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Aviation History
1998
1998 - 1214.PDF
INDUSTRY NEWS IN BRIEF • LIEBHERR A340-500/600 Liebherr Aerospace Tou louse has been selected to supply the engine bleed air system for the Airbus A340- 500/600, for which Inter- technique of France will supply its bleed management computers. • L-3 ON APACHE L-3 Display Systems has been selected to provide cockpit displays for US Army Boeing AH-64 Apache heli copters. The $3.8 million contract was awarded to the New York based company by Lockheed Martin, as part of its Target Acquisition De signation System/Pilot Night Vision Sensor programme for the D-model Apache. • CFMI USES BOLD CFM International (CFMI) claims to be the first engine manufacturer to use the Boeing On Line Data (BOLD) service. The GL7 Snecma joint venture will place on line later this year an engine manual, parts cata logue and service bulletins for the CFM56-7 engine. • ESDU FATIGUE DATA ESDU has released a data item which describes the standard loading sequence for fatigue assessment of heli copter rotor systems. The Helix is intended for hinged rotor systems, while the Felix is destined for fixed (semi rigid) systems. • IY1ESSIER-BUGATTI EHA Messier-Bugatti has com pleted initial ground tests of its electrohydraulic actuator (EHA) for future "all-elec tric" aircraft. Each EHA is a standalone unit and can be replaced in 20min. A minia ture pump at its heart has also been selected by Lucas of the UK for the updated Airbus A320 aileron control EHA. The French company plans to continue development through 1998. Smiths prepares AV-8B COTS IAN SHEPPARD/LONDON SMITHS INDUSTRIES is preparing to deliver the first equipment for an open systems avionics demonstration pro gramme. This will place it at the leading edge of developments in commercial off-the-shelf (CX)TS) technology, where the military is set to benefit from the latest advances in computing. Under the S14 million contract, awarded by Boeing last October as part of the US Marine Corps' Open Systems Core Avionics Require ments (OSCAR) programme, the UK company is updating the weapons management and control system of the US Marine Corps' Boeing/British Aerospace AV-8B Harrier lis, replacing the previous "Mil-Spec" equipment The main advantage of COTS is the ability to update systems easily, with "technology insertions" cost ing around one-tenth of that of new proprietary components. Under COTS, integrators take a more central role - a trend which has attracted commercial vendors. Smiths says that, in July, the focus of the work will move to the US Naval Air Warfare Centre at China Lake, California, from Boeing's St Louis plant. Flight test ing is to start in August on an in- service AV-8B, says Smiths. Glen Logan of die US Depart ment of Defense's Open Systems Joint Task Force says that OSCAR development work will bring attri butes such as "lethality, survivability, safety, and real-time battle manage ment" to the US Department of Defense's initiative to develop a new Joint Technical Architecture QTA), covering command and control and airborne systems. Another JTA-related project, which uses a TAV-8 training air craft, also at China Lake, is the Open System Ada Technology (OSAT) demonstrator. OSAT is part of Boeing's Bold Stroke pro gramme, which in March 1997 saw the first flight with a flight control system using a commercial proces sor and die latest version of the Ada programming language, Ada95. The OSAT II programme, which started in January, aims to incorporate features such as the Java network computing language and the use of multiple processors. Don Winter, software manager for Bold Stroke, says that he hopes a demonstration flight will "...be pulled off in mid-1998". COTS progress to date has seen Northrop Grumman begin to install its new symmetric multipro- cessingcomputeron the US Navy's Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawk- eye surveillance aircraft, while the General Atomics Predator un manned air vehicle was also an early COTS-based system. 3 FAA considers Y2K legislation THE US FEDERAL Aviation Administration is studying measures to ensure that aircraft flying in US skies are fully pre pared for the year 2000 (Y2K) computer husj. The FAA Y2K Program Office is examining its responsibilities in the areas of air craft regulation and certification, having concentrated to date on the air traffic control infrastructure. Boeing and Airbus have assured operators that their aircraft will fly through the date change. Boeing says uHat it will give guarantees, pro vided that operators comply with directives requiring remedial action (Flight International, 8-14 April). The US manufacturer has indi cated that, although recent aircraft are fully compliant, it has identified equipment in some earlier models with minor software defects. Ef fects range from display system glitches to problems with pro gramming flight management computers, where problems origi nate in the navigation database. Boeing plans to start issuing ser vice bulletins by mid-1998. • Oil-spill device tested OIL SPILL RESPONSE, based in Southampton, UK, has developed a portable pallet loading device to enable aircraft such as Boeing 707s or McDonnell Douglas DC-8s to be loaded with its oil spill response equipment where devices are not available. The rapid equipment delivery and deployment system, seen here being used to load a Trans Arabian Air Transport 707, can be dismantled and carried in the aircraft to the destination. NASA begins 747 observatory work A NASA-LED TEAM has started work on a mock-up of a planned advanced airborne space observatory, using sections of a scrapped Boeing 747SP. The team aims to perfect the design for the telescope installation, fuselage fair ing and external door assembly. The Section 46 aft fuselage sec tion to be used for the mock-up has been transported to Raytheon Systems' plant in Waco, Texas, where the team is scheduled to "...cut the hole" for the telescope, according to NASA project man ager Chris Wiltsee. Modification work on the actual Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) air craft is not expected to begin until September 1999. The SOFIA will use a former United Airlines 747SP, modified by a team of engineers from NASA, Raytheon Systems, United Air lines, the United Space Research Association, as well as the German space agency. The observatory is scheduled to become operational in 2001 (Flight International, 30 Julv-5 August). • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 6 - 12 May 1998
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