Dassault Aviation has begun flight tests of the upgraded glass cockpit Falcon 50EX business trijet, scheduled to obtain certification in the third quarter. First delivery is planned for the first quarter of 1997. The 9-seat 50EX is powered by three 3,700-lb.-thrust AlliedSignal TFE731-40 turbofan engines and is equipped with a Collins ProLine 4 avionics suite and Sextant Avionique engine displays. The 50EX's maximum range at Mach 0.75, with eight passengers, is 3,265 naut. mi. at 41,000-45,000 ft. cruise altitude.
UNITED NATIONS OFFICIALS DISCOVERED THAT IRAQ ``designed and prepared for firing a [Scud] chemical warhead, which basically consisted of a bunch of little containers,'' Ashton Carter said. He believes developing a mechanism for dispersing these small, lethal packages early in a missile's flight--making them tough to defend against--would not be difficult for North Korea, China and Iran, either. Meanwhile, he said Taiwan is preparing a defense against Chinese missiles with the purchase of Patriot Pac-2s and probably some Pac-3s.
One-eighth-scale model of Raytheon Premier 1 light jet undergoes stability and control tests in Boeing's transonic wind tunnel in Seattle. Other wind tunnel evaluations conducted on the Premier 1 to date include icing tests at NASA in Cleveland, and low speed tests at Boeing in Wichita and Wichita State University.
This new version of the Trimble Advanced Navigation Sensor Vector system updates attitude 10 times per second using GPS signals, versus the 1-Hz. update rate of its predecessor. TANS Vector provides position, velocity, time and attitude in three axes to external data terminals. The system comprises a receiver positioning unit and a four-antenna array. It requires less than 7.5 w. with voltage input of either 7-16 v. or 17-40 v. Trimble Navigation Ltd., 645 N. Mary Ave., P.O. Box 3642, Sunnyvale, Calif. 94088-3642.
SEVERAL INSTRUMENTS WERE powered-up and preliminary readings were being received from the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) satellite one day after launch from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., last week. The spacecraft was launched Apr. 24 at 5:27 a.m. PDT on a McDonnell Douglas Delta 2 7920-10 booster from its launch complex on North Vandenberg. The spacecraft, placed into a near Sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of 487.5 naut. mi., will be used for experiments involving the tracking of ballistic objects in midcourse flight.
The U.S. Air Force's F-117 stealth fighter fleet, now considered less of a ``silver bullet'' weapon system than it was during the Persian Gulf war, is being integrated into strike packages as a special-purpose asset.
CHIEF OF THE BALLISTIC Missile Defense Organization, Lt. Gen. Malcolm O'Neill, gave a $935-million wish list to Congress last week. He told the lawmakers that the amount, added to $2.8 billion in Fiscal 1997 and an additional plus-up of $1.3 billion over the following four years, might enable BMDO to meet the core theater missile defense plans called for in the Fiscal 1996 defense authorization act.
U.S. TRAVELERS TO HONG KONG WILL HAVE MORE air service options this summer when Cathay Pacific Airways and United Airlines start new services. Beginning July 1, Cathay's Boeing 747-400 service will link New York and Hong Kong, via Vancouver, five days a week, becoming daily by Sept. 1. United, which currently links Chicago and Hong Kong via San Francisco, will begin nonstop service three days a week on July 16. The carrier will fly the 7,788-mi. route nonstop with a 747-400 seating a maximum of 301 passengers, using advanced satellite and ground control links in the U.S.
Robert L. Carberry has been appointed chairman/president/chief executive officer of the Harris Computer Systems Corp., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. He was corporate vice president-new technology for the Blockbuster/Viacom Group.
Michael Gat has been named New York-based general manager for North and Central America of El Al Israel Airlines. He was general manager for Germany and Poland.
James Stothard has been appointed director of international sales and Greg Quirk international sales manager of Garmin International, Lenexa, Kan. Stothard was international marketing executive for National Airways in South Africa, and Quirk was international sales manager of the AlliedSignal General Aviation Avionics Div.
CERTIFICATION OF FLIGHTSAFETY SIMULATION'S new full flight simulator for the Boeing 777 to level ``D'' standards by the FAA will begin in July. The simulator, with a VITAL ChromaView visual system and panoramic 225-deg. MultiView Display, currently is scheduled to be installed at the company's Seattle Learning Center near Boeing Field.
