All news – Page 7152
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Over the ocean in a DC-4
Paul Duffy/SHANNON At 08.58 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on 4 May, 1997, Swissair flight 4001 lifted off from Shannon's Runway 24, outbound for New York, with a refuelling stop scheduled at Gander. You might be forgiven for questioning the need to refuel, but this was no ordinary flight ...
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Rocky Mountain high
Guy Norris/VANCOUVER We pull out of a 3g turn over Garibaldi Lake and fly towards the Black Tusk rock. The immense flanks of the mountain rear up in front and, for a moment, it seems as if my flight with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds aerobatic display team is about ...
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Super send-off
Allan Winn/Bristol - Bremen FOR 26 YEARS, THE JOKE was that every Airbus had its first flight on a Boeing wing - as a collection of components carried in one of the consortium's Super Guppy outsize transporters. (It was not strictly true - the first two A300s did not, ...
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Eurocopter wins big German helicopter order
The German interior ministry has placed a DM220 million ($124 million) order for 22 new Eurocopter helicopters to modernise the border-guard fleet. The order includes 13 AS365 Dauphin N4s to satisfy a light transport helicopter (LTH) requirement, and nine more EC135s, with two options, to meet a requirement for ...
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Bombardier takes over FlexJet
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Bombardier is to take control of the FlexJet business-jet fractional-ownership programme, which began as a joint venture with US fixed-base operator AMR Combs. The Canadian manufacturer says that fractional ownership has become a key part of its business-aviation strategy. It wants to "-take over the whole ...
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Century orders
Century Aerospace says that it has 15 firm orders for its Century Jet single-engined business jet, and expects to finish the year with over 20 orders. Specification changes mean that the latest schedule has the aircraft roll-out and flight test set for mid-1999. First deliveries will come at the end ...
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India's Taneja takes over management of P.68 spares distribution
India's Taneja Aerospace and Aviation (TAAL) has become the sole distributor for P68C spares following the collapse of the light twin's former manufacturer and designer, Partenavia, earlier in the year. The company is looking at setting up a worldwide parts distribution network from its Hosur, Ban- galore base, and ...
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747-400IGW gets go-ahead
Guy Norris/SEATTLE The Boeing board has given its civil-aircraft sales team authority to offer a growth version of the 747-400 with a maximum take-off weight of 413,140kg and a range of up to 14,245km (7,700nm). The decision is the first significant growth step for the aircraft since the ...
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Alitalia confirms KLM alliance
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Alitalia plans to start its alliance with KLM from November 1998, shortly after the opening of the Italian carrier's new Milan hub at Malpensa Airport, which is seen by both carriers as a cornerstone of their partnership. Alitalia's choice of European alliance partner on 17 December ...
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AlliedSignal puts fan engine core on test
AlliedSignal is testing an engine core which will provide the basis for the company's next generation of business and regional turbofans. First run on 7 December, the "technology-validation core" consists of three axial and a centrifugal compressor driven by a single-stage high-pressure (HP) turbine. Some elements are derived from ...
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737 production recovery disappoints Boeing
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Boeing "is not seeing the improvement anticipated" for its production-recovery programme on the Next Generation 737, admits Commercial Airplanes Group president Ron Woodard. The number of jobs behind schedule have stayed essentially static since October, despite Boeing's efforts to "rebalance" the 737 production line. Woodard ...
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Guarantee allows Garuda to receive 737s at last
Garuda Indonesia will finally begin taking delivery of six completed Boeing 737-300/500s parked in the USA, following a long-awaited guarantee from the Indonesian finance ministry on lease financing. Delivery of the aircraft has been on hold since August after demands from the US Eximbank for a guarantor to agree ...
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Falcon 2000s will swell NetJets fleet
Dassault Aviation has joined the burgeoning aircraft-fractional-ownership market with the $500 million sale of 24 Falcon 2000 business jets to Montvale, New Jersey-based Executive Jet Aviation (EJA) for the NetJets programme (Flight International, 19-25 November). EJA will take delivery of the first ten-passenger Falcon 2000s in the first quarter ...
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Europe signs deal on military satellites
THE GOVERNMENTS of France, Germany and the UK have signed a protocol agreement to start development of the $2.2 billion Trimilsat military- communications satellite system, to be launched in 2005. The Trimilsat system, which is expected to include an as-yet-undecided number of geostationary satellites, will replace the UK Skynet ...
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P&W considers new rival for CFM56
Guy Norris/EAST HARTFORD Pratt & Whitney has begun studies of an advanced-technology geared-fan engine in an initiative to re-enter the narrowbody market and challenge the dominance of CFM International. The study outlines an initial series of engines for the 107-156kN (24,000-35,000lb)-thrust range, and is based around the use ...
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Saab decides to terminate turboprop products
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Saab is to discontinue manufacture of the Saab 340 and 2000 turboprops by mid-1999, shifting the focus of its civil-aircraft operation to support and finance of existing fleets, and to contracting for other manufacturers. The Swedish company is continuing discussions about the possible move of the production ...
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AIDC and Latecoere team to bid for Airbus contracts
Taiwan has signed an agreement with Latecoere of France to team with Aerospace Industrial Development (AIDC) to bid for Airbus A340-500/600 work. It also expects to start subcontracting to Boeing shortly, as part of a move to reduce the company's reliance on military work. Under a memorandum of understanding ...
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Yak-42 crashes
An Air Ukraine Yakovlev Yak-42 chartered by Kiev-based AeroSvit has crashed near Thessaloniki, northern Greece, with 62 passengers and eight crew on board. The aircraft (UR-42334) disappeared at about 21:15 local time on 17 December after the crew, inbound from Odessa, had made two unsuccessful night approaches to land, in ...
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Branson signs for Trent A340-600s
Virgin Atlantic chairman Richard Branson has signed a contract with Airbus Industrie for eight Rolls-Royce Trent 500-powered A340-600s and taken an option on eight more. The UK airline becomes the first firm customer for the A340-500/600 series launched this month. First deliveries are due in early 2002. Source: Flight ...
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APS seeks Level D standard for Runway Performance software
Aviation Performance Systems is seeking Level D status under the Do178B software standard for its Runway Performance computer software. The system can be run on desktop personal computers, or hand-held devices - such as the Psion 3 or 5 series - or new hand-held devices running Microsoft Windows CE. ...