Newsdesk – Commercial Aviation

 Boeing 747 Design Cleared in Jal Enquiry:

Cause of the loss of a JAL Boeing 747SR on August 12, 1985 with the resultant loss of 520 lives has been pinned down to an incorrectly repaired rear pressure bulkhead. The bulkhead had been damaged during a tail scrape during 1978 and as the incorrectly repaired section failed, it resulted in immediate pressurisation of the tail fin which then ruptured causing loss of control of the aircraft.

While the basic 747 design has at least been cleared of any fault in the accident some operators are calling for a redesign of the empennage and rear pressure bulkhead to prevent a similar occurrence. Boeing, having admitted fault in repairing the damaged bulkhead, are privately preparing to pay substantial compensation to relatives of the victims.

 Airbus Make Additional Penetration of US Market:

Europe’s Airbus Industrie has made additional headway into the potentially giant US market with the recent announcement of the sale of 6 A300s to Continental. Three of the aircraft are new A300B4 ‘white tails’ while the other three are used A300B4s that were traded in by Singapore Airlines in favour of A310s. Continental, if pleased with the performance of the Airbus, will purchase additional aircraft and could ultimately have a requirement for several dozen of the type.

Continental is the fourth US carrier to fly the European Airbus. Eastern kicked off in 1978 with an order for 34 A300s. Northeastern International then leased two used A300s during 1984 but eventually declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy and duly returned the aircraft to Toulouse. PanAm then delivered a knife blow to Boeing with a multi-billion dollar order for up to 91 Airbus aircraft in late 1984.

Fairchild Opts Out of Active Partnership in SF340 Programme:

Long mooted, Fairchild Industries of the US, has formally opted out of the Saab-Fairchild 340 programme. From November 1st, Fairchild took on sub-contractor status building the wings and empennages of the commuter aircraft and will depart the programme totally by early 1987 as Saab Scania takes over the programme in its entirety.

Saab Scania have a long history in the development and production of aircraft though the 340 is only their second airliner-class programme. The aircraft, despite some irritating initial engine problems, is performing well and has achieved good sales over the past year. Locally, Kendell Airlines has one SF340 in service with two more expected to join the fleet later this year.

Saab themselves are one of the largest companies in Scandinavia with a growth in sales for 1984 of 18% and some 45,000 people on the payroll. Fairchild are meanwhile trimming down their aerospace involvement to concentrate on other areas of manufacturing and are hoping to sell the USAF T-46 trainer programme and the successful Metro/Merlin line which currently has an order backlog of more than 60 aircraft.

 Delta to Upgrade Tristars:

Delta Airlines of the US has decided to refubish its Lockheed Tristar fleet to ensure the type is in service right through to the end of this century. Delta will retrofit the 42,000lb thrust Rolls Royce RB211-22 with 50,000lb-52484 to its L1011-1 capacity. This will increase gross takeoff weight from 430,000lb to 496,000lb and greatly enhance payload/range. This will allow an additional 1300nm of range carrying a full load of 250 passengers while the aircraft will also benefit from a considerable reduction in per-seat kilometre fuel costs. The ‘new’ aircraft will be designated L1011-250 and this mod will be made available to all operators of -1 Tristars.

 Boeing Sells Airbus:

In an ironic twist, Boeing have sold three Airbus A310 aircraft that they had acquired as trade-ins from Kuwait Airways during 1984. The A310s, which were delivered direct to Boeing as new aircraft have been sold to Pan American. Boeing has a busy Used Aircraft Sales Division and in the past 18 months has sold some 58 jet aircraft.

Japanese Pursue Their Own Propfan Programme:

With the sponsorship of Japan’s new Technology Research Promotion Centre, five of Japan’s major aerospace manufacturers are teaming to develop their own proplan engine. Mitsubishi, Fuji, Kawasaki, Ishikawajima Harima and Sumitomo have joined forces to invest around $A300m over the next six years to develop an engine to rival the pro plan units presently being investigated by Rolls Royce, Allison, Pratt & Whitney and General Electric. The latter two companies will test fly their own proplan engines this year aboard a Boeing 727 test bed and during 1987 aboard a specially modified MD-80.

First Bench Run of IAE V2500 Turbofan Imminent:

As we closed for press the first test run of the International Aero Engines V2500 high by-pass turbofan was imminent. The 25,000lb thrust class engine is slated initially for the Airbus Industrie A320 and the proposed MD-89. IAE have to date notched sales of 145 engines for the A320 where the engine is in direct competition with the GE/ Snecma CFM56 unit which has been selected to power the first batch of Ansett A320s. Ansett however have reserved their engine choice on the 9 optioned A320s. FAA Certification of the V2500 is planned for mid-88 with the first IAE powered A320 entering airline service during 1989.

