On Friday, the wide-cabin Gulfstream G650 resumed flight testing, following the November 25 maiden flight of the first test aircraft (T1) that was cut short at 12 minutes due to “slight vibrations” in one of the gear doors. “We have identified the cause of the vibration in the landing-gear doors and are developing a permanent solution,” a Gulfstream spokeswoman told AIN.
Flight test
November 14, 2009 - 12:44am
Boeing has finished installing reinforcements within the side-of-body fuselage on the first 787 Dreamliner, the company announced last Thursday, and expects to complete the installations on the static test airframe and the second flight-test airplane in the coming soon. The modification entails installing new fittings at 34 stringer locations within the joint where the wing attaches to the fuselage.
October 21, 2009 - 9:54am
Safe Flight Instrument (Booth No. 5130) has been selected to provide the speed-control system for Quest’s Kodiak turbine single.
October 20, 2009 - 10:52am
The first GE Honda HF120 engine has successfully started its initial test run at GE Aviation’s altitude test chamber in Evendale, Ohio, the company announced yesterday at the NBAA Convention. “This is a significant milestone and represents the transition from the design-definition phase to the test and certification phase of the HF120,” said GE Honda Aero Engines president Bill Dwyer.
July 28, 2009 - 6:25am
Sikorsky’s X2 compound helicopter reached another milestone last month by completing two test flights that included full engagement of the high-speed tail propulsor for the first time. In one hour of testing conducted during the two flights, the aircraft flew at speeds up to 52 knots in one test and 42 knots with the propeller providing forward thrust in the second flight.
July 7, 2009 - 11:56am
Sikorsky’s X2 compound helicopter reached another milestone last week by completing two test flights that included full engagement of the high-speed tail propulsor for the first time. In one hour of testing conducted in the two flights last Tuesday, the aircraft flew at speeds reaching 52 knots in one test and 42 knots with the propeller providing forward thrust in the second flight.
June 30, 2009 - 11:59am
By the time you read this, it is likely that Bell Helicopter will have received Transport Canada type certification for its twin-turbine Bell 429 light helicopter. Though not quite as likely, the FAA might also have validated Transport Canada’s TC, since the U.S. agency has been following the process closely.
June 23, 2009 - 9:40am
Boeing announced today that it has postponed first flight of the 787 Dreamliner once again, this time due to a need to reinforce areas within the side-of-body sections of the aircraft. Last due to fly by the end of this month, the 787 remains grounded nearly two years after its July 8, 2007, rollout ceremony.
June 9, 2009 - 9:40am
Helileo (Hall 4 Stand E66), a Galileo test bed and expert company located in Aerospace Valley of southwest France, is offering flight testing services to manufacturers of GPS, EGNOS and Galileo receivers. Under an original program, the French start-up company plans to have one engineer testing hardware during French Army pilot training flights operated by Helidax, a private venture, with Eurocopter EC 120 helicopters.
June 5, 2009 - 11:44am
If Boeing manages to get the 787 certified in eight to nine months as planned, it will doubtless enjoy proving the long line of skeptics wrong. After all, to certify the airplane by the first quarter of next year will require far better execution than the company managed during the early stages of the project, when Boeing’s metamorphosis from airframe manufacturer to product “integrator” faced its first real test.
