-------------------------------------------------------------------- Boeing recommends inspections for 747 fuel tanks SEATTLE (Reuters) -- Boeing Co. said Friday it has recommended that 747 operators inspect the center fuel tanks of the jetliners and replace some parts, in moves prompted by the crash of TWA Flight 800 nearly two years ago. The so-called service bulletins involve inspection of the center fuel tank to check wiring and grounding straps, pumps, fuel lines and fittings and other equipment, as well as installation of a "flame arrestor" for a scavenge pump. Boeing said the service bulletins are to alert airlines to possible Federal Aviation Administration rules that would require the actions. Fuel tank ignition sources have received heightened attention since the 1996 crash of a TWA 747 off New York killed all 230 people on board when fumes in its center fuel tank exploded. Boeing said that, so far, center wing tanks on 213 of the ap- proximately 1,000 747s in service have been inspected with no significant problems found. The second recommendation calls for the replacement of clamps, or terminal blocks, that hold wires linked to fuel probes. The third recommendation calls for the installation of a flame arrestor at the open end of the so-called scavenge pump inlet tube. That part was not recovered from the wreckage of TWA Flight 800, but Boeing said testing to this point has not revealed a condition that would generate an ignition source. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Air Traffic System May Be Flawed NEW YORK - technicians' union wants to delay the 1999 startup of a $1 billion air traffic control system, saying it will jeopardize traveler safety, The New York Times reports today. The Professional airways Systems Specialists say the new system lacks the alarms and monitoring features to give warnings if it begins to fail. Current technology sounds alarms and lights if there is a glitch that drops an airplane from a controller's screen. The union says the new system doesn't do that; a controller has to keep constant watch. Federal aviation administration officials acknowledge the shortcomings, but say the current system is falling part. === --- DB 1.39/004487 * Origin: Volunteer BBS (423) 694-0791 V90 (1:218/1001.1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: FA300001 Date: 05/23/98 From: JIM SANDERS Time: 10:48pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Ec-18 EC-18 Brief: A heavily modified Boeing 707 used to gather telemetry and other data in tests of aircraft, spacecraft, and missiles. Function: Electronic surveillance. Operator: AFMC. First Flight: February 1985. Delivered: January 1988. IOC: January 1986. production: six. Inventory: six. Ceiling: 42,000 ft. Unit Location: Edwards AFB, Calif. Contractor: Boeing. Power Plant: four Pratt & Whitney TF33 turbofans; each 18,000 lb thrust. Accommodation: 16-24 in EC-18B. Dimensions: span 145 ft 9 in, length 152 fill in, height 42 ft 5 in. Weight: gross 327,000 lb. Performance: max level speed 627mph, range 7,610 miles. COMMENTARY EC-18B Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft (ARIA) are modified former commercial Boeing 707-320 transports. Replacing some of the EC-135 A/E ARIA aircraft, the EC-18B is similarly equipped, with the world's largest airborne steerable antenna housed in a bulbous nose. Range, cabin space, and fuel efficiency are all increased to provide greater support for the expanding ARIA mission, including DoD and NASA space and missile programs. EC-18D cruise missile mission control aircraft (CMMCA) are Boeing 707a, modified by Chrysler, to include an ANIAPG-63 sur- veillance radar, telemetry receiver, and weather radar. Operated by the 452d FTS, the two aircraft support USAF and USN missile testing and are also capable of monitoring and controlling UAVs. === --- DB 1.39/004487 * Origin: Volunteer BBS (423) 694-0791 V90 (1:218/1001.1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: FA300002 Date: 05/24/98 From: JIM SANDERS Time: 07:13am \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: News-215 5-year-old boy abandoned at Australian Airport SYDNEY - May 23, 1998 10:32 p.m. EDT - A 5-year-old American boy was found abandoned at Sydney Airport with his passport and an ex- pired ticket to the United States, apparently left there by his mother, it was reported Sunday. Qantas Airways workers found the dazed child wandering aimlessly around the international terminal Thursday, clutching the ticket to Los Angeles and a small suitcase of clothes, The Sunday Telegraph said. "He said his mum had brought him to the airport and left him," a Qantas worker told the paper. "He seemed to think he was going home. He was pretty calm about it all; perhaps he's used to being left." Australian Federal Police officers, who guard airports, looked after the child for a day while they investigated the case. He was then placed in temporary foster care while U.S. consular officials