Systems & interiors – Page 806

  • News

    Simulated hell

    1998-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Peter Gray/FORT WORTH and WEST PALM BEACH It was a dark and stormy night. I was in the jump seat of a Sikorsky S-61N helicopter. We were in the cruise and all was well. Suddenly, all hell broke loose. One engine ran up quickly and went slightly over the ...

  • News

    Messier-Dowty plans giant drop rig

    1998-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Messier-Dowty, now wholly owned by Snecma, is to build Europe's largest landing gear drop test rig. The MEGA (Machine d'Essais pour Grands Atterrisseurs) is a $3 million project to assemble the rig in Toulouse. Entry into service is scheduled for early 2000. The rig will be sited at the ...

  • News

    Customers prompt 90-seat proposal

    1998-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Bombardier is preparing to launch a 90-seat regional jet before its 70-seat contender has even flown because "...our customers are telling us they want such an aircraft," says chairman Laurent Beaudoin. "If we could have delayed them, we would, but they say they want a 90-seater." The company says it ...

  • News

    ATR and Embraer to decide on 70 seater by year-end

    1998-09-16T00:00:00Z

    ATR and Embraer expect to decide by the end of the year whether to launch new 70-seat size regional jet developments. At the same time, the companies are continuing to seek partners and jointly discuss a possible collaborative programme in what is fast becoming an overcrowded market. The Brazilian ...

  • News

    Three more customers for Honeywell Pegasus system

    1998-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Honeywell has added Austrian Airlines, Sabena and Swissair to its growing list of Pegasus Flight Management System (FMS) customers. The systems will be fitted to their Airbus fleets, bringing the number of companies choosing Pegasus to more than 30. The system provides airlines with new capabilities to take ...

  • News

    survey reveals harsh realities of marketplace

    1998-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Alan Dron If you want to be an airline pilot, don't bother with university. And if you do make it into a cockpit, there is a 33% chance of being unemployed at some time in a given five-year timespan, with the average fallow period being one year. These ...

  • News

    Design review planned in prop development

    1998-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Once Farnborough's out of the way, American company Hamilton Standard will be conducting a critical design review of its NP2000 propeller development programme with representatives from the US Navy, Northrop Grumman and Allison. The US Navy has selected the NP2000 for its E-2C Hawkeye and C-2A Greyhound aircraft. The ...

  • News

    Delta to offer one premium class on long-haul flights

    1998-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Delta Air Lines plans to replace its existing intercontinental first- and business-class service with "new, premium two-class service" in the spring of 1999. The new in-flight cabin service product will replace the two premium classes that Delta offers today on long-haul services with one. The marketing effort will include ...

  • News

    GPS suppliers set to tackle security

    1998-09-11T00:00:00Z

    Steve Nichols How secure is satellite navigation? The US Global Positioning System (GPS) has 24 satellites - 21 active and three spare - orbiting the earth in just under 12 hours. A basic GPS receiver usually needs to "see" at least four to plot position and altitude ...

  • News

    THY orders 737-800 full-flight simulator

    1998-09-11T00:00:00Z

    THY Turkish Airlines has ordered a Boeing 737-800 full-flight simulator (FFS) from CAE Electronics. The simulator is to be delivered late next year and installed at the national carrier's flight training centre in Istanbul. The sale is CAE's first to THY, which has also ordered a computer-based Next Generation 737 ...

  • News

    Lord system cuts 70% of noise

    1998-09-10T08:24:00Z

    Lord Corporation's active noise and vibration control system, which it calls NVX, has received FAA certification for both DC-9 and MD-80 aircraft. The system features a new actuator design with a reduction in power requirements - down to 300 watts. Programme manager Becky Weih says it is also simpler to ...

  • News

    Air con system ready for flight test

    1998-09-10T08:20:00Z

    Microtecnica of Italy has delivered its first vapour cycle air conditioning system to Sikorsky for flight testing on the new S-92 Helibus. First flight with the system is scheduled for later this year with system qualification testing to be completed by the end of 1999. The system provides ...

  • News

    Laptop link-up

    1998-09-10T08:19:00Z

    Businessmen planning to work while they travel no longer need to carry a spare laptop battery, thanks to a collaboration between Primex Aerospace and Airline Interiors, both part of the Simula group. The two companies have developed a system called Empower which allows passengers to connect their laptops to ...

  • News

    Europeans team to challenge Jeppesen dominance

    1998-09-10T00:00:00Z

    The specialised world of flight planning and documentation, long dominated by US giant Jeppesen, is set for its biggest shake-up ever through the formation of an alliance of three of Europe's key players in the field. Lufthansa Group's Lido unit, SAS Flight Support (SASFS), and Air France Aeronautical are ...

  • News

    Fairchild introduces 728JET suppliers

    1998-09-10T00:00:00Z

    Mark Hannant The next stage of Fairchild Aerospace's programme to build the 728JET family of regional jets was announced at the show yesterday as the company introduced the system suppliers it has chosen for the project. As announced last month, General Electric will provide CF34-8D engines incorporating a ...

  • News

    Unison president Sontag likes a market challenge

    1998-09-10T00:00:00Z

    Steve Nichols It's not often you get to meet a true entrepreneur, but if anyone deserves the title, Fred Sontag, president of Unison does. His company is the number one manufacturer of electrical devices for aero engines, with sales of more than $150 million. But it's how the ...

  • News

    Matsushita links with Honeywell in key IFE move

    1998-09-10T00:00:00Z

    In-flight entertainment (IFE) market-leader Matsushita Avionics Systems (MASC) is to team with Honeywell in a move which promises to alter the evolution of the industry significantly. The agreement marries MASC's leading-edge expertise in creating interactive IFE software operating platforms with Honeywell's communications and data-management skills. It is set ...

  • News

    Pascall harnesses meteors for backup link

    1998-09-10T00:00:00Z

    What do you do if your communications satellite malfunctions and HF links fail you too? According to Pascall (Hall 4/G5) you use meteors! Using reflections from trails of gas, caused by meteorites entering the earth's atmosphere, it's possible to establish two-way VHF communications over quite long path lengths. ...

  • News

    Swissair pioneers data-handling with Honeywell

    1998-09-10T00:00:00Z

    Swissair and Honeywell will later this year begin trials of new avionics designed to ease the flow of cockpit and cabin data on and off aircraft. Honeywell will fit its Total Aircraft Information System (TAIS) in a single Airbus A321 as part of a collaborative project called SkyLink to ...

  • News

    Boeing does not believe that Y2K problems will be as bad as first thought

    1998-09-09T16:51:00Z

    Guy Norris/Seattle   The year 2000 software nightmare scenario is like something from the 1951 science fiction classic The Day The Earth Stood Still in which an omnipotent alien paralyses the world by shutting down every electrically operated device for an hour.   If Boeing is right, nothing like ...