Newsdesk – General Aviation

Australian Aviation believes that the Minister is totally unenthusiastic about the sub-committee hearings which in its own ironic way indicates that they might just succeed! For more information on the review, contact Mrs Sue Harlow, House of Representatives Standing Committee on Expenditures, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600, Phone (062) 72 6798.

 Civil Learjet Line Reopens:

Gates Learjet have decided to re-open its civil Learjet production line after a five-month moratorium on production. Both Model 35 and 55 aircraft resumed production in April though no new-build Lears will be available for delivery till November this year. Lear has been kept alive this past year largely by their C-21A production for the USAF. Lear is building four C-21As a month and delivered 40 such aircraft during 1984, a further forty will be delivered this year while a decision by USAF to exercise options on an additional forty aircraft was expected as we went to press.

 General Aviation Rotaries Come a Step Closer to Reality:

Avco Lycoming and John Deere Technologies International have teamed to develop a rotary engine specifically designed for GA class aircraft. John Deere purchased the entire rotary engine assets of Curtiss Wright in early 1983 and have since spent several million dollars on further developing a number of research engines inherited in the purchase of Curtiss Wright Avco Lycoming and John Deere will now proceed to develop a rotary engine in the 200hp to 400hp class that will use a number of fuels and be significantly smaller, lighter, quieter and more reliable than existing nineteen thirties vintage powerplants. Both companies have agreed to a budget of SUS30m which will see their new engines reach the certification stage before 1990.

 New Aircraft Security System an Aussie First:

Civil Flying Services of Moorabbin have developed a cost-efficient aircraft security system that retails at about one-tenth the cost of its nearest US rival. Called, Securaplane, the locally designed and developed system costs a mere $575 and will provide security against theft, vandalism and sabotage for all aircraft up to Gulfstream I size. Civil’s have spent the past two years perfecting the unit and are also about to launch comparable models for the home and marine markets. Production is gearing up for 60 units a month but this can be boosted to 100 if demand requires. At present Civil feel most of their sales will be to the booming overseas market where Australia’s weak dollar will certainly provide an added market advantage against the US-sourced competition.

Hawker Pacific Expands Into China:

Hawker Pacific has opened an office in Beijing to enhance their capability to support and service the booming Chinese aerospace sector. The Australian company has also scored a windfall engine support contract which will see Hawker Pacific servicing Chinese Rolls Royce Spey turbofans, Pratt & Whitney JT8Ds, PT6 and Allison 250 turboprops Hawker Pacific’s Managing Director, Chris Ryland said, “The company is also closely examining a number of other major projects including the modification of several types of Chinese aircraft, supply of heliport technology as well as a number of aviation projects on behalf of both American and British companies. We also see a significant market in China for high-quality second-hand aircraft as well as for aviation test equipment”, said Ryland.

Sales Tax Issue Problem Becoming a for Aviation:

The unorganised and widely varying attitudes of the various State offices of the Taxation Department regarding sales tax on aircraft is beginning to have a negative effect on General Aviation. At present the basic ruling is that any aircraft not used for business purposes is subject to a 20% sales tax. Furthermore, flying clubs have been deemed not eligible for exemption and are presently forced to pay the tax on aircraft which are largely used to generate revenue income.

What is not generally appreciated in the industry is that spare parts are also subject to the same 20% sales tax. To put forward GA’s case, the General Aviation Association (GAA) and the General Aviation Distributor Association (GADA) have teamed to form a committee tasked with getting a definitive and fairer ruling from the Taxation Dept. A tax consultant has already been hired and preliminary meetings have taken place both at a regional and central level. Australian Aviation understands that the Taxation Department is concerned about the situation and the extremely negative effect it may have on the industry unless the situation is clarified shortly. Most GA dealers are meeting with sales resistance when the sales tax subject is broached in what can be fairly sensitive stages of negotiations on aircraft that are worth millions of dollars. The dealers also are extremely concerned as it is they who are responsible if they should sell an aircraft without recovering the sales tax from a company that is, in fact, not exempt. One Sydney-based GA distributor has already had to pay out $150,000 in recent months for just this reason.

