FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1988
1988 - 2951.PDF
Canadair joins Airbus A330/340 by Gilbert Sedbon in Paris Canadian aerospace manu facturer Canadair has joined the Airbus A330/A340 programme by taking a major part of Aero spatiale's share in the $8 billion programme. The contract is worth an esti mated C$1-2 billion (FFr6-3 billion), or 7 per cent of Aero spatiale's overall 37-4 per cent stake in the programme. Canadair will supply sub- floor structures and other fuse lage components for 600 A330/A340 aircraft over the next 16 years. First deliveries will begin in the last quarter of 1989, for assembly together with components manufactured at Aerospatiale's Saint Nazaire facility by mid-1990. Canadair parent company Bombardier will invest C$158 million in the company's Montreal facility for the new scheme. They will, enjoy support from the Canadian Federal Government, as well as the Quebec provincial adminis tration, totalling C$75 million. The new deal is expected to create 600 to 1,000 additional jobs in Montreal. The A320;j/A340 aircraft will be built by 'Airbus Industrie's four leading partners—Aero spatiale, MBB, British Aero space, and Casa—with subcon tractors from all over the world including companies in the UK, Austria, Australia, Canada, China, Greece, Italy, India, Japan, Korea, Portugal, and Jugoslavia. The first four-engined A340- 300 is to fly in April or May 1991, with entry into commer cial service scheduled for May 1992, followed by the A340-200 in August of that year. The A3 30 sister aircraft, the world's biggest twinjet, is to fly for the first time in June 1992, with entry into commercial service set for September 1993. The four Airbus partner companies are seeking to spread their A330/A340 workshare, and financial risk, more widely than in previous projects, both to improve sales prospects and to offset currency fluctuations. Aerospatiale's Nantes plant has begun machining the wing centre section for the first Airbus A340 Israelis unveil large RPV Israel Aircraft Industries has released the first details of a new long-endurance multi-mission remotely piloted vehicle (RPV) named Impact. The 1,0001b RPV has an endurance of 12hr and can carry a 1501b payload. Impact was developed by Mazlat at IAI's new RPV plant, which was formed following the cancellation of the Lavi fighter programme. The RPV can be configured to perform recon naissance, targeting, and elec tronic warfare missions. Pay- load options include television, TV/infrared active and passive electronic warfare systems, and still photography. Impact is equipped with a secure commu nications link. The RPV is controlled by a new type of ground station. Different versions of the control station have been developed, including a miniaturised unit for forward-area operations. Impact has been designed to meet Israeli Defence Force specifications. Long endurance and forward-looking infrared capability were top priorities. Currently, Israel is using Scout RPVs made by IAI. Computer reads lips American engineer Steven Smith has developed a programme which could dramatically improve the effec tiveness of cockpit and spacesuit voice recognition systems. The programme uses a low- cost image processing system that Smith programmed to "read" lips during the forma tion of words. Lip-reading tech niques, says Smith, could overcome problems associated with voice recognition systems that are used in advanced- technology aircraft cockpits and spacesuits. He says that the similarity of sounds, background noise, and other problems make automatic speech recognition an elusive goal but, when combined with computerised lip reading, speech recognition systems could be more accurate. "For some applica tions, such a system can be developed to fit into the pilot's helmet and mask.VIt could be helpful in the high-noise environment of a cockpit, where acoustic recog nition by itself does poorly," he says. NEWS IN BRIEF Oklahoma-based Nordam has been awarded the pro duction contract for the Piaggio P. 180 Avanti cabin windows. The inner and outer transparencies are being made from stretched acrylic. Rolls-Royce RB.211-524G engines will have Rose- mount inlet total tem perature and pressure sensors for the environ mentally hostile intake area just forward of the wide- chord fan. A new infrared decoy flare for the Tornado Air Defence Variant is being built by Wallop Industries for British Aerospace. The flares, which have a high energy output for the high-altitude air-defence role, will have a rectangular cross-section of 50mm by 64mm. BP Advanced Materials subsidiary Bristol Composite Materials Engineering is to design and develop com posite engine blocker doors for use with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines on Boeing 747s and 767s, in a contract worth about £2 million. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 8 October 1988 85
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
