Mar 9 1972
From The Space Library
President Nixon ordered immediate implementation of new Federal Aviation Administration regulations to prevent carrying of weapons or explosives aboard civil aircraft and unauthorized access to aircraft, tighten baggage check-in procedure, and improve cargo and baggage loading security. Dept. of Transportation would expedite rule-making for new regulations governing airport operators to complement measures required of airlines. Action had been prompted by discovery of bombs aboard aircraft at New York, Las Vegas, and Seattle during 48 hrs. (PD, 3/13/72, 553)
Use of remote TV to monitor weather conditions in mountain pass used by general-aviation pilots operating under visual flight rules (VFR) would be evaluated by Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Director John H. Shaffer announced. Program would be conducted for FAA by National Weather Service of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under $108 000 interagency agreement. (FAA Release 72-38)
Financial problems affecting development of new civil aircraft in U.S. were described by William M. Magruder, adviser to President Nixon on technology, in speech before National Security Industrial Assn. in Washington, D.C.: "Nature of the development base applicability of military programs to civil transports has been altered drastically since the propeller transports and early jets. Those civil transports enjoyed literally 'off-the-shelf' engines, tires, brakes, instruments, hydraulic, electrical and air conditioning systems and nearly exact aerodynamics and controls. The cost of a civil transport development project under those conditions was about one time the manufacturers' net worth, or about $300 million. During this period, it was not unusual for the military to be developing as many as one or two dozen related bombers and transports of equal size and technology. Today, a single civil air transport development program, such as the B-747, DC-10 or L-1011, will cost about five times the net worth of the manufacturers, or nearly $1.5 billion. At the same time, the Defense Department has only the C-5A, F-14, F-15 and B-1A in development, with little direct . fallout into the civil programs. "Simultaneously with the skyrocketing of civil transport development costs, foreign nations have noticed that it takes a family of transports to dominate the marketplace. Where the U.S. offered twenty or thirty different models and captured 85% of the civil transport market, we now are isolated to the trijets and the B-747, while Europe offers Concordes, A-300 airbuses, Mercures for short range; VFW-614s and Falcon 2OTs for commuter traffic; and have started their STOL projects for urban traffic. To do this, they have used multi-national treasuries for subsidized financing." (Text)
Arrival of seven Soviet scientists at National Accelerator Laboratory near Batavia, Ill., was announced by Atomic Energy Commission. Team would join U.S. scientists in probing fundamental nature of matter. (AEC Release P-66)
Washington Evening Star editorial commented on plaque launched on Pioneer 10 Jupiter probe March 2: "Like a note in a bottle cast on an outgoing tide, or a relic in a cornerstone, or a time capsule, this message to whom it may concern affirms mankind's insistence on its precious and distinctive identity. It is behind the concept of pyramids, eternal vigil flames, and ancient cathedrals. More than an instinct to survive, it includes a demand that its existence be known and acknowledged." Pioneer 10 launch "serves to transmit an ancient challenge : 'Who's there?' Any authenticated reply would be the biggest news in quite a spell." (W Star, 3/10/72)
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