Hangar

Northrop Grumman Corp. is expanding ship-based radar systems and manufacturing new land-based radar types, both of which will mean more business for the company's largest sector, Electronic Systems of Linthicum. The company's top brass traveled from the Los Angeles headquarters to the subsidiary's headquarters next to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport yesterday to cut the ribbon on a $13.7 million radar antenna testing facility. Officials say the 60-foot by 40-foot scanner, housed in a five-story, 16,000-square-foot building, is the only one of its kind.

Increased fuel sales and fully leased corporate hangars could finally lead to a profit for the Carroll County Regional Airport, a persistent money loser for the county. Fuel sales in the past 10 months have exceeded the total for all of last year by more than 100,000 gallons, an 80 percent increase, and are expected to reach 375,000 gallons by the end of the fiscal year June 30. In addition, the county has leased all seven of its new corporate hangars, which cost $4 million to build. The county expects to earn $420,000 annually from the hangar leases.

Long promoted as a centerpiece of the county's economic development efforts and a growing hub for corporate travelers, Carroll County Regional Airport instead is struggling to overcome debt, an embezzlement scandal and management squabbles.In a review of county budget documents and interviews with county and airport officials, The Sun found that:WestAir II, the private company that runs the county-owned airport, owes more than $90,000 to the county for fuel, rent and other bills from 1998.

As an airborne traffic reporter for WQSR radio, Joy Pons is accustomed to being in a plane -- but she's not accustomed to being on a plane. Naked. With 40 men watching her. Ms. Pons found herself in that unusual situation when she agreed to pose for a Playboy magazine and video feature called "Girls of the Radio."How Ms. Pons, who describes herself as self-conscious and stable, ended up posing for Playboy is somewhat of a mystery, even to her.It all started last fall, when WQSR morning show host Steve Rouse heard that Playboy was looking for female radio personalities to pose for a video and magazine shoot.

Charles A. Levine, who became aviation's first trans-Atlantic passenger in 1927 when he sponsored an attempt to beat Col. Charles A. Lindbergh to Europe, died Dec. 6 in Washington after a brief illness. Mr. Levine flew into history with Clarence D. Chamberlin at the controls of a 225-horsepower monoplane.They lost the race to be the first to fly the Atlantic when a suit filed by one of Mr. Chamberlin's would-be co-pilots marooned the Columbia in its hangar.

The County Commissioners authorized a $39.5 million bond sale yesterday that includes $4.5 million to construct corporate hangars at Carroll County Regional Airport.The bonds for the hangars will not be tax-exempt because the county anticipates making a $13 million profit on them over the next 40 years. The other bonds, which will be used to pay for items such as school and road construction, are tax-exempt.Grading for the 70,000 square feet of new hangar space has begun and the county hopes to open the facility by spring, said J. Michael Evans, county director of public works.

Federal Contracts Report is a weekly summary of selected contracts recently awarded by the federal government to companies and other vendors in the Baltimore area.* National Door Service Inc. in Baltimore won a $749,565 contract from the Navy to provide, repair and motorize hangar doors, Naval Air facility, Andrews Air Force Base in Camp Springs.* Medical Waste Associates Inc. in Baltimore won a $270,000 contract from the VA Medical Center to provide medical waste pickup and disposal.* Brimrose Corp.

Delegate Leopold honored for bill sponsorshipThe Anne Arundel County Interagency Coordinating Council, a multi-agency group that advises the county Infants and Toddlers Program, presented an award to Del. John R. Leopold, an Anne Arundel County Republican, for his sponsorship of a law that changed the state lead agency for the program from the Governor's Office for Children, Youth and Families to the Maryland Department of Education.Naval station to get new commander TuesdayCapt. Gerard M. Farrell will succeed Capt.

Master Mixologist Brendan Dorr over at B&O American Brasserie has created a Ravens-inspired cocktail, just in time for the divisional round. The Hail Mary 1 1/4 ounce Hangar One Mandarin Blossom Vodka 1/2 ounce cassis syrup 3/4 ounce Lemon Juice 3/4 ounce Pomegranate Juice   Shake with ice. Stain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a spiral twist of lemon. Enjoy! "Penalty," you're saying. "It's not purple!" No, it's not. That's why playoffs mixololgy is best left to a master mixologist.

The opera singer who eventually became Dr. Robert A. Montgomery's wife would never have taken him for a kidney transplant surgeon the first time she saw him, not with the long hair and that outrageous mustache. Maybe a biker, she figured, and maybe she was onto something there. When he heads for work at Johns Hopkins Hospital from his loft in Fells Point or the manse he shares in Bethesda with Denyce Graves, the internationally known mezzo soprano, Montgomery roars off in his 500-horsepower Shelby Cobra, painted white with a blue stripe down the center.