Newsdesk – Commercial Aviation

Cn-235 Certification About to Be Issued:

Spanish certification of the Spanish-built CN-235 was expected to have been accomplished by late June. Casa will then fly their prototype to the US where full FAA certification is expected before the end The airliner is a joint 50/50 venture between Nusantara of Proof Indonesia and Casa of Sain The CN235 medium tran of this y tand comma there are orders and options for some 180 aircraft about half of which are for the military version to be employed in Spanish and Indonesian Army service. However, the certifica tion of the first Indonesian aircraft has been hampered by development delays and is now not expected before the first half of next year.

Increasing Local Interest in Dash 8:

The de Haviland Dash 8 36 seat project has been gaining additional converts in recent months.

During May Norfolk Airlines paid a deposit on a Dash 8-100 aircraft to further expand their regional network. The airline has also applied for rights to serve the Norfolk/Noumea route and hopes to be able to offer an attractively priced holiday package linking both destinations to its southern Queensland and northern NSW traffic base Further north, the Niugini Government has finally given Talair permission to import up to 4 Dash 8 aircraft to offer competitive services against Air Niugini. As we closed for press though it was still unknown if Talair had actually been given access to the primary feeder routes presently the sole domain of the Government-owned carrier. Talair, which presently operates over fifty aircraft including Bandeirantes and Twin Otters, has also signed options on a number of Brasilla propjets. Operating both types may seem incongruous although Talair has two separate operating requirements and while the short field ruggedness of the Dash 8 would prove ideal for its highland routes, the high-speed Brasilia would be just as at home on the longer-legged coastal and Pacific islands routes.

Meanwhile closer to home Ansett, via Air NSW, have not cancelled their previously reported Dash 8 order and are presently working with the DotA and DHC to further refine the field requirements to make the aircraft accept- able to a number of routes that the airline is investigating

The Department Shines Its Crystal Ball:

The latest annual Outlook For The Industry report produced by the DotA outlines a number of interesting portents of the future.

The Report suggests that passenger growth for TAA and Anseft will be 5% for 1986 against 6. 4% during 1985. Fuel price falls of around 10-15% should ease operating costs for all sectors of the industry though whether the world market will stabilise at the new low prices remains to be seen. The present relatively low exchange rate should also maintain a stimulus, coupled with the threat of overseas terrorism and more latterly perceived irradiation of European foodstuffs, for domestic holiday travel in preference to international trips. Freight operators recorded declines during 1985 and there appears to be le growth expected for the present year from this heavily serviced sector. On the commuter side, the DotA sees a wide variation between relative performance with some operators posting excellent performances in comparison with others. Overall it feels that modest growth will be achieved this year although s gh some operators face the prospect of a profit of a relatively static marketing view of the problems of rural profitability and the ever-present spectre of renewed drought despite viable late Autumn rains.

For General Aviation, the Department notes an increase of 4. 3% in movements at the 8 an increase of city primary airports and and 6. 7% for the 7 dedicated major GA facilities. However, total sales of avgas, a more relevant index, were static so total hours may well relatively during have declined during 1985. Certainly, fuel for the GA lobby machine is the DotA admission that despite the modest fall in fuel prices the overall 1986 GA scene should perform in a mixed fashion and due to overall cost pressures is unlikely to see much turnaround during 1986.

nationally the excellent performance of year (8. 5%) will decline slightly to 6-7% for 1986 with an emphasis on inbound tourism and outbound uplit via heavily discounted airfares, particularly to Britain. International air freight, which recorded 7. 6% growth in 1985, is seen to stabilise at around 5% for this year.

MD 87 Assembly Begins:

Assembly of the first McDonnell Douglas MD-87 twinjet aircraft has begun.

Launched in early 1985 with orders from Finnair and Austrian airlines, the MD-87 was the fourth of the five MD-80 models to be committed to production. Featuring a fuselage which is 5. 3m shorter than the other MD-80 the MD-87 uses the the same engines and high wing as as existing MD-80 mode models.

Its design permits airlines to carry full passenger loads of up to 130 loads of up to 130 from airfields as short as 1,830m over ranges of up to 4,345km. The relatively long-range and short-field cap were major factors in TOA domestic air-line of Japan’s decision to add MD-87s to its existing fleet of DC-9 and MD-80 aircraft. of the first MD-87 is Assembly of the MD-87 is scheduled for completion in October and the first flight is slated for December of this year. Two MD-87s will be used in the certification flight test programme, which is planned for completion in September 1987, with delivery to airlines to follow.

