All news – Page 7661
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US Navy tests F-14 DFCS
THE US NAVY HAS begun flight-testing a Grumman F-14D equipped with a digital flight-control system (DFCS) designed to prevent flat spins and improve carrier-approach handling qualities. The 1.3h first flight on 14 July demonstrated safe operation of the system in clean and landing configurations, the Navy says. ...
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USAF conducts successful DGPS bomb tests
ROCKWELL GBU-15 glide-bombs modified with global-positioning/inertial-navigation systems (GPS/INS) were dropped from US Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16s with a mean accuracy of 5m (16ft), or better, in recent tests using differential GPS (DGPS) to enhance precision guidance. Six bombs were released at altitudes of 24,000-30,000ft and slant ranges ...
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Australian Army officers want to scrap Nomads
A TEAM OF SENIOR Australian Army officers has recommended to defence minister Robert Ray that the Defence Force's 22 Nomad utility aircraft be permanently grounded and disposed of as unfit for military service. The Army has also sought approval to acquire replacement aircraft. Ray is expected to make ...
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BAe to lead Storm Shadow sales drive
Douglas Barrie/LONDON BRITISH AEROSPACE will lead bids to sell a variant of the Matra Apache stand-off missile to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of a collaborative agreement with the French manufacturer. The two companies have teamed to offer a derivative ...
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DASA announces Mehdorn successor
DAIMLER-BENZ Aerospace (DASA) has named Mannesmann Anlagenbau chairman, Dr Dietrich Russell, as the successor to aircraft division president Hartmut Mehdorn, who is leaving the company later this year. The appointment is conditional on the agreement of engineering company Mannesmann. DASA president and chief executive Manfred Bischoff says that ...
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Southwest Airlines makes plans for Florida expansion
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES plans to expand into Florida early in 1996. Share prices of airlines already serving the leisure-dominated Florida market fell sharply with the news of Southwest's first expansion eastward since it established a presence at Baltimore/Washington Airport in September 1993. Dallas, Texas-based Southwest will begin services to ...
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Brussels clears DASA/Zeiss optronics deal venture
MONOPOLIES OFFICIALS of the European Union (EU) have given the all-clear for the founding of a defence-optronics joint venture by Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) and the Carl Zeiss Group. The new venture will be called Zeiss-Eltro Optronic, and will be based at Oberkochen in Germany, with a second site ...
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Sabena/Swissair tie-up gets EC approval
THE EUROPEAN Commission (EC) has given its blessing to the alliance between Swissair and Belgian flag carrier Sabena. Under the deal, Swissair will take a 49.5% stake in Sabena by 2005. The EC says that it is "satisfied" about guarantees that Sabena will remain under European Union ...
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AlliedSignal buys control of SECAN
ALLIEDSIGNAL Aerospace has extended its holding in aircraft heat-exchanger specialist, Societe D'Etudes et de Constructions Aero-Navales (SECAN), by 34%, to 83%. The purchase from Intertechnique of France boosts, AlliedSignal's involvement in the European environmental control systems market. It also strengthens its role in the global heat-exchanger after-market through ...
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Formosa orders Fokkers for fleet expansion
FORMOSA AIRLINES OF Taiwan has ordered two Fokker 100s and two additional Fokker 50 turboprops to expand its domestic fleet. The two Fokker 50s will be delivered in September and October, and the 109-seat twinjets in December and March 1995. The aircraft will be used on routes from Taipei to ...
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Garuda rethinks Airbus/ Boeing airliner orders
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE GARUDA INDONESIA is renegotiating orders for 24 Airbus Industrie and Boeing aircraft in a move to reduce capital expenditure and prepare for eventual privatisation. The airline is understood to have reached a tentative agreement with Airbus to convert orders for six Airbus A330s ...
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DASA/E-Systems bid for Atlantic upgrade
DAIMLER-BENZ Aerospace (DASA) and E-Systems are expected to submit rival bids for a navigation-systems upgrade for the German navy's Dassault Atlantic Mk1 maritime-patrol aircraft by the end of July. The upgrade is part of the navy's Nutzungsdauerverlangerungsprogramm (NDV), intended to keep the aircraft in service until 2010. Germany ...
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South Africa looks at MiG-AT for training
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW RUSSIAN AND South African defence officials have discussed the potential purchase of the MiG-AT advanced jet trainer and the Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum combat aircraft for the South African Air Force (SAAF) during a visit to Moscow. Defence minister Joe Modise met his Russian counterpart, ...
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Swiss APG-73 Delivered
Hughes Aircraft's Radar and Communications Systems division has delivered the first APG-73 radar for the Swiss air force McDonnell Douglas (MDC) F-18. The radar has been shipped to MDC in St Louis, Missouri, where it will be fitted in the first of 36 aircraft for Switzerland. The first Swiss F-18 ...
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ATR 42-400 First Flight
The first flight of the latest version of the ATR 42, the -400, took place on 12 July. The aircraft flew for 3h 15min and, according to ATR, performed "flawlessly". The aircraft features up-rated Pratt & Whitney PW121A turboprops driving six-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers, and as a revised, acoustically treated ...
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The next windshear?
ALMOST EVERY airline flight these days, at least over the USA, seems to entail an encounter with turbulence. This is usually akin to driving over cobblestones or, sometimes, potholes, but occasionally it is like driving off a cliff. On 19 July, an American Airlines Airbus A300 hit clear-air ...
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Testing resumes on GE90 777
THE GENERAL ELECTRIC GE90-powered Boeing 777 test aircraft resumed certification flight-testing on 20 July, following formal US Federal Aviation Administration approval of the new engine hardware and software modifications. The aircraft was grounded after a bird-strike test on 30 May revealed design problems with the platform spacers between ...
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Turbulence injures US airline passengers
AT LEAST 26 passengers and crew were injured when an American Airlines Airbus A300-600R hit clear-air turbulence (CAT) en route from Miami to San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 19 July. On 25 June, a Continental Airlines A300 en route to San Juan hit CAT, which injured 20 passengers and crew. ...
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USN drops USMC AH-1W IWS programme
THE US NAVY HAS cancelled the US Marine Corps Integrated Weapon System (IWS) programme to upgrade the cockpits of its Bell AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters. The IWS has been dropped in favour of development of a four-blade rotor system for the AH-1W and the USMC's Bell UH-1N Huey ...
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Schweizer unveils Twin Condor for spy flights
Ramon Lopez/ELMIRA, NEW YORK SCHWEIZER AIRCRAFT hopes to cash in on a growing international market for low-cost long-distance surveillance aircraft such as the RU-38A Twin Condor, which the US aircraft maker revealed publicly for the first time on 20 July. The US Coast Guard, which ...