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UPDATE 
Week ending August 16, 1998
+++ 1000th jet overhauled at Lufthansa Technik +++ First overland trip for new Zeppelin +++ Eurofighter tests progress +++ UK to pursue national military comsat +++ Solar-powered Pathfinder Plus hits new unofficial altitude record +++ European Union: row may brake out over slot sale +++ Boeing to implement consolidations including massive lay-offs +++ SOHO on the road to recovery +++ FAA orders inspections of Boeing 747s +++ News in brief +++


1000th jet overhauled at Lufthansa Technik
Lufthansa Technik: 1000. Jet überholt

On August 11, more than 1,500 employees of the aircraft-overhaul division of Lufthansa Technik (LHT) took particular pleasure in their prompt delivery back to the customer of a very special aircraft: the Airbus A310-300 "Konrad Adenauer." Having just put it through its first general overhaul, the D check, they are returning it to its operator and LHT customer of many years, the Flugbereitschaft, (VIP squadron of the German Ministry of Defense). "Our team is proud to have been able to work on this distinguished aircraft," said Wolfgang Mayrhuber, chairman of the LHT executive board, at the ceremony held at the Lufthansa base in Hamburg, as he formally delivered the "Konrad Adenauer" to the German Minister of Defense, Volker Ruhe.
"Since the Flugbereitschaft acquired its first Boeing 707s in 1968, we have been servicing its long-haul jets - and since 1992 its newly acquired Airbus A310s as well, with our comprehensive service package," Mayrhuber proudly asserted, recalling the many years of LHT collaboration with the Flugbereitschaft technical group. The day-to-day maintenance is done by the agency's own technicians. Lufthansa Technik overhauls the aircraft, engines and components, and is responsible for engineering and for materials logistics. When necessary, LHT provides worldwide support with flight operations. In addition, the LHT subsidiary Lufthansa Technical Training (LTT) trains the squadrons mechanics. Lufthansa Flight Training (LFT) trains its pilots.
In his remarks, Mayrhuber made clear that the LHT servicing of Flugbereitschaft aircraft did not start only when the agency acquired its first jets but began much earlier. As soon as it had placed in service its fleet of Convair 440s back in 1959, the Flugbereitschaft availed itself of LHT services for all major maintenance events. So their relationship dates back nearly 40 years. Starting in 1963, the squadron also entrusted to LHT all major overhauls of its McDonnell Douglas DC-3s, before the jet age dawned in 1968.

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First overland trip for new Zeppelin
Zeppelin-Luftschiff in Stuttgart

After a delay of around four hours, mainly due to problems with flight instruments showing different readings on pilot and co-pilot positions, the Zeppelin NT took off for its first overland test flight on the afternoon of August 8. From its Friedrichshafen hangar on Lake Constance, it turned northwest for a trip to Stuttgart airport, where it arrived late in the afternoon. The next day, it made several flights over the local area, taking advantage of perfect, hot weather. It also took a few turns over the nearby memorial at Echterdingen, remembering the destruction of Zeppelin airship LZ 4 in 1908 during a storm. This event was igniting unprcedented public donations for Count Zeppelin to continue his work. On Monday, August 19, the Zeppelin NT was returning to Friedrichshafen. According to company spokesmen, it is hoped that certification will be obtained by autumn 1999, despite a spate of technical problems during early tests.

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Eurofighter tests progress
Fortschritte in der Eurofighter-Erprobung

In the run up to the Farnborough air show, Eurofighter has released its latest update for the EF2000 test programme. There are now over 780 flights in total with 650 plus hours. 24 pilots from industry and government agencies have been involved, and the seven prototpyes have operated from 15 bases so far. Recent highlights include six weeks of lightning strike trials with prototype DA4 at the BAe Warton site, encompassing 1300 measurements with currents of up to 40 kA. In Span, DA6 has completed hot weather trials at the Moron Air Force Base near Seville. Outside temperatures of over 42 deg C were recorded, with 80 deg C or more in the cockpit.
Concerning the EJ200 engine, this has now over 7800 test bench hours to its credit. The Euroradar ECR90 has conducted 110+ flights, with "detection ranges already greater than specification. Most prime modes are now demonstrated", claims Eurofighter.
It is also confirmed that British Aerospace has already conducted studies on a naval variant of the EF2000, for possible operation from new, larger aircraft carriers which the Royal Navy plans to acquire after 2010, according to the recent UK defence review. Changes should be easier than at first thought, says Eurofighter, as the structure is already stressed to withstand no-flares landings on small emergency strips. Beefing-up would be necessary to cater for an arreste hook.

