Helicopters – Page 246
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Bridging the gap
The launch of the PW500 series completes a turbofan product range for Pratt & Whitney Canada. Graham Warwick/MONTREAL In a single month in 1994, Cessna launched two business jets and gave Pratt & Whitney Canada the first two applications for its new PW500 small turbofan. ...
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Bell saves time with rapid casting
Graham Warwick/FORT WORTH BELL HELICOPTER Textron is using stereo-lithography (SL) and rapid casting to meet its schedule for production of the Model 407 light helicopter, deliveries of which begin early in 1996. The manufacturer estimates that it has saved six months by using QuickCast technology developed by ...
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JetRanger replacement helps drive 407 market
PRODUCTION OF Bell Helicopter Textron's Model 407 light helicopter, launched in February, is sold out until mid-1997. The company has firm orders for 105 aircraft, with company demonstrators and other commitments taking the number of delivery positions accounted for to 140. Production at Bell's Canadian plant will ...
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H+S AVIATION/McAlpine
Michel Dubarry, managing director of McAlpine Helicopters (right), and Alan Robinson, managing director of H+S Aviation, have signed a three-year exclusive agreement for H+S to provide repair and overhaul services for McAlpine's Allison 250 engine requirements. McAlpine is UK and Ireland distributor for Eurocopter and H+S is Europe's largest Allison ...
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MDHS speeds up 600N programme programme
McDONNELL DOUGLAS Helicopter Systems (MDHS) has accelerated development of the MD600N (formerly the MD630N) to bring forward US certification to the third quarter of 1996. Several design changes have been announced by the Mesa, Arizona-based company,, including a switch to a more powerful, digitally controlled, version of the Allison 250 ...
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Dangerous occupation
Seismic activity - the search for oil and gas - is booming in Latin America, although it is not an area where exploiting natural resources is easy. The environment is among the most inhospitable in the world, with a huge variety of terrains and climates. The two dominant ...
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Security fears hit Olympic flight plan
SECURITY CONCERNS are posing early hurdles for the plan to install a helicopter short-haul transport system at Atlanta, Georgia, in time for the 1996 Olympic Games. The project, backed by the US Federal Aviation Administration and the Helicopter Association International (HAI) and seen as a blueprint for similar ...
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UAE Panthers will have 'self protection'
THE SEVEN Eurocopter AS.565 Panther anti-ship helicopters ordered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are to be fitted with the Thomson-CSF Agrion maritime-patrol radar and what the company terms "a new helicopter self-protection system." The system incorporates wide-band signal reception, instantaneous frequency-measurement and a system-control capability. Patrick Henin, ...
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Helicopter GPS Evaluation
Systems Management of Maryland has installed an AWOS 3500 automated surface-observing system at the University of Wisconsin Hospital, in support of the Federal Aviation Administration's global-positioning-system helicopter non-precision approach programme. The Madison-based University's heliport is the third to evaluate GPS approaches under the FAA rotorcraft programme. ...
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Bell tests
Preliminary airworthiness evaluations of the LHTEC T800-powered Bell UH-1H are to be completed in April, clearing the way for delivery of five re-engined helicopters to the US Border Patrol Agency for evaluation. Source: Flight International
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Rotary FANS
It is one of the ironies of the future air-navigation system (FANS) that, although it is aimed primarily at airline operations, the general-aviation (GA) community is so far its major user. One FANS element - satellite navigation - is already commonplace in fixed-wing GA in the form of the global-positioning ...
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Rotary groups fight FAA Robinson rules
US AND AUSTRALIAN helicopter associations, are disputing new US Federal Aviation Administration proposals, governing Robinson helicopter-pilot qualifications, as "unnecessary and restrictive." The Australians believe that the rules should apply to all helicopters. The FAA recommends that "...additional specific pilot training is necessary for the safe operation of ...
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Bell ties up Indonesian deal
BELL HELICOPTER Textron and IPTN of Indonesia have finalised an agreement to expand their existing co-operation to include marketing, completion and support of the Bell 407T light twin and Bell 430 intermediate twin in Indonesia. IPTN has been assembling the Bell 412 medium twin in Indonesia for 13 ...
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Atlanta plans to try out Olympic heli-route network a year early
A JOINT US government/ industry project to develop a low-level airspace system for Atlanta, Georgia, is expected to be demonstrated by July, one year before the city hosts the centennial Olympic Games. The aim is to have a network of helicopter routes over Atlanta's freeway system by July ...
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FAA's piston-engine directive leaves 6,000 aircraft grounded
THE DISCOVERY of faulty counterfeit connecting-rod bolts on some Textron Lycoming piston engines is expected to result in a bill of more than $10 million for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter owners. A US Federal Aviation Administration emergency airworthiness directive (AD) has grounded the aircraft for inspection. The FAA ...
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North Sea operators act over lightning operations
THE UK'S THREE major offshore helicopter operators have voluntarily suspended flights in known lightning conditions over the North Sea. Their move follows the successful ditching on 19 January, of a Bristow Helicopter Eurocopter AS.322L Super Puma, after a lightning strike in the tail area. Bristow, Bond Helicopter and ...
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Official ARIA A310 accident report leaves cause vague
The 1994 fatal crash of an Aeroflot Russian International Airlines (ARIA) Airbus Industrie A310 was due neither to pilot error nor technical deficiencies, says the initial draft of the Russian Department of Air Transport (DAT) official report. The report blames the 22 March accident on "the unfavourable concurrence ...
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Job market hard for rotary pilots
Sir - With reference to the letter "Frustration of seeking a job" (Flight International, 8-14 March, P64), such frustration is not exclusive to the fixed-wing world. I started to apply for a new job as an experienced helicopter pilot at the end of 1994. I sent applications all ...
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Erickson praises K-MAX, but returns aircraft
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA KAMAN AEROSPACE'S lead customer for the K-MAX external-lift helicopter, Erickson Air-Crane, has returned its leased aircraft to the manufacturer, citing a change in company philosophy. Kaman says that Erickson never voiced any dissatisfaction with the aircraft, on which it had accumulated 225h. Oregon-based Erickson ...