The U.S. threatened last week to restrict Japan Airlines' cargo service to and from the U.S. in retaliation for Japanese refusal to approve certain flight plans of Federal Express Corp.
A team led by Northrop Grumman is developing concepts for adaptive wing models incorporating ``smart'' materials, such as shape memory alloys and advanced sensors, to modify airfoil configurations to match specific flight conditions. Under a 30-month, $3.4-million contract from the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency, the team has tested a 16%-scale F/A-18 wing model here in NASA/Langley Research Center's Transonic Dynamics Tunnel to determine the performance of smart wing concepts.
News that the ``behavior police'' want to ban smoking on international flights has Asian carriers shaking their heads at American impatience--and impertinence. Health advocates and flight attendants are pushing a House bill that would make it illegal to light up on flights to and from the U.S., even on board foreign airlines. But nations have legal authority over only their own registered aircraft in international airspace, says lawyer William Karas of the International Airline Coalition on the Rule of Law.
Francis Lou has become Beijing-based country manager for China for Qantas Airways. Carolyn Turner will be station manager in Shanghai, and Melina Chau will succeed Lou as Hong Kong manager.
The horrific explosion of a Trans World Airlines Boeing 747 off Long Island has touched off a massive U.S. government investigation, thrown aviation security and terrorism back into the international spotlight and blighted the fortunes of a veteran airline that was beginning to stage a comeback.
The Pentagon's newest unmanned aerial vehicle--the Outrider--won't fly in its final form until October. But the fact that it has survived an Army, Navy and Marine Corps requirements tug-of-war is already a testament to the resiliency and flexibility of its design. Outrider is Alliant Techsystems' answer to the services' need for a small, cheap UAV that can conduct short-range tactical reconnaissance while operating virtually unseen and unheard at altitudes above 3,000 ft.
WORKERS INSTALL WINDOW TRACKS in the first 737-700 nose section at Boeing's Wichita, Kan., factory. Workers there build about 75% of the 737 airframe. Rollout of this first ``next-generation'' 737 is scheduled to take place in Seattle in December. The 128-149-passenger transport is scheduled to be delivered to launch customer Southwest Airlines in October, 1997. Boeing also is building new -600 and -800 versions, which will carry 108-132 and 160-189 passengers, respectively. Airlines from around the world have ordered 312 of the 737-600/700/800s.
The U.S. Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) and NASA have begun cooperative development of a large imaging radar system planned for launch on the space shuttle to obtain the most complete and accurate topographic map of the world ever compiled. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) will involve two large radar antennas that will remain attached to the shuttle. One of the antennas will be deployed on a 200-ft. mast extending from the orbiter, while the other will be mounted down the length of the payload bay.
Astronaut Kathryn C. Thornton is expected to leave NASA on Aug. 1 to become a professor of engineering and director of the Center for Science Education at the University of Virginia.
The stealthy DarkStar unmanned aerial vehicle program appears to have weathered its first big crisis and is expected to be funded by Congress at $42.5 million in Fiscal 1997. Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Program Agency (DARPA) officials feared the program would be canceled after the Apr. 22 crash of the first aircraft, but Congressional supporters rallied. ``[Funding] looks good for another year,'' a Senate staffer said. ``But if they bounce another one in December, they could be in trouble.''
In the wake of the ValuJet crash, the FAA is proposing to ban carriage of oxidizers on passenger aircraft and plans to ask Congress to revise the agency's Fiscal 1997 budget to augment its hazardous materials workforce.
GERMANY'S DECISION TO CUT its defense budget for 1997 to DM46.6 billion ($31.2 billion) from DM48.4 billion ($32.5 billion) is casting a cloud over the future of several procurement programs, including the Eurocopter Tiger and Helios 2 reconnaissance satellite. The cut is smaller than proposed by treasury officials and is offset by promises of increased spending levels in subsequent years. But the 1997 cuts are expected to bite into procurement spending and German industry officials said the Helios 2 and the Franco-German Tiger programs could be the losers.
THE U.S. SENATE LATE LAST WEEK passed a $245-billion defense appropriations bill for Fiscal 1997, adding $10 billion to the Administration's request. The spending bill, called unaffordable by the White House, passed 72-27. Lawmakers rejected amendments to restrict Pentagon subsidies for defense contractor mergers, to cut add-on F-16s and F/A-18s and to make it harder to add spending that is not part of the Pentagon request or a long-term defense plan.
