A joint NASA/European Space Agency investigation board has concluded controller errors on the ground rather than an onboard problem caused the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft to spin out of control last month, which could mean the spacecraft can be recovered later this year.
Combustion systems specialist Sonex Research, Annapolis, Md., has started working on a three-month project to convert a 342cc unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) engine from gasoline to heavy fuels - such as JP-5 or diesel - for Northrop Grumman's Military Aircraft Systems Div. under a $55,000 subcontract. Sonex also is demonstrating a heavy fuel conversion for the Pioneer UAV under a contract with the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center at Patuxent River, Md.
Lufthansa Technik is adding the new CFM56-7 engine series to its repair and maintenance portfolio with a contract to maintain Scandinavian Airline System (SAS) Boeing 737-600s. The -600s will start arriving at SAS in September, and LHT will maintain more than 100 -7 engines for SAS under the contract.
NASA's Lewis Research Center and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently co-sponsored a Metallic Coatings Speciality Workshop aimed at advancing work on coatings in gas turbine engines, NASA reports. Lewis' James Smialek chaired a session on development, behavior and future needs of aluminide coatings for super alloys in turbine environments, and additional sessions covered development and processing of commercial coatings, along with field experience and repair. Researchers met at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J.
TRW reported a 6% drop in second quarter earnings, citing the General Motors strike and the litigation settlement of a terminated contract. The company earned $125.8 million on sales of $3 billion during the three-month period, compared to earnings of $134.4 million on sales of $2.9 billion in the same period a year ago.
The engines taking shape at Pratt&Whitney and GE Aircraft Engines for the proposed 750,000-lb., 300-passenger Mach 2.4 High Speed Civil Transport may be so big and complex that airlines will demand that the enginemakers take over maintenance and support. "It is substantially larger than a GE90 core," says Leigh Koops, HSCT program manager at GE Aircraft Engines, referring to the engine which today is the largest core in commercial service. "The nozzle you could garage your car in. It's just huge."
A crack developed in the wing of an F-2 fighter during a recent static test, according to sources in Japan's Defense Agency and the aerospace industry. The agency and F-2 prime contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have declined to comment.
Special review teams comprised of heavy hitters experienced with problem-plagued development programs of the past are due to report by early fall on how Lockheed Martin should proceed with future development and testing of the troubled Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile.
Pratt&Whitney wrapped up a little more than three weeks of initial testing on its F119-611 Joint Strike Fighter turbofan powering the Lockheed Martin team's X-35 JSF concept demonstrator. Officials say the engine - FX661 - now has about 50 hours of test time, and is ready to go for altitude testing at the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engine Development Center in Tullahoma, Tenn.
Talks between the U.S. government and Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to resolve concerns about the proposed merger of the two companies failed (DAILY, July 16) because it would take too much effort to constantly monitor the combined company, Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said yesterday. "We could not simultaneously meet two demands," he said. "The first was maintaining certain amounts of competition both in terms of price and technology. And second, maintaining our commitment to smarter, less intrusive buying practices."
LOCKHEED MARTIN Information Systems has won a U.S. Air Force contract to supply goods and services associated with flight systems training at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. The five-year Training Systems Acquisition contract is intended to shorten delivery time for simulation and training capabilities.
Pratt&Whitney just completed tests on its XTC-66 core engine, developed during the second phase of the Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET) under the Advanced Turbine Engine Gas Generator (ATEGG) program. The XTC-66 is the forerunner of the core destined to power P&W's recently launched PW8000 geared turbofan (AP, Feb. 27) and PW6000 JT8D replacement.
The Asian economic crisis will probably bite down harder and longer into airframers' balance sheets than the airframers or securities houses so far have been willing to believe, a new forecast from veteran aerospace analyst and JSA Research President Paul Nisbet suggests.
Alliant Techsystems will build the fiber-placed composite pivot shaft for the Lockheed Martin F-22 fighter under a subcontract that could reach a value of $175 million through 2012. Alliant said yesterday it has received an initial $7 million contract to transition the program from development and production and for the first two production options
Japan and Spain have both received letters of offer from the U.S. for AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles worth a total of $74 million, the Pentagon said. Spain, which already has AMRAAMs, would buy 100 AIM-120Bs, 48 launchers, and support equipment and documentation for $52 million through foreign military sales channels. Japan would buy 40 AIM-120Bs and support materials and documentation for $22 million. The deal would also be an FMS arrangement.
Flight safety will not be affected by projected Year 2000 computer problems, according to officials of Airbus, Boeing and the FAA. But, they said at a conference in Arlington, Va., software problems caused by Y2K bugs could affect inflight entertainment (IFE) systems, creating bookkeeping and accounting problems for airlines.
Rep. C.W. (Bill) Young (R-Fla.) said programs that were line item vetoed in the fiscal 1998 defense appropriations act should be treated by the Administration as if they were automatically reinstated, as in a successful veto override by Congress. Young, chairman of the House Appropriations national security subcommittee, acknowledged in an interview with The DAILY that he may have to get a legal ruling on the situation. The line item veto, enacted by Congress in 1996, was struck down by the Supreme Court last June 25 in a 6-3 ruling.
ORDERS: Never mind. As the last AP went to press, Airbus Industrie said USAirways hadn't yet picked engines for their newly ordered A330 widebodies (AP, July 6). Maybe not, but Chairman Stephen Wolf, trying to soothe U.S. reporters in Paris wondering about the carrier turning away from U.S. aerospace, said he planned to buy Pratt&Whitney PW4000 series engines for the jetliners....Air Tours confirms it will take two more Trent 700-powered A330-200 aircraft in addition to two announced last year, Rolls reports.
NICHOLS RESEARCH CORP., Huntsville, Ala., won contracts valued at more than $2 million from the U.S. Army for systems integration and support at Fort Belvoir, Va. The Project Manager, Night Vision/Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition (PM, NV/RSTA) and the Communications and Electronics Command (CECOM) Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) are the principal customers.
NASA has set up a program office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to coordinate the U.S. space agency's efforts to spot, characterize and track asteroids and comets that pose a potential threat to Earth. The Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL has a goal of locating at least 90% of the estimated 2,000 large asteroids and comets that approach the earth by the end of 2010. "Large" in this context is defined as at least one kilometer in diameter.
Boyd Givan, senior vice president and chief financial officer for Boeing Co., plans to retire Sept. 1, the company announced. It said the search for a successor will be conducted among internal and external candidates. Givan joined Boeing in 1966 after working at Arthur Andersen&Co. and Martin Marietta. He moved through the management ranks in the Commercial Airplane Group and become vice president-finance in 1988. He has served as CFO since 1990.
Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities is expected to ask its 27 member nations to certify the Boeing MD Explorer as capable of category A performance this month, Boeing said. The JAA validation would pave the way for the Explorer to be certified and to operate throughout the JAA community. The action will make the twin-engine, eight-place Explorer the first helicopter in its weight classification to achieve the higher safety, reliability and performance category.
British Aerospace has conducted the first flight of a Tornado F3 aircraft with Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs), and noted no effect on handling of the aircraft. BAe Director of Flight Operation Derek Reeh and Chief Navigator Jim Stuttard flew a 30-minute test sortie from BAe's Warton plant in Lancashire with the missiles, BAe said yesterday. "The test went perfectly with the excellent handling qualities of the aircraft unaffected by this new missile," Reeh said.
Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.) today will introduce an amendment to the fiscal year 1999 VA, HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill to kill the International Space Station. Roemer has failed in the past to kill the program, and is not expected to succeed this time. Last week the Senate, in a 66-33 vote, defeated an amendment by Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-
