Attendees at the Experimental Aircraft Assn.'s Fly-in at Oshkosh, Wis., will get a firsthand look at a new precision landing system planned for FAA certification later in the year. The DIAS-3100 is a Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) developed jointly by
Elton Humphreys has been named director of human resources shared services of Honeywell Space and Control of Phoenix. He was director of human resources for Honeywell Air Transport Systems, also in Phoenix. Tom Wylie will succeed Hum- phreys and had been director of human resources for Honeywell Defense Avionics Systems, Albuquerque, N.M. Ryan Stenzel will succeed Wylie and had been director of human resources for Honeywell Business and Commuter Aviation Systems, Glendale, Ariz.
Stephen M. Tumblin has been named to the board of directors of Trans World Airlines. He is an attorney for the TWA chapter of the Air Line Pilots Assn. Tumblin succeeds William F. Compton, who is now executive vice president-operations.
EARLY TESTS OF THE LE-7A IMPROVED-FIRST-stage engine for Japan's H-2A commercial launch vehicle resulted in a 14-mm.-long hairline crack in a turbopump cooling pipe. The crack occurred after a 50-sec. test firing at Japan's Tanegashima Space Center, appearing in a 9.5-mm.-dia. pipe made to carry liquid hydrogen to cool the turbopump shaft. Officials said the failure would not set back the H2-A development program. They noted that the original H-2 suffered a similar crack during testing. The LE-7A has been significantly redesigned to reduce its complexity and cost.
Continental Airlines is prodding Boeing to quickly offer it a lucrative, sole-supplier contract for at least 40 long-range, wide-body aircraft or risk allowing Airbus Industrie to gain its North American launch customer for the A330. Continental's chairman and chief executive officer, Gordon Bethune, said he wants to decide within 45 days, ``or even less,'' which manufacturer will replace the airline's growing fleet of McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30s.
McDONNELL DOUGLAS' NO. 1 YC-15 transport prototype made its first flight after 18 years in storage, and is being refurbished at the company's Long Beach, Calif., factory to restart its testbed career. The aircraft was flown from 1975-79 as part of the Air Force's stillborn advanced medium short takeoff and landing transport program to replace the C-130, and contributed to the design of the C-17. The YC-15 is being reactivated to test new technologies for the C-17 and future transports.
Former astronaut James A. Lovell, Jr., has been appointed to the board of directors of Advanced Aerodynamics and Structures Inc., Long Beach, Calif. He is president of Lovell Communications, Lake Forest, Ill.
David Rolston has become president/ chief executive officer of MultiGen. Inc., San Jose, Calif. He was director of marketing of the Advanced Graphics Div. of Silicon Graphics.
Helijet Airways is expanding its scheduled 12-passenger Sikorsky S-76 helicopter service from its Vancouver base to Seattle. One of the few helicopter airlines in the world, Helijet plans to operate three daily round trips between Victoria, capital of Canada's British Columbia province, and Seattle's downtown Boeing Field. Service is planned to start on May 22. One-way unrestricted fares will cost $92 with less expensive, but restricted, excursion tickets also available. One-way travel time is estimated at about 34 min. compared with a 2-hr., $66 hydrofoil ride.
SOCIETE INTERNATIONALE DE TELECOMMUNICATIONS Aeronautiques has selected Harris Corp. to provide 30 multimode VHF radio systems for its Aircom remote ground stations. Those stations are part of SITA's air-ground data-link service, which provides airline operations communications for 71 airlines in 125 countries worldwide. The multimode VHF AM transmitter and receivers are compatible with analog and digital transmissions for voice and data.
Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has chosen Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems to build initial production assemblies for the first 11 F-2 support fighters. Under terms of the agreement, Lockheed Martin will provide the aft fuselage, wing leading edge flaps, six left-side wing boxes and other assemblies for the Japanese support fighter aircraft.
