All news – Page 6933
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UK contracts out helicopter training
In what is the first major contract awarded under the UK Ministry of Defence's Private Finance Initiative, the Royal Air Force is to farm out aircrew training for its fleet of medium-support helicopters to CVS Aircrew Training, which is a consortium of CAE Electronics of Canada and UK companies Vega ...
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New Zealand air force delays CT4 upgrade plans
New Zealand has delayed plans to upgrade the Royal New Zealand Air Force's (RNZAF) CT4B primary-trainer fleet by replacing its 17 155kW (210hp) trainers with the later 225kW CT4E variant. The RNZAF has instead named the CT4's manufacturer, Hamilton-based Pacific Aerospace (PACL), as preferred tenderer for all levels ...
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Italian defence budget favours procurement
The Italian defence ministry has attempted to ring-fence key procurements in its planned 1998 budget, with personnel cuts and shorter tour lengths preferred to cutting acquisition projects. Funding for the Eurofighter EF2000 is set at L1.169 billion ($678 million), out of a total defence budget of L31,000 billion. ...
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Poland rushes for Rafael NT-D
The outgoing Polish government has signed an agreement selecting a consortium of Israeli companies to supply weapons and avionics for the planned PZL-Swidnik Huzar attack helicopter. The agreement was signed with the Israeli Government on 13 October, after more than two years of controversial negotiations, which were suspended ...
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Free flight-who pays?
Billed as the "Path to Free Flight", the US Federal Aviation Administration's Flight 2000 programme could prove a rocky road for planners of this ambitious demonstration of the future US air-traffic-management system. While agreeing that a large-scale rehearsal of the Free Flight concept is a good idea, lawmakers, operators and ...
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Step forward
Kistler Aerospace's fully re-usable K-1 launch vehicle will be flight tested from Nevada, USA, or Woomera, South Australia, as early as July 1998. This is the first step towards offering a 4,500kg satellite-delivery service to low- and medium-Earth orbit (LEO/MEO), costing $17 million a time (Flight International, 23-29 October, 1996). ...
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Maintenance Directory
Fokker Aircraft Services specialises in airframe Ian Sheppard/londonDATA TABLES/Air Transport Intelligence Europe's maintenance industry has been faced with growing international competition and the need for consolidation, and has continued to take on board the new Joint Aviation Requirements, bringing it more into line with the USA. Many fixed-base operators ...
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General Avia appoints Dutch distributor for F-22 range
Italy's General Avia has appointed Transal Aero Service of the Netherlands as a distributor for its F-22 range of two-seat single-engine trainers. The company will take delivery of a $109,000 Textron Lycoming IO-320-D2A-powered F-22B Penguin by the end of this month, with the second aircraft, a $149,500 F-22C, scheduled for ...
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TAG wins Farnborough lease
Techniques d'Avant-Garde (TAG) Group to is to convert the UK's Farnborough Aerodrome into a dedicated business-aviation airport following the decision by the UK Ministry of Defence to award the Luxembourg-based holding company a 99-year lease. The aerodrome, which will continue to be the venue for the biennial Farnborough ...
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Sikorsky adds HUMS
Sikorsky has delivered the first health- and usage-monitoring system (HUMS) for the S-76C+ helicopter following certification by the Norwegian and UK authorities. The HUMS, manufactured by GEC-Marconi, was delivered to Norway's Norsk Helikopter, which operates an S-76C+ on offshore-oil services. GEC's HUMS, developed for the S-76A+ and S-76C, ...
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Alpha plans to expand PC-12 share scheme
The US operator of a Pilatus PC-12 fractional-ownership programme plans to expand the scheme to additional locations. Alpha Flying has added a third single-turboprop PC-12 to its two-year-old PlaneSense programme, which is operating in the north-east USA, and a fourth aircraft has been ordered, says Alpha Flying president George Antoniadis. ...
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Night single-engined operations ban gets closer
Night commercial operations by single-engined aircraft will be banned in all European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) member nations if the Joint Aviation Requirements (JARs) go into force as they are drafted, according to the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The relevant JARs are not finalised, however, but are due ...
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Bel 427 for Hainan
Samsung Aerospace has signed a letter of intent to sell three new Samsung-Bell 427 eight-seat helicopters to Hainan Airlines of China. It is also negotiating similar agreements with China Ocean and China Southern's Zhuhai Helicopters for another ten. Source: Flight International
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SATIC studies A340 Beluga designs
An outsized cargo "Beluga" derivative of the Airbus A340 is being proposed by Super Airbus Transport International (SATIC) as an option for delivering A3XX subassemblies to the final assembly line. SATIC, the Aerospatiale/ Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) joint venture responsible for the design and manufacture of the original A300-600-based ...
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Arianespace orders 20 more Ariane 4s
Delays in the commercial introduction of the Ariane 5 have forced European commercial launcher company Arianespace to order a further 20 Ariane 4 launchers, in a deal worth $1.5 billion. The decision comes against a background of continued high demand for commercial launches in an increasingly competitive booster ...
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Cassini takes off on mission to Saturn
The NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was despatched successfully en route to the planet Saturn 42min after launch by a Titan 4B/Centaur from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 15 October. The spacecraft, which had been surrounded in controversy because it uses a nuclear powerplant, will reach Saturn in July 2004 ...
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Clinton veto scuttles ASAT/SR-71
The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird and the development of a kinetic-energy anti-satellite (KE-ASAT) kill vehicle (KKV) have fallen foul of US President Clinton, who used the "line-item veto" to scrap funding for both. The funds were cut as Clinton revised the $248 billion fiscal year 1998 defence spending bill. ...
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Finnair opens talks with BA on alliance
Finnair has opened alliance talks with British Airways to compete with the Star Alliance partners SAS and Lufthansa in Scandinavia. The Finnish carrier says that no shareholding is on the table. The talks will cover a range of options stretching from linked frequent flyer programmes and code-sharing to joint marketing ...
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Lockheed Martin resumes European airlifter campaign
US Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is redoubling its efforts to forge a transatlantic military-transport partnership in the wake of Germany's shock move in proposing the Antonov An-70 as the basis of the Future Large Aircraft (FLA) (Flight International, 15-21 October). Senior Lockheed Martin officials believe that Germany's advocacy ...
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Malaysian Adder
Malaysia has agreed a $34 million contract with MIG Mapo for Phase III upgrade of 18 Royal Malaysian Air Force MiG-29 Fulcrums. The upgrade includes the installation of an air-to-air refueling probe as well as modifications to the weapons control system to allow for the use of the Vympel R-77 ...