contacted his father in America. The officials said the father was shocked to hear what had hap- pened and was arranging for his son to be flown to Los Angeles as soon as possible. It was not known whether the mother will be prosecuted. She is believed to still be in Sydney and is wanted by police in the United States, the paper said. -------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. officials find remains believed to be of World War II aviators in France STRASBOURG, France - May 23, 1998 10:20 p.m. -- American military officials say they apparently have found name tags and human remains of the nine-member crew of a B-24 bomber that crashed in eastern France during World War II. The 15 U.S. officials from bases in Germany, accompanied by French experts, have sifted through clay and soil for six weeks in the Zinswiller forest, not far from the border with Germany. The search ends Sunday. "We've done the maximum possible for this B-24 Liberator, which disappeared in December 1944," said Will Bissaindhe, a U.S. official. "We have found 1,500 fragments of bones, as well as hair, teeth and four name tags," he said late Friday. He said they also found an identity card with a photograph, and a pair of shoes. Officials said it is likely that the remains belong to nine people. The remains and belongings will be taken this weekend to a U.S. base in Landstuhl, Germany. They will then be flown to Hawaii for further tests. If positively identified, the items will be returned to rela- tives, Bissaindhe said. He said the names on the name tags would not be released. "That's a military secret," he said. Witnesses said the plane, returning from an air raid on Munich, collided with another plane in midair. The wreckage was discovered only a year ago. === --- DB 1.39/004487 * Origin: Volunteer BBS (423) 694-0791 V90 (1:218/1001.1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: FA300003 Date: 05/24/98 From: JIM SANDERS Time: 07:14am \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: News-216 Electronic Telegraph, UK BA accuses Lufthansa over price war - By Mary Fagan BRITISH Airways has complained to the European Commission claiming that Lufthansa, the German airline, is trying to force it off key routes by launching an all-out price war. The group's wholly-owned Deutsche BA subsidiary has been elbowed out of the lucrative Frankfurt to Munich route by Lufthansa's price cut- ting and has had no help from the Federal Cartel Office in Berlin. Deutsche made its plea last week to Neil Kinnock, the Transport Com- missioner, as the European competition authorities view the case as a national issue within Germany. According to Carl Michel, chief executive of Deutsche BA: "Lufthansa has 98 per cent of the domestic market from Frankfurt and it is very hard for anyone else to get into that market. But we also want a wider investigation of competition within the European airline market. On the big routes we need free and fair competition." Deutsche, which had a turnover of DM500m last year and carries 2.7m passengers annually, gained enough take-off and landing slots at Frankfurt to operate eight services a day on the Frankfurt/Munich route. The route is one of the top three in Germany. But the services, which began in November, were abandoned in March after a price war. According to Michel, there were a total of 12 price cuts in a very short period. There were rumours in the indust- ry that Lufthansa would go as low as necessary to squeeze Deutsche BA and the company saw no option other than to pull out. "What we are talking about was quite severe," he said. The situation is said to have incensed Bob Ayling, BA's chief executive. Ironically, it comes at a time when the airline group faces possible action from the European Commission over its own marketing practices under BA's performance reward scheme for travel agents. The Commission has been investigating BA's scheme following com- plaints from arch-rival Virgin Atlantic and both companies are re- sponding to a preliminary ruling on the matter which raised the prospect of large fines for BA. BA believes that there are no competition issues with the scheme as all other airlines operate similar incentive schemes and is un- likely to accept any attempt by the Commission to ban the PRS with- out a fight. One insider said: "We are already one of the most open markets in the world." He said the situation Deutsche BA faces in Germany is one illustration of that. ------------------------------------------------------------------- BAe in row over Airbus carve-up - By Mary Fagan A ROW is brewing over the future structure of Airbus Industrie, the commercial aircraft joint venture which includes British Aerospace, Aerospatiale, Dasa of Germany and Spain's Casa. The transformation of Airbus from a loose economic grouping to a full corporate entity was due to be complete by January 1, 1999. But disagreement has developed over where the business should be