Newsdesk – General Aviation

At its first meeting, the committee unanimously opposed any further financial burdens on an already heavily overtaxed industry, the problem being that GA is an area which the govemment can bleed dry without causing any disquiet-ie; loss of votes-among the vast majority of the electorate.

Customs Takes Over Coastwatch Responsibilities:

The Australian Customs Service has won control of the Coastwatch littoral surveillance service.

At presstime, little was clear as to what changes, if any, would occur except that Customs officially took over responsibility for the service on August 1 and that Skywest will continue as contracted till at least next March. A full statement of intent is expected within the coming two months.

 Lifesaver With a Difference:

Imagine this- You are flying to an unfamiliar destination in your average lightie, you are naturally only VFR rated, it is getting towards dusk and the headwinds are knocking 30kts off your groundspeed estimates, you are over tiger country and to make matters worse a front has rapidly brought in a blanket of low level cloud that has literally rendered your WAC chart useless.

Enough to make any private pilot sweat? You bet. and your two passengers are feeling no better as they sense your growing urgency to be somewhere else. Minutes fly by, ground visibility becomes negligible, darkness approaches and that fuel gauge is not where it should be – what do you do? We all know the options-soldier on in the vague hope that there is a break in the cloud and before last light is met. Turn back, but to where, alternates are few and again visibility and light are eluding you and you are unsure of your present position. Eventually your fuel will be exhausted and the aircraft will begin its terminal descent, and into what, how can you complete a forced landing through cloud, in a glide into unknown terrain, forget it, it’s over! Sounds dramatic. Well it is and regrettably it happens every week somewhere around the world, and often in Australia. You rarely get pilot stories of this type first-hand simply because all involved inevitably become statistics in the process of writing their deeds in the record books. However, there is an alternative, and a novel one at that.

BRS parachute recovery systems have long been famous for their ultralight rocket powered parachute recovery systems, indeed they have some 31 ‘saves’ listed, which is pretty good for a unit that has been in existence since only the early eighties. Now, the BRS system has been designed for use with light aircraft up to Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee class.

Essentially, the system includes a rocket capsule system mounted above the cabin in a relatively aerodynamic fashion. The system is designed to be fired instantaneously with full canopy deployment in under two seconds, even from an inverted spin. The system is presently being certificated by the FAA and Australian BRS distributors, Avtex of Ballina, NSW, plan to seek CAA certification through 1989. The system arrests the fall of a 172 in seconds (Refer pic this page) and can land it on its wheels (depending upon immediate terrain, etc) with a descent impact rate of just eight or nine knots or an equivalent of a moderately heavy landing.

If you can honestly place yourself in the posi- tion of the pilot in our story then wouldn’t it be nice to have that final option, when all else fails, of just nosing her up to wash off airspeed and puiling that red handle in the knowledge that you, and your passengers, were going to see another sunrise?

Small Commuters Banned at Tullamarine:

In a move which has angered operators, the CAA has banned the operation of many piston engined aircraft with fewer than ten seats from operating at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport.

The ban applies to aircraft flown by supple-mental (commuter) airlines, but does not affect charter flights, a strange and obviously ill conceived idea. The arbitrary ruling was made without explanation, although it appears the reason may have something to do with these supposedly slow aircraft causing holdups to airliners operating in the area.

As the General Aviation Association has pointed out, this still allows aircraft such as the Nomad or Shorts 330/360 to use Tullamarine because of their turbine power and seating capacity and despite the fact that they are not exactly rocketships in the circuit! The legality of this edict is being examined by interested parties and it is certain that much more is still to be heard on the subject.

 Dornier 328 Cancelled:

Domler’s plans to enter the 30-seat pressurized commuter market have ground to a halt following a decision by the minority family shareholders not to meet the capital increase needed to allow the project to get underway.

Nearly two-thirds of Domier’s stock is owned by Daimler-Benz, whose representatives failed to convince the family interests that putting up the extra capital was a worthwhile exercise. As a result, Dornier will remain in that potentially dangerous situation of being a one-type manufacturer and will concentrate Instead on new variants of the existing and well established 228 utility/commuter aircraft. Recent months been good for new commuter designs with the cancellation of the short lived Shorts/de Havilland Canada NRA-90A and the Shorts 450 projects.

An Aussie Amphibian?

In these days of mega-million dollar airline takeovers, mergers and reorganizations, this bit of news comes with an almost whimsical air to it.

It involves another merger, but on a more modest scale, and involves two of Australia’s oldest and most respected seaplane operators, Air Whitsunday and Seair Pacific. The two operators joined forces recently to meet the growing demands of the tourist industry around the Great Barrier Reef and to pool technical expertise in the rather specialised field of seaplane services.

