All aerospace news – Page 1962
-
News
MDHS' MD 600N troubles increase
McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (MDHS) is meeting with the US Federal Aviation Administration to discuss design and certification options following another crash of an MD 600N on 18 January during the flight-test programme. The eight place helicopter should have received FAA certification by mid-December 1996, despite earlier delays ...
-
News
Emergency exits: no new dangers
Sir - I refer to the last paragraph in the article "Emergency-exit changes foreshadowed" (Flight International, 18-31 December, 1996, P12). The UK Civil Aviation Authority requires (not recommends, as stated) operators to ensure that Type III exit row seats are allocated only "-to passengers who appear capable of ...
-
News
Bell aims for double success with new light twin
BELL HOPES TO emulate the success of the 407 with its new light twin-turbine helicopter, the Model 427. At just under $2 million, the price goal is even more challenging than that for the 407, because the 427 is essentially an all-new aircraft. The 427 will be certificated simultaneously to ...
-
News
AlliedSignal wins $100 million APU/avionics deal
GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) has selected AlliedSignal Aerospace to supply auxiliary-power units (APUs) and avionics for up to 80 Airbus Industrie A320s which the US leasing company plans to buy, in a deal worth around $100 million. The agreement means that GECAS is likely to be one ...
-
News
JAL chooses BEA
Japan Airlines (JAL) has selected BE Aerospace's (BEA) MDDS inflight entertainment system for installation on three Boeing 747-400s which are due for delivery to the Japanese carrier in 1998. The airline is also considering retrofitting the system on its 747-300/400 fleet, according to Wellington, Florida-based BEA. ...
-
News
Hunting China approval
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC)has approved Hunting Avionics & Accessories to carry out repair and overhaul of aircraft avionics for Chinese airlines. The approval follows moves by the CAAC to ban provision of support services for Chinese carriers by unapproved maintenance companies. Source: Flight ...
-
News
Third orion
Hughes Space and Communications has been awarded a contract from Orion Asia Pacific to build the ten C-band, 33 Ku-band transponder Orion 3 communications satellite, an HS-601HP model, which will be launched aboard a McDonnell Douglas Delta 3 booster into a 139í position in geostationary orbit in 1998 (Flight International, ...
-
News
Russia worries about space station role
Yuri Koptev, director-general of the Russian Space Agency, has admitted that his country could be ousted from the International Space Station (ISS). The Russian energy module, the first element of the ISS, has been completed and will be launched on 27 November, but other hardware is behind schedule because of ...
-
News
Bell begins assembly of new 427 light twin
BELL HAS BEGUN major assembly of the first prototype Model 427 light twin-turbine helicopter. The aircraft is to be flown at Bell's Canadian commercial-helicopter plant in December 1997. Two prototypes are planned and simultaneous Canadian, European and US certification is scheduled for December 1998. The first production 427 ...
-
News
Diamond doubles up capacity in Austria
Diamond Aircraft Industries has more than doubled its manufacturing, research and maintenance areas at Wiener Neustadt-Ost Airport in Austria. The company, the developer of the DV20 Katana Xtreme range of light aircraft, now boasts a factory covering 5,200m2 (56,000ft2). The newly expanded plant is now offering fixed-based-operator services ...
-
News
Bell 'quiet cruise' reduces 407 noise
BELL IS DEVELOPING a technique to reduce the fly-over noise of its Model 407 light single-turbine helicopter, to meet expected demand for quieter aircraft for use on sightseeing operations over US national parks, such as the Grand Canyon. The company has demonstrated its Quiet Cruise concept to park ...
-
News
Eyes over the sea
The warning on Aerad's North Sea low-altitude chart is stark: "Extensive helicopter operations in this area in support of North Sea oil and gas industry. Aircraft operating below FL100 are advised to maintain vigilant lookout." For the pilots and rig personnel who spend their lives flying through the ...
-
News
Weight saver
A new Space Shuttle external tank (ET) will be used for the first time in December 1997, fitted to the STS88/ Endeavour, the first assembly mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The tank will be 3,400kg lighter than the original ET, adding an equivalent weight to the amount of ...
-
News
Sabena denies Swissair rumours
Sabena chief executive Paul Reutlinger has denied growing speculation that Swissair is preparing to pull out from the alliance with its struggling Belgian partner if the carrier's unions fail to agree on new working conditions and wage structures. Rumours of a possible pull-out were revived by confirmation that ...
-
News
Cathay will launch FANS 747 flights by year's end
Cathay Pacific Airways plans to finish equipping its entire fleet of Boeing 747-400s with future-air-navigation system (FANS-1) equipment by March and hopes to be operating on the first communications, navigation and surveillance/air-traffic-management (CNS/ATM) route across the northern Pacific Ocean by the end of the year. The Hong Kong ...
-
News
The big issue
BOEING'S REVELATION that it will not be competing in the very-large-airliner market with a derivative of the 747, thus apparently leaving Airbus Industrie's A3XX with a clear run, has certainly raised more questions than answers. While attention has focused on Boeing's doubts about lack of "sufficient market demand" ...
-
News
R-R and airlines wrangle over cost of -524G/H problems
Rolls-Royce is facing demands that it bear the brunt of the massive costs airlines are incurring because of reliability and performance shortfalls of their RB.211-524G/H engines. The problems, which affect more than 100 RB.211-powered Boeing 747-400s and 767-300s, are estimated already to have cost the airlines more than $200 million ...
-
News
New Piper launches Seneca V
TWO YEARS AFTER starting work on the aircraft, New Piper Aircraft has unveiled its Seneca V cabin-class piston twin, its first new product since emerging from the bankruptcy of the former Piper Aircraft (Flight International, 8-14 January). "We look at the Seneca V as a dual-purpose aircraft, with ...
-
News
MDC lines up MD-80 freighters
McDonnell Douglas (MDC) has had "informal" talks with China Eastern Airlines about the setting up of a cargo-modification line for MD-80s in Asia, and particularly China. Although freighter versions of the DC-9 were built, MDC has never delivered a main-deck cargo-door-equipped MD-80. The talks are believed to have ...
-
News
Solar storm is suspected in Telstar 401 satellite loss
NASA scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland, believe that a Solar storm on 6 January created enough geomagnetic activity to knock out the AT&T's Telstar 401 communications satellite in geostationary orbit (GEO) on 11 January. The satellite is a total loss (Flight International, 22-28 January). The ...