All aerospace news – Page 1886
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GE Xiamen could involve HAECO
General Electric has signed a memorandum of understanding with Xiamen Aviation Industries of China to set up an on-wing engine-support centre at Xiamen's Gaoqi International Airport, in the southern coastal province of Fujian, in a move which could bring it closer to nearby Taikoo Aircraft Engineering (TAECO). GE confirms ...
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Space station project moves on as FGB goes to Baikonur
Tim Furniss/LONDON The International Space Station (ISS) project reached an important point on 17 January, with the roll-out and shipment to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan of the Functional Cargo Block (FGB) module. Launch of the system by a Proton booster is due on 30 June. The lift-off will mark ...
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Lunar Orbiter
NASA'S Lunar Prospector has entered its 100km circular polar orbit around the Moon. The Lockheed Martin-built, 295kg Discovery-series craft, which was launched on 6 January, will be used to conduct an intensive one-year survey of the Moon. It will use five instruments. Source: Flight International
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MMS to build second adaptor for Delta II
Matra Marconi Space (MMS) has won a contract from Boeing to build a second dual-payload-attach fitting (DPAF) for the Delta II satellite launcher. The DPAFs, which will provide the Delta II with dual-launch capability to low-Earth orbit for payloads up to 2,250kg, will be used first for a launch ...
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Pacific purchase
Airwork New Zealand has acquired Sydney-based Pacific Turbine, formerly the engine division of BTR-owned Hawker de Havilland. The unpublicised sale of the overhaul facilities, completed on 20 November, creates Australasia's largest independently owned aviation gas turbine engine overhaul centre. BTR, which is selling its entire aviation interests, has also sold ...
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Airbus firms up A3XX freighter
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Airbus is firming up its plans for combi and all-freight derivatives of its proposed A3XX airliner, as it works towards a launch decision by early 1999. As envisaged, both cargo versions of the baseline 560-seat, A3XX-100 will feature a main-deck 3.43 x 2.54m cargo door in ...
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Hong Kong faces Chek Lap Kok money troubles
The Hong Kong Airport Authority (HKAA) is having to address a projected two-month shortfall in operating revenue, following the Government's decision to delay until 6 July the opening of the territory's new international airport at Chek Lap Kok. Hong Kong International Airport will actually be ready at the end ...
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FedEx accepts TCAS 2 and awaits ADS solution
Federal Express has accepted the need to equip its fleet of jet-powered freighters with the traffic-alert and collision-avoidance system (TCAS 2) to meet pending international regulations, but is still backing the US Cargo Airlines Association (CAA) effort to develop an automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast (ADS-B)-based system. The airline, ...
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UK's Lucas reveals ambitious plans following R-R deal
Lucas Aerospace, fresh from its Rolls-Royce engines-control deal, has put down its marker as a potential leader in the expected consolidation of the industry. "We have very ambitious plans for Lucas Aerospace," says Victor Rice, chairman of Lucas Varity, the parent company formed by the Anglo-US link-up of the ...
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Mars fever
Tim Furniss/LONDON The first flights to enable assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) to begin are scheduled to start in June, but such is the intense public interest in Mars after the Mars Pathfinder mission in 1997 that NASA is considering a more Martian-orientated approach to the later stages ...
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Air Methods eyes EMS franchises
Emergency-medical-service specialist Air Methods is discussing establishing franchise operations in Israel and Turkey. The US company already has a franchise partner, Flamingo Unimed Air Taxi Aereo, in Brazil. Air Methods is not predicting when the Israeli and Turkish medical-transport programmes could get under way, but says that discussions are ...
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Eurocopter delivers AS365 to Slovakia
Eurocopter has made its first helicopter delivery to Slovakia, after identifying a potential market for about 20 sales in the East European country. The company has handed over one AS365 Dauphin to Slovakian trade organisation Martimex. The helicopter has been bought by power company Slovenske Elektrarny. The Slovakian media ...
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Dakota Aero backs Orenda
Rockwell Twin Commanders are to be re-engined with Orenda piston engines by a new company in North Dakota. Dakota Aero Manufacturers has teamed with Dick MacCoon, the engine's original developer, to offer the re-engined aircraft, to be called the Dakota Commander. MacCoon's company, MRRPM, is developing a supplemental type-certificate ...
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1997 showed highest CFIT death total
David Learmount/LONDON Having caused a record 640 fatalities in airline accidents during 1997, controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) has been confirmed as the accident category which poses the greatest danger to life. The latest figures reveal that, despite new technology and a well-orchestrated international campaign to reduce the mistakes ...
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R-R and American in US maintenance venture
Rolls-Royce and American Airlines have signed a letter of intent to form a 50:50 engine repair joint venture based at American's existing Alliance maintenance base in Fort Worth, Texas. The tie-up follows the US carrier's selection in November of Trent 800 engines for 11 Boeing 777-200IGWs (Increased Gross Weight) ...
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Sextant, Dassault sign avionics deal
Julian Moxon/PARIS Sextant Avionique and Dassault Electronique are to form a commercial alliance under which their avionics products will be jointly marketed to airlines. Talks on the deal have been under way for more than a year, and are unconnected with last year's decision to incorporate Dassault Electronique ...
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US airport introduces firefighting advances
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Connecticut's Bradley International has fielded the "Snozzle", a firefighting device manufactured by Crash Rescue Equipment Service of Dallas, Texas, and mounted on one of the airport's two new fire trucks . The Snozzle's adjustable boom can apply fire retardants on hard-to-reach aircraft areas, concentrating firefighting ...
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Lucas wins Rolls-Royce Trent derivatives control-system contract
Lucas Aerospace has signed a risk-sharing agreement with Rolls-Royce to supply control systems for the recently launched Trent engine derivatives. The contract is estimated to be worth over £1.25 billion ($2 billion), including spares support. The UK company will manufacture electronic engine-controls, fuel-metering units and actuation equipment for the Trent ...
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CSC to run trial of airport smartcard
Ian Sheppard/LONDON Computer Sciences (CSC) is close to launching a trial with a major European airport operator, based on a prototype "contactless" smartcard for airline passengers, which, for the first time, will act as a re-usable boarding pass, electronic-ticket and multiple-airline loyalty-scheme card. Paul Seaton of the company's ...
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Order boom peaks
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON If the latest round of year-end order announcements from Airbus and Boeing seemed to lack some of the high drama of previous years, perhaps it comes as recognition that there may be some tougher times ahead. Quite apart from the internal restructuring issues that pre-occupy both manufacturers, the ...