The new company will be known as Seair Pacific and will be one of the largest seaplane operators in the world with a fleet of 17 aircraft. But the biggest news surrounding the merger is the fact that the company is planning to develop a ‘revolutionary eight-passenger amphibious aircraft which will be manufactured in Australia. A feasability study is now underway

Massive of Regional Helicopter Sale to Masling:

Regional sales agent and distributor for McDonnell Douglas Helicopters, Masling Rotor Wing Cootamundra, has won a significant sales order from New Guinea based Pacific Helicopters.

The deal involves the firm sale of 15 MD500 series helicopters with 6 more on option. Total value of the contract is in excess of $15m with the first helo being delivered later this year. Pacific Helicopters presently operate 14 MD500 series helicopters in support of their various New Guinea based resources exploration operations.

New Rotax:

Rotax engines, the popular Austrian-built powerplant for most ultralight aircraft, has developed a new, more powerful engine for light aircraft.

While its established range of two stroke and one or two cylinder 25-63hp engines are derived from motorcycle or snowmobile units, the new 79hp, 1. 2 litre Rotax 912 is a four cylinder four stroke unit, which it is hoped will find a market as a retrofit replacement for elderly Continental engines in the same power bracket.

The 912 weighs 60kg, bums 4 USG/hr at 75% power and features a dry sump, water cooled cylinder heads and air cooled cylinders. Rotax expects to sell 500-1,000 912s a year. In 1987 the company produced the impressive total of 6,500 aircraft engines out of a total of no fewer than 100,000, most of which were used to power snowmobiles.

 New Fairchild Distributor:

Long an aircraft under-marketed in this region is the Fairchild Metro series. Despite strong sales in the late seventies and early eighties, the type virtually faded from the scene in recent years.

However, new sales agents, Pacific Aircraft Distributors, of Christchurch, New Zealand, are hoping to change all this and to again provide the Metro with a viable sales opportunity against the rival Beech 1900 and BA Jetstream. PAD have one of the largest sales catchments of any regional distributor with their sales territory covering Hawaii, the entire Pacific region, NZ, Australia and as far west as South Africa.

Meanwhile, Fairchild is forging ahead with development of the new Metro V and anticipate FAA certification by late 1900 with an entry to service by early 1991. The Metro V features 1,100shp Garrett TPE331-12s, a new T tall, improved flaps, ailerons and structure and systems certificated to full FAA Part 23 specifications. Apart from the new CBA-123 from Embraer and FMA, the Metro V will reportedly be the fastest 18/19 seat commuter in the market come 1991.

Cessna Looking Better:

These days it’s unusual to get some good news from the US General Aviation industry, but Cessna has provided some by increasing its share of the light/medium business Jet market to 44% (up three points) in 1987.

During the year the company delivered its 1 ,500th Citation and the fleet recorded its 4,000,000th flight hour since the first Citation I was delivered in 1971. Meanwhile the company’s latest offering, the Citation V (a stretched version of the Citation II) is continuing its certification programme and the first delivery is scheduled for March next year.

Looking further ahead, Cessna is also investigating a Citation IV (possibly a stretched Ill) while tests with an Allison turboprop powered Model 21O have proven the viability of the concept, leading to speculation that an aircraft of this type may provide the catalyst for the company to re-enter the single engined light aircraft market in the not too distant future.

Win a Trip to Vero Beach:

How would you like to win a trip for two to Vero Beach, Florida, the home of Piper Aircraft? Well, all you have to do is to literally be in this contest to have a chance. Check out the Piper/ Pacific Aviation full page advert In this edition, answer the ·not too difficult’ question and you and a friend might just be packing your bags for sunny Florida.

The advert of course is designed to remind us of how Piper are back in production and that, yes, there is life after death for the honest to goodness GA lightie. Go to it

125 Milestones:

British Aerospace’s highly successful BAe125 corporate jet has achieved two more significant milestones in its quarter century history.

The first is the placement of the 700th order for the type and the second is its selection by the USAF as a flight inspection aircraft. The 700th 125 has been ordered by the US-based Williams Companies who will take three Series 800 aircraft to replace the two Series 700s it currently operates. The US corporate market accounts for more than 60% of all 125 sales.

Deliveries of the USAF’s six 125-800s will begin early in 1989 and after completion by LTV’s Sierra Research Division (which will manufacture and install the computerised flight inspection consoles), the aircraft will be used in the analysis of USAF air navigation aids and airport landing facilities ensuring their accuracy and proper operation. The CAA presently operates a 125-700 in a similar task here in Australia In partnership with Rockwell, BAe is also offering the 125 for the USAF’s mega- order TTTS (Tanker, Transport, Training System) requirement.

