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UPDATE 
Week ending April 9, 2000
+++ Luftwaffe activates training center at Holloman +++ Swiss anti-g suit tested by USAF +++ LTU needs recovery programme +++ Crossair reports good results +++ New crew enters Mir +++ IATA fights for frequencies +++ News in brief +++


Luftwaffe activates training center at Holloman
Deutsche Tornados trainieren in New Mexico

The German Air Force Flying Training Center was officially activated at Holloman AFB on March 31. Presiding over the ceremonies was Gen. Michael E. Ryan, U.S. Air Force chief of staff and Lt. Gen. Rolf H. Portz, German air force chief of staff. The flying training center was established here in May 1996 as a tactical training center. At that time, there were about 325 German military people and 12 Tornado aircraft assigned. At present, there are about 600 German military people and 25 Tornadoes here. Those numbers will continue to grow until the end of 2001 when there will be approximately 750 German military personnel, 125 civilian employees and 42 Tornadoes.
German aircrew training for the F-4F Phantom II and Tornado is now centralized here. German aircrew members come here from undergraduate pilot training at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, and Joint Service Undergraduate Navigator Training at Pensacola Naval Air Station, Fla. Fighter weapons instructor courses for both aircraft are also taught here, along with advanced tactics training for Tornado aircrews.
Portz said, "This day is another significant landmark in the outstanding bilateral military cooperation between the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany since the founding of the Bundeswoehr. We are proud that once more, it is the U.S. Air Force and the German air force from whom this positive impetus flows." As part of the ceremony Portz presented Ryan the Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Ryan received the decoration in honor of his support to the German military as both Allied Air Forces Central Europe (and U.S. Air Forces in Europe) commander and as the chief of staff.

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Swiss anti-g suit tested by USAF
Libelle Anit-G-Anzug wird in Edwards AFB erprobt

The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School is testing a new concept in aircrew protection -- a liquid-filled, full-body anti-gravity suit. Testing of the Swiss "Libelle" anti-G suit is a collaborative effort by TPS, Air Combat Command's Humans Systems Integration Division and the Air Expeditionary Force Battlelab at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. Using hydrostatic (liquid) force to regulate suit pressure, the Libelle, which means "dragonfly," in Swiss, could prove better than current pneumatic (compressed air) anti-G suits. During high-G acceleration forces, much of a pilot's blood is pushed towards the body's lower half. In just seconds, a shift in blood volume away from the brain can cause a blackout. To fight such potentially deadly occurrences, Air Force fighter aircrews use pneumatic anti-G suits and the anti-G straining maneuver, said Capt. Aaron George, project pilot and team leader. "G-induced loss of consciousness, or GLOC, is rare due to such countermeasures, George said. "However, high-G continues to impact aircrew performance and GLOC has not been eliminated."
That may change in the near future if the Test Pilot School's latest endeavor proves fruitful, said project engineer Capt. Shon Williams. Working with Libelle's developer -- Andreas Reinhard from Life Support Systems AG -- an Air Force team of three test pilots, three test engineers and a physiologist have begun testing the prototype suit here. Life Support Systems and Reinhard have been developing the Libelle concept for several years via centrifuge and flight testing with Swiss and German air forces. The suit is based on a liquid concept that does not require mechanical regulating systems or on-board compressed air.

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LTU needs recovery programme
Hartes Sanierungsprogramm für die LTU

The LTU group needs to undergo a harsh recovery programme, after reporting an operating loss of 200 million DM for 1999, on Turnover of 2,38 billion DM. It is said that 350 Million DM need to be pruned from expenses in the next three-year period. This will include the loss of 1500 of the 5200 jobs at the airline and tour operation, which is owned 49,9 per cent by the Swiss SAir Group. Also, the fleet will be restructured and switched over to Airbus types, mainly to cut capacity. Unions have already announced a spirited defence aigainst the planned measures.

