All Fixed-Wing news – Page 1345
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Danish simulation
Hughes Training is to supply two Lockheed Martin F-16A Mid-Life Update unit-level trainers to the Royal Danish Air Force in 1997. The trainers include a Silicon Graphics Onyx Infinite Reality image-generator with 120°-wide display, and head-up display and infra-red sensor simulations. Source: Flight International
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Ground work
Tests being carried out in the USA are proving the worth of ground-proximity warning systems for helicopters. Paul Seidenman/SAN FRANCISCO THE US NAVY AND a civil-helicopter operator have begun evaluation of the world's first ground-proximity warning system (GPWS) to be tested successfully in a helicopter ...
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IL abandons D-18A engine
Andrzej Jeziorski/WARSAW THE WARSAW-BASED Aviation Institute (IL) has shelved development of its D-18A twin-shaft turbofan engine because of lack of funds and doubts over its applications. The 18kN (4,000lb)-thrust engine, which had its first bench test on 16 April 1992, was intended to power future ...
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USAF keeps weather eye on radar coverage
THE US AIR FORCE IS USING COMPUTER MODELS to gain a better understanding of how weather and terrain affect radar transmissions. The image was produced by, the variable-terrain radio parabolic equation (VTRPE) model, and shows a weather "inversion" deflecting radar signals. The image is a "mathematical" cross-section of radar energy ...
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Germany to test Elisra electronic-warfare system
THE GERMAN AIR force is to fit an Israeli Elisra self-protection electronic-warfare (EW) system on a Sikorsky CH-53 helicopter for evaluation purposes. If the trial is successful, a procurement order will follow. The air force is believed to have examined several self-protection systems for use on the CH-53s, ...
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Midwest admiration for K-MAX increases
CANADA'S MIDWEST Helicopters is about to take delivery of its second Kaman K-MAX external-lift helicopter, and the company has begun negotiations to buy a third aircraft. Midwest president Wayne Macauley says that the company will be interested in a fourth helicopter, if plans to expand operations into Mexico ...
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Lack of credits balks Indonesian F-16 plans
INDONESIA'S PLANNED purchase of nine embargoed Pakistani Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs from the USA has stalled over Jakarta's demand for export credit. According to defence sources, the issue of financing is the only remaining hurdle still to be cleared for the deal to go ahead. Agreement has already ...
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Singapore F-5 upgrade to go ahead
THE REPUBLIC OF Singapore Air Force (RSAF) Northrop F-5E/F upgrade programme has been given a production go-ahead, following the resolution of major avionics-integration problems. Prime contractor Singapore Technologies Aerospace (STAe) says that work will begin immediately on the upgrade to the newly designated F-5S/T standard. The total ...
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Hughes will supply SAR for spy craft
HUGHES AIRCRAFT IS providing the US Army's three RC-7B Airborne Reconnaissance Low (ARL) surveillance aircraft with moving-target-indicator/synthetic-aperture-radar (MTI/SAR) sensors. The additional intelligence-gathering capability is intended, to partially offset the retirement of aging Grumman OV-1 Mohawk surveillance aircraft, now used in South Korea. The US Army speeded the contract ...
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Wiring hitch hits F-16 MLU plans
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA WORKMANSHIP problems with wire harnesses in five F-16A/B Mid-Life Update (MLU) flight-test aircraft modified by Lockheed Martin are seriously threatening plans to begin operational test and evaluation in Europe in May. Fort Worth, Texas-based Lockheed Martin says that below-specification solder joints on some ...
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USAF invites offers for new bomb-dispenser
PLANNING FOR A NEW dispenser-weapon programme is under way within the US Air Force. The service has issued a request for information on captive-dispenser technology and plans to award competitive advanced-development contracts in the fourth quarter of 1997. The captive dispenser is intended to be carried internally in ...
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Win some, lose some
The US DoD's 1997 budget request represents a 6% decline in defence spending. Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC THE US Department of Defense (DoD) has sent to Capitol Hill a fiscal year 1997 budget request which represents a 6% decline in Pentagon spending from the previous year's ...
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Upgrade RAF F3s in service life until 2010
Douglas Barrie/LONDON THE ROYAL AIR FORCE is to keep its Panavia Tornado F3 air-defence aircraft in service until 2010. Previous plans had envisaged the aircraft being replaced by the Eurofighter EF2000 in the first few years after the turn of the century. The Ministry of ...
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Accidents prompt F-14 upgrade
THREE ACCIDENTS within a month have prompted the US Navy to proceed with an upgrade to the flight-control system of the Grumman F-14. Funds had previously not been available for the $80 million programme to install a digital flight-control system (DFCS) in the F-14 to prevent flat spins and improve ...
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Disconnected ailerons are blamed for RAF Hawk crash
Douglas Barrie/LONDON THE BRITISH Aerospace Hawk, which crashed at the Royal Air Force training base at Valley, North Wales, in February took off with its ailerons disconnected after maintenance. This was one of a series of human errors contributing to the crash, according to initial investigations. ...
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Dassault demands control of Aerospatiale merger
Gilbert Sedbon/PARIS FRENCH GOVERNMENT plans to merge state-owned Aerospatiale with privately owned Dassault Aviation appear to have run into difficulty just two weeks after the proposal was unveiled. Dassault, the fiercely independent combat-aircraft and corporate-jet manufacturer led by chairman Serge Dassault, is refusing to be ...
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Just bad luck?
THE FIRST TWO months of 1996 have proved bleak for the Royal Air Force. It has lost more combat aircraft so far this year than it did in the whole of 1995. A total of nine aircraft have crashed: two Panavia Tornado F3s, two Tornado GR1s, one Sepecat Jaguar GR1, ...
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Dedicated test
Guy Norris/MOJAVE CFM International's latest engine, the CFM56-7, is being put through its paces on General Electric's Boeing 747 test-bed. According to Phil Schultz, General Electric flight-test organisation (FTO) chief pilot, everything you see on GE's Boeing 747-100 test-bed - all the subtle changes - "represent ten years ...
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Coming round again
Colombia's Gavilan programme is recovering from the loss of the first prototype aircraft. Brian Homewood/BOGOTA AFTER TEN YEARS of development, Colombia's first indigenous aircraft is poised to enter production. The second prototype of the El Gavilan 358 (the Sparrowhawk) was due to have its maiden flight in ...
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Australia starts search for Rapier replacement
THE AUSTRALIAN Army has begun a study to define its requirements for an enhanced air-defence missile system to replace the British Aerospace Rapier. Expressions of interest are now being sought from Australian-based (or registered) consultant companies to conduct a study of costs and technical trade-offs. The study forms ...