All news – Page 7218
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Boeing points 737 business jet towards fractional owners
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Boeing is discussing its 737-based Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) with operators of corporate-aircraft fractional-ownership programmes. The company says that it wants to enter the fractional-ownership market with an established operator, but to offer part-owners the same level of product support which it will provide for ...
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Seasprite approval
Kaman's SH-2G(E) Super Seasprite maritime helicopter, configured for the Egyptian air force, has received approval from the US Navy following its successful flight-qualification and performance-testing programme. The Egyptian Government will take delivery of the first of ten SH-2Gs by the end of October. Source: Flight International
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Portugal nears SAR selection
The Portuguese air force is expected to make a decision by the end of the year on the selection of a search-and-rescue (SAR) helicopter, after evaluating the last of the three contenders for the contract. The evaluation of the Eurocopter AS532 Cougar MkII is due to begin on ...
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Irish Police adds Ecureuil to fleet
The Irish Police air-support unit (ASU) has taken delivery of a Eurocopter AS355N Ecureuil 2. The aircraft will join the ASU's Pilatus Britten-Norman Defender 4000, which was delivered in August. Both aircraft are equipped with infra-red thermal imaging, recording cameras, searchlights and global- positioning navigation systems. Source: Flight ...
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Boeing flight tests improved MD600N
Boeing plans to complete follow-on testing of the MD600N by the end of the year, to clear enhancements to the recently certificated light single-turbine helicopter. Tests are under way at the former McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems in Mesa, Arizona, to expand the flight envelope and certificate additional equipment ...
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Honda fan plans
Honda plans to flight test an improved version of its HFX experimental small turbofan within the next two to three years. The HFX-20 will be more fuel-efficient and less noisy than the original HFX-01, the Japanese company says. Honda says that it has no plans for production. Source: ...
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P&WC sets sights on Williams-Rolls Royce niche
Pratt &Whitney Canada (P&WC) is studying the market for a small turbofan to compete with the Williams-Rolls FJ44. "We continue to look at small turbofans," says president Gilles Ouimet. "Williams obviously has a market niche. We will see how the market develops." The Canadian company is concerned by ...
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Zeppelin flies NT airship prototype
Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik has begun flight testing a prototype of its Zeppelin NT new-technology rigid airship. The craft's 45min maiden flight took place on 18 September, with US test pilot Scott Dannecker at the controls. The prototype was flown from the Friedrichshafen exhibition grounds, where it was assembled, landing ...
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Airbus considers producing all AE31X airframe in China
Airbus Industrie Asia (AIA) is discussing producing virtually the entire airframe structure for the planned AE31X family of regional aircraft in China, in an effort to reduce costs. AIA and its two joint-venture partners Aviation Industries of China (AVIC) and Singapore Technologies (STAe) have agreed that production costs ...
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J-STARS pitched back into ASTOR battle
Douglas Barrie/LONDON The UK is to reconsider the Northrop Grumman Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (J-STARS) to meet its Airborne Stand-off Radar System (ASTOR) requirement, following a political deal hammered out in September. The E-8 J-STARS bid was eliminated from the UK competition on technical ...
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Long Beach line closures loom
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has indicated that the MD-80 and MD-90 assembly lines in Long Beach, California, will eventually be shut down, with priority given to the MD-95 and an 80-seat regional-jet variant, as well as continued MD-11 freighter production . Although a formal decision on ...
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Saudi 777 is completed
The first 777-200 for Saudi Arabian Airlines has been completed by Boeing. The first six 777s are due for delivery later this year as part of a 61-aircraft order also involving MD-90s, 747-400s and MD-11s. Deliveries of four MD-11 freighters intended for the airline have been delayed because of a ...
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UK tries to hasten Swanwick
The UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS) has presented staff and airlines with a list of six options for completing the delayed New En Route Control Centre (NERC) at Swanwick. The £350 million ($585 million) programme is one year behind schedule and could slip to as late as ...
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Ariane 5 launch date
The European Space Agency has set 28 October as the earliest possible launch date for its Ariane 502 demonstration mission, pending qualification of the new first stage control filter and the completion of dynamic loading tests on the first-stage upper skirt. Source: Flight International
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Cross to France
A new Alsace, France-based airline, Europe Continental Airways, will launch operations early in 1998. Crossair will hold a 35% shareholding in the airline. Based at Basle-Mulhouse Airport, the carrier will operate two leased Saab 340s to France and Italy. Source: Flight International
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Raytheon-Hughes merger is cleared
Raytheon's $9.5 billion merger with Hughes Aircraft received US anti-trust approval on 2 October, after the company agreed to sell two businesses which together account for about 0.5% of the combined companies' $13 billion defence-electronics revenues. The US Department of Justice approved the deal after Raytheon allayed competition ...
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Rolls-Royce replaces Trent 800 blades after fatigue failure
Rolls-Royce says that the catastrophic Trent 800 engine failure on an Emirates Airlines Boeing 777-200 leaving Dubai on 16 September (Flight International, 24-30 September) was caused by fatigue failure of a first-stage high-pressure compressor (HPC1) blade. The company claims that it was aware of the problem with the ...
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UPS examines options for DC-8 and 747 replacements
United Parcel Service (UPS) will make a decision on a long-term McDonnell Douglas DC-8-71/73 freighter replacement "within the next six months," according to Douglas Kuelpman, vice-president of UPS Airlines. Kuelpman says that the replacement "widebody regional freighter" (WRF) will be a used and converted aircraft model. ...
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ALPA and Boeing clash over USAir accident
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES The Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) and Boeing have submitted opposing findings to the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) over the probable factors involved in the crash of a USAir Boeing 737-300 on 8 September, 1994. The aircraft rolled rapidly to the left ...
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New system screens all luggage
Andrzej Jeziorski/FRANKFURT US airport-security-equipment manufacturers InVision and EG&G Astrophysics have joined forces to develop a high-throughput, automated-screening system for hold baggage. According to InVision, the TSS 2000 is the only security system which screens "-all hold baggage, including oversized bags". The system combines InVision's US CTX ...