All aerospace news – Page 1813
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In the news
Brazilian helicopter distributor Lumber do Brazil took delivery of a third Robinson R44 Newscopter in February. The first two of the four-seat helicopters are in service with the country's largest television station, Global TV. According to Torrence, California-based Robinson, the R44 was the top-selling helicopter last year, with 143 deliveries, ...
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Trimble terminates GA avionics production
Trimble is planning to halt general aviation avionics production by May, following the rumoured collapse of a deal to sell its product line. The sale by Trimble of subsidiary Terra, set up four years ago to handle the Terra avionics product line, is also expected to fall through. Sunnyvale, ...
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A340 reduced stability flight tests set to cut A3XX weight
Julian Moxon/PARIS Airbus Industrie is about to begin flight testing a specially equipped A340 to show that the new A3XX can fly with less static and dynamic stability than its current fly-by-wire aircraft. Engineering and product vice-president Robert Lafontan says the consortium is also considering a fly-by-wire flight ...
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Boeing bids for more modification work
Boeing is seeking to take a larger share of the market for modification of its airliners. It is forming a business unit to provide conversion, upgrade and engineering services to airlines and maintenance centres. The new Boeing Airplane Services unit is built around the company's Wichita, Kansas-based 747 passenger-to-freighter conversion ...
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First MD-10 is rolled out at Long Beach
The first McDonnell Douglas DC-10 converted to MD-10 specification for the FedEx conversion programme was rolled out at Boeing's Long Beach site in California on 19 March. The ex-United DC-10-10, dubbed "T-1", is the first of three test aircraft to be fitted with the advanced two-crew digital flightdeck at ...
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Merger lifts Westland/Agusta into world league
GKN Westland Helicopters of the UK and Italy's Agusta are to merge, giving the as-yet unnamed venture the critical mass to compete with its bigger rivals in Europe and the USA. The merged company could be the second largest rotorcraft manufacturer in the world by the time the deal ...
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E&S wins contract for AH-1W simulators
Evans & Sutherland (E&S) has won a $7 million contract to produce visual systems for two Bell AH-1W attack helicopter simulators to be supplied by US prime contractor JF Taylor. E&S will supply two six-channel ESIG-4530 image generators, each driving a five-projector partial dome display that provides a 220º horizontal ...
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UPS contract leads Thomson to Windows NT
Thomson Training &Simulation (TTS) has launched a Windows NT-based full flight simulator with an order from United Parcel Service. TTS says the simulator, for the Airbus A300-600R, will be the world's first to feature a PC-based real-time computing architecture using the Windows NT operating system. Presently, the company uses ...
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New satellite series from Hughes
Hughes Space and Communications and DirecTV - a unit of Hughes Electronics - are to launch a new satellite series, the DirecTV 1-R, based on the HS-601 HP direct broadcasting spacecraft bus. The first DirecTV 1-R will be stationed at 101ºW in geostationary orbit, equipped with 16 Ku-band ...
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Sibir bounces back with turnover up 10%
Paul Duffy/MOSCOW Former Aeroflot carrier Sibir is showing signs of rebounding from the Russian economic collapse, with traffic and financial figures showing improvement during 1998. The Novosibirsk-based airline carried 620,000 passengers last year, up 3% on 1997, while cargo volumes were up by 5%, to 5,800t. Sibir's success is all ...
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Engine tie-up
SIA Engineering has signed a deal with Rolls-Royce and Hong Kong Aero Engine Services (HAESL) to set up a repair and overhaul centre for the Trent in Singapore. The company, known as Singapore Aero Engine Services, is due to begin operations in 2002 at a site near Changi Airport. The ...
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CFM prepares advanced fan for new tests
CFM International plans to begin crosswind tests of its experimental swept fan blade design in June, as it approaches the half-way point of its three-year Tech56 advanced technology development effort. Tech56 is aimed at improving the CFM56 engine family across the full 20,000-35,000lb thrust (89-156kN) range, as well as ...
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Airbus counts cost of short-haul price war with Boeing
Chris Jasper/LONDON Airbus Industrie has made provisions for losses totalling £400 million ($650 million) as a result of the mid-90s price war with Boeing over shorthaul airliner sales, the European manufacturer has revealed. Around £200 million of the charge was absorbed last year, resulting in a loss to the ...
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US carriers optimistic as market shows recovery
ChrisJasper/LONDON The USA's major carriers are suddenly more bullish about their financial prospects for the rest of the year following a modest improvement in overall market conditions and better than expected performance in the first quarter. Most of the country's big airlines expressed serious concerns about their likely fortunes ...
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Turnaround target
Turboméca says overhaul and repair turnaround times on its Arriel 1 turboshaft - averaging 89 days last year against a target of 28 days - are reducing as it increases capacity and overcomes parts shortages. The company was shipping at least 20 engines a month by the end of last ...
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FAA rules out 737 rudder malfunction crash link
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Recent Boeing 737 rudder malfunctions are not being linked to rudder control unit failures suspected of causing fatal 737 crashes in 1991 and 1994, senior US Federal Aviation Administration officials say (Flight International, 3-9 March, P13). Preliminary rulings refer to a MetroJet Boeing 737-200 incident on ...
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Safety boards act on cockpit recorder safety
Canadian and US safety boards are recommending changes to cockpit voice and flight data recorders (CVRs and FDRs) to prevent power interruptions which have complicated recent accident investigations. Canadian investigators say their efforts to determine the cause of last September's Swissair Boeing MD-11 crash have been compromised by missing ...
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PIA turns to Cathay Pacific for 747-300 lease
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has signed a letter of intent with Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways for the lease of five Boeing 747-300s as interim replacements from mid-April for the carrier's six 747-200Bs. PIA has long been planning a 747-200 replacement programme, examining the Boeing 747-400 and 777 and Airbus ...
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Airlines move to fill Channel Islands vacuum
Herman de Wulf/BRUSSELS Aurigny Air Services and VLM are looking to capitalise on KLMuk's decision to reduce its Channel Islands operations, with new routes to the UK mainland and Continental Europe. Channel Islands-based Aurigny has applied to replace KLM uk on services between Guernsey and London Stansted from April. Jersey ...