All news – Page 6864
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USAF considers extra F-16 order
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC The US Air Force has asked Lockheed Martin for pricing on 30 additional Block 50/52 F-16C/Ds to extend domestic production of the fighter to late 2003, while finalising the sale of 25 surplus F-16A/Bs and 20 accompanying upgrade packages to Portugal. According to the manufacturer, ...
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US Navy may fly Canadian CF-5s
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Navy and the Canadian Government are negotiating the lease of surplus Canadian Forces NorthropCF-5A/Bs to supplement F-5E/Fs used to prepare US fighter pilots for air-to-air engagements. Negotiations started six months ago on a a "no-cost" lease of between 14 and 16 CF-5A/Bs that ...
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Poland cancels Israeli contract for Huzar attack helicopter
Arie Egozi/TEL AVIV Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Poland has backed out of its $800 million agreement with an Israeli consortium to supply anti-tank missiles and integrated avionics for the PZL-Swidnik Huzar battlefield helicopter. A revised request for proposals (RFP) is expected to be issued early next year, with Warsaw hoping ...
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Joint STARS upgrade
The US Air Force is upgrading the engines powering the Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft, installing improved turbine blades and vanes, to increase altitude capability. Source: Flight International
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Anglo-French venture
Racal Radio and Thomson-CSF Communications have set up a joint venture called MBN to develop, build and market multimedia, broadband military digital access networks worldwide. The team has already been selected by the UK armed forces to supply a £250 million local area subsystem forming the backbone of the Ministry ...
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Canadian Aerospace aims to convert trainer
Canadian Aerospace Group, a unit of SL Ventures, has hired Florida-based Micro Systems to design and install a guidance and flight control system for its Monitor military jet trainer, modifying it for unmanned surveillance and strike missions. Ontario-based Canadian Aerospace and Micro Systems plan to jointly develop unmanned air ...
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The best yet ?
Dave Higdon/WITCHITA Could ITBE third time lucky for Cessna Aircraft? Might the 206 Stationair be the model that avoids the post-certification problems that plagued the reintroduction of the company's 172 and 182? Flight International was invited to evaluate the revamped, updated and upgraded 206 and given access to ...
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Free range
Paul Seidenman/SAN FRANCISCO The US Air Force has completed more than 7,000 air combat training sorties using the Kadena Interim Training System (KITS). The USA's first operational rangeless training system, KITS was deployed in August last year at Kadena AB in Okinawa, Japan. KITS replaced the overwater Air Combat Manoeuvre ...
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Special delivery
Tim Furniss/LONDON The Columbus Orbital Facility (COF), a pressurised science laboratory, was until recently the European Space Agency's (ESA) only major contribution to the International Space Station (ISS). Now, development of a fleet of Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATVs) to support ISS operations has begun with the award of a ...
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The spectrum challenge
Chris Yates/MANCHESTER The aeronautical community must pool its resources and protect its strategic interests if it is to avoid losing the hundreds of millions of dollars invested in satellite navigation. The threat comes from an Inmarsat-sponsored proposal, currently before the International Telecommunications Union-World Radio Council (ITU-WRC), to share frequencies ...
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Airbus eyes potential for fractional market
Airbus is eyeing the fractional ownership market in an effort to stimulate its orderbook for the corporate version of the A319CJ (ACJ). Although no details have been disclosed, the manufacturer is believed to be considering existing programmes or starting-up a venture of its own. "We are studying potential ...
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Bond responds to demand for UK air ambulance helicopters
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON Bond Air Services is expanding its emergency medical services (EMS) activities with an order for two Instrument Flight Rules-equipped Eurocopter EC135helicopters. The company, a division of the UK's Bond Helicopters, is considering buying up to five new helicopters. The EC 135 purchase follows its award of ...
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UK EC-120 delivery
McAlpine Helicopters has delivered the first UK registered Eurocopter EC-120 Colibri to an unnamed private customer. The Oxford Airport-based distributor plans to take delivery of three single-engine Colibri's in 1999 and "four in 2000." The high demand for the five-seat, $795,000 light helicopter prompted Eurocopter to step-up production from four ...
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Cirrus selects Garmin as Trimble leaves market
Cirrus Design has selected Garmin International to replace Trimble as avionics supplier for its newly certificated SR20 light aircraft. The last-minute change was forced when Trimble announced in September that it planned to exit the general aviation avionics market. Cirrus, based in Duluth, Minnesota, has selected the company's Trimline ...
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NetJets gears up for charter expansion after FAA approval
Executive Jet's charter arm is gearing up to support the international expansion of the company's NetJets business aircraft fractional ownership programme. Executive Jet Management (EJM) has received Federal Aviation Administration approval to conduct charter operations from the USA to Europe and across the Pacific. EJM says the approvals "-are ...
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Flying wing completes tests
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES THE Centurion, a 63m (206ft) span flying wing, has completed initial low-altitude flight tests at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, California. The aircraft has since been disassembled and returned to its designer and manufacturer, AeroVironment of Simi Valley, California. There several of its systems ...
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Galaxy certification on schedule for year end
Galaxy Aerospace is anticipating Israeli certification of the Galaxy business jet by 14 December, with US approval expected a week later. The company hopes to complete natural icing tests - now under way in northern Europe - before certification to enable the basic approval to include flight into known ...
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FAA certifies IL-103
Ilyushin's Il-103 has become the first Russian manufactured aircraft to obtain US FAA certification. Fifteen Il-103s, built by MAPO's Loukhovitsy plant, are flying, two of which have clocked-up around 1,100 flights The five-seat, single-engine, piston-powered aircraft will cost $156,000, says Ilyushin. Source: Flight International
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FBO growth
Mercury Air Group has added a 15th location to its growing US fixed-based operation chain, with the acquisition of independently owned Jackson Air Center, which is based in Jackson, Mississippi. Source: Flight International
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More Australian sales beckon for Exec 162F
RotorWay International is hoping to boost sales of its Exec 162F in Australia following approval of the kit-built helicopter by the country's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). Approval of the Exec 162F in Australia, under rules that are more restrictive than the experimental category regulations applied in the USA, ...