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Aviation History
1990
1990 - 3086.PDF
H EADUNES Malaysia to acquire Seawolfs USA and Canada talk open skies United States and Canada are to start negotiations early next year to create an open aviation market that will permit all types of air service between cities in the two countries by USA and Canadian airlines. US Secretary of Transporta tion, Sam Skinner and Canadian Transport Minister, Doug Lewis, made the joint an nouncement declaring the two countries "share a common vi sion of a liberalized North American aviation market". Skinner said that it's time to "take down the barriers and let the free market regulate." He said the US/Canadian agreement could lead to a gradual world wide open skies policy but this would depend on how the plan works with the two countries. "If we make this work," Skinner declared, "it can be catalyst for the rest of the world." Noting that the USA has a new economic free trade zone with Canada, Skinner said that a new air agreement would be an important step in building the new relationship. Canada is the largest foreign market for the USA. About 13 million passengers fly between the two countries each year generating airline revenues ex ceeding $2 billion a year. USA airlines carry about two-thirds of the scheduled traffic while most of the charter passengers are carried by Canadian airlines. Skinner said discussions with U.S. airlines shows about "a ninety/ten split" in favour of the open skies plan. The American Air Transport Association, gave an immediate endorsement to the effort, citing Canada as a primary market. The Regional Airline Association also quickly supported the idea. • Correction In the issue of Flight Interna tional 3-9 October, in an article on the modification of Libyan L-lOOs by UK and Belgian com panies, we incorrectly stated that FFV was the parent com pany of Qualitair Engineering. The latter is in fact wholly- owned by QHL. • BY SIMON ELLIOTT Three key contracts in the $1 billion UK/Malaysia arms deal, including deals for the British Aerospace Hawk aircraft and the first export order for the Seawolf surface-to-air mis sile (SAM), are scheduled to be signed by the end of the year. Officials are confident that negotiations have reached the stage where the MoU can move beyond the single contract that has so far materialised - GEC- Marconi's contract for two Mar- tello radars (Flight International 24-30 January). The first of the three con- The two remaining Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) pro totypes are expected to join the flight test programme within the next two weeks, following the successful first flight of the Lockheed/Boeing/General Dy namics YF-22 on 30 September. The second, Pratt & Whit ney-powered YF-22 is expected to fly by the end of this week, while Northrop expects its GE- powered YF-23 to fly "...in the early part of this month". Both contractor teams face a stiff schedule for producing flight test data. The USAF ex pects final proposals to be sub mitted by 31 December. tracts scheduled for signing cov ers a tri-service command, con trol, communications and intel ligence (C3I) system, worth up to £90 million, for which GEC- Marconi subsidiary Easams is the prime contractor. It was hoped that the contract could be finalised in time for an an nouncement at this years Farn- borough '90 airshow, but talks were not concluded in time. The second contract will cover between 20 and 30 Hawk aircraft from British Aerospace (BAe). A mixture of Hawk 100 advanced jet trainer/strike air craft and Hawk 200 fighters, the deal could be worth up to £300 The Northrop/McDonnell Douglas team has a one-month lead over its rivals, having flown its first prototype on 27 August (Flight International, 5-11 Sep tember). Although Lockheed believes that this is not significant, the Northrop team was last week publicising its achievement in reaching "super-cruise" (super sonic speeds without after burner), which is one of the key requirements for ATF. The YF- 23 has already completed mid air refuelling trials, and reached altitudes above 12,000m (40,000ft). Lockheed chief test pilot million. The precise number of aircraft to be procured is fluid, originally being for 32 aircraft, but now finalising around 28. Budgetary problems are behind the reduction (Flight Interna tional 5-11 September). The third contract will be for Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) for the Royal Malaysian Navy. The initial order is likely to be for two with an option on two more, but the eventual require ment will be for up to nine. GEC Marconi will be prime contractor for the deal, and it is understood that the vessels will be equipped with the British Aerospace Seawolf SAM. • Dave Ferguson said after the first flight that the remainder of the YF-22 test programme will concentrate on "...the manoeu vrability of the aeroplane, both supersonic and subsonic". Lockheed is promoting the YF-22 as an aircraft which it claims will "...rip the (flight) envelope apart". Ferguson says the aircraft is: "...a good-natured machine", with "excellent engine re sponse". The aircraft reached a maxi mum speed of 250kt at 12,500ft(3,800m) during the 18-minute flight to Edwards Air Force Base. D YF-22 makes first flight as new picture shows the aircraft's thrust vectoring nozzles YF-22 flies as ATFs head for deadline FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 10 - 16 October, 1990
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