FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 0457.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT SAFETY Applications for TAWS gather pace World Airways has selected the Universal Avionics terrain aware ness warning system (TAWS) for retrofit to its Boeing MD-11 fleet as the pace of new applica tions picks up in advance of the looming March 2005 US Federal Aviation Administration deadline for installing the safety system. The first system will be fitted on an MD-11 in mid-June, says Arizona-based Universal, which says the rate of re-equipping is showing a rapid increase this year. Commercial installations completed to date also include McDonnell Douglas DC-8/DC-9s operated by Airborne Express, and DC-8s and Boeing 727s flown by Astar (formerly DHL Airways), as well as Spirit Airlines Boeing MD-80s, Gemini Air Cargo DC-10s and Air Canada Jazz Bombardier Dash 8s. "Many more are committed," adds the company, which does not yet know if World Airways will order its TAWS for its forth coming fleet of Boeing 767-300ERs. The Universal system on the MD-11 will consist of a single TAWS and global positioning receiver on each aircraft, and will be displayed on the aircraft's existing Honeywell electronic flight instrument system. Hollingshead International is providing integration engineer ing, installation kits and FAA certification. Flightdecks already equipped with Universal's MFD- 640 multi-function display and UNS-1 flight management sys tem are also capable of incorporating different display formats for the TAWS warning function, as well as a "flight path intent" feature. This provides a warning of a possible terrain conflict as soon as a waypoint is put into the FMS, avoiding inadvertent navi gation errors such as that involved in the December 1995 American Airlines 757 controlled flight into terrain accident at Cali, Colombia, in which all 163 on board died. AIRCRAFT DEVELOPMENT VLADIMIR KARNOZOV / MOSCOW Antonov plans stretched and GE-engined An-148 variants Company aims to deliver 100-seat model in 2006 and discusses Westernised version Antonov has revealed plans to develop a stretched, 100-seat ver sion of the An-148 regional jet, and proposes to offer a version powered by General Electric CF34 engines for western markets. Developed from the 82-seat An- 148-100, the larger -200 variant will be available from 2006, offer ing a range of 3,500km (l,890nm). The Ukranian design bureau is also offering longer-range variants which trade payload for greater range - up to 5,100km. A 10- to 30-seat business jet ver sion is also planned, which will have a range of 7,300-8,700km and an uprated version of the 14,1001b thrust (62.7kN) ZMKB Progress D- 436-148 engines providing an addi tional 1,0001b of thrust. Antonov deputy general designer Oleg Bogdanov says that the GE CF34 engine will be avail able on versions offered to the western market. He adds that talks are under way with EADS about participation in the project. GE is more circumspect over the progress of a CF34-powered An-148 variant and says "preliminary dis cussions were held late last year with Antonov, but currently we consider this as an inactive pro gramme". The company confirms, however, that talks centred on a version of the higher-thrust CF34- 10 family currently in final devel opment for Embraer regional jet programmes. Bogdanov has also provided details of changes to the An-148 production allocation, which now sees Kharkov-based KhGAPP mak ing the fuselage centre section; Kiev-based Aviant the wing (excluding centre section); NPO YuzhMash in Dnepropetrovsk the landing gear; and VASO in Voronezh the engine nacelles, and tail and nose sections. Aircraft destined for Russian air lines will be assembled at VASO, and will be available on operating leases through Ilyushin-Finance. KhGAPP was to build An-148s for the Ukranian market, but may have to transfer this to Aviant. It does not have the capacity if there is high demand for the An-140 regional turboprop and An-74 freighter which it also builds. The An-148 prototype is being completed at Antonov's experi mental plant in Kiev and is due to fly in July, with the second flight in October. Russian and Ukrainian certification is planned for October 2005 and first deliveries for the end of that year. The first five aircraft should be completed during 2005. First flight of the An-148 prototype is scheduled to take place in July FLEET EXPANSION JUSTIN WASTNAGE / LONDON Ryanair mulls used narrowbodies Ryanair may again consider acquir ing second-hand narrowbodies as it expects increased availability of used Boeing 737s returned by antic ipated casualties in the European low-cost carrier segment. The car rier also says it expects to have re worded all of its contentious deals with public airports to bring them in line with European law by the end of April. Chief executive Michael O'Leary says he expects there to be a surplus of 737s and Airbus A320s on the market before the end of the year as a series of no-frills new entrants leave the market "either by bank ruptcy, merger or acquisition". The airline would consider taking sec ondhand 737-300s or -400s from any such retiring carrier, if the price were low enough. Ryanair took delivery of its 51st 189-seat 737-800 last month and to date has 155 confirmed -800 orders with 123 options over the next six years. Retirement of six of the carrier's remaining fleet of 15 737-200s will take place by the end of this year. There are believed to be certain routes that would benefit from the 149-seat -300 or 168-seat -400 and Ryanair operates six 737-300s with its Buzz Stansted subsidiary. O'Leary says integration of further smaller Next Generation 737 mod els would be no problem. Meanwhile, O'Leary also says the airline has amended around 14 of the 20 deals with publicly owned airports that might contra vene European state-aid rules. He warns that if airport operators use this as a excuse to raise fees Ryanair will cancel the deals. 10 27 APRIL-3 MAY 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
