All news – Page 6788
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Testing delay forces Pentagon to reshuffle F-22 procurement
The US Department of Defense (DoD) has forced the US Air Force to rejig the Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor fighter programme in an attempt to accommodate flight test delays. Flight testing scheduled originally to begin in May 1997 was delayed until six months September. The DoD is now ...
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T-38 upgrade is on the way for July first flight
Guy Norris/WILLIAMS GATEWAY The first complete suite of advanced displays and systems for the US Air Force Northrop T-38C avionics upgrade programme (AUP) will be installed in the first of two test aircraft in May, with the maiden flight still firmly on schedule for July, says Boeing. The ...
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Hornets nest
Paul Lewis/BANGKOK New jobs inevitably entail fresh challenges and the position of commander in chief of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) is certainly no exception. Air Chief Marshal Tananit Niamtan reached the pinnacle of his 27 year air force career in October 1997, just as Thailand's economy was diving ...
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High fidelity pays off
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Simulator manufacturers have started 1998 as they ended 1997 - busy. As expected, orders for commercial flight simulators are tracking closely the recent surge in airliner sales. At least 45 full flight simulators were sold last year, short of the last peak of 55 in 1989, but ...
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Agricultural sprayers are lined up for stripped down, ex-surplus, rebuilt JetRanger variant
Florida-based Load Ranger plans to develop a stripped-down derivative of the Bell 206 JetRanger, aimed at the agricultural spraying market, but key aspects of the programme remain undefined. A prototype of the Load Ranger 2000 was displayed at the Helicopter Association International show in February, to gauge interest. "I ...
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Half-price fuel offer
Raytheon Aircraft Services is offering fuel discounts to operators bringing their aircraft to one of its 14 US service centres for maintenance. Discounts of up to 55¢ per US gallon are available. Source: Flight International
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Europe and USA on course to clash over FANS datalink
Kieran Daly/LONDON Europe and the USA are once again set for a clash of wills over a key component of the technology to be used in the satellite based Future Air Navigation System (FANS). At an International Civil Aviation Association (ICAO) panel meeting starting this week, European interests ...
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Japanese aircrew strike grinds into its second week
The strike by pilots and flight engineers over salary cuts at All Nippon Airways (ANA)is moving into its second week with no sign of an end to what is an almost unprecedented level of industrial action for Japan. By 17 April, the twelfth day, the number of cancelled international flights ...
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AMR's Crandall is set for May retirement
Robert Crandall, the combative airline chief of AMR/American Airlines, has announced his retirement after 25 years with the carrier. Crandall hands over control of American on 20 May to Donald Carty, who was named company president three years ago. Crandall joined American in 1973 as senior vice-president for finance, ...
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JAT signs deal for eight A319s
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH JAT Yugoslav Airlines has signed a preliminary agreement for eight Airbus A319s in anticipation of the end of trade embargoes with the rump of Yugoslavia. JATsays that contracts will be signed only when the embargoes are lifted, but anticipates delivery of the first two aircraft in ...
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New UK oceanic ATC centre faces major delays
Ian Sheppard/LONDON THE UK National Air Traffic Services (NATS) faces another embarrassing delay in upgrading its ageing infrastructure, with warnings that it will have to extend the deadline on completing a new oceanic air traffic control centre within only months of work starting. Design work on the centre, ...
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GKN opens Agusta merger talks
Douglas Barrie/LONDON Last minute attempts by French interests to court Italian helicopter manufacturer Agusta have fallen on deaf ears, with owner Finmeccanica throwing its lot in with longstanding partner GKN Westland. GKN and state owned Finmeccanica announced on 16 May that a merger of their respective helicopter subsidiaries is ...
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Virgin group and Sabre Airways discuss link-up at Gatwick
Speculation is growing that the Virgin group is close to a deal with UK charter carrier Sabre Airways to form the basis of Virgin Sun, a new European holiday airline venture. Details of the new airline, being set up by Virgin Holidays, are expected to be unveiled at the ...
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First EOS launch suffers a six month setback
The launch of the first satellite in the Earth Observing System (EOS), the centrepiece of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth programme, has been delayed by at least six months after the discovery of a series of ground control software faults. Faults in the EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) ...
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LEO data messaging services boosted
Orbital Science's Orbital Communications has been granted permission by the US Government's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to increase the number of its planned operational systems of Orbcomm data messaging satellites from 36 to 48. Twelve Orbcomm satellites have so far been launched, 10 aboard OSC Pegasus boosters and two ...
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Censored
Voice communications between the crew of Russia's space station and ground control will no longer be relayed live to the media during critical operations such as spacewalks. Mission directors have been increasingly frustrated by inaccurate and hyped stories about operational problems on the Mir, particularly the coverage of the collision ...
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March satellite launch log
MARCH SATELLITE LAUNCH LOG No Date Spacecraft Type Launcher* Country* Launch site* 15 15 Mar Progress M38 Tanker Soyuz U/3 Russia 3 Baikonur 3 ...
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Motorola completes third Iridium launch in 13 days
Tim Furniss/LONDON Russia's Proton K booster returned to operational service on 6 April, launching seven Motorola Iridium worldwide hand-held telephone mobile communications satellites into low Earth orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Proton launch follows flights by a Chinese Long March 2C/SD on 26 March, carrying ...
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Columbia crew practise escape routine
Three of the seven crewmembers of the STS 90/Columbia Neurolab Spacelab mission due to be launched on a 14 day-plus medical intensive research flight on 16 April practise an emergency escape from the top of the launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. In an emergency during the ...
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Nissan makes plans for small launcher
Nissan is planning to introduce a small commercial solid propellant satellite launcher as early as 2001, with a booster developed from two current Japanese programmes. It would be the first private Japanese attempt to enter the commercial launcher market. No government funding is envisaged for the project, which will cost ...