THE CRASH OF A SIKORSKY CH-53E last month was caused by a defective swashplate duplex bearing assembly, according to conclusions drawn by an investigative team led by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and the Naval Safety Center. The aircraft was on an acceptance flight when the accident occurred, killing all four occupants. Special inspections of swashplates installed on CH-53E and MH-53E helicopters is nearly complete and all aircraft are expected to resume normal flight operations within the next few months, according to Sikorsky.
Jean A. Chamberlin has been appointed B-2 program manager for the Boeing Defense and Space Group in Seattle. She succeeds Mark B. Sussman, who has become manager of unmanned aerial vehicle programs. Sussman succeeds Richard W. Alldredge, who has been named chief engineer.
The FAA will investigate whether McDonnell Douglas was operating an F/A-18C without appropriate certification when the aircraft crashed June 19, killing the civilian test pilot, Jeffrey J. Crutchfield.
PIXELVISION, WHICH EARLIER THIS YEAR introduced 14-in. diagonal color flat panel displays to Chicago O'Hare airport tower, has developed a 16-in.-diagonal display (AW&ST Mar. 25, p. 36). The new PV116SX color, active matrix liquid crystal display has a resolution of 1,280 X 1,024 pixels, which gives it the clarity to effectively replace 21-in. diagonal CRT displays, according to the company. Like its predecessor, the monitor is 4 in. deep.
BFGOODRICH AEROSPACE WILL SUPPLY a comprehensive integrated mechanical diagnostics system for operational evaluation in two CH-53E helicopters. The system monitors the ``health'' of mechanical systems using sophisticated analysis of vibratory characteristics, with high-quality sensors and modeling. Capabilities include fault detection and diagnostics of the complete drive train. It can also provide automatic rotor tracking and balance without an optical tracker.
Former Director of Central Intelligence R. James Woolsey has zinged one at President Clinton by endorsing Bob Dole for President. Appointed by Clinton, Woolsey quit last year after receiving little support from the White House. He is critical of the Administration's decision to delay any commitment to deploy a national missile defense system. The scope of the National Intelligence Estimate, which the White House uses to justify its position, ``was far too narrow for the very broad decision,'' he said. But Woolsey's decision to back Dole goes further.
William P. Marberg has been appointed president/chief executive officer of Wilcox Electric Inc., Kansas City, Mo. He was senior managing vice president-navigation systems. Marberg succeeds Don Welde, who will work in the Alexandria, Va., office of Wilcox parent Thomson Corp. of America.
A Mississippi Army National Guard CH-47D Chinook airlifts a Boeing-built Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle module prior to first ``splash'' tests at Stennis Space Center, Miss., last month.
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) announced the operation of a new Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) station it set up with the Air Force and NASA. The experimental SLR station, located at the Air Force's Starfire optical range in Albuquerque, N.M., was designed to precisely determine the location of satellites and verify onboard spacecraft system performance. Results have been obtained from satellites as low as 370 km. and as high as 20,200 km. The SLR is now tracking an NRL tethered satellite experiment.
Tom Begley, commercial director for the Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co. (Haeco), has been named director/general manager of Hong Kong Aero Engine Services Ltd. (Haesl), a 50-50 partnership between Haeco and Rolls-Royce. Steve Jones was named general manager operations for Haesl.
BRITISH REGIONAL carrier CityFlyer Express ordered two AIR/British Aerospace RJ100s four-engine transports for March-April, 1997, delivery, and has options for two additional aircraft.
Daniel M. Deaton of North Carolina State University is one of six U.S. college students to win Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Aerospace Prize Apollo Fellowships as administered by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The other winners are: Antonio De La Garza, Texas A&M University; Keith J. Nicolosi, University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa; Nathan Scandella, California Institute of Technology; Kevin K. Parsons, Purdue University; and Robert M. Beard, University of Alabama at Huntsville.
