TOKYO'S NARITA AIRPORT SAW A 25% INCREASE in the value of its import/export freight last year, making it the country's most valuable port--air or sea--for the second straight year. The value of Narita's freight was nearly $119.5 billion, ranking it well above second-place Yokohama's seaport ($92.5 billion) and Tokyo's harbor ($78.6 billion). Narita's total includes $60 billion in exports and $59 billion in imports. Computer parts topped both exports and imports--42% and 32%, respectively.
Air France group's financial recovery is increasingly endangered by Air Inter Europe's mounting losses. The domestic-regional subsidiary's market share is plunging due to France's newly deregulated route system. After remaining consistently profitable during its monopoly years, Air Inter Europe is now heavily impacted by strong competition, fare wars and the resulting low yields. The company posted $95.4- million losses for the 1995-96 fiscal year that ended on Mar. 31 and is expecting to lose nearly $260 million in 1996-97.
THE NASA SUCCESS (Subsonic Aircraft: Contrail and Cloud Effects Special Study) project is conducting the first field experiment to investigate the environmental impact of airline aircraft. The joint research effort, with Kansas State University and the U.S. Energy Dept., is focusing on ``cloud microphysics''--determining whether the exhaust from subsonic aircraft affects cirrus cloud formation and the environmental significance of cloud changes, if any. NASA-Ames has deployed an ER-2 to the Salina, Kan., test site.
Aviation is the one success in Russia's otherwise failed defense conversion effort, and may provide the only road map out of the current standstill, according to a German think tank. Russia's six-year-old attempt to convert its military industrial complex into a competitive part of the country's nascent market economy is in disarray, producing few practical results, according to the analysis by the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt.
Former U.S. Rep. Jim Courter (R.-N.J.) chaired two rounds of the federal base closure commission, and heads defense programs at the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution in Washington. Loren Thompson is a senior fellow at the institution and manages its national security research. They cowrote this article for AVIATION WEEK&SPACE TECHNOLOGY.
Final preparations are being completed on a four-bay hangar here that will allow Beijing's Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Corp. to expand its revenue base and improve working conditions for its employees.
Russia's struggling aircraft industry has begun pursuing a larger share of Africa's tiny aviation market despite many obstacles and stiff competition. Russia hopes to establish greater inroads to Africa's helicopter and trainer markets, and gain joint ventures with African nations in an array of aviation hardware.
The Model PR12A microwave reclectometer operates at a fixed X-band frequency, uses an internal 8-MHz. processor and has an RS232 interface for connection with an IBM compatible personal computer. Measurements are displayed in percent or decibels of reflectance on a large, light emitting diode screen. The PR12A can be used to characterize absorber materials, find defects in materials or composites, determine shielding effectiveness or conduct nondestructive testing. Millimeter Wave Technology Inc., 1395 S. Marietta Parkway, Bldg. 800, Suite 104, Marietta, Ga. 30067.
The European Space Agency in connection with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has completed a critical design review on the ESA Huygens spacecraft that is to descend to the surface of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. Aerospatiale is completing the probe's aluminum/carbon/silica heat shield and also heads the overall Huygens European contractor team. Daimler-Benz Aerospace is integrating the overall spacecraft.
AN ENHANCED GROUND proximity warning system (GPWS) costing about $20,000 would have provided about 38 sec. of early warning to the pilots of the USAF CT-43 transport that crashed Apr. 3 during an NDB approach to the Dubrovnik airport in Croatia. According to a GPWS expert, the system also would have provided the flight crew with a ``Pull up!'' command 22 sec. before impact. He said the CT-43 was equipped with a 1975-vintage Collins GPWS system that lacks the sophistication of current, commercially-available units.
Air Combat Command is under financial and force structure pressures like the rest of the U.S. military, but it has not stopped studying and preparing for the next generation of threats. Certainly, reconnaissance and information warfare have been at the forefront of ACC's initiatives with the establishment of the first UAV reconnaissance and information warfare squadrons. AVIATION WEEK&SPACE TECHNOLOGY decided to take a longer term look at such efforts, plus current issues facing the command, including stealth, missile defenses and force mix.
Photograph: Photograph: Flickering, electrically charged skin coatings could confuse some infrared and television missile seekers as flares become outdated. The U.S. Air Force is sponsoring classified research that uses new jamming techniques to deceive air-to-air and anti-aircraft missiles that employ visible and infrared scanning seekers. In the more advanced of two projects, researchers believe they have discovered a way to foil scanning sensors with an electrically charged aircraft coating that brightens and then shimmers.