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Crossair reports good results
Gute Ergebnisse für die Crossair

In the difficult 1999 business year Crossair was unable to repeat the outstanding financial result of 1998. However, with an increase in operating revenue of 14.6% it was nevertheless able to post a not inconsiderable net annual profit of CHF 50.7m. Crossair has launched a programme to increase profitability and has accelerated the changeover of its fleet to jet aircraft. It is intended to improve and extend the operational performance of the Company. In 1999 Crossair's 81 aircraft (7 more than in 1998) carried a total of six million passengers, 11.1 per cent more than in the previous year. In fact, on its own route network the increase in passengers was 23.1 per cent. At CHF 1,163m operating revenue was 14.6% higher than in 1998. After distributing the employees' profit-related bonus, amounting to CHF 20m, the net annual profit was CHF 50.7m (consolidated: CHF 52.8m), compared with CHF 63.5m in the previous year. The sharp rise in the fuel price, the sharp rise in the price of the US-dollar and a declining yield (aver-age revenue per passenger) had a negative effect on the result. Results in November and December fell significantly short of expectations. In the previous months the negative factors were compensated for by above-average growth in operating revenue. Crossair has therefore introduced measures to improve earnings. The route network will be modified and the opening of new destinations as well as an increase in flight frequencies will be postponed.

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New crew enters Mir
Neue Besatzung auf der Mir-Station

On 6 April a new Soyuz TM spaceship docked with the Mir space station. The manoeuvre was made manually by commander Sergei Zaletin, who is accompanied by Alexander Kaleri. They are expected to stay on board the Mir for about 70 days. The cosmonauts are to switch the Mir from the automated mode of flight over to a piloted one and perform a series of scientific experiments and technical operations. The main tasks of the Russian space mission is to reactivated the orbital complex after a long flight in an unmanned mode, which started last August. Ath that time it was thought that Mir would be de-orbited by now, but new finance was found to carry on. Among the tasks of the cosmonauts will be to spot a non-tight compartment and stop air leakage, repair the solar panels orientation and power supply system, adjust an on-board telemetric system, prepare for the arrival of a resupply cargo spacecraft, take a spacewalk with a view to performing the experiments Panorama and Hermetisator, as well as dismantle a thin-film solar panel on the docking module.

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IATA fights for frequencies
Fluggesellschaften brauchen Frequenzen

"Aviation relies on new technologies such as satellite-based communications, which have the potential to increase safety and reduce both air traffic control delays and aviation's impact on the environment. Aviation has always had use of the radio frequencies necessary to use these technologies. If Governments, at the ITU World Radio Conference in May, reallocate those radio frequencies to the growing mobile telecommunications services, the aviation industry's growth and on-time performance could be severely hampered," IATA president Jeanniot emphasised recently. "We are mobilising the support of all parties with a stake in our industry in a common effort to protect aviation's essential airwaves." Jeanniot also warned of the need for careful assessment of airport and air navigation infrastructure needs and for fair and transparent charging policies: "Governments cannot, for example, simply privatise these services and then forget about them. They must make sure that infrastructure charges are implemented".

