Benjamin F. Johnson, 3rd, has been appointed director of aviation programs, Michael S. McCauley national sales director for business aviation and Robert S. Paden sales manager for Rolls-Royce and AlliedSignal engine programs, all for UNC Airwork, Millville, N.J. Johnson was vice president-customer support, McCauley director of Rolls-Royce engine programs and Paden support representative for Rolls-Royce products.
EDITOR'S NOTE: On Dec. 20, 1995, American Airlines Flight 965 from Miami to Cali, Colombia, was on approach to Cali's Alfonso Bonilla Aragon International Airport when the Boeing 757 struck near the summit of the El Deluvio mountain, at about the 8,900-ft. level. The accident site was near the town of Buga, 33 mi. northeast of the Cali VOR. Of the 163 passengers and crew on board, four passengers survived the accident (AW&ST Jan. 1, 1996, p. 28).
The U.K. will pull its remaining Royal Air Force squadrons out of Germany by 2002 as it moves ahead with plans, backed by pledges of increased spending on military procurement, for a more mobile force capable of rapid deployments. In its annual report to Parliament on defense estimates, the Ministry of Defense said it plans to close RAF Bruggen and transfer the four Tornado GR1 squadrons now stationed there back to bases in the U.K. Another base, RAF Laarbruch which has two squadrons of Harrier GR7s, has already been tipped for closure in 1999.
A new intelligence data link is transmitting live video from unmanned aerial vehicles flying over Bosnia--which has included some evidence of arms movements and grave tampering--into the Pentagon with only about a 1-sec. delay. The live Joint Broadcast System (JBS) capability was recently demonstrated to Defense Secretary William Perry and other senior officials, who specifically observed infrared imagery of Bosnian Serb military facilities in north central Bosnia.
JAPAN'S MOS-1B MARINE observation satellite has run out of battery life and died after six years of operation, lasting four years beyond its design life. The satellite was launched by Japan's National Space Development Agency in February, 1990, on board an H-1 booster from the Tanegashima launch center.
The first two-seat JAS 39B Gripen took to the air for the first time last week as Saab began negotiations with the Swedish government on additional purchases of the new fighter.
EMOTIONS WERE HIGH AT THE HOUSE aviation subcommittee last week. The subject: the Child Pilot Safety Act hastily introduced after the death of seven-year-old Jessica Dubroff last month. The bill seeks to prevent young non-pilots from attempting to set flying records. Sen. James M. Inhofe (R.-Okla.), a long-time pilot and former member of the subcommittee, told his erstwhile House colleagues existing FAA rules are adequate. Nonetheless, he will support the measure. Why?
IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS, Swissair is scheduled to become the first operator of the newly-certified Airbus Industrie A319 twinjet transport. Last month, the European consortium delivered the first A319 in Swissair livery to the International Lease Finance Corp. The Swiss carrier concluded an order for three A319s and a lease agreement for five ILFC-owned aircraft. The A319 will have a two-class, 116-seat cabin.
AIRBUS CHINA PRESIDENT ROLF RUE expects the China Aviation Supplies Corp. to name owners by the end of the year for the 20 A320s that remain unidentified in the $1.5-billion deal announced in April (AW&ST Apr. 15, p. 34). China Southern Airlines is to take 10 of the aircraft--a blow for Boeing because the airline has been faithful to Seattle.
THE FAA LAST WEEK ISSUED 18 new airworthiness directives affecting 29 models of turboprop regional airline aircraft with unpowered flight controls and pneumatic deicing boots. The directives instruct pilots how to fly in freezing rain and drizzle, recognize cues indicating severe icing and mandate an immediate exit from the icing area. About 4,400 aircraft are affected.
J. Bruce Huffman (see photo) has been appointed director of corporate aviation for Joseph E. Seagram&Sons Inc. of New York. He was flight standards captain for IBM Flight Operations.
The launch of the first Ariane 5, Europe's all-new heavy space booster, has been tentatively rescheduled to no earlier than May 25, from the French Guiana Space Center. Late last month the booster was transferred from the final assembly building to the new ELA-3 launch pad for a ``wet'' countdown rehearsal, the cryogenic main stage's tanks being filled with liquid hydrogen and oxygen.
