Thomas H. Jacobsen has been elected to the board of directors of Trans World Airlines. He succeeds Donald F. Craib, Jr. Jacobsen is chairman/chief executive officer of Mercantile Bancorporations, Inc.
On Mar. 22, AVIATION WEEK&SPACE TECHNOLOGY Managing Editor David M. North became the 61st person to fly the USAF/Northrop Grumman B-2. Of all who have flown the bomber since its maiden flight on July 17, 1989, North was the first who was not a Northrop or U.S. Air Force pilot, or a Defense Dept. official. U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry, Air Force Secretary Sheila E. Widnall and Under Secretary of Defense Paul Kaminski had recent flights in the B-2 at Whiteman AFB.
WESTINGHOUSE HAS received a $5-million contract from the Joint Advanced Strike Technology program office to demonstrate precision targeting techniques for time-critical, mobile targets. The company will employ both the simultaneous moving target indicator and synthetic aperture radar mapping modes on the Westinghouse Norden AN/APG-76 radar on a testbed aircraft. Northrop Grumman has been awarded a separate $3.5-million contract to develop and demonstrate a target detection and weapons delivery system.
DELTA AIR LINES IS SAVING A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT of money--and solving an inventory problem--by leasing its aircraft tires instead of buying them. Under its cost-saving ``Leadership 7.5'' program, the airline has begun to lease the tires, which it recaps about 10 times and then returns to Air Treads, Inc., and Michelin Aircraft Tire Corp. for recycling. Previously, the airline had trouble disposing of tire carcasses. The tires are recapped every 28 days to four months, depending on aircraft type and usage.
RIPPLES OF PROMOTIONS are moving through senior leadership at the Pentagon. The White House has nominated Gen. Dennis J. Reimer as the new Army chief of staff to replace Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan. Reimer was deputy chief of staff for operations during Desert Storm. Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Ralston was named to head the Air Force's Air Combat Command, as the successor to Gen. Mike Loh. Maj. Gen. Ralph E. Eberhart has been nominated for a third star and promotion to replace Ralston as deputy chief of staff for plans and operations. Lt. Gen. James A.
Arnold Levine has been named vice president-finance/chief financial officer of General Microwave Corp., Amityville, N.Y. He was vice president/CFO at EMS Development Corp.
A bitter legal battle has erupted between the world's largest aerospace corporation and the world's biggest telecommunications company over the failure of a state-of-the-art satellite minutes after it was placed in orbit last fall.
Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Co. has started final assembly of the first C-130J transport at its Marietta, Ga., plant. The aircraft is a stretched C-130J-30 for the Royal Air Force. The plug that is part of the 30-ft. stretch is in the middle. The C-130J has more powerful propulsion than previous models and new avionics and structural materials. First flight is set this year; deliveries are to start in 1996.
Michael G. Stolarik has been appointed president/chief executive officer of Space Applications Corp., Santa Ana, Calif. He was corporate vice president-communications and information systems at BDM International.
NEW SOFTWARE FROM THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE of Standards and Technology (NIST) significantly improves the accuracy of mathematical models of low-temperature air properties and related gas mixtures. The software, called Airprops 5.0, originally was developed for the National Aero-Space Plane project, but has other aerospace applications including computational fluid dynamics modeling. Airprops 5.0 covers a wide temperature range and is available for either mainframe or desktop computers from NIST's Boulder, Colo.,-based Thermodynamics Div.
The Romanian team investigating the probable cause of the Mar. 31 crash of a Tarom A310 transport is focusing on the combination of an engine autothrottle system failure that generated asymmetrical power settings and on the pilots' apparent failure to react quickly to the developing emergency. The A310-300 twinjet crashed about 3 min. after takeoff from Bucharest Otopeni airport (AW&ST Apr. 10, p. 30).
AMERICAN AIRLINES HAS AGREED to sell at least 12 of its MD-11s to FedEx and take over heavy maintenance of that express-delivery cargo airline's fleet of 158 727s. The pact will remove a troublesome aircraft from American's fleet and save one of its major lines at its Tulsa, Okla., maintenance base from extinction. The move also would bolster a fleet of 19 of the McDonnell Douglas aircraft that is a key tool in FedEx's drive to expand its share of the package delivery market in Asia.
John F. Gulick has been promoted to corporate director of federal public relations of Computer Science Corp., Falls Church, Va. He worked in public relations for Comsat and Fairchild Republic Co.
Gerard A. Lasecki has been named sales manager of the Security Products Div. of Access Control Hardware, Dearborn, Mich. He was vice president of DC Cable, Inc., Hartland, Mich.
Gary Trimm has been named senior vice president of CLI, San Jose, Calif., and president of the company's broadcast group. He was president of the North American Div. of Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.
JAPAN'S MAJOR AIRLINES ARE CONTINUING TO BAND TOGETHER to cut all possible costs. Japan Airlines, Japan Air System and All Nippon Airways expect to save about $1 million a year in their latest effort--a jointly held subsidiary, to be formed later this year, to buy, operate and maintain air cargo containers and freight equipment. They have already tried out the idea through a joint maintenance and engine spares purchasing agreement for the Boeing 777. ANA will be the first of the three to get the 777, with delivery scheduled in October.
Delwyn B. Strandburg (see photo) has been named vice president-sales and marketing for carbon fibers for the Zoltek Cos. in St. Louis. He was vice president/director of sales at Prime Alliance, Inc.
Increasing cooperation with the National Reconnaissance Office and streamlining top-priority launcher and satellite programs are the latest weapons for cutting space operations costs, according to U.S. Air Force leaders.
Leaking hot gases from the firing of a pyrovalve caused an explosion that ruined the $200-million AT&T Telstar 402 mission last September, an investigation by Martin Marietta Astro Space has concluded. Based on the Astro Space findings, the next customer for the new Series 7000 satellite is ready to proceed. Hong Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co., Ltd., will launch its AsiaSat-2 spacecraft this summer, General Manager-Marketing Sabrina Cubbon said last week.
FAA officials are confident that ``funds will be found'' to extend overtime pay at the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (Tracon) facility and obviate the threat of lengthy ground delays during the busy summer travel season. As a direct result of a current staffing shortfall, the Tracon experienced a 312% increase in operational errors in 1994. An operational error occurs when less than minimum safe separation exists between aircraft. Minimum separation is 1,000 ft. vertically and 3 mi. horizontally between aircraft.
Advanced, high-fidelity simulators and a reliable six-aircraft B-2 fleet are key contributors to efficient, accelerated flight crew training. Sixteen operational pilots at Whiteman AFB, Mo., are qualified in the bomber now, and three are cleared to fly conventional combat missions.
Airline equity analysts expect other U.S. carriers to follow United Airlines' lead and keep capacity fairly tight for the remainder of the 1990s, with new aircraft deliveries geared primarily toward replacement--not growth. That should prove beneficial for airline stocks, which are up 20% since the start of 1995.
INDUSTRY OFFICIALS HERE BELIEVE the Air Force will finally name the winner of a pending trainer aircraft contract on July 1 with no more delays. But the winner of the program, known officially as the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System, will have to find overseas buyers in a hurry. Their purchases are needed to shore up the low production rates for the first four years of the restructured program. Contractors are hoping for a market of about 1,500 aircraft, with possibly 800 or more going abroad.
