All news – Page 7427
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Fairchild cools down Longbow Apache
FAIRCHILDCONTROLS is to supply the environmental-control system for the upgraded AH-64D Longbow Apache attack helicopter under a $73 million contract from McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems. Frederick, Maryland-based Fairchild will supply the Improved Environmental Control System, a distributed vapour-cycle cooling and heating unit consisting of two redundant systems with ...
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ARINC Skydoc puts maintenance data on the Internet
ARINC HAS LAUNCHED a system for the on-line distribution of maintenance documentation. The Skydoc service provides secure access, via the Internet, to ARINC's maintenance-information database, which is updated continuously with the latest manufacturers' bulletins and regulatory authorities' directives. Atrial of the system involving Airbus aircraft is under way at Lufthansa. ...
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Tiny aircraft come under study
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is considering funding research into so-called micro air vehicles - aircraft with wingspans which measure just 150mm - which scientists believe could be used for tasks such as surveillance and detection of toxic chemicals on the battlefield. The aim is ...
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MDC fits redesigned C-17 gear pods
McDonnell Douglas (MDC) has begun installing the first shipset of redesigned main-landing-gear pods for its C-17 military transport. The pods were revised under the "design for manufacturing and assembly" concept, aimed at cutting production costs. Introduced from aircraft No 33, the pods are projected to save $45 million over the ...
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B-1B upgrade
Boeing has been awarded a $179 million contract to perform an avionics upgrade and install a smart-weapons-delivery capability for the US Air Force's Rockwell B-1Bbombers. The enhancements, part of the B-1Bconventional-mission upgrade programme, are scheduled to be installed from 2001. Source: Flight International
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Maintenance needs stepping up-...
Sir - You attribute to maintenance error three aircraft accidents and 260 fatalities in the Airline Safety Review for 1996 (Flight International, 15-21 January, P31). Engineering departments/ organisations must act now, to prevent an increase in this statistic. I suggest replacing accountant types with professional engineers at management ...
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A340 switches: re-active or pro-active reaction?
Sir - In the article "Airbus fits switch guards after A340 hydraulic incident" (Flight International, 12-18 February, P16), Airbus Industrie describes the move to install guards as part of its "pro-active" stance on cockpit safety. If that stance were really pro-active, would not the A340 switch guards have ...
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Enhanced awareness
At the end of 1995, Sextant Avionique delivered the first production sets of avionics for the multi-role Dassault Mirage 2000-5. The first production deliveries of the aircraft for the French air force are scheduled to take place this year, and the -5 is also being promoted for export. ...
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Air Niugini hit by sackings
Papua New Guinea's (PNG) deputy prime minister and finance minister Chris Haiveta suddenly sacked all but two members of the seven strong Air Niugini's board of directors during a meeting in February, leaving final negotiations stalled for the acquisition of two new Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-200s, and other corporate ...
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Presidential intervention delays American settlement
AMERICAN AIRLINES says that first deliveries of new Boeing aircraft will be delayed after US President Bill Clinton intervened to push any pilots' strike back by at least 60 days. Clinton stepped in minutes after the pilots went on strike on 14 February and appointed an emergency mediation board, which ...
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KLM selects vendors for 747 upgrade
KLM has selected Canadian Marconi to provide the integrated global-positioning-system/flight-management system and act as systems integrator for the Dutch carrier's planned flightdeck upgrade for its fleet of 13 Boeing 747-200/300 Classics. Other vendors selected include Litton Aero Products, to supply the replacement inertial-reference system, and Smiths Industries, to ...
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Manx Airlines selects EMB-145
Manx Airlines has finalised its long-awaited regional-jet order with a contract for up to five Embraer EMB-145s, the first of which will be delivered in June for operation on the airline's British Airways Express franchise services. The airline selected the Brazilian regional jet after a three-way fight involving ...
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Air Gabon 767
Air Gabon has introduced an ex-Kuwait Airways Boeing 767-200ER on two-year lease. The aircraft is operating international services from Libreville to European points such as Paris. Source: Flight International
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NTSB springs 737 rudder surprise
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) surprised Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration on 20 February by unexpectedly announcing recommendations for modifying Boeing 737 rudders. Initial reports view the NTSB recommendations as a move to speed up the retrofit and inspection programme agreed by Boeing and the ...
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S-80 heads for 1998 first flight
Sukhoi is to complete manufacturing tooling in March for series production of its S-80 passenger/utility aircraft at the KNAAPO production plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia. The fuselage and wing of the first prototype are being assembled, and nose sections of the first three aircraft are now complete. Current plans ...
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Ansett nears final decision in Airbus-Boeing order contest
The battle between Airbus Industrie and Boeing to provide a new fleet of up to 16 large twinjets to Ansett of Australia appears to be drawing to an end, with a decision expected within weeks. The re-equipment project, aimed at replacing Ansett's domestic Boeing 767-200s and its international Boeing 747-300s ...
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Ayres plans to test revised Loadmaster in windtunnel
US agricultural- and utility-aircraft manufacturer Ayres is shortly to begin windtunnel tests on aerodynamic revisions to its LM200 Loadmaster freighter. The Loadmaster was launched at the November¹ 1996 National Business Aircraft Association show in Orlando, Florida, and is being developed in the first instance for parcels carrier FedEx. ...
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GA voice recorders to expand
Flightcom, the Oregon-based maker of the DVR 300i digital voice-recording clock and voice recorder, says that it is negotiating with "several groups" about making the unit standard equipment in a range of general-aviation and commercial aircraft. The new panel-mounted DVR 300i is already standard on the Piper Aircraft ...
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Beriev and KNAAPO prepare Be-103 for maiden flight
Beriev is preparing its Be-103 light-utility amphibian for a maiden flight in March. The six-seat aircraft was first shown at Ghelendjik hydro-aviation show in September 1996. Sergey Drobyshev, chief of marketing at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur KNAAPO series-production plant, says that four airframes have been built (two for flight tests, ...
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Brit'Air order launches Canadair stretched CRJ
FRENCH REGIONAL airline Brit'Air is the launch customer for the stretched, 70-seat Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ)Series 700, with a firm order for four aircraft. The Canadian company says that it has options and conditional orders for a further 28 aircraft, plus memoranda of understanding for another 35, ...