Washington has the sulks again about China, with new cries from Congress to deny Beijing its favorable U.S. trade treatment (MFN). Last year, it was Chinese missile tests in the Taiwan straits. This year, it's Chinese political assaults on Hong Kong's legislature and civil rights laws, and allegations of covert financial backing of the Democrats in the last campaign. The trade issue is a hardy Washington perennial and the aviation lobby was busy trumpeting the glories of jobs-through-exports. Administration critics claim the real problem is weak White House China policy.
SINGAPORE AIRLINES HAS BECOME the first customer for Airbus Industrie's future navigation system data link, AIM FANS A, with an order to equip its entire fleet of A340s. Flight testing of AIM FANS A is to begin on an A340 testbed this summer, with certification due next spring.
David E. Norgart has been named sales manager of British Aerospace Asset Management Inc.--Turboprops, Chantilly, Va. He was founder of the San Antonio (Tex.) Jet Center.
The Orient Airlines Assn. has formally changed its name to the Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA). Director-General Richard Stirland said the new name is a more accurate reflection of the region in which the airlines represented by the association are based--the term ``Asia Pacific,'' associated with dynamic growth, is more widely used than ``the Orient.'' The AAPA is based in the Philippines and represents 18 of the largest Asia Pacific airlines.
AN ARIANE 44LP BOOSTER has placed a twin telecommunications satellite payload into orbit for a pair of Asian operators. The Apr. 16 launch orbited Thaicom 3, built by Aerospatiale for Shinawatra Satellite Public Ltd. Co. of Thailand, and BSAT-1a, a direct broadcast satellite, built by Hughes for B-SAT of Japan.
Dean Vittetoe has been appointed director of strategic supply management for Honeywell Commercial Aviation Systems in Phoenix. He was director of customer support for the Americas regional business unit and will be succeeded by Bertrand Dunou. Adrian Paul will succeed Dunou as director of customer support for the European business unit.
The proposed partnership between American Airlines and British Airways, pending at the Transportation and Justice departments, will get its first congressional scrutiny this week when the Senate antitrust, business rights and competition subcommittee convenes a hearing on the alliance. The hearing is the panel's first foray into aviation under aggressive, new chairman Sen. Mike DeWine (R.-Ohio).
House Science Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner (R.-Wis.) is promoting an alternative to NASA's plan to shift $200 million from the space shuttle to the international space station program. The funds are required to pay for Russian-caused delays, but many in Congress are worried that the money grab could affect shuttle safety. Sensenbrenner's idea is to give NASA a supplemental appropriation for the station--paid for out of the U.S. aid budget to Russia, instead of the shuttle budget. That way, Russia, and not U.S.
NASA AND THE U.S. AIR FORCE Space Command have agreed to form seven teams to study new areas of NASA/USAF space cooperation, including the launch of TRW Defense Support Program (DSP) missile warning satellites from the space shuttle in 1999. After the 1986 shuttle Challenger accident, the Air Force transitioned large military payloads such as the 5,000-lb. DSP off the shuttle onto Titan 4 boosters, although the shuttle previously launched one DSP. The renewal of defense shuttle missions could help reduce overall government space costs, NASA and USAF believe.
Some $140 million in American aid has edged defense conversion forward in the ex-Soviet Union, but progress is spotty and the vast size of the former Soviet weapons complex dwarfs the U.S. effort, according to a congressional watchdog report.
The microwave landing system (MLS), which once was expected to become the international standard for civil aviation, is a leading candidate for adoption by NATO as its standard precision approach and landing aid. The recommendation will come from a special committee of NATO's Air Force Armament Group Air Group-5 later this year, following a four-day meeting in Rome, which begins May 13.
Wayne Turnquist has become regional vice president of Signature Flight Support, Orlando, Fla. He was president of International Aviation Services, now a Signature subsidiary.
Arati Prabhakar has been appointed senior vice president/chief technology officer of the Raychem Corp., Menlo Park, Calif., effective May 12. She has been director of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
