Systems & interiors – Page 891
-
News
FANS will ease Calcutta chaos
Paul Phelan/CAIRNS DRAMATIC TRAFFIC flow improvements, for aircraft over-flying the Calcutta area of India, are expected by September of this year. A new future air navigation systems (FANS) route for Boeing 747-400s across the country and the Bay of Bengal will ease chronic peak-hour congestion. ...
-
News
GEC-Marconi hit by IFE lawsuit as United sues for contract breach
Kieran Daly/LONDON GEC's in-flight entertainment (IFE) unit is paying a hefty price for system deficiencies. Launch customer United Airlines is to sue for alleged breach of contract, and it is unclear whether the system remains on Boeing's list of approved 777 equipment. GEC-Marconi InFlight Systems ...
-
News
Smooth stretch
Bell's 430 twin-engined helicopter looks sleek and provided a smooth flight in our test Peter Gray/SINGAPORE FIRST CAME THE Bell 222 intermediate weight, twin-engined, two-bladed, commercial helicopter in 1979, with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 3,570kg, rising to 3,750kg, and the first aircraft to be certificated ...
-
News
Failure scenarios
China Great Wall Industry has identified four possible reasons for the failure of the inertial-guidance platform of the first Long March 3B booster which was destroyed moments after launch on 14 February. They are a broken wire leading to the torque motor, a blockage in the interior of the unit, ...
-
News
Saudi selection
Saudi Arabian Airlines has selected Honeywell/Racal multi-channel satellite-communications systems for 23 Boeing 777s, five 747-400s, 29 McDonnell Douglas MD-90s and four MD-11s on order. The systems will provide cockpit and cabin communications. Source: Flight International
-
News
First replacement GPS satellite launched
McDONNELL DOUGLAS (MDC) launched the first replacement Navstar global-positioning satellite (GPS) into orbit aboard a Delta 2 from Cape Canaveral in Florida on 27 March. The launch demonstrated MDC's capability to support the 24-satellite operational constellation which could become an industry-standard for air navigation and other civilian applications, ...
-
News
In-flight disruption
CAPT BILL ARCHER, chairman of the British Airline Pilots Association, addressed the conference on an undesirable consequence of modern passenger services and cabin in-flight entertainment systems. These systems are complex and so far do not have a good enough record of in-flight serviceability. Since passengers have come to ...
-
News
Deutsche BA suspends deliveries of Saab 2000
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH DEUTSCHE BA HAS suspended further Saab 2000 deliveries to its fleet, after both it and Swiss carrier Crossair were hit by poor dispatch reliability during the harsh European winter. The main problems were brake icing and the ingestion of de-icing fluid by the ...
-
News
Going up market
Russia's Orient Avia is getting the best out of its Ilyushin Il-62 airliners. Paul Duffy/MOSCOW THE COMMONLY HELD belief that Russian and ex-Soviet civil aircraft are not able to achieve the high utilisation levels of Western airliners has been challenged by the experience of Orient ...
-
News
Pilot worries
Not enough of it, sometimes too much of it - pilots remain concerned about technology. Harry Hopkins/DUBLIN AIRLINE PILOTS have issued strong warnings about the premature use of new technology in air-traffic operations, but the absence of technology troubles them as well, it emerged at the annual ...
-
News
PTI's infra-red system de-ices 727 in 6min
A RADIANT ENERGY de-icing system has been demonstrated to airlines, airports and regulatory authorities at Rochester in New York. The InfraTek system developed by Process Technologies (PTI) burns low-cost natural gas to generate focused infra-red energy which melts the ice and dries the aircraft without damaging the surface or heating ...
-
News
Cracked glass
Designers of future flight decks have to correct the mistakes made in today's "glass cockpits". David Learmount/LONDON TODAY'S "GLASS COCKPITS" are designed, using a flawed concept and are causing pilots to make mistakes, which they have never made before, according to recent research. Yet flight decks of ...
-
News
Through the looking glass
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL and Airbus Industrie have developed a "glass-cockpit CRM" [cockpit-resource management] course which is part of the A320 type-conversion training provided by Airbus for customers. In designing the specialist training, the two companies have identified factors, or training needs, which are unique to cockpits with sophisticated flight-management systems (FMS). ...
-
News
Helipro Shortsky enters service
HELIPRO International's shortened Sikorsky S-61 "Shortsky" has entered heli-logging service with two Canadian operators. The first aircraft, a converted S-61N, entered service with VIH Logging on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in mid-March, just a month after the type's first flight (Flight International, 28 February-5 March, P9). ...
-
News
Dassault tackles cabin noise with seat system
Andrew Doyle/PARIS AN INDIVIDUAL SEAT-based active noise-cancellation system for airliners, which eliminates the need for complex acoustic modeling of the cabin, is now under development by French companies Dassault Electronique and Technofirst. The active-noise controller for aircraft seat (ANCAS) system consists of an electronic controller ...
-
News
Otam? Oh, that Otam...
It is hard not to view the recently signed US-Germany open skies agreement as an example of high German engineering. Like all good designs, it is the details that reveal the craftsmanship. In this case, where most see an agreement between two countries, German air transport officials have designed a ...
-
News
Aiming high
Asiana's president has ambitious plans for the young carrier, which is now among the world's 50 most profitable. Richard Whitaker reports. Sam Koo Park, president of Asiana Airlines, does not pull his punches. 'Will you take an old airplane?' asked a recent round of advertisements. 'Do you want to receive ...
-
News
Common factors
Should airlines standardise their fleets or not? In today's economic climate, the answer is often based on how long a carrier is willing to wait in order to reap significant financial gains. By Sean Broderick.By New Year's Day 2000, Delta Air Lines will be in a position it has not ...
-
News
Can you do IT better?
The quest for greater efficiency and financial benefits is driving carriers to outsource their information technology services. Carlos de Pommes and Steve Geller detail the benefits and potential pitfalls. As airlines dig more deeply to uncover efficiency improvements, the restructuring of information technology departments is being reviewed with greater vigour. ...
-
News
Wish you were here
A plethora of low fare airlines has invaded Florida, an aviation market that traditionally serves low yield leisure traffic. Mead Jennings considers what this means for competition - both in and out of the state. Bloodbath is not a term most people associate with Florida, the US's self-proclaimed sunshine state. ...