All news – Page 6581
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RAH-66 Comanche team sticks with Longbow radar
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Boeing Sikorsky, the prime integrator for the US Army's RAH-66 Comanche armed reconnaissance/attack helicopter, is to retain the Lockheed Martin/ Northrop Grumman Longbow millimetre-wave radar after failing to find a viable alternative. The search for another fire control radar solution for the RAH-66 was directed ...
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Russian air force chief calls for major overhaul programme
Lyubov Pronina/MOSCOW The Russian air force is in need of overhaul this year to improve its combat effectiveness, with a substantial equipment modernisation programme, the development of new tactics and armaments and a revised staff structure heading the list of requirements, says air force chief Col Gen Anatoly Kornukov. ...
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Su-27 crash
One of the 10 Su-27 fighters recently delivered to Ethiopia crashed on 6 January near the capital Addis Abbaba. The aircraft was on a demonstration flight piloted by a Russian, who ejected safely. Source: Flight International
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Thai Spectralink
The Thai air force has selected the Tadiran Spectralink airborne search and rescue system, and will install the ARS-700 control and display unit in an undisclosed number of its helicopters. Tadiran will also instruct Thai crews in use of the system. Source: Flight International
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F/A-18E/F: Going for Growth
During the 16 years it has been in US Navy service, the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet has, on average, "grown" by more than a kilogramme a week. Most of that growth has been through improvements - new systems and capabilities - but there have been performance penalties to pay. By ...
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F/A-18E/F: Changing Roles
What the F/A-18E/F is - and what it is not - is best understood within the context of the programme's history, as the Super Hornet is the survivor of one of the most confused periods in US naval aviation planning. A decade ago, the carrier air wing envisaged for ...
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F/A-18E/F: Balanced Upgrade
Bigger does not automatically mean better. While, externally, the E/F is essentially a C/D scaled up by 25%, there is more to the Super Hornet design than the photographic enlargement of the original F/A-18 blueprints. "The E/F is a balanced design involving five variables: range, payload, bringback, survivability and growth," ...
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Mercenary intentions
Alan Venter/LUSAKA The shooting down of three Angolan air force Mikoyan MiG-23s in the first week of January by Unita forces fielding hand-held surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) has introduced a new dimension to the Angolan war. The MiGs were engaged in ground support operations against Dr Jonas Savimbi's rebel army. ...
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Thriving business
Andrew Doyle/TEL AVIV In an era when airline bosses preach the merits of focusing on "core activities", Arkia Israeli Airlines has learned to thrive through diversification. As Israel's largest domestic carrier, Arkia built its international charter unit into a major leisure travel business, selling everything from hotel rooms ...
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Management actions
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Flight management systems (FMS) are no longer luxury items found only on large airliners, but essential equipment on commercial aircraft of all sizes and ages. The reason is the navigation accuracy now possible and the cost benefits available to airlines in the form of fuel and ...
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Command decisions
Julian Moxon/PARIS Any doubts about the safety and cost effectiveness of fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control systems on civil aircraft were long ago dispelled with the success of Airbus Industrie's single-aisle A320 and, later, the European consortium's twin-aisle models. The justifications used by Airbus for introducing FBW were several, ...
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Sticky business
Tim Furniss/LONDON Dust from the comet Wild 2 will be collected and returned to earth by the fourth mission in NASA's Discovery programme which kicks off with a Delta II launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida on 6 February. It will be the first time that samples from a ...
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LHT expands
Lufthansa Technik (LHT) has opened a 4,000sq3, maintenance hangar at Stuttgart Airport in Germany. The building replaces a smaller facility that is closing to allow expansion of the airport's passenger terminal. The DM15 million hangar will be used to perform line maintenance work on the 20 aircraft that night-stop at ...
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DaimlerChrysler Airbus will link headquarters
DaimlerChrysler has ordered an Airbus A319 Corporate Jet (CJ) for delivery in early 2000. The aircraft will be operated by a new subsidiary company, DaimlerChrysler Aviation, based in Stuttgart, to ferry employees between the German city and the conglomerate's second headquarters in Detroit, USA. Before it receives the International ...
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Agusta will certificate Koala - a year late
Agusta is planning to certificate its single engined A119 Koala in May, nearly a year later than originally scheduled. The Italian manufacturer blames the delay on its efforts to incorporate design changes to the aircraft, in response to customer demands. The design of the seven-seat Koala, which was originally ...
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Era expands tourist business activities
Era Aviation is expanding its helicopter sightseeing operation with a multimillion dollar order for five Eurocopter AS350B2 Astars. Era's executive vice-president, Richard "Lash" Larew says: "This deal brings our B2 fleet to 26, making us not only the largest commercial operator of this aircraft in the USA, but also ...
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Lancair investigates Columbia 300 crash
Lancair and the US National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the loss of the first Columbia 300 four-seater after it crashed into the Columbia River close to Portland International Airport, Oregon, on 8 January. Lancair company pilot Hans Oesch and a passenger are missing, believed dead, following the discovery ...
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NBAA sets fractional safety rules
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON The US National Business Aviation Association (NBAA)has published safety and operational guidelines to owners and programme managers of fractional ownership schemes to "-enhance the safety culture" of this burgeoning market sector. "The document is part of an evolution towards a culture of safety. It will be ...
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Training expansion
The University of North Dakota's flight training fleet passed 100 aircraft at the end of 1998, with delivery over the year of 10 Diamond Katanas, 10 Piper Warriors, three Piper Seminoles, two Piper Arrows and two Rayheon Beech Barons, taking its fleet to 103. A further 14 will be delivered ...
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TAI aims for September flight testing for its first design
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) plans to begin flight testing its single-engined agricultural and firefighting aircraft in September. "The design phase should be completed shortly and then we will start building the first prototype," says TAI marketing director Yilmaz Guldogan. The single-seat aircraft, yet to be named, will be ...