ROLLS-ROYCE HAS COMPLETED a 3,000-cycle ground test on the Trent 800 as part of the program to gain 180-min. Extended-range Twin-engine Operations (ETOPS) approval on the Boeing 777. The test simulates 3,000 operational flights, the equivalent of 3-4 years in airline service, and paves the way for completion of test flying by mid-year.
Jennifer Green has been appointed an aerospace engineer with the Anser Center for International Aerospace Cooperation, Arlington, Va. She was a principal engineer with McDonnell Douglas' Space Systems Engineering Services Div.
No one was especially surprised when Zhu Yuli said recently that politics is likely to overrule his manufacturing judgment when China chooses a Western partner for its regional jet program.
Glenn McIntyre has been named information services manager of the Avtech Corp. of Seattle. He was senior program manager for internal software development of the Crane-Eldec Corp., Lynnwood, Wash.
THE NUCLEAR POWERS, WITH THE MAJOR EXCEPTION of China, have agreed to sign a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) by September. The treaty would forbid any nuclear explosion, according to a joint statement of the Western powers and Russia issued at the end of the nuclear security summit last week in Moscow. A separate ``summit declaration'' pledged early conclusion of a ``universal'' and ``nondiscriminatory'' ban on the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons and explosive devices.
Strong traffic and higher fares have helped most major U.S. airlines start 1996 with impressive profits during the traditionally slow first quarter, despite substantial weather-related disruptions and rising fuel prices. The collective performance continues a financial turnaround begun last year, when net earnings for the U.S. airline industry exceeded $2 billion and operating profits jumped to more than $5 billion, making 1995 the industry's best-ever year.
Japan's Defense Agency is worried that the cost of closing U.S. military bases on Okinawa could drain it of needed modernization funds. By one JDA calculation, the base closings could cost one trillion yen ($9.4 billion). Although the costs are to be spread over several years--about $1.4-1.9 billion a year--the sum still represents nearly a fourth of the 4.8 trillion yen ($45.3 billion) that Japan has budgeted for defense in fiscal 1996 and about half of its aircraft acquisition fund.
SMITHS INDUSTRIES AEROSPACE WILL SUPPLY most of the cockpit instruments for the new U.S. Air Force and Navy Joint Primary Aircraft Training System, to be produced by Raytheon Aircraft. Smiths will provide 12 AMLCD multifunction displays for the Beech MK 2 cockpit. AlliedSignal will furnish the 5 X 5-in. vertical and horizontal situation indicators.
It's financials like PanAmSat Corp.'s first-quarter performance that tend to spoil investors hooked on the growth and profit potential of small-cap stocks. For the three-month period ended Mar. 31, revenues shot up 163% to $50.4 million. Earnings before net interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization soared 838% to $36.6 million from $3.9 million in 1995's first quarter. On a per-share basis, the company earned 4 cents, versus a loss of 7 cents for the same period last year.
An item in the Apr. 8 In Orbit column should have said the precipitation radar instrument for the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Satellite was completed in Japan. The spacecraft is being built in the U.S. by NASA for launch from Japan in 1997.
David Mineck has been named president of Kaiser Electronics, San Jose, Calif. He will continue as vice president/corporate group executive of the parent Kaiser Aerospace and Electronics Corp., Foster City, Calif.
After years of layoffs, Boeing plans to hire about 8,200 new employees this year to meet a sharp upturn in commercial transport demand. The bulk of the new jobs, approximately 6,700, will be located in the Seattle area, where Boeing builds its narrow- and wide-body transports. Another 1,900 positions will be added at Boeing facilities in Wichita, where about 75% of the 737 is built. Wichita workers also build the cockpit sections, struts and nacelles for all Boeing transport models.
The fifth flight of the F-15 ACTIVE (Advanced Controls Technology for Integrated Vehicles) aircraft included the first yaw vectoring of axisymmetric nozzles on a U.S. fighter flying at supersonic speed, according to program officials. During the Apr. 24 flight from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center here, the aircraft reached a maximum velocity of Mach 1.5 at an altitude of 40,000 ft. and conducted a total of about a dozen pitch and yaw doublets. It was the first supersonic flight of the test program.