The backlog for MD-87s includes 16 firm orders and 10 options. As of April 1, McDonnell Douglas had received a total of 724 orders and options for MD-80s of all models, of which 284 had been delivered.

Fokker Delay Certification of Fokker 100 Twinjet:

Fokker has decided to delay the first flight, and eventually the certification of the new Fokker 100 twinjet by about six months. Cause of the delay is as a result of design changes that Fokker have made to accommodate a number of customer requirements. The 100 is now expected to fly late this year and attain FAA certification around September 1987. Sales of the aircraft have been encouraging with significant launch orders from Swissair, US Air and KLM.

 Boeing 767-200ER Sets New Dist. Ance Record:

A Boeing 767-200ER has set a new distance record for a commercial twin-jet aircraft with a 7,893 statute mile (6,854 nautical) nonstop flight from Seattle to Kuwait. The jetliner, owned by Kuwait Airways, left Boeing Field, Seattle, on April 1 on its delivery flight to Kuwait.

The new distance record was accomplished in 14 hours, 12 minutes. Gross takeoff weight was 327,257 pounds. The jet carried 20,450 gallons of fuel and upon landing had 1,650 gallons remaining. There were 18 people, including the flight crew, on board plus some cargo.

The Boeing 767ER has a range of 5,700 statute miles (4,950 nautical) with a full complement of passengers and cargo.

Boeing Reports Increased Sales, Earnings:

Boeing has reported sales of US$3,527 million and earnings of US$148 million for the first quarter of 1986. Comparable figures for 1985 were sales of US$2,934 million and earnings of US$110 million. Boeing estimates the total commercial jet aeroplane open market to be US$140 billion over the next 10 years in 1986 dollars. Announced orders of approximately US$5 billion for the first quarter included 3 707 military derivatives, 5 737-200s. 30 737-300s, 22 7475, 7757s and 8 767s, for a total of 75 jet transports. In the comparable period last year 23 aircraft were ordered with a value of US$1. 0 During the first quarter Boeing delivered 6 737-2005, 23 737-300s, 9 7475, 8 757s and 4 767s, for a total of 50 aircraft compared to 2 707s, 15 737-2005 10 737-300s 4 7475, 12 757s and 5 76765-a total of 48 aircraft for the same period last year. Current schedules call for the delivery of 67075, 14 737-2005, 95737- 300, 25 7475, 27 757s and 23 767s, for a total of 190 aircraft during the remainder of 1986.

Foreign military and US Government sales in the first quarter totalled US$1. 4 billion, US$. 03 billion higher than the comparable period of 1985. Growth in military programme sales is expected to continue for the remainder of the year.

Based on the current programme scheduled sales for 1986 are projected to be in the US$16 billion range.

British Aerospace Delivers First Airbus A320 Wings:

British Aerospace has delivered the first set of wings for the new generation A320 airliner from its Filton, Bristol, plant to the Airbus Industrie consortium’s main assembly complex in France.

The wings, more than 19 metres long and 4. 5 tonnes, the ribs of which are weighed in Australia by Hawker de Havil manufactured in Land, were flown from Fillon to the Toulouse plant of the consortium’s French Aerospatiale, whose A320 work share includes assembly of components of the aircraft. Brish Aerospace, which delivered the wings exactly on schedule, is responsible for designing and manufacturing wings for the entire family of Airbus Industrie airliners. In the case of the A320, this amounts to just over 25 per cent of the work entailed in building each airframe.

Nine BAe locations in the UK-Brough, Che ster, Filton, Hatteld, Manchester, Preston, Samlesbury, Warton and Weybridge = were involved in the A320 wing design, manufacture of parts or production of sub-assemblies.

The basic wing structure is assembled at BAe’s Chester factory, from where it is transferred to the company’s Bristol plant for comtion. The Bristol operation comprises installed completion and testing of mechanical, hydraulic, electrical and de-icing systems, plus mounting and aligning the wing’s moving control surfaces -flaps, stats, ailerons and spoilers.

