Newsdesk – General Aviation

The company will now concentrate on further refinements of its existing family of piston engines though this area has also been hit severely owing to Cessna’s withdrawal of all single engined piston aircraft production early in 1986. At its peak in 1978 Avco Lycoming was producing over 1800 engines a month whereas today this has slowed to a trickle.

News on the entire US GA front remains gloomy as GAMA recently released figures which show new GA aircraft sales down almost a third on last year with the total 1986 production expected to be less than 1500 units, a far cry from the halcyon days of the late seventies when ten times this figure was the norm.

Growth Continues in Air Training Sector:

In direct contrast to the US experience, and indeed that of most overseas countries, Australians are learning to fly in greater numbers each year.

The number of first issue fixed-wing student licences issued in 1985 was 4715, an increase of 281 on 1984 and some 506 up on 1983. This growth over the period was also reflected in an increase in first-issue PPLs from 3014 in 1984 to 3438 for 1985, a similar increase is expected for 1986. Overall the total fixed wing first issue licence sector grew by almost 8% from 8348 in 1984 to 9042 for 1985.

The area of greatest growth though was again in the rotary wing sector where student licences grew from 245 in 1984 to a startling 413 in 1985 and PPLs similarly increased from 55 to 88. Mosthelo pilots however aim at a CPL and this market remained steady though SCPLS did grow from 3 in 1984 to some 25 in 1985. Overall, rotary wingfirst issue licences of all types grew from 392 to 613 which tends to reflect the boom that has taken place in the helicopter industry these past few years as the helicopter becomes the common tool that Igor Sikorsky predicted it would so many decades ago. On the down side, not surprisingly, Flight Engineer ratings dropped from 121 to 82, a trend which is expected to continue in the coming years.

 Major Air Show for Moorabbin:

The Moorabbin Rotary Club is to stage a major air show at Moorabbin airport on Sunday March 1st. The show will include both airline and military involvement and will also celebrate the 75th anniversary of the RAAF in addition to the 25th anniversary of both the Moorabbin Rotary Club and the resident Australian Aircraft Restoration Group which operate the museum located at the airfield.

Highlight of the day will be a massed flypast of de Havilland aircraft which also ties in nicely with Hawker de Havilland’s 60th anniversary celebrations. Air show organizers hope to have a large number of de Havilland aircraft flying from the Gypsy Moth to a Vampire and DH125 jet. Australia probably has a greater range of de Havilland aircraft flyable than anywhere in the world so this could be a once in a lifetime occurrence. All proceeds will go to charity and as metropolitan Melbourne doesn’t tend to have a lot of major air shows this one could be well worth the visit.

Trial Accounts for General Aviation:

General aviation operators are being given their first opportunity to compare their current air navigation charges with what they would pay under a system of separate airport and airways landing charges. The first trial accounts, advising general aviation operators what they would have paid under the new system of separate airport and airways charges, are now being issued.

Separate charges, based on aircraft weight and frequency of landings, were introduced for airline aircraft on 1 July.

However, at the request of the general aviation industry, the Government agreed to defer the introduction of the new system to general aviation to allow collection of data on the most appropriate form of cost recovery. The accounts are being issued on a trial basis and should not be paid.

They are intended to provide information to enable the Government, in consultation with the industry, to develop appropriate charging arrangements for general aviation from 1 July 1987. The first accounts covered the period from July to September 1986, although future trial accounts are being issued monthly.

Beech Announces Speed Restrictions on Some Bonanza Models:

Beech has issued a communique to owners imposing speed restrictions on certain single-engine Beech models. The aircraft affected are V-Tail Bonanzas, which were built between 1947 and 1982, approximately 7,000 of which are still in service worldwide.

Beech decided to impose the restrictions as a result of an ongoing testing programme the company is conducting in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Until testing is complete and results fully analyzed, Beech has called for the aeroplanes to be operated at reduced speeds, to ensure safe operating margins.

Beech undertook the testing earlier this year at its own expense in agreement with the FAA. The company expects to complete the testing and analysis within the next four months.

Enhanced Performance From Challenger 601-3A:

Canadair have squeezed additional performance from the latest version of the Challenger 601. Designated the -3A the heart of the improved performance profile lies in improved flat rated General Electric CF34-3A turbofans.

