All news – Page 7118
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BA to fund new orders with refinancing deal
Max Kingsley-Jones and Kevin O'Toole/LONDON British Airways is in talks with engine manufacturer General Electric over a wide ranging aircraft refinancing package which would see the carrier take more GE-powered Boeing 777s in place of some of its outstanding 747-400s. GE is understood to have made an approach to ...
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P&W prepares for geared fan launch
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES An advanced technology geared turbofan that will form the basis of a new family of engines in the 107-156kN (24,000-35,000lb) thrust range is to be launched by Pratt & Whitney. P&W will use the new engine to challenge the market dominance of CFM International's CFM56. ...
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FAA WAAS report acknowledges GPS signal jamming concerns
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Estimated life-cycle costs of the wide-area augmentation system (WAAS) have increased by 21% and "major concerns" have surfaced over signal interference, according to a US Federal Aviation Administration report to Congress obtained exclusively by Flight International. The report warns that "technical uncertainties" relating to intentional ...
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Boeing lines up more buyers for new 717
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing is close to signing orders and options for almost 200 717-200s, with leasing companies the main focus of interest. According to company sources, by far the biggest single impending sale of the 100-seater is to leasing giant International Lease Finance, which is understood to ...
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RAF C-130J Hercules hit by further
Delivery of the first Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules tactical transport to the Royal Air Force has been delayed by a further six months. The first aircraft, due to arrive this month, is now scheduled for delivery in July at the earliest. Lockheed Martin says that the latest hold-up - ...
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BAe and Boeing in talks on RAF C-17s
Boeing and British Aerospace are discussing the UK company's involvement in the proposed supply of six Boeing C-17 Globemaster III strategic transport aircraft to the Royal Air Force. The nature of the negotiations is unclear, but the agreement could include offset work and maintenance. The Government is considering strategic ...
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Defence review threatens RAF fleet
Douglas Barrie/LONDON Strategic Defence Review (SDR) proposals being considered by the UK Government could spell an end to the Royal Air Force's Sepecat Jaguar fleet and the merging of its British Aerospace Harrier GR7 fleet into a joint RAF/Royal Navy force. The move to cut RAF aircraft numbers ...
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Boeing investigation
An in-depth US Federal Aviation Administration examination of Boeing 737 horizontal stabiliser manufacturing and assembly found no problems which would affect flight safety, but the audit uncovered minor quality control violations which the US aircraft manufacturer corrected immediately. The inspections, at plants in Renton, Washington, and Wichita, Kansas, were prompted ...
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Boeing looks for answers to interference
Paul Phelan/CAIRNS A programme to buy passenger-owned electronic devices identified as interfering with navigation or flight management systems on its customers' flights has been launched by Boeing. Airlines suspecting radio frequency interference from the devices are being asked to record the type of equipment, including serial and model ...
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P&W prepares for first JSF engine tests
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Pratt & Whitney plans to begin test runs of the first two Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) engines in the "April-May timeframe" and will begin initial tests of the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variants in the third quarter of this year. The first two ...
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Universal certified
Universal Alloy's aircraft aluminium extrusion mill in Anaheim, California, has been certified to the ISO 9002 quality standard, becoming the first mill of its type in the USA to qualify for this rating. The company's new mill in Canton, Georgia is also expected to be approved within months. Source: ...
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Modernising US airspace
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC WAAS, GPS, NAS, F2K, Y2K - a host of acronyms is buzzing around the head of fledgling FAA Administrator Jane Garvey as she wrestles with the issue of modernising the US airspace system. Five months into her five-year term, a plan is beginning to emerge involving ...
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India will launch Belgian satellite for ESA
Verhaert Design and Development of Antwerp, Belgium has received an 8.5 million ECU ($9.5 million) contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) to build the 100kg Proba autonomous technology satellite and launch it into polar orbit in July 2000, flying as a piggyback payload aboard an Indian Polar Satellite Launch ...
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NASA may ask Russia to delay ISS Control Module launch
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA is considering asking Russia to delay the launch of the first component of the International Space Station (ISS) from June to August, to even out the 1998 Space Shuttle launch schedule. The US space agency has also admitted that the launch of the US developed Laboratory ...
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Voyager record
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, launched in 1977 to explore Jupiter and Saturn, became the most distant man-made object on 15 February, exceeding the 10.5 billion kilometre record held by the Pioneer 10. Both these craft and the Pioneer 11 and Voyager 2 have left the Solar System. Voyager 1 signals ...
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NASA delays X-34 first flight
The first flight of the Orbital Sciences X-34 air-launched re-usable spaceplane technology demonstrator has been delayed from December 1998 to March 1999. NASA has also ordered a second X-34 to reduce risk and increase project flexibility. The test objectives of the $67 million programme are also being expanded. The ...
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Future fighter needs
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Fighter pilots have long jested that Singapore measures only four minutes by four minutes in terms of flying time. The island's diminutive size, however, belies its strategic importance. Situated at the tip of the Malaysian peninsular Singapore occupies an economic and geographic crossroads between the Eastern and Western ...
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Ryanair closes on narrowbody fleet decision
Ryanair is in final negotiations with Airbus Industrie and Boeing for up to 50 narrowbodied aircraft, and expects to finalise an order by the end of March. The Irish low fare airline, which operates its main hub from London Stansted, revealed last October that it was examining various options to ...
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Workshop
-Air Jamaica has hired Pemco World Air Services to maintain its fleet of six Airbus A310-300s until the end of the year. The work will be carried out at Pemco's Dothan, Alabama, centre and will include D check heavy maintenance. -Field Aviation has received a contract from Air Ontario for ...
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Garuda DC-10 pilot faces criminal charges after crash
The Japanese police have recommended that criminal charges be brought against the captain of a Garuda Indonesia McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 that crashed at Fukuoka Airport in June 1996, killing three passengers and injuring 170 people. Prosecutors are being asked to charge Ronald Londong with "professional negligence leading to death ...