All news – Page 7690
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Su-27M prototype suffers flight-control failure
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW A SUKHOI SU-27M development prototype, flown from the Ahktubinsk flight-test centre, suffered a near-catastrophic failure of its fly-by-wire system in April, but was recovered by the pilot. The incident involved what is described as a "double malfunction" of the flight-control system (FCS). The Su-27M (Su-35)was being used in ...
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Sabena crew deal paves way to cost cutting
SABENA HAS TIED UP a deal with its pilots over the crewing of the group's incoming fleet of Avro RJ85 regional jets and says that it has had "very constructive" negotiations with its unions over the broader cost-cutting measures. Although the RJ85 fleet will be operated within regional subsidiary Delta ...
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Aerospatiale to lead Proteus project
AEROSPATIALE HAS BEEN selected by French Space Agency CNES to lead the programme to develop the new Proteus small-satellite platform. The state-owned company beat competition from its traditional rival, Matra. The Proteus platform will form the basis of a new generation of small satellites weighing around 500kg, which would be ...
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DASA prepares 328 cryoplane
DAIMLER-BENZ Aerospace (DASA) is to go ahead with a programme to convert a Dornier 328 turboprop to a hydrogen-fuelled testbed late this year. "The aim is to use the knowhow gained with the Dornier 328...for Airbus applications at a later date," says DASA. The project, now in ...
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Snecma has to sell SEP stake to Aerospatiale
Julian Moxon/PARIS THE FRENCH Government has told engine manufacturer Snecma to sell its controlling stake in its SEP rocket engine subsidiary to Aerospatiale, but the two state-owned concerns are at odds over the company's value. Snecma president Bernard Dufour has told French economics minister Jean ...
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VDO develops graphical aid for low-level navigation
GERMAN AVIONICS company VDO Luftfahrtgerate is developing a graphics module to assist military pilots on low-level transport missions. The digital-graphics module, presented for the first time at ILA '96, enables a symbol generator to produce a three-dimensional representation of the aircraft's surroundings on the pilot's primary flight display. ...
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FAA certificates gas-turbine APU for GV
ALLIEDSIGNAL'S RE220 auxiliary power unit (APU) has become what is claimed to be the smallest gas turbine to be granted full certification by the US Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA has issued a technical standard order (TSO) C77a certification for the 220kW (295hp) APU, and related electronic-control-unit software ...
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Europe and USA hold thrust-vectoring talks
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELESAndrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH EUROPE AND THE USA are seeking to co-operate on future thrust-vectoring research. Industry and defence officials from both sides were expected to open talks at the Berlin International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA), which started on 13 May. The discussions could include European ...
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MB-339CD airborne for first time
AERMACCHI'S MB-339CD TWO-SEAT ADVANCED jet trainer had its first flight on 24 April, marking the start of a test programme aimed at first deliveries of a 15-aircraft order to the Italian air force by the end of 1996. The Italian manufacturer says that "...all on-board systems met design targets" during ...
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Power Pool
THE COMMERCIAL-ENGINES business is among the biggest of big-risk businesses, and the risk is seldom bigger than when a new engine is required for an as-yet-unproven large airliner. So it should come as no surprise that two engine manufacturers should pool resources to minimise the risk of participating in such ...
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Korean Helicopters
Korean Air is proposing to invest $1.54 billion to establish a helicopter-production plant on a site at Yuldo near Seoul. The company says that it is part of a plan for joint development of commercial helicopters with European and US manufacturers. Source: Flight International
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China to invest in ATC updates
CHINA IS PLANNING TO spend about 6 billion yuan ($720 million) on updating its air-traffic-control (ATC) systems. Bao Peide, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), says that 440 million yuan will be spent making the system fully communications, navigation and surveillance/air-traffic management compatible. The balance will ...
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Arrest warrant issued for Serge Dassault
Gilbert Sedbon/PARIS and Herman de Wulf/BRUSSELS AN INTERNATIONAL arrest warrant has been issued for Dassault Aviation chairman and chief executive Serge Dassault by Belgian magistrates. He is charged with involvement in a BFr90 billion ($2.8 billion) bribe of Belgian Government ministers in exchange for contracts to buy ...
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Fokkers could be back in production
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON FOKKER COULD RESTART production of a limited number of new aircraft, if proposals being drawn up by its receiver are accepted by the Dutch bankruptcy courts. When the Dutch manufacturer collapsed in February, it won permission to build 15 aircraft which were already ...
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Carib Express ceases operations
CARIB EXPRESS, the Caribbean regional in which British Airways held a 20% stake, has been wound up and its aircraft returned to British Aerospace. The airline started operations in February 1995 with three BAe 146-100s leased from BAe's Asset Management Organisation (AMO), operating regional services from Barbados. ...
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UK monetary constraints force RPMA cost rethink
Douglas Barrie/LONDON BIDDERS FOR THE ROYAL Air Force's £2 billion ($3 billion) Nimrod MR2-replacement programme are considering paying their own development costs initially, to avoid a delay because of Government funding problems. The funding difficulties have arisen as a result of cost pressures within the ...
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DASA warns France on defence agreement
Julian Moxon/PARIS DAIMLER-BENZ Aerospace (DASA) president Manfred Bischoff has threatened a possible collapse of the missiles/satellites agreement between Aerospatiale and DASA, if France does not honour its side of the accord forged between German chancellor Helmut Kohl and French president Jacques Chirac in 1995. In ...
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SES books Arianespace for six Astra launches
Tim Furniss/LONDON LUXEMBOURG'S Societe Europeenne des Satellites (SES), operator of the Astra communications satellites, has signed a long-term agreement with Arianespace covering the launch of six geostationary-orbit (GEO) Astra spacecraft by Ariane 4 and 5 vehicles between 1997 and 2000, starting with the Astra 1G. ...
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Something old, something new, something borrowed...
With a July decision date, the RAF's Nimrod competition is reaching boiling point. Douglas Barrie/LONDON Graham Warwick/ATLANTA MORE THAN 20 YEARS AGO, Hawker Siddeley emerged victorious from the ruck of the Royal Air Force's last maritime-patrol-aircraft (MPA) competition. The surprise winner of Operational Requirement 381 ...
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Damaged F-18s survive collision
TWO US NAVY McDONNELL Douglas F-18As landed safely at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia, after sustaining substantial damage in a mid-air collision during air-combat manoeuvring over the Atlantic Ocean. In the 23 April incident, the aircraft were on a converging course and collided at around 400kt (740km/h), the left wing ...