The Land/Shark Emergency Survival Bag is designed to prevent death from hypothermia in the water or on land. The bag weighs just 18 oz. It is constructed of a microthin layer of aluminized film laminated with international safety orange composite-reinforced ripstop material. The aluminized coating reflects up to 80% of radiated body heat and also serves as an excellent radar reflector to make search and rescue easier. The flame-retardant material is wind and waterproof and also acts as a vapor barrier.
ALLIEDSIGNAL AEROSPACE IS DELIVERING what it believes to be the first combined hand-held GPS and communication transceiver. The Bendix/King KLX 100 contains an 8-channel GPS receiver and VHF communication transceiver. Purchasers can choose from two Jeppesen data bases customized for North America or international use displayed on a 13-line LCD display. A quick-tune feature lets operators highlight and select a communication frequency on the display without typing in the numbers.
PRESIDENT CLINTON PLANS TO DECLASSIFY the total amount the U.S. spends on intelligence. Spooks who oppose the move admit that alone won't cause harm. But they fear pressure to disclose the budgets of individual agencies. Meanwhile, the Senate Intelligence Committee has approved legislation aimed at reversing a shift in intelligence community power to the Pentagon. The Defense Dept. currently controls an estimated 85% of the intelligence budget (AW&ST Jan. 15, p. 42).
The aircraft mechanic ladder is available in heights ranging from 3-16 ft. and features a dual entry design so users can climb it from either side. The Type 1A, heavy-duty ladder uses a fixed, nonfolding design. Each side is rated to support 300 lb., while the top platform measures 20 in. X 20 in. The ladder's base features rubber utility shoes and 5-in., tilt-and-roll casters. A guardrail and tow feature are optional. Louisville Ladder Corp., c/o Ultimate Leads, P.O. Box 739, Berea, Ohio 44017.
Prospects for the Air Force/Lockheed SR-71 are expected to remain cloudy until factions in Washington work out their differences on the use of this aircraft. When Congress gave funds for the reactivation of two SR-71s in 1995, the Air Force reluctantly complied. Now the Pentagon has shut down flights of these penetrating reconnaissance aircraft after they took part in the Green Flag exercise, upsetting some congressmen (see p. 56).
NASA DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTER will use neural networks to attempt to improve aircraft flight performance efficiency. The agency plans to award a contract to American GNC Corp. of Chatsworth, Calif., for its unsolicited proposal to apply neural networks for adaptive performance optimization.
IN AN APPARENT RESPONSE TO THE WHITE HOUSE'S recent statement on GPS policy, the U.S. Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center is seeking systems-level solutions that will protect the use of GPS by Defense Dept. and allies during a conflict, while denying its use to adversaries (AW&ST Apr. 1, p. 23). Research under the ``Navigation Warfare Program'' also seeks to minimize impact on civilians outside the area of conflict. A 12-month effort is planned. Only U.S.-owned and on-shore companies should make a proposal.
NEXT MONTH BRITISH AIRWAYS WILL BEGIN TRIAL RUNS of a new interactive video system developed by BE Aerospace of Florida on one of its 747s. It will provide videos on demand (including a selection of free movies and newer releases on a ``pay-per-view'' basis), in-flight shopping and gambling. Passengers can spend the flight betting on blackjack, roulette and recorded horse races for limited stakes. The system will be tested on flights to Hong Kong, Miami and Los Angeles, but the gambling feature will have to be immobilized when the latter flights hit the U.S.
In Washington, according to a favorite adage of the indigenous political class, no good deed goes unpunished. These days, there may be no better case study of this twisted law of life in the U.S. capital than that of Daniel S. Goldin.
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS IS UPGRADING the performance of its civil helicopter transmissions using a new magnesium alloy with increased corrosion resistance. The lightweight metal is created by anodizing a magnesium alloy called WE43A in a solution of Tagnite, then spraying on and baking a durable coating called Rockhard, according to Gary Craig, McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems' technical staff member. The technique allows MDHS to build upgraded transmission cases without a weight penalty, and substitute 600-shp.
The FS-9601 is a rack-mount peripheral expansion chassis for industrial and military applications. It can be used as a stand-alone, power chassis or fully integrated, wired and tested peripheral chassis. The unit allows for mounting of up to 14 half-height peripherals that are accessible through a front-mounted door. The enclosure meets Mil-Std-810E shock and vibration specifications for aircraft and FCC Class B specifications. Mil-Std-461C compliance is optional. AP Labs, 5871 Oberlin Drive, San Diego, Calif. 92121.
