All General aviation articles – Page 585
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Bell 407 approved
Eurojet Aviation has received UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approval to operate a Bell 407 on the public transport register. The Birmingham, UK-based executive aircraft charter and management company is now operating the single-engined 407 on the Canadian register, pending CAA certification, scheduled for late this year. Source: Flight ...
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Defender delivery
Britten-Norman will deliver a Defender 4000 twin-engined utility aircraft to UK-based Police Aviation Services (PAS) by the middle of the month. This marks the first sale for the Bembridge, Isle of Wight-based manufacturer since it was acquired by investment company Litchfield Continental earlier in the year. The Defender 4000 will ...
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Proteus market predicted to fly
Guy Norris/MOJAVE Wyman-Gordon is predicting an estimated market for up to 1,000 of the unconventional Proteus high-altitude, long operation (HALO) aircraft being built by its subsidiary Scaled Composites. The US investment company hopes to begin proof-of-concept trials as early as 2000. The prediction, from Wyman-Gordon's chairman and chief ...
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Maryland Eurocopter
The Maryland State Police in the USA is scheduled to take delivery of a Eurocopter AS365N3 Dauphin in April 1999. The twin turbine helicopter will be added to the aviation division's existing fleet of 11 AS365s. Source: Flight International
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Cirrus tests
Cirrus Design has successfully completed development tests on the crew seats for its SR20 business aircraft. Final FAA evaluation on the seat tests was planned to have taken place by 5 October. Duluth, Minnesota-based Cirrus, has received more than 200 orders for the four-seat SR20, which is due for certification ...
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FAA appointment
The US Federal Aviation Administration's Thomas McSweeny has been given the job of associate administrator for regulation and certification. He replaces Guy Gardner, the former astronaut, who quit the US aviation agency to pursue a career as a motivational speaker. Since 1993, McSweeny served as director of the FAA's Aircraft ...
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S-70 Firehawk sparks Asian sales for Sikorsky
Sikorsky Aircraft is negotiating the sale of two S-70A-37 Firehawk firefighter helicopters to an unnamed Asian customer as a prelude to what it hopes will be a substantial market demand from the region in the wake of devastating forest fires in 1997. The customer, believed to be the Sultan ...
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Beriev makes first flight with Be-200
Beriev completed a 30min first flight of the Be-200 twin-turbofan amphibian on 24 September at the Irkutsk Aviation Production Organisation airfield in Irkutsk, Siberia. Four days later the prototype made a second test flight, during which the aircraft reached a maximum speed of 216kt (400km/h). Tagenrog, Russia-based Beriev ...
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Fare wars sting Brazil
Deregulation and resulting fare wars continue to bite hard into profits at Brazil's four main airlines, with no sign that the worst is over. Varig is blaming the fare wars for its Real $197 million ($168 million) loss reported for the first half year. This is almost triple the figure ...
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Cessna Revision
Cessna has revised phased inspection procedures for the Citation II business jet to simplify maintenance, improve safety and reliability, and reduce operating costs. Similar detailed re-evaluation of inspection requirements is now planned for other members of the Citation family. Source: Flight International
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Healthy future ?
The European regional airline industry has once again beaten all records, with this year's European Regions Airline Association (ERA) meeting in Hanover, Germany, reporting double digit growth in passenger traffic, re-equipment by carriers with new regional jet aircraft and reasonable profit margins. The health of the regionals is traceable ...
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Internet flight tracking prowlers raise hackles at NBAA
Concerns over the publication of business aircraft registration numbers on the Internet have prompted the US Government to intervene, according to the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). "Business aircraft operators, especially those undertaking sensitive missions, are demanding that flight tracking software providers block publication of aircraft registration numbers at ...
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Exploring the Galaxy
Julian Moxon/Tel AVIV Cutaway/John Marsden and Tim Hall The pressure is on at Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) as its business aircraft division works to certificate its latest design by the late December deadline. The on-schedule maiden flight of the third prototype Galaxy on 23 September was a further boost to ...
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Enduring value
The Astra has been a steady, if not stellar, seller since IAI introduced the aircraft in 1985 as a long-range, high-speed, mid-size business jet. The design mated a stretched Westwind II fuselage with a new, low-set, swept wing featuring a cranked leading edge and supercritical aerofoil section. This increased both ...
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Maintenance: Europe and the CIS
Andrew Chuter/London and Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC, Data supplied by Air Transport Intelligence After a Farnborough air show at which airliner sales exceeding $20 billion were announced, any talk of recession seems like scaremongering. But the air transport industry is already bracing itself for the next downturn - the ...
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Cessna takes on Hawker with stretched version of Excel
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Cessna Aircraft is expected to unveil details of a stretched version of the Citation Excel corporate jet at the US National Business Aviation Association convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, in October, which will spearhead its attack on Raytheon's Hawker 800XP and provide a cheaper trade-up option for ...
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Branson seeks US rule changes
Virgin Atlantic chairman Richard Branson has launched a crusade to remove restrictions on foreign ownership of US airlines, so that he can start up a US domestic carrier. Branson visited Washington DC on 24 September to begin lobbying Congress to amend the "antiquated and outmoded" regulations prohibiting foreign ownership ...
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European regionals told to beware of recession
Julian Moxon/HANOVER Despite above average growth and continued strong performance, European regional airlines have been warned to be "very careful" about the effects of a possible recession, according to Mike Ambrose, director general of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA). Speaking at the ERA convention in Hanover, Germany, ...
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Thailand unifies air traffic control
Thailand has handed over complete responsibility for air traffic control services to Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (Aerothai), unifying for the first time coverage of the country's entire flight information (FIR) region and at all 37 civil airports. The decision removes approach and aerodrome control at 31 municipal airports from ...
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Rejuvenating the old
Paul Seidenman/SAN FRANCISCO Despite strong sales of new business jets, many operators are holding on to what they have, spending millions of dollars to update interiors, cockpits and, in some cases, engines to 21st century standards of technology and reliability. Among the most sought-after interior upgrades is a state-of-the-art entertainment ...