The anomaly lies principally in that each State has different interpretations on sales tax and so what may apply in one State does not necessarily apply in another if an investigation should be undertaken. It is this anomaly and the need to reduce or preferably abandon the tax altogether that the GAA/GADA committee will be addressing.

 Schofield Aero Club Gearing up for Massive Bi-centennial Air Show:

Schofield Aero Club are planning on organising Australia’s largest air show to commemorate the 1988 Bi-Centennial. The event will run over ten days and will feature three separate aviation segments of interest to the community. There will be an aviation expo in the style of Farm-Borough and Paris, running from a press day on Friday right through Sunday evening the following week. This show will feature a daily flying programme while the trade portion takes place during the week; the weekends will then be thrown open to the public.

Additionally, the show will host a military tattoo similar to that held at RAF Greenham Common each year. Organisers expect more than 100 visiting military aircraft to attend. The final segment of the show will be a GA spectacular similar to those held every second year at Schofields. The show will be held at RAAF Richmond, probably around October 1988. The project has the approval of the Australian Bi-Centennial Council and will be known as the Australian Bi-Centennial Airshow. Meanwhile, the Club will again host the popular (and hopefully dry!) Schofield Air Show in October 1985

Aerospace International Opts Out of Aviation:

Aerospace International, the Australian Consolidated Press-owned venture set up in 1983 to market Learjet, Fairchild, Agusta and Saab Fairchild products has ceased operation. Aerospace International was born out of the merger between Stilwell Aviation and Ansett General Aviation and inherited most of the marketing lines of the former company. Gates later withdrew their Learjet representation following a clash of interest with sister company, Pacific Aviation, with their interest in marketing and supporting the BAe 125-800 jet. Fairchild died a natural death due to the inability to get the once promising Metro il commuter airliner certificated locally due to the DofA’s non-acceptance of American FAA SFAR41 standards while Aerospace never really employed a rotary wing specialist to oversee marketing of the promising Agusta 109 helicopter.

Aerospace’s success though came in selling two Saab Fairchild 340 airliners to Kendell Airlines of Wagga. Saab Fairchild meanwhile will establish their own independent sales and support base in Australia which will now be manned wholly by SF personnel. Meanwhile, speculation is rife that ACP will also sell its share in Pacific Aviation to Ansett who would then control the diversified GA company 100%. Most observers feel this will happen within the next twelve months.

Australia Achieves King Air Record:

Australia’s Norfolk Island Airways has set an international record for the number of hours flown in a Beech King Air. NIA logged their 20,000th hour last February which is additionally noteworthy as they only commenced operation with the type in 1975. NIA operate a busy daytime commuter service linking Sydney, Canberra, Newcastle, Coolangatta and Brisbane with Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands while at night the King Air fleet carries freight in what is the biggest GA charter freight operation on the East Coast VH-IBC has now flown over 60,000 passengers and carried 3,500 tonnes of freight over a distance of more than eight million kilometres. As it is the 910 statute mile run from Brisbane to Norfolk Island is the world’s longest overwater commuter service.

Lloyd Aviation Joins the Big Time With F28 Purchase:

Adelaide-based Lloyd Aviation have ordered a Fokker F28- 4000 airliners to support their recently won tender on the Santos Delhi transportation contract. Lloyds have serviced this contract previously with a mix of King Air, Chieftain and Citation jets and suggested to the Santos Delhi group that costs could be cut if a single RPT-type aircraft was used on the service. While embracing the logic of this idea, the partners then offered the contract to tender with the result that Lloyds won against considerable competition from the domestic carriers.

The purchase of an F28 Fellowship represents a gigantic step forward in technical commitment for a company normally dealing in small to medium-sized helicopters and light jets. Lloyds have built a new maintenance facility at their Adelaide airport base and have taken on eight new engineers and seven hostesses. The Company will be entirely capable of all its own maintenance even right down to the disassembly of the RR Spey powerplants. Similar standards are already achieved on the firm’s fleet of 4 Citation jets, 2 King Airs, Chieftain, Turbo Commander, Cessna 206 and Bandeirante aircraft. Additionally Lloyds service and support a large fleet of helicopters based throughout Australia. The rotary wing fleet includes 3 Bell 412s, 4 Bell 222UT, 8 Bell 206Bs and 2 206L Longrangers. Bases include Karratha, Darwin, Gladstone, Moomba, Jackson, Brisbane and Adelaide.

