All news – Page 7263

  • News

    BAe succeeds with Airbus cargo conversions

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    BRITISH AEROSPACE Aviation Services' Airbus A300B4 passenger-to-freighter conversion programme has been boosted by a $25 million order from a US lease-management company, for three conversions. C-S Aviation Services of New York has contracted BAe for the conversion of three ex-Air France A300B4s, to be completed by mid-1997. The ...

  • News

    LF507 reliability levels 'not acceptable' says Crossair

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    Julian Moxon/HANOVER LOWER-THAN-expected despatch reliability of the AlliedSignal Engines LF507 turbofan powering Aero International Regional (AI(R)) RJ100 Avroliners has forced the engine manufacturer to spend $30 million on developing solutions. Crossair president Moritz Suter criticised the engine's 99.3% dispatch reliability during the recent European Regional Airlines ...

  • News

    Low Alitalia prices anger low-cost carriers

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    THE ARRIVAL OF several new low-cost carriers in Italy has prompted flag carrier Alitalia to join the fares war on domestic routes by offering ultra-low prices on some flights. The move, which cuts one-way weekend fares to all destinations to just L99,000 ($66), and to L65,000 on several ...

  • News

    Fairchild promises to launch a 30-seat turbofan 328 by 1997

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    FAIRCHILD DORNIER chairman and chief executive Carl Albert says that there is "no question" about a go-ahead for a 30-seat turbofan version of the Dornier 328 turboprop. "We'll launch it before the end of the year," he says, promising also that a 50-seat stretched version will be launched "about 12 ...

  • News

    Insurers pay for Chinese losses

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    Tim Furniss/LONDON SPACE INSURERS are paying two satellite operators $83 million for damage to one spacecraft and the loss of the other after launches by Chinese boosters in 1995/6. The People's Insurance of China has paid $25.9 million to China Telecommunications and Broadcasting Satellite for the ...

  • News

    The bus in the sky

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    A DUTCH TRANSPORT ministry report says that airships could be used as an alternative to coaches in the long-distance holiday market. Researchers at the local Delft University have come to the same conclusion. Both see the airship as one way to solve traffic jams on European motorways, where ...

  • News

    Diamond shines on

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    Interior improvements are not the only reason why the Beech 400A continues to gain customer support Peter Henley/Blackbushe RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT has made a success of acquiring an existing aircraft type from another manufacturer, refining its design and marketing it energetically. Examples include the Raytheon Pilatus PC-9 MkII and ...

  • News

    F-18E/F team tackles wing-drop test discoveries

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    THE INTEGRATED US Navy/contractor test team reports unexpected discoveries in its evaluation of the McDonnell Douglas F-18E/F Super Hornet, including a "distinct wing-drop tendency" during deceleration through 13° to 15°angle of attack (AoA). The drop, described as a "little bit alarming", has been cured by modifying the control scheduling of ...

  • News

    Lockheed Martin pushes C-130J flight envelope

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    Testing of the Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules II is catching up on its delayed start, with rapid expansion of the flight envelope to all-new limits. The first four test aircraft have amassed more than 220 flight hours on 60 sorties. Eventually, nine aircraft will be involved in the ...

  • News

    IPTN makes changes to N-250 after early flights

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) is making minor changes to the fly-by-wire (FBW) flight-control system (FCS) of the N-250, Indonesia's first fully indigenously designed airliner, following early flight tests. IPTN test pilot Erwin Danoewinata says that the general handling characteristics are "very satisfactory", and that the FCS is ...

  • News

    EF2000 aimed at Mach 2

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    Eurofighter is aiming to expand the EF2000 flight envelope to Mach 2 as the next phase of flight testing in Phase Two of the test programme. Test pilots flying the DA2, the second development aircraft, based at British Aerospace's Warton site, are assigned to envelope expansion and will ...

  • News

    Tacit Blue flight tests lead to E-8 radar system

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    A combined flight-test team from Northrop Grumman, the US Air Force and Calspan has revealed new details of the flight characteristics of the Tacit Blue technology demonstrator. The formerly classified USAF/Defense Advanced Research Agency project was initially used as a proof-of-concept stealthy surveillance radar platform. The 17m-long low-observable aircraft defeated ...

  • News

    NASA looks at ways to save PCA during crises

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    NASA is studying a potential application of its recently completed Propulsion Controlled Aircraft (PCA) system, which would allow a twin-engined aircraft to survive a catastrophic engine and flight-control failure. The PCA was developed following the 1989 crash of a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 with disabled flight controls. The crew ...

  • News

    Asian service

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    Thai Airways International is planning to launch a new route from Bangkok to the Portuguese enclave of Macau. The service will operate three times a week. Emirates Airlines, in the meantime, will begin a thrice-weekly service between Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Saana, in the Yemen, from 27 October. ...

  • News

    DoD will fund micro actuators

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    THE US DEPARTMENT of Defense (DoD) is funding a three-year research study to look into micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), which scientists believe could be used to improve the performance and efficiency of aircraft wings. Researchers at the University of California (UCLA) in Los Angeles and the California Institute of ...

  • News

    IAI/Matra discuss Mica

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    Douglas Barrie/LONDON ISRAEL AIRCRAFT Industries (IAI) and French missile manufacturer Matra have held detailed discussions about IAI offering the latter's active radar-guided Mica medium-range air-to-air missile as part of fighter upgrades. Officials of the Israeli company confirm that talks have been held, aimed at offering the ...

  • News

    Helicopter medevac will be aided by GPS

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    STAT MEDEVAC, a Manassas, Virginia-based helicopter emergency medical service (EMS) operating in western Pennsylvania, has signed a deal with Satellite Technology Implementation to set up a network of 13 global-positioning-system (GPS) approaches at remote hospitals. Installation of the US Federal Aviation Administration approved GPS approaches will allow helicopter ...

  • News

    US Court threatens GAIN safety system

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC David Learmount/LONDON A COURT DECISION ordering USAir to provide lawyers with internal safety-audit data which the airline thought was protected from compulsory public release by the Federal Aviation Administration could seriously damage US efforts to set up an international safety programme. The Supreme ...

  • News

    R-R invites Bristol division bids

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    Brian Dunn/MONTREAL ROLLS-ROYCE Industries Canada is selling its Bristol Aerospace division, saying that the Winnipeg-based company no longer fits its long-term plans. The 30-year-old relationship with Bristol is being cut to allow Montreal-based R-R Canada to concentrate on its main businesses of manufacturing aircraft and industrial ...

  • News

    Helicap buys EC135 for JAR compliance

    1996-10-16T00:00:00Z

    PARIS-BASED Helicap has ordered six Eurocopter EC135 light twin-engined helicopters, equipped for emergency medical services (EMS), in a move to meet new European regulations. According to Eurocopter, the helicopters will allow the company to meet the new European Joint Aviation Authorities JAR OPS3 rules, which ban single-engine operations ...