Year: 1990

10 Years Ago • Ansett Airlines has announced the selection of the General Electric CF6-80A as the powerplant for its five Boeing 767s to be delivered from October 1982. • TAA has established new traffic records during its 1979/80 financial year. It became the first Australian airline to carry over 5 million passengers when a

In recent years, the Royal Australian Air Force has faced serious personnel problems, with significant numbers resigning in favour of civil careers. Only now is the strategy to retain experienced personnel and recruit replacements beginning to pay off. Prior to 1986, the RAAF had a pilot resignation rate of just 53 pilots per year. This

Aeritalia/Aerospatiale ATR72 First flown in October 1988, the ATR72 has in only a short period of time proven itself to be a serious contender in the regional airliner market. Basically astretched version of the already successful ATR42, it is aimed at the developing 50-70 seat market now opening up, especially in North America and Europe,

Airbus Expects No Fault in Bangalore Crash When Indian Airlines A320-231 VT-EPN crashed at Bangalore, India, on the 14th February this year, it sent shock waves not only through the airline industry, but through the Airbus organisation. The airliner was a new aircraft, having only been delivered on the 22nd December, 1989 and crashed during

Potential Dangers as Australian Defence Spending Softens The present year Australian defence budget, at 2. 3% of total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) represents the smallest percentage allocation to defence since the late thirties. In real terms the $8,327m also represents a 1 % cut on the previous year’s budget. The only good news is that

Arguably the most spectacular of all research aircraft was the North American X-15. The X-15 project was conceived to study the feasibility of manned space flight, and to categorise the potential problems requiring further research. To achieve this, the X-15 had to fly faster and higher than any previous aeroplane. It did this, and remained