All news – Page 6644
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Proteus market predicted to fly
Guy Norris/MOJAVE Wyman-Gordon is predicting an estimated market for up to 1,000 of the unconventional Proteus high-altitude, long operation (HALO) aircraft being built by its subsidiary Scaled Composites. The US investment company hopes to begin proof-of-concept trials as early as 2000. The prediction, from Wyman-Gordon's chairman and chief ...
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Kaman warns K-MAX users on fuel pump failure
Kaman has alerted K-MAX operators that the first fatal crash of the external lift helicopter, in Germany early in September, may have been caused by a fuel pump failure. The company is meeting engine manufacturer AlliedSignal to decide what action should be taken. The single-seat, single-engined helicopter, operated by ...
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Cirrus tests
Cirrus Design has successfully completed development tests on the crew seats for its SR20 business aircraft. Final FAA evaluation on the seat tests was planned to have taken place by 5 October. Duluth, Minnesota-based Cirrus, has received more than 200 orders for the four-seat SR20, which is due for certification ...
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Maryland Eurocopter
The Maryland State Police in the USA is scheduled to take delivery of a Eurocopter AS365N3 Dauphin in April 1999. The twin turbine helicopter will be added to the aviation division's existing fleet of 11 AS365s. Source: Flight International
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Bombardier extends fractional ownership project to Europe
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON Bombardier is planning to launch its Business Jet Solutions fractional ownership programme in Europe by the end of the year. An announcement could be made at the National Business Aviation Convention in October. The Dallas, US-based programme, arguably the world's second largest fractional ownership scheme, will ...
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S-70 Firehawk sparks Asian sales for Sikorsky
Sikorsky Aircraft is negotiating the sale of two S-70A-37 Firehawk firefighter helicopters to an unnamed Asian customer as a prelude to what it hopes will be a substantial market demand from the region in the wake of devastating forest fires in 1997. The customer, believed to be the Sultan ...
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FAA extends checks on ageing airliner fleet
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Federal Aviation Administration has disclosed a series of safety initiatives covering detailed inspection of wiring and other operating systems for older airliners. The phased safety project is similar to the agency's ageing aircraft inspection programme, which covers the structures of vintage commercial transports. ...
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AOM sale progresses
The first phase in the sale of France's largest independent airline AOM was completed on 2 October, with the receipt by major shareholder Credit Lyonnais of bids from interested purchasers. Several European airlines are known to have been invited to tender for the carrier, including Air France, British Airways, Iberia, ...
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Airbus may move wing production to China
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Airbus Industrie is proposing to transfer part of its A320 aircraft series wing production to China, in a move intended to compensate for the recent demise of the Sino-European AE31X regional jet programme and to counter a similar offer of 717 wing work from Boeing. The European consortium ...
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ICAO safety rules meet
Regular compulsory audits by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) of individual states' aviation safety oversight programmes were approved on 2 October at the ICAO Assembly in Montreal, Canada. The ruling becomes effective on 1 January, 1999. Members agreed the audits should not be used for purposes other than safety, ...
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Philippine Airlines reprieved by union deal
Grounded Philippine Airlines (PAL)has won a reprieve from a final shutdown, following a "yes" vote by ground staff to accept a government-brokered last-ditch deal to revive the ailing carrier financially . The 6,500-strong PAL Employees Association voted on 2 October by a two-to-one margin to accept the deal reached ...
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European Commission denied air negotiation rights
The European Commission (EC) has been denied the full mandate it sought to negotiate air services agreements with non-European Union (EU) member states after the transport ministers met in Luxembourg on 1 October. The EC will now take legal action in the European Court of First Instance at Luxembourg. ...
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Fairchild Dornier admits doubts over Crossair 728JET order
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Fairchild Dornier has admitted that doubts are growing over Crossair's commitment to the new 728JET family of regional aircraft, as a result of recent configuration decisions which have gone against the Swiss airline's wishes. Crossair and Lufthansa CityLine each signed a letter of intent earlier this year to ...
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North Korean satellite revealed
Pictures purported to be of North Korea's first satellite have appeared on the Internet. Attempts to put the spacecraft into orbit on 31 August caused controversey as nations led by the USA initially accused Pyongyang of testing a ballistic missile, although they later retracted the statement. The launch, by ...
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Aircraft Braking awarded wheel contracts
Aircraft Braking Systems (ABSC) has won contracts to supply wheels and brakes for several different aircraft types. The Akron, Ohio-based company will supply main wheels, nose wheels and brakes for the Ayres Loadmaster turboprop freighter and VisionAire Vantage single-turbofan business jet. The Loadmaster main wheel is designed for minimum weight ...
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Corrosion detector fishes for faults in the field
Researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and the University of Alaska's Fishery Technology Center are developing ultra-sensitive magnetic field detectors which are already finding applications in the aircraft maintenance business, even though the technology was originally aimed at improving efficiency in the fishing industry. Known as Superconducting Quantum ...
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New materials for GE fan blades
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Dow-United Technologies Composites Products is to develop jet-engine fan blades for General Electric, using an improved carbonfibre material. The blades will be produced using Dow-UT's advanced resin transfer moulding (AdvRTM) process, but employing the company's new Uni-Hybrid composite. Dow-UT says the new material is more ...
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Japan and USA join for ejection seat
Japan and the USA have launched a co-operative programme to develop improvements for the ACES II ejection seat. The objectives are to expand the seat's accommodation range, prevent limb-fail injuries and increase high-speed stability. The Boeing (formerly McDonnell Douglas) ACES II seat is used in Japan Air Self-Defence Force ...
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Advanced propulsion under development
French engine and systems manufacturer Snecma has signed a partnership agreement with national research agency Onera, under which the two state-owned entities will develop advanced propulsion technologies. The deal, which aims to formalise the long-term, relationship between the two, will lead to more specific ties on advanced metallic materials ...
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Lockheed Martin switches tactics
Far from throwing in the towel after the US Government counted out its merger with Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin is back in the acquisition ring with a very different prize in its sights. The agreement to acquire US satellite communications service provider Comsat, hard on the heels of forming ...