Fixed-wing – Page 1343
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News
MDC cleans in a flash
McDONNELL DOUGLAS (MDC) HAS BEGUN marketing its Flashjet paint-removal system to other aircraft manufacturers, operators and maintenance centres. The Flashjet uses a combination of pulsed light-energy and carbon-dioxide pellets to remove paint without creating toxic waste. The system was developed for the US Air Force, which is installing a production ...
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First K-MAX due in Europe
KAMAN AEROSPACE will deliver the first K-MAX external-lift helicopter to a European customer in the second quarter of this year. The aircraft, for Helog of Switzerland, was displayed at the Helicopter Association International's Heli-Expo '95 in Las Vegas on 29-31 January, ahead of its first flight. Five K-MAX ...
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USA and UK move ahead on Halon test replacement
Simon Elliott/LONDON THE UK CIVIL Aviation Authority will award a contract to design and build an aircraft-cabin hidden-fire test rig by the end of this month. The system will be used to test replacements for Halon 1211, which is used in aircraft-cabin fire extinguishers. The contract ...
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Exploring technology
The McDonnell Douglas Explorer was designed with the customer more than just in mind Guy Norris/MESA, ARIZONA As the latest commercial machine from the manufacturer of the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, it is reasonable to expect the McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (MDHS) Explorer to incorporate the ...
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Mir rendezvous
Tim Furniss/LONDON Members of the crew of a routine Space Shuttle Discovery mission have waited a year to be launched but, during that time, their mission has taken on a higher profile, as well as an extra crewman. The wait will have been worthwhile. The Discovery is now ...
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Fuji proposes four-blade SuperCobra
Paul Lewis/TOKYO FUJI HEAVY INDUSTRIES (FHI) of Japan is proposing a four-blade version of the Bell AH-1W SuperCobra as a more cost-effective alternative to licence- manufacturing the McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache. The AH-IW proposal is in response to the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force's (JGSDF) requirement for ...
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A dozen Su-34s planned by 1998
RUSSIA'S NOVOSIBIRSK Chkalov plant plans to produce 12-13 Sukhoi Su-34 tactical bombers by 1998. Chkalov plant officials say two more production-configuration Su-34s are now being assembled at the site. The plant had been producing Sukhoi Su-24 Fencers until 1992, and the new type is to be substituted for ...
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Eurofighter rejects new control proposal
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH THE Eurofighter consortium has decided to stop work on an alternative flight-control system (FCS) for the Eurofighter 2000, based on technology from the Daimler-Benz Aerospace (formerly DASA)/ Rockwell X-31 programme. An FCS presentation to the Eurofighter management agency NEFMA was scheduled for 24 January, ...
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Defence sales give MDC a record year
A RECORD performance from the defence division in 1994 left McDonnell Douglas (MDC) showing its highest-ever profits, despite a further decline in civil-aircraft sales. The group ended the year with net profits of $598 million, an improvement of more than $200 million on 1993. Operating profits also broke ...
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Fighting options
If you need a new piece of military equipment, there are four major ways to acquire it: to buy something which satisfies most of your requirements off somebody else's shelf; to buy something off somebody else's shelf and modify it for your own purposes; to develop it entirely yourself; or ...
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News
X-31 wrecked after test-flight crash
One of two Rockwell/Daimler-Benz Aerospace X-31 enhanced-fighter- manoeuvrability demonstrators crashed near Edwards AFB, California, on 19 January. German test-pilot Karl Lang ejected safely. The single-engined canard-delta aircraft, designed to be used in high angle-of-attack, post-stall manoeuvres using thrust vectoring, was being flown back from a test flight when ...
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USAF grounds GE-powered F16s
THE US AIR FORCE has grounded all General Electric (GE) F110-129-powered Lockheed F-16s following the non-fatal crash on an F-16D in Belgium on 13 January. The front fan from the engine of the crashed aircraft has been returned to GE for testing. The precautionary stand-down is the third ...
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MDC gives F-15D reconnaissance modifications
McDonnell DOUGLAS (MDC) has begun modifying an F-15D for flight tests of a reconnaissance pod beginning in March. A modified F-15 will be offered to meet an emerging US Air Force requirement for a successor to the cancelled Advanced Tactical Air Reconnaissance System (ATARS). The pod will be ...
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JAST revision hardens ASTOVL project option
Guy Norris/SAN FRANCISO THE US NAVY/US Air Force Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) programme is being revised radically to allow two finalists to build a total of four demonstrator aircraft. Two will be configured for advanced short take-off and vertical landing (ASTOVL). The changes will bolster ...
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Picking up the pieces
The UK Government and British Aerospace are in the final stages of concluding a contract covering the repair and return to service of Panavia Tornado F3 air-defence fighters structurally damaged by maintenance firm Airwork. The Ministry of Defence is declining to give a value for the contract, stating that it ...
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RAAF opts for Air New Zealand F-18 maintenance
AIR NEW ZEALAND Engineering Services has been named as preferred tenderer to overhaul the General Electric F404-400 engines of the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) McDonnell Douglas F-18A fighter fleet. Incumbent contractor Hawker de Havilland, a BTR Nylex subsidiary, and Australian airline Qantas were the other two bidders. ...
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Russia agrees deal with India for aircraft carrier from Russia
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW RUSSIA HAS AGREED to sell to India the Kiev-class 37,000t aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov (formerly the Baku) in a move which may have wider implications for the strategic balance in the Asia-Pacific region. India operates two ageing former UK aircraft carriers, the 28,700t Viraat ...
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Spain decides in favour of USNavy F-18s
SPAIN PLANS TO buy 24 McDonnell Douglas F-18As from the US Navy, to fill a gap in its fighter force until the Eurofighter EF2000 enters service. The country has rejected a US Air Force offer of secondhand Lockheed F-16s. The Spanish air force has sent a letter of ...
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Back to basics
Airline pilots have, for years, been warning over the growing threat of a mid-air collision in African airspace. On 13 September they appear, unfortunately, to have been proved right, with the apparent en route collision of a US Air Force Lockheed C-141 Starlifter and a German air force Tupolev Tu-154 ...
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GEC HUMS passes design review
THE AIRBORNE-SYSTEM critical-design review for the GEC-Marconi Defence Systems-developed Integrated Health & Usage Monitoring System (IHUMS II) has been completed successfully. The IHUMS II is scheduled for certification on the Sikorsky S-76C+ this year. The system uses high-speed computer processing to diagnosis engine, transmission and rotor-system health. ...