DAIMLER-BENZ AEROSPACE CHIEF Manfred Bischoff foresees no cross-border mergers between Europe's major aerospace/defense companies within the next two years. Despite both the need and growing pressure for such consolidation, he told AVIATION WEEK&SPACE TECHNOLOGY the governments are not prepared to proceed as rapidly as the companies themselves. ``I would be ready now to do more if I could rely on the politicians to follow, but as I look around, I am hesitant,'' he said.
THE U.S. CONGRESS has told NASA to hold off implementing plans to lay off more than half of its headquarters staff by October, 1997. Language inserted by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D.-Md.) in the recently approved Fiscal 1996 federal budget bill said the planned cuts are ``disproportionately excessive'' and might jeopardize NASA's ability to manage its programs. Although the layoffs were announced to all headquarters personnel on Apr. 17, Administrator Daniel S. Goldin now says they were just a ``planning exercise'' and are not set in stone.
Russia's 20-ton Priroda module docked with the Mir space station Apr. 26, but the maneuver was completed with a degraded electrical system that had ground controllers and the station crew preparing to use backup emergency procedures. Unlike previous station modules, the complex Earth survey vehicle carried no solar arrays and relied on batteries to power two redundant electrical systems for the automatic rendezvous and docking (AW&ST Apr. 29, p. 29).
The Northrop Tacit Blue's unusual shape is the outgrowth of requirements to carry a large side-looking radar antenna, to have a low radar cross section in the side aspect, and to test a curvilinear, rather than faceted, approach to low RCS.
NASA CHIEF DANIEL S. GOLDIN is eyeing small, multiple-stage reusable boosters as a backup for the agency's X-33 single-stage-to-orbit effort. The objective is to be able to launch 100 kg. to orbit for $1 million or less, he recently told the NASA Advisory Council. Goldin also continued his criticism of what he sees as the U.S.' dismal record in developing new launch technologies.
EFFORTS BY ARLINGTON, VA., GOVERNMENT officials to build a baseball stadium close to Washington National Airport may strike out. The airlines are griping, and the Washington airports authority gave thumbs-down last week, chiefly because of safety concerns. The 50,000-seat stadium would be built on a seven-acre parcel near the 14th Street bridges--into which an Air Florida Boeing 737 crashed on takeoff from National in 1982. A mere 3,000 ft. from Runway 18/36, the sports complex would also be subjected to noise from jets departing to the north.
Electroimpact Inc. has begun engineering work on a computer-controlled, low-voltage electromagnetic auto-riveter for the automated fabrication of upper wingskins for Airbus-family transports. Once operational in late 1997, the 180-ft.-long machine will automatically drill, countersink and insert all fasteners and titanium bolts attaching stringers to Airbus wing skins at British Aerospace facilities in Chester, England. British Aerospace is responsible for the manufacture of wings for the European consortium.
Carl Trustee (see photo) has been named manager for structural dynamics of Dunlop Aviation Braking Systems, Coventry, England. He was a principal investigator for McDonnell Douglas Aerospace.
AFTER 30 YEARS OF OPPOSITION, one of a group of Japanese farmers living near Tokyo's Narita Airport has agreed to sell his land to allow construction of a second, parallel runway. Five other farmers that have refused to sell land are reconsidering, but two more refuse to sell. The farmers own a total of about 40 acres. Narita officials want to build a third runway for crosswind operations, but would be forced to use it only as a taxiway because of the farmers' objections to noise.
ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS has won the $52.6-million contract for the fast-moving Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program. The 120-mi.-range aircraft is supposed to meet U.S. Marine Corps, Army and Navy needs. The winning contractor is to produce six TUAV systems and eight attrition aircraft and provide training and contractor logistics support by May, 1998. Mission Technologies will build the Hellfox-derivative air vehicle, which features a twin wing to generate high lift. The aircraft is to be portable by Humvee and C-130.
First images of the Sun from the joint European Space Agency/NASA SOHO solar observatory mission show highly localized events that can spark massive eruptions and mysterious heating effects in the solar atmosphere. The satellite is revealing a star far more active than envisioned at this ``solar minimum'' period in the 11-year solar cycle.
The U.S. House National Security and Senate Armed Services panels have approved identical Republican bills mandating deployment of a national missile defense (NMD) system by 2003, but the chances for enactment into law this year appear slim.
