Newsdesk – General Aviation

The crashed aircraft’s horizontal tail was seen to depart in flight and although the particular Nomad was only delivered to the RAAF from ASTA last year (it was the 128th off the line, RAAF Serial No A18-401), it had previously been used as a trials aircraft and some pre-existing damage is suspected.

One theory is that damage to the tailplane centre section box had been caused by the all-flying tailplane banging about in wind while on the ground. Other Nomads – both civil and military-have been known to suffer this. Problems with the Nomad’s tail surfaces were a feature of its early history, although these were unrelated as they were due to flutter.

Aerostars Grounded:

An Airworthiness Directive (AD) issued by the United States FAA has resulted in the grounding of over 600 US registered Piper Aerostar piston twins.

The AD calls for the fitting of fire detection kits before the aircraft fly again following two crashes caused by problems with an engine exhaust stack. The tailpipes are cracking and detaching from their flange attachment to the supercharger allowing hot exhaust gases to play on the firewall, the heat from this is then getting into the wing interior and starting fires which compromises the structural integrity of the spar. Piper had previously issued a service bulletin on the problem.

 Piper in Trouble:

The strong comeback of Piper to the general aviation market has stumbled slightly following recent shut-downs and worker layoffs.

The problems are centred around cash- flow, some key vendors (including Lycoming) refusing to offer extended credit to Piper. As a result, production of all Piper’s models except the high ticket value Cheyenne and Malibu was shut down in late February and more than one-third of the company’s 1,200 strong workforce temporarily laid off.

The problems have also closed associate company LoPresti Piper Engineering and delayed plans to establish a second plant at the company’s former Lock Haven, Pennsylvania site.

 P. 120 Goes Without Australia:

The tri-national Aerospatiale P. 120 light single engined turbine helicopter has been given the go ahead following the signing of an accord between the French manufacturer, CATIC of China and Singapore Aerospace.

As originally proposed, the helicopter was supposed to have been a joint French/Chinese/Australian project with Aerospace Technologies of Australia (ASTA) providing the local input. Aerospatiale will control the pro- gram with a 54% stake while the three partners will be responsible for the development and production of specific parts. Aerospatiale will undertake final assembly.

The P. 120 is a four/five seater designed to replace Aerospatiale’s Gazelle and Lama helicopters and to complement the six seat AS. 350 Squirrel and AS. 355 Twin Squirrel. First flight is scheduled for 1993 with deliveries to follow in 1996. A market for 1,500- 2,000 P. 120s is projected over 10 years. Is this yet another lost opportunity for the Australian aircraft industry?

 Amman Wins, Taxpayers Lose:

Amman Aviation has apparently won its long running legal battle for compensation following the controversial 1987 cancellation of its Coastwatch contract.

Following the cancellation of the contract, it temporarily reverted to previous holders Skywest, who, as reported in the March issue’s Newsdesk, has just been awarded another contract after tendering along with other operators including Amman.

Amman was awarded $410,000 late last year out of a claim for $23m. This has now been overturned by the Federal Court which has ruled that the company’s claim of $5. 2m for the cost of surveillance aircraft had been wrongly disallowed, and that amount has now been awarded. The figure could reach as much as $7 million when interest and costs are taken into account.

As usual, it is the taxpayer who has really suffered by the ineptitude displayed all round.

 Measuring the Cost:

The Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics (part of the Department of Transport) has released a computer software package it has developed to measure aircraft operating costs.

Called ‘Aerocost, the software simulates the operations of commercial jet and propeller aircraft commonly used in Australia ranging from the Piper Navajo to the Boeing 747-400.

The package can be used in a number of ways including estimating operating costs for a range of aircraft on a particular route thus providing a basis for comparison, estimating costs for an aircraft on a specific route network to determine its suitability for the task and simulating the operation of an aircraft into congested airports to estimate the effect of congestion on operating costs. Aerocost is suitable for operation on an IBM compatible micro computer and is available from the BTCE and costs $495.

GA Might Get the Nod in Thailand:

Thailand’s Ministry of Transport & Communication is believed to be close to allowing the private ownership of light aircraft to Thai citizens. Previously GA, as we know it, has been banned in Thailand for security reasons.

The move would usher in an ideal opportunity for Australian manufacturers to be able to supply light two and four place training and touring aircraft to the eventual huge Thai market. Thailand is physically the size of France and hosts a rapidly increasing socio demographic population base that could afford to own and operate private aircraft. Emerging Australian aircraft such as the Bushmaster, Mamba and Sentinel, plus some of the more developed Light Personal Aircraft could find a ready market in Thailand if the move goes ahead. A firm Ministry decision is expected by mid year.

 Fairchild Into Chapter 11:

Fairchild Aircraft has filed for protection from its creditors under the USA’S Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws following a difficult period of trading, severe internal management dis- putes and the fact that it has been hit by a large lawsuit from British Aerospace.