Field performance, payload range and fuel efficiency are all boosted while climb is also improved. The 3A can for instance, fly a 3435nm Singapore/Sydney leg with 2 crew, flight attendant, 10 passengers, buffet and baggage with full IFR reserves. The -3A can also fly with the above payload from any Australian capital to any destination in Australia, hold for one hour and land with full IFR reserves. A 601 is presently flown locally by Westfield while a second is mooted for delivery during 1987 to an as yet unnamed client.

Beech Win Big FAA King Air Order:

Beechcraft have won yet another big US Government contract. The latest is for 19 specially equipped King Air 300 propjets which will be used by the Federal Aviation Administr ation for airways calibration and checking work.

The $A88m contract includes training and support and will result in considerable savings for the FAA over a period of years. In Australia, this task is performed by much more expensive to operate Fokker F28 jets. Over 3,500 King Air propjets have now been sold including more than 150 of the latest mark, the 300, since its introduction to service in 1984.

 Piper Achieves Strong Trainer Sales Amidst Fears for Its Future:

Piper has scored some impressive trainer sales to both British Aerospace and the Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority. The order from BAe comprises 19 Warriors and 6 Seneca Ills for their newly formed pilot training academy while Indonesia has opted for 10 Dakotas. Lufthansa and Alitalia have also recently placed orders for 7 Cheyenne propjet trainers while the US Coast Guard has accepted delivery of 8 modified Cheyennes and taken options on a further eight.

Dimming these recent sales though is an unwelcome takeover bid for Lear Siegler, Piper Aircraft’s parent, by AFG Partners. AFG have stated that if they are successful they will relinquish all aerospace assets of Lear Siegler and effectively close Piper down. In the current GA environment, it would be unlikely that they would find a viable buyer for what is left of the Piper production line.

As at the end of the third quarter for this year Piper was behind by more than 50% on last year’s sales with only 236 aircraft manufactured for a value of just over $US44m. Top seller was the Malibu with 67 units built, followed by the Warrior with 65 units, the Archer 2 with 34 and the Seneca III with 31. Only nine Cheyenne aircraft were produced during the period.

 Rfds Selects King Air Aircraft:

After a thorough investigation, involving a Qantas Engineering Report and flight trials in the Broken Hill area of operations, the NSW section of the Royal Flying Doctor Service has decided on a successor to its Nomad aircraft.

The RFDS took delivery of a specially converted King Air B200 from Hawker Pacific during November and hope to have the aircraft fully operational this January.

The Nomads, which entered service in 1978, have performed well in the extremely harsh environment and each now have around 5,800hrs on them. Ideally, if funding is available, the RFDS would like to retain one Nomad for its regular multi-stop clinic run while using the more expensive to operate King Air on the longer ranging emergency runs where the air- craft’s pressurization and high transit speed provide a considerable advantage over the slower Nomad.

VIDEOS

General Dynamics F-111:

AVI. First in a progressive series of AVI tapes depicting the life and times of famous aircraft. Future tapes will trace the history of the XB-70, F-16, B-29, F-104, F-14, B-36, F-4, Tornado and Vulcan.

This one hour tape is up to the usual excellent AVI standard and documents in great detail the traumatic birth of the 111, Its entry into service, deployment in Vietnam and our own RAAF use of the advanced strike bomber. Certainly, any RAAF member, past and present, who was involved on the 111 programme would no doubt appreciate this tape as a late Christmas gift.

Available from Aviation Video International, c/-Tasmanian Film Corp. 1 Bowen Rd, Hobart TAS, 7009 for only $34. 95+ $4. 00 p&p.

The Last Bomb:

AVI.It’s great to nowadays see all this excellent live WW2 footage surviving via the medium of the home video. No better example of near priceless footage is available in the shape of this highly enjoyable cassette combining the dual operations of the B-29 and its P-51 Mustang escorts on medium-level bombing missions over Japan.

The footage is from the point of view of a typical 8-29 crew departing Tinian for their seven thousand kilometre mission against the Beech agents, Hawker Pacific, are planning to take delivery of their first Beechjet during the first quarter of this year. The small corporate twinjet is being aimed at current turboprop operators and ultimately will augment the propjet Starship when that aircraft becomes available locally around 1988/89.

Japanese heartland and provides an interesting comparison with the relatively short range B-17/24 raids depicted on other AVI tapes. Watching these tapes also makes one appreciate the depth of technical brilliance that Boeing succeeded in capturing with their then-revolutionary Superfortress.

