All news – Page 6403
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Boeing prepares 767-400ER for ambitious flight test effort
Guy Norris/SEATTLE Boeing is preparing for a hectic, seven-month test effort for the stretched 767-400ER, which was rolled out from the company's Everett site in Washington on 26 August. The first aircraft, due to make its maiden flight in early October, will fly most of the 850h flight ...
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Boeing jumps ahead in JSF demonstrator race
Boeing has completed structural assembly of the first X-32 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) concept demonstrator aircraft (CDA), stealing a lead on the competing Lockheed Martin X-35. Boeing now hopes to accelerate the start of flight testing. Pratt & Whitney has been asked to bring forward delivery of the first F119-614 ...
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Future unclear as MD-90 TrunkLiner is almost ready to fly
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE The first of only two Boeing MD-90-30Ts that will be built under licence in China is nearing completion, but doubts hang over the future of the aircraft and its factory. According to Boeing, flight testing of the first aircraft will start soon, with delivery to Shenzhen ...
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Mind games
Twenty months into one of the most controversial accident investigations of the decade, SilkAir has told the world that a pilot who apparently intended to kill himself and 103 others was "by the best standards of the industry-fit to fly". To put it charitably, this demonstrates a disturbing readiness ...
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Pentagon to draw up export rules for AEW&C technology
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC The US Department of Defense (DoD) has launched a review of airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) technology with the aim of establishing export guidelines. The move follows Flight International's report that the DoD is reviewing whether the information provided by Boeing to Australia as ...
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Pembroke plans to increase 717 orderbook
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Irish lessor Pembroke Capital is negotiating a large follow-on order for Boeing 717s and hopes to conclude a deal by the end of next month. Boeing has failed to secure an order for the regional twinjet this year. Pembroke chief executive Shane Cooke says his company ...
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Amphibious aircraft companies to merge
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON Two US amphibious aircraft companies, Lake Aircraft and Archedyne Aerospace, have agreed to merge to secure financial investment and manufacturing expertise for their existing and planned product lines. The new company will be called Lake Aerospace. Amphibious aircraft manufacturing stalwart Lake, which builds the Seawolf, Renegade and Seafury ...
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USA reports mixed fortunes for ballistic defence contractors
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Raytheon is to continue protesting over Lockheed Martin's choice as US partner in the international Medium Extended Air Defence System (MEADS), despite lacking the support of its German and Italian industrial partners. In the meantime, a test firing of the MEADS' hit-to-kill interceptor, the Lockheed ...
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Star partners unite to repel oneworld bid for Air Canada
Brian Dunn/MONTREAL Chris Jasper/LONDON Air Canada and its Star Alliance partners are gathering their forces in a bid to fight off an attempted takeover of the flag-carrier masterminded by rival oneworld leader American Airlines, acting in tandem with the Toronto-based Onex conglomerate, owner of caterer Sky Chefs. The Onex/American ...
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Mergers
Turnkey Boeing 737 operator Eastwind Airlines of New Jersey has been put up for sale by owner UM Holdings, with an asking price of $10 million, including its operating certificate. TRW Aeronautical Systems' Lucas Aerospace division has finalised its purchase of German engine systems company Pierburg Luftfahrtgerate Union from Kolbenschmidt ...
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EH101 Landmark
EH Industries' EH101 multirole utility helicopters have clocked up more than 10,000 flying hours since the long-range machine's first flight in October 1987. The European consortium, which includes GKN Westland of the UK and Italy's Agusta, has orders for about 100 military EH101s and is targeting the Heliliner at civilian ...
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PC-12 sharing plan takes off in Switzerland
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON The first European shared ownership programme operating single-engined Pilatus PC-12 turboprops has started up in Zurich, Switzerland. Share Plane, which operates under private Swiss civil aviation authority regulations, is aimed at three "key" market segments within Switzerland, southern Germany, northern Italy and western Austria, which have had ...
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FAA grounds Eurocopter BK117s and BO105s
The US Federal Aviation Administration has followed the recommendations of the German airworthiness authority and issued emergency airworthiness directives (ADs) grounding Eurocopter BK117 and BO105 helicopters until tension-torsion (TT) straps contained in the main rotor head are inspected and replaced as required. The US aviation agency says that 130 ...
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Robinson R44 wins US hydraulic flight control approval
Robinson has won US approval of the customised hydraulic flight control system for its four-seat R44 - nearly a decade after the concept was touted. The Torrance, California-based manufacturer predicts a sales boost for the $290,000 hydraulically controlled light piston-engined helicopter, which costs $13,000 more than the standard model. ...
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Piper singles
New Piper Aircraft has begun delivering 15Archer IIs, two Arrows and two Seminoles to Deer Valley, Arizona-based Westwind Aviation Academy, to replace Cessna 172s used for ab initio training. Source: Flight International
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Taiwan may seek F-16 compensation
The Taiwanese air force says it could seek compensation for a series of crashes that has repeatedly grounded its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs. Air force deputy inspector-general Lee Guey-Fa says all of the wreckage from the most recent crash has been recovered. "If we can prove the cause ...
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Modified A319 gets basic European certification
Airbus has won basic European certification for its A319 Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) as two are delivered for interior fitting. The changes to the A319 airliner certificate include installing up to six auxiliary fuel tanks (ACTs) to provide a range of up to 11,700km (6,300nm). The $40 million ACJ is approved ...
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UK wants more Sentry mission consoles
The UK Royal Air Force's experience during Operation Allied Force over Kosovo has confirmed a requirement to increase the number of mission consoles in its Boeing E-3D Sentry AEW1s from nine to 14. A need to install additional radios on the airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft has also ...
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Avitronics reveals ELINT payload for UAVs
South Africa's Avitronics has unveiled an ultra-lightweight electronic intelligence (ELINT) payload for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Deliveries to at least one unnamed North African customer will start in November. Senior Avitronics officials say the payload will be used with an operational UAV system. The order is understood to have ...