All news – Page 7019
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Raring to go
The next millennium will herald a new age for French maritime power Julian Moxon/PARIS The service entry of France's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle at the end of 1999 will usher in a new era for French maritime power. It will also mark the ...
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Socata works on Morane designs
Socata is developing two light aircraft powered by the new MR series of turbocharged diesel engines under development by Renault Sport. The Morane MS180 is a four/five-seat fixed-gear aircraft equipped with the MR180 engine driving a constant-speed propeller, giving it a maximum speed of 135kt (250km/h). The MS250 ...
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VmaxPROBE crashes on maiden flight...
US aircraft designer and pilot Lars Giertz was killed during the maiden flight of the VmaxPROBE single-seater. Giertz had been hoping to fly the aircraft in an attempt to break the Federation Aéronautique International speed record (for aircraft weighing less that 500kg). Giertz began building the aircraft in 1990. After ...
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Gulfstream delivers first customer GV
GULFSTREAM Aerospace delivered the first Gulf-stream V long-range business jet to a customer on 1 July. The aircraft, serial number 507, is owned by publishing magnate Walter Annenberg, a former US ambassador to the UK. The GV will be based at a new, purpose-built, hangar at New Castle ...
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Israviation pusher ST-50 certification is delayed
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON Israviation has put back certification of its ST-50 five-seat pusher-turboprop business aircraft to April 1998, six months later than the Israeli company's previously planned schedule. The delay is the second certification setback experienced in the last 12 months. Israviation declines to give details of ...
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Schweizer upgrades single-turbine Model 330
SCHWEIZER AIRCRAFT has begun delivery of an improved version of its Model 330 light single-turbine helicopter. The 330SP has a larger main-rotor hub with increased-area blades, and taller landing gear. Examples have been delivered to Switzerland's Fuchs Helikopters and the San Antonio, Texas, Police Department. Several existing Model ...
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German Government prepares to go ahead with the Eurofighter
In the run-up to the German Government's 1998 decision over the national budget on 11 July, cabinet ministers in Bonn appear ready to give the go-ahead for procurement of the Eurofighter EF2000. Sources in Bonn confirm press-agency reports that the Government is prepared to give the programme the ...
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USGovernment allows Raytheon to take over Texas Instruments unit
RAYTHEON'S$3 billion acquisition of Texas Instruments' (TI) defence business has been approved by the US Government, but the firm must sell the TI unit which makes components for advanced airborne radars. The unit produces monolithic microwave integrated-circuits (MMICs), key elements of active-array radars such as the Northrop Grumman ...
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Debate shifts to Europe on Boeing merger
US FEDERAL TRADE Commission (FTC) approval of Boeing's $14 billion acquisition of McDonnell Douglas (MDC) leaves European Commission (EC) endorsement as the only major remaining barrier to the giant aerospace-industry merger. By a 4-1 vote on 1 July, the FTC blessed Boeing's acquisition of MDC, saying that it ...
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JAA offers to relent on business-jet ETOPS limits
A European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) offer to relax its proposed limits on extended-range twin-engine operation (ETOPS) for business jets has been hailed by the general-aviation industry as "a workable solution". According to the US General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the JAA's original 120min ETOPS rule announced on ...
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Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman agree to join forces
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC TWODAYS AFTER the US Government approved Boeing's merger with McDonnell Douglas (MDC), Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman announced that they, too, are to merge. The "new" Lockheed Martin will have annual sales of $37 billion, less than Boeing/MDC's $48 billion, but it will remain the ...
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Myasishchev joins VPK MAPO group
Myasishchev has become the latest in a growing list of design bureaux to join the VPK MAPO aerospace-defence group. Myasischev's consolidation comes at the behest of the Russian Government. The Sokol production plant in Nizhny Novogorod, which is producing MAPOMiG-29UB Fulcrum B trainers, MiG-31 Fox- hound interceptors and ...
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Mir electrical repairs scheduled for 11 July
Russian Mir 1 cosmonauts Vasili Tsiblyev and Alexander Lazutkin will make an "internal" spacewalk in the connecting node/ airlock of the space station, in spacewalking suits on 11 July. During the 6h exercise, the cosmonauts will reconnect the electrical cables running from the damaged depressurised Spektr module to ...
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Swanwick ATC centre is faced with more delays
Alan George/LONDON The UK's key new air-traffic-control (ATC) centre at Swanwick in southern England is facing further serious delays which could result in the New En Route Centre (NERC) not becoming operational until late 1999. The £350 million ($570 million) centre being built by US contractor ...
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Boeing seating proposal for new 737 satisfies JAA
David Learmount/LONDONGuy Norris/Los Angeles Boeing is in line to win the battle for European approval of Next Generation 737 high-density seating without meeting the formal Joint Aviation Requirements (JAR) specification for emergency-exit configuration. The European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) is satisfied with Boeing's latest proposal and ...
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Sparks fly as Flanker goes to ground
One of the Russian Knights Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker display team made an even greater impression than usual during the Bratislava air show in Slovakia on 21 June with a gear-up landing which closed the runway, but did not result in any injuries to the pilot. Initial suggestions as to the ...
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French bosses make plea for privatisation
Senior French industry figures are warning that the state must allow the privatisation of key defence assets if it is not to be left behind as Europe's defence-aerospace companies restructure. Marcel Roulet, chairman of French defence-electronics giant Thomson-CSF, effectively pleaded with the National Assembly's defence committee on 2 ...
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Asain maintenance
The 1997 Maintenance Directory for Asia, Africa and Australasia (Flight International, 28 May-3 June) wrongly combines the entries for Hong Kong Aero Engine Services (HAESL) and Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering (HAECO). The organisations would like to emphasise that HAESL took on the engine-overhaul activities of HAECO as a separate corporate ...
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NASA finalises X-33 engine tests
Ian Sheppard/LONDON NASA and Rocketdyne have completed the preliminary design and initial testing for the engine for Lockheed Martin's X-33 Venture Star half-scale technology-demonstrator launch vehicle, the first flight of which is scheduled for March 1999. It is hoped that the $5 billion development of a ...
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Boeing chooses new wingtips for stretched 767-400
BOEING HAS SELECTED a new wingtip design for the stretched 767-400 which saves more than 1,000kg over the winglets previously planned. The raked tips reduce wingspan from just over 55m (180ft) to around 52m, yet reduce drag sufficiently to enable the -400 to achieve its 10,500km (5,700nm) range. ...