All news – Page 6854
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F/A-18E/F: Preparing to serve
Painted on the tail of a development aircraft at the US Navy's NAS Patuxent River flight test centre in Maryland, the unofficial designation "KF/A-18" says much about the Super Hornet's increased capabilities. "I never thought I would ever see a buddy refuelling store on an F/A-18," says Capt Jeff ...
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F/A-18E/F :Transition issues
Introducing an improved product while sustaining demand for its predecessor is a difficult task for any manufacturer. It is particularly so for fighter producers, dealing with protracted procurement processes, long production lead times and intense international competition. Introduction of the E/F has led inevitably to questions about Boeing's approach ...
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Islander in Australia
Britten Norman is conducting a customer demonstration tour in Australia of its BN2B-20 Islander. The 10-day visit, headed by the aircraft's new owner and Britten Norman's Australian regional distributor, Celsius Hawker PaciÌc, is designed to boost Islander sales in the region. "Australia is home to over 30 twin-engined Islanders in ...
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Tailboom stabiliser on the way
A US company has signed an agreement to commercialise a NASA-developed tailboom modification that improves helicopter stability and reduces tailrotor power requirements. Everett, Washington-based Boundary Layer Research (BLR) plans to certificate the modification - upper and lower strakes running the length of the tailboom on one side only - ...
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Dutch company buys Boeing civil helicopter production line
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Boeing has sold the former McDonnell Douglas (MDC) civil helicopter production line to Dutch holding company MD Helicopters, nearly two years after it snapped up the Mesa, California-based manufacturer in its merger with MDC. The deal is expected to be finalised and signed by 15 February, ...
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AOPA presses FAA for control change
The US Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has asked the Federal Aviation Administration to change an airworthiness directive (AD) requiring repetitive checks of control rods. AOPA is pressing for the alteration on behalf of some 7,500 owners of M20-series light aircraft. The association is proposing a simpler alternative ...
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Executive Jet begins Middle East marketing
Executive Jet is planning to launch a five-week marketing campaign, kicking off on 15 February, to promote its Middle East fractional ownership programme in the region. Operations are to start in the second quarter. Executive Jet vice-president of marketing Charlie Lynch says: "We will hit the market with large ...
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De-icer approval
B/E Aerospace subsidiary SMR Technologies, based at Fenwick, West Virginia, has received US certification for its Ice Shield pneumatic de-icers on the Cessna 304A, Piper Seneca and Fairchild Metro/Merlin. Source: Flight International
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Derlan hires UK agent
Derlan Aerospace has appointed Aerospace & Commercial Services (ACS) as its sole UK sales representative. Cornwall-based ACS will be responsible for selling Derlan's range of precision aerospace components and assemblies. Source: Flight International
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Visionaire workers suffer cutbacks
Dave Higdon/WITCHITA Visionaire has laid off the bulk of its workforce pending the conclusion of a continuing design review, and receipt of a substantial cash injection sought to fund the development of its Vantage single engined jet. The second wave of layoffs in as many months displaced about ...
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Pentagon delays plan for ballistic missile defence
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Department of Defense (DoD) has delayed by two years the possible FIelding of a National Missile Defense (NMD) system, to reduce risk, but has moved forward the planned deployment date of the most promising upper tier Theater Missile Defence (TMD) system. The new ...
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Russians consider industry restructure
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW The Russian government is considering moves toward a merger of the nation's two fighter manufacturers, MAPO and Sukhoi. An order for the restructuring is reported to be awaiting approval at prime minister Yevgeny Primakov's office, say reports in the Russian media. The government set up an ...
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Electrical problems spark Shuttle observatory delay
NASA has delayed its first Space Shuttle launch in 1999 by at least five weeks from 8 April, after discovering potential electrical problems with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The observatory is to be deployed by Space Shuttle STS93 Columbia, the launch of which has already been postponed from last ...
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Cessna breaks delivery records
Cessna has reported a threefold increase in aircraft deliveries for last year, reaching sales of 1,077, compared with 618 in 1997. According to the Wichita, Kansas-based manufacturer, the largest increase came from single piston engined aircraft sales, with 775 deliveries, compared with 360 in 1997. Citation corporate jet deliveries set ...
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US report plays down fears of GPS navigation signal jamming
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC A study conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory concludes that risks associated with jamming of the global positioning system (GPS) signal can be managed. This can be achieved if steps are taken to minimise the prospects of intentional and unintentional interference, says a ...
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Big Skywest order
SkyWest Airlines has ordered 25 Bombardier CRJ 200LRs as a partial replacement for its turboprop fleet and to enable the Utah-based carrier to expand its regional services, including United Express codeshares, to the US West Coast and mountain areas. "Our plan is to use the first five aircraft to replace ...
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Lockheed Martin hit by new X-33 delays
Tim Furniss/LONDON The first flight of the $1.2 billion Lockheed Martin X-33 spaceplane technology demonstrator has been delayed again. The latest setback, caused by a hydrogen tank problem, pushes the maiden flight back seven months, to July 2000 at the earliest. The programme - which was started in ...
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New crew gets ready for trip to Mir station
The Soyuz TM29 mission of Russian Viktor Afanasyev, Frenchman Jean Pierre Haignere and Slovak Ivan Bella has been cleared for launch to the Mir space station on 20 February. It will be the first Soviet mission with two guest cosmonauts aboard, withveteran Haignere the first foreign flight engineer. Bella ...
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SpaceDev aims at selling science
SpaceDev's plans to mine asteroids and return resources from other parts of the solar system to the earth have been put on a backburner while it places emphasis on more cost-effective commercial space science. The Denver-based company aims to bring back "-more science per dollar than achieved by NASA, ...
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Frayed wire caused Titan failure
The explosion of the final Titan IVA and the destruction of the satellite it was carrying, at a cost of $1.44 billion, after launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 12 August, 1998, was caused by a frayed electrical harness. The damaged harness was in the electrical system which routed power ...