FAA Scales Back Mode C:

The US Federal Aviation Administration has announced greatly scaled back rules pertaining to the use of Mode C transponders. The move has pleased private pilots but earned the criticism of commercial carriers.

The original rules as proposed targeted 254 airports in the USA and lowered positive control to 6,000ft as well as proposing lowering the controlled airspace floor to 1,200ft.

The new rules require the use of Mode C transponders in aircraft operating within a 30nm radius of 27 specified terminal control areas, in and above 109 airport radar service areas up to 10,000ft and in airspace at or above 10,000ft, the new ‘floor’ for US positive control zones as at July 1, 1989. Excluded from the proposed regulations are balloons and sailplanes.

Commanders Return:

The former Rockwell Commander 112 and 114 range of four seat, retractable undercarriage single engined light aircraft hopefully are about to return to production following the purchase of the manufacturing, marketing and product support rights by Commander Aircraft of Washington DC from Gulfstream Aerospace. Rockwell built the 112/114 between 1971 and 1979 before selling the line to Gulfstream who did not resume production.

Qantas Sets up Pilot Training Scheme:

Confirming recent speculation, and in a move reminiscent of the old Qantas Cadet Scheme of the 1960s, Australia’s flag carrier will shortly be officially announcing the establishment of a 1980s version, the Qantas Flying Training Scheme (refer p12 July 88 AA). The object of the exercise is, of course, to provide the airline with a supply of pilots to meet its future expansion plans and some 540 of them will be required over the next five years. There will be four levels of entry to the scheme, although the highest of these will undoubtedly be the source of the vast majority

of successful applicants. Level 1 takes students with no previous flying experience, Level 2 requires a Restricted Private Pilots Licence, Level 3 an Unrestricted PPL and Level 4 a Commercial licence with or without Senior Commercial Theory subjects.

For those joining the scheme from Level 4 there will be a 14 week course at one of the two commercial flying schools which successfully tendered to Qantas, Navair in Sydney or CATÁ at Cessnock, NSW. The first course will commence in October and 8 students will be enrolled per course. Those starting from scratch will be subjected to a 60 week course of training. However, acceptance by a student into one of the courses does not necessarily guarantee employment as the standard set will be exceptionally high and a degree of washout’ is to be expected. The preferred age of applicants is 20-24 years although this can be vaned where appropriate.

 Happy Birthday Hazeltons:

Hazelton Airlines, the fast growing NSW commuter, is about to celebrate its 35th birthday.

Hazeltons commenced operations back in 1953 with a single Auster and for many years concentrated largely on rural air requirements before venturing into the world of charter and later supplementary airline services in the seventies. Earlier this year Hazelton was the recipient of a number of new western NSW routes which saw it virtually doubling the ports served to a present total of 26. Last year the airline carried just over 60,000 passengers and comfortably expects to double this for 1988/89. Workload has increased from around 250 flights a week to more than 500, while staff numbers have also increased from 50 to 100 in the past year, half of which are pilots.

Like all commuter operators, Hazeltons provide an excellent ‘nursery’ environment for young pilots who gain experience on their large fleet of Piper Chieftains, Cessnas, Bandeirantes and their latest acquisition, a pressurised Beech 1900. The airline is hoping to win several new routes over the coming months and is planning to acquire a new Shorts 360-300 if successful.

If you have worked for Hazeltons in the past, then the management and staff would like you to join them at their 35th birthday party this October in Cudal. Contact (063) 64 2104 for full details.

Export Action:

It’s nice to hear of Australian success stories, particularly in relation to overseas markets. This one relates to those well known pilot training manuals produced in Melbourne by Trevor Thom and his Aviation Theory Centre. Since entering the UK market less than two years ago, the books have captured 80% of the action over there and are about to enter their third editions. Additionally, US publishers have approached Mr Thom to produce books for that potentially huge market. Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Far East and Asia have also provided growing markets for the books.

Nearer to home, Australian Aviation contributor Stewart Wilson’s extremely useful and locally published reference book, The Light Aircraft Guide, has also had a measure of success overseas with distributors in the USA, UK and Japan recently placing orders. Meanwhile, the magazine itself also attracts vi- able direct sales offshore while more than two thirds of our total advertising revenue is in foreign currency earnings. It’s good to see the local aviation publishing industry helping Australia’s balance of trade figures!

Arv in Trouble:

ARV Aviation is the latest in a long line of British light aircraft manufacturers to find itself in severe financial difficulties and production of its Super2 low cost two-seater has ended after only about 20 have been sold (airtested on p86, July 87 AA).

