All news – Page 7536
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Fly by fire
NASA has been investigating propulsion-controlled landings: Flight International tries the system. Ed Kolano/EDWARDS AFB NASA HAS COMPLETED its latest Propulsion Controlled Aircraft (PCA) programme, using a McDonnell Douglas (MDC) MD-11 test-bed with modified flight-control software. Supported by the US Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Defense, industry ...
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Light ambitions
POLAND'S WARSAW-BASED Aviation Institute has embarked on a three-year project with helicopter manufacturer WSK-PZL Swidnik, to develop a new light helicopter. The IS-2, shown in mock-up form, is a two-seat helicopter powered by a single Textron Lycoming piston engine. The project is being funded, by the Government Committee for Scientific ...
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ATR to establish training centre in Bangkok
ATR AND THAI Airways International have finalised an agreement for the establishment of a training centre on Thai premises in the capital, Bangkok. The new centre, due to come into operation in September 1996, will provide training of flight crew and maintenance personnel in the Far East and ...
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USA blocks Thai AMRAAM sale
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE THE US DEPARTMENT of State is withholding clearance for the sale of the Hughes AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM) to Thailand and is instead promising to supply the system in the event of the country's security coming under threat. Thailand has been ...
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The Viscount: still darting about
Harry Hopkins, who flew Vickers Viscounts in the 1960s, renews his acquaintance with one of the last passenger versions. IT WAS ALL THERE, in black and white. The cockpit instruments lacked colour coding, or pastel panels - but then I was going back 30 years. Vickers Viscounts were once flown ...
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Thrust team finds key to cheaper patterns
Andrew Doyle/BIRMINGHAM A LOW COST FIBREBOARD used in the production of kitchen worktops, can be used as a substitute for high density aerospace foam, in the production of patterns for composite components, says UK aerospace engineers involved in the design of a jet-powered supersonic car (SSC), in ...
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Expanding the propulsion-control envelope
DESPITE A PCA DESIGN envelope of about 150-250kt (280-460km/h), limited to 10,000ft (3,000m) and below, the thrust-only system has been explored well beyond the original flight envelope. The guest-pilot demonstration flights were focused appropriately around the landing pattern, but test results gathered well away from the original design envelope suggest ...
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The Dart
THE ROLLS-ROYCE Dart engine made Sir George Edward's Viscount (a name politically changed from "Viceroy") a front-runner in propeller turbine-powered airliners. The Dart is a comparatively simple engine, with a two-stage centrifugal compressor (the geometry of which was derived from that of the supercharger of the mighty ...
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From Brabazon to Viscount
VICKERS TURNED the 1942 Brabazon Committee's requirement for a postwar Brabazon IIB into the winning VC2 design. Originally, it was to have Napier Naiad, Armstrong Siddeley Mamba or Rolls-Royce Dart engines, but it went into service with the Dart. The prototype V630 was flown on 16 July 1948, and was ...
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British World's Viscounts soldier on
BRITISH WORLD AIRLINES (BWA) is now the largest operator of Viscounts, with eight active at the end of 1995. At one stage, BWA and its predecessors operated 18 of the aircraft. Of the eight left, five have been converted to freighters and three soldiers on in passenger guise, ...
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Northwest to fit EIDS to 747s
NORTHWEST AIRLINES IS TO RETROFIT its fleet of Boeing 747-100/-200s with B&D Instruments' cockpit engine-instrument display system (EIDS), replacing electro-mechanical indicators. The unit displays engine parameters on two active-matrix liquid-crystal display screens and is designed to improve despatch reliability and reduce maintenance costs, compared with existing instruments. A "snapshot" feature ...
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Fair comparisons are needed on Airbus aircraft
Sir - I read the article "Battle of the big twins" (Flight International, 22-28 November, P16), which contains a number of errors and misleading comments. The airliners competing for the 300- to 350-seat market are the Airbus Industrie A330 and A340, the Boeing 777-200A, -200B and -300, ...
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Cheaper composites under study
RESEARCHERS AT THE Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta are developing "laminated-matrix" composites, which, they believe, will be tougher, stronger and cheaper than conventional fibre-reinforced materials and which could replace metals in aircraft and engines, for reduced weight and increased efficiency. Jack Lackey, a scientist at the Georgia ...
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Design network
Boeing has selected Concentra's ICAD System software to automate the design of wire harnesses for its commercial aircraft. The software will be used to codify and distribute electrical-routing design expertise between Boeing groups, says Massachusetts-based Concentra. Source: Flight International
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Judgement on pilot details could have far-reaching results
Sir - A recent judgement, which was made in the USA, that a pilot's personal file, along with his training records from previous employers, should be made available to prospective employers throughout his career will have enormous implications for the UK's pilot workforce should this ruling be adopted. ...
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USAF considers radar upgrades
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES A MAJOR UPGRADE OF front-line fighter radar with active-radar arrays is being evaluated by the US Air Force. A prototype system could be ready for tests by 1998. Initial contracts have been issued to Hughes and Westinghouse under the radar-system aperture-technology effort ...
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Avatar eyes bigger logistics role
AIRCRAFT-PARTS reseller Avatar Alliance, formed earlier this year to acquire the Delta Air Lines surplus-parts inventory, is restructuring to offer logistics services to new low-cost airlines. Avatar says that it plans a full set of services, from parts sales through to spares provisioning and management, potentially offering start-up ...
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Citation X changes confirmed by Cessna
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA CESSNA AIRCRAFT PLANS to deliver the first Citation X high-speed business jet in June 1996, a delay of two months, following full US certification of the aircraft with an increased payload. The US manufacturer had been aiming for basic US certification of the Mach 0.92 aircraft ...
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Nimble Trimble
Trimble is supplying 800 Centurion portable global-positioning-system (GPS) receivers, with an option for another 200, for US Army helicopters. The six-channel, precision-code units are replacing Trimble Trim-pack commercial GPS receivers. Source: Flight International