The lawsuit has apparently provided the company with a convenient reason to go into Chapter 11 protection, although BAe claims it was going to do so anyway. The aggravation between Fairchild and BAe began two years ago when the American company brought an action against BAe claiming wrongful conduct, malicious intent and covert, unlawful activities which caused US commuter operator WestAir to cancel its order for 10 Metro Ills and purchase Jet- streams instead.

The BAe counter suit is for $US50m damages, $US75m punitive damages plus law- yers’ fees. Under US law, a court could award a multiple of any damage claim, bringing Fairchild’s total liability (if it loses) to as much as $US225m.

 Icing Link in Crashes:

It appears ice may be a factor in several recent US crashes of two types of aircraft, the Cessna Caravan and the Mitsubishi MU-2.

Three fatal Caravan crashes occurred in the USA within four weeks earlier this year, two of them in the same night at the same place and within half an hour of each other. All three were on night cargo flights and all occurred close to airports, two shortly after departure from airports near Lake Cham- plain on the New York-Vermont border and the third while on approach to Denver’s Stapleton Airport. The two Lake Champlain Caravans showed signs of icing even after they had crashed, while the Denver aircraft had been flying in conditions of snow and ice.

Icing is also looking to be a contributory factor in the most recent of three MU-2 crashes Australia has experienced in the past 18 months and possibly the earlier crashes as well. As reported in March’s Newsdesk, restrictions on MU-2 operations in Australia resulted (use of autopilot banned, no flying into known icing conditions, two pilots compulsory and minimum experience levels required) and the factors found to have contributed to that crash are high weight, lack of extensive pilot experience on type and flying at high altitudes in icing conditions.

In the most recent crash at Meekathara WA in late January, the MU-2 was cruising at 21,000 feet in icing conditions when it entered a flat spin from which it never recovered. Investigations into the MU-2’s autopilot have revealed that under some circumstances the equipment can cause the aircraft to trim itself back to the point of stall. At higher altitudes and on autopilot, the aircraft flies slightly nose up and any increase in weight due to ice causes it to automatically trim itself back to compensate.

All the Australian crashes have involved the late production long fuselage “Marquise version of the MU-2. The aircraft are fitted with pneumatic rubber deicing boots on the wing, fin and tailplane leading edges, electric deicing of the propeller boots and engine bleed air deicing of the engine intakes as standard equipment and are certified for flight into known icing conditions. The Civil Aviation Authority’s Airworthiness Branch is continuing testing the autopilot and deicing systems of the MU-2 to ensure they continue to meet Australian Certification requirements.

Paulson Buys Gulfstream:

Allen Paulson, the Chairman and Chief Executive of Gulfstream, has succeeded in buying back from Chrysler the company he founded in 1978 by acquiring the assets of Grumman American Aviation and later the Rockwell Commander range of light and business aircraft.

Paulson and the consortium behind him paid $US825m for the company: Chrysler paid $US66m for it five years ago. Paulson immediately signed a letter of intent to purchase the assets of troubled Learjet for $US60m, thus giving the company a complete range of corporate jets from the small and medium sized Lears up to the large, long range Gulfstream IV.

However the letter of intent’s deadline was allowed to pass, partly as a result of Learjet’s failure to win the potentially lucrative USAF TTTS (Tanker/Transport Training System) competition to Beechcraft. (refer Newsdesk item this issue).

 Super ATR72

ATR is looking at a re-engined and more powerful version of its newly introduced ATR72 60/70 passenger regional turboprop airliner.

Two studios are in foot under way. The first involves fitting more powerful engines to the ATR72 (probably PW130s) to improve its hot and high performance and increase its cruising speed from the ATR72’s 250kt (460km/h) to 300kt (560km/h). The second study is centred around installing the more powerful engines and introducing a further fuselage. stretch, increasing passenger capacity 80 or so. A decision is expected later this year

People

Mr Reg Morkham has been appointed Group General Manager of the Melboume based AMO group. Mr Dick Smith has been appointed chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority. Capitol Airways has appointed Mr George Chan executive director in charge of sales and marketing. Mr Chan was previously managing director of Singapore Airlines, being responsible for its highly successful ‘Singapore Girl’ promotion. Mr Ron Entsch has been appointed Ansett state manager for Queensland. Mr Russell Fyn-More has been appointed as the new Chairman to the Board of Australian Defence Industries (ADI). Commander JP D Hodg- man has been appointed director of the RAN’s recently established Directorate of Public Information.

The Bottom Line

• Continental Airlines has reported a 1989 net profit of $US3. 1m on revenues of $US5. 1 billion, a $US318. 5 improvement over the preceding year’s net loss of $US315. 5m on revenues of $US4. 7 billion. McDonnell Douglas Corporation earned $US60m on revenues of $US4. 297 billion in the fourth quarter of 1989.