Will Boeing Buy de Havilland Canada?

As we closed for press it seemed fairly certain that Boeing was to acquire de Havilland Canada. A number of firms had been courting DHC in recent months, including Dornier, Fokker and McDonnell Douglas though at presstime Boeing had emerged as a clear favorite. Only problem to clear was that Boeing want the Canadian government to indemnity Boeing against all future product liability risk issues (refer p83 this issue) against the 825 Twin Otters, 107 Dash 7s and two dozen Dash 8s sold to date. DHC are looking good with firm orders and options now on 117 of their Dash 8 propjets.

Cathay Expand Into North America:

Cathay Pacific are to operate five non-stop flights a week between Hong Kong and San Francisco commencing this July. The Hong Kong-based British carrier presently only serves Vancouver, Canada in North America and has been looking for further expansion eastwards for some time. The move is logical in that San Francisco supports the largest Chinese population of any city outside Asia.

One Thousandth CFM56 Engine Delivered:

The joint partnership of Snecma and General Electric have recently delivered the 1,000th CFM56 turbofan engine. The 20,000/25,000lb thrust class high bypass engine powers DC-8-70 series aircraft, KC- 135R tankers and Boeing 737-300 medium-haul twinjets. The presently under development CFM56-5 is also set to power Airbus Industrie’s A320 from 1987 onwards.

CFM presently has some 2,300 engines on order and plans to produce a record 325 units during 1986. The present customer base is 56 while total flight hours now exceed 2,000,000 with both military and civil operators.

FAA to Re-Test 747 Evacuation Procedures:

Following widespread criticism of the FAA’s approval to eliminate the overwing emergency exits on some 7478, the FAA has decided to re-test its evacuation procedures to ensure that the mod meets current FAA standards. A British Airways 747 will be used as these aircraft, along with those of Cathay Pacific and KLM, are operating minus the overwing exits. It was hoped that the test would be conducted before the end of 1985 as a number of US carriers are looking to undertake the mod but are awaiting the results of the test before doing so.

Boeing Undertakes Windshear Program:

Boeing has embarked on a research project that will utilize new technology and training techniques to improve the chances of aircraft surviving a wind shear encounter.

Boeing’s strategy is to work with existing cockpit instrumentation and after select systems to alert flight crews to a wind shear condition and provide flight guidance recovery information. Case studies have shown that wind shear can have a profound effect on aircraft performance within seconds. Boeing has designed an alert system that would quickly identify a wind shear condition. The cockpit warning (a red light marked “wind shear”) would illuminate to alert pilots. The warning light would be activated by sensors strategically placed on the aircraft to measure strong vertical and horizontal winds. In addition, an automatic verbal announcement, “wind shear, wind shear would be repeated twice in the flight deck.

Once alerted, the crew immediately flies the aircraft using instructions of the Electronic Attitude Director Indicator (EADI). This instrument, found on Boeing 757, 767 and proposed for 737-300 and 747-400, is a multi-coloured cathode-ray tube display of the aircraft’s in-flight attitude.

The key to successful wind shear recovery. Boeing test pilots say, is maintaining proper flight path control-accomplished primarily by controlling the aircraft’s pitch attitude. To achieve this, a visual indicator called a Flight Director would be modified to provide the correct pitch attitude instruction. In effect, the Flight Director, located on the EADI instrument, would automatically chart the correct flight path for the crew to follow in a wind shear condition. As well, a Pitch Limit Indicator, also on the EADI, will provide the crew with a visual indication of flight margins which the aircraft must maintain.

are Cockpit instrument modifications were scheduled for completion by early January 1986, followed by an FAA certification review. It is estimated that by June 1986, Boeing will install the first operational wind shear detection system on production models of its new generation aircraft.

Hawker Dehavilland Win Prestigious Award:

Aerospace sub-assembly manufacture and overhaul and repair of gas turbine engines earned export income totalling more than $28m for Sydney-based Hawker de Havilland in 1984/85. Its success helped win the firm its fourth Award for Outstanding Export Achievement which is sponsored on behalf of the Dept of Trade & Industry. HdeH had won the highly valued award in 1970, 1975 and again in 1980.

and Hawker de Havilland, now Australia’s largest aerospace company, exports to 16 countries and undertakes sub-assembly manufacturing work for Boeing. Airbus, Sikorsky and McDonnell Douglas. New orders received during 1984 totalled $49m, double that of the previous year