All news – Page 7339
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News
Broken link grounds Explorers
McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (MDHS) Explorer helicopters have been grounded "until further notice" following the discovery of a broken adjustable collective drive-link. Subsequent tests have revealed the need for a redesign of the assembly. The company notified operators of the grounding order on the evening of 28 May, ...
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USNexamines F-18 UCAV demonstration
The US Navy is considering using the McDonnell Douglas (MDC) F-18 as the basis for a next-generation uninhabited combat air-vehicle (UCAV). The USN is discussing launching a proof-of-concept demonstrator programme with Boeing and MDC which could lead to a first-generation operational UCAV based around the F-18 airframe. ...
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Prestwick seeks new work after J41 closure
British Aerospace has signalled its final exit from turboprop regional-aircraft production, with the announcement that it is to close the Jetstream 41 assembly line at Prestwick, Scotland. The move is being backed by a renewed drive to find replacement aerostructures work for the site. Production of the J41, ...
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Lockheed Martin tests joined-wing model
Lockheed Martin is flight-testing a scale model of a joined-wing tanker/transport being studied under its New Strategic Aircraft (NSA) project. Initial tests of the 1.98m-span radio-controlled model exhibited "excellent" flight characteristics and met or exceeded objectives, the company says. A joined-wing design would allow the aircraft to be equipped with ...
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Delays force Mesa to curtail Dash 8 order
MESA AIR GROUP has cancelled the remaining 13 of a 25-aircraft order for Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-200 regional turboprops, citing delivery delays and technical problems. Options on a further 25 aircraft have been cancelled, but Mesa says that it will keep 12 Dash 8s already delivered. Bombardier ...
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Kawasaki delivers first prototype OH-1 helicopter
Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has delivered its first XOH-1 prototype scout helicopter to the Japan Defence Agency (JDA), marking a major landmark for the country's first indigenous rotary-wing aircraft development programme. Japan's parliamentary under-secretary for defence, Katsuhito Asano, used the delivery ceremony to re-affirm Government support for the ...
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Russian court rules out Sukhoi objection
A legal challenge to the formation of AVPK Sukhoi, the planned grouping of Russian military design bureaux and production houses, has been refused by Russia's supreme court. The lawsuit had been brought by Alexander Merkulov, general manager of the Komsomolsk-on-Amur production plant. He was supported by Mikhail Simonov, ...
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Rafale order
The French Government has ordered the first 13 Dassault Rafale multi-role fighters following agreement with major subcontractors and Dassault to cut prices by 10%. A further order, for 48 aircraft, has been thrown into doubt by a possible change of government. The order covers ten Rafales for the navy and ...
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Aeromexico checks Transaero DC-10
Aeromexico has completed a C-check on an ex-American Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 for Finavion, which has leased the aircraft to Russia's Transaero Airlines. Work was performed at Mexico City, where the airline has carried out third-party maintenance since 1995, for carriers from Mexico, such as Allegro and Aerocaribe, and overseas, ...
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Lucas provides JSF emergency power
LUCAS AEROSPACE is to provide an emergency power-generating system (EPGS) to be flight-tested in an F-16 modified by Lockheed Martin to demonstrate power-by-wire flight controls for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The unit will be supplied under the JSF Integrated Subsystems Technology demonstrator programme. The EPGS is an ...
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United introduces virtual maintenance training
UNITED AIRLINES HAS introduced a "virtual-reality" training tool designed to improve the troubleshooting skills of Boeing 737 maintenance technicians. Wicat Systems' Maintenance Virtual Workplace is in- tended to reduce the incidence of component removals when no fault is found. The Virtual Workplace is a CD-ROM-based desktop training aid ...
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French mount joint export initiative
The French aeronautics-equipment industry has formed a series of links between large and small companies, aimed at helping the latter increase their export businesses. The AERO-PME initiative creates links between 50 smaller companies and their larger counter- parts, which already have a strong export base. "We ...
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Goldin's vision
NASA administrator Daniel Goldin is keen on projects which push scientific and technological knowledge to their limits within small budgets. The Origins programme is one such, and the New Millennium plan for affordable "micro" missions is another. "Origins' goals - searching out clues to fundamental questions about the ...
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India proposes 11 launches in five years
Eleven indigenous launches of 16 communications and remote-sensing spacecraft are planned by India up to 2003 as part of its next, $3.48 billion, five-year space plan, says India's space-research organisation (ISRO). Up to five of the spacecraft will be a new series of Insat 3 direct-broadcast communications satellites ...
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NASA astronaut returns after more than 120 days on the Mir
NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger returned to Earth aboard the STS 84/Atlantis on 25 May, after a 132-day spaceflight, mainly aboard the Russian space station Mir. He was replaced by Michael Foale, the fifth NASA astronaut to fly on the Mir (Flight International, 28 May-3 June). The STS84 was ...
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Proton launch is successful
A Russian Proton DM booster operated by ILS International Launch Services carried AT&T's Telstar 5 communications satellite into orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on 24 May. It was the Ìrst flight of the booster since the failure of the Proton launch of the Mars '96 probe on 17 November, ...
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OSC completes X-34 final design review
The final design of the Orbital Sciences (OSC) X-34, the next technology demonstrator in NASA's Reusable Launch Vehicle programme, has been frozen in preparation for its first flight in 1998. The re-usable, suborbital vehicle will be flown to Mach 8 at an altitude of 80km. It will be ...
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1996 World military aircraft incidents
ABBREVIATIONS AAC Army Air Corps; AAR Air-to-air refuelling; AB Airbase; AF Air force; AFB Air force base; AGL Above ground level; ANG Air National Guard; AP Airport; BAe British Aerospace; CFIT Controlled ßight into terrain; CNK Cause not known; FOD Foreign-object damage; IAI Israel Aircraft Industries; JASDF Japanese Air Self-Defence ...
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Lessons from the jump seat
Sir - It may be true that there is no place for the flight engineer on the flightdeck of modern aircraft, but recent history suggests that another pair of eyes and ears in the jump seat might make a contribution to safety. It is interesting to note the ...