The F28 is due to depart Amsterdam mid-June and will commence the new Moomba, Jackson and Cooper Basin charter service on July 1, 1985.

 Are on a Beech Planning Jet?

Beechcraft are looking to produce a corporate jet for the later nineteen eighties. The aircraft is seen as an additional hedge against recession where strength lies in the diversity of products available. Beech is currently studying the project and would incorporate as much. advanced technology into an all-new design as was financially possible. Executives also stated that the company was interested in purchasing a current jet transport programme if the conditions were favourable.

Meanwhile, full-scale development continues on the revolutionary Starship I with first flight slated for early 1986 and initial customer deliveries and FAA Certification by mid-1987. The aircraft was priced at $US3m in 1984 prices with a special price available to King Air 300 purchasers if they should wish to upgrade when the Starship is available.

Iai Westwind Again Represented in Australia:

Israel Aircraft Industries has appointed Astra Aviation Pty. Ltd. to distribute its range of Westwind executive jets throughout Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

Astra Aviation has based a Westwind 2 demonstrator aircraft in Sydney to assist in marketing and establishing the identity of Westwind 2 in Australia. This aircraft is avalable to all potential clients and is the only Series 2 in the country, being easily distinguished from the Westwind 1 by distinctive winglets on the tip tanks.

 Mooney Evaluate Car Engine in 231 Aircraft:

Mooney Aircraft of the USA have installed a Porsche 911 car engine in a Mooney 231 airframe. Developing 210hp, the flat-six petrol engine is air cooled and is lighter and more fuel efficient than comparable GA engines. Airship Industries also use Porsche engines powering ducted propulsors while a Cessna 182 has been flying now for nearly eighteen months in Germany with a similar Porsche engine. This latter project was officially sponsored and financed by the prestige West German vehicle manufacturer and indicates a serious long term interest in providing a viable alternative to Lycoming and Continental in the GA engine field. Porsche are also working with the Socata Division of Aerospatiale to produce a Porsche-powered version of the Tobago/Trinidad single. It is believed that only the soft state of the GA market has held Porsche back these past years and that they will launch their aero engine plans as soon as GA returns to consistent growth factors.

Gulfstream Peregrine Programme:

Though Gulfstream Aerospace are still going well with their Gulfstream GIII and GIV line (the latter is still in development with 77 firm orders to date) the Company has been firm in abandoning any programmes that are not performing as planned.

Earlier this year Gulfstream cancelled production of the Commander line and in March they suspended all R&D on their single-engined Peregrine jet aircraft. The Peregrine was originally developed from the Hustler, was later modified as a contender for the USAF’s Cessna T-37 replacement programme and after losing this to Fairchild was further developed into a six-place executive transport initially powered by a single P&W JT15 turbofan. Both the Commander and Peregrine programmes are on the market and Gulfstream are confident of selling both projects in the coming year.

 Us Customs Boost Piper Line:

The US Government is certainly General Aviation’s best friend nowadays. Cessna, Beech and Lear have all received healthy orders from various government agencies and the Pentagon these past three years allowing them to maintain commercial viability in the depressed market. Latest company to receive such an order is Piper who has sold 8 Cheyenne IIAs to the Customs Service to be used in the Drug Interdiction role.

The Cheyennes will be used in the surveillance, detection, tracking and identification of suspicious aircraft penetrating US airspace and combine with ‘borrowed Navy P. 3Orions, Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and the ocassional E-2 Hawkeye or E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft. Drug running is a multi-billion dollar business in the southern USA that requires ever more sophisticated countermeasures to overcome.

More Jet Sales for British Aerospace:

British Aerospace have certainly made an impression on Australian aviation these past eighteen months. Once a rapidly fading light in the local aviation scene, BAe have in recent times made great inroads with their 146 jetliner, 125 executive jet and the Jetstream 31 commuter liner. BAe have now chalked up their second 125-800 sale in less than six months with the purchase of an 800 by Elders IXL, set for delivery this coming October.