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

Bombardier Aerospace has announced that two more facilities - one in Europe and another in North America - are ready to provide service and maintenance for the ultra long-range Bombardier Global Express business jet aircraft. Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services (LBAS) in Berlin has received its JAR 145 maintenance station approval. In addition, Bombardier has also selected the Innotech-Execaire Aviation Group as an authorized service facility for the Global Express in Montréal. To ensure the highest level of service, technicians and inspectors at Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services (LBAS) have received thorough training for both the airframe and the BR710 powerplant. Also, some $1 million DM ($709,000 Cdn) of ground support equipment and to! ols has been acquired by LBAS, and all technical documentation regarding the aircraft is available and constantly being updated on CD-ROM.
+++
Bombardier Aerospace today announced the first sale of a Learjet to an Egyptian customer with the delivery of a super-light Learjet 45 to the ARTOC Group of Investment and Development. Completed in an eight-seat executive transport configuration, it is scheduled to enter corporate service in April 2000. Based in Cairo, the ARTOC Group is a multi-disciplined holding company with various businesses around the world. It is involved in project investment, and provides engineering and technical services as well as consumer products and publications to an expanding customer base.
+++
Aerospatiale Matra chairman Philippe Camus has reiterated thet "nothing has been decided yet" conderning the final assembly arrangements for the planned A3XX. In France, there were renewed press reports that in a balancing act, A3XX work would be in Toulose while A320 assembly would switch to Dasa plant in Hamburg.
+++
Embraer has sold 45 of its ERJ-145 regional jets to US company solitair, plus 45 options, in a deal worth 1,5 billion US-Dollars. This, the ERJ-135/145 line has over 1000 commitments now.
+++
Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik is promoting its Zeppelin NT airship as a mine detection platform. It has agreed a cooperation with the DLR to further investigate the project.
+++
Building and operating a National Missile Defense System capable of defending North America and Hawaii against a limited long-range ballistic missile attack will cost an estimated $30.2 billion by 2026, Pentagon officials announced April 4. The total life-cycle cost of the program from 1991 to 2026 is projected to increase from $23.8 billion to $30.2 billion in 1999 base-year dollars, Department of Defense officials said. The increase includes expanding the number of planned interceptors from 20 to 100, as well as X-band radar improvements, Pentagon spokesman Adm. Craig Quiqley said at a news briefing. The system would include ground-based radars, interceptor missiles and sensors in space to identify and track incoming missiles. DOD officials say the system would protect the United States against an unexpected launch by a nuclear power or a rogue nation in the process of developing long-range missiles. The need for a limited national missile defense stems from the growing capabilities of nations such as North Korea that are building and testing multistage rockets capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
+++
F-16 Fighting Falcons from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, were the first U.S. warplanes to touch Slovak soil after landing April 1 at Malacky Air Base. More than 200 Spangdahlem airmen are deployed for a two-week training exercise, which allows U.S. and Slovak air forces an opportunity to share tactics, techniques and procedures.
+++
German CargoLifter has ordered a Skyship 600B form the Orlando-based Airship Operations and UK sister company Global Skyship. the non-rigid blimp is expected to help in obtaining an airship operators licence in the run-up to the completion of the super-large CL160. Delivery of the Skyship is scheduled for next spring.
+++
Forty years ago, on April 1, 1960, the world's first weather satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Built by a Lockheed Martin Space Systems heritage company, the former RCA Astro, in East Windsor, NJ, the first TIROS -- for Television Infrared Observation Satellite -- demonstrated the advantage of mapping the earth's cloud cover from satellite altitudes. TIROS showed clouds banded and clustered in unexpected ways. Sightings from the surface had not prepared meteorologists for the interpretation of the cloud patterns that the view from an orbiting satellite would show.
+++
MD Helicopters has announced its selection of Kaman Aerospace as the sole supplier of fuselages for MDHI's entire line of single-engine helicopters, including the MD 600N, MD 520N, MD 530F and MD 500E. MDHI and Kaman have signed a multi-year agreement with a potential value of approximately $100
million. The transfer of tooling already is underway. Kaman is slated to deliver its first airframe, an MD 600N, on June 26. Fourteen more deliveries will follow this year. Production will more than triple in 2001, when deliveries will jump to 49, with an increase to 60 expected in 2002. Kaman will produce the airframes at its Moosup, Conn. plant and a second facility in Jacksonville, Fla.
+++
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company and Portuguese aircraft maintenance company, OGMA - Industria Aeronautica De Portugal, SA., signed a letter of intent on March 29 in Lisbon, Portugal, to work together in developing a proposal for the Portuguese Air Force P-3P Life Extension and Capabilities Program. The Portuguese program will extend the service life of the P-3 fleet of six aircraft up to an additional 25 years and also modernize the aircraft mission system. The agreement also includes provisions for the possibility of further corroboration on the Portuguese Air Force transport and fighter aircraft fleets. LM Aero and OGMA have worked together for more than 25 years on various P-3 and C-130 projects.
