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UPDATE 
Week ending October 19, 1997
+++ Airbus Chairman Reuter to retire soon +++ Matra BAe Dynmaics buys into LFK GmbH +++ Boeing 777-300 takes off +++ Cassini and Huygens on their way to Saturn +++ Hamburg Airlines forced to stop operations +++ France decides on national solution for Thomson-CSF +++ NATO ground surveillance decision looms +++ Problems with Global Surveyor +++ News in brief +++

Airbus Chairman Reuter to retire soon
Reuter tritt als Airbus-Aufsichtsratsvorsitzender zurück

The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Airbus Industrie, Mr. Edzard Reuter, has now officially informed the Airbus partners that he intends to step down at the beginning of 1998 at the latest, to enable the Airbus partners to nominate, at the same time, a new president for the Airbus Industrie management and a new chairman of the Supervisory Board. The Airbus partners have agreed to elect as future chairman of the Supervisory Board one of the Airbus partner presidents, to ensure consistent shareholder representation and guidance in the Supervisory Board.
This move comes ase Aérospatiale, British Aerospace, CASA and Dasa have reiterated again their strong desire to proceed with the integration process for an Airbus Single Corporate Entity on the basis of integration of all activities needed to define, develop and produce the present and future Airbus product line under the responsibility of one management. The partners want to incorporate The Single Corporate Entity at the beginning of 1999, it was said.

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Matra BAe Dynmaics buys into LFK GmbH
30 Prozent der LFK GmbH gehen an Matra BAe Dynamics

On October 15, Dasa and Matra-BAe Dynamics (MBD) have signed their long awaited deal for MBD to take a 30 percent minority-share in the Dasa subsidiary LFK-Lenkflugkörpersysteme GmbH (LFK). Subject to approval from the European Commission, this "signifies a further major step towards creating the European struktures essential to the urgently needed improvement in global competitiveness in European Defence Industry" it was stated. The European and transatlantic cooperations that LFK is already engaged in will continue undiminished, Dasa assured at the same time.
MBD and LFK agreed to implement a joint strategy on future programmes, especially the future medium range air-to-air missile. There has been identified a considerable scope for synergies between the two companies that will allow to offer to the different national customers cost effective solutions to their requirements, a statement said. In the field of missile and missile-based weapon systems, Matra-BAe Dynamics and LFK together will be number two worldwide, just behind the American company Raytheon-Hughes and ahead of Lookheed Martin. The new industrial alliance employs 7,500 people on 9 sites in Europe (3 in Germany, 3 in Great Britain and 3 in France) and currently working on some 30 production programmes and 20 other programmes in an advanced study or development phase.

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Boeing 777-300 takes off
Erstflug der Boeing 777-300 erfolgreich

On October 16 at 10.27 local, the first Boeing 777-300 took off from Everett for its 3 hour 56 minute maiden flight. "The takeoof felt normal, nothing unusual", chief pilot Frank Santoni radioed moment after the airplane lifted off from Paine Field. After putting the airplane through various maneuvers, Santoni said the 777-300 is "accomplishing all scheduled test conditions and is performing great". The Roll-Royce Trent powered machine reached an altitude of 5100 metres before returning to Boeing Field in Seattle.
The first flight marked the beginning of a test programme that will inclued 1400 hours.Five other 777-300 will be used in the tests, including two pwered by Pratt & Whitney PW4090 and one powered by PW4098 engines. FAA certification for the Rolls-powered version ist expected next May, with delivery of the first customer airplane to Cathay Pacific in the same month. Total 777-300 orders stand at 52.

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Cassini and Huygens on their way to Saturn
Start von Cassini und Huygens geglückt

A seven-year journey to the ringed planet Saturn began on 15. October at 4:43 a.m. EDT (10:43 MEZ) with the liftoff of a Titan IVB/Centaur carrying the Cassini orbiter and its attached Huygens probe. The countdown for the launch of an Air Force Titan IV rocket carrying NASA's Cassini spacecraft and the European Space Agency's Huygens probe resumed October 14th morning at 2:43 a.m. The weather forecast was generally favorable for the launch attempt and technical issues surrounding Monday's countdown had been resolved. The mobile service tower was retracted from around the rocket at 9:38 p.m. on Tuesday. Loading of the Titan IV's Centaur stage with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants began at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Aérospatiale was the prime contractor for the European space probe Huygens and desidned and delivered the spacecraft under contract from ESA. Major subcontractor was Dornier Satellite Systems, Friedrichshafen. Also Italian Alenia Aerospazio contributed to Huygens.