The 125 fleet in Australia will now comprise three -700s, two -800s and the old venerable ex-Department -1, VH-CAO which has been purchased by Global Pacific Aerospace as a private corporate transport Though CAO burns around twice the fuel per hour as a -800, at around 250 hours per annum utilisation it still provides an excellent form of medium range jet transportation.

Haa Pusing for Helicopter High-Rise Rescue Facilities:

With most modern city office buildings exceeding 30 levels and with ground-based fire fighting ladders able to only reach the first half dozen in safety the NSW branch of the Helicopter Association of Australia has put forward a plan to equip every high rise building with an approved helicopter rescue platform. This is already being developed in South Africa where the SAF and city officials at Cape Town have already tested a simple metal walk-on platform for use in such emergencies.

Most fires in high-rise buildings work their way upwards from a lower level, thus an escape route via the roof is often the most practical means of saving life, providing a helicopter can get close enough to actually embark survivors. In most cases, modem buildings are littered with communication antennae and lift drive towers which preclude a safe operating area. The simple walk-on ramp is around five metres high and is situated at the edge of the building at a point well clear of neighbouring buildings. The helicopter, which could be a Chinook as easily as a Jetranger, manoeuvres alongside the structure and takes on survivors as required. There is no need for winching or maintaining hover between potentially lethal pylons or aerials. The HAA hope to get a hearing from Sydney City Council while in Cape Town, the walk-on platforms, which cost around $5,000 each, have already been tested using Puma, Wasp and even Super Frelon aircraft

Aopa Claim Dota Safety Claims Unjustified and Misleading:

As the Do! A gets it back well and truly against the wall it is launching a barrage of statistics quoting Australia as having the world’s safest airspace. Largely quoting Flight International’s recent announcement that Australia’s airlines were the safest in the world the DofA have been challenged by the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association (AOPA) who have issued their own data which divides the RPT and GA roles to provide a more accurate picture of where Australia stands in relation to GA in the USA. Sources were the DotA Annual Report 83/84 and the NTSB 1982 analysis published in January 1983. Additionally, the AOPA points out that the overall weather situation in North America is significantly worse while traffic density is twenty times that of Australia and that we have a general lack of high mountains. AOPA also point out that mid-air collisions do not figure in the Australian statistics while the US has about 30 per annum, Food for thought!

Cessna Reports Improved Sales and Net Earnings in Second Quarter, First Half:

Cessna Aircraft Company reported improved sales and net profits for the second quarter and first half of its 1985 fiscal year which ended March 31. First-half sales of $US383. 7m were up 43 per cent from $US267. 6m last year, resulting in net income of $US5m compared to a net loss of SUS17. 2m a year ago.

Aircraft revenues totalled $US340. 6m in the first six months of the year, up from $US221. 4m a year ago. In the second quarter, aircraft sales were $US160. 6m compared to SUS103. 5m last year. Aircraft deliveries were up in both the second quarter and first half, totalling 208 and 455 respectively, compared to 192 and 375 in the same periods last year. Deliveries of 24 Citation business jets in the second quarter compared to 14 last year and the first half total of 56 exceeded the 33 Citations delivered in the 1984 period by 70 per cent. Deliveries of Cessna’s new single-engine propjet, the Caravan I, began in the second quarter and 10 of the aircraft were in service by the end of the period, including the first 3 of 30 for Federal Express.

Conquest propjet shipments were up in the second quarter, totalling 22 versus 5 a year ago. For the six-month period, Conquest deliveries reached 29 compared to 23 last year. Deliveries of piston aircraft also were higher in the first half, totalling 365 compared to 319 a year ago, although second-quarter piston aircraft shipments were down from 173 to 157.

 Flying High With the Freedom of Information Act:

In the year to June 1984, 186 requests were made to the Department of Aviation for documents under the Freedom of Information Act. Only 28 requests were refused, the rest being granted in whole or in part. The Department’s Annual Report says that most requests were for departmental licensing examinations, accident and incident reports and personal records.

As a result of an Administrative Appeals Tribunal hearing, the Department’s general response is now one of far greater openness in the provision of information on aircraft accidents and incidents Other successful requests led to access to information about the second Sydney airport and the upgrading of aviation facilities in Tasmania. Interestingly, the Independent Air Fares Committee received no requests at all during the year.

