Woodward Governor of Rockford, Ill., will supply the fuel control unit on Pratt&Whitney Canada's PT6C-67A turboprop, which will power Bell/Boeing's proposed commercial spin-off of the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor. The new aircraft, the Bell/Boeing 609, is a smaller version of the Osprey, and the team thinks as many as 1,000 twin-engine civil tiltrotors could be built over the next 20 years. At an expected 50 aircraft a year - 100 engine-sets of fuel controls - Woodward Governor could pick up an additional $100 million in sales.
Moody's Investors Service and Standard&Poor's say they may upgrade ratings on both Greenwich Air Services and UNC following General Electric's announcement that its blue-chip GE Capital unit will assume the debt of both companies as part of an acquisition plan (DAILY, March 11).
The Senate Armed Services Committee was preparing to send the Senate Budget Committee a memo requesting that the fiscal year 1998 budget resolution include a defense spending level high enough to accommodate a $2.9 billion boost to the president's request for budget authority, and a $4.3 billion hike in outlays.
THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT and the Dutch engineering group Stork signed an agreement yesterday to put up nearly $600 million to take 51% of Fokker - to be called "Fokker 2" - with the Malaysian state holding company Khazanah taking 39%, and the Andre Deleye company of Belgium, 10%. Fokker 2 would buy back Fokker Services, the maintenance and parts subsidiary, from Stork. Telephone negotiations were due to begin last night with Malaysia and a Dutch delegation was to leave soon.
Three British Airways Boeing 777-200IGW, or Increased Gross Weight, aircraft will be fitted with a conventional -200 accessory gearbox/generator configuration for about a month while General Electric works on new bearings for the gearbox, GE confirms.
The U.S. Army needs an additional $40 million in fiscal year 1998 for the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program to avoid an anticipated gap in testing, Army Secretary Gilbert F. Decker told House appropriators yesterday. The first prototype has logged 34 flight hours and is performing well, Decker told the House Appropriations national security subcommittee. The second vehicle is being built.
The National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) selected Castor IVA-XL solid rocket motors made by Thiokol Corp., Ogden, Utah, as strap-on boosters for the H-IIA launch vehicle, Thiokol announced yesterday. The 38-foot motor is made by the Defense and Launch Vehicles Division, weighs approximately 33,000 pounds and supplies more than 150,000 pounds of thrust during its 56-second burn.
EAST ASIA AIRLINES will expand its fleet with three Sikorsky S-76C+ helicopters, Sikorsky announced yesterday. The 12-passenger helicopters will be delivered in October.
Richard E. W. Smith will retire as president of Kaman Diversified Technologies, but will continue as a senior advisor to company chairman and chief executive officer Charles H. Kaman.
ROYAL THAI NAVY received the first of six S-70B Seahawk helicopters from Sikorsky Aircraft, Stratford, Conn. Deliveries will conclude in June, Sikorsky said. The helicopters will be fitted for search and rescue, maritime patrol and coastal surveillance roles, and will have provisions for modification to anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare missions. They will operate off Thailand's new aircraft carrier, the Chakkrinruebet, which is expected to enter service in August.
Lynn A. Madonna has been elected to the board of directors. David H. Langstaff, president of the company since 1995, has been named president and CEO. Dennis J. Gauci has been appointed director of corporate communications.
David F. Masotti, senior vice president, will assume the operational responsibilities of J. C. Mackay senior vice president, Space Systems, who is leaving the company. Adina E. Gwartzman has joined the company as vice president, Corporate Development.
Alliant Techsystems, Minneapolis, received a $31.6 million subcontract from GenCorp Aerojet to produce 600 rounds of the Sense and Destroy Armor (SADARM) smart artillery munition (DAILY, Feb. 13), Alliant announced yesterday. The U.S. Army plans to buy more than 73,000 of the 155mm SADARM projectiles through the year 2013.
An internal NASA team has been "thinking out of the box" in an effort to find ways to commercialize human spaceflight in low Earth orbit, including the International Space Station, surveying consumer manufacturers for ideas and pondering a high risk, high payoff "space venture fund" to finance them.
Ronald G. Elkins has been promoted to general manager Engineering Services Division (ESD) and program director Goddard Systems Engineering, Integration and Management Support Services (SEIMSS). Rick McCrary has been named to the position of vice president, McDonnell Douglas Ltd. Australia. Drs. Michael Biferno, manager of Human Factors Technology and Shreekant Agrawal, functional manager of the High Speed Aerodynamics Technology department at Military Transport Aircraft's ATAS group, were named McDonnell Douglas Fellows.