+++
"Net profitability on international scheduled services declined from USD 3.1 billion in 1998 to USD 1.9 billion in 1999, and a slight recovery to USD 2.2 billion is possible for 2000. The net profit figures for 1999 and 2000 would represent an average of 1.4 percent of revenue in the two years. Even if all that profit were devoted to rewarding shareholders, it would not set the world on fire. But at least it would be real - unlike many NASDAQ profits!" said IATA Director General Pierre J. Jeanniot, in a speech to the Financial Management Conference in New York on 4 April.. "The problem is that we continue to be market expansion and market-share oriented, rather than 'bottom line' driven. Now, there is an added risk of being blinded by modern E-commerce hype. E-commerce is a promising field. Sensibly applied, E-commerce techniques could have a favourable impact on our operating cost base, now USD 150 billion, of some USD 12 billion, everything considered. But once again, we should resist the temptation of giving all this away to consumers. One fundamental that has not changed is that, whereas actual load factors cannot go above 100 percent, break-even load factors can - and sometimes do. The basic road to sustained profitability has not changed. So, we should plan to create consistently less capacity than our original market forecast but, at the same time, take advantage of a good economic climate to improve yields, through more careful inventory control of lower fares. At this time, nobody should ask business class travellers to pay more."
+++
A chance encounter between Ulysses, the joint ESA/NASA spacecraft, and a comet`s tail is leading scientists to conclude that comet tails extend much further than anyone supposed - right to the edge of the solar system. Two papers published in Nature today report that on 1 May 1996, Ulysses flew through the tail of comet Hyakutake whose nucleus was more than 3.5AU (one AU equals the Sun-Earth distance) away at the time. "This makes it the longest comet tail ever recorded", says Geraint Jones from Imperial College, London who is a member of one of the two instrument teams that made the discovery. "Ulysses`s prime task is to map the solar wind above the Sun`s poles: it had not been looking for Hyakutake, which happened to be at its closest approach to the Sun on 1 May 1996, or any other comet", says Richard Marsden, ESA`s Ulysses Project Scientist. "Ulysses was just in the right place at the right time." The two teams stumbled across the telltale signature of a comet quite independently when poring over old Ulysses data. Jones and colleagues found their evidence in magnetic field data: "the magnetic field lines were draped in a way that you`d expect in a comet`s tail," says Jones. The other instrument team, lead by George Gloeckler from the University of Maryland, found their evidence when looking at the composition of the solar wind. Cometary tails are rich in oxygen and carbon compared with the solar wind, but depleted in nitrogen and neon.
+++
SPACEHAB has announced that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) added $21.6 million to the company's REALMS contract to perform the next resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). This Space Shuttle mission designated STS-106 and slated for launch in August, will use SPACEHAB's Logistics Double Module (LDM) and Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) to ferry vital supplies to the ISS. SPACEHAB's carriers are needed to stock the ISS with food, equipment, and spare parts for the first permanent crew that is scheduled to arrive in October. "This mission provides the foundation for continuous habitation of the ISS later this year," said SPACEHAB President David A. Rossi. The STS-106 mission will be the second resupply mission for SPACEHAB in calendar year 2000. SPACEHAB already is under contract to perform a resupply mission to the ISS scheduled to launch on April 24. The company will be flying an LDM and an ICC on this mission.
+++
After intensive testing with trial customers, Airbus Industrie's Materiel Support Internet site at http://spares.airbus.com is going live with Internet ordering, a core achievement in its e-commerce strategy. As of today, the 120 airlines who regularly access the many other services provided on this site can also use e-commerce to order spare parts in real time. The new service should bring major benefits for Airbus Industrie's customers including cost reductions, efficiency improvements and a vastly enhanced information flow. Airbus Industrie will continue to drive this development as part of the Airbus On-line Services (AOLS) initiative which it has been developing so that airline customers can access all technical data and services on-line through a single interface. Introducing e-commerce is the latest in a series of efforts by the European consortium to digitise documentation and centralise it on-line in the interests of customer satisfaction. Since its origins in 1998, Airbus Industrie's Materiel Support Internet site has experienced a steady growth in users and in the number of qualified transactions which increased by 400 per cent in 1999 alone.
+++
SAPO International SA has chosen the Airbus Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) for the inauguration of its own luxury air-travel services. The ACJ will complement the luxury services already provided by SAPO, which include car rental, real estate, and yachts. Much of SAPO's business is in the Middle East, and its headquarters are in Athens, Greece. Delivery of the "green" ACJ is planned for November this year. Ozark Aircraft Systems, one of Airbus Industrie's approved outfitters, has been chosen by SAPO to equip the cabin, marking the first time it has been selected to work on an ACJ. Airbus Industrie has delivered four ACJs to date, to customers around the world that include companies, governments and individuals.
