All Systems & interiors articles – Page 884
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News
Dragon Fly receives Italian certification
THE DRAGON Fly Model 333 two-seat helicopter received type certification from the Italian civil-aviation authority in June. The helicopter was developed by brothers Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni, founders and owners of Dragon Fly. The Gobler-Hirth F-330A26AK single-engined (two-stroke piston) helicopter is built with a titanium frame and a glassfibre-reinforced plastic ...
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Small business
IAI's Amos communications satellite is attracting customers from outside Israel. Arie Egozi/TEL AVIV THE SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH of the Amos 1 communications satellite on 16 May has proved to be the trigger for a major effort to turn Israel's space capability into a profitable business. Israel ...
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Sky balance
EVER SINCE taking up the post of European transport commissioner, Neil Kinnock has been itching to take on responsibility for global air-traffic agreements between Europe and third countries. At last he appears to be making progress. In June, Europe's air-transport ministers agreed to let Kinnock open talks ...
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Scientists work on software to help damaged aircraft land
Andrew Doyle/LONDON Aircraft, which suffer major equipment failures or explosions, could be landed safely using software developed jointly at NASA Ames Research Center and McDonnell Douglas (MDC). The new research envisages that in less than 1s a damaged aircraft's computers would be able to "relearn" ...
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Airbus tackles A320 pilot shortage
Andrew Doyle/LONDON AN AIRBUS INDUSTRIE pilot team is attempting to improve the utilisation rate of Indian Airlines' A320 fleet. The team, which consists of Airbus training captains and airline check-pilots, has been dispatched to the airline in an effort to help it overcome a shortage ...
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Saab improves 2000 dispatch reliability
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH SAAB AIRCRAFT is modifying the Saab 2000 turboprop to overcome dispatch-reliability problems, which afflicted the fleets of Deutsche BA and Crossair during the European winter. According to Saab operations chief Johan Oster, the aircraft is now operating at close to its target of 99% ...
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Satellite navigation
A multi-national study team has been formed by Indonesia to look at the resources required to develop satellite navigation in South-East Asia. Called the Aeronautic Navigation Satellite System, the programme includes the investigation of requirements to provide Category III precision approaches to International Civil Aviation Organisation standards. The study team ...
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Looking at the overcharging issue
Sir - I refer to the letter "CAA licence to overcharge is simply not on" (Flight International, 19-25 June, P39). While I commiserate with David Leggett, he may be getting off lightly. Like some engineers, many UK aircrew look to the US Federal Aviation Administration for fairness when ...
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Means to an end
IT WOULD BE EASY to assume from recent events on both sides of the Atlantic that the ultimate power of airline regulation has passed from the hands of the professional, independent, regulatory authorities to a rag-bag of customers, self-interest groups, the media, local politicians and the airlines themselves. In some ...
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Cycles in the sky
The aviation-industry recovery is in full swing, but economists are even now forecasting when the next downturn will occur Kevin O'Toole/LONDON IN GERMANY THEY CALL it the pig cycle. When pork prices rise, farmers pile into the market to cash in on the boom, only to find ...
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In the cabin
The initial impression upon entering the passenger cabin is, frankly, that it is cramped - because of the constraints placed upon its design by the small 2.10m fuselage cross-section. Its appeal grows upon longer acquaintance. It is pleasantly light, with a window for each seat-row. The maximum headroom in the ...
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IFE market starts to come right for BEA
BE AEROSPACE (BEA) claims that the long-awaited upturn in its fortunes is at last in sight, after returning a modest $1.4 million profit for the first quarter - the group's best quarterly performance in two years. A year ago, the cabin-equipment group had posted a loss of $33 million as ...
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ATC data
MCI is to build and operate a nationwide satellite-communications network designed to transfer radar information and computer, navigational and weather data among air-traffic-control centres under a $165 million ten-year contract from the US Federal Aviation Administration. The telecommunications firm had previously won a contract to construct a nationwide, private-communications network ...
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Basic appeal
The EMB-145 is not an innovative aircraft, but Embraer's attention to basics makes it pleasant to fly. Peter Henley/SAO JOSE EMBRAER, IT SEEMS, could not be launching its EMB-145 50-seater at the world's commuter-airline market at a better time. Delays to the programme arising from its privatisation and ...
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Adding weight
Australian national carrier Qantas has lifted the maximum take-off weight of three of its Boeing 767-300s by 12t, to 185t, and has also added 12t to the payload of three of its Boeing 747-200s by reducing their operating empty weights. The 767 re-certification improves operational flexibility on key Asian routes ...
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IAI makes plans to convert KLM Boeing 747s SUDs
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON THE BEDEK Aviation Division of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) is about to sign a contract with KLM for the conversion of two Boeing 747-200 stretched upper deck (SUD) combis to full freighter configuration. The Netherlands airline has signed a letter of intent, and ...
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Fokker studies F28 re-engineing proposal
FOKKER AVIATION is studying a possible re-engineing programme for ageing F28s, replacing the type's Rolls-Royce Speys with General Electric CF34s or with R-R Tays. Over 200 F28s are still flying and at least one operator, Scandinavian Airlines System, has already invested in Fokker 70-style cabin upgrades for ...
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IPTN sets target for N270's first flight
INDUSTRI PESAWAT Nusantara Terbang (IPTN) hopes to fly the first of three stretched N270 prototypes, designed specifically for use in the North American market, by late 1998. Louis Harrington, president of IPTN's American Regional Aircraft Industry (AMRAI) joint venture says that a 12-month flight-test and certification programme ...
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IPTN considers fate of 80-seat regional N2130
INDUSTRI PESAWAT Nusantara Terbang (IPTN) will decide by the end of the year whether to drop an 80-seat version of the planned N2130 regional-jet family. The Indonesian manufacturer had intended developing three versions of the aircraft, ranging from 80 to 130 seats. Consultation with international and domestic ...
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Poisoned pals?
Alliances are firmly established as components of the airline industry, but the seven-year relationship between KLM and Northwest Airlines - long considered the world's most successful airline partnership - appears to be coming apart at the seams. Mead Jennings looks at the history of the conflict and its implications ...