean Air will put Denver--its 11th U.S. city--on its route map May 23 when it begins one-stop service to Seoul three times a week from the Mile-High city. The flights, which will be operated with Boeing 747-400s, will stop in Los Angeles; the Denver service is an extension of one of Korean Air's three daily flights between Los Angeles and Seoul. Korean is seeking to take advantage of growing export and import trade between Colorado and South Korea, and is emphasizing Seoul as an important connecting point to Southeast Asia for passengers.
Look for the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) to award a pair of contracts as early as this week to define concepts for a U.S. national missile defense (NMD) system. The $8-million contracts, expected to go to Boeing and United Missile Defense Co. (UMDC)--a joint venture of Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Hughes--are a precursor to BMDO's plans to select one contractor early next year to develop an NMD system that could be deployed as early as 2003, though probably later.
THE U.S. AIR FORCE has reassembled a McDonnell Douglas F-4 from aircraft selected to be target drones, and painted it in the combat colors used in the Vietnam War era. The paint scheme is similar to that on aircraft flown by USAF pilot Steve Ritchie when he became an ace in Vietnam. Ritchie is flying the F-4 to help celebrate the USAF's 50th anniversary.
