All Airframers news – Page 1621
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Stored Skyhawks threaten Kuwait deal for AH-64s
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS' (MDC) failure to dispose of surplus Kuwaiti A-4K Skyhawks is undermining the company's efforts to sell the country its AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. Kuwait's 1988 order for 40 MDC F/A-18 Hornets included the proviso that the manufacturer found a buyer for its A-4s. The 23 surviving ...
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SIA goes for 777 with Rolls-Royce powerplants
SINGAPORE AIRLINES (SIA) has placed an order for 34 Boeing 777s, with options on an additional 43 aircraft. Deliveries will run from 1997 to 2004. The $12.7 billion deal includes spares and the selection of Rolls-Royce Trent 800-series engines. The selection of R-R was the biggest surprise - the ...
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The big fan fight
ARGUABLY, THE bloodiest competitions in the big-twin fight have come not from the airframe selection, but over the engine choice. Three engine manufacturers and a relative scarcity of orders was a sure recipe for a life-or-death struggle. In the event, the first wave of competitions ends with Pratt ...
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Air New Zealand signs up to buy a stake in Ansett
Paul Phelan/CAIRNS Air New Zealand (ANZ) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with TNT to acquire an initial 25% interest in Ansett Holdings for A$200 million ($151 million). ANZ chairman Bob Matthew says, that a formal agreement on the two-stage A$425 million purchase, is ...
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Harris may start 'no-frills' airline
AIR CANADA CHAIRMAN Hollis Harris may invest in an US-based "no-frills" airline, which could be in operation as early as June 1996. Harris confirms in an interview with the Canadian Financial Post that at least four "core" investors are already examining whether to take a stake in the ...
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Manx eyes Emb-145
British Airways Express carrier Manx Airlines is emerging as a possible customer for Embraer's Emb-145 50-seat regional jet. A senior Manx official says: "We are certainly looking to do something with regional jets, and it looks as if it will probably be with Embraer." Source: Flight International
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Formosa will take 328-110 in February
DAIMLER-BENZ Aerospace (DASA) expects to deliver its first improved-performance Dornier 328-110 turboprop to Taiwan's Formosa Airlines in late February 1996. Delivery of the five aircraft ordered by Formosa has been delayed by the need to develop and certificate short take-off and landing improvements to the 328-100 for flights ...
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Countdown to Alpha
T-2 years and counting: the first hardware has been built for the Alpha International Space Station. Tim Furniss/WASHINGTON DC THE ALPHA INTERNATIONAL Space Station "...isn't a paper programme anymore", says Wilbur Trafton, director of NASA's Space Station programme. "We're talking launches just round the corner." ...
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Messier-Dowty plans to lower cost of landing gear for Airbus
Andrew Doyle/LONDON MESSIER-DOWTY AIMS to slash the cost of manufacturing Airbus landing gears by 20-40%, while increasing commonality of parts across the product range and reducing the cost of ownership for airlines, says Geoff Smith, managing director of the Anglo-French joint-venture. According to Smith, a ...
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Munich on defensive as Asian airlines pull out
INDONESIAN CARRIER Garuda and Japan Airlines (JAL) have withdrawn from services to Munich Airport, leaving the airport management company, Flughafen Munchen (FMG), defending its growth record. According to the airport authorities, JAL pulled out over a question of traffic rights, while Garuda's decision was part of an overall ...
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Turkish order maintains Douglas recovery
Turkish charter operator Onur Air has ordered five McDonnell Douglas MD-88s and taken options on five more, continuing the fourth quarter turn-around in the fortunes of Douglas Aircraft. Up to the end of September, Douglas had taken orders for just 11 twinjets during the whole of 1995. The ...
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Zeppelin prototype enters final assembly
Zeppelin Luftschiff-technik has begun final assembly of its New Technology (NT) airship prototype - the first rigid airship the company has produced since the Second World War. The 68m-long prototype, LZ N07, is scheduled for completion in July 1996, in time for an "official" first flight in early ...
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Lower minima and TCAS for HGS-fitted 737s
BOEING 737-300s FITTED with Flight Dynamics head-up guidance systems (HGS) have been approved by the US Federal Aviation Administration for take-off operations in visibility conditions as low as 90m (300ft) runway visual range (RVR). Operators of HGS-equipped 737-300s were cleared to perform landing operations with RVRs of 210m ...
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India looks abroad for AEW
THE FUTURE OF INDIA'S long-running airborne-early-warning (AEW) aircraft programme has been thrown into doubt, with the defence ministry looking at off-the-shelf alternatives. India has test flown an aerodynamic AEW test-bed, mounting a German-produced rotodome shell on a Hawker Siddeley HS.748, but the successful development and integration of ...
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Jordan/Israel services launch planned in 1996
ROYAL JORDANIAN Airline subsidiary Royal Wings plans to launch a direct air service between Amman, Jordan, and the Israeli City of Tel Aviv starting in early 1996. The start-up carrier has signed a lease agreement with Bombardier de Havilland for a single Dash 8-300 turboprop to operate on ...
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Bidders jostle for Saudi fighter requirement
NORTHROP GRUMMAN has submitted a bid to Saudi Arabia for proposed upgrade packages to the country's fleet of Northrop F-5s, while Lockheed Martin is pursuing selling the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) up to 100 F-16C/Ds as a replacement aircraft. Originally, the RSAF was looking to replace its ...
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Guernsey jet upgrade
Jersey European Airways is upgrading its four daily turboprop services between Guernsey and London Gatwick. The airline intends to put one of its two newly leased 99-seat BAe 146-200s on the route in March, replacing the 52-seat Fokker F27-500 and virtually doubling capacity. The second aircraft has been put on ...
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Technology aids are a comfort
Technology aids are a comfort Sir - I am perplexed as to the state of flight in, which Capt. Bill Pike achieves "full back stick" on his Boeing (Flight International, Letters, 1-7 November, P64). Perhaps the captain is an exponent of the "snatch" rotation technique on ...
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Novel design
Peter Henley/NORTH WEALD A MERE GLANCE at the Grob 200 reveals its designer's novel approach to his task. The airframe is constructed of composite materials, its engine is mounted behind the cabin (driving a three-bladed pusher propeller which lives on the end of a long tailcone), directional stability ...
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New Merpati president will go ahead with CN-235 lease plan
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE MERPATI NUSANTARA Airlines is to go ahead with the lease of 16 Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) CN-235-220 passenger aircraft, following the dismissal of the carrier's president, Ridwan Fatarudin. According to Mr Soepandi, president of Merpati parent airline Garuda Indonesia, there is a ...