European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday november 1, 1990 the stars and stripes a a Page 7 a n n i i army fires expert in copter dispute St. T outs rape a a St. Louis apr an army civilian employee was handcuffed tuesday and removed from his office after threatening to go Public on his claim that Many helicopters Lack equipment that would protect them from iraqi heat seeking missiles. A colleague says the Man was a Scapegoat in a cover up of problems in army aircraft safety. Army officials said they suspected Calvin j. Weber of the army aviation systems come Here had planned to disclose sensitive information about equipment vulnerability. Officials refused to discuss details of the Case citing privacy regulations. A Weber said Many of the approximately 95 Vietnam Era uh-1h Huey helicopters used by american forces in operation desert shield Lack Modem equipment de signed to fool heat seeking missiles. He said he suspected that Only about a third of the More modern uh-60 Black Hawk helicopters had up to Date antimissile gear and some cobra attack helicopters also Lack the equipment. It would Cost about $40,000 to add the anti missile device to each Huey Weber said. The devices either disperse the exhaust of the helicopters engine a making detection by a heat seeking missile More difficult a a or provide a Decoy heat source that confuses a missiles guidance system he said. A missile systems have advanced but the army has trodden and plodded and was lax in taking care of equipment with the latest Protection available a Weber told a reporter for the St. Louis Post dispatch last week. He said he began warning defense department officials of the potential danger two years ago. Weber 48, was handcuffed and carried from his office at the army aviation systems come when he refused to leave. He was charged with disorderly conduct and two other misdemeanours. He faces a court Date nov. 16. The army said the Veteran of 16 years working for the army was to be fired As of wednesday after colleagues removed his personal belongings from his desk. Dick Mooy a senior Engineer with the aviation command who is helping Weber in an Effort to keep his Job said the command is a a despotic and a interested Only in itself.�?�. Mooy said he had worked mostly with helicopters and other aircraft in 22 years of civilian service with the army. He said he had known Weber for years and described him As an expert on helicopter Columbia receives Green Light survivability. Mooy said he agreed with Weber a Contention that Many of the army helicopters sent to saudi Arabia in operation desert shield lacked the full Range of equipment needed to thwart heat seeking missiles. Both engineers said the army had accused Weber of keeping $1,500 Worth of army helicopter screws at his House. Mooy said a supervisor had not objected to Weber shaving them. Mooy added that army Mohawk surveillance air planes including some in saudi Arabia might be dangerous to Fly. He said an infrared suppressor for that aircraft was prone to come apart and damage the planets rudder. A i Call this As an Engineer a big cover up in the army a Mooy said. A Cal tried for years to go through channels but it came to a dead  by the Washington Post Washington a Nasa officials pronounced the shuttle Columbia a a tight ship on tuesday after it passed an elaborate fueling test ending the Long Hunt for Hydrogen leaks that sabotaged shuttle launch attempts throughout the summer. A maybe things Are turning around a said Robert l. Crippen head of the shuttle program. Early this month the shuttle discovery a the one orbiter in the three ship Fleet that has not sprung excess Hydrogen leaks a successfully deployed a probe to the Sun after a hiatus in shuttle launches of More than 5y2 months. Last week after repairs to its Leaky plumbing the orbiter Atlantis passed a fueling test similar to Columbia s. Nasa gave it the go ahead tuesday for a nov. 9 launch. Atlantis is to carry aloft five astronauts with a secret military payload that experts say is a 22,000-Pound photo reconnaissance satellite destined to Monitor the persian Gulf. The Mission delayed since july by the Hydrogen leak problem will be the last completely secret flight for the shuttle Fleet according to the air Force. Columbian 10-Day astronomy Mission postponed four times since May could be rescheduled for launch As Early As the first week of december if there Are no other problems Crippen said. A there was a sense of Victory. A sense of Relief that this problem is behind us a said launch director Robert Seick describing the mood in the launch control Center at Kennedy space Center As columbian a fueling test ran its course. The vehicle showed no More than routine Low level Hydrogen leakage. He and Crippen praised the special team of a leak Hunters headed by Robert Schwinghamer a top engineering official at Marshall space flight Center in Huntsville Ala. The team was assembled late last month after previous efforts to find All the leaks