All General aviation articles – Page 594
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The single life
No unmanageable surprises await the pilot on Cessna's Bravo light twinjet Paul Phelan/Cairns Cessna's Bravo, a significant upgrade of its Citation II, has been developed with the goals of keeping systems simple, flying characteristics as manageable as those of its piston and turboprop predecessors, and prices competitive with those ...
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The race is on for Italy's Piaggio
The two competing finalists in the race to buy troubled Italian aircraft manufacturer Piaggio have disclosed the content of their offers. Turkey's Tsuhav, which has joined forces with two foreign investors, is offering around L70 billion ($40 million) for the Genoa-based company and will retain the aerostructures, engine and ...
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Indonesia tries to rescue Malaysian IPTN deal
Indonesia and Malaysia are trying to resolve financial and certification issues that have threatened to derail the delivery of six IPTN CN-235 tactical transport aircraft for the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The Malaysian defence ministry has been re-examining its planned acquisition of the aircraft in the light of its ...
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Morane Renault's diesel engine goes into certification phase
Julian Moxon/Paris Technology validation of the new four cylinder light aircraft diesel engine, under development by Morane Renault, has been completed. "We're moving into the certification phase now," says programme manager Luc Pelon. The 150kW (200hp) MR200 engine, flying aboard a Socata TB20 Trinidad, has recently been taken ...
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Ministers approve European safety authority
A European safety authority could be set up within 18 months following an agreement by 15 European Union transport ministers on 18 June to establish a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Membership of the agency will initially be open to all 27 members of the European Joint Aviation Authorities. ...
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Engine pooling concept targets airline costs
Guy Norris/SAN DIEGO Shannon Engine Support (SES), an Irish-based company specialising in supporting the CFM International CFM56-3, is promoting a concept in which airlines will club together to create a pool of spare engines. The initiative has been prompted by estimates that the industry will have to spend $30 ...
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Cargo was misloaded on Fine Air fatal crash DC-8, says the NTSB
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says the fatal crash of a Fine Air McDonnell Douglas DC-8 freighter at Miami International on 7 August last year was due to misloading of cargo that escaped the attention of the US all-cargo carrier and the Federal Aviation Administration. Investigators say ...
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Maverick begins production of Twinjet 1200
Production has started on the Maverick Air Twinjet 1200 five seat business jet, which will be available in kit and factory built versions. "We are now assembling the first production kit plane, which we hope will be available by August," says Maverick owner and president Bob Bornhofen. The ...
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CAG secures its first order for Y-12 Twin Panda
Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing will deliver its first Y-12(IV) Twin Panda turboprop airframe to the Canadian Aerospace Group (CAG) in August for final completion and supplementary type certification, before delivery to a US customer in March 1999. CAG says it has secured the first order for two Y-12s from an ...
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IPTN looks for international backing for delayed N250-100
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE IPTN has been forced to delay scheduled certification of the N250-100 until late 2000, as the Indonesian company seeks international support for the twin turboprop programme and the planned follow-on N2130 jet development. IPTN vice-president Ilham Habibie, speaking exclusively to Flight International, states: "We're no longer ...
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Galaxy certification
Galaxy Aerospace has gained US Federal Aviation Administration approval for a service bulletin outlining the steps required to certify the Astra SPX business jet for reduced vertical separation minima operations. The aircraft will require modifications to the air data computers and, possibly, the static system. Source: Flight International
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New finance programmes developed for Cessna singles
Cessna Finance (CFC) has developed a new set of finance programmes to help boost slower than expected sales of the recently relaunched Cessna single products, including the 172R Skyhawk, 172S Skyhawk SP, 182 Skylane and 206/T206 Stationairs. CFC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Textron Financial, has developed the packages to ...
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New-entrant blues
Dave Higdon/WITCHITA, KANSAS It IS a long, arduous path from membership of the kitplane-producing community to becoming a certificate-holding member of the production-aircraft industry and not one of the three US companies travelling the route has actually reached its goal - yet. Although all three companies started their aircraft development ...
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Star Alliance members join forces for spare parts pact
Air Canada, Lufthansa and United Airlines, three founder members of the Star Alliance, have joined forces to buy and sell aircraft materials in the secondary spare parts market. The new joint venture company, AirLiance Materials, is expected to start operations later this year. It has appointed David Sisson as ...
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Mooney rationalisation will centre on longer airframe
Mooney Aircraft is to halt production of its M20J Allegro light aircraft and batch-produce the M20K Encore in a move to rationalise its product line. The Kerrville, Texas-based company is to base production around the longer airframe used for the M20R Ovation and M20M Bravo. Production of the Allegro, ...
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Xian signs Y-7 deals with five Chinese domestic airlines
Xian Aircraft (XAC) has signed initial sales agreements with five domestic airlines for 11 Y-7-200A passenger aircraft, following recent Chinese airworthiness certification of the improved twin-turboprop development. China's Changan Airlines, Guizhou Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Swan Airlines, and Zhongyuan Airlines have each signed letters of intent to take two to ...
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Cirrus SR20 flies closer towards certification
Cirrus Design flew its production prototype SR20 single-engined light aircraft on 3 June and is now hoping to receive US certification by the end of this year. The second and final prototype (C2), which will be the primary aircraft for testing the fuel, avionics and electrical systems, reached 135kt ...
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New Piper investor
US finance company American Capital Strategies has invested $20 million in privately held New Piper Aircraft. American Capital bid competitively to provide the funds, which will be used for growth plans. Source: Flight International
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Safer skies
Kevin O'Toole/JOHANNESBURG Fears about air safety over Africa are not new, but a year ago the issue hit the headlines worldwide, following pilot complaints that air traffic control (ATC) was either inadequate or simply absent over much of the continent. An image painted by the media was one ...
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Mobile simulators gather momentum
The first mobile commercial flight simulator could gain US Federal Aviation Administration approval by mid-June. TechniFlite's Mobile Training Facility (MTF) is a tractor-trailer housing a full flight simulator for the Raytheon Beech 1900D regional airliner. The company will base the MTF at its Englewood, Colorado, factory for Great Lakes ...