+++
Boeing reported delivering 74 commercial jet transports, plus one 747 delivered for the U.S. Air Force, in the first quarter of 2000 - down from the 125 deliveries originally planned. This reflects delivery delays as the company recovers from a 40-day strike by engineers and technical workers that ended March 20, 2000. Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group delivered 15 airplanes in March. The company still expects to recover from the strike delays and deliver about 490 jetliners, as planned, by the end of the year.
+++
BAE Systems has been awarded a 17 million Pound contract to supply 18 Hawk Mk.51A standard spare wing sets for the Finnish Air Force. The first will be delivered in August 2001, the last in April 2002. Fitting the wings will be re responsibility of the Finnish Air Force. This will prolong the service life of the trainers significantly.
+++
Embraer registered in 1999 the best full-year earnings in its history. The company reached revenues of US$ 1,888.6 million, which represents a growth of 44,4% in relation to the US$1,308.0 in 1998. The net profit was US$ 230.4 million or a 111% increase over the US$ 109.2 million generated previously, a bright achievement of 10 consecutive quarters of profitability. In 1999, Embraer delivered a total of 124 aircraft, including 81 ERJ 145, 16 ERJ 135, 7 EMB 120 Brasilia, 3 AMX and 17 light aircraft. With US$ 147,2 million spent on new product development and the continuous improvement to its industrial process, regional jet production rate reached 12 aircraft/month in December of last year, and should reach 16 aircraft per month by December of 2000. Embraer exports reached US$ 1,7 billion, representing 95% of its income and a significant participation of 3,52% of Brazil's exports. This resulted in the company being ranked first among the top export companies in the country with net contribution to the Brazilian trade balance in 1999 of US$ 647 million, approximately 36% of the exports value, with imports and Government exports support already deducted.
+++
The swept wide chord fan blade being developed as part of CFM Project TECH56 has successfully completed a full-scale blade-out rig test with outstanding results. CFM Project TECH56 is a three-year technology acquisition program undertaken by CFM International (CFM) to serve as the basis for potential new and derivative engines, as well as to provide technology upgrades to the existing CFM56 product line. All of the testing that has been completed to date has yielded promising results for the future application of this technology. CFM is a 50/50 joint company between Snecma of France and General Electric of the United States. CFM ran the rig, which was mounted with a full set of swept fan blades, at speeds above the current CFM56-7 redline speed. A blade-out test is conducted by setting a charge on a single blade and detonating it to determine how the engine, fan containment, and other blades will react as a result of losing a blade. During this test, there was only limited damage to the surrounding blades and no material loss other than the released blade. All parts were contained.
+++
On April 3, Lockheed Martin announced the selection of Louis R. Hughes as president and chief operating officer (COO), effective April 27. Hughes succeeds Peter B. Teets, who retired from the Corporation. As COO, Hughes will report to Chairman and CEO Vance D. Coffman and will be responsible for day-to-day operations, while Coffman will focus on strategic and financial issues. The leaders of the corporation's four business areas and its Global Telecommunications subsidiary, along with the Chief Financial Officer, will report to the Office of the Chief Executive, which will include Hughes and Coffman. Hughes, 51, joins Lockheed Martin from General Motors Corporation where he had served as executive vice president and president of GM's $36 billion international operations, based in Zurich, Switzerland.
+++
On April 4,the Boeing Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche program won approval to begin its $3.1 billion Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase. The new U.S. Army Aviation Modernization Plan also has recommended acquisition of more than 1200 Comanche helicopters. A Department of Defense Acquisition Board Milestone II assessment, the final step in a complex series of program reviews, certified that the Comanche program is properly planned and administered, has successfully completed all demonstration/validation phase program requirements, and may start EMD immediately after contract formalization. The Army and the Boeing Sikorsky Team already have agreed to the program's EMD contract terms, permitting an early EMD startup with minimal additional negotiation. Linden expects the EMD contract will be in effect on June 1. "Defense Department and Army acquisition reforms made this acceleration possible," he said. "We will deliver a quality product to our Army customers more quickly and save taxpayer dollars in the process."
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Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen sind weiter abrufbar:

*April 2, 2000

*March 26, 2000 *March 19, 2000 *March 12, 2000 *March 5, 2000

*February 27, 2000 *February 20, 2000 *February 13, 2000 *February 6, 2000

*January 30, 2000 *January 23, 2000 *January 16, 2000 *January 9, 2000

*January to December 1999 *January to December 1998 *January to December 1997 *September to December 1996

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