had failed and told to stay at Cape canaveral until the problem was solved. A the results today prove that they did the Job right a Crippen said. A i just gave them permission. To go  6 during the test super cold Hydrogen was pumped through the orbiters fuel system at up to 8,300 Gallons per minute and temperatures of minus 423 degrees. William Lenoir who Heads nasal a office of space flight said that Nasa might have found the leaks sooner and prevented some of the Summers embarrassments if it had followed the Schwinghamer approach from the Start pursuing an exhaustive investigation instead of gambling on a single line of inquiry that focused each tune on the most suspect hardware. Wyo. Students picket for sex teacher Gillette Wyo. Apr about 30 High school students Cut class to picket the courthouse asking for leniency for their teacher who is charged with shooting a colleague he found in a tryst with his wife. Allan Sicks a photography teacher at Campbell county High school was charged in june with aggravated assault and aggravated burglary for allegedly wounding fellow teacher Dan Chaney. He found Chaney with his wife also a High school teacher a m a camper at a Gillette picnic area. The couple never denied having an affair. Jury selection began this week for the trial. Students chanted a support or. Sicks a and carried signs Reading a have sympathy 4 or. Sicks a and a a he a lost enough Why take More a Ryan Bolton and . Reynolds both 17-year-old seniors organized the 90-minute rally monday. A we done to think its fair at All a Reynolds said. A this shows this Community we care. Wed like to see or. Sicks come out just As Good As everybody else on the whole  Sicks resigned in july. Paula Sicks and Chaney still teach at the High school. The Sicks Are in the midst of a divorce. 200th Success a Delta ii ignites at Cape canaveral in the 200th successful launch of the Mcdonnell Douglas rocket since its debut 30 years ago. Flown into orbit in tuesday nights launch was a $90 million in Arsat satellite designed to handle Mobile communications. Interest groups sow big Bucks in elections Washington Fapio Crip Mot. Washington a special interest groups Are going on a pre election spending spree in an Effort to influence election outcomes such As the . Senate contest in North Carolina. The Money comes from such diverse groups As the realtors political action committee abortion rights groups antiabortion forces and a Pac representing dealers of japanese made cars. With election Day less than a week away special interest groups have spent about $4 million in Independent expend lures 5�  1990 contests. In 1988, about $7.2 million in Independent expenditures on congressional races was noted. Spending reports indicate the North Carolina race Between gop sen. Jesse Helms and Democrat Harvey Gantt is beg targeted by a number of groups. In Stead of relying solely on direct donations to a candidate the groups Are taking advantage of a Campaign Law provision that allows unlimited spending on a race provided the Effort Isnit coordinated with the Campaign that ostensibly would Benefit. The National abortion rights league for example has spent $200,000 on radio television and other ads attacking Helms anti abortion stance according to its Federal election commission filings. Other major races targeted by Naral Large Independent expenditures include the Senate race Between democratic sen. Tom Harkin and Republican rep. Tom Tauke in Iowa the Florida governors race and House contests in Oregon and Florida. Naral and its Iowa affiliate reported spending More than $93,000 in september and october to support Harkin and another $3,000 to oppose Tauke. Its Federal filings show nearly $80,000 was spent to oppose the re election of Florida gov. Bob Martinez a staunch abortion foe. Most of Naralis spending on that state race does not have to be reported to the Fec. Naralis spending in the past two weeks included $25,000 and $1,800 to of Eose the re election of Republican reps a Penny Smith of Oregon and Craig James of Florida respectively. Anti abortion groups also have opened their Campaign chests. The National right to life Pac has paid for mailings to support eight candidates including Helms Smith and James. Several right to life state pics also mounted modest Independent spending campaigns in recent weeks according to Fec filings. The National education associations Pac reported spending $100,000 to support Gantt. A Gay rights group and a Pac representing social workers reported More modest efforts on Gantt a behalf. The biggest spender so far is the realtors Pac which As of last week reported making $802,500 in Independent expenditures on a dozen races. The realtors spent $168,000 and $108,000 to support the Senate bids of Republican reps. Hank Brown of Colorado and Larry Craig of Idaho respectively. The realtors also spent heavily to sup it Ort freshmen House members Peter Hoagland d-neb., $70,000 Ileana Ros Lehmen r-fla., $70,000 and Ben Jones d-ga., $93,500