All Systems & interiors articles – Page 869
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News
Bell begins assembly of new 427 light twin
BELL HAS BEGUN major assembly of the first prototype Model 427 light twin-turbine helicopter. The aircraft is to be flown at Bell's Canadian commercial-helicopter plant in December 1997. Two prototypes are planned and simultaneous Canadian, European and US certification is scheduled for December 1998. The first production 427 ...
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Cathay will launch FANS 747 flights by year's end
Cathay Pacific Airways plans to finish equipping its entire fleet of Boeing 747-400s with future-air-navigation system (FANS-1) equipment by March and hopes to be operating on the first communications, navigation and surveillance/air-traffic-management (CNS/ATM) route across the northern Pacific Ocean by the end of the year. The Hong Kong ...
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MDC lines up MD-80 freighters
McDonnell Douglas (MDC) has had "informal" talks with China Eastern Airlines about the setting up of a cargo-modification line for MD-80s in Asia, and particularly China. Although freighter versions of the DC-9 were built, MDC has never delivered a main-deck cargo-door-equipped MD-80. The talks are believed to have ...
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The big issue
BOEING'S REVELATION that it will not be competing in the very-large-airliner market with a derivative of the 747, thus apparently leaving Airbus Industrie's A3XX with a clear run, has certainly raised more questions than answers. While attention has focused on Boeing's doubts about lack of "sufficient market demand" ...
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Sabena denies Swissair rumours
Sabena chief executive Paul Reutlinger has denied growing speculation that Swissair is preparing to pull out from the alliance with its struggling Belgian partner if the carrier's unions fail to agree on new working conditions and wage structures. Rumours of a possible pull-out were revived by confirmation that ...
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New Piper launches Seneca V
TWO YEARS AFTER starting work on the aircraft, New Piper Aircraft has unveiled its Seneca V cabin-class piston twin, its first new product since emerging from the bankruptcy of the former Piper Aircraft (Flight International, 8-14 January). "We look at the Seneca V as a dual-purpose aircraft, with ...
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MDC goes digital
McDonnell Douglas has selected Avtech to supply a digitally controlled audio system for the MD-95 100-seat airliner. The system manages flightdeck communications and uses a databus to connect the audio control panels to the remotely mounted audio management unit. Source: Flight International
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Japanese airlines finalise low-cost plans
Japan Air System (JAS) and Japan Airlines (JAL) are planning to incorporate new low-cost subsidiary carriers shortly, in the face of growing domestic liberalisation and the entry of new competing start-up airlines. JAS also announced that its new subsidiary operation, Harlequin Air, was to have been established on ...
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Rockwell-Collins wins tilt-rotor avionics
BELL BOEING HAS selected Rockwell-Collins to supply avionics for its Model 609 civil tilt-rotor. The team has chosen Collins' Pro Line 21 integrated digital avionics, already selected for Raytheon's Premier 1 business jet. The cockpit of the six- to nine-passenger 609 will have three 250 x 200mm, liquid-crystal ...
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UK ignores EC warning on BA
The UK Government has brushed aside warnings from the European Commission (EC) that it could be taken to court if it approves the proposed British Airways alliance with American Airlines, without imposing tougher conditions to ensure transatlantic competition. The spat has also exposed more fundamental legal questions over the extent ...
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Building for the future
In the race to WIN what promises to be one of the world's largest air-transport markets in the 21st century, aircraft manufacturers in recent years have been busy beating a path to Beijing bearing all manner of industrial and infrastructural inducements. Airbus Industrie is about to take the wraps of ...
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Competing powers
"The EC competition commissioner's interest in the BA/AA alliance is curious - the competition department has failed to involve itself in more significant airline competition issues." By seeking to stamp his authority on the proposed alliance between British Airways and American Airlines, the European Commission (EC) competition commissioner, ...
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Infracstructure deterrent to growth
Lack of infrastructure could be an important deterrent to growth unless a rapid and comprehensive expansion of airports and air-traffic- control equipment is put in place. Air Transport Action Group director Thomas Windmuller, speaking recently at a conference in Bangalore on infrastructure, said that at least $5 billion is expected ...
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Reaching for free flight
Forecasts of extraordinary growth in civil air traffic have become commonplace. The details vary, but a projected doubling of traffic by 2010 and a tripling by 2020 are widely accepted. There is just one problem - those numbers are not feasible, given the existing operational infrastructure. The problem is worst ...
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Message to Saturn
The European Space Agency (ESA) is inviting members of the European public to write and sign short personal messages for a CD-ROM to be fitted to the Huygens probe scheduled to be flown towards the planet Saturn in October and land on the ringed-planet's moon, Titan, in 2002. ...
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IASL installs EFIS
International Aviation Services (IASL) is undertaking a major overhaul and upgrade of an ex-airline Boeing 747SP for an undisclosed Middle-Eastern head-of-state customer. The work includes the installation of a five-tube Honeywell EFIS-85 electronic flight instrumentation system (EFIS), dual navigation-management systems, dual global-positioning system and satellite communications. The supplemental type certificate ...
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Airbus closes in on AE-100 development agreement
Airbus Industrie is expected to announce shortly its team to head Europe's participation in the joint development of the proposed Air Express AE-100 regional passenger aircraft in partnership with China and Singapore. The new Airbus team will assume responsibility for the programme from Aero International (Regional) (AI(R)), which ...
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Fokker will make selection of F28 retrofit engine in February
Plans to launch a re-engineing programme for the Fokker F28 Fellowship are gathering momentum, with a final engine selection expected in February. Programme partners Fokker Services and Perry Group plan a launch decision in April, depending on market response. Lion Boenders, product marketing manager at Woensdrecht, Holland-based Fokker ...
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Airbus issues hydraulic pump warning after A330/340 fires
Airbus Industrie has instructed all A330 and A340 operators to de-activate the aircraft's electrically driven hydraulic pumps, following a series of fires which has left at least two aircraft badly damaged. In the latest incident, an auxiliary pump is suspected of having overheated on a Malaysia Airlines (MAS)A330-300 ...
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Augsburg considers expansion with Dash 8-400
Augsburg Airways, which recently became the first "Team Lufthansa" franchise partner, is considering further fleet expansion with the de Havilland Dash 8-400. While no firm purchase decision has been taken, the southern Germany-based regional airline says that its partnership with Lufthansa opens the possibility of future operations on ...