Newsdesk – Commercial

NASA Conducts Wake Vortex Tests

NASA is conducting flight research tests aimed at reducing the hazards of trailing wake vortices generated by large aircraft.

Wake vortices are the normally invisible flows of turbulent air that stream in a funnel. shaped flow from the wing tips and flaps of aircraft in flight. Because vortices generated by large aircraft can be a hazard to smaller aircraft, the FAA requires a three to six-mile spacing between these aircraft approaching terminals for landings.

The spacing allows time for break-up of the trailing vortices, but 11 also slows flight operations and contributes to passenger delays caused by airport congestion.

NASA, through wind tunnel and other experimental techniques, investigating concepts to reduce the strength of the wake vortices, which would allow closer aircraft spacing to take place and reduce delays.

One promising concepts the partial deployment of some selected wing spoilers, normally used for decreasing aerodynamic lift after landing.

The tests are being conducted by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, in conjunction with the Federal Aviation Administration, utilising a Boeing 747 aircraft to generate the vortices which are being probed by smaller, instrumented aircraft. The flight tests will attempt to verify optimum deployment of spoiler arrangements, as suggested by wind tunnel tests, both at altitude in a simulated approach condition and in actual approaches and landings.

Chinese Aviation Growth

CAAC, the national airline of the People’s Republic of China is predicting an annual growth rate its services in the region of 10 to 15 per cent per annum CAAC currently operates 10 Boeing 707s, five Ilyushin 11-62s, 18 British Aerospace Tridents 111 addition to a number of older Soviet built transports.

China currently has only one hundred air fields, most of which are primitive by Western standards. CAAC will inaugurate Peking to US West Coast services in the middle of 1980 using their new Boeing 747SP aircraft, the airline is also looking to acquire the standard version 747. Peking is nearing the finalisation of an agreement to licence build McDonnell Douglas DC-9 Super 80 aircraft and is also pressing ahead with local aircraft projects in the 50 and 100 seat class.

Embraer Newcomer:

Embraer has named their new 30 seater the Brasilia The new commuter aircraft is powered by twin P&W PT-7A engines of 1500shp each. First flight of this attractive T-called aircraft is scheduled for 1982 with initial customer deliveries scheduled for late 1983.

United Cancel Boeing Order:

United Airlines have cancelled an order for 22 Boeing 727-200 jets. The carrier sees the years ahead as being plagued with fuel availability problems and is planning on a greater and more fuel-efficient utilisation of Its wide-bodied fleet “Spiralling fuel and labour costs are going to mean all earners will seek to increase their load factors and perhaps decrease route frequency in order to make airlines more profitable than they currently are stated United chairman Richard Ferris In announcing the 727 cancellations.

Boeing 747 Passes 10-Year Commercial Milestone:

January 21 marked the 10th anniversary of the first commercial airline service with the Boeing 747.

Since the Pan Am flight from New York to London in 1970, the number of 747 operators has grown to 57.

Worldwide, some 420 of the Boeing “Jumbo Jets” have been delivered. Nearly 123,000 people now fly ln 747s every day. Since the first commercial flight 10 years ago, some 266 million passengers have flown in the big airplanes.

The 747 now is available in seven basic versions including all-cargo models and offers seating capacities ranging from 360 to 550. All models except the 747SP are 231 feet 10 inches long. Gross takeoff weight varies from 520,000 pounds to 833,000 pounds, depending upon model.

Qantas took delivery of its first 747 in July, 1971, and now has 19 of the big jets in service Recently Qantas ordered five more 747s at a cost, including spares of approximately $A320 million. The new purchases include its first 747SP and its second Comb.

Boeings to Brazil

Four 727-200s to provide increased capacity for Brazil’s growing domestic traffic have been ordered by VASP from Boeing.

The airline introduced Boeing jets in 1969, and for several years grew at a rate of more than 20 per cent per year. The airline is studying additional 727s and also Boeing’s new 757 and 767 aircraft.

This announcement brings Boeing’s total 727 announced orders to 1737.

Seven Nomad Aircraft for Coastal Surveillance

The Dept of Transport has offered contracts worth around $10. 0 million to three firms for the operation of seven Nomad aircraft over a two-year period for civil coastal surveillance In northern Australia. The contracts relate to approximately one-third of the surveillance task, which is presently carded out under short-term contracts for the use of other types of aircraft. Two of the contracts were offered to Northern Airlines of Darwin, one to Bush Pilots Airways, of Cairns, and one to Reprographics Pty Ltd of Brisbane. The terms of each contract will specify the use of the Australian-designed-and-built Nomad aircraft – in line with an earlier Government decision. Four of the Nomads would be involved in daily surveillance along the northern coastline – three in Western Australia and the Northern Territory and the fourth on the east coast of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland. “A further three Nomads, equipped with Litton 360-degree radar, will be carrying out more specialised work in northern Australia,” he said. “Two of them will be based at Darwin to patrol the routes taken by Vietnamese refugee boats and general surveillance of the northern offshore islands. Another will be based on the Central Queensland Coast to patrol the Great Barrier Reef, mainly for detection of illegal foreign fishing vessels. This aircraft will also enhance the search and rescue capability of the area.”