Peter Timmins, Managing Director of Political Reference Service, Canberra-based information brokers specialising in access to government information, said this either indicates that the Committee is very open in making information available, or that individuals and organisations with an interest are not aware of what might be on its files, and what could be accessible under the Freedom of Information Act.

“Some sectors in the business community have been slow to realise the benefits to be derived from access to unpublished government information. Not only factual reports and documents on policy issues can be accessed but commercially valuable information can also be obtained from government departments and agencies,” Timmins said. In addition, a vast amount of information is now available in manuals and other publications made available by departments and agencies as a result of the Act. Timmins said the keys to success in this area were knowing what was or might be available and how to apply for access to it. For further information on How to Source Background Data from the DofA, contact Peter Timmins on (062) 47 6950.

 Air Ambulance Service Orders King Air Aircraft:

The NSW Air Ambulance Service has ordered two new Beech Super King Air B200C aircraft to replace their aged Queen Airs. Purchased at a cost of $5. 4m the new King Airs will enter service this July and in so doing will provide an improvement in capability far in excess of what was available with the piston-engined Queen Airs. Meanwhile, the Air Ambulance service is investing $1. 5m in a new hangar/office complex in the Flight Facilities area at Mascot Airport.

Aviation Search and Rescue Plan Commences:

Stage I of the DolA’s aviation search and rescue plan has been inaugurated with the listing of 28 general aviation firms that will now undergo specific training in SAR procedures. The program will include flight crew training in search techniques, supply drop training and observer leader training. Stage I training commenced in March and is expected to be completed by this October. Further stages will include training personnel of major airlines and helicopter operators and will be conducted through 1986

Pacific Aviation Move Into Supplementary Airline Operations:

Australian Piper distributor, Pacific Aviation, are to move into the commuter airline field with two small supplementary airline licence operations they are establishing in Victoria and South Australia. The SA operation will employ a single Navajo Chieftain and will work in co-operation with Airlines of South Australia in a similar relationship to that enjoyed by East-West and East Coast in New South Wales. The other operation is in Victoria and will also fly a Chieftain between Sale and Melbourne This service presently operates with a Seneca and also flies weekend charters from Sale to the Hobart casino.

Pacific are also evaluating whether or not to sell their two Lear 358, VH-FOX and ULT, to the USA. This is prompted by the imbalance between the two currencies and the fact that as both Lears perform primarily Defence Support work (1800hrs a year), they are largely over-equipped in terms of luxury appointments. The reasoning goes that if they could realise $A3. 5m each on the US market, Pacific could then buy used Lear 358 in a ‘gutted’ configuration for around $A2. 5m each to perform just as adequately. Indeed, quite a few up-market corporate-type aircraft are in the process of departing our shores as Australia becomes an ‘exporter of aircraft back to the US owing to the dollar decline.

Pacific have been busy selling of late and have recorded the sale of 2 Mojaves to the RFDS with a requirement for a further three machines. Their 400mph Cheyenne 400LS also tours Australia in late June and this aircraft will hopefully remain in Australia to perform work with the RFDS through 1985/86. Pacific are also evaluating the British Slingsby line of light aircraft as a supplement to the existing Piper range and hope to make a decision on whether to distribute the type in the coming months.

Aviation Satellite Communications:

Construction of the first of a series of satellite ground stations for aviation communications began at Canberra Airport in April.

One hundred such stations will be built throughout Australia at a cost of 331m as part of the Aviation Satellite system. They will be used in conjunction with the AUSSAT satellite system to provide improved communications for aviation throughout Australia.

A major benefit will be felt on air routes over the more remote parts of Australia through improved ground-air radio reception. After the ABC, the Department of Aviation will be the largest user of AUSSAT. A typical satellite station would have a shelter, two antennae dishes beaming toward AUSSAT, and, depending on location, a tower up to 40 metres high.

One of the major attractions of the new system is that it will provide a higher quality but less expensive method of passing essential aviation safety messages than that now operating. The saving over a 20-year period is estimated to be in the region of $35m.

