THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 7, 1994 TAG: 9407070503
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: WEEKSVILLE LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Congressman Martin Lancaster on Wednesday assured Westinghouse Airship Inc. workers that the House had appropriated enough money to continue a vital test program through next year.
The Goldsboro Democrat told about 30 Westinghouse officials and employees at the Weeksville hangar near Elizabeth City that the U.S. House of Representatives had approved $7.1 million to help the company reintroduce blimps to the Navy and attract other buyers.
The appropriation ``will ultimately lead to a platform that will be very, very important to the defense of our country,'' Lancaster said.
The federal funding, part of the 1995 defense appropriations bill still awaiting Senate approval, would allow Westinghouse to continue marketing its Sentinel 1000, the world's largest airship at 222 feet long, as the ideal surveillance aircraft.
The House earlier had authorized $8.2 million, but Lancaster said Wednesday the lower amount is sufficient to continue operations.
Westinghouse officials were elated by Wednesday's announcement.
``We're extremely happy,'' said Eric Spooner, a program manager who will take part in the company's demonstration for the Navy next month.
Westinghouse plans to test anti-missile radar equipment during mock exercises with live warheads and a Navy aircraft carrier off the Virginia and North Carolina coasts.
If the Navy decides to reintroduce blimps to provide missile defense for its carrier groups, up to 50 new skilled jobs could be created in Weeksville, Lancaster said.
``It is an exciting prospect,'' said the congressman, a Democrat who is running for re-election against Republican Walter B. Jones Jr. in November.
Westinghouse Airship employs 22 people in the Elizabeth City area and has marketed its defense-oriented airships worldwide for the past eight years. Thus far, it's had no takers.
This August's monthlong military exercise is important to Westinghouse Airship's future, Spooner said.
``We have to be extremely successful and gather some interest from other agencies,'' he said. ``To our survival, it's extremely critical.
``We're making inroads all along, but we still have a long way to go. The airship's not viewed as a piece of high-tech equipment, which it is.''
By contrast, TCOM Limited Partnership, which broke away from Westinghouse about three years ago, is now Elizabeth City's fifth largest employer with 110 workers in Weeksville.
TCOM, based out of the Baltimore area, makes sausage-shaped balloons called aerostats used primarily for surveillance and communications.
To remain competitive, the company recently announced its expansion into the oil boom business. It also is working with Johns Hopkins University scientists to carry a Hubble-like telescope into space.
TCOM made the Sentinel's envelope fabric and hull. However, the two firms, despite once sharing a parent company, are unrelated.
A third tenant at the Weeksville hangar is Florida-based Airship International Ltd., which makes commercial blimps. Its customers include Budweiser and Sea World. ILLUSTRATION: Lancaster
by CNB