An automatic laser machining process for complex, three-dimensional ceramic parts has been developed by researchers at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Midwest Laser Center in Chicago. Ultimately, the technique could be used for mass production of complex, fine-finish parts at a low cost, according to Judith Todd, associate chairman at IIT's Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Dept. The shaping technique uses very high speed polygonal beam scanners to direct lasers that ablate ceramic material layer-by-layer.
Randy Murdock has become director of sales and marketing for the Pemco Nacelle Services Unit of Precision Standard Inc. of Denver. He was sales manager for Lockheed Martin's Thrust Reverser Business Unit.
Birds are helping to reduce the number of bird strikes, a major safety concern. The four-month JFK Airport Falconry Program, sponsored by the Port of Authority of New York and New Jersey, started in June, and preliminary results are promising. Busy John F. Kennedy International Airport has one of the highest bird strike (sea gull) rates in the country, according to biologist Steven D. Garber, who heads the program. Traditional methods of reducing the airport bird population include federal government ``bird shoots,'' and insect and plant management.
Governments throughout Latin America are tapping commercial firms to take on the financial burden of upgrading the region's airports. From Mexico to Chile and Argentina, nations plan to grant concessions to private operators to build and run new terminals and, in some cases, construct runways. In exchange for their investments in the new facilities, the private companies secure a promising stream of revenue from fees charged to users of those facilities.
COMMERCIAL LAUNCH QUESTIONS will be among the ongoing issues addressed by a U.S.-Ukraine Binational Commission announced last week by the White House. A trade and investment committee, one of four working panels comprising the commission, probably will preside over launch matters, a White House official said. U.S. negotiators concluded a pact late last year enabling Ukraine to enter the commercial launch market (AW&ST Dec. 18/25, 1995, p. 97). Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and U.S.
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN AIRCRAFT SIMULATORS and entertainment is pushed closer by a small company that built two F/A-18 cockpit simulators for public amusement for under $50,000 each. Networked, the two can be flown for air combat maneuvering or cooperative missions, according to owner and developer, Michael C. Pohl. One is motion based, moving electrically 15 deg. in pitch and roll, with a 20-in. high-resolution display in the cockpit. The other is fixed-base, with an image equivalent in size to 35 20-in. monitors projected on a wall by a Sony Multiscan 1252Q projector.
With Republican-sponsored legislation to speed up deployment of a national missile defense system stalled in Congress, lawmakers have ordered the formation of two independent panels to reassess the threat of a ballistic missile attack on the U.S. The recently approved Fiscal 1997 defense authorization bill contains a provision instructing Director of Central Intelligence John Deutch to create a panel of nongovernmental experts to review the ``underlying assumptions and conclusions'' of a controversial National Intelligence Estimate.
ADVANCED IMAGERY PROCESSING and display techniques used to review images from U.S. reconnaissance satellites are helping doctors detect breast cancer. The techniques involve aligning multiple images of an area and then digitally analyzing them to detect changes. U.S. intelligence agencies use the techniques to detect changes in weapons sites, facilities, roads and other areas of interest. Now the National Reconnaissance Office says it is working to expedite the transfer of the technology to the medical community.
Recent tests of a General Electric-designed forward swept engine fan indicate that the component offers significant advantages in the areas of aerodynamic performance and stability. Compared with conventional radial fans available on current fighter engines, the high-speed, low-aspect ratio swept fan has a greater ability to tolerate engine inlet flow distortions--about 80% greater, GE engineers said. This provides the swept fan with a stall margin that is at least several percent greater than that available with the best radial rotor.
JAPAN SATELLITE SYSTEMS will buy its third consecutive HS-601 from Hughes for its JCSAT series. The satellite, dubbed JCSAT-5, is slated to be launched by an Ariane 4 in late 1997 or early 1998. The spacecraft will have 32 active Ku-band transponders, two octagonal communications antennas and two wings with four solar panels each to provide 5000 w power. The first two JCSATs were HS-393s, while the third, launched in August, 1995, and the fourth, slated for launch in early 1997, are HS-601s.
Steven Gibbs (see photo) has become general manager of cargo sales for the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America for Air Canada. He was vice president-international cargo sales for American Airlines.