Although delivery to the first customer airlines is still two years away, already, 12 airlines around the world have already placed orders for 119 A320s, with options and Letters of Intent swelling the total airline commitments to 263,

Kendell’s SF340 Completes Its First Year of Service:

Kendell Airlines first Saab SF340, VH-KDK, has completed its first year of revenue service under Australian conditions. Fortunately the aircraft has not suffered any of the technical problems that have afflicted its overseas cousins and has achieved an overall dispatch reliability of 98. 5% with the figure reaching an impressive for the first four months of this year. Also took delivery of their second VH-KDI, during May and hope to receive their third of type Kendel’s rapid growth this September. The aircraft support Kendel Saab is used to multi State network that now takes in Victoria, NSW and more recently South Australia. KDK has also now been modified with larger 132in propellers and uprated GE CT7 engines along with a revised autopilot system that will include full Cat 2 capability.

Dofa Releases Cabin Safety Requirements:

As reported in previous editions of Australian Aviation, the DotA is Rather moving to closely follow the lead taken by both the US Federal Aviation Administration and the British CAA in tightening up on airliner cabin safety design. Her than in go through the lengthy and often bureaucratic process of an AIP, the department has instead written to the major airlines to put forward its suggestions and evolve a speedy solution to the problem. Basically speaking the new requirements will centre around the use of Fire Blocking material being specified for seats, a greater number of fire extinguishers being available, lavatory fire protection in the form of alarms and an automatically initiated extinguishing system. Improved cabin materials and cargo and bag. Gage compartment liners plus enhanced training for cabin crew in fire evacuation procedures are also recommended.

Generally speaking, all new aircraft are now coming with Fire Blocker treated seating while such innovations as floor-level emergency lighting is to also become available from next year onwards on larger aircraft. Due to the surge of interest by airframe manufacturers and licensing authorities worldwide, the DotA has decided to give local carriers additional time to implement the changes in an effort to create as little disruption and additional financial burden as possible. The new legislation, which will be enacted later this year, will apply to all RPT aircraft of 5,000kg and over.

New Taxiway System at Sydney Airport:

Work is now well underway on an improved taxiway system at Sydney Airport. When completed, the system will reduce the time taken for aircraft to taxi between the terminals and runways and provide more efficient runway usage.

The initial phase of the two-and-a-half-year project commenced at the end of April.

This phase also includes work on the run ways, which commenced in late May for three separate periods, each of about 6 weeks. While the work on the north-south runway is carried out, the northern threshold for landing aircraft will be relocated. However, this runway is four kilometres long and there will still be sufficient length for all aircraft to operate from it.

When the project is completed the reduced on-ground delays are expected to result in savings of more than one million dollars a year in overall costs.

Bae Announce the 146 Statesman:

British Aerospace are to market a VIP/ corporate version of their 146 Jediner. Already operated by the Queen’s Flight and President Suharto of Indonesia, the new 146 will feature long-range tanks permitting a max payload range of 1,600nm combined with the ability to operate out of gravel strips of barely 4,000tin lengths. The 146, claims Be, also has excellent • EMBRAER TO LAUNCH NEW AIRLINER: Embraer are teaming with FMA of Argentina to build a successor to the Bandeirante. The new 19 seat unpressurised airliner would be of a pusher configuration with a T-tail design and canards. Composites will be widely used and the aircraft will employ a high aspect ratio wing utilising a rear-orientated CotG. FMA of Argentina will join Embraer as a one-third partner and themselves see a market in Argentina alone for up to 100 such aircraft. Embraer meanwhile points out that the Bandeirante has now been around for some twenty years and requires replacing with a new technology design in order to meet the competition from newer aircraft in its class. Designated Parana, the EMB-123 will be available for customer delivery during the early nineties.

Record First Quarter for Rolls Royce Civil Engine Orders:

Rolls Royce has received orders worth over £300 million for its civil engines in a record first quarter. The business was spread across a range of products- and the Company is now benefitting significantly from its policy of wider market coverage.

A measure of this performance is the comparison with 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1984 when total civil engine orders did not exceed £250 million in any one year; in 1983 and 1985 the figure was under £400 million.

The business gained during the first three months of 1986 included another 200 Tay engines for the Gulfstream IV business jet, RB211-524 engines to power additional Boeing 747s for British Airways, Qantas and Cathay Pacific and 535 engines for British Airways and Royal Nepal Airlines.

Airbus Industrie Reports Good Progress for 1986:

The European consortium, Airbus Industrie, has reported good progress for the first half of the year following recent sales successes in the Middle East and the Far East.

Since January 1st, 1986, the aircraft manufacturer has recorded 59 firm sales, made up of 15 A300s and A310s to four operators and 44 new generation A320s also to four customers. Airbus Industrie’s firm order book now stands at a total of 540 aircraft, comprising 279 A300s, 127 A310s and 134 A320s.