All news – Page 7015
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Russia tests SS-25 Sickle land-based ICBM
Russia test-launched a Topol-M (SS-25 Sickle) land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from the Plesetsk test range on 8 July, the fourth launch of the missile in a series of developmental tests. The Topol-M is earmarked to become the only ICBM in Russia's Strategic Missile Forces inventory after the ...
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NASA/MDC complete initial X-36 testing
NASA AND McDONNELL Douglasand NASA have completed the first phase of flight testing of the X-36 tailless-fighter technology demonstrator, achieving a higher angle-of-attack (AoA) than planned during the initial eight flights of the subscale unmanned aircraft. Plans had called for the aircraft to be flown to 15 degree ...
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Tanker timeshare
Max Kingsley-Jones/Paris As the world's air forces increasingly focus on the private sector to provide support services such as airlift and training, Omega Air and its partners are rising to the challenge by offering air- refuelling tankers on a lease-by-the-hour service. Omega, based in Dublin, Ireland, ...
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Facing the future
Declining defence budgets has forced some rethinking at Japan's Kawasaki Paul Lewis/TOKYO Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) boasts a long and distinguished aerospace lineage, dating back to 1918 and Japan's first home-grown biplane. After having produced some of the country's best fighter and bomber types of ...
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Staying afloat
Paul Lewis/TOKYO The number of modern military forces which continue to operate amphibians is diminishing and there are even fewer manufacturers still building such aircraft. Japan is proving to be one exception to the rule. Not only does its navy maintain a fleet of flying boats, but it ...
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R44 is prepared for police beat
Robinson is completing US Federal Aviation Administration certification of a new variant of its R44, equipped for police work. The aircraft can be fitted with a choice of gyro-stabilised infra-red sensors and television-camera systems, mounted in a nose turret. Standard features include a Panasonic VHS recorder and bubble door-windows. ...
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French group is optimistic that helicopter rule will be changed
Julian Moxon/Paris French-led efforts to win a relaxation of forthcoming European rules governing the operations of single-engined and light-twin helicopters have met a "positive response" from the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA), claims the Groupement Francaise de l'Helicopter (GFH). According to Charles Schmitt, vice-president of Paris-based GFH, ...
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Propelling Kestrel
Hartzell will provide an advanced propeller for the new Kestrel K-250 four-seat, all- composite general-aviation aircraft. The three-bladed, constant-speed aluminum propeller incorporates scimitar-shaped blades. The K-250 will be powered by an 186kW (250hp) Teledyne Continental engine. The aircraft is scheduled for certification early in 1998. Source: Flight International
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Learjet 45 nears certification
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC BOMBARDIER SAYS that US certification of the Learjet 45 business jet is now expected in August, with European approval scheduled for October. When the Learjet 45 was launched in 1992, simultaneous US Federal Aviation Administration/European Joint Aviation Authorities certification was planned for 1996. ...
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M58 re-engined
Masquito Aircraft of Belgium will re-engine its ultra-light M58 helicopter by replacing the existing 50kW (65hp) Rotax 582 engine with a four cylinder, four-stroke, 60kW Jabiru powerplant. Aircraft designers Stefaan and Paul Maschelein claim that the new engine will provide more power and increase the aircraft's all-round performance. The two-seat ...
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Sabreliner unveils first...Sabreliner
Sabreliner has purchased and refurbished the first Sabreliner business jet for use as its corporate aircraft. The North American-built Sabreliner 40, aircraft 282-001, was introduced in 1963 as a demonstrator before being sold to a customer early in 1964. Now named Sabre One, the aircraft has received avionics and interior ...
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Shell considers using London City Airport
Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell is considering use of London City Airport in the UK as an additional centre for its corporate-jet operations. Shell Aircraft operates two Raytheon Hawker 1000s and a Gulfstream IV from Northolt airfield in Middlesex and from its base at London Heathrow Airport. Now it ...
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Tracor flight-tests Learjet 20 hushkit
TRACOR FLIGHT Systems has completed flight-testing of a Stage 3 hushkit for the Learjet 20-series business jet. US certification is expected in August, and marketing partner Ottendorf Aviation holds orders for 32 shipsets, at $110,00 per aircraft. Learjet 20-series aircraft are powered by General Electric CJ610 turbojets, and ...
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Williams V-JET II will be shown at Oshkosh
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC THE V-JET II experimental light aircraft designed by Williams International and Scaled Composites will have its debut at the 1997 Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) meeting in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on 31 July. Not intended for production, the all-composite turbofan-powered aircraft was built to serve ...
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CAG plans turboprop power for Windeagle
CANADIAN AEROSPACE Group (CAG) is working with Pratt &Whitney Canada on a turboprop-powered version of its Windeagle all-composite light aircraft. Ontario-based CAG is hoping to put the Windeagle into production by the end of 1997, with a launch order from a military customer for seven aircraft. CAG acquired ...
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Eurofighter faces last German hurdle
AndrzejJeziorski/MUNICH The troubled Eurofighter EF2000 programme has moved a step closer to production, but one more major hurdle in the German parliament in September still has to be negotiated before a go-ahead is finally obtained. The German cabinet has cleared a 1998 budget plan, including about ...
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Strikes hit British Airways cost-saving plans
A three-day strike by British Airways cabin crew is estimated to have cut the carrier's passenger loads on flights from London Heathrow by about 50%. The strike, which started on 9 July, also disrupted operations at other airports, principally Gatwick. Only about one-third of its own flights departed ...
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GEC and Finmeccanica tie up strategic alliance
Julian Moxon/PARIS Andrea Spinelli/GENOA GEC-Marconi and Italy's state-owned Finmeccanica have sealed a wide-ranging strategic alliance covering the bulk of their respective defence activities. The deal follows months of negotiations and is thought likely to boost stalled European attempts to consolidate the defence sector. The agreement, exclusively ...
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RAF faced with major Hawk fleet rebuild
Douglas Barrie/LONDON The Royal Air Force is faced with a major rebuild of up to two-thirds of its fleet of British Aerospace Hawk T1/T1As, to keep its advanced-trainer fleet operational beyond 2000. With many of the aircraft approaching the limit of their airframe lives, the RAF ...