All news – Page 7741
-
News
Airbus develops infra-red water detector
AIRBUS INDUSTRIE has developed a new infrared thermographic-inspection technique for detecting water ingress in composite-sandwich structures. The manufacturer says, that the procedure is proving so successful that it has been, recommended for use by all operators of Airbus aircraft. Infrared thermography is based on the principle that ...
-
News
An invasion of privacy
Private aviation is, understandably, regarded as just that: private. Pilots often consider it their right to disregard established practices, especially outside controlled or busy airspace. As private pilots cannot be denied privacy and freedom, the only effective method of softening their resistance to regulation and safe practices is ...
-
News
Singapore/Australian air force plan in doubt
FAILURE TO deliver promised economic benefits is jeopardising a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) proposal to base a second wave of Singaporean armed forces training aircraft and personnel in Australia. Approval for the plan hinges on Singapore's delivery of economic benefits foreshadowed in an earlier memorandum ...
-
News
Rotary FANS
It is one of the ironies of the future air-navigation system (FANS) that, although it is aimed primarily at airline operations, the general-aviation (GA) community is so far its major user. One FANS element - satellite navigation - is already commonplace in fixed-wing GA in the form of the global-positioning ...
-
News
More than one niche?
When it was launched at the 1990 National Business Aircraft Association show in the USA, the PC-XII was offered as a high-performance, low-operating-cost corporate/utility aircraft. Now, Pilatus is working with other large single-turboprop manufacturers Cessna and Aerospatiale to modify the certification rules so that the aircraft can be operated commercially ...
-
News
Laser ignition system will be demonstrated later this year
AlliedSignal is developing a laser-based gas-turbine ignition system for improved starting reliability and lower emissions. The "Photon-Ignition" system is scheduled to be demonstrated in an engine later this year and may also be used, in conjunction with NASA, to develop "smart" fuel injectors. The photon-ignition system ...
-
News
Pegasus XL lofts first Orbcomm satellites
THE ORBITAL SCIENCES (OSC) Pegasus XL air-launched booster was used successfully to place the first two of the company's Orbcomm communications satellites into 728km (390nm) circular orbit on 3 April. OSC's Microlab 1 research satellite, a smaller version of Orbcomm's MicroStar standard satellite bus equipped with NASA and ...
-
News
EH101 compensation for Unisys
THE CANADIAN Government has agreed to pay C$166 million ($118 million) compensation to Unisys GSG Canada, one of the prime contractors on a Canadian purchase of EH Industries EH101 helicopters, 17 months after the project was cancelled by the incoming Liberal government. Scrapping the C$5.8 billion programme for ...
-
News
Israel and Chile settle Phalcon disagreement
ISRAEL AND CHILE have settle a row which threatened to delay substantially delivery of the Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI)-developed Phalcon airborne early-warning system to the Chilean air force. Following agreement between IAI and the Chilean air force, the aircraft will now be delivered early in May. Chile had ...
-
News
Intelsat may drop Long March
INTELSAT MAY PULL an Intelsat 7 satellite from its launch on a Chinese Long March 3B (LM3B) booster, originally planned for October. The LM3B, a version of the LM2E with a cryogenic upper stage from the LM3A, has not yet been flown. Two controversial launches have been undertaken ...
-
News
Born-again Blackbird
The supersonic Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird is no longer a museum piece: no more is it a relic of the Cold War, gathering dust. The renaissance of the US Air Force spy plane, which flies at altitudes above 85,000ft (26,000m), is a result of Congressional concern about the Pentagon's ability to ...
-
News
APIC presses ahead with APU proposed for MD-95
AUXILIARY POWER International (APIC) has begun the risk-reduction demonstration phase of the APS 2100 auxiliary power unit (APU) selected by McDonnell Douglas (MDC) for the yet-to-be-launched MD-95. Initial risk-reduction activity is concentrated on noise tests of the Labinal/Sundstrand engine. The trials are taking place at Turbomeca's acoustic ...
-
News
Rivals capitalise on Air Inter strike woe
AIRLINES, WHICH have been taking advantage of liberalisation, to compete with French domestic carrier Air Inter at Paris Orly Airport, are reaping the benefits of continuing strikes at the Air France subsidiary. Since January, AOM and Air Liberte have been operating flights to Marseilles and Toulouse respectively - ...
-
News
Strato 2C takes flight but funds stay low
BURKHART GROB has flown its Strato 2C high-altitude research aircraft successfully for the first time, in an hour-long test flight on 31 March. The Strato 2C, the largest all-composite aircraft in the world, took off from Grob's Mindelheim site in Bavaria with former NASA test pilot Einar Enevoldson ...
-
News
Snecma's losses treble as restructuring continues
SNECMA'S LOSSES MORE than trebled in 1994 as the French engine manufacturer bore the brunt of heavy restructuring costs and new programme costs. Sales are also expected to plummet. The group finally revealed that it had lost nearly Fr2.2 billion ($440 million) in 1994, confirming earlier projections of ...
-
News
Israel defers El Al sell-off
THE ISRAELI Government has postponed the planned flotation of El Al for six months because of the crisis facing the Tel Aviv stock market. Valuations being put on the national carrier have failed to meet Government expectations. If the market fails to improve, the Government is expected to ...
-
News
Workshare on FLA will be partners' choice
INDUSTRY, NOT government, will be responsible for allocating work-share on the Future Large Aircraft (FLA) military transport project. According to a senior programme manager, the move marks a keynote change in the way collaborative European programmes are run. Aerospatiale military vice-president Philippe Picq says that the industrial partners ...
-
News
Thai fighter purchase tied to AMRAAM
THAILAND HAS LINKED the purchase of any new US-built fighter aircraft to the supply of the Hughes AIM-120 AMRAAM active-radar-guided air-to-air missile, and is threatening to turn to other foreign manufacturers if necessary. The Thai air force has a requirement for a third squadron of front-line fighters to ...
-
News
Boeing drives 777 ahead but loses Gulf Air orders
BOEING IS continuing its intensive effort to push the 777 into service on time after confirming that it has lost Gulf Air's order for six aircraft, with six options. The Bahrain-based carrier dropped its commitment to the General Electric GE90-powered aircraft after deciding that it would end ...
-
News
All sides reach agreement on latest offer for Piper
THE LONG-RUNNING saga, over the sale of bankrupt Piper Aircraft, appears to be drawing to a close, with a deal now in place, which would see the light-aircraft manufacturer acquired for $95 million. Teledyne Industries, along with Investment Company Dimeling, Schreiber & Park (DS&P) have formed a new ...