Sharply improved second-quarter earnings from three U.S. carriers and a strong start in the third quarter have raised optimism that the airlines collectively will top the $2-billion net profits mark in 1996 for the second year in a row. Officials of American Airlines and Alaska Airlines last week were upbeat about the remainder of 1996 after disclosing substantial second-quarter profits and solid advance bookings. Trans World Airlines officials, prior to the accident, also were optimistic about the rest of the year.
Bombardier is looking to fill gaps across its combined Learjet, Challenger and Global Express business jet product line. One opportunity hinted at by top company officials in June is a new medium jet between the 23,500-lb. maximum takeoff weight of the Lear 60 (6-10 seats) and the 47,600-lb. MTOW of the Canadair Challenger 604 (8-19-seats). Japan's Honda has approached Learjet with an offer for the exclusive use of Honda's new 3,000-lb.-thrust or less turbofan to power a $4.5-million entry-level jet (AW&ST Jan. 1, p. 17).
VENTURESTAR is Lockheed Martin's concept for a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) that would evolve out of the X-33 test program. Lockheed Martin's goal for the $4-6-billion vehicle is to capture 94% of the launch market by reducing the cost of orbiting payloads to $1,000/lb. or less. After landing, VentureStar could launch again in as little as 48 hr.
SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL SIGNED an agreement to purchase five launches from the Boeing-led Sea Launch venture, which plans to launch rockets consisting of Ukrainian and Russian boosters from a platform in the Pacific Ocean (AW&ST Jan. 1, p. 26). Space Systems/Loral has not yet manifested payloads for the launches, slated to take place between 1998-2001. The company is the venture's second customer, following Hughes, which has a 10-launch contract plus options.
Managers at Spacehab Inc.--the company that outfits commercial modules that increase the pressurized volume available to shuttle crews--will decide by early fall whether to build a fourth flight unit that could double the science mission capability of Spacehab missions. The new capability could help bridge a gap in shuttle science and technology research likely to occur as more complex shuttle/Spacelab laboratory missions decrease before the buildup of space station operations.
AIRBUS INDUSTRIE HAS RECEIVED its first order from General Electric Capital Aviation Services, for 45 aircraft with options on another 45. GECAS, the leasing subsidiary of General Electric of the U.S., has placed 40 firm orders and another 40 options for single-aisle aircraft from among the A319, A320 and A321. Another five orders and five options have been plac- ed for longer-range A340-300s. All of the aircraft will be powered by CFM International engines. Deliveries would begin in mid-1997.
LOCKHEED MARTIN HAS FINISHED building a second satellite for EchoStar Communications Corp.'s direct broadcast satellite (DBS) venture. The satellite is scheduled to be launched in early September on a European Ariane booster. It will allow EchoStar to greatly expand sports and pay-per-view offerings on its Dish Network, which began operating earlier this year.
China's training spotlight usually focuses on its pilot shortage, but there also is a shortage of qualified aircraft mechanics and technicians. Filling the gap is the job of the Civil Aviation Institute of China in Tianjin (AW&ST Oct. 2, 1995, p. 58). The institute is aided by foreign experts, but for advanced studies--such as teaching qualified mechanics/technicians how to become instructors--it has still had to send students abroad.
THE U.S. SENATE APPROPRIATIONS transportation subcommittee has approved an $8.265-billion, Fiscal 1997 budget for the FAA. According to the panel, the FAA will receive $4.9 billion for operations, $1.79 billion for facilities and equipment, and $187 million for research and development. As part of the overall Transportation Dept. appropriations bill, the FAA's portion includes $1.4 billion for the Airport Improvement Program--$100 million higher than the House AIP appropriation--and about $50 million more than the amount requested by the Clinton Administration.
Novespace, a CNES French space agency affiliate, is initiating operations of a zero-g, parabolic flight A300 twinjet. The aircraft has 20-meter-long (44-ft.) unobstructed floor space to carry science experiments or train astronauts. It is also equipped with 40 seats in the cabin's front and aft sections. Each A300 parabolic flight is expected to produce 20-25 sec. of microgravity after a 45-deg.-incidence climb at a 24,000-ft. altitude. Novespace acquired the A300B2--a flight test aircraft assembled in 1973--from Airbus Industrie.
THE GALILEO SPACECRAFT'S LATEST IMAGES reveal large changes in Jupiter's moon Io since it was last visited by Voyager 1 in 1979. The Voyager image from 17 years ago (left) and the preliminary version of Galileo's June 25 image (right) are both north-up and taken from similar viewpoints, centered on the Media Regio area. However, the illumination angles, camera filters and image manipulation are different. The definitive scientific version of the new image will be released within a year.
