All General aviation articles – Page 577
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News
Russia's AT traffic down again in 1998
Paul Duffy/MOSCOW Russia's air traffic fell by 11% to 22.4 million passengers during 1998, while revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) fell by 9.7% to 55.475 billion. The Russian Federal Aviation Service's [FAS] annual report reveals the eighth successive year of falling air traffic. While traffic had been showing a ...
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Slump in Taiwanese passenger numbers could spark mergers
Brent Hannon/TAIPEI Taiwan's seven major airlines saw passenger numbers fall by more than 10% in 1998, compared with the previous year, making further consolidation within the ailing industry a strong possibility over the next 12 months. Passengers carried fell to 16.67 million - 10.4% down on 1997 figures ...
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Hushkit Rules
Europe's decision to jump ahead of international regulation over the highly contentious issue of noise pollution may put it "at the forefront of elaborating the most stringent environmental standards for aircraft" but equally runs the risk of destroying the longer term goal of uniform environmental standards. Nowhere is the ...
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Fighting Firehawk
Peter Gray/Los Angeles Wildfires are a growing problem worldwide, as 1998 proved. Authorities usually use fixed wing tankers and light helicopters to fight fires, but the use of medium and heavylift helicopters has proved more cost effective, says Sikorsky. The US manufacturer has developed a firefighting version of ...
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Policing Europe
Kate Sarsfield/London Environmental and safety issues have led to a rise in sales of "new generation" twins, like the EC135 As Europe grapples with the political and cultural ramifications of unification, free market, single currency and open borders, a less savoury result of the dramatic changes under way requires a ...
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Gavilan may establish production line in Mexico
El Gavilan, the Colombian manufacturer of the Gavilan 358 utility aircraft, says that it is negotiating with unidentified Mexican partners to set up a second production line in the country and to sell up to 30 aircraft a year. Marketing and projects manager Renato Avila says: "If the market ...
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US Coast Guard charts Deepwater course
RamonLopez/WASHINGTON DC The impending retirement of Sikorsky Jayhawks and other aircraft has sparked the competition The US Coast Guard (USCG) is looking for new hardware to maintain its core humanitarian, law enforcement and military missions into the 21st century, both in coastal/inland waterways, and for missions out ...
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News in Brief
Falcon delivery - Executive Jet has taken delivery of the first Dassault Falcon 2000 business jet for its Netjets fractional ownership programmes. The Woodbridge, New Jersey-based company has ordered 38 Falcon 2000s in total - 26 aircraft for the US programme and 12 for the European operation - and ranks ...
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Kaman fired up over water bomber move
Kaman Aerospace is optimistic of a sales breakthrough in Latin America for its K-MAX helicopter after last year's disastrous wildfires persuaded the Mexican Government to step up funding for aerial firefighting. "We think the timing is right," said Kaman commercial aviation operations manager Steve Daniels at the show, where ...
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Decibel count raised in US-EU hushkit battle
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC A transatlantic war of words over European Commission plans to place serious restrictions on hushkitted commercial aircraft operating in Western Europe has reached new levels following the European Parliament's endorsement of the legislation. The European Union's anti-noise rule is opposed by the Clinton Administration and ...
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US Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel warns on Shuttle danger
The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel has warned NASA that its workforce has been so reduced by redundancies and a hiring freeze that Space Shuttle safety could be jeopardised. If new engineering and other staff are not employed, it could create a crisis over the next five to 10 years, ...
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Pan Am Academy snaps up SimCom
Continuing its rapid expansion, Pan Am International Flight Academy (PAIFA) is to acquire training company SimCom International. SimCom, which operates simulator centres in Orlando and Vero Beach, Florida, and Scottsdale, Arizona, will become a wholly owned subsidiary of privately owned PAIFA. Miami-based PAIFA, which is building new simulator ...
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Diamond DA40 approval slips back to year end
Diamond Aircraft has pushed back certification of its DA40 four-seat single by 12 months. The piston-powered aircraft will enter service by the end of this year. Test flights of three pre-production prototypes of the 135kW (180hp) Lycoming-powered DA40 are continuing from Diamond's base in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. A production-conforming ...
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Training turning point
David Learmount/LONDON Uncertainties about imminent European rules governing pilot training schools have created confusion for the training industry, both in Europe and in the USA. Europe's new joint standards for pilot training and licensing are about to be implemented, yet fundamental aspects of the regulations governing them are still ...
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Mergers
-National Jet Systems (NJS), the Australian regional carrier, has purchased a large minority stake in Ireland's CityJet for a sum estimated at between Ir£4 million ($5.8 million) and Ir£6 million. The holding is understood to be in excess of 40%. CityJet will still look to expand its relationship with Air ...
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Japan to revise slots policy
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE The Japanese transport ministry plans to revise its policy on domestic airport slot allocation, taking into consideration applicants' load factors and fares. The move could cause concern among the big three Japanese carriers - Japan Airlines (JAL), All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Air System (JAS) ...
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Executive Jet nets Zimex Netjets share
Executive Jet has acquired Zimex Aviation's holding in the Netjets Europe fractional ownership programme, for an undisclosed sum. The move is regarded as a further step by Warren Buffett to exercise control of the Netjets operation, since his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, acquired Woodbridge New Jersey-based Executive Jet in ...
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FlightSafety drops European training
David Learmount/LONDON A major US flight training organisation has dropped courses that offer training for pilots who want the new European commercial pilot's licence. The move comes in the face of continuing European regulatory confusion. Since December, FlightSafety International has been advising applicants for its European pilot licence ...
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Bell sets deadline for tiltrotor workshare
Paul Lewis/FORT WORTH Bell Helicopter and Agusta hope to finalise a manufacturing workshare agreement within 12 months to co-produce the new BA609 civil tiltrotor and AB139 medium helicopter in the USA and Europe. The two companies are establishing a joint venture structure, following their tie- up announced at ...
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Windeagle assembly ready to take off
Canadian Aerospace plans to launch production of the Windeagle all-composite light aircraft by the end of February. The Windeagle is based on the already certificated Windecker Eagle, rights to which were acquired by the Burlington, Ontario-based company. President Phil Nelson says the first four-seat, piston-powered versions of the Windeagle ...