All Systems & interiors articles – Page 771
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News
Joining the jet age
Turbofan power is giving the 328 regional airliner a new lease of life Andrew Doyle/OBERPFAFFENHOFENIt is an unconventional way of bringing a regional jet to the marketplace. Fairchild Aerospace has created a capable 30-seat aircraft by re-engining the Dornier 328 turboprop with turbofans. First deliveries of the 328JET were made ...
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Greek minister killed in Falcon 900 flight incident
Greece's deputy foreign minister and five others were killed when the Greek Government-owned Dassault Falcon 900B presidential jet suffered an unexplained flight incident on descent into Bucharest, Romania on 14 September. The Falcon 900 (SX-ECH) descended rapidly from 15,000ft (4,600m) to 2,000ft, where the crew recovered control. Although ...
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Airbus' A3XX economics target 'unachievable', says Boeing
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Boeing has dismissed Airbus Industrie's 15-20% cost saving target for the A3XX over the 747-400 as unachievable. The European consortium claims to be ahead of the targets, as its US rival focuses on cheaper 747-based growth derivatives rather than an all-new design to meet its ...
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Mission possible
EW aircraft, tankers and AWACS turn the impossible into the achievable Stewart Penney/RAF Brize Norton & RAF Waddington DeeDee Doke/Aviano AB & RAF Mildenhall Missions over Iraqi and Yugoslavia would not be possible without force multipliers such as the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), electronic warfare (EW) assets ...
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Parachute deployment cuts short first flight of Helios
NASA and AeroVironment, makers of the huge and unconventional Helios flying wing, are investigating the inadvertent deployment of the flight termination system parachute. It brought to a premature end a successful first flight of Helios at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, California, on 8 September. The 75.3m (247ft)-span ...
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GE Harris signs Comair CRJs for datalink trial
US regional Comair has committed two Canadair Regional Jets (CRJs) to test a high-speed wireless datalink system developed by General Electric-Harris joint venture GE Harris Aviation Information Solutions. GE Harris Aviation's automated On, Off, On, In (OOOI) datalink will be installed on the first CRJ in mid-November. The second ...
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UK approves merger of BAe and MES
The UK Government has approved the merger of British Aerospace and GEC's Marconi Electronic Systems (MES) division, imposing conditions that BAe says are acceptable. The merger will create the world's third largest aerospace player, with a turnover of over $20 billion. Concerns were raised over the merger's impact in ...
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Unmanned alternatives
II(AC) Sqn pilots see unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) as a viable alternative to the manned aircraft for certain missions, particularly suppression of enemy air defences, and because of the political pressure to avoid casualties. A flight commander says the difficulty with UCAVs "is the physical pushing of the button. ...
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Air France closes on new allies
Chris Jasper/LONDON Julian Moxon/PARIS Air France is moving closer to enlisting new airline allies to launch a global grouping alongside Delta Air Lines. Austrian Airlines is thought to be close to defecting from the Swissair-led Qualiflyer alliance and British Midland (BM) is being targeted as part of the recruitment offensive. ...
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Swissair files against IFE firms
Swissair has filed a legal complaint against in-flight entertainment (IFE) system manufacturer Interactive Flight Technologies (IFT) relating to the crash of a Boeing MD-11 last September off the Canadian coast. The carrier says that, while there are "no new findings" on the cause of the accident to flight SR111, ...
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DC-9 detection
Securaplane has received US Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type certification for its wireless smoke detection system on McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s. Arizona-based Securaplane's wireless fire detection system has been cleared for "D" and "E" class lower cargo compartments. Source: Flight International
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BAe to relaunch regional jet family with update of RJ85
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC British Aerospace expects to launch development of the re-engined Avro RJ-X programme with the RJ-85 as a result of stronger market interest in the smallest version of the regional jet family. Two unbuilt RJ airframes have been allocated to the development programme, aircraft serial numbers ...
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ACA orders 328JETS for new subsidiary
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA) Holdings has ordered a further 25 Fairchild Aerospace 328JET regional aircraft to equip a planned new subsidiary carrier to partner Delta Air Lines on north-east USA services. Under a newly concluded 10-year partnership, the new airline will operate as a Delta ...
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Uzbekistan takes first 757-200
Uzbekistan Airways has received the first of two Boeing 757-200s for international scheduled services. The 184-seat aircraft, which includes a 26-seat business-class cabin, will be used on services from Uzbekistan to points in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The new 757-200 joins two 767-300ERs, three Airbus A310s, three Avro ...
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Embraer to develop armed RJ-145 jet
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Embraer plans to develop an armed maritime patrol (MPA) version of its RJ-145 regional jet on the back of an expected launch order from the Mexico for six aircraft. The proposed EMB-145 MPA would be closely modelled on the modified airframe of the remote sensing ...
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Mergers
Thomson-CSF subsidiary Sextant has become the sole owner of in-flight entertainment provider Sextant In-Flight Systems after acquiring the 49% of shares held by B/E Aerospace. Sextant took an initial 51% stake when the joint venture was created in January. The European Commission's review of the proposed AlliedSignal-Honeywell merger has entered ...
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France and UK invite JOANNA proposals
The French and UK ministries of defence have issued an invitation to tender for a fourth generation electro-optical targeting pod technical demonstrator programme (TDP)that could lead to an operational system entering service late in the next decade. The Joint Airborne Navigation and Attack (JOANNA) TDP will be split equally ...
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Safety first
Korean Air is making a concentrated effort to improve safety and save itself from isolation - and possible collapse Andrzej Jeziorski/SEOUL Korean Air (KAL) executives speaking to the press these days face an unusual dilemma: how can an airline confirm, and simultaneously deny, that it has a problem with its ...
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FAA satellite programme investigated
The US General Accounting Office (GAO) has launched a Congressionally requested investigation into the US Federal Aviation Administration's satellite navigation programme following concerns about the agency's plans to move from a ground-based to a satellite-based navigation system. The GAO expects to report next spring. The study follows an investigation ...
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R-R grapples with European Trent overhaul strategy
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Rolls-Royce (R-R) has failed to reach agreement with SAirGroup maintenance unit SR Technics over the structure of their proposed Trent engine overhaul joint venture, despite a year of talks on the scheme. Lufthansa Technik, having pondered participation in the venture, is no longer involved in the discussions. ...