All aerospace news – Page 1980
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Turbomeca
Turboméca manufactures Arrius turbo shaft engines for a wide range of helicopters, including the Eurocopter AS355N (Arrius 1A), EC135 (2B) and EC120 (2F) and McDonnell Douglas MD901 (2C). The engine has an electronic control system for twin-engined helicopters, and hydro-mechanical control for singles. The Arriel 2 engine powers the Eurocopter ...
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WSK PZL-Rzeszow
WSK PZL-Rzeszow of Poland has introduced an up-rated version of its popular GTD-350 turbo shaft engine, which powers the Mil Mi-2 helicopter. The GTD-350W offers improved compressor efficiency, resulting in an increase in take-off power of 18kW, to 315kW. The improvements are also available as a retrofit for existing engines. ...
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Mesa plans Texas regional
US REGIONAL carrier Mesa Air Group plans to begin a high frequency, low-fare jet service from Fort Worth's Meacham Airport in Texas on 5 May, 1997. The service, which will be operated as Mesa Airlines, will use 13 of the 16 Bombardier Canadair Regional Jets ordered in August and will ...
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Simulator helps students
A LOW-COST simulator, aimed at helping aeronautical- engineering students understand the mechanics of aircraft flight, is being used at London's City University, in the UK. The MP520-T, developed by UK-based Merlin Products, includes an enclosed, single-seat cockpit mounted on a three-axis hydraulic, or two-axis pneumatic, motion system. ...
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Arianespace will order extra Ariane 4s after Ariane 5 delay
Tim Furniss/LONDON ARIANESPACE HAS been forced to order up to another six Ariane 4 launchers to compensate for further delays in the introduction of the Ariane 5 vehicle to commercial service. The first flight of the European Space Agency's (ESA) new booster failed on 4 June, ...
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Cathay Pacific boss heads for Ansett Australia
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Cathay Pacific Airways managing director Rod Eddington has been named as the new executive chairman at Ansett Australia, charged with seeing through a major shake-up at the loss-making carrier. The announcement, which comes in the wake of the Air New Zealand (ANZ) acquisition of ...
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Documentation shortfalls force IPTN to delay certification N250
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) has been forced to delay the maiden flight of its first N250-100 certification prototype, as the result of component documentation falling below US Federal Aviation Administration requirements. The second prototype N250, had been due to fly in May, but ...
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NASA starts work on Space shuttle privatisation plan
NASA BEGAN a new era in Space Shuttle operations on 1 October with the formal award of a six-year, $7 billion space-operations contract to the United Space Alliance, a partnership of Rockwell and Lockheed Martin. The privatisation will consolidate ground processing and in-flight operations with a single company, ...
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Japan sounds off with fifth TR-1A launch from Tanagashima
JAPAN'S NATIONAL SPACE Development Agency launched the fifth TR-1A solid propellant sounding rocket from Tanegashima on 25 September, carrying 750kg of science experiments to an altitude of 100km (55nm) during a sub-orbital flight in which they were exposed to 6min of micro-gravity conditions, to qualify technology for use on the ...
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RKBM Rybinsk Engine-Building Design Office
The RKBM Rybinsk RD-600 turbo shaft will power the Kamov Ka-62 twin-turbine helicopter which is due to have its first flight before 1997. GE T700/CT7s, LHTEC CTS800s and R-R Turboméca RTM322s are being offered as alternatives to the 955kW RD-600 Source: Flight International
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US Safety Board sees need for post-Cali crash modifications
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says that newly certificated long-haul commercial passenger aircraft should have an automatic system for retracting speed brakes if the pilots start an emergency climb. The system could have saved the American Airlines Boeing 757, which crashed ...
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Kiwi files for Chapter 11 as ValuJet resumes flights
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Kiwi International Airlines has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, blaming rising debts and the fall-out from the ValuJet crash and the grounding of Kiwi aircraft. Ironically, the filing took place on 30 September, the day that ValuJet returned to the air and at ...
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Honeywell talks to Lockheed Martin about APALS involvement
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES HONEYWELL IS IN talks about becoming involved in Lockheed Martin's Autonomous Precision Approach and Landing System (APALS). The US avionics company confirms: "There have been talks, and we are certainly kicking it around." The discussions are led by Honeywell's Business and Aviation Systems ...
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WestJet back
Transport Canada has lifted the impending suspension of WestJet Airlines after the low-cost carrier appointed a person responsible for maintenance, and implemented an approved maintenance system. Calgary-based Westjet grounded its four Boeing 737s in September when Transport Canada found maintenance violations. Source: Flight International
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Rockwell consolidates Collins avionics business
Rockwell has brought together its Collins avionics and communications businesses into a single business unit, in a re-organisation, which follows the sale of the remainder of the group's aerospace interests to Boeing. The two Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based units, Collins Commercial Avionics and Collins Avionics & Communications, together with ...
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NTSB proposes more 737 rudder system changes
Boeing will have to revise the design of 737 rudder control system components, develop a cockpit display showing rudder position, and establish service life limits for certain rudder control parts if several proposals under study by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are made compulsory. The aim is to ...
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GE expands with overhaul buys in Malaysia/Brazil
General Electric is forging ahead with international expansion of its growing engine overhaul business, with deals agreed in the last few days to take controlling stakes in the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) engine- overhaul unit and Brazil's CELMA repair centre. Under an agreement understood to have been signed between ...
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Airbus pushes on with new versions of A340
David Learmount/TOULOUSE Airbus Industrie is to challenge Boeing's 777-300 stretch with an enlarged, rewinged A340 which carries as many passengers and flies further, says the European consortium's A330/ A340 commercial programme manager David Pound. The European consortium is effectively launching the -500 and-600 variants of the ...
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You have control
Several recent airliner accident reports have identified problems with cockpit automation as principal or contributory causes of the accidents. Much of the conventional reaction (especially by pilots) to these incidents is of the "automation must be stopped" or "automation has gone too far" variety. That reaction, in human terms, is ...
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LucasVarity investment dispels doubts
Lucas Aerospace is to acquire the Boeing Georgia cargo handling systems operation, in a move, which appears to dispel speculation that the newly merged LucasVarity group would quit the aerospace sector. The acquisition will bring sales of around $90 million, taking the Lucas cargo-handling business above the $200 ...