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UK to pursue national military comsat
England steigt bei TRIMILSATCOM aus

On August 13, Lord Gilbert, Minister of State for Defence Procurement, announced that the United Kingdom is to develop its own next generation of military satellite communications, rather than enter the Project Definition stage of the TRIMILSATCOM collaborative programme with France and Germany. Lord Gilbert said: "The UK has been considering a range of procurement options for meeting our SKYNET 5 requirement for future military satellite communications. We have been keen to investigate the scope for collaboration with our allies on this important new programme. For some time this was our preferred option. However, we have now completed our evaluation of a range of industrial proposals, including both collaborative and national options. It unfortunately appears that, crucially, we will be unable to rely with assurance on collaborative processes being able to meet the UK's needs with respect to an In Service Date before our existing satellites go out of service"
The United Kingdom, France and Germany signed a Memorandum of Understanding in December 1997 following which two tri-national consortia, led by Alcatel and Matra-Marconi Space, submitted bids for Project Definition work. In parallel, the United Kingdom sought and received Project Definition bids for a national programme from Matra-Marconi Space and from British Aerospace, teamed with Lockheed Martin.

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Solar-powered Pathfinder Plus hits new unofficial altitude record
Solargetriebener Pathfinder Plus markiert inoffiziellen Höhenrekord

NASA's remotely piloted, solar-powered Pathfinder-Plus flying wing reached a record altitude of more than 80,000 feet during a developmental test flight Aug. 6 in Hawaii. The altitude is the highest ever achieved by a propeller-driven craft and surpasses the official record altitude of 71,530 feet for a solar-powered aircraft set by an earlier version of the Pathfinder last summer. The Pathfinder-Plus is an upgraded version of the Pathfinder solar-powered aircraft developed under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program, led by the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. The Pathfinder-Plus was aloft for almost 15 hours during the record flight. It lifted off from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on the island of Kaua'i shortly before 8 a.m. Hawaii time Thursday, and reached its peak altitude of 80,285 feet as recorded by radar tracking at about 3:30 p.m. after a long ascent. Pathfinder-Plus spent near three hours above its previous record altitude, with much of the flight ocurring over the Pacific Ocean west of Kaua'i. After an equally long descent, controllers on the ground brought the lightweight flying wing to a safe landing on the PMRF runway at 10:40 p.m. Hawaii time.

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European Union: row may brake out over slot sale
Ärger um Slot-Verkauf in der EU?

The European Union's Commissioner for competition could be facing a major dispute with the UK government. The Commissioner has said that if the proposed alliance between British Airways and American Airlines is to go ahead, the companies must not be allowed to sell the slots which they would have to give up. The UK's Office of Fair Trading has said that they should be able to sell them. Each slot is thought to be worth around GBP2m.

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Boeing to implement consolidations including massive lay-offs
Boeing: Restrukturierung und Massenentlassungen

The Boeing company said it will implement a series of consolidations and realignments to improve efficiency, affecting mostly operations in California, Missouri and Washington. The changes include opening a Next-Generation 737 assembly line in Long Beach, Calif.; consolidating fighter airplane production activities in St. Louis; relocating the headquarters of the Information & Communications Systems business unit to Anaheim, Calif., from Kent, Wash.; and vacating all government-owned space in Downey, Calif
"We are strategically aligning our operations in response to global business realities. We are reducing costs," said Phil Condit, Boeing chairman and chief executive officer. "The end result is that we are ensuring a stronger, more competitive company that will be able to provide more opportunities for employees over the long term." Though the actions announced do not include specific employment reductions, they are included in Boeing's previous projections which reduce its total workforce by 18,000 to 28,000 from the current level of 238,000 by the end of 1999. That projection also includes portions of the 8,200 job reductions announced in a similar facilities announcement in March and stated plans to reduce the Puget Sound commercial aircraft production work force by 12,000 jobs, the company noted.
"The additional 737 line will supplement capacity in Renton, Wash., and allow more efficient and productive use of that key final assembly facility," Condit said. "We will begin final assembly of the first Next-Generation 737 in Long Beach in the fourth quarter of this year. The first few airplanes will be Boeing Business Jets. Other variants of the aircraft will be added to the Long Beach workload next year." By the second quarter of 1999, the company expects to be assembling three Next-Generation 737s per month in Long Beach. In conjunction with the introduction of the 737 work, the commercial airplane operation in Long Beach is being renamed the Long Beach Division. It has been known as the Douglas Products Division.

