All General aviation articles – Page 580
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PC-12 heads for US commercial history
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Start-up US regional carrier Community Air hopes to begin scheduled passenger services in April, with the single-engined 10-seat Pilatus PC-12. The small carrier is the first to exploit recent US Federal Aviation Administration legislation that allows the carriage of fare-paying passengers in single engined aircraft under ...
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AOPA presses FAA for control change
The US Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has asked the Federal Aviation Administration to change an airworthiness directive (AD) requiring repetitive checks of control rods. AOPA is pressing for the alteration on behalf of some 7,500 owners of M20-series light aircraft. The association is proposing a simpler alternative ...
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De-icer approval
B/E Aerospace subsidiary SMR Technologies, based at Fenwick, West Virginia, has received US certification for its Ice Shield pneumatic de-icers on the Cessna 304A, Piper Seneca and Fairchild Metro/Merlin. Source: Flight International
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Corruption charges hit Australian reforms
Paul Phelan/CAIRNS Intended reform of Australia's civil aviation regulatory infrastructure is being held up by an escalating confrontation between the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI). Allegations of corruption in both organisations are being aired publicly. The stand-off threatens the ...
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Eurocontrol firms up separation plans in bid to beat congestion
Andrew Doyle/DUBROVNIK Proposals for a major shake-up of Europe's congested airspace, aimed at securing extra capacity, will be considered by Eurocontrol in April. If approved, the programme will commit 38 countries to work together to introduce reduced vertical separation minima (RVSM) between flight levels 290 and 410 simultaneously ...
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Dutch company buys Boeing civil helicopter production line
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Boeing has sold the former McDonnell Douglas (MDC) civil helicopter production line to Dutch holding company MD Helicopters, nearly two years after it snapped up the Mesa, California-based manufacturer in its merger with MDC. The deal is expected to be finalised and signed by 15 February, ...
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Cessna breaks delivery records
Cessna has reported a threefold increase in aircraft deliveries for last year, reaching sales of 1,077, compared with 618 in 1997. According to the Wichita, Kansas-based manufacturer, the largest increase came from single piston engined aircraft sales, with 775 deliveries, compared with 360 in 1997. Citation corporate jet deliveries set ...
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Electrical problems spark Shuttle observatory delay
NASA has delayed its first Space Shuttle launch in 1999 by at least five weeks from 8 April, after discovering potential electrical problems with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The observatory is to be deployed by Space Shuttle STS93 Columbia, the launch of which has already been postponed from last ...
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US report plays down fears of GPS navigation signal jamming
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC A study conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory concludes that risks associated with jamming of the global positioning system (GPS) signal can be managed. This can be achieved if steps are taken to minimise the prospects of intentional and unintentional interference, says a ...
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Lancair investigates Columbia 300 crash
Lancair and the US National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the loss of the first Columbia 300 four-seater after it crashed into the Columbia River close to Portland International Airport, Oregon, on 8 January. Lancair company pilot Hans Oesch and a passenger are missing, believed dead, following the discovery ...
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Pin plug problems prompt Lycoming/Cessna IO-360 inspections
Dave Higdon/WICHITA An unusually high number of reported piston-pin plug problems in the past three years has prompted Textron Lycoming to urge all US-registered owners, to inspect closely oil filter elements on their IO-360 piston engines and to have used oil analysed at every change. Cessna also plans ...
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Agusta will certificate Koala - a year late
Agusta is planning to certificate its single engined A119 Koala in May, nearly a year later than originally scheduled. The Italian manufacturer blames the delay on its efforts to incorporate design changes to the aircraft, in response to customer demands. The design of the seven-seat Koala, which was originally ...
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Training expansion
The University of North Dakota's flight training fleet passed 100 aircraft at the end of 1998, with delivery over the year of 10 Diamond Katanas, 10 Piper Warriors, three Piper Seminoles, two Piper Arrows and two Rayheon Beech Barons, taking its fleet to 103. A further 14 will be delivered ...
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NBAA sets fractional safety rules
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON The US National Business Aviation Association (NBAA)has published safety and operational guidelines to owners and programme managers of fractional ownership schemes to "-enhance the safety culture" of this burgeoning market sector. "The document is part of an evolution towards a culture of safety. It will be ...
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India reveals light helicopter project
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has unveiled details of a study for a light observation helicopter (LOH) design under way for the Indian forces. The 3t-class aircraft, which will have a maximum payload of 1,500kg (3,300lb) and a design ceiling of around 19,000ft (5,800m), will be in a similar class to the ...
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Greek order marks launch of Canadair 415GR
Bombardier has marked the launch of its Canadair 415GR amphibian twin-turboprop with a contract from the Greek Ministry of Defence for 10 aircraft and an option for five more. The $250 million deal includes spare parts, ground support equipment and training. "The Canadair 415GR variant offers higher operating weights to ...
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French achieve equivalent of Mach 7.5 in scramjet tests
Julian Moxon/PARIS French researchers have successfully tested a supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) at an equivalent speed of Mach 7.5 - the highest performance for such an engine to have achieved in Europe. The engine ran for 10s, ending a five-year, Fr370 million ($62 million) programme involving France's aeronautics ...
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Big changes on the way for aerospace, says NASA scientist
Information technology (IT), environmental concerns and global competitiveness will stimulate major changes in aerospace, says Dennis Bushnell, NASA's chief scientist at the Langley Research Center, Virginia. Speaking at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London, Bushnell envisaged a future including "dramatically improved air transports, automatic VTOL aircraft for personal use, ...
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Belt and braces
Achieving a satisfactory level of safety used to be considered straight-forward: build good aeroplanes, train good pilots, respect an aircraft's limitations in the face of the elements, and take off, trusting that nothing beyond the capabilities of the aircraft/pilot team will occur. Key words in the traditional approach included "belt ...
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Orenda wraps up Turkish deal
Canada's Orenda Recip has clinched its first original equipment manufacturer contract after a multimillion dollar deal with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). Orenda will supply and install its OE-600 V-8 piston engine for a multimission aircraft, under development at TAI's Ankara, Turkey-based factory. "The agreement is expected to result in ...