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Hamburg Airlines forced to stop operations
Hamburg Airlines am Ende

Due to bad economical performance and its mounting losses, German regional carrier Hamburg Airlines will stop operations by end of 1997. Managing Director Udo Klien did not reveal financial details but confirmed incidental rumours. In September, Hamburg Airlines returned its fleet of leased BAe-146-Jets to the manufacturer. With them, the airline was not able to run its charter operations profitable. For months, Hamburg Airlines had had negotiations with Lufthansa to become a member of "Team Lufthansa". But in the end talks stalled as well as negotiations with "Team Lufthansa" member Augsburg Airways for a possible merger.

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France decides on national solution for Thomson-CSF
Alcatel erhält Zuschlag bei Thomson-CSF

On October 13, the French government has annonced its plans for the future of Thomson-CSF: It will be a centre for the national restructuring of the defence industry, with Alcatel Alsthom, Aerospatiale and Dassault Electronique all taking stakes in the "new" company. This way, the socialist government will please President Chirac and proponents of creating "national champions" before entering the European consolidation arena. Losers Lagardere and its partners British Aerospace and Dasa voiced disapointment. In thinly veiled remarks, Dasa demanded that Germany now also puts its interests first in the upcoming sale of the Siemens defence unit, by putting down a bid from Thomson-CSF and accept the Dasa/BAe offer instead.
As far as is known, the new arrangements for Thomson-CSF include shareholdings by the state (30 per cent instead of 50 per cent), Aerospatiale (10 per cent), employees (10 per cent), equity investors (25 per cent) and a total of 25 per cent for Alcatel Alsthom and Dassault Electronique. They will bring in their defence electronic activities, while the space side will come under a new joint venture between Thomson-CSF and Alcatel Alsthom.

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NATO ground surveillance decision looms
Bodenaufklärung für die NATO: Entscheidung im November

The Conference of National Armament Directors of NATO will probably meet on November 6 to discuss an extensive report of the Preliminary Programme Office regarding the options for an AGS (Alliance Ground Surveillance System). As far as is known, the US is pushing hard for its "fast track" offer to procure six Northrop Grumman E-8C JointSTARS and 24 ground stations, which would divert two USAF aircraft to NATO use from the year 2000. It also foresees a cooperative development and production programme for an upgraded NATO configuration, starting in January 1999. For this option, the US has already budgeted money, but nonetheless, a major European contributor would be necessary. As the UK is focusing on its own ASTOR surveillance competetion (Lockheed versus Raytheon with Global Express and GV airframes) and France has its helicopter borne system, Germany would be the main target for money. But according to the Ministry of Defence in Bonn, there are no funds in the planning and anyway the procurement is deemed a lesser priority.
So the alternative "deliberate track" would seem more appropriate. It would entail a more detailed cost and operational effectiveness analysis of all possible offers, including ASTOR when a main contractor is choosen by the UK. Though ASTOR is claimed to be more modern than JointSTARS, its performance could come under pressure in the tight budget limits imposed. Anyway, the NATO Staff Requirement does not describe the performance of single systems per se or specific numbers to be bought, but has parameters like the area to be covered in a given time etc.

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Problems with Global Surveyor
Global Surveyor hat Probleme mit Sonnensegeln

NASA announced that the lowest point of Mars Global Surveyor's aerobraking orbit has been raised temporarily, and aerobraking has been suspended while the flight team analyzes data to understand why one of the spacecraft's two solar panels, which had not fully deployed, exhibited unexpected motion during a recent dip through the upper Martian atmosphere.
The spacecraft's current 35-hour orbit around Mars, which was taking it down to 75 miles (121 kilometers) above the Martian surface during each of its closest passes over the planet, has been raised to 105 miles (170 kilometers). The orbit was raised October 12th by the operations team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California, and Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colorado, by performing a brief, 5.15-mile-per-hour (2.3-meter-per-second) propulsive burn at the farthest point of the spacecraft's orbit around Mars. The solar panel's performance has had no effect on spacecraft power so far.
It will the NASA team a few weeks to evaluate why the solar panel the had not fully deployed and staid latched in place after launch. Preliminary data from the panel indicate that it has moved past what would have been its fully deployed and latched position. In addition, the panel has shown some movement, rather than maintaining its rigid position during aerobraking. These changes occurred during the spacecraft's fifteenth close approach to Mars, on October 6, when the density of the Martian atmosphere doubled unexpectedly.
During the next few weeks, the Mars Global Surveyor flight team will leave the spacecraft's orbit in the current, 35-hour revolution around Mars, which will not take the spacecraft through the upper atmosphere of Mars, while they analyze data and simulate conditions in the Martian atmosphere to understand the behavior of the solar panel.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

