All news – Page 6550
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Pushing the envelope
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Fight testing of the F-22 is in its busiest and most critical year, with major milestones round the corner The US Air Force test team evaluating the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor had more reason than most to celebrate the traditional US Thanksgiving holiday last November. On the 23rd ...
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Getting a head start
Guy Norris/SEATTLE Looking like a huge airborne spaniel with its ears outstretched, Boeing's 757 flying testbed (FTB) is destined to become a distinctive sight across US skies this year. The FTB was the first 757 to be built, and has been extensively modified internally and externally to test the ...
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Export attention
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Declining domestic markets have seen manufacturers shift their focus to fighter exports - and 'exportability' With worldwide fighter production set to hit an all-time low in the first years of the new century - fewer than 140 aircraft from all US and European manufacturers combined, according ...
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Tough choices
Paul Lewis/FORT WORTH Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Rival Joint Strike Fighter teams face challenges to complete the concept demonstrator phase within budgetThe Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) competition has become a contest of diminishing resources, with both teams overspent but determined to complete the current concept development phase within budget. Neither ...
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Martian gliders
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA hopes to deploy a fleet of small gliders to explore parts of Mars that other spacecraft cannot reachSwooping through Mars' own grand canyon, the Valles Marineris, would be the ultimate hang-gliding trip. The first aircraft to make that tantalising journey could be the $40 million Mars ...
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Multi-role Mirage
Julian Moxon/PARIS Dassault has adapted the Mirage 2000 to meet varying export requirements The Mirage 2000-5 was the first front-line fighter from Dassault Aviation that specifically responded to the demands of the export market, rather than a domestic French air force requirement. The latest version, the 2000-5MkII, incorporates ...
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Italy targets November for first A319CJ delivery
Airbus is planning to deliver the first of two A319CJ business jets to the Italian air force's 31st Wing in November. The L159 billion($90 million) deal will see the second aircraft handed over in August 2000. The aircraft will be used for government/VIP operations, and will replace the air ...
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Archedyne revamps Amjet 400 amphibian
Archedyne has redesigned its Amjet 400 single-engined amphibian business aircraft, changing the name, the number of engines and fuselage length. Now dubbed the Nautic Air 450, the aircraft will be powered by two Williams FJX-2s when they enter the market next year, and its 12.2m (40ft) fuselage has been extended ...
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Enstrom pursues China talks
Enstrom Helicopters continues to pursue long-running talks on a planned joint venture in China for local assembly of piston and turbine-powered machines. The Michigan-based light helicopter manufacturer is still awaiting final approval from the Chinese authorities after more than five years of delay. But it says plans for the ...
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Eurocopter boosts its sales in USA
Eurocopter's US arm has announced a clutch of helicopter sales to North American air medical operators and law enforcement agencies. Corporate Jets, which operates 36 emergency medical service (EMS) bases across the USA, has taken delivery of its first EC135. Five more will be delivered over the next five ...
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EJI ponders adding to NetJets fleet
Executive Jet (EJI) is considering adding new aircraft types to its NetJets Europe business jet fractional ownership programme. Chairman Richard Santulli says that EJI is looking at the Cessna Citation X and Gulfstream IV, adding that "we are also talking to Dassault". EJI plans to add medium/large Dassault Falcon ...
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News in Brief
Top of the Props Hartzell Propeller has won new certifications for its Top Prop series of three-blade propellers. The design is now approved on Cessna's A188 Agwagon as well as on Raytheon Aircraft's Bonanza A36 and B36TC. Flexjet expands Customers for Bombardier's FlexJet business jet ...
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Rolls-Royce plan for Allison 250 replacement is shelved
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Rolls-Royce has postponed efforts to develop a replacement for the Allison 250 based on a low-cost industrial gas turbine (Flight International, 25 February-3 March, 1998). The so-called World Engine programme is "on hold", says vice-president, customer operations Tommy Thomason. "We found we couldn't combine ...
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Lease disposals key to Atlantic's jet buy
Atlantic Coast Airlines' (ACA) search for a new 30-seat class of passenger jet hinges on the disposal of the carrier's large fleet of British Aerospace Jetstream 41 and smaller J32 turboprops. Many are locked in long-term leases from BAe Asset Management Turboprops (AMT). The United Express partner carrier is ...
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Boeing delays 767-400ERX service entry to 2003
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Boeing is pushing back the projected entry into service date of the 767-400ERX to 2003, as American Airlines' interest in the proposed extended range development cools in the face of softening traffic and yields. Initial delivery of the 767-400ERX had tentatively been targeted for March ...
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More Asian woes loom for Boeing
South Korea's Asiana Airlines has confirmed it is in talks with Boeing on possible cancellations of aircraft orders. But the airline adds: "It is too early to say exactly how many we want to take or don't want to take." The Seoul-based carrier has 15 outstanding firm orders for ...
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System change may delay UAE F-16 order
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC A contract with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for 80 advanced Block 60 Lockheed Martin F-16s may be delayed by a move to change the aircraft's electronic warfare system, says a US industry official. The programme had been stalled by difficult government-to-government negotiations over the ...
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USA votes against Concorde in hushkit conflict
The US House of Representatives has voted to ban Aerospatiale/British Aerospace Concorde operations into the USA. The decision is a reaction against European Union (EU) plans to restrict hushkitted aircraft in Western Europe. The USA is concerned that the EU's action would harm the exclusively US hushkit industry by ...
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Singapore signs up for eight Apaches
Singapore has signed a contract with Boeing for eight AH-64D Longbow Apache attack helicopters, according to deputy prime minister and minister for defence Tony Tan. Deliveries are to begin in 2002. The announcement brings to an end year-long talks with potential suppliers, including Eurocopter, which was offering the Tiger, ...
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PW4000 operators face surge inspection
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Operators of more than 560 Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered Airbus A300/ A310s, Boeing 747s, 767s and MD-11s are starting inspections for potential surge problems. The problems are restricted only to 2.37m (94in)-diameter fan versions of the PW4000. The move follows a suspected double surge event ...