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SOHO on the road to recovery
SOHO-Kontakt stabilisiert sich

Six days after receiving the first signal from the dormant SOHO Spacecraft, several blocks of telemetry data giving the spacecraft's on-board status were acquired late Saturday night, 8 August, at 23:15 hrs GMT. Further data acquisitions took place on Sunday 9 August and will continue in the following days. Following analysis of the expected on-board conditions by engineers from the European Space Agency and Matra Marconi Space (builders of the SOHO spacecraft) a series of command sequences was up-linked through the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) station at Goldstone,CA. These sequences were designed to divert the available solar array power into a partial charging of one of the on-board batteries. After 10 hours of battery charging, the telemetry was commanded on and seven full sets of data of the on-board status were received. After one minute telemetry was switched off from ground controllers in order to preserve on-board resources. Further details on the on-board conditions were obtained the following day (Sunday 9 August) in two subsequent telemetry acquisitions. Data gathered included information on temperature and voltages for payload instruments, which are currently being analysed. With the battery charging technique proven successful, the team has requested a full 24-hour coverage of SOHO to attempt a more complete charging. The NASA DSN has accepted this request as a "Spacecraft Emergency" giving it priority over other DSN scheduled activities.

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FAA orders inspections of Boeing 747s
US-Luftfahrtbehörde ordnet außerplanmäßige 747-Inspektionen an

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) required immediate and repetitive inspections of all Boeing 747 aircraft for wear or damage of inlet check valves and jettison pumps in center wing fuel tanks, and replacement with new or serviceable parts, if necessary. In an immediately adopted airworthiness directive published on August 11 in the Federal Register, the FAA also ordered revision of certain 747 airplane flight manuals to ensure flightcrews are advised of limitations on dry (no fuel) operation of the override/jettison pumps. Compliance time is 14 days from publication. The agency's AD is a result of two reports that the inlet adapters on a 747-400's override/jettison pumps were found to be excessively worn, allowing contact between the inlet check valve and the inducer. If not corrected, the condition could result in fire or explosion in the fuel tank during dry operation. Such wear conditions were not found in the center wing fuel tank of TWA flight 800 which was destroyed July 17, 1996, off Long Island, N.Y. The new AD requires that the initial inspections be performed before the accumulation of 10,000 total hours of time in service or within 90 days from Federal Register publication, whichever occurs first. The repetitive inspection interval is either 1,000 or 10,000 hours of time in service. The AD alsorequires flight manual revisions for 747s that have accumulated 20,000 total hours of time in service. There are 1,100 affected aircraft worldwide, with 300 in the United States. The action affects only U.S.-registered aircraft. The estimated cost to comply with the AD is $216,000 for the entire U.S. fleet.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

