All aerospace news – Page 1824
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Aer Lingus will sign up strategic partner 'by the first half 2000'
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Aer Lingus should be ready to decide on its strategic partner by the end of the first quarter of 1999, enabling a firm agreement to be finalised during 2000. The airline's executive vice-president for Europe, Richard Luchente, says that the carrier is discussing a strategic partner ...
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European ATV gets go-ahead
Aerospatiale has been awarded a $470 million contract from the European Space Agency to proceed with the development of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) for the International Space Station (ISS). Leading subcontractors are Alenia Spazio, Matra Marconi Space and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace. The 10m-long, 4.57m- wide ATV will also include Russian ...
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France joins NASA Mars mission
Tim Furniss/LONDON Julian Moxon/PARIS France is to become a partner in the NASA programme to mount a mission to Mars to bring the first samples of planetary material back to earth. The surprise French involvement was announced on 30 November by education, research and technology minister Claude Allègre. ...
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Russia wants more Shuttle-Mir missions
Russia has asked NASA for at least one further Shuttle-Mir mission to take place during the assembly of the International Space Station (ISS), as it continues its quest to keep the Mir space station in orbit for another two years, says NASA Watch. Russia wants to use the Shuttle ...
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Air France plans US link to pave the way toward a global alliance
Julian Moxon/PARIS Air France expects to join a global airline alliance based on an agreement with one of its two US partners, "before the end of 1999", according to the airline's president Jean Cyril Spinetta. The signing of the co-operation pact between KLM and Alitalia on 27 November ...
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Triana camera
Lockheed Martin has been selected by the University of California to design and build the Earth polychromatic imaging camera for NASA's Triana mission, the deep space Earth observer proposed by vice president Al Gore to return daily images of the globe from the camera, via the Internet. Source: Flight ...
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UK promises action to crack down on airline violence
Action to stamp out violent behaviour on aircraft has been promised by the UK transport minister, but he has handed to the airlines the task of organising research into the growing phenomenon of "air rage". Following a meeting with airlines and interested organisations in London on 25 November, transport ...
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Antonov signs An-140 production deal with Iran
Paul Duffy/MOSCOW Antonov has confirmed that it has signed a contract with the Iranian Government for the construction of 80 An-140 new generation turboprops. The aircraft, which are specified to be passenger-only versions, will be assembled from parts supplied by the Ukrainian company to the Shakir factory in ...
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Raisbeck wraps up study into recertification of DC-9s
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Raisbeck has completed a feasibility study into a Stage 3 recertification of McDonnell Douglas DC-9s and is canvassing operators before committing to launch the programme. The aerodynamic modification kit, if given the go-ahead, would be available "on or before 1 January, 2000", says James Raisbeck, ...
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Northwest eyes regional jets
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Northwest Airlines is expected to decide early next year whether to equip its Memphis, Tennessee-based Northwest Airlink subsidiary, Express Airlines I, with regional jets, according to industry sources. The matter was discussed at the US major's recent board meeting, but a decision was put off ...
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Workshop
-Sogerma's maintenance group has begun a nine-week programme to carry out the five-year "C" checks on two of Sabena's Airbus A340-300s, which the company says will include structural ageing inspections that have never before been performed on the type. The contract also includes cabin refurbishment. -Lufthansa Technik has been contracted ...
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Stork takes over Fokker's share of Belgium's SABCA
Engineering conglomerate Stork has taken over the 42.8% interest in Belgian aerospace company SABCA previously held by Fokker. SABCA is now owned 52.9% by Dassault Aviation, with Stork holding most of the remainder. The Dutch company also took over much of Fokker's operations after its March 1996 bankruptcy, ...
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IAOPA appeal
The International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilots Association (IAOPA) is pushing for the Loran-C ground-based navigation aid to be used for augmentation and back-up of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). In October, IAOPA's World Assembly supported development of a second-generation GNSS, to follow the current global positioning system and ...
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Schweizer confirms bidding for Boeing civil helicopters
Schweizer Aircraft has confirmed its interest in Boeing's MD500 and MD600 helicopter lines and says it has submitted an offer. The Elmira, New York-based manufacturer is competing with at least two other companies, including rivals Enstrom, and Belgian Boeing helicopter distributor Heli Fly, which has bid for the entire ...
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Canada aims to create more European aerospace partnerships
Canadian aerospace companies are seeking partnerships with Europe, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises, "-to smooth out our dependence on the USA", according to Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) president Peter Smith. He believes that Canada's exchange rate, work skills and lower production costs offer good prospects for ...
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Arianespace wins Japanese launch contract
Arianespace, the European commercial launcher organisation, has won a contract to launch the Lockheed Martin-built N-SAT 110 communications spacecraft, owned by Japan's Space Communications (SCC). The order brings to 38 the number of satellites on the Arianespace manifest and it is the ninth in 1998. The latest satellite and ...
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Zarya enters final orbit and waits for next components
Tim Furniss/LONDON The Russian International Space Station (ISS) control module Zarya completed its fifth and final planned orbital correction burn on 23 November, placing it in a 396 x 85km, 51°-inclination orbit. The module was launched successfully aboard a Proton booster from Baikonur on 20 November. The NASA ...
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A300B2/B4 retrofit provides global positioning capability
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON An electronic retrofit developed by Airbus Industrie for the A300B2/B4 twinjet, which provides increased efficiency and meets new navigation requirements, has been certificated. The B2/B4 variants - the first examples of the A300 to be produced - are equipped with analogue, electromechanical-instrument cockpits and, with a few ...
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Testing a stretch
Guy Norris/SEATTLEPicture the scene. A Boeing 757-300 emerges from the blackness of a North Atlantic storm, fighting a vicious crosswind with gusts of 40kt (75km/h) or more. Ahead, through the gloom and screaming wind, lies the rain-slicked runway of Iceland's Keflavik Airport. Testing the automatic landing system to its limits, ...
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Bold endeavour
Tim Furniss/LONDON Russia has done its bit, now its NASA's turn. The Russian Zarya control module is in its planned orbit, ready and waiting. NASA's space shuttle Endeavour/ STS 88 is poised on launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida to embark on the first mission ...