All Airframers articles – Page 1532
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News
Marketplace
++ US start-up carrier, Nashville-based Corporate Express Airlines, is to lease four more Jetstream 32s from British Aerospace Asset Management - Turboprops, bringing its total fleet to ten aircraft ++ Air Labrador, based in Goose Bay, Canada, has received its first Beech 1900D from Raytheon Aircraft. The airline holds options ...
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USAoffers to switch two USAF JSTARS to NATO operations
NATO OFFICIALS have been briefed on the USA's "Fast Track" offer to provide two Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) aircraft off the US Air Force production line for the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) programme. The two E-8s would be paid for by the USA. ...
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United introduces virtual maintenance training
UNITED AIRLINES HAS introduced a "virtual-reality" training tool designed to improve the troubleshooting skills of Boeing 737 maintenance technicians. Wicat Systems' Maintenance Virtual Workplace is in- tended to reduce the incidence of component removals when no fault is found. The Virtual Workplace is a CD-ROM-based desktop training aid ...
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Great Lakes rebuilds its route structure
GREAT LAKES Aviation has started to rebuild its route structure after its aircraft were grounded in a dispute with the US Federal Aviation Administration over maintenance procedures. The regional airline, which feeds traffic to United Airlines and Midway Airlines, began offering limited services from 23 May to five ...
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End of an era
The demise of the BAe/AI(R) Jetstream 41 commuter airliner represents another step in the (often involuntary) rationalisation of the regional-turboprop market. It also, however, raises serious questions about the future of the lower end of regional-airline operations. There can be little surprise in British Aerospace's decision to cease ...
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Time to stop dreaming
The general-aviation industry in the USA is putting its money where its mouth has been for a long time. It is sponsoring a television-advertising campaign in an effort to revitalise the US pilot population and to reverse a decade-long decline in the number of people learning to fly for pleasure. ...
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Dasa and Lagardere stand firm
The deal between Lagardère and Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) to form a major space and missiles alliance is "irreversible" and will stand regardless of the outcome of the bidding for Thomson-CSF, says Noel Forgeard, Lagardère director-general. Announcement of the Dasa deal on 7 May was clearly timed to strengthen ...
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US-Russian tests begin sonic booming
The Tupolev Tu-144LL being used in joint US-Russian supersonic-transport flight-test studies had its Ìrst supersonic excursion during a 1h 3min flight from Zhukovsky on 21 May. Mach 1.42 was achieved during 13min of supersonic flight, at an altitude of 39,000ft (12,000m). It was the sixth flight undertaken since the flying ...
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Bearing failures blamed on poor lubrication
The spate of Trent 700 engine shutdowns has been traced to insufficient lubrication of the driving-shaft locator ball-bearing in the Hispano Suiza-manufactured step-aside gearbox. This has resulted in premature fatigue and failure of the bearing, because of overheating. According to R-R, the problem resulted from a weakness in ...
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Deutsche BA losses leaked in report
A secret auditors' report detailing Deutsche BA's debts and losses has revealed that the company would have gone bankrupt last year, but for a cash bail-out from British Airways. The report, compiled by Ernst & Young, was leaked to the German press. It states that the five-year-old company's ...
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All the sevens for EgyptAir
EgyptAir has recently taken delivery of its first Boeing 777-200IGW (increased gross weight). The aircraft, one of three Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered 777-200s on order by the airline for delivery in 1997, is equipped with 319 seats in a three-class layout. A total of 62 777s has now been delivered, ...
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Airbus intensifies research efforts into human factors
Airbus Industrie is stepping up human-factors research in preparation for the service entry of several new ultra-long-range aircraft under development. In one initiative, the consortium is studying a "Pilot Guard" system for maintaining pilot alertness on very-long-range flights. Tests of an initial version of the system are due ...
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Air France leaps into profit
Air France has posted its first profits since 1989, although the upbeat results from the mainline airline were tainted by deepening losses at its strike-hit sister company, domestic carrier Air France Europe. The profits at Air France mark a successful end to the three-year restructuring programme which was ...
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American agrees provisional deal for USAirways Shuttle
AMERICAN AIRLINES has agreed to buy the US Airways Shuttle - if US Airways decides not to buy the New York-Boston-Washington high-frequency operation, which it manages under a ten-year contract signed in 1992. US Airways has previously said that plans to buy the Shuttle are on hold until it negotiates ...
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NTSB worries about EMB-icing problems
More should be done to protect the Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia from icing, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has told the US Federal Aviation Administration, recommending improved crew training and operational techniques. The NTSB agrees with the FAA's proposal to require the installation of ice-detection systems on ...
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MDC advances crack checks on MD-90s
McDonnell Douglas (MDC) MD-90s will have to be checked for airframe fatigue cracking earlier than originally estimated, results from the fatigue-test airframe and other structural analysis have revealed. It will be years before the lead airframe in service reaches the newly designated 16,000-cycle point, when the first checks ...
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Delays force Mesa to curtail Dash 8 order
MESA AIR GROUP has cancelled the remaining 13 of a 25-aircraft order for Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-200 regional turboprops, citing delivery delays and technical problems. Options on a further 25 aircraft have been cancelled, but Mesa says that it will keep 12 Dash 8s already delivered. Bombardier ...
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Boeing orders fuel-tank checks on all 747s
All Boeing 747 operators will receive a service bulletin (SB) this month detailing inspection procedures for centre-wing fuel tanks, the manufacturer says. The SB relates to the continuing investigation into the July 1996 crash of a Trans World Airways (TWA) 747 which has "-determined that the centre-wing tank ...
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Cathay prepares to modify gearboxes on Trent 700s
Cathay Pacific and Dragonair are hoping that fitting modified engine-gearboxes to their Rolls-Royce Trent 700-powered Airbus Industrie A330-300s will clear the way for the grounded aircraft to return to service by early this week. Both carriers voluntarily grounded their 15 A330s on 24 May, following an inflight engine ...
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P&WC delivers first Dash 8-400
PRATT &WHITNEY Canada has delivered the first PW150A turboprop engine for Bombardier's Dash 8-400 70-seat regional airliner. The first flight of the stretched, high-speed -400 is scheduled for December, leading to certification and first deliveries in the second quarter of 1999. Flight testing of the 3,780kW (5,070shp) PW150A ...