The Super2 has recently been subject to technical difficulties revolving around its three-cylinder two-stroke Hewland engine and although those have now been solved the company needs a further £2m invested in it to continue operating. £3. 5m has already been invested since the company was formed by World Land Speed Record holder Richard Noble in 1984. At presstime, it was learnt that the existing ARV management had bought out the company for £260,000.

Meanwhile ARV has been granted protetion from its creditors by going into ‘Administration’ (equivalent to the USA’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy) which allows it to be restructured if viable, a situation which would at least allow its creditors the chance to recover some of their losses or allow the company to continue trading in a different form.

The Bottom Line

Lockheed has reported a second quarter profit of US$133m on revenue of US$6. 7bn.  Westland have reported a pre-tax profit for the six months ending March 31 of £13. 1m against £24. 8m for the same period last year. Total turnover was slightly lower at £186m. Snecma has reported a 1987 loss of US$95m despite record engine turnover. The loss was blamed almost exclusively on the low relative value of the US dollar which discounted Snecma’s component billings by as much as a third.

People

Mr Len Coysh has been appointed as Personnel and Industrial manager for Ansett Airlines. Graham Smith has been appointed as the new charter manager for Budget Air Services in Sydney. Kristine Oxford has been appointed as the NSW Ansett Air Freight manager, replacing Ron Gosbee who is now the aerospace division GM for AWA. Mr Peter Curtis has been appointed president of the Civil Air Operations Officer’s Assn. The Civil Aviation Authority has announced its full board with Mr Alan Woods becoming chairperson, Mr Henry Bosch deputy chairperson, Mr Collin Freeland is CEO (refer Interview this Issue), while Mr Len Heard, Mr Russell Ingersoll, Mr Peter Redlich, Mr Barry Robin- son, Mr Dick Smith and Ms Helen Vorrath are board members. Brigadier Paul Lipscombe, a former director of Army Aviation has become the ASTA representative in Canberra. Mr. David Bell has taken over a board position at Hawker Pacific following the August 1 retirement of Mr. David Price who will continue his association with aviation as a consultant.

Books

Airfields of the Eighth-Then and Now:

Roger A Freeman I guess most readers can remember that great intro scene in that classic movie, Twelve O’Clock High, where Jimmy Stewart stands alone amongst the debris and grass of what was ‘his’ WW2 bomber base. I think most of us would love to have been able to have seen these great bases in action. Bases that played host to an air armada never before witnessed by mankind and one that was able to ultimately take the pain of battle right back into the very heart of Nazi Germany.

Today many of those dozens of bases still exist. Most are largely overgrown and only the odd remnant of another age survives – a decaying hangar, crumbling control tower or ops block, hardstand and even some of the great black ribbons of runways themselves. Some are used by local aero clubs though most are used for farms and for various forms of agriculture but still many remain for us to see to this day.

Our 1988 Australian Aviation Famborough Tour will be fortunate to be visiting some of these old bases of the 8th USAAF during the course of this issue though if you missed it, you might like to at least be there in spirit via this well produced book.

Airfields of the Eighth – Then and Now is available for an RRP of $48. 00 from the Technical Book & Magazine Co, 295 Swanston St, Melbourne, 3000, (03) 663 3951.

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft in Australia and New Zealand:

David Eyre Despite having the longest title of any book we have ever reviewed, this work provides good buying for anyone wanting a complete record of the hundreds of types of aircraft presently operated in Australia. First published in 1983, this latest edition is an update that also includes much information missing from the initial version.

Of 290 pages, the book includes a large portfolio of photos, many of which are in colour, including pics of aircraft that are by any standard classified as extremely rare.

RRP is $36. 50 and available from Natbooks, Suite 297, 306 Kent St, Sydney, 2000.

Air War – Hanoi:

Robert F Dorr Books about the Vietnam War these days seem to be coming out in a never ending stream. This one though is, like most of them, a high quality narrative supported by some excellent and previously classified pictorial content that also makes it good value.

Essentially the book deals with the air war over North Vietnam and does the reader a favour by taking each year as an individual chapter. This makes for a more understandable and coherent form of documentation that also nicely catalogues the arrival of new aircraft and weapon types that in turn contributed greatly to the US eventually gaining some form of tactical air advantage over the North despite the best efforts of their own politicians to make their task an unwinnable one.

Air War-Hanoi is of 194 pages and at an RRP of $45 is available from major bookshops including the Technical Magazine & Book Coat 295 Swanston St, Melbourne, (03) 663 3951.