All news – Page 6585
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Thai radar
The Royal Thai Air Force has declared its first Northrop Grumman FPS-130X long range three-dimensional radar site operational. It is the first export customer for the system, which has a joint air defence and air traffic control role. Two FPS-130Xs will be delivered as part of a$180 million upgrade of ...
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Boeing takes wraps off Wedgetail contender
Boeing has unveiled its Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) based contender for Australia's Project Wedgetail airborne early warning requirement. The competition is also being contested by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The BBJ (combining the fuselage of the 737-700 and the wing of the 737-800), with a mock-up of the 7m-long Northrop ...
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Merlin breaks the spell
Richard Scott/RNAS CULDROSE It has been a long time coming. The process of introducing the Merlin HM Mk1 shipborne helicopter to UK Royal Navy service finally began on 1 December, 1998, with the commissioning of 700M Naval Air Squadron (NAS) at RNAS Culdrose in south-west England. In its role as ...
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Niche accidents
David Learmount/LONDON Despite a worldwide campaign to reduce it, controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) increased in 1998 for the second year running, both among jet and non-jet flights, confirming the reversal of a previously favourable trend. There were five jet CFIT accidents and eight involving propeller-driven commercial aircraft. This ...
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Dynamic explorers
Tim Furniss/LONDON Three small NASA spacecraft will explore the earth's dynamic systems early in the new millennium. One of the satellites, called Volcanic Ash Mission (Volcam), will demonstrate the operational and scientific applications of monitoring volcanic clouds and small atmospheric particles, known as aerosols, from a geostationary orbit. Volcanic clouds ...
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Bond Helicopters sells Rotortech arm
Bond Helicopters has sold the composite and structural repair arm of its Rotortech engineering subsidiary to manpower and aircraft maintenance provider IAP, to concentrate on its offshore and onshore helicopter business. "We have split the company in two. We have moved the component repair and overhaul business from the ...
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Leasing joins corporate fray
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON A new business aircraft leasing company, touted to be the world's first dedicated leasing operation, has been launched in the UK by joint venture partners CAPITAL BANK Corporate and aviation specialist, Exxtor. The first aircraft is scheduled for delivery next month. Corporate Aircraft Leasing (CALL) is designed to ...
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Orenda wraps up Turkish deal
Canada's Orenda Recip has clinched its first original equipment manufacturer contract after a multimillion dollar deal with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). Orenda will supply and install its OE-600 V-8 piston engine for a multimission aircraft, under development at TAI's Ankara, Turkey-based factory. "The agreement is expected to result in ...
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DeCrane Aircraft Holdings plans to acquire PATS
DeCrane Aircraft, a growing US avionics components manufacturer and integrator, has agreed to acquire Columbia, Maryland-based PATS, which manufactures and installs auxiliary fuel tanks and other equipment for corporate and commercial aircraft. DeCrane, based in El Segundo, California, declines to reveal any acquisition details, saying only that "-the closing ...
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Greek order marks launch of Canadair 415GR
Bombardier has marked the launch of its Canadair 415GR amphibian twin-turboprop with a contract from the Greek Ministry of Defence for 10 aircraft and an option for five more. The $250 million deal includes spare parts, ground support equipment and training. "The Canadair 415GR variant offers higher operating weights to ...
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Boeing loses ground to Airbus in backing of firm orders
Boeing again sold more aircraft than Airbus Industrie in 1998, but its high delivery rate, combined with cancellations, saw it lose ground to its European rival in terms of firm order backlog. Provisional figures from Airbus suggest its share of the total backlog in the 100-seat plus sector grew ...
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Denel and BAe pave the way for industry link
South Africa's Denel and British Aerospace have taken another step towards integrating Denel into the emergent European defence and aerospace alliance on 7 January with the signing of a memorandum of understanding setting the framework for closer ties. The agreement, signed by Stella Sigcau, South Africa's public enterprises minister, ...
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Fresh delay threatens A3XX
Julian Moxon/PARIS The Airbus Industrie A3XX is facing further delay as potential customer airlines, confronted by increasingly tough market conditions, retreat from committing to the aircraft in time to support an already delayed late 1999 launch deadline. While the airlines consider their options on timing, the European consortium is believed ...
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Aerospace awards
The list of sponsors for The 1999Flight International Aerospace Industry Awards has been completed with the addition of Airbus Industrie, Marconi Electronic Systems and SITA. They join Bombardier, CFM International, Lockheed Martin, Lucas Aerospace, Rockwell Collins, Sextant Avionique and Smiths Industries. The event will culminate in a gala dinner on ...
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MHI wins agreement with Boeing to work on Delta IV engine
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) of Japan has reached preliminary agreement with Boeing to help develop a powerplant for the Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle. The company is also hoping to win manufacturing contracts with Airbus Industrie. Mitsubishi has traditionally been a major defence contractor, but it is ...
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747 cut forces Northrop Grumman to take pre-tax charge
Northrop Grumman is taking a pre-tax charge of $125 million in the fourth quarter of 1998, mainly because of a reduction in deliveries of fuselages for the Boeing 747-400 programme. A $20 million charge was also taken to cover a cost estimate increase on the Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) programme. ...
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Ex-Cathay executives try to save PAL
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE Four senior executives at Cathay Pacific Airways have quit to form a new management consultancy that will try to save struggling Philippine Airlines from collapse. The executives are Peter Foster, formerly Cathay's general manager for Taiwan and the Philippines, who will become chief company adviser; Michael ...
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SAA/Air Namibia shake hands on long-term commercial alliance
South African Airways (SAA) and Air Namibia have agreed on a long term comprehensive commercial alliance which will include regional feeder carriers South African Express, South African Airlink and Kalahari Express Airline. A memorandum of understanding has been signed by SAA chief executive Coleman Andrews and Air Namibia's acting ...
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767 'Stretch 2000' progresses
Boeing plans to load the first wing spar of the first 767-400ER next month following 90% completion of the engineering definition stage. The -400ER programme is dubbed "Stretch 2000" to denote its first delivery date to launch customer Delta Air Lines in May 2000. Some 80% of the 767-400ER has ...
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Big changes on the way for aerospace, says NASA scientist
Information technology (IT), environmental concerns and global competitiveness will stimulate major changes in aerospace, says Dennis Bushnell, NASA's chief scientist at the Langley Research Center, Virginia. Speaking at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London, Bushnell envisaged a future including "dramatically improved air transports, automatic VTOL aircraft for personal use, ...