An All Nippon Airways' General Electric CF6-50 engine has completed 28,888 hr. on a Boeing 747-200. The engine, No. 530218, is believed to have set an industry on-wing record. Delta Air Lines, however, has a Rolls-Royce RB211-524 on a Lockheed L-1011 with 27,523 hr. at last count. ANA said if all of its engines would run as long, it would save $95 million a year.
The Ariane 5 launcher failed on its first flight last week after gimbals on all three rocket engines moved to full deflection. The gimballing caused the 1.6-million-lb. launcher to pitch and yaw at rates estimated at 30 deg./sec. It quickly broke up from the airloads, and the breakup triggered an auto-destruct system that reduced Ariane 5 to a broad shower of flaming debris. Though spectacular, the debris caused no known injuries or property damage.
A full-function ``flying hospital'' recently completed by a Lockheed Martin-led team will start performing relief missions this month, providing mass medical care to impoverished areas around the world.
The failed debut of the Ariane 5 may hurt Arianespace's efforts to market the new vehicle as one of the world's most reliable rockets, but initial damage to the company's business will likely be minimal. Arianespace has taken steps to guard against Ariane 5 delays by ordering enough Ariane 4s to keep launch operations running smoothly. Even if the Ariane 5 cannot make its first three commercial flights as planned in 1997, the company can easily meet its launch schedule with its typically reliable Ariane 4s.
The House Appropriations national security subcommittee has thrown its full support behind getting the DarkStar unmanned aerial vehicle off the ground again. The panel last week added $42.5 million to the Pentagon's original $17.4-million Fiscal 1997 request for the drone. Some $17 million of the additional money would be used to procure a replacement for the DarkStar that crashed during its second test flight, on Apr. 22 (AW&ST Apr. 29, p. 24). Another $22 million would go toward identifying and fixing the problems that caused the crash.
Former astronaut Dr. Bernard A. Harris, Jr., has become staff vice president-operations/director of life science programs for Spacehab Inc., Vienna, Va.
Japan's National Space Development Agency has designated three derivative H-2 launchers with new booster motors that are intended to make the program more efficient and cut production costs.
Kevin Murray, director of corporate affairs at AEA Technologies, will become director of communications at British Airways as of July 1. Peter Jones, who has been acting director, will remain head of public relations.
Streamlined acquisition methods that are fielding GPS-aided Lantirn pods on F-14Bs in record time could become a model for upgrading aircraft in an era of declining defense budgets.
Intense pressure from Boeing has forced the Commerce Dept. to withdraw its comprehensive guide for small U. S. aerospace suppliers on how to capture greater involvement in Airbus Industrie aircraft. The department released the guide at last year's Paris air show in an effort to generate new business for small U.S. companies (AW&ST June 12, 1995, p. 38). Airbus supported the effort, hoping to increase the percentage of the consortium's aircraft that could be calculated in U.S. dollars to offset exchange rate differences. But angry U.S.
Manufacturing information systems will play an increasingly vital role among companies seeking to become more competitive on the shop floor. This technology has the potential to dramatically reduce product development cycles and delivery times, and thus costs. But the ultimate benefits are at the heart of what it means to be competitive: greater market share and increased revenue.
Japan's flight crew unions are gaining headway in their program to gain health benefits for members for treatment against continuous exposure to radiation in flight (AW&ST Apr. 29, p. 19). Japan's Radiation Council, an adviser to the science and technology minister, has accepted a 1990 recommendation made by the International Committee of Radiation Protection that exposure limit levels should be set at about 40% of current levels. Annual exposure levels would be less than 20 mili sv. average during a five-year period.
A submerged submarine controlling a land-launched unmanned aerial vehicle is the latest wrinkle in the Pentagon's long-endurance UAV programs. The nuclear-powered USS Chicago sailed off San Clemente Island, Calif., last week equipped with a mast-mounted, line-of-sight antenna to control a land-launched, medium-altitude Predator UAV. A small team of UAV specialists with a mini-ground station was on board the submarine to operate the Predator, which observed the landing and extraction of SEAL special operations forces.
Eastwind Airlines plans to add two new flights from its Trenton-Mercer County (N.J.) Airport base to Atlanta, host city for the Olympic Games, starting June 6. One flight will pass through Greensboro, N.C., while the other will stop in Richmond, Va. Fares will range between $69 and $129 from Trenton, $49-109 from Richmond, and $59-119 from Greensboro. The airline, which is averaging about 10.5 hr. per day of block time on each of its two Boeing 737-200s, also serves Boston and Providence, R.I.
Alaska Airlines last week operated a scheduled, revenue passenger flight using integrated Global Positioning System guidance as its primary navigation source. The system, which uses two Honeywell GPS units and dual Smiths Industries flight management computers, now is operational in two of Alaska's 23 Boeing 737-400s. Installation is being studied on the rest of the carrier's 737-400 fleet. Alaska also operates eight 737-200 combis and 44 McDonnell Douglas MD-80s from its Seattle and Portland hubs.
European air traffic control and research organizations have developed and tested the core elements of a new integrated air traffic management (ATM) system for the 21st century. Program officials have finished their analysis of the initial demonstrations, completed late last year. They said the results validated several new technologies and computer-assisted tools that were acceptable to controllers and aircrews, and integration into a complete air/ground system was demonstrated.
Italy is considered to have one of Europe's least competitive aerospace industries, with most areas trailing those in the U.K., France and Germany. Companies there generally do not have their operating costs under control, according to aerospace analysts and consultants in London and Frankfurt. ``If you look at how the Italians are operating their factories, you find a lot of inefficiency from jobs being performed in old ways,'' said Crispin Vincenti-Brown, a partner with the management consulting firm of Ingersoll Engineers.
Phase two of the Lean Aircraft Initiative, scheduled to begin this fall, will focus on implementing lean production practices throughout the U.S. military aircraft industry. Phase one baselined that sector of the industry through surveys and site visits. It also developed a prototype software model called the Lean Enterprise Model (LEM) to assist companies in identifying and implementing lean practices.
Hughes Space&Communications Co. got its start building satellites for the U.S. government in the early 1960s. But last year, the company could have prospered quite well without receiving a nickel from the government. Of the 25 satellite orders the Los Angeles-based satellite builder took in 1995, 22 were from commercial customers from around the globe. The remaining three were ordered by NASA.
Alitalia's reshuffled management is scheduled to implement an all-new rescue plan that is expected to restore profitability by the end of the decade. The Italian flag carrier will further streamline its fleet, form operating divisions to separately manage a dense European route system and long-haul routes, develop a second hub at Milan, seek strategic alliances and cut jobs.
David J. Smith (see photo) has been named president of the North American subsidiary of Agema Infrared Systems, Secaucus, N.J. He was U.K. sales director.
The top executive of one of the U.S.' more progressive aerospace companies recently observed that in today's world, aerospace companies that don't keep improving and inventing their own futures are concerns that may not be around to enjoy any future.
Nick Fuhrman (see photo) has been named director of government relations for Spacehab Inc., Vienna, Va. He was senior professional staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives' subcommittee on space and aeronautics.
