All news – Page 6890
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Boeing's long stretch
Guy Norris/SEATTLE BOEING'S stretched 777-300 carries a list of superlatives almost as long as the aircraft itself. The latest member of the Boeing family is the largest twin-engined aircraft ever built, the world's fastest widebody twin, the longest airliner ever made and the first transport big enough to replace the ...
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Training in private
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Tomorrow's combat pilots could find themselves training in classrooms, in simulators, or even in aircraft bearing a plaque with the legend "Owned and operated by-". Whether the term is "contractise", "privatise" - or, some would complain, compromise - the commercial operation of military training is fast ...
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Asia's economic haze
Brent Hannon/KUALA LUMPUR Concerns over the state of the once-unstoppable Asia-Pacific airline market were underlined again as the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) met in Kuala Lumpur in mid-November for the 41st assembly of presidents. The latest figures show a 25% drop in collective operating profits over ...
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AAIB advises ban on VFR night flights
A Eurocopter AS355F1 Twin Squirrel crash in Cheshire, UK, on 22 October, 1996, was a result of the pilot's excessive work load in marginal weather conditions and his inexperience of instrument-flight-rules (IFR) operations, according to the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) official accident report. The crash at Middlewich, ...
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Unleaded avgas 'more expensive'
Fuel supplier Phillips 66 has warned that environmental pressure to switch to unleaded aviation gasoline could increase US avgas prices by up to 50%. The Oklahoma-based firm expects today's 100-octane low-lead (100LL) avgas to be available for the next five years, but admits that pressure to eliminate this last ...
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Beriev restarts flight testing of Be-103
Beriev has resumed flight tests of its Be-103 utility amphibian, three months after the first prototype was destroyed in a crash at the Moscow air show. The second, six-seat, prototype had its maiden flight on 17 November from the Russian design company's airfield in Taganrog. The aircraft is is ...
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Eurocopter distributor delivers first UK EC135
McAlpine Helicopters has delivered the first UK-registered Eurocopter EC135 to an undisclosed UK customer. The Oxford-based helicopter distributor has received 11 orders to date for twin-engined EC135, six of which are scheduled for delivery to police forces and corporate customers in 1998. Source: Flight International
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Jet Support in maintenance link
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Jet Support Services has teamed with two business-jet manufacturers to provide hourly-cost maintenance programmes for their aircraft. The Chicago-based company will administer Dassault's Falcon First programme, initially available for the Falcon 2000, and the ServiceCare programme for the Gulfstream IV-SP. Both will cover scheduled and ...
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Lycoming inspection
The US National Transportation Safety Board has requested that all Textron Lycoming IO-320-B1A engines with older-style, thinner, propeller-mounting flanges be inspected for cracks after aerobatic manoeuvres, following the 1996 fatal crash of a Lancair 320. Source: Flight International
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Boeing slows 777-200X/300X product-development work
Boeing has switched the emphasis of product-development work on the proposed 777-200X/300X ultra-long-haul and stretch derivatives for at least three months. The 300 staff working on the two planned variants are understood to have been switched from new-product development to focusing on reducing programme costs. Sources in Seattle say ...
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CASA joins in negotiations on European regional restructure
Julian Moxon/PARIS CASA of Spain has joined the negotiations on the future of Europe's regional-aircraft industry as a launch decision on the planned Aero International (Regional) (AI(R))Airjet regional jet seems likely to be delayed beyond the original end-of-year deadline. Talks between AI(R) president Patrick Gavin and new CASA ...
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BA prepares for massive tender
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON British Airways is preparing to issue a tender to Airbus and Boeing early in the new year for up to 160 narrow- and widebodied aircraft as it gears up for its long-term fleet-renewal programme. The airline is understood to be finalising an outline of its requirements ...
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MAPO MiG-29s head for Ecuador
MIG MAPO is close to signing a contract to deliver an unspecified number of MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters to Ecuador. Neighbour Peru already operates MiG-29s, which it bought from Belarus.The Latin American country may be looking at the MiG-29SMT version, which started flight trials in November. The aircraft, which has upgraded ...
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EC moves closer to setting up new air safety authority
The European Commission (EC) will present plans to a meeting of European Union (EU) transport ministers this month aimed at creating a European aviation-safety authority. The new agency could be operational as early as 2000, says a well-placed EC official. Detailed work on pulling together recommendations on the role ...
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Air France 'must spend more money' on new aircraft
Julian Moxon/PARIS Air France must invest at least Fr40 billion ($6 billion) on new aircraft over the next five years if it is to remain competitive, the airline's new president Jean-Cyril Spinetta told a French Senate committee on 20 November. Aircraft-renewal plans centre on the need to replace ...
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Third MD-95 comes together
Boeing has begun final assembly of the third MD-95 test airframe, called the T-3, with the fuselage barrel mated to the wing on 24 November. The first MD-95 is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, with a first flight due to take place in early 1998. ...
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Spacewalk capture
Two STS87/Columbia astronauts captured the Spartan free-flying solar observatory satellite during a spacewalk on 24 November after the satellite had been deployed without receiving a computer command to switch from an idle mode. Source: Flight International
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SAS Commuter looks to Dash 8-300X to replace Saab 2000s
Ramon Lopez/TORONTO SAS Commuter underlined plans to standardise on the Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8 family for its regional-fleet needs at the unveiling ceremony of the new 70-seat Series 400, when it revealed that it will dispose of its 50-seat Saab 2000s when their leases expire early in the ...
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SIA is set to become star in the East
The Star Alliance looks set to gain a seventh member as Singapore Airlines (SIA) officially broke away from its long-standing alliance with Swissair and Delta Air Lines on 25 November in favour of a wide-ranging partnership with Star-founder Lufthansa. Lufthansa chairman Jurgen Weber, speaking after the signing in Singapore ...
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Airbus ponders its A3XX systems role
Ian Sheppard/LONDON Airbus Industrie is considering passing responsibility for the integration of avionics on the proposed A3XX to a specialist, allowing companies outside the consortium to bid for the work. Speaking at the 1997 ERA Avionics Conference in London on 19 November, Michel Comes, director of systems at ...