Not to be outshone by the Boeing heavy is the immortal Mustang, which in this role escorts the 29s all the way from recently captured Iwo Jima to Japan and back. Á not an inconsiderable radius of action for a fighter! The P-51s also are free to break off their escort task as appropriate for some very effective low level strafing runs against the Nippon transportation system. Again more priceless footage that makes you appreciate how these pilots must truly have trusted the reliability of their steeds.

Available from Aviation Video International, c-Tasmanian Film Corp. 1 Bowen Rd, Hobart TAS, 7009 for only $34. 95 + $4. 00 p&p.

BOOKS

Hurricane:

Edward Bishop. The Hawker Hurricane has always tended to live in the shadow of its more glamorous partner, the Spitfire (in fact this excellent book was held over for almost a year to avoid being “smothered by the wealth of Spitfire anniversary books that were launched last year). This is certainly regrettable as it was the Hurricane that indeed shouldered the bulk of operations during the first period of the RAF air war. In the Battle of Britain alone, there were some 32 Hurricane wings versus only 19 of the slightly faster Spitfire while the gutsy Hurricane also fought alone and usually against tremendous odds in the Middle East, Russia and through Burma.

So versatile was this aircraft that it was used on one way Hurricat ship based missions to shepherd the Atlantic convoys in addition to being used by the Royal Navy aboard a number of their carriers.

This 154 page book is a valid chronicle of the events that made Hawker’s 1934 private venture decision to proceed with the revolutionary monoplane fighter one of the most critical of the era. For without the Hurricane being available in the numbers it was being built in by 1939 then the outcome of the Battle of Britain and perhaps thus the war, could have been very different.

RRP is $32. 95, available from Princeton Books, PO Box 24, Cheltenham, 3192.

 Stealth Aircraft:

Bill Sweetman. There are only a small number of aviation writers that write interesting and highly accurate military books and Bill Sweetman is one of them. His latest book uncovers the history of Stealth aircraft, from the early drones to the present top secret F-19 and ÁTB to the future USAF ATF fighter.

Of 96 pages, this book is well illustrated and an excellent source of reference data for anyone interested in what today is military aviation’s most challenging the realm of the ‘Invisible’ aircraft.

If you enjoy our popular Technology Explained series then this book is for you. RRP is $26. 50, published by Princeton Books, PO Box 24, Cheltenham 3192.

Cleared for Takeoff:

Meredith Hooper. If you enjoy our Day in the Life series then you will probably be attracted to the objectives of this book. Essentially the text takes us through the happenings of a Melbourne/ London Qantas flight with every detail explained and logged en route.

On the surface this may sound boring and very long winded but surprisingly it isn’t and you don’t have to read far through any chapter of this book to discover new and interesting facts that you were not totally aware of. In many ways this book may have sold a million if it had been renamed with an aim at pre-briefing potential Qantas aircrew applicants from GA and the Services! Such is its detail and well versed narration of the complex task of moving a single 747 the 20,000km from the old to the new world.

RRP is only $15. 95 and this 112 page book is available direct from any Angus & Robertson outlet.

Aircraft, and Strategy Operations of the Soviet Air Force:

AVM RA Mason & John W R Taylor. The authors of this superb book need no introduction to the serious military aviation rea- der. Air Vice Marshal Mason has been writing on the NATO military environment for many years while John WR Taylor of course is the legendary guiding light behind the famous Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft, an annual reference work that even approaching $200 a copy is considered essential reading from Moscow to Maine.

This book is an excellent and very up to date source of hard data on the Soviet Air Force. The book details the all important philosophical concepts of how the SAF fights and operates on a day to day basis and outlines in great detail the on going struggle between the need to regiment all tactical manoeuvres and the more western approach of individual tactics with a flexibility of operations not totally dependent upon traditional Soviet style GCI methods. The book also evaluates the level of flexibility latter day Soviet air combat tactics vis-a-vis aircraft like the highly complex MIG-29 Fulcrum and SU-27 Flanker. Finally, all Soviet combat aircraft are detailed with their known perform- ance data listed for speedy analysis.

Available direct from Jane’s for £20 at 238 City Road, London EC1V 2PU, or from selected specialist book shops.

