All news – Page 6668
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X-33 tanks prepared for testing
The twin composite liquid hydrogen (LH) tanks of the Lockheed Martin X-33 advanced technology demonstrator for future single-stage-to-orbit vehicles will begin crucial pressure and stress testing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, this week. The two 2,080kg tanks, built by Alliant Techsystems, which each carry 110,000litres (29,000USgal) of LH ...
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Soyuz success
A Soyuz was launched from Plesetsk on 9 September, carrying the recoverable Foton 12 microgravity research spacecraft. The spacecraft carries 250kg (550lb) of experiments supplied by France, Germany and Sweden for the European Space Agency. The Foton recovery capsule, based on the Vostok capsule flown by Yuri Gagarin in April ...
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IAI conducts final EROS tests
Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) is conducting the final tests on its first earth resources observation satellite (EROS), which is scheduled for launch at the end of this year. The EROS programme, which also involves US company CST and Israel's Elop, is designed to allow the imaging of every point ...
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Japan cancels J-1
Japan is to cancel its expensive J-1 solid-propellant small satellite launcher, and plans to replace it with a version using US and Russian components. The Advanced Technology Proving Rocket will be powered by liquid-propellant engines. Its first flight is due in 2003. The first stage will incorporate the liquid-oxygen ...
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DC-9 age leads to calls for checks
Old Age is catching up with the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 fleet as the US Federal Aviation Administration issues directives on two electrical modifications and a revision on the safe life of structural components. Reporting incidents in which short-circuiting has caused "severe smoke and burn damage which could result in ...
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NTSB rejects ADS-B for cargo fleet TCAS
US cargo aircraft should be compelled to fit traffic and collision avoidance systems (TCAS) following two recent near collisions, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended to the Federal Aviation Administration. An alternative system favoured by the US Cargo Airline Association, automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast (ADS-B), ...
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Workshop
Norwegian low cost airline Color Air has signed a five-year engine support contract for its three Boeing 737-300s with Shannon Engine Support in Ireland. The deal for work on the CFM56s will be extended to cover five aircraft when the airline increases its fleet size next April. GE Engine Services ...
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Aerolineas Argentinas prepares to order new narrowbody fleet
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Aerolineas Argentinas expects to decide within the next year on acquiring a new standardised fleet of 40 or more narrowbody jets. The airline is currently leasing additional 737-200s. "We have had initial discussions with both Airbus and Boeing and we're analysing right now our fleet requirements for ...
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Air France to let the train take more of the strain
Air France and French train operator SNCF are strengthening their co-operation agreement linking the airline's services to Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) with SNCF's TGV high-speed train network. The move reflects increasing interest in "plane-train" co-operation in Europe as major airlines concentrate on developing international alliances and higher yield ...
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Routes
Virgin Express will begin serving Berlin Schönefeld from Brussels, London (Stansted and Gatwick) and Rome from November. US Airways will add services between Manchester in the UK and Philadelphia next May. The airline also plans to add daily non-stop flights from its Charlotte hub to Paris and Frankfurt. Swissair has ...
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AirTran pins hopes of return to profit on introduction of 717
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES AirTran Airways is poised to introduce the first of up to 100 117-seat Boeing 717s to support its efforts to become profitable this year for the first time since 1995, says chairman and chief executive Joe Leonard. The arrival of the 717 "will be ...
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Boeing ready to produce more F-15s
Boeing is preserving sufficient long lead items to produce a further six F-15s for the US Air Force in anticipation of a US Congressionally mandated order, after a $270 million write-off on unused equipment. The USAF is also being briefed on a proposed low-cost F-15 development. The US Congress ...
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Re-engining team
Northrop Grumman has teamed with Pratt & Whitney and Seven Q Seven for the Boeing 707 re-engining market, beginning with the US Air Force's E-8 Joint STARS surveillance aircraft and 707s in military and government use worldwide. The civil-certificated re-engining is based on a P&W JT8D-219, BFGoodrich inlet and thrust ...
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'JSF by stages' under study
Incremental development of the Joint Strike Fighter's (JSF) capabilities is being considered as a way to reduce cost. The move could avoid budget problems later in the programme. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are designing their JSFs to provide the full capability specified by the operational requirements agreed by the ...
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Industry hails Aviation Act as saviour of jobs and production
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Five years after its enactment, the US General Aviation Revitalisation Act is being lauded as a "tremendous success" by the industry. Since the act became law in August 1994, limiting manufacturers' product liability to 18 years, piston aircraft production in the USA has more than doubled, says ...
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Customs dash
Adelaide-based Surveillance Australia has ordered two Bombardier Dash 8Q-200s for the Coastwatch programme it operates on behalf of the Australian Customs Service. The aircraft will be fitted, by Field Aviation of Toronto, with long-range fuel tanks, search radar, forward-looking infrared television camera and satellite communications, and will join three Dash ...
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Greek minister killed in Falcon 900 flight incident
Greece's deputy foreign minister and five others were killed when the Greek Government-owned Dassault Falcon 900B presidential jet suffered an unexplained flight incident on descent into Bucharest, Romania on 14 September. The Falcon 900 (SX-ECH) descended rapidly from 15,000ft (4,600m) to 2,000ft, where the crew recovered control. Although ...
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French engineers in hunt for funding
A group of French aerospace engineers is looking for funding for a "novel concept" for a new pusher light aircraft. To be produced only in kit form, the Aerowings PR-100 would be the first of a new family of pushers ranging from a two-seat 85hp Rotax-powered version to a ...
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Zeppelin heads for airship approval
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON Zeppelin's new-technology airship flight test programme has passed the halfway mark with over 300 flying hours chalked up. The milestone comes 60 years after the German company halted development of its original family of rigid machines following the loss in May 1937 of the Zeppelin Hindenburg after a ...
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Maverick opts for CT58s for Twinjet
Maverick Air is looking to fit derated General Electric CT58 engines to its five-seat Twinjet 1500, rather than wait for the Williams FJX-2, in an attempt to push forward certification and first deliveries of the factory-built version of the kit aircraft. The CT58-powered Twinjet 1500 composite kit plane, which ...