incorporated, how to value the parts of the business and partic- ularly how profits should be shared. One insider said integration could be delayed until 2000. The Ger- mans are said to be blaming BAe for dragging its feet, but BAe insiders say the company is more interested in getting the structure right and in securing maximum value for its shareholders than rushing the negotiations through. BAe, which has 20 per cent of Airbus, refused to comment. But ana- lysts say it believes that the wings, which it manufactures, represent a major chunk of the value on the larger aircraft and that this should be reflected in the profit-sharing. One industry observer said: "There is an unholy row brewing and it will surface before long. But BAe takes the view that the share of profits should reflect the value of work done and it is determined not to sacrifice shareholder value. That is how it should be." Another problem is demands by the French that the new group should be based in France, despite the view held by some partners that this may not be the most tax-efficient solution. One industry insider said that the dissent within Airbus could threaten the wider restructuring of the European defence industry, in which BAe hoped to take a lead- ing role. The company recently announced that it would take a major stake in Saab of Sweden. BAe does not disclose profits from Airbus but analysts estimated that it made - 140m last year at the operating level. === --- DB 1.39/004487 * Origin: Volunteer BBS (423) 694-0791 V90 (1:218/1001.1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: FA300004 Date: 05/23/98 From: BILL WUNSCH Time: 02:07pm \/To: ELVIS HARGROVE (Read 0 times) Subj: Charts Greetings, Elvis! On 22 May 98, Elvis Hargrove entered the following ASCII codes for the express viewing pleasure of Bill Wunsch: EH> Hee Hee! We have VERY few Badgers down here.... I've seen two in thirty EH> plus years in the brush. They're called Talcoyotes and our local two EH> legged indiginous species, is scared to death of them. One time, when I was about 12 or so, I was walking to school in the company of my dog (yes, he used to go to school, too) and he was making quite a racket barking down a hole in a field beside the road. I wandered over to see what the fuss was about, and when I looked down the hole, something snarled at me and I lit out running like the devil himself was after me. Scared the beegeebees out of me. I imagined a lion hot on my tail. After I calmed down and thought things through, I decided it was just a badger that couldn't go down any deeper than he was. Considering the damage bager holes did to machinery (in the days of farming by horse, you could easily loose a good animal as it was easy to break a leg by stepping in one of those things) no farmer passed up an opportunity to rid the country side of one those creatures, so they were not too common any more. The bager was one of those "I mind my own business, and you mind your own business" kind of critters and there was no need to fear them. However, they had a tough hide, long claws and very mean looking teeth, and when backed into a corner, were a very formidable foe. EH> That's allegedly the main reason the "Texas Taildragger" came to be. Sounds like a nice machine. I ofter wondered what a 150 would be like if you transplanted the 150 horses from a SuperCub into it. With those big flaps, you should be able to get in and out of anything. -==- --- GoldED/386 2.42.G0615+ * Origin: Bill's Point -=- Regina, Sask, Canada (1:140/118.1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: FA300005 Date: 05/23/98 From: BILL WUNSCH Time: 02:08pm \/To: JIM SANDERS (Read 0 times) Subj: The sextant Greetings, Jim! On 21 May 98, Jim Sanders entered the following ASCII codes for the express viewing pleasure of All: JS> I think we still should continue to teach use of the sextant JS> just as we furnish lifeboats, parachutes and life jackets. You make a good point. I think the powers to be are having second thoughts about decomissioning all the old navaids, too. With everything switched to satellite based navigation and approach aids, we would be in a sad fix indeed if the system failed and there were no more VORs, NDBs, etc. -==- --- GoldED/386 2.42.G0615+ * Origin: Bill's Point -=- Regina, Sask, Canada (1:140/118.1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 196 AVIATION Ref: FA300006 Date: 05/23/98 From: BILL WUNSCH Time: 02:23pm \/To: ELVIS HARGROVE (Read 0 times) Subj: Charts Greetings, Elvis! On 22 May 98, Elvis Hargrove entered the following ASCII codes for the express viewing pleasure of Bill Wunsch: ->> Nice story. Nice writing style. Maybe you should write a book, or ->> something... EH> EH> He he..... That's one of the things I do. EH> You told me that, once. A check at the local library turned up James, Jim, Roy and T.R. (Thomas R.) but no Elvis... -==- --- GoldED/386 2.42.G0615+ * Origin: Bill's Point -=- Regina, Sask, Canada (1:140/118.1)