All aerospace news – Page 1859
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Preparing for partnership
Kevin O'Toole/JOHANNESBURG This could finally be the year when the pieces start falling into place for South African Airways (SAA). If all goes according to plan, by the end of October the South African Government will have decided on a strategic partner to take a 20-30% stake in its ...
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Southern skirmish
Doug Birch/JOHANNESBURG Six years ago, South Africa deregulated its domestic airline network, allowing private carriers to challenge the long-standing monopoly of South African Airways (SAA) for the first time. The market is in the process of setting down after this upheaval, but it is clear that the new competition ...
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Safer skies
Kevin O'Toole/JOHANNESBURG Fears about air safety over Africa are not new, but a year ago the issue hit the headlines worldwide, following pilot complaints that air traffic control (ATC) was either inadequate or simply absent over much of the continent. An image painted by the media was one ...
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Datalink weather set for GA cockpits
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Weather graphics and other flight information could be widely datalinked to the cockpits of general aviation (GA) aircraft by year-end if a US Federal Aviation Administration initiative runs to schedule. The FAA believes the Flight Information Services (FIS) digital datalink will improve GA safety by ...
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Regulators get tough on Canada's taxi operators
Canadian air taxi operators have been presented with a list of 71 recommendations designed to improve safety by a task force set up by air transport regulator Transport Canada. The Safety of Air Taxi Operations (SATOPS) task force was set up in January 1996 following a Transport Canada review ...
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Dunlop ready for S-92
Dunlop Aviation has delivered the first prototype heated intake assembly to Sikorsky for its S-92 helicopter for use in windtunnel icing testing and has delivered three further unheated examples for use in flight testing. The first production unit is scheduled to be delivered in September. The S-92 is due to ...
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Messier-Bugatti tests power by wire
Ian Sheppard/LONDON Messier-Bugatti has installed a prototype electro-hydraulic actuator (EHA) in an Airbus Industrie "iron bird" test rig at Aerospatiale's Toulouse systems development centre, as part of an industry drive to replace cumbersome hydraulics with electric cables. The EHA is a key technology for all electric, or power ...
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mission goals
The 3,300kg Gravity Probe will operate in a 650km circular polar orbit for about 16 months - the lifetime of the dewar container - measuring minute changes in the rotation of the four on-board gyroscopes. The reference telescope will focus on a star to calibrate results. It is hoped that ...
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NATCO upgrades to cut maintenance costs
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Northwest Aerospace Training (NATCO) is to upgrade and standardise up to 24 full flight simulators to reduce maintenance costs under a $28 million contract awarded to Opinicus. Clearwater, Florida-based Opinicus believes that the NATCO standardisation programme is the largest ever undertaken and could lead to ...
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TTS offers three-dimensional trainer
A three-dimensional (3-D) "spatially representative environment" has been introduced by Thomson Training & Simulation (TTS) for its flight management systems trainer (FMST). The system was initially developed for Continental Airlines Boeing 737-500 and 757-200 training. The FMST is the only such device to use the same software as that ...
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ISS delay allows time bonus for ground testing
Delays to the International Space Station (ISS) programme have provided an unexpected benefit because of the increased amount of ground testing that is now being performed at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), says NASA. The first ISS launch has been postponed to November and the Station will not be completed ...
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Japanese space agencies may have to merge to save costs
Tim Furniss/LONDON Andrew Mollett/TOKYO Japan's ambitious space plans are being reined in under heavy Government pressure to cut costs, with pruning likely to lead to a merger of the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). Streamlining of the space ...
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Sea Launch support vessels completed
Paul Duffy/MOSCOW The Sea Launch commercial satellite launch venture being headed by Boeing, together with partners in Norway, Russia and Ukraine, has completed construction of the two vessels that will support the operation. The Sea Launch Commander rocket assembly plant and mission control centre ship built by Kvaerner's ...
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HSG lunar loop
The Hughes HSG 1 communications satellite is making a second loop around the moon, having completed one such flight in an attempt to salvage the former Asiasat 3, stranded in useless orbit after a Proton failure in December. The new flightpath will refine the satellite's trajectory, to achieve the best ...
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Airline group slams EU satellite plans
The Association of European Airlines (AEA) has reacted angrily to European Union (EU)plans to push ahead with the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) despite vocal airline opposition on the grounds of the probable high user costs. In an angry letter dated 22 May, AEA president and Lufthansa chairman ...
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Boeing faces 'risk' on 737 production
Paul Lewis/SEATTLE Boeing admits that production of the Next Generation 737 is still the group's "biggest problem", but remains confident that it will still have delivered around 550 aircraft of all models by the end of the year. The company declines to comment on reports that continued problems ...
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Damage leads to checks for Concorde elevons
David Learmount/LONDON A British Airways Aerospatiale/British Aerospace Concorde elevon which sustained damage during supersonic flight has been sent to the UK Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) for a strip-down and detailed inspection. BAe has been given an undamaged elevon for extensive non-destructive testing. BA says that examination ...
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Cathay rethinks 777-200 fleet
Paul Lewis/SEATTLE Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways plans to review the future use of its four Boeing 777-200s, following the introduction of the stretch -300 into service. The carrier is also disposing of an initial two surplus Boeing 747-200s to Virgin Atlantic Airways in an effort to rationalise types and ...
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Bombardier remains bullish on 70-seat turboprops
Bombardier flew the second de Havilland Dash 8-400 regional turboprop on 26 May from its plant in Downsview, Ontario. The aircraft is expected to join the first -400 at Bombardier's flight test centre in Wichita, Kansas, within a few weeks, according to the company. Despite having booked only 32 ...
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Marketplace
-TWA has contracted to lease three Pratt & Whitney PW2000-powered Boeing 757-200s from International Lease Finance (ILFC) for delivery in 1999 and 2000. -Air New Zealand has contracted to lease a new Boeing 747-400, powered by General Electric CF6-80C2 engines, from ILFC. The aircraft will be delivered on ten year ...