The U.S. Transportation Dept. has tentatively approved the application of a new Pan American World Airways to begin scheduled services. The Miami-based carrier, with the once-venerable name, plans to operate routes linking New York with Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco initially, using three leased 257-seat Airbus A300-B4 aircraft. By the end of the first year of operations, the new Pan Am plans to increase its A300-B4 fleet by two for services from Chicago to Miami and New York.
Japan's launch of its largest Earth-observation satellite will extend scientists' efforts to understand the greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, loss of tropical rainforests and other phenomena associated with global environmental change.
Japan's Ministry of Transport has given the Megafloat Technology Research Assn. a 7.5-billion-yen ($69-million) subsidy to continue research into building a floating airport for Tokyo. The Megafloat group includes 17 steel and shipbuilding companies and already has a 200 X 1,000-ft. test structure in the water off Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. The study is to evaluate the magnetic influence of the steel structures on aircraft instrumentation as well as the structural effects of vibration and sea movement on the building and its environmental consequences on marine life.
Bombardier Aerospace Group-North America and AMR Combs Inc. the executive aviation affiliate of American Airlines, are making headway in their joint effort to market fractional sales of business aircraft. In the 16 months since the companies launched their FlexJet program, they have sold the equivalent of about 21 business jets in increments ranging from one-eighth to half a share in Learjet 31A, Lear 60 and Challenger 601-3R aircraft. ``The program is well ahead of projections,'' according to an AMR Combs official.
NASA's chief astronaut has been named to command the space shuttle mission slated to carry the first U.S. hardware for the international space station into orbit. U.S. Marine Corps Col. Robert D. Cabana has been picked to command Mission 88, in which the shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to orbit the Boeing-built Node-1 connector and two McDonnell Douglas-built pressurized mating adaptors.
Formal talks between the U.S. and U.K. aimed at a liberalized air services agreement resume this week in Washington. The talks, slated for Aug. 28-29, are the third round in the current series, a considerable improvement over the contentious recent past. Negotiators are being spurred on by a number of key airlines, especially American Airlines and British Airways. An ``open skies'' pact is considered essential before the U.S. will consider approving the two carriers' proposed transatlantic alliance.
IN AN EFFORT TO ACCELERATE contract talks, American Airlines President Donald J. Carty is directly participating in negotiations between the company and the Allied Pilots Assn., which represents pilots at the airline. Although some issues raised by the APA were resolved, as of late last week disagreement remained about changes to the scope clause of the union's current contract, as well as dissatisfaction with pay increases compared with other major airlines.
A passive bullet, artillery shell and missile detection/tracking system developed several years ago by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is being revived for possible military aircraft and base protection.
The Royal Air Force expects approval next month from the U.K. Ministry of Defense to launch a feasibility study for a Future Offensive Aircraft (FOA) to replace the Tornado GR4 by 2015.
THE FAA IS PROPOSING nine airworthiness directives affecting the -200, -300 through -500-series of the Boeing 737. The directives stem from recommendations made by the agency's Critical Design Review of the 737 that was conducted between October, 1994, and May, 1995, according to Thomas E. McSweeny, director of the FAA's Aircraft Certification Service. These include:
Initial orbital checkout of NASA's Fast Auroral Snapshot (Fast) Explorer spacecraft was going so smoothly last week that program officials said they might be able to make up some, if not all, of a three-day launch delay resulting from a launch processing problem. The spacecraft, designed to return data on energy transfer processes in the magnetosphere, was scheduled to be launched on an Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus XL booster Aug. 18 off the California coast.
Bombardier Regional Aircraft Div. has won a highly coveted order from Mesa Air Group, the second largest regional airline group in the U.S., for its 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet. Mesa initially will purchase 16 Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ), valued at $320 million, and take options for 32 more in two groups of 16. Delivery of the first aircraft is scheduled for February.