India's prospective purchase of Russian Su-30 combat aircraft has been delayed indefinitely, caught up in political conflicts and an alleged scandal. At issue is India's $1.8-billion procurement of up to 40 of Sukhoi's planned Su-30MKs. Equipped with forward canards, the MK is a derivative of the multirole Su-30K, a fourth-generation fighter that Sukhoi plans to equip with more advanced avionics and armament (AW&ST May 27, p. 57).
There is a drive on at all airlines in the U.S. and abroad to achieve lower costs and higher profits, which is fine, as long as corporations maintain the air safety standards that have served the industry so well. It is, after all, the airlines themselves, more than the FAA (or overseas regulatory agencies), that ensure flights depart and arrive safely. Government inspectors can only spot-check airline operations. There never will be enough resources to have an FAA inspector at every gate to watch every departure.
Has the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) thrown in the towel on the smallsat debate? The agency had resisted pressure from the House Intelligence Committee to wean itself from huge, costly and highly capable satellites. But David Kier, the agency's associate director for technology, said publicly last week that the NRO believes ``we need to move with the next generation of systems into a smaller class'' of satellites.
Ronald A. Andrews (see photo) has been appointed vice president of the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, Palo Alto, Calif. He was general manager of the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories, Camden, N.J.
CRAIG COVAULT, who has been reporting for Aviation Week&Space Technology for nearly 25 years, is appointed the magazine's senior editor. For the last four years, Covault has been Paris bureau chief. Covault will be based at Cape Canaveral, where he also will lead overall coordination of the magazine's U.S. and international space coverage.
With one prototype flying and another in the computer, Indonesia Aircraft Industry (IPTN) used Jakarta's first air show in a decade to underscore its drive to become a technological leader. Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie, who heads IPTN and numerous other state-owned manufacturing firms under the BPIS group, does not hide his dependence on European and U.S. firms to help IPTN, particularly in development of its two biggest projects, the N250 64-seat regional turboprop and the N2130 100-seat regional jet.
SITA HAS TWO NEW VHF AIRCOM data link stations in the Commonwealth of Independent States and plans to add 10 more sites during the next 12 months. Service was recently introduced in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in eastern Russia to cover the airspace north of Japan, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to support overflight routes from Europe to Asia. SITA provides an extensive worldwide air-ground data link service to airlines with more than 320 VHF stations in 134 countries. A consortium of SITA and Teleglobe Canada, France Telecom and Telstra of Australia provides Satellite Aircom.
NASA and Boeing are moving to head off a potential delay in the first major U.S. element of the international space station, but Russia's commitment to deliver its hardware on time continues to appear far from iron-clad. Boeing, the lead U.S. station contractor, has begun building 16 struts that could be placed inside the station's two connector nodes to redistribute stress away from areas that failed to meet pressure test goals.
Second-quarter operating income for U.S. airlines will be well above 1995 levels. Wall Street estimates range from $2.5-2.7 billion, up from the $2 billion that the industry generated in the same period last year. But don't credit management for this sizable improvement, although most carriers have continued to be relentless in cutting costs. The real credit goes to Uncle Sam, who has yet to reimpose an expired 10% ticket tax.
Indonesia has launched a pilot satellite navigation program with Hughes Electronics and Daimler-Benz Aerospace to provide Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta and Halim airports with navigational aids to take advantage of digital global positioning satellite transmissions for improved air traffic control. Called the Aeronautical Navigation Satellite System (ANSS), the program, as discussed, would tie in with the U.S. GPS and Russian Glonass satellite constellations. Work shares for DASA, Hughes and IPTN have not been decided for ANSS, nor has funding.
Boeing and Rolls-Royce have suspended Trent-powered 777 test flights aimed at clearing the engine for 180-min. extended twin operations. The standdown is in effect at least until investigators determine why a Rolls-Royce Trent 800 powering a 777 ETOPS test aircraft suffered high-pressure compressor damage during a takeoff run on June 16 in Mesa, Ariz.