As China continues spending billions in airport infrastructure improvements, its leading international gateway has taken the first steps to join the world's mainstream airport trade group. Beijing's Capital International Airport awaits only a formal vote at November's annual meeting of Airports Council International in Bahrain to gain entry. ACI's 450 members represent 1,200 airports.
Raytheon Corp. is crafting the final legal agreements that should clear the way for development of a network of ground, airborne and space-based systems to monitor legitimate and illicit activities in Brazil's Amazon region. Once those pacts are in place, the U.S./Brazilian contractor team led by Lexington, Mass.-based Raytheon will begin surveying the sites for the multitude of monitoring stations and control centers for the System for Vigilance of the Amazon. The team includes IBM/Brazil, Lider Taxi Aero and other Brazilian firms.
Robert A. Quintus has become special projects manager for the Microwave and Circuits Div. of the Rogers (Conn.) Corp. He was president of the Taconic Corp.
Neil Vancans has been named president of Leica GPS and Sharon August Jones vice president/general manager of the Leica Navigation and Positioning Div., both in Torrance, Calif.
Philippine Airlines has formally approved a capitalization plan to provide it with $4 billion to modernize its fleet with 36 new aircraft. They include eight 747-400s that CEO Lucio Tan formally signed for at the Farnborough air show and 28 A320s, A330s and A340s (AW&ST Aug. 12, p. 38). PAL stockholders have doubled the authorized stock value to 10 billion pesos ($384 million) and settled a corporate fight over the airline's privatization under Tan's leadership. New routes include joint services with Canadian Airlines from Manila to Vancouver.
FedEx has expanded its Asian routing with direct Beijing/Shanghai flights to its Subic Bay hub in the Philippines twice a week using a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 freighter. It also has added five-times weekly services from Hong Kong to Subic Bay using an Airbus Industrie A310. The Subic Bay connection to China means next-day deliveries for freight shipped within Asia can be accomplished. The two flights also effectively raise FedEx's connections from the U.S. to four times a week when combined with two weekly connections via Anchorage.
The CFM56-7 engine for the Boeing 737-700 is on schedule for certification in late October, barring any problems in upcoming spin pit tests at Snecma's Villaroche, France, facility. The tests are necessary to validate the latest design of the engine's fan blade retainers. Earlier this summer, a retainer failed at the conclusion of engine blade-off tests, prompting the judgment that the retainer's original design was too flexible. A stiffer retainer design also failed to perform properly in spin pit tests last month.
The demonstration of new technology and capabilities applicable to future station and shuttle operations continues to be a focal point of the Atlantis mission to Mir, in parallel with the completion of station resupply and the first changeout of a U.S. long-duration crew in orbit. Atlantis lifted off from Pad 39A here at 4:54 a.m. EDT Sept. 16 and docked with the Mir station 242 stat. mi. over Moldova approaching southwest Russia at 10:13 p.m. EDT Sept. 18.
Jimmy Staggs (see photos) has been promoted to senior director of training from director and Thomas Stelter to director of engineering from senior manager of engineering and technical operations, for SimuFlite Training International, Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport.
Western Pacific Airlines continues to find unconventional ways to augment revenues, opening a ``WestPac Flight Store'' last month in a new shopping mall near Denver. Besides selling clothing and travel items sporting the WestPac logo, this and two similar outlets in its hub city of Colorado Springs serve as in-house travel agents.
Thaddeus H. Sandford has become vice president-research, engineering and advanced programs for the North American Aircraft Div. of Rockwell International, Seal Beach, Calif. He was director of integrated product development. Sandford succeeds Don Carter, who is now vice president/deputy general manager and naval systems technical director for the Rockwell Australia submarine program.
Lockheed Martin and Rockwell are proposing a version of the Hellfire 2 (AGM-114) air-to-ground missile as the muscle in a ground-based shore defense system for the Kuwaiti national guard. Building on Rockwell's development with Bofors of the RBS-17 coastal defense version for Sweden, the companies have conducted preliminary work on incorporating the Hellfire fire-contol system into a light armored vehicle. Lockheed Martin and Rockwell, which jointly market the missile, have identified six other nations with interest in such a system.
