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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 0599.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT US Government helps to fund EVS projects BY GRAHAM WARWICK IN ATLANTA AND GUY NORRIS IN SINGAPORE A team of US airlines, Gov ernment agencies and man ufacturers has won an Advanced Research Projects Agency "de fence-conversion" contract to develop an enhanced-vision Autonomous Landing Guid ance (ALG) system for airlines and the US Air Force. Prime contractor Lear As- tronics' ALG project manager, Dutch Neilson, says that the contract is worth $42 million and, "...at the end of two years, our goal is to have a system that will go into operational use with airlines". The company will be respon sible for system integration and co-ordination. Other team manufacturing members in clude AlliedSignal Air Trans port Avionics (XAV-band windshear detection radar), FLIR Systems (dual-band for ward-looking infra-red sen sors), Malibu Research (com mon-aperture X/W radar an tenna), Norton Pasties (ra- domes) and Interstate Electronics (global-positioning receivers). Another part of the team, comprising Northwest Airlines, United Airlines, the USAF and Maryland Advanced Develop ment Laboratory (MADL) will flight-test the ALG prototypes and form an operations require ment board which will seek US Federal Aviation Administra tion certification. The USAF's Dayton, Ohio- based Wright Laboratory will run a parallel effort to develop the military-transport applica tion of the ALG. Members of the Government's research and development team will also in clude NASA Ames, NASA Lan- gley and the Rome Air Development Center, New York. Nielson says that more test ing will be done on MADL's Cessna 402 test-bed and on Northwest simulators, followed by work on a United Boeing 727 to test the entire ALG. Testing will also be carried out on a USAF Lockheed C-130. Further into the two-year programme, expected to start with a formal contract award by the end of March, an in- service trial will begin on a Northwest Boeing 747. The team will also tackle the complex issue of image fusion during the initial two-year phase. "That effort is USAF-led, but whether we will capture that capability to the level we feel happy with in that time remains to be seen," says Neilson. The possible use of digital map databases is still a distant possibility, but is no longer a priority, he says. "You can get carried away with all the toys and get nowhere. The airlines want something as soon as possible and don't want to get involved in a ten-year re search programme." • wm Riair Express: a signatory to Baltic co-operation document Latavio wavers on Baltic co-operation L atvian Airlines (Latavio) <has refused to sign a joint statement backed by five other carriers from the Baltic states, calling for government support for a joint Baltic airline. Latavio president Janis Din- evics has backed away from the statement, saying that it would be inappropriate to sign while the airline is negotiating a joint venture with SAS (Flight Inter national, 12-18 January). The statement was drafted following the first Baltic avia tion-development meeting in the Estonian capital Tallinn in mid-February, aimed at pro moting closer co-operation Indonesian 737 sale almost complete A Lufthansa delegation in Jakarta is close to final ising a deal for the sale of part of the German flag-carrier's re maining Boeing 737-200 fleet. Sources close to the talks say that the basics of the deal have been settled and that two aircraft have already been de livered under lease to private Indonesian carrier Bouraq. Lufthansa has also signed a memorandum of understand ing (MoU) with Indonesia's Garuda Maintenance Facility (GMF) for 737 maintenance and an MoU with IPTN's Uni versal Maintenance Centre (UMC), which is to repair and overhaul Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines for 737s. Lufthansa says that the MoU with GMF "...is setting the basis for an extensive co operation on 737 mainte nance". The deal will encom pass heavy-airframe mainten ance, component overhaul, en gineering, material manage ment and parts support, docu mentation and training. Garuda will benefit from technology transfer in the deal and the two carriers intend to become a 737-series mainten ance alliance. Lufthansa says that the UMC deal will eventually enable the maintenance centre to "...go beyond pure over haul activities to serve air line customers within and around Indonesia". While negotiations with the Indonesian Government origi nally covered the sale of all 32 Lufthansa 737-200s to three airlines — Bouraq, Sempati and Mandala — sources now say that financial restrictions make the sale of ten aircraft a more realistic prediction. • among Baltic airlines. The signatories of the state ment were Tallinn-based Esto nian Air and Estonian Aviation, and Latvia's Baltic Express Line, Baltic International Air lines and Riair Express. Co-operation schemes, in cluding the idea of creating a carrier known as United Baltic Airlines (UBA), first proposed by Estonian Air and Latavio in January, were discussed. Baltic International Airlines executive vice-president Michael Pemberton says that the moves towards co-opera tion may have been sparked by fears over SAS's dealings with Latavio. Other carriers fear los ing business if the deal goes through. Estonian carriers worry that the venture could make Riga the regional hub, at the expense of the other Baltic capitals. • Badgerys Creek Airport In a feature on Badgerys Creek Airport, Sydney, Aus tralia (Flight International, 22 December, 1993-4 January, P20), Ansett chief executive Graeme McMahon was quoted as saying that Ansett's opposi tion to a second major Sydney airport had been part of an attempt by Australia's domestic carriers to prevent a second airport being built, so blocking domestic competition. This quote was incorrectly attributed to Mr McMahon — it was made by Ron Hoenig, Mayor of Botany, which bor ders Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport. Ansett and Mr McMa hon strongly disagree with the view quoted. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 9 - 15 March, 1994 13
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