Fixed-wing – Page 1307
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TTS moves Heathrow into its Orbit
THOMSON TRAINING & Simulation (TTS) is to relocate its Orbit Flight Training subsidiary from East Midlands Airport to a site near London Heathrow. As part of the move, planned for early 1998, the independent pilot-training centre has sold its two Boeing 737 simulators to Continental and Southwest Airlines. ...
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Reflectone wins deal
REFLECTONE HAS won a $34 million contract to supply the South Korean army with flight simulators for the Bell AH-1F Cobra attack and Sikorsky UH-60P Black Hawk transport helicopters. The simulators will be installed in a new army-aviation training centre. Each will have a five-channel Evans & Sutherland ESIG-4500 visual ...
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Things Fall Apart
If the USA remains the last political superpower, then it must be seen, also, as the last aerospace superpower. Just as the Byzantine Soviet empire has been torn apart by centrifugal forces, so has its aerospace industry been shattered, perhaps beyond hope of repair, by the collapse of the old-style ...
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F-22 makes progress towards first flight
PREPARATIONS FOR THE 29 May first flight of the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 have moved ahead with delivery of the initial avionics software. Endurance testing of the Pratt & Whitney F119 engine, required for initial flight release, has also been completed successfully. Fort Worth, Texas-based Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft ...
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Lack of flying hours may force Russia to ground MiG-31s
Russia is considering grounding its entire fleet of Mikoyan MiG-31 Foxhound interceptors because a lack of pilot flight hours is making the aircraft dangerous to fly. Col Gen Victor Prudnikov, chief of Russia's air-defence force, says that, at the present level of annual flying, it is "shameful and ...
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General Electric-led JSF team pushes ahead
General Electric has received $96 million from the US Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)programme office to carry out further development of the core of its YF120-FX advanced fighter powerplant, as part of the JSF Alternate Engine Programme. GE, which is teamed with Rolls-Royce and the UK company's Allison Engine ...
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Hungary for business
Lockheed Martin and the Hungarian Government signed a protocol at the end of January, "paving the way for expanded, long-term, industrial co-operation". The US company has presented a preliminary plan offering 100% offset in exchange for Lockheed Martin products. The agreement comes in the middle of active marketing of the ...
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Litton smartens UH-60
Litton's Guidance and Control Systems division is to retrofit an initial four US National Guard Sikorsky UH-60A helicopters with cockpit smart multi-function displays (SMFDs). Woodland Hills, California-based Litton says that the SMFDs could be fitted to up to 83 more aircraft, with the aircraft reconfigured as UH-60Qs for battlefield medical- ...
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Hughes wins F-22 pilot training contract
HUGHES TRAINING has been selected to supply pilot-training devices for the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 fighter. Hughes was the only bidder for the contract, after potential rival Loral was acquired by Lockheed Martin. Boeing has awarded Hughes a $28 million contract to supply a suite of training devices by ...
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RAF considers longer lives for Hawk advanced trainers
Back to Warton for a refit before 2008? Douglas Barrie/LONDON Guy Norris/Los Angeles The Royal Air Force is examining a life-extension programme for its British Aerospace Hawk trainers, with BAe also looking at the possibility of addressing any emerging requirement with a re-engined aircraft fitted with a digital cockpit. The ...
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Dutch investigate infra-red signature of NH90
The Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) has carried out windtunnel testing of a model of the NH Industries NH90 helicopter, aimed at evaluating the aircraft's infra-red signature during a range of flight conditions. The tests provided data on engine air-intake characteristics and exhaust- gas recirculation, while simulating the aircraft in ...
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Air-force fighter competition heats up as bidders jostle
International competition to win a pending Philippine air force order for 18 fighter aircraft is intensifying, with the number of potential contenders and proposals continuing to lengthen. The air force has been given a range of industry briefings and presentations on at least nine different European, Israeli, Russian ...
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Navy pushes for ASuW helicopter
The Philippines is expected to give priority to the acquisition of new naval helicopters over competing claims for funding from the air force for replacement search-and-research (SAR) and heavylift machines. Increased concern over Chinese encroachment of the South China Sea Spratly Islands and the need to enforce the ...
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Speaking the language
Sir - Invited, a few decades ago, by Sud-Aviation to visit its Suresnes factory where Alouette helicopters were manufactured for the Royal Netherlands Air Force, I went inside one for inspection. I discovered that the instrument panel (and the handbook) was in French. My hosts refused to believe ...
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Congress budget watchdog doubts whether USA can afford new fighters
THE US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has warned that the Department of Defense cannot afford the planned number of McDonnell Douglas F-18E/Fs, Lockheed Martin/ Boeing F-22s and Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs) without doubling the proportion of its budget which is traditionally spent on new tactical aircraft. The CBO ...
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Turkey signs up for further 30 Cougars
The Turkish Government has signed a contract for the purchase of 30 Eurocopter Cougar Mk1s, coupled with an agreement on local production. The contract, worth Fr2.5 billion ($434 million), covers ten AS532-ULs for the Turkish army, complementing the 20 ordered at the end of 1993, plus 20 AS532-ALs ...
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US DoD drives to enhance JDAM accuracy
The US Department of Defense(DoD) has re-instated an effort to enhance the performance of the McDonnell Douglas (MDC) Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), despite test results showing that the weapon exceeds the required accuracy by one-third. The original JDAM product-improvement programme (PIP) to increase accuracy down to 3m ...
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Israel selects Elta
The Israeli defence forces will equip front-line units with the Elta EL/M-2129 movement-detection radar which is capable of identifying low-flying helicopters. According to Elta, the system is capable of detecting low-flying helicopters from a range of 11 km (6nm). Up to 60 targets can be tracked simultaneously. Source: ...
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Australia offers cash incentive to hang on to military aircrew
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has re-instated and boosted its pilot-retention bonus, to try to stem annual wastage of trained military pilots. Defence-industry, science and personnel minister Bronwyn Bishop says that the figure of 33 pilots who left the three services in 1991, when the previous scheme was ...
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Doubts surround Georgian Su-25 order
Reports that Georgia has ordered up to 50 Sukhoi Su-25T Frogfoot attack aircraft are being greeted with scepticism by senior Sukhoi officials, who question the country's ability to finance the aircraft which are priced at $16-17 million each. Newspaper reports quote Mikhail Tskhadaya, deputy director of the Tbilisi ...