All news – Page 6885
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Abbreviations
LEO Low Earth orbit. SS Sun-synchronous orbit. GTO Geostationary transfer orbit. GEO Geostationary orbit. Molniya Highly elliptical orbit based on use by Russian communications of same name. Note contracted payload means number of craft manifested for commercial launches - not the number of launches. Source: Flight International
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New Launchers
X-33 (suborbital): NASA has selected Lockheed Martin to develop and test fly the unmanned sub-orbital flight test vehicle in 1999, which may lead to the development of a new manned/unmanned re-usable SSTO VentureStar launch vehicle (RLV) to replace the Space Shuttle, capable of flying 18,000kg to LEO, starting in 2005. ...
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Moscow airports rebuild
Moscow's four main airports need more money and more passengersVnukovo airport ramp from the control tower Sheremetevo has retained passenger volume Domodedovo is Moscow's second-largest airport Zhukovski is a base for charter airlines Paul Duffy/MOSCOW In 1990, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow's four civil airports handled ...
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Sabah takes first BN2T-4S Islander
Sabah Air has taken delivery of the first Pilatus Britten-Norman BN2T-4S Islander. The Malaysian commercial operator will take delivery of a second -4S model in the first quarter of 1998 and has an option on a third. The twin-turboprop aircraft, an enlarged variant of the standard Islander, will be used ...
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Coast Guard looks at civil tilt-rotor option
Bell Boeing's Model 609 civil tilt-rotor is among options being considered by the US Coast Guard as it begins planning its long-term search-and-rescue requirements. The Coast Guard is examining its aviation needs and is expected to award study contracts in 1998. Bell Boeing has briefed the Coast Guard on ...
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MD Explorer goes to Grand Canyon
Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters has taken delivery of its first Boeing MD Explorer. The company is due to begin operations on 15 December. The eight-seat, twin-engined aircraft will be equipped for multi-mission operations, including search and rescue and firefighting. The acquisition was made in response to a recent ...
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London City limits peak-time access for business aircraft
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON London City Airport has banned access to business aircraft during peak operating hours. The airport joins a growing number of UK airports which are squeezing business-aviation traffic in favour of the more lucrative scheduled airlines. An increase in the airport's popularity has led to slot restrictions ...
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Hartzell upgrades
Hartzell has received certification for two-bladed, aluminium-hub propellers on the Piper PA-23 Apache, to eliminate inspection requirements under an airworthiness directive on the original steel-hub propellers. Source: Flight International
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Malaysia closes on Avro stake
Paul Lewis/LANGKAWI British Aerospace has signed a potentially wide-ranging agreement with the Malaysian state-owned investment house Kazanah Nasional Berhad. It could lead to Kazanah taking up to a 50% stake in the UK company's Avro International aerospace division and producing locally parts for the Avro RJ regional-jet range. ...
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Spaceball camera makes debut on Columbia
NASA's first test flight of the $3 million spherical Aercam Sprint robotic camera has been completed from the Space Shuttle Columbia STS87. Like the German-built Inspector craft which will be evaluated outside the Russian Mir space station this month, an uprated version of the Sprint will be used during International ...
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Dornier signs new deal to supply Airbus parts
The Dornier division of Fairchild Dornier has signed a five-year contract with Airbus covering parts manufacture for the consortium's entire product line. Fairchild Dornier says that the contract is worth some DM500 million ($285 million) to the company, and covers the delivery of parts for 1,400 aircraft up to ...
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RB.211 in Seattle
Rolls-Royce has completed certification flight testing of the latest variant of the RB.211, the RB.211-524G/ H-T. R-R expects that the Federal Aviation Administration will certificate the engine on the Boeing 747-400 during January 1998. The G/H-T uses the high-pressure module from the Trent 700. This provides a 2% fuel-consumption improvement, ...
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Netherlands begins search for new airport site
Studies into a new location for Amersterdam's noise-limited Schiphol Airport are being stepped up as the Netherlands Government attempts to placate growing pressure from environmental groups. In a policy decision on 28 November, the Government rejected calls to put an absolute cap on the volume of aviation growth within ...
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Crossair adds more aircraft to
Crossair has finalised plans to boost its fleet, with deals to acquire up to 14 additional aircraft, including Saab 2000s, Aero International (Regional) Avro RJ100s and Boeing MD-83s. The Swissair regional subsidiary, based at Basle, operates a fleet of some 65 aircraft, including Saab 340s, Saab 2000s, British Aerospace ...
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P&W plans for hybrid PW4000
Guy Norris/EAST HARTFORD Pratt & Whitney is planning a new family of hybrid PW4000 engines to meet the thrust requirements of widebodies under study by Airbus Industrie and Boeing. News of the development emerged as the company gave its long-awaited commitment to develop a 454kN (102,000lb)- thrust engine for ...
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SEP is interested in space-propulsion link with Dasa
Julian Moxon/PARIS French rocket-engine maker SEP is talking to Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) about a space-propulsion alliance as part of a move by the Snecma division to restructurethe business. According to SEP director-general Jaques Rossignol, who headed CFM International in its formative years, "-we need to assemble space-engine companies ...
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France fo finalise defence group by May
Julian Moxon/PARIS The creation of a major French defence-electronics grouping around Thomson-CSF will be completed by May 1998, say sources close to the restructuring. Completion could open the way for incorporation of other European companies, possibly including Lagardère/Matra. Talks are still taking place over how to proceed with the ...
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Airbus launches more safety aids
Julian Moxon/TOULOUSE Airbus Industrie plans to introduce a variety of new automated functions to all production aircraft from 1998 in a move aimed at improving safety. Coupled with improved pilot feedback and training, the initiatives are aimed at reducing the number of human-error accidents, which Airbus calculates account ...
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Munich Airport joins experiment to use hydrogen in vehicles
Munich Airport is taking part in a project to evaluate the potential of hydrogen as a fuel source, initially using it to power operational ground vehicles from 1998. The move constitutes the first operational use of environmentally friendly hydrogen in the air-transport field. The combustion of hydrogen generates only ...
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Flashjet strips T-45
Boeing has won a US Navy contract to supply a Flashjet paint-removal system to strip T-45 Goshawk trainers at NAS Kingsville, Texas. The system, which combines pulsed-light energy with dry-ice pellets, will be available by mid-1998. Boeing is supplying a Flashjet system to strip US Navy Lockheed Martin P-3C Orions ...