All Airframers news – Page 1666
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Modern-cockpit history
Cathode-ray-tube (CRT) flight-instrument displays and digital-technology flight-management systems arrived in operational airline cockpits only in 1982. Digital fly-by-wire control arrived less than seven years ago, in 1988. Today, however, the instrument displays of the Boeing 767, 757 and Airbus Industrie A310/A300-600 (the order in which the aircraft entered ...
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Airbus cockpit/control milestones
1982 Garuda Indonesian Airlines takes delivery of its uniquely ordered A300B4-200s, the world's only two-crew conventional-cockpit wide-bodied type, which has a fully electro-mechanical (E-M) instrument fit but a "forward-facing crew-cockpit" (FFCC) employing the revolutionary "dark, quiet cockpit" (DQC) design philosophy. In the DQC, selector-switch lights turn off, when a system ...
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Weak demand forces Air Hong Kong to cut fleet
CARGO CARRIER Air Hong Kong has cut its fleet from three to two Boeing 747 freighters as it continues to suffer from poor demand and heavy financial losses. The 747-100F is to be returned early to leasing company GE Capital Aviation, as the carrier is able only to ...
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Eastwest Service
Germany's newest carrier, Erfurt-based Eastwest Airlines, has begun a five-times-weekly direct service from Berlin Tempelhof to Rotterdam. From 9 January, the airline is operating a Dornier 328 turbo-prop service from Monday to Friday - the only direct air link between the two cities. Source: ...
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Fedex MD-11 Lease
Express-parcel carrier FedEx has agreed to lease two additional General Electric CF6-80C2-powered McDonnell Douglas MD-11F freighters for delivery in late 1995, bringing its MD-11 fleet to 15 aircraft. Source: Flight International
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Section 41 Success
Singapore Aviation Services (SASCO) has signed two contracts, worth S$8 million ($5.5 million), for section 41 modification to two South African Airways Boeing 747s and a Middle East Airlines 747. SASCO will also perform engine-pylon modifications to the aircraft. It has signed a letter of intent to carry out similar ...
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Smoother operations
NASA's Kennedy Space Center Shuttle landing runway has been modified to reduce launch delays Tim Furniss/KENNEDY SPACE CENTER Space Shuttle launch delays may be reduced by more than 50% because of extensive modifications to the 4,570m (15,000ft)-long grooved-concrete runway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) ...
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Carib Express nears launch
CARIBBEAN START-UP carrier Carib Express has received a ECU4 million ($4.8 million) loan from the European Development Bank and plans to begin operations in February. It is negotiating with British Aerospace Asset Management Organisation for three BAe 146s. Meanwhile, the Governments of St Kitts Nevis and Monserrat, have ...
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FAA to look at cockpit design
THE US FEDERAL Aviation Administration, is beginning a yearlong study, of modern airliner cockpit-design following concerns raised by recent accidents. It says that, in the light of "several [unspecified] accidents", it is creating a team "...to evaluate current-generation transport-category airplane-cockpit design". The review is to focus ...
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SIA signs deal for new A340 fleet
SINGAPORE AIRLINES (SIA) has signed a contract confirming its previously announced order for ten Airbus Industrie A340-300E long-haul passenger aircraft and 20 options. SIA announced in June 1994 its intention to buy up to 30 A340s, worth a total of $5.4 billion (Flight International, 29 June-5 July 1994). ...
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Heathrow hopes for 80 million passengers
LONDON HEATHROW airport is gearing up for a 60% passenger-traffic increase as its owner BAA fires the first shots in the political war for clearance to build a fifth terminal (T5). The public inquiry into the case for T5 starts in May. If BAA's case is defeated, ...
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Dornier 328s to Star in Texas
TEXAS-BASED regional carrier Lone Star Airlines has ordered four Dornier 328s and taken options on a further four of the 30-seat high-speed turboprops. The first aircraft will enter service in January, replacing the 19-seat Fairchild Metros, used on routes from Dallas/Forth Worth, to Chihuahua and cities in Mexico. ...
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Air Algerie crash in UK kills five
AN AIR ALGERIE Boeing 737-200 freighter on approach to Coventry Airport in the UK on 21 December, 1994, crashed in woodland nearly 3km (1.6nm) short of runway 23, killing all five people on board. Shortly before impact with the ground at 09.50, the aircraft hit an electricity-cable pylon and clipped ...
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Practical fudging
The UK Government's decision late in 1994 both to buy Lockheed C-130Js for the Royal Air Force and to opt back into supporting the European Future Large Aircraft (FLA programme) might look like a typically British fudge. Surprisingly, in view of the UK's long record of fudge making, however, it ...
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Simera secures freighter deal
SIMERA OF SOUTH Africa, has won its first contract to convert Airbus A300B4s into freighters, since signing a co-operation agreement with Deutsche Aerospace Airbus. The deal calls for it to convert four A300B4s for BankAmerica Leasing and Capital ready for service in 1996. The work will be carried ...
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Continental to retire A300s
CONTINENTAL AIRLINES is to retire its fleet of 21 Airbus A300s in a bid to reduce capacity to 10% below 1994 levels by 1 March. The airline had previously announced the grounding of four Boeing 727s and three Boeing 747s in a move to improve financial performance. The ...
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Delta orders 727 hushkits
DELTA AIR LINES has ordered 46 FedEx Stage 3 hushkits for its Boeing 727-200s and placed options on a further 52 shipsets. Deliveries will begin in late 1996. The US carrier has yet to announce its plans to hushkit Boeing 737-200s to meet Stage 3 noise limits. AvAero, ...
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ILFC orders more from Airbus
INTERNATIONAL Lease Finance (ILFC) has placed orders and options worth $1.5 billion for the Airbus A319/320/321 family. Deliveries are to begin in February 1996 and continue to the year 2000. The order brings Airbus Industries' firm-order total for the year to 110 aircraft, compared with Boeing's 111, the European consortium ...
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Boeing starts work on UPS freight 767
BOEING WAS DUE to begin building the first 767 freighter on 6 January at its Everett assembly site, with work scheduled to start on the front spar of the wing. The cargo floor will also be "loaded" on to production jigs one week later. The aircraft will be ...
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MAS Conversion
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) plans to bolster cargo capacity by converting two Boeing 747-200 passenger aircraft into freighters. The carrier expects a fivefold increase in cargo growth up to 1999. Source: Flight International