Systems & interiors – Page 749
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News
Carriers queue for La Guardia
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines are moving quickly to claim additional slots promised for regional services at New York's La Guardia Airport as the result of newly approved Congressional legislation. Contained in the US Federal Aviation Administration reauthorisation Bill is a provision to grant ...
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News
Zvezda is cleared for launch despite poor safety levels
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA has cleared the launch in July of the Russian Zvezda service module for the International Space Station (ISS), despite US concerns about the failure of the Zvezda and Zarya modules to meet NASA safety standards, such as noise levels and pressurisation integrity. NASA says it ...
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Investigators throw light on MD-11 crash cause
Canadian accident investigators are again sifting the wreckage of the Swissair Boeing MD-11 Flight No SR111 to check whether cockpit map reading lights could have been the ignition source for the fire which brought down the aircraft, flying from New York to Geneva off Nova Scotia in September 1998. ...
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Lockheed Martin forms GPS company
Lockheed Martin has formed a new company, Synchronetics, to provide regional augmentation of the global positioning system (GPS). It plans to operate ground- and space-based augmentation systems that allow GPS to be used for air navigation. Initially, Synchronetics is targeting South America, says Dan Brophy, director of navigation services ...
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News
WAAS guides FAA to new approach
The US Federal Aviation Administration plans new categories of approach guidance based on the expected performance of the wide area augmentation system (WAAS). Details revealed at the WAAS users' summit in mid-March suggest the new levels will provide increased operational benefit earlier than expected. The FAA told users that ...
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News
Delta discusses CRJ order with Bombardier
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Delta Air Lines is discussing a major new order for the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) series and is studying a longer-term requirement for a larger 110-seat class aircraft. Industry sources say the Atlanta, Georgia-based carrier is in talks with Bombardier to order a substantial ...
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News
Performance snags delay first 728JET delivery to Lufthansa
Fairchild Aerospace has slipped 728JET development by six months because the 70-85-seat regional jet's performance would have failed to meet the requirements of launch customer Lufthansa CityLine. The US manufacturer claimed at the February Asian Aerospace 2000 air show in Singapore that the primary driver behind the decision to ...
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Japan's BK117 C-2 prototype flies at Gifu
Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has successfully flown the first Japanese-built prototype BK117 C-2 medium-twin-turbine helicopter at its Gifu plant. First flight was on 15 March, for about 1h, says Masato Furusawa, KHI's senior manager of helicopter project engineering. The prototype hovered and demonstrated forward, reverse and sideways flight and ...
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News
Aviation industry unites on frequency protection issue
Emma Kelly/LONDON The aviation industry has developed a unanimous position on the protection of its radio frequencies, says John White, director of the Infrastructure Support Group at the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The decision precedes May's International Telecommunication Union World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC). IATA and the International Civil ...
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News
Nav Canada aims for North Atlantic ADS datalink trials
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Nav Canada hopes to begin full operational trials with automatic dependence surveillance (ADS) over the North Atlantic in early May, followed by controller-pilot datalink communications (CPDLC), with the upgrade of its Gander Automated Air Traffic Control System. "We are targeting being operational on 7 May. ...
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777-200ER takes polar route to Asia
American Airlines has flown a Boeing 777-200ER twinjet over the North Pole from North America to Asia for the first time, demonstrating wider applications for the new route and strengthening its bid for services to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The American flight from Chicago to Hong Kong was ...
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Slow service take-up hits Globalstar/Iridium
Loral Space and Communications is considering selling all or part of its 45% stake in the Globalstar worldwide mobile-communications satellite system following slower than expected sales of the telephone service. Meanwhile, Iridium prime investor Motorola has notified customers of its worldwide satellite mobile-telephone and paging services that it will ...
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People
Gareth Kirkwood, managing director (MD) of British Airways subsidiary Brymon Airways, has been appointed MD of British Airways World Cargo. Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems sector has appointed four new vice-presidents (VPs): Donald Wilhelm - airspace management systems, George Perkins - space systems, James Armitage - engineering, Baltimore operations ...
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Smiths identifies purchases as way ahead for expansion
Chris Jasper/LONDON Smiths Industries says limited opportunities for mergers in the avionics sector mean the growth of its aerospace business is likely to be achieved by expanding its burgeoning control systems interests through more bolt-on acquisitions funded by a £750 million ($1.2 billion) war chest. The UK company says ...
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News
Frequency wars
At last, the aviation industry has woken up to the fact that it no longer has a birthright to all of the radio frequencies it had assumed belonged to it forever. Radio frequencies are valuable commodities, especially to mobile satellite service (MSS) companies, keen to expand their services and profits ...
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News
Airbus begins A3XX proposal process
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Julian Moxon/PARIS Chris Jasper/LONDON Airbus Industrie has begun submitting proposals to airlines it regards as key potential customers for the A3XX as it bids to rack up sufficient commitments for the 480-660 seat family to be launched later this year. Unofficial agreement has been reached on assembly ...
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Mergers
Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications expects to complete its merger with Comsat early in the third quarter, after the US Congress approved satellite communications reform legislation that clears the way for the privatisation of the Intelsat and Inmarsat satellite networks. The legislation allows US customers to bypass Comsat, which controls access ...
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News
FANS-A datalink tested on A340-300
Airbus Industrie's A340-300 testbed has demonstrated datalink communications between pilot and air traffic controllers as part of round-the-world trials of Airbus' FANS-A (future air navigation system) avionics (Flight International, 8-14 September, 1999). The aircraft features an air traffic services unit manufactured by Aerospatiale Matra Aerospace Airbus, Smiths Industries' digital ...
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Aeronavali looks beyond MDC and targets 767s and ATRs for conversion
Andy Nativi/GENOA Aeronavali is expanding its freighter conversion business beyond the McDonnell Douglas (MDC) DC-10, with plans to add the Boeing 767 widebody and ATR turboprop to its portfolio. The company, a division of Italian aerospace giant Alenia Aerospazio/Finmeccanica, had long-term links with MDC and holds exclusive original equipment ...
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News
Rockwell venture makes News
Emma Kelly/LONDON Rockwell Collins has formed a joint venture with media giant News Corporation in the latest stage of the avionics manufacturer's continuing move towards providing equipment and services for the passenger cabin. The partners' In Flight Network (IFN) joint venture is designed to provide airline passengers with the latest ...