All news – Page 7959
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News
FAA approves TFE731-60 for Falcon 900EX
THE US FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION has certificated the AlliedSignal TFE731-60 turbofan ahead of the first flight of the Dassault Falcon 900EX business aircraft, the first application for the engine. Four TFE 731-60 development engines have been delivered for flight tests. Almost 3,500h of tests have been amassed by the engines, ...
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Czechs cut air force upgrade
The Czech DEFENCE ministry has reduced ambitious plans for a substantial upgrade to part of the air force's Mikoyan MiG-21 Fishbed fleet. According to ministry sources in Prague, a more austere upgrade package is now envisaged. This will consist of replacing the Russian Odd Rods identification friend or ...
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Ukraine wins first launch contract
Tim Furniss/LONDON NPO YUZHNOYE OF Ukraine has been awarded a contract from Space Systems/ Loral to launch 36 Globalstar telecommunications satellites into low-Earth orbit aboard three Zenit 2 boosters. The launches will be from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, in 1998. The contract is the first dedicated commercial-launch deal ...
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Taiwan airline sale
Taiwan's Investment Commission has approved the sale of 25% of domestic carrier Far Eastern Air Transport to the American International Group and Banque Paribas, for nearly $132 million. It is the latest in a series of share acquisitions in Taiwanese airlines. Source: Flight International
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Japan rekindles Harrier interest
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE JAPAN'S MILITARY is signalling renewed interest in the British Aerospace/McDonnell Douglas Harrier, and hopes to secure funding in the next five-year defence plan for an initial batch of the vertical/short take-off and landing (V/STOL) aircraft. The purchase of between three and five aircraft is ...
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Star performer
New Brazilian regional-airline Interbrasil STAR has begun operations with the first of three Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia Quick Change passenger/cargo aircraft ordered in 1994, for $22 million. Brasilia-based Interbrasil's main shareholder is Brazilian airline Transbrasil. Source: Flight International
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A330 for Dragonair
Dragonair has taken delivery of its first Rolls-Royce Trent 700-powered Airbus Industrie A330, leased from International Lease Finance (ILFC). The Hong Kong carrier is scheduled to receive a second A330, purchased from sister carrier Cathay Pacific Airways, in July, and an additional ILFC-owned aircraft in September. The aircraft will be ...
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India tests engine
India's Hindustan Aeronautics has test flown an indigenously designed engine for the Lakshya unmanned air vehicle. It is uncertain whether the engine is a turbofan or turbojet. The first flight test of the engine took place on 18 May. Source: Flight International
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GOES in orbit
An Atlas 1 model was used to launch a $220 million, Space Systems/Loral-built Geostationary Environmental Operational satellite, the GOES 9, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 23 May. For the first time since 1989, the USA has a full complement of GOES spacecraft in space. There are still three more launches ...
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MDC considers Delta 3 engine options
McDONNELL DOUGLAS (MDC) IS CONSIDERING using the Pratt & Whitney RL-10 cryogenic engine for the second stage of its new Delta 3, due to be introduced on to the launcher market in 1998. The launcher will have a similar engine to the one used on the Delta 2, but will ...
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Spektr launched towards June Mir rendezvous
THE 23.5T SPEKTR module was launched towards the Russian Mir 1 space station aboard a Proton booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 20 May. It is scheduled to dock with the station on 1 June. The Spektr carries 755kg of equipment to be used by US astronaut Norman ...
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Sikorsky swims ashore
A SIKORSKY S-61N helicopter has probably beaten the water-taxiing record for a non-float-equipped aircraft by travelling some 30km (16nm) to land on an isolated part of the Namibian coast in southern Africa. The Court Helicopters aircraft, operating between an offshore drilling and the remote Arandis base 50km inland ...
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UPS takes delivery of first Freighter 767
Boeing has handed over the first of 30 freighterversions of the 767 to United Parcel Service. Features of the 767-300ER variant include reinforced landing gear and internal wing structure. The most noticeable change is the 2.67 x 3.4m freight door forward of the port wing. Source: Flight International
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FAA applies to join Boeing GPS trials
Boeing says that the US Federal Aviation Administration is negotiating to join the manufacturer's global-positioning-system (GPS) landing-system evaluation programme, scheduled to start in June with delivery of four rival systems for installation on NASA's Boeing 757. The Boeing programme would follow the FAA's GPS automatic-landing technology demonstration, conducted ...
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Rockwell negotiates China ATM demonstration
ROCKWELL IS TALKING to China about a possible in-country demonstration of a satellite-based air-traffic-management (ATM) system later this year. China is one of several countries in the advanced stages of planning new satellite-based airspace systems, says Rockwell's Communication Systems division. The Chinese programme would involve demonstrating the implementation ...
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Pakistan's F-16s offered to Taiwan and Philippines
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA LOCKHEED F-16s built for Pakistan would be supplied to the Philippines and Taiwan under a compromise proposed by the US senator responsible for the legislation which has blocked delivery of the 28 aircraft. Pakistan has demanded delivery of the F-16s or return of the ...
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US Navy plans commercial-helicopter demonstration
The US Navy plans to study the feasibility of using commercially operated helicopters for vertical replenishment (vertrep) of ships. A request for proposals for a two-month demonstration was scheduled to be released on 26 May. Kaman Aerospace plans to respond with a bid based around the K-MAX commercial ...
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Comanche continues reversal of fortune
Ramon Lopez/STRATFORD THE FIRST RAH-66 Comanche helicopter was rolled out on 25 May, marking a significant milestone for the US Army's next-generation armed reconnaissance helicopter. After facing cancellation only months ago, project officials now believe that support is building for the programme to sustain it through ...
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GE90 surge cured
A SCHEDULING problem in the low-pressure stator system of the GE90 was responsible for the single-pulse engine stall which hit the GE90 during tests on 4 May at Boeing Field in Washington, says General Electric. The engine self-recovered after the event, which occurred during stall-margin tests with the ...
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P&W releases PW150 turboprop details
Pratt & Whitney Canada is talking to potential partners about joining it in development of the PW150 turboprop, selected to power the Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-400. The 4,500-5,600kW (6,000-7,000shp) PW100 derivative includes an axial low-pressure compressor, new core materials and high-power/low-speed gearbox. P&WC says that it is talking to ...