The Sky Their Frontier:

Robert Jackson. We take distance for granted these days as we span the planet in our modem day jumbos Flying non stop across the vast Pacific or just one stop to far off Europe is simply considered as ‘ops normal”. However, it wasn’t always that way and the stories of the trail-blazing air route pioneers of the period between the two World Wars certainly makes interesting reading.

In many ways this period also saw the birth of the truly great airlines. KLM, Qantas, Lufthansa, BOAC and Pan American to name just a few. The era began with modified ex-WW1 bombers and spawned the first true airliners which as their size grew became the first generation of modern flying boats. A fascinating book and one that is of great relevance to any aviation history.

RRP is $43. 50, available from most major bookshops or direct from Princeton Books, PO Box 24, Cheltenham, 3192.

Sky Truck 2:

Stephen Piercey A fitting sequel to Sky Truck, first published in May of 1984, this new book is a second compilation of the late Stephen Piercey’s wonderful photographs of old piston engined

airliners. Sky Truck 2 includes material shot after the original book went to press and during Stephen’s last trip to South America.

If you are stirred by the sights of the surviving Connies, multi engined Douglas’ and their ilk then this excellent book is for you.

RRP is $19. 00, published by Osprey (UK) and available at most major book shops.

Spitfire Odyssey:

C R Russell This book is really a story of one man’s life at Supermarine in the period 1936-57 though it does centre on the years that belonged primarily to the Spitfire. For those who are deeply involved in the history of the legendary aircraft then this book is of excellent value as it reveals hundreds of little-known facts relating to the behind-the-scenes development of Britain’s most famous combat aircraft.

Of some 160 pages, RRP is $24 95, published by Capricom Link the book is available from most major bookshops

Combat Aircraft F-18 Hornet:

Lindsay Peacock. The second in a new series of ready reference editions covering the current generation of combat aircraft. This 48-page book features 1 more than forty photos and relies heavily on artwork which enhances its relevance to historians and aircraft modellers. The book is also good source material on some of the aircraft’s weapon and avionics systems.

RRP is $17. 95, available from most major bookshops or direct from Princeton Books, PO Box 24, Cheltenham, 3192.

 Fighter Combat Tactics & Manoeuvring:

Robert L Shaw. This 424 page book has been very well received by the professional fighter community. Indeed its introduction describes it as the first fully detailed book on fighter combat techniques – this we don’t disbelieve as the amount of detail within its many pages is quite Impressive.

The book analyses every tactic that is used in air combat manoeuvring (ACM) in addition to examining the multitude of implications gained with carrying gun, missile and aircraft performance combinations. The author, Robert Shaw, is a veteran of nearly fifteen years of naval aviation aboard F-4 and F-14 aircraft in addition to holding a masters degree in aeronautical engineering. This depth of experience comes through in his unravelling of the life and manoeuvres that are part and parcel of the fighter pilot’s vocabulary.

Obviously not required reading for your average GA pilot but certain to be well appreciated at Point Cook, Pearce and Williamtown. RRP is $US29 and the book is available direct from The Naval Institute Press, United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland 21402 USA.

The Queen’s Flight:

Michael Burns. Celebrating a half century of operation, this 160 page hard cover book traces the history of one of the world’s most specialised flying units. Of interest is the extent of flying operations which encompass short haul helicopter flights to the ultra-long-range operations using the large jet transports of either the Royal Flight, the RAF or British Airways.

While this book will obviously be most popular in traditionally Royalist Britain, its presence in Australia is of direct interest to all who are interested in English aeronautical history and how a specialist flight unit operates on a day to day basis. RRP is $29. 95, published by Capricom Link and available from most major book shops.

 Usaaf Fighters of WW2:

Michael O’Leary. This book is not cheap though it does represent excellent research value as it chronicles all the USAAF fighters that fought in WW2. They are all there, the Mustang, Lightning. Thunderbolt, Airacobra and Kittyhawk in addition to the numerous prototypes $ played such an important part in refining the final product.

With a wealth of detail the author introduces the design background of each aircraft, why it was wanted and what problems had to be overcome and also traces the development, test flying and production phases. Numerous personal accounts take the reader into combat with the pilots whose mounts became legends. Of some 480 pages comprising over 450 photographs, RRP is $48. 00 and distributed by Capricorn Link through most major book 1 shops.