All news – Page 7010
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Russian army helicopter units suffer as financing dries up
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW The Russian army's rotary- wing capability is being dramatically degraded, with helicopter units suffering from extremely poor levels of combat readiness. The average mission-capable rate of the army aviation unit is as low as 28%, admits commander Col Gen Vitaly Yegorov. What is worse, ...
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Indian air force start Su-30 flights
The Indian air force has begun training flights with its first eight Sukhoi Su-30s, part of a 40 aircraft Su-30MKI order from Russia. The first aircraft are basic Su-30s without the canards, thrust-vector modified engines, or phased-array radars which will be included in the full Su-30MKI standard. The aircraft will ...
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Central Europeans consider common fighter procurement
Defence ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland have agreed to try to harmonise their fighter-procurement programmes. According to Hungarian defence minister Gyorgy Keleti, the countries have agreed on closer co-operation in armed-forces development and will pay "special attention to the procurement of fighter aircraft". ...
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US AOPA unveils upgraded Arrow
A 1978 PIPER Arrow piston single, reconditioned by the US Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) as a showcase for avionics and other upgrades, will be displayed at the US Experimental Aircraft Association's Oshkosh, Wisconsin, fly-in, beginning on 28 July. The "Ultimate Arrow" has an Arnav Systems MFD ...
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Falcon 50EXs arrive
Dassault has delivered the first two Falcon 50EX business jets to customers. The first aircraft was delivered to a Brazilian customer and the second to a US operator. The third 50EX to be completed is Dassault's demonstrator. Another 14 aircraft are in completion or in final assembly. Source: ...
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Finnish Government order boosts Norway's Helikopter Service
Norway's Helikopter Service has been awarded a NoK40 million ($5.4 million) contract by the Finnish Government to modify three Eurocopter AS332L Super Puma helicopters for the Finnish frontier guard. Although preliminary engineering work will start immediately, modification work on the first two helicopters is not scheduled to begin ...
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US schools near trainer choices
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC TWO MAJOR US universities are in the final stages of selecting manufacturers to replace their fleets of training aircraft. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University wants to replace the 103 aircraft at its Daytona Beach, Florida, and Prescott, Arizona, campuses over five years, while the University of North ...
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Taneja sets September date for delayed P.68 roll-out
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON India's Taneja Aerospace and Aviation (TAAL) plans to roll out the first fully indigenously produced Partenavia P.68 light twin in September, five months later than originally planned. The roll-out will coincide with the launch of TAAL'S fractional ownership scheme, which is claimed by the ...
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Beriev's Be-103 light amphibian is flown
The Beriev Be-103 light utility amphibian had its maiden flight on 15 July, four months later than planned. The six-seat aircraft, which is powered by two Teledyne Continental IO-360 engines, had a 12min flight from the Russian manufacturer's airfield in Taganrog. The Be-103 was produced at the KNAAPO ...
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Boeing leads first-half boom
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Boeing has outstripped Airbus Industrie in the battle for large jet-airliner orders in the first half of this year, re-emphasising its dominance of the market sector. McDonnell Douglas (MDC), which is at the centre of a merger row between Boeing and the European Union, secured just ...
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EC approves state aid for Alitalia
Marco Messalla/ROME European Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock has approved state aid for Italian flag carrier Alitalia, saying that this should bring to an end applications for aid from European airlines. The approval, granted on 15 July, allows the airline's state-holding company IRI to complete the L2,750 ...
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Boeing's MDC merger solutions fail to satisfy EC
The European Commission (EC) has dismissed Boeing's proposed remedies to meet its concerns over the US manufacturer's planned merger with McDonnell Douglas (MDC). Barring a last-minute breakthrough in the discussions, the EC looks set to reject the deal. The EC informed Boeing on 16 July that it had ...
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Collision conclusion
The mid-air collision near Delhi, India, on 12 November, 1996, which killed 349 people, happened because the Chimkentavia Airlines Ilyushin Il-76 freighter was 1,000ft (300m) lower than its cleared altitude, according to Indian press reports leaked from the final accident investigation report. The Il-76 collided with an outbound Saudi Arabian ...
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European interest in JSF programme continues to grow
European interest in the US Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme is continuing to mount, with the Netherlands and Norway signing agreements with the US Defense Department to join the project as observers. Pentagon JSF programme director Rear Adm Craig Steidle says that, in addition, Denmark is now considering ...
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MD-95 landing gear is joined to structure
The first McDonnell Douglas MD-95 T-1 test aircraft's primary structure rests on its landing gear for the first time at Douglas Aircraft's plant in Long Beach, California. Israel Aircraft Industries built the gear for the aircraft, which is due to be completed by the end of this year, with the ...
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Sempati F27 crashes in Java
An Indonesian Fokker F27-600 turboprop (PK-YPM) on wet-lease to Sempati Air Transport has crashed in Java. A daylight emergency landing was being attempted about 10min after take-off from Bandung Airport, after a reported engine problem. According to Sempati, the 27-year-old aircraft crashed on 17 July 200m (655ft) short ...
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Smiths sells to Lucas
Smiths Industries has sold its engine-controls business to Lucas Varity, saying that there was not room for both UK players in an increasingly concentrated market. Smiths signalled that engine controls were no longer a core business when it decided to step back from the BMW Rolls-Royce BR715 programme, ...
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Virgin drops Sun Air but may bid for stake in South African Airways
Virgin Atlantic Airways has dropped out of the bidding for Johannesburg-based Sun Air. The UK carrier had hoped to use Sun Air as the basis for a sub-Saharan domestic network. Sun Air did produce worse than expected results, but Virgin says that it merely wants to keep its ...
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Germany picks EC135
German defence procurement agency BWB has placed an order with Eurocopter for 15 EC135 twin-turboshaft helicopters for training army pilots. Seven are to be delivered in 1998, with the remainder following in 1999. Source: Flight International
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Greece puts F-15 and Su-27 on shortlist in fighter competition
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC GREECE HAS included the McDonnell Douglas (MDC) F-15 and Sukhoi Su-27 in a four-aircraft shortlist for its next fighter purchase. The Dassault Mirage 2000 and Lockheed Martin F-16 (aircraft which Greece already operates) complete the shortlist. Greece is the first NATO country to ...