New CFM56 Engines for Us Airline’s Dc8s:

Transamerica Airlines plans to install new CFM56 engines on seven o f its DC-8-63 jet aircraft at a cost of approximately $75 million.

The new CFM56 engines incorporate a number of recent advances in jet engine technology and are far more quiet and fuel-efficient than the existing engines on the planes. The engines will be purchased from CAMMACORP of Los Angeles, Ca, which will also supervise the installation.

The engine change will reduce the noise level on the planes by about 70 per cent and save Transamerica Airlines about seven million gallons of fuel a year and, in addition, will increase the range of the DC-8s up to 15 per cent. It will also enable these planes to take off and land on shorter runways and give them a higher initial cruise altitude.

The engine modification will prolong the useful economic life of the seven planes by at least 10 years. The shorter runways required by the re-engined planes will significantly increase the number of airports that can be used by the four-engined international DC-8s.

Carrying a full payload, the re-engined planes will have a range of about 4650 nautical miles. With the current engines, the range of the planes is about 4100 miles. The engine modification is scheduled for completion in 1982/83.

Singapore Airlines Readies for “Crucial” Years

Singapore Airlines faces crucial years in the 1980s as the airline industry prepares to battle a host of unprecedented problems. The major problems facing the company are:

• The “alarming and continuing” fuel price increase Heavy interest payments on new aircraft and also on funding for SIA’s projects at the new Changi Airport.

• Stagnating yields, which reflect an environment of slower market growth and fierce competition.

• The rapid growth of SIA, which imposes strains on the organisation.

• Development of new high-risk routes like the trans-Pacific. In a review of the airline’s systemwide performance for the first half of its financial year (April-September 1979), although total flown revenue rose by 20. 4 per cent to $A359 million, it was still 4. 3 per cent below budget. Systemwide passenger load factor at 74. 4 per cent was marginally lower than that achieved in the same period last year. Overall load factor was one percentage point lower than the budgeted level.

There was a drop of 23 per cent in revenue yield compared with the same period in 1978.

At the same time systemwide cost was 72 per cent above budget, mainly because of increased fuel prices. These are expected to cost $71 . 6 million more than budget in the full year

The low yields and increased costs resulted in the breakeven load factor rising by 10 percentage points to an un­precedented high of 69 per cent.

Lockheed Award S$ 8. 6M Contracts:

Lockheed has awarded contracts to Hawker de Havilland of Australia and to the Salisbury division of British Aerospace of Australia Limited.

The Hawker de Havilland follow-on contract is worth in excess of $8M (US) and calls for Hawker to produce 102 sets of assemblies for Lockheed’s advanced L-101 1 Tristar Jetliner. The BAEA contract is valued in excess of $600,000 (US) and is for avionics equipment used in the P3C Orion anti-submarine warfare aircraft.

Lockheed’s relationship with Hawker de Havilland dates back to 1975 when L-101 1 Tristar contracts were established as part of the Australian Industrial Participation program, an outgrowth of Lockheed’s sale of the P-3C Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft to the Royal Australian Air Force.

But What Does It Cost?:

On page 63 of our December edition we featured an advertisement for Airline Publications & Sales of Australia. In that advertisement, we mentioned many fine aviation books but neglected to list the price of three of the best. Our apologies, the prices are $16. 45 each for Aviation Museums and Air Transport Hulks (both books reviewed elsewhere in this issue) and McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920 at $55. 00. Mike Clayton, APSA manager has just completed renovations to his specialist aeronautical shop which is situated less than a kilometre from Mascot Airport in the Sydney suburb of Tempe. If you are a dedicated aviation enthusiast or just a browser then a visit to APSA could be as good as a layover in Tahiti!

Concorde Sets Record:

A British Airways Concorde has broken the three hours trans Atlantic barrier with a New York to London crossing time of two hours 59 minutes at an average speed of 1172mph. The previous Concorde record was three hours and six minutes.

Pratts Launch New Engine:

Pratt & Whitney have formally launched their new engine for the eighties – the JT10D high bypass turbofan. This engine is designed to provide between 26,000lb and 35,000lb thrust and be as much as 30 per cent more fuel efficient than the JT3 and JT8 turbofans. Launch design for the JT1 0 could well be the McDonnell Douglas ATMA 180 twin-aisle medium range transport which, if launched, will be a primary competitor to Boeing’s 757. In the same context the JT10 will be a competitor to the Rolls-Royce RB-21 1-535 and at the lower end the CFM56 which is currently being marketed to many DC-8 and 707 operators.

Federal Express Forges Ahead:

That unique US parcel operator, Federal Express is about to embark on a re-equipment program that will result in 250 per cent increase in lifting capacity. Federal Express have signed a contract to purchase four DC- 1 0-10 aircraft from Continental (Continental is introducing the Series 30 OC-1 0 on Australian routes in place of the Series 10) and have taken options on an additional four of the type. Federal Express currently operate 15 Boeing 727-100s with 20 more on order from Eastern Airlines, 32 Falcon 20s and the previously mentioned DC-10s.

Federal Express are enjoying a 50 per cent growth rate in its unique inter-city parcel service which began many years ago in similar fashion to our own TNT and Wards Jet courier services.