All aerospace news – Page 1908
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MISTI 2 misses Mir as resident crew take refuge in the Soyuz TM
The 168kg US Ballistic Missile Defense Organization's Miniature Sensor Technology Integration satellite, the MISTI 2, came within 1,000m of colliding with the Russian Mir 1 space station on 15 September. It was the closest known unplanned encounter between a manned spacecraft and another, unrelated, satellite in orbit. US ...
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Airbus/CASC finalise Hua Ou support centre
Airbus Industrie and China Aviation Supplies' (CASC) new Hua Ou Aviation Training and Support Centre in Beijing is in the final stages of being fitted out and is scheduled to begin full operations at the end of October. The joint venture recently received its final approval from China's ...
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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor reaches orbit
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft entered orbit around the Red Planet on 11 September, marking the second success for the US space agency after the mission of the Mars Pathfinder and its Sojourner Rover on the planet's surface, starting on 4 July (Flight International, 20-26 August). The Lockheed Martin-built ...
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Prospector delay
The launch of NASA's Lunar Prospector orbiter aboard a Lockheed Martin Launch Vehicle (LMLV) 2 has been delayed from 24 September until 23 November, to allow additional time to complete testing on the booster. It will be the LMLV2 maiden flight and the first launch from the Spaceport Florida's commercial ...
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Eurockot aims for 1998 launch
Tim Furniss/LONDON Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) has received $35 million funding from the Dresdener Bank to begin reconfiguring a launch pad and developing support equipment at Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome for the first commercial launch of the Rockot booster in late 1998, carrying three data-messaging satellites. Dasa and ...
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On the horizon
How the European Space Agency plans more science with less money Tim Furniss/LONDON As the European Space Agency (ESA) prepares to see its penultimate large-scale, high-budget, planetary mission, the Huygens, take off with NASA's Cassini en route for Saturn on about 13 October (Flight International, 7-13 ...
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BFGoodrich
Stephen Henderson has become vice-president and general manager for the component-services division of BFGoodrich Aerospace Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul Group. He was formerly general manager of sales and marketing at GE Engine Services and, before that, was managing director of Aviall Caledonian Engine Services in Scotland, UK. ...
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US Airways
US Airways, of Arlington, Virginia, has appointed Fred Poole vice-president of heavy maintenance, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was formerly general manager of the United Airlines maintenance centre, based at Indianapolis, Indiana. Source: Flight International
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Overhaul start-up
Rolls-Royce and Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering have officially opened their new engine-overhaul joint venture for business. Hong Kong Aero Engine Services' new $130 million centre in Tseung Kwan O will specialise in the overhaul and repair of R-R RB.211-524, -535, Trent 700/800 and International Aero Engines V2500 family. ...
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BA sells
British Airways is to sell the landing-gear overhaul unit of its components overhaul section to Hawker Pacific of California, USA, and expects to announce a buyer for its wheels and brakes overhaul unit in October. The sales form part of the airline's £1 billion ($1.5 billion) business-efficiency programme. ...
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AEA hits out as Europe's ATC delays soar
AndrzejJeziorski/MUNICH The Association of European Airlines (AEA) is calling for a fresh drive towards a single integrated European air- traffic-control (ATC) system, in response to rising traffic and record delays in Europe in recent months. Worsening punctuality figures on European routes show a "severe problem", with ...
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FAA gets tough with freight operators
All US cargo carriers face tougher US Federal Aviation Administration surveillance in the wake of the 7 August fatal crash of a Fine Air McDonnell Douglas DC-8-61 freighter during its take-off from Miami International Airport, Florida. The FAA has started by suspending Fine Air's operating certificate and revising ...
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Zurich leads battle to penalise polluters with landing-fee rise
AndrzejJeziorski/MUNICH Zurich Airport has become the world's first major airport to introduce an emissions charge, amounting to as much as 40% of normal landing fees, for operators of aircraft which fail to meet the highest environmental standards. The charge, introduced from 1 September, is balanced by ...
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North Sea crash results in AS332L1 grounding
David Learmount/London North Sea oil-support companies have grounded voluntarily about 50 Eurocopter AS 332L1 Super Pumas following the crash off the Norwegian coast of a Helikopter Service helicopter on 8 September, when all 12 people on board were killed. The cause of the crash was unknown ...
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Explorer first flight
Boeing's first production MD 903 Explorer twin-turbine helicopter had its first flight on 5 September at the manufacturer's base at Mesa, Arizona. The eight-seat light helicopter aircraft is an upgraded version of the original MD Explorer, offering more powerful Pratt & Whitney 206E turboshafts, 8% more range, 4% more endurance, ...
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Allison-powered Ka-226 utility flies for first time
Kamov's Ka-226 utility helicopter made its first flight at Lyubertsy airfield near Moscow on 4 September. The helicopter is powered by two Allison-250-C20 turboshafts rated at 335kW (450hp) and is equipped with French and US avionics. By the end of this year, two more helicopters are planned to ...
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Boeing outlines five 747 growth options
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DCPaul Lewis/SEATTLE Boeing is discussing with airlines five possible 747 derivatives as it moves towards a decision in early 1998 on which (if any) option to pursue. Airlines are being shown study aircraft with various combinations of capacities for up to 500 passengers and ranges of ...
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Dasa tests flight management
AndrzejJeziorski/MUNICH Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa)is beginning a six-month flight-test campaign for a new flight-management system (FMS), the NFS-5000, developed by its Ulm, Germany-based subsidiary Navigation and Flight Guidance Systems (NFS). The system creates flight plans for pilots, who simply have to enter their point of departure and ...
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Low fares or bust?
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Air South's recent bankruptcy has struck a chill note for US start-up airlines. Although the carrier may have been a relatively small player, its demise is dangerously close to home for a low-cost airline sector in which nobody is looking secure. The financial performance ...
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China previews Iridium launch
China Great Wall Industry, which is to launch 11 Long March LM2C boosters in 1998, carrying 22 US Motorola Iridium communications satellites, conducted a unique demonstration flight from Taiyuan on 1 September. An LM2C, equipped with the Iridium Smart Dispenser satellite-deployment upper stage, placed into low-Earth orbit two ...