Forty-seven of the stations, located on airfields, should be completed by the end of this year. The remainder, in remote locations, are scheduled for completion by the end of 1986.

Satellite Sar System Provides a Life-Saving Alternative:

One suggestion that could save lives throughout Australia each year in addition to vastly reducing the cost of SAR missions would be the mandatory carriage of Electronic Locating Beacons (ELB) aboard small craft and GA aircraft. ELBS provide a durable homing beacon that a suitably equipped search aircraft can lock onto and reach, thereby saving much time in costly SAR missions often utilising hundreds of four-engined Orion and Hercules flying hours annually. The Drawback with the present system is that an aircraft has to still pass within 20/30km of target to initially pick up the distress emissions. In a country the size of Australia this can still result in a recovery that simply came too late.

A Canadian firm, Canadian Astronautics Limited has offered to the Dept of Transport the participation in an international satellite ELB surveillance system that provides a qantum leap forward in the ability for search aircraft to locate ELB emissions. Promoted locally by Hawker Pacific, the system, designated SARSAT, involves five satellites in Polar orbit which make a sweep each 90 minutes. As an ELB is activated the satelite is at the longest 90 minutes away. In most cases it is much sooner and transmits the distress message via the satellite to an Australian ground receiving station. The receiving station automatically logs the data and a search is then activated in the normal manner except that the searching agency knows within a 10km square window.

With around 50/60 SAR missions per annum throughout Australia the SARSAT system could pay for itself in a short time in the reduced flight hours presently utilised on such missions. The ground station would cost $2/3m, about half of which would be spent locally. One such station, with a radius of coverage of 3,000km, possibly located at Alice Springs, would provide coverage for around 80% of the Australian landmass and EEZ. Two stations would provide total coverage well out to sea in each direction in addition to a reduction in average satellite interception time.

The system is presently under study by the Dept of Transport but would not probably be viable till ELBS were mandatory aboard all vessels and aircraft. The introduction of both systems would be a major step forward in reducing the cost of SAR in Australia while hopefully increasing the number of lives saved each year on costly rescue missions.

Big Celebration in Order for the 50th Birthday of the DC-3:

Well-known Sydney aviation enthusiast, Mike Clayton of Aironautica, is planning a number of celebrations in commemoration this December of the 50th birthday of the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. A number of flights will be originating from Kingsford Smith Airport on the 14th, 15th and 17th December with a grand finale planned of around a dozen DC-3s (C-47) flying in formation. Three of these aircraft, from Rebel Air, will be carrying passengers for what will certainly be a memorable event. During the weekend of the 14th and 15th a number of half-hour flights will take place while longer fights have also been planned. For further information contact Mike Clayton, Aironautica, C/- PO. Kogarah, 2217 or phone (02) 588 6862.

Extra Range for Beech 1900 Airliner:

Beech are to test fly a version of the 1900 Airliner with a wet wing. The wet wing will carry 250 gallons of extra fuel and will almost double the existing aircraft’s endurance. The standard 1900 has a basic range with 19 passengers of 790nm though Beech officials point out that the wet wing is primarily intended for Special Mission aircraft (refer p111 Sept 84 Aviation) in the AEW and MP roles.

Beech are also examing proposals for a new twin-engined aircraft to market between the existing Baron and King Air C90 models. While development of the single-engined P38 Lightning was abandoned in 1984 the company is hoping to build a similar aircraft later this decade. Both the new types would be made almost entirely of composites and may be powered by new-generation GA engines other than traditional turboprop or piston units.

Skywriting Returns to Sydney:

I remember as a young boy watching skywriters perform their exacting work high in the sky. Who doesn’t, and when can you last remember this excellent form of consumer advertising being performed? No doubt a long time ago, now, a Sydney firm has commenced operations to re-create this almost lost art.

The Skywriting Co (02:48. 6917) has purchased an oxygen-equipped Bellanca Super Decathlon which will operate at Between 13,000ft and 17,000ft to provide a message that is read over an area of 3,200sq km or at a radius of 32kms. Using a fully biodegradable, non-toxic smoke the Skywriting Co. claim that their aerial billboards will be just the thing for an advertiser wanting something different.