Susan A. Breault has been appointed national sales manager of Specialty Steel&Forge, Fairfield, N.J. She was sales and service manager for California operations for the Timet Corp.
David F. Masotti has been named senior vice president-business development of Spar Aerospace Ltd., Mississauga, Ontario. He was vice president-technical service operations of Rogers Cablesystems Ltd.
Military and intelligence officials eagerly are awaiting data from NASA's test of a large inflatable antenna (see p. 58). They're interested in putting large antennas in space to communicate with mobile forces on Earth. But several hurdles must be overcome, says a senior intelligence official. Antennas would have to be able to last a long time and achieve a smooth and precisely shaped surface every time they were inflated to reflect radio waves properly. ``The materials science is the challenge,'' the official noted.
THE FIRST ARIANE 5 launch has been delayed again to no earlier than May 31. European technicians at the Kourou, French Guiana, launch site delayed the flight from its previous May 30 target to correct a minor problem in the vehicle's attitude control system.
The Senate Commerce Committee chairman, Larry Pressler (R.-S.D.), is taking FAA Administrator David R. Hinson to task. Pressler is demanding to know why Hinson did not mention a report on the safety of low-cost carriers during testimony on May 14--three days after the crash of ValuJet Airlines Flight 592. Most egregious, in Pressler's view, is that Hinson said low-cost airlines have a better safety record than major carriers. To say the least, there are other ways to interpret the data (see p. 36).
Milford (Ben) K. Greenway (see photo) has been appointed Washington-based director of advanced programs for the Ball Aerospace&Technologies Corp.'s Aerospace Systems Div.
Terry Knox has become Los Angeles-based regional marketing manager for Smiths Industries Aerospace. He was vice president-business management of the Rogerson Aircraft Corp., Irvine, Calif.
VIETNAM AIRLINES has completed a lease agreement with Singapore's Region Air for 10 A320s, which will expand its Airbus fleet by two aircraft (AW&ST Jan. 29, p. 27). Deliveries will start in June and run into next year. The airline began leasing A320s from Air France in 1993. As with the previous order, the new aircraft will be powered by CFM International CFM56-5B4 engines. Still under negotiation is a lease for three 767-300ERs.
Colombia's civil aviation authority has granted U.S. carriers more routes to its cities and shifted routes from Colombian carriers. Continental Airlines has been approved for daily passenger, cargo and mail service on Boeing 757- 200s from Newark, to Quito, Ecuador, via Bogota, and American International Airways for daily cargo service using Lockheed L-1011s and Douglas DC-8s from Miami to Bogota, Cali and Barranquilla. Route shifts include one between Cali and Panama City, Panama--from Avianca to Colombian carrier Sociedad Aeronautica de Medellin.
Bruce W. Hueners and Dan Evans (see photos) have been named assembly products marketing manager and assembly products engineering manager, respectively, of Palomar Products Inc., Carlsbad, Calif. Hueners was marketing manager and Evans project manager, both for Die Bonder Products.
Petroleum Helicopters Inc., Lafayette, La., has achieved a zero accident record over the past two years. The company, one of the world's largest commercial helicopter fleets with over 250 aircraft, began its current, top-down safety program in 1992. It requires up to a $1-million additional investment in safety per year but is estimated to have saved millions more in workplace-related injuries and aircraft repair costs, according to Carroll W. Suggs, PHI chairman. The program focuses on safety education and promoting a safety culture.
A special feature of the Combat Track system being demonstrated by USAF's Space Warfare Center could significantly improve the efficient use of air refueling resources. By adding identification patches to a receiver aircraft's nose or upper wing surface, commanders can track which aircraft were refueled and how much fuel a tanker still has on board.
THE PENTAGON IS DEVELOPING techniques to reduce the noise level of military helicopters to make them less vulnerable to acoustic helicopter mines (AHM) during nap-of-the-Earth operations. AHMs use a passive acoustic sensor to detect an approaching helicopter and activate an infrared sensor to track it and explode when the craft is within lethal range.