Thirty-five new astronauts, the largest class selected by NASA since the original shuttle group was chosen in 1978, is beginning training this month at the Johnson Space Center. The new members will form a fully-international astronaut corps that, along with the Russians, will be the cadre for operations on board the new international space station. The Johnson group includes nine international astronauts, two each from ESA, Canada, Japan and the European Space Agency, with the French, German and Italian space agencies each supplying one.
China's struggle to establish a consistent commercial launch record was dealt another setback when a premature cutoff of a Long March 3's third-stage engine left a Hughes HS 376 satellite in a useless orbit. The ChinaSat-7, built by Hughes Space and Communications for domestic use, was launched from the Xichang space center in southwest China at 6:27 p.m. Aug. 18. First- and second-stage performances were reported nominal and the third stage successfully completed a first-phase burn of about 430 sec.
THE U.S. AND MEXICO HAVE AGREED to cooperate on the development of future navigation systems using GPS for contiguous airspace. The memorandum of cooperation provides a working agreement between the FAA and Mexico's aviation authority, the Ministry of Communications and Transport, United Mexican States. Specific areas of services are identified that can be instituted by mutual agreement between the FAA and the Mexican Airspace Navigation Services, which operates Mexico's air traffic control system.
San Francisco area airports are planning major upgrades as surging passenger and cargo traffic overwhelm existing facilities. Pile driving and foundation work is underway on the new international terminal at San Francisco International Airport. Completion of the multi-story building, which has over 2-million sq. ft. of floor space, is expected in the year 2000. The new terminal is the centerpiece of the airport's $2.4-billion expansion plan, which also includes apron and roadway improvements and plans for a light rail station.
A SATELLITE SYSTEM THAT HAS BEEN USED BY THE U.S. NAVY to provide precise, all-weather navigation fixes will be shut down Dec. 31. The Transit system was invented in 1958 based on the tracking of Doppler signals from Russia's Sputnik 1 satellite. Transit became operational in 1964 and was made available to the public in 1967. The constellation consisted of seven satellites. All military and civilian Transit users will be shifted to the Defense Dept.'s Global Positioning System.
U.S. manufacturers delivered 70 commercial jet transports during the second quarter of 1996, indicating a sharp rise compared with the first quarter when 50 aircraft were shipped, according to the Aerospace Industries Assn.
Edward R. Williams, vice president-safety and engineering/director of flight operations for Associated Aviation Underwriters, has been elected chairman of the FSF Corporate Advisory Committee. Peter V. Agur, Jr., president of the Van Allen Group Inc., will be vice chairman.
Tommy Guttman has been appointed Arlington-Va.-based U.S. director of marketing and business development for the Bedek Aviation Group of Israel Aircraft Industries. He was head of the North American desk of Bedek headquarters in Israel. Guttman succeeds Isaac Frucht, who will return to Israel as director of U.S. marketing.
NASA WILL DECIDE THIS WEEK on a formal launch date for Space Shuttle Atlantis' mission (STS-79) to Russia's Mir space station. The mission was delayed six weeks because of solid rocket motor problems (AW&ST July 22, p. 73). Kennedy Space Center has been working toward a Sept. 12 target, but the range was previously reserved that day for a Delta booster to launch a Global Positioning System spacecraft. It takes a day to reconfigure the range for another launch. If processing for the Delta launch is found to be on track, Atlantis could be given a Sept. 14 slot.
Ginny Schweizer of Elmira, N.Y., has won the 1996 Katherine Wright Memorial Award from the Arlington,Va.-based National Aeronautic Assn. and Ninety-Nines for contributions to the advancement of the art, sport and science of aviation.
A SMALL SCIENCE satellite designed to study the origin and nature of the energetic particles that constantly bombard the Earth from the Sun and beyond our solar system is undergoing final integration at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory. The NASA-sponsored Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft is designed to measure the accelerated particles with a collecting power 10-1,000 times greater than past experiments. It will also provide warning of powerful geomagnetic storms that can disrupt power grids and communications on Earth and in space.