Wolfgang Piller, a member of the Dasa board of directors, has been appointed chairman of Eurocopter Deutschland. He succeeds Dietrich Russell, who has moved on to Airbus as director general.
+++
According to unconfirmed reports, German start-up airline Modern Air has ordered ten 328JETs from Fairchild Dornier. The new carrier is located at Zweibrücken in the Saarland. Deliveries are scheduled for next summer. Also Minerva Airlines in Italy has signed a letter of intent for seven 328JETs, while an unnamed Swiss customer wants five of the corporate jet version, called the Envoy.
+++
On August 13, GE Aircraft Engines (GEAE) delivered the first two F414 production engines to the U.S. Navy for the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. GE is producing 28 F414 production engines-15 to be delivered this year-to support the initial 12 Super Hornets under contract in the Low Rate Initial Production phase (LRIP), which was authorized by the Department of Defense in 1997. Earlier this year, GE received a follow-on contract for an additional 114 engines to be produced through mid-2001. Over the next four years, F414 engine production will increase during the LRIP phase from two engines per month to six engines per month. Ultimately, engine production is expected to increase to 10 engines per month during the Full Rate Production phase, which is scheduled to begin in 2002.
+++
A Titan IVA launch vehicle with a National Reconnaissance Office payload was destroyed Aug 12. after launch from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral. The launch vehicle began to self-destruct 40 seconds after launch. A large explosion of the vehicle occurred, according to USAF 45th Space Wing officials. At 42 seconds into flight the mission flight control officers sent command-destruct signals to destroy it. It appears all of the debris was over water when the anomaly occurred, said officials. The altitude of the launch vehicle at the time of the anomaly is estimated at 20,000 feet above the surface.
+++
On August 7, Boeing unveiled the first MD 600N for the U.S. Border Patrol at the agencies San Diego sector headquarters. Over the next several years, 45 of the advanced technology MD 600N, produced by The Boeing Company in Mesa, Ariz., will be assigned to U.S. Border Patrol operating sectors between San Diego and Miami, Fla., as the beginning of the INS Fleet Replacement Program for its fleet of OH-6A helicopters. The larger, more powerful MD 600N helicopters give U.S. Border Patrol agents greater effectiveness in their flight operations against illegal drugs and illegal entry into the United States. To increase productivity, particularly during night operations, the U.S. Border Patrol is incorporating night surveillance equipment and improved communicating tools as standard equipment in the helicopters.
+++
On August 12, Boeing and the U.S. Air Force conducted a successful first flight test of the X-40A technology demonstrator at Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico. The X-40A is the Phase 1 flight test article of the Space Maneuver Vehicle (SMV). The Boeing Company, under a contract with Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., designed and built the 90 percent scale reusable experimental space vehicle in the company Seal Beach, Calif. facility. The SMV flight test vehicle has a fuselage length of 22 feet, a wing span of 12 feet and weighs about 2,600 pounds.
+++
Hughes Space and Communications Co. has delayed the launch of the JCSAT-6 satellite because two electronic units experienced problems during prelaunch testing. An investigation is under way, and a power surge caused by lightning during a violent thunderstorm near the satellite processing facility is considered a likely cause. No new launch date has been set.
+++
The Wizard Team, led by Northrop Grumman Corporation and British Aerospace, opened its new Airborne Standoff Radar (ASTOR) demonstration and briefing centre at Burwood House, Caxton Street, London SW1. The centre features functional mockups of the aircraft and ground station interiors that are part of the system the team is offering as its solution to the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence ASTOR requirement. The Wizard Team comprises Northrop Grumman, the prime contractor; British Aerospace; Computing Devices, Hastings; Gulfstream, and L3. To ensure a robust industrial participation, many other companies are participating, including GEC, Matra Marconi, Rolls-Royce, DERA, and over 60 other United Kingdom companies.
+++
On August 13, the Sojuz TM-28 spacecraft with a Russian crew on board, launched off the Baikonur space-launch complex at 13.43, Moscow time, on the way to the aging Mir space station. The crew consists of flight commander Gennady Padalka, flight engineer Sergey Avdeyev and Yuri Baturin, former aide to the Russian President, is the cosmonaut-researcher. Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov came to Baikonur on Wednesday to see the cosmonauts off. Before the start, he shook hands with the crew members and wished them a successful trip.
+++
Germany has pledged to contribute 14 Tonado reconnaissance aircraft an fighter-bombers to a possible NATO operation in the Kosovo.
++
After the loss of a Tu-154 in a mid-air collission over the South Atlantic last year, the Luftwaffe has decided not to modify its second aircraft of the type for use in Open Skies operations. This is due to a lack of money, as the work would have cost 31,2 million DM and live cycle cost would be 225 million over 20 years. The Tu-154 is now up for sale.
+++
British Airways shares fell as the result of unsatisfactory results in the first quarter of its financial year. Lower than expected fare rises, lower seat-load factors and a decline in high-yield first and business class passengers led to pre-tax profits down from 220 million pounds to 145 million.
+++
Amadeus Global Travel Distribution, one of the world's main airline reservations systems, is up for an initial public offering, with some or all shareholders planning to sell part of their stakes. Ameadeus is owned by Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa and Continental Airlines.
+++
Charter Airline TEA Basel AG will move its operations to Geneva and call itself Easy Switzerland by year-end. In its latest financial year, it has carrie 520000 passengers. A turnover of 110,2 million Francs led to a loss of 4 million Francs.
+++

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Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen sind weiter abrufbar:

*August 9, 1998 *August 2, 1998

*July 26, 1998 *July 19, 1998 *July 12, 1998

*June 28, 1998 *June 21, 1998 *June 14, 1998 *June 7, 1998

*May 31, 1998 *May 24, 1998 *May 17, 1998 *May 10, 1998 *May 3, 1998

*April 26, 1998 *April 19, 1998 *April 5, 1998

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

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