British Airways reported a record 585-million pound ($901-million) pre-tax profit for the year ending Mar. 31, up 29.4% on the previous year, as discussions of a possible alliance between the U.K. carrier and American Airlines gained momentum.
Matra Marconi Space's new Planar Scanning Antenna Test Range is now open for business. The 2.5-million-pound ($3.85-million) facility, located at the company's plant in Portsmouth, U.K., is capable of testing small communication antennas up to large synthetic aperture radars, as well as complete satellite payloads. The 28 X 12 X 11-meter (92 X 39 X 36- ft.) chamber was designed to accommodate testing of the advanced SAR for the Euro- pean Space Agency's ENVISAT program. It has a planar scan area of 22 X 8 meters.
Flight tests now are being performed on aircraft coatings containing Frisby Technologies' Thermasorb micro-encapsulated phase change material. The technology is aimed at permitting use of lower temperature materials in new aircraft designs or for upgrading the thermal protection of existing structures. When mixed into an existing aircraft coating, Thermasorb absorbs high transient heat loads, such as engine exhaust impingement, and later gradually releases the heat, according to Douglas McCrosson, director of Frisby's thermal products group.
Additional procurement delays are raising new concerns about the export potential of the Dassault Aviation Rafale and Eurocopter Tiger helicopter--and European government and industry officials are fearing U.S. aircraft could fill the gap created by the problem. Although the Rafale design has been flying for 10 years, the aircraft's in-service date progressively has slipped from 1996 to 2002-2005, giving U.S. aircraft such as the F-16 and F/A-18 major new market opportunities.
Stanley T. Myers, president/chief executive officer of Siltec Silicon, Salem, Ore., will become president of the trade organization Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International, Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 1. He will succeed William H. Reed.
The French government has approved a revised multiyear defense plan imposing additional cuts in military procurement spending. The initiative will have a major impact on programs such as the Rafale combat aircraft, French-German Tiger attack-escort helicopter and European NH-90 antisubmarine warfare-transport helicopter.
Douglas Aircraft Co. has proposed an advanced common cockpit for the upgrade of DC-10 aircraft to Federal Express and United Airlines which would make the avionics systems for the older trijets comparable to that of the Boeing 777. Industry observers as of mid-week last week said a decision by FedEx was imminent, but officials with the overnight cargo company said they were not yet ``close'' to a deal.
ADM. JAY L. JOHNSON, a naval aviator, has taken over at least temporarily as chief of naval operations with the death of Adm. Jeremy M. Boorda. Boorda, 57, died May 16 from a gunshot wound sustained outside his home at the Washington Navy Yard. Before becoming CNO in April, 1994, Boorda was commander-in-chief of allied forces in Europe and commander of Joint Task Force Provide Promise, responsible for Balkan operations. Prior to being named vice CNO in March, Johnson was commander of the 2nd Fleet based in Norfolk, Va. A 1968 graduate of the U.S.
A thorough review is needed of how the FAA monitors safety at low-cost, startup airlines, and the inquiry should not be limited to ValuJet. These startup carriers represent the direction of the future in the U.S.--toward ``virtual airlines'' in which many of the key services are farmed out, including pilot training and maintenance. When an air carrier inspector shows up at the headquarters of one of these operations, he or she finds little to inspect. Most of the services critical to flight safety are performed off-site by others.
Richard Skogerson has been appointed executive director of the Seattle-based Washington Aerospace Alliance. He was president of Aerospace Technical Marketing. Named chairman of the board was Ronald W. Wright, vice president of U.S. Hayakawa Industries Inc. Also appointed to the board were: Robert Findley, president of Pacifia Engineering Inc.; Paul Knox, community program manager of the Washington State Community Trade and Economic Development Dept.; and Terry Tatro, tooling services manager of the Heath Techna Aerospace Co.
CHINA AIRLINES of Taiwan last week placed four Boeing 747-400s on firm order and took options for four more. The sale has a potential value of $1.4 billion, including spares, if all options are taken. Engines are to be supplied by Pratt&Whitney. Taipei-based China Airlines operates 23 Boeing transports including 20 747s. It has six 737-800s on order.
