The House has voted overwhelmingly to reinstate aviation excise taxes--but only until Sept. 30. That would provide $2.7 billion (about $20 million per day) for the Airport and Airways Trust Fund. The taxes expired last Dec. 31. They include $10 and $6 fees on airline tickets and international departures, respectively, a 6.25% tax on domestic cargo and levies on noncommercial aviation fuel. The bill came under fire from conservative Republicans led by Rep. Van Hilleary (R.-Tenn.), and a few Democrats who wanted the measure to include offsetting tax cuts.
Fran Waddle (see photo) has been named director of entertainment and information services for Sony Trans Com, Irvine, Calif. She was managing director for inflight products for American Airlines.
Airbus Industrie is planning to enter the business aviation market. The European consortium is developing a corporate derivative of the 125-seat A319 short/medium-haul twinjet. The A319 Corporate Jet will have a 6,300-naut.-mi. maximum range in a variety of 10-60-seat cabin configurations.
A report issued by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board indicates that the number of people killed in U.S. airline accidents in 1996 was the second highest recorded since the agency revised its statistical analysis data in 1982.
While there is ample political rhetoric in Europe on the need for missile defenses, financial backing and specific programs are in far less evidence. Cash-strapped Europeans believe a cooperative approach is required, either among themselves or in concert with the U.S. But progress has been slow given the complexities involved in multinational programs and the perception that there is no clear, immediate threat.
Loral Space&Communications has reached an agreement to acquire complete control of its Space Systems/Loral subsidiary, buying out four European partners that had collectively owned a 49% stake in the satellite manufacturer.
A senior U.S. defense official says any initial national missile defense system will be a far cry from the ``Star Wars'' shield envisioned by President Reagan when he launched the Strategic Defense Initiative in 1983. ``It's going to be a thin capability,'' said Paul Kaminski, the Pentagon's chief for acquisition and technology. ``We're talking about a capability to deal with on the range of 5-20'' missiles.
Dennis R. Deel (see photo) has been appointed president of Lockheed Martin Manned Space Systems of New Orleans. He succeeds G. Thomas Marsh, who has assumed greater responsibilities within the Space and Missiles Sector. Deel was vice president of the External Tank Project.
Earl E. Parker has been promoted to vice president-operations from director of production and Rupert Hoenig to special assistant to the president from director of quality control, at International Aviation Services Ltd. of Fort Worth. Grady Penley has been promoted to succeed Hoenig, from manager of quality control and training. David Tidwell has been appointed manager of the DC-9 program.
Researchers at the U.S. Air Force's Wright Laboratories in Dayton, Ohio, have developed an ultra-stiff, ultra-light carbon foam. Large-area composite parts fabricated using the foam as reinforcement could be cheaper, faster and easier to make than with current methods, according to Kristen Kearns, a materials engineer at Wright's Materials Directorate. Strength and physical and performance properties are comparable with those of conventional graphite materials, she said.
Cameron Japp has been named director of European sales for PCI Enterprises, Richmond Hill, Ontario. He succceeds Mike Pastushak, who is now vice president-marketing. Japp was sales manager in the U.K. and Ireland for Vector Data Systems U.K.
USAir was scheduled to become US Airways last week. Two Boeing 737s and a Boeing 757 already have been painted in the airline's new livery--a deep blue and medium gray--and the new logo, a stylized version of the American flag. Company officials estimate it will take about three years to repaint the carrier's fleet of 390 jet aircraft, and two years to refurbish cabin interiors. In addition, new liveries are being developed for the US Airways Express and US Airways Shuttle aircraft.
The first U.S. Air Force Titan 4B launch vehicle lifts off from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Feb. 23 on nearly 3.4 million lb. of thrust carrying a TRW Defense Support Program (DSP) missile warning spacecraft. The mission was commanded by the 5th Space Launch Sqdn. of the 45th Space Wing. The flight initiates new USAF heavy launch operations and is also important to NASA, which will use the second flight of the 4B to launch the Cassini mission to Saturn in October.
BRITISH MIDLAND AIRWAYS is in discussions with Lufthansa about operating some of the German carrier's routes to the U.K., but Chairman Sir Michael Bishop said there has been no talk of selling an equity stake in the airline. The U.K. carrier, which controls 14% of the slots at London Heathrow, is being courted by several airlines seeking to create a counterweight to a British Airways-American Airlines alliance. Bishop announced the separation of British Midland from the other regional airlines held by their parent company, Airlines of Britain Holdings.
The little things you get when you pay more than $35 million for a new Gulfstream 5 business jet include heated passenger windows. PPG's Huntsville, Ala., factory, which mostly makes aircraft transparencies, is manufacturing non-frost passenger windows for Savannah, Ga.-based Gulfstream, according to Thomas E. Clark, PPG director of sales and marketing for aircraft products. The laminated passenger windows are electrically heated by a thin conductive film in a separate, bilayer pane, similar to that used in deicing systems for the windscreens of high-performance jets.
Boeing has unveiled a 737-700 tailored to fit the Royal Australian Air Force's airborne early warning and control system requirements. The new aircraft will be in competition with a Raytheon E-System's modified Airbus A310 platform and a C-130J that Lockheed Martin would adapt from its P-3 Orion technology used in U.S. drug-surveillance missions.
The Navy's proposed ``Theater Wide'' missile defense is in an early stage of its program, but has the appealing potential for a large protected area and the ability to kill missiles near their source--if it can meet performance goals. The rub is fitting all this performance into the Navy's existing Standard Missile launch tubes, and making best use of the Standard Missile design. This is at the state of the art and upcoming tests will not have full performance. There are no firm plans to produce the system.
The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization must create an effective battle management, command, control and communications (BMC (superscript) 3) network so that Hawk, Patriot, Thaad, Aegis, MEADS and other systems can work together to provide a layered defense.
The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization will evaluate the performance of a proposed National Missile Defense system architecture by using prototype equipment, as well as surrogates, to track and intercept a nonnuclear target reentry vehicle late in Fiscal 1999.
Huntsville, Ala. Pentagon officials are hoping the MEADS project will pave the way for a new era of international cooperation and cost-sharing in the development of expensive antimissile systems. But they'll first have to find money for the U.S. share and convince a skeptical Congress to sign off.
A GENERAL ATOMICS PREDATOR drone crashed on takeoff Feb. 25 and was severely damaged. The aircraft was being flown by General Atomics from its El Mirage, Calif., airport when it rolled over from about 30 ft. during a flight-readiness check following modifications.
Peru's Ministry of Transport and Communications has selected Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems division to develop the first phase of its nationwide air traffic control (ATC) modernization program. The $11.9-million turnkey system will be installed during the next 12 mo. at Lima's Jorge Chavez International Airport. Contract provisions call for an interim FAA-standard ASR9 radar and display system to be installed to provide a rapid ATC capability, followed by final system installation by the end of 1997.
Terrence S. Lomheim and Ernest Y. Robinson (see photos) have been promoted to distinguished engineers at the Aerospace Corp. of Los Angeles. Lomheim was a senior engineering specialist in the Electronic Systems Div., and Robinson was a senior engineer in the Structural Materials Div.