Flandre Air, the French regional airline, has become the European launch customer of the 37-seat Embraer EMB-135, with an order for eight firm and 12 option aircraft, which could be either the EMB-135 or EMB-145. New customer Luxair, of Luxembourg, has placed an order for two EMB-145 aircraft, with two options, with deliveries beginning in late summer 1998. They will replace Fokker 50 aircraft on European routes. A new Swedish regional airline, City Airline, has ordered one firm and four option EMB-145s for services from Gothenburg.
+++
The UK Ministry of Defence has selected Techniques d'Avant-Garde (TAG) as the successful bidder for the leasehold of Farnborough Aerodrome in Hampshire. TAG Aeronautics Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of TAG Group has been involved in business aviation for more than 20 years. The new operator plans to ensure the future of the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) biennial Air Show and that general aviation will continue at Farnborough in the future. For the time being there will be no change in the day to day operation of the aerodrome. Operational control is unlikely to pass to TAG until a Civil Aviation Authority licence has been granted and the planning issues have been resolved at the Rushmoor Borough Council Local Plan Inquiry in Spring 1998.
+++
The next Ariane 5 flight will be delayed "a few days to a week" from October 28, the ESA has announced after the latest qualification assessment meeting on October 17 at Evry. An anomaly has been identified on the Ariane luanchers for flights 503 and 504 currently undergoing integration at Aerospatiale, Les Mureaux. The items concerned are the mountings of the Vulcain engine supply lines. It was therefore decided to check the same items on teh 502 launcher.
+++
On October 15, Lufthansa has exercised options for two 747-400s valued at $330 million, Boeing Commercial Airplane Group confirmed. "Lufthansa is one of a select group of airlines that has built a truly global network with a level of service that sets a world-class standard. We're proud that Boeing has contributed to the great success achieved by the airline," said Nancy Bethel, Boeing Commercial Airplane Group executive vice president during a signing ceremony in Frankfurt. "We're pleased that Lufthansa continues to display strong confidence in Boeing airplanes."
+++
NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin and the Brazilian Space Agency President Dr. Luiz Gylvan Meira signed an implementing arrangement providing for the design, development, operation and use of Brazilian developed flight equipment and payloads for the International Space Station (ISS). Under this arrangement, the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) will provide for use on the Space Station a Technology Experiment Facility (TEF) and an Expedite the Processing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) pallet. The TEF will provide long-term exposure to the space environment for active and passive experiments. EXPRESS will serve as an interface mechanism to attach small payloads to U.S. truss segments of the Space Station.
+++
The fire that destroyed a big Boeing spares part stock at Brussels airport on October 3 will mean payouts of up to 300 million DM, the Gerling insurance company has said. Gerling is part of the consortium that was covering the equipment.
+++
Privatisation of German national carrier Lufthansa has been completed since Monday, Oct. 13. The remaining 37 percent stake held by the German government had been sold during a public floating, the second largest after partial privatisation of Telekom. Banks priced the issue of the 143 million shares given a nominal value of DM 5 at DM 33,30 each. This leads to the conclusion that the offering in total will raise about 4,7 billion DM for the government. The issue was more than two times subscribed, banks Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and SBC Warburg Dillon Read said. A special portion of the shares reserved for Lufthansa employees was four times subscribed, Lufthansa CEO Jürgen Weber mentioned. More than half of the 143 million shares will go to private investors.
+++

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Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen ist nach wie vor abrufbar:

PunktOctober 12, 1997 PunktOctober 5, 1997

PunktSeptember 28, 1997 PunktSeptember 21, 1997 PunktSeptember 14, 1997 PunktSeptember 7, 1997

PunktAugust 24, 1997 PunktAugust 10, 1997 PunktAugust 3, 1997

PunktJuly 27, 1997 PunktJuly 13, 1997 PunktJuly 6, 1997

PunktJanuary to June 1997 PunktSeptember to December 1996

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Last updated October 17, 1997
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