TNT net profit for the last half of 1989 fell by 48% over the previous year to $83. 28m. This was primarily due to the adverse effects of the domestic pilots’ dispute. British Airways announced record group pre-tax profits of $733m for the nine months to December 31, 1989, an increase of $127m on the same period during 1988. Boeing has reported 1989 sales of $US20. 276 billion with earnings of $US4973m. Announced orders in 1989 for 963 commercial transport aircraft were valued at $US47. 5 billion. (Refer p8 Mar 90 AA)

Lockheed reported earnings of just $US6m from continuing operations in 1989, compared with a $US458m profit in 1988. 85% of Lockheed’s sales were to the US Government, but profits were affected by unexpected development costs in the P-7A program and a decrease in sales of the C-5B.

Books

 Tiger Meet:

Coen van den Heuvel. Hardly of riveting interest to our part of the world but certainly a big event in Europe is the annual NATO Tiger Meet.

Nowadays performed literally in cult fashion, the Tiger Meet is a get-together of elite fighter squadrons that carry a tiger motif in their unit insignia. The result is a meeting of NATO air arms and units competing against each other in a wide array of air combat and not-so-serious ground events that stir the imagination! This book is also excellent value for modellers who may like to duplicate some of the more original paint schemes specifically contrived for this unique event. RRP is $19. 00, published by Osprey (UK) and available at most major book shops.

Air Wars and Aircraft – A Detailed Record of Air Combat, 1945 to the Present:

Victor Flintham

This 415 page book is a comprehensive record of air combat since the Second World War. It can best be described as a reference book that is most interesting and useful because of the new information it provides.

Most postwar conflicts – with the possible exceptions of Korea and Vietnam – have been relatively small scale. Information about them has often been difficult to obtain, and it is here that this book fills a gap in aviation literature. It describes most conflicts – including the many small incidents in Africa and South America – detailing the countries involved, aircraft operated and combat missions and losses.

There is a wealth of interesting data in the book. Tables are provided to clearly show what aircraft were being used, and the book is both well-illustrated and easy to read. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book is that it shows just how long World War Two aircraft lingered on in the service of smaller countries. Honduras and El Salvador fought with Mustangs and F4U Corsairs in 1969, while Iraq used the

Gloster Gladiator operationally until 1949!

ARP is $80. 00, available from Capricorn Link, Lincoln St, Lane Cove2066.

Flights of the Forgotten – Special Duties Operations In World War Two:

K A Merrick A 343 page book about the Allied squadrons who flew special duties operations in Europe, the Balkans and Far East during the Second World War.

The book includes details of RAAF operations both in the Pacific – such as those carried out by 200 (SD) Flight – and Europe, where No. 10 Squadron attempted the first (but unsuccessful) joint infiltration and pick-up operation of the war. A strong Australian presence in RAF squadrons in all theatres is also revealed.

The book documents the special duties operations with particular reference to important or noteworthy missions. It is an interesting book supported by a good selection of photos showing such types as

Liberators, Whitleys, Halifaxes, Lysanders etc. Perhaps the book’s only fault is its rather small print, made necessary by the wealth of material contained in its pages.

Available from Capricorn Link, Lincoln St, Lane Cove, 2066 with a RRP of $65. 00.

The Mighty Eighth a History of the Units, Men and Machines of the US 8th Air Force:

Roger Freeman

A new edition of Freeman’s 1970 publication, this history of the US 8th Air Force’s wartime operations can only be described as monumental.

Within the book’s 311 pages is a comprehensive record of the 8th Air Force from its creation in mid 1942 through to its departure from Europe after Germany’s defeat. In this time the 8th produced no less than 14 Medal of Honor recipients and some 261 air aces, but at a high cost in both men and machines.

The book’s text is highly detailed, yet very readable. It is supported by an excellent selection of photos showing crews and aircraft, battle damage and colour schemes. The reference section at the back of the book includes unit histories, awards, aces, and aircraft camouflage and markings useful for modelers.

At an RRP of $50 this book is a bargain. Available from Capricorn Link, Lincoln St, Lane Cove 2066.

Fight for the Sky:

BB Halfpenny A compilation of true stories of WW2 fighter pilots, this 224-page semi-paperback is interesting in that it also gives the support troops and ground crews a good hearing also.

The book highlights 20 different stories ranging from the frenzy of action in trying to get the RAF up to battle speed in the darkening days of 1938 and 39 through to the V-1 intercept missions over the Channel Other stories involve the RAAF and RAF in the defence of Tobruk and North Africa, the Battle of Britain, Typhoon rocket attacks against German armour (their specialty) and operations with the Hurri-bomber. All in all a good read, well written and again of additional interest due to the involvement of the army of support crew who kept the aircraft airborne in mostly hostile circumstances.

RRP is $16. 95. Available through book-shops from Collins Publishers mentioning the Patrick Stephens imprint.

 Air Travel. How Safe Is It?

Laurie Taylor

Packed with information by way of the obviously informed text and diagrams, this book is not such heavy going that only those directly involved with air safety issues would understand it; on the contrary, anyone with a basic knowledge of air travel will be able to learn much from it. So how safe is air travel? According to the author quite safe and becoming safer each year “it sufficient resources are committed to a coordinated and internationally implemented air safety programme”. Available from Blackwell Scientific Publications (Australia) Ply Lid, 107 Barry 31, Carlton 3053, RRP $64. 00.