All articles by Dan Thisdell – Page 17

  • News

    Human powered flying club to maintain UK summer meet tradition with June-July Lasham event

    2014-05-08T15:12:25Z

    The newly formed British Human Powered Flying Club is calling for entries to its 28 June-6 July rally at Lasham airfield, Hampshire. The event, which will feature competition and technical workshops, follows the Icarus Cup events in 2012 (at Lasham) and 2013 (Sywell aerodrome, Northampton), organised by the Royal Aeronautical ...

  • News

    Vega flies straight but ESA keeps watch on Ukraine

    2014-05-02T17:44:12Z

    ​As European Space Agency personnel celebrated three successes in three flights of its new light launcher, Vega, the unrest in Ukraine would have been about as far from their minds as Kourou is from Kiev – but with the VV03 mission complete (see below), programme officials are continueing their watch ...

  • E-fan
    News

    Airbus light aircraft initiative blazes trail to electric future

    2014-05-02T10:09:03Z

    ​Airbus is gearing up to commercialise a light aircraft project that stands as a blueprint for an eventual move into the 90-seat regional transport market – with a hybrid-electric propulsion system.

  • Vega
    News

    ESA keeps eye on Ukraine crisis as Vega launch nears

    2014-04-24T16:53:00Z

    As the European Space Agency makes final preparations for the third flight of its new Vega light launcher, unrest in Ukraine will be about as far from its operators’ minds as Kourou is from Kiev – but once VV03 is complete on Monday 28 April, programme officials will continue their ...

  • SpaceX
    News

    SpaceX hits milestone in bid for reusable rockets

    2014-04-24T12:34:00Z

    ​SpaceX passed a milestone in its bid to develop reusable rockets with an apparently successful soft splashdown and recovery of the main stage of the Falcon 9 vehicle that went on to deliver a Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station.

  • Saudi Typhoon
    Analysis

    ANALYSIS: Rising spenders balance Western military cuts

    2014-04-22T15:00:00Z

    Global military spending fell in 2013 for the second year running as Western countries continue to cut back, but rising expenditure in the rest of the world is increasingly making up the difference.

  • K50 sunset
    Analysis

    ANALYSIS: Spain's unmanned aerospace credentials showcased through ATLAS

    2014-04-07T00:00:00Z

    ​Near the village of Villacarrillo in Andalusia’s Jaén province, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains and two hours’ drive from Granada, there is, carved out of the region’s endless olive groves, a miniature airfield.

  • News

    Paveway IV development spirals on with low-collateral warhead test

    2014-04-02T15:52:00Z

    ​Raytheon UK’s spiral development of its Paveway IV guided bomb has passed a milestone, with a full “arena trial” detonation of its SPEAR Cap 1 low collateral damage warhead.

  • Ka-32
    News

    IN FOCUS: Mil, Kamov cruising nicely

    2014-03-31T09:10:00Z

    ​For Russian Helicopters, the parent company behind the Mil and Kamov brands, 2013 marked another year of steady-as-she-goes progress.

  • Typhoon Paveway IV - Raytheon UK
    News

    Paveway IV service entry imminent for RAF Typhoons

    2014-03-27T10:31:50Z

    ​The UK Royal Air Force could be as little as four to five months from having its Paveway IV precision-guided bombs fully qualified through the entire Eurofighter Typhoon flight envelope.

  • News

    Daher-Socata unveils TBM turboprop update

    2014-03-13T13:30:27Z

    ​Daher-Socata has improved the performance and efficiency of its TBM family of fast turboprop singles with a new variant. The TBM 900, certificated and in production, retains primary airframe commonality with its predecessor TBM 850 and uses the same Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-66D powerplant but promises improved efficiency and ...

  • News

    Kazan's 3,500th export Mi-8/17 bound for India

    2014-03-13T13:01:50Z

    ​Kazan Helicopters has built its 3,500th export-version Mil Mi-8/17, one of 151 Mi-17V-5s ordered by India’s armed forces since 2008. According to Kazan parent company Russian Helicopters, more than 250 Soviet- and Russian-built Mil helicopters are operating in India. The first Mi-4s were delivered in January 1961, followed by Mi-26s, ...

  • News

    AeroVironment swings on US defence budget volatility

    2014-03-06T15:45:26Z

    Fiscal third-quarter revenues surged 53% to $59.6 million, and operating profit rose by 40% to $23.9 million at unmanned air systems manufacturer AeroVironment.

  • News

    NASA renames Dryden research centre after Neil Armstrong

    2014-03-06T13:06:10Z

    NASA has renamed its Dryden Flight Research Center (pictured) at Edwards AFB after Neil Armstrong, who served as a test pilot at the centre from 1955 to 1962, amassing more than 2,400 flight hours in 48 types, including the X-15.

  • Airbus A350-800
    News

    Airbus drive for 10% return on sales 'realistic'

    2014-02-27T15:40:01Z

    For the company formerly known as EADS, 2013 was a landmark year of restructuring – but 2014 will be just as challenging to managers determined to prove they can now deliver an equally dramatic surge in financial performance.

  • News

    Airbus onboard at ATR but in no rush to launch 90-seater

    2014-02-26T12:10:41Z

    Airbus Group has dismissed speculation that it is less enthusiastic than partner Finmeccanica about the future of their ATR regional turboprops joint venture, but concedes that the pair disagree about the timing for launch of a programme to develop a larger, 90-seat aircraft.

  • Ariane 6 concepts
    News

    Europe presses on with Ariane 6 feasibility study

    2014-02-12T18:20:17Z

    The European Space Agency is pressing ahead with its bid to develop a successor to its Ariane 5 heavy launcher by ordering continued feasibility studies, in preparation for a system requirements review in November 2014.

  • News

    Safran positioned for growth in onboard electrical systems

    2014-01-29T16:57:40Z

    ​No-one should be surprised that United Technologies, the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky and Hamilton Sundstrand, redrew the aerospace industry competitive landscape when it bought Goodrich in 2012 for $18 billion. The largest M&A deal in aerospace industry history could hardly have gone down without repercussions, and naturally ...

  • News

    Galileo services 'available from year-end' – Brussels

    2014-01-29T10:24:13Z

    Europe’s much-delayed Galileo satellite navigation system is set to offer its first services around year-end, with 10 spacecraft in orbit to make a functional constellation.

  • ATR
    News

    ATR chief predicts rise in turnover for 2014

    2014-01-23T12:05:13Z

    ATR chief executive Filippo Bangnato expects 2014 turnover to reach $1.8 billion, versus $1.63 billion last year, and wants to continue holding the company’s backlog steady despite rising deliveries.