Newsdesk — Commercial Aviation

Although jets have been the major product of Boeing since the mid 1950s, the company has been in the business of building aeroplanes since it was founded in 1916 and has turned out more than 33,600 aeroplanes. Of these, about 10,300 were Kaydet biplane trainers for the US Army.

The famous Model 314 flying boats, called ‘Clippers’ by Pan American, were the largest production aeroplanes in service in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The B-17 bomber, the famous Flying Fortress of World War II, was the aeroplane that made the Boeing name a household word in the 1940s. Boeing itself built 6,981 of these, while another 5,745 were built under licence by other companies.

World Record Verified:

Qantas has had its London/Sydney non stop flight in August last year formally recognised by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) as a record in the jet powered landplane over 300,000kg class.

The Boeing 747-400 powered by Rolls-Royce RB. 211-524G engines and skippered by Capt David Massey-Greene flew the 9,201nm (17,039km) from Heathrow to Syd- ney non stop in 20hr 09min 05sec at an average speed of 845. 58km/h or 458 knots true airspeed.

146 to Antarctica:

British Aerospace’s 146 airliner has created a bit of his- tory by becoming the first commercial jet-liner to operate into Antarctica. Flown by the Chilean carrier LAN-Chile, the 146 operated a route proving service from Punte Arenas to the Chilean Air Force base on King George Island. Previously, only C-130 Hercules had operated to and from the base’s gravel runway but the airline will now operate regular charter flights to it with 146s beginning this month.

MLS For Canberra:

Canberra will be the first Australian airport equipped with a microwave landing system (MLS), the nation’s capital city proving ideal for trials of the new system considering its high rate of closure due to fog.

Compared with the ILS now in international use, MLS offers greater accuracy and flexibility due to its ability to provide a beam at angles up to 60 deg off the runway centreline. ILS is restricted to an extension of the centreline. MLS will also allow curved approaches which will help aircraft avoid noise sensitive areas and allow simultaneous approaches from either side of the runway.

The technology for MLS was originally developed in Australia beginning more than 20 years ago. Canberra’s MLS trials begin this month and will continue for up to two years.

Boeing Jets Receive Additional Extended Range Approval:

The FAA has certified Boeing 757 and 767 twinjets for additional extended range services.

The approvals were given for additional extended twin engine operations (ETOPS) by the 757 and two series of the 767, the -200 and -300, with specific engine combinations. ETOPS approval allows the twinjets to fly more direct routes on long over water trips or over undeveloped land areas, thus saving fuel and flight times. Typical operations require routings within 60 minutes’ flight time of an approved landing field in the event of the loss of one engine’s power.

The FAA has now approved 120 minute ETOPS operations for the 757-200 equipped with Pratt & Whitney PW2037 or PW2040 engines. The 757 has been certified for 120 minute operations with Rolls-Royce RB211-535E4 engines since December 1986.

Boeing 767-200 and -300 series aircraft have had 120min approval with two different engine types since 1985. Now, both of these have received 180min certification with Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4D/E engines. They also have received approval for 120-minute operations with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines. As this new engine type accumulates experience, it will also be a candidate for 180min operations. The 767 series have had 180min certification with two types of General Electric engines since April 1989.

Tay One-Elevens Everywhere:

The British Aerospace (formerly BAC) One-Eleven twin jet airliner is set to make some-thing of a comeback with the arrival of two schemes to market the aircraft with quiet and fuel efficient Rolls-Royce Tay engines in place of the original Speys. The first project is a conversion program which has been under development for some time by the Dee Howard company in the USA.

Dee Howard will be fitting 15,000Ib thrust Tay 650-14s to both 400 and 500 series One-Elevens, with the prototype conversion (a 400) ready to fly as these words are written. The company already has 50 orders for the $US8m conversion so far and certification is scheduled to be achieved in January 1991 for the 400 series and mid 1991 for the larger variant. The One-Eleven has been manufactured in Romania at a modest rate since BAe and IAv Bucaresti got together and began an ‘industrial transfer’ scheme in the early 1980s. Romanian aircraft are manufactured under the name ROMBAC and the first example flew in September 1982. Speculation that ROMBAC would offer a Tay powered OneEleven has been in the wind for some time, and a recent announcement has confirmed its plans. Associated Aerospace, a British based leasing company, is reported to be near signing an agreement to purchase 50 Tay powered ROMBAC One-Elevens and option a further 50. After manufacture, the aircraft would be flown from Romania to Britain where they would be fitted with a glass cockpit and cabin furnishings before going on to the customer airline. The prototype 747 (RA001) has been retired by Boeing. The aircraft – which first flew on 9 February 1969 – has been used for the past 21 years by Boeing as a testbed for numerous Systems improvements and crew training. Follow-on testing of the aircraft included certification to carry a fifth engine for ferry purposes, fail operative autopilot development and certification, increased gross weight certification, brake improvement and 747-200 aerodynamic development.

This first of many 747s has been preserved and placed on display at the Museum of Flight, Seattle. ROMBAC is planning to have both Series 400 and 500 Tay One-Elevens certified by the end of next year and the aircraft is seen as an effective competitor to the Fokker 100 and even BAe’s own 146 regional jetliner. The British company retains design authority for the One-Eleven.

Radar Updates:

New control towers at Cairns and Coolangatta airports will be up and running this month and their opening will be followed bythe installation of radar capable of controlling air space within a 150nm (280km) radius of both centres. The installations are part of a $143m program to provide 19 new radar sensors to upgrade and extend air traffic control radar from Cairns down the eastern and southern seaboards to Adelaide and in the Perth area. Meanwhile, three companies have been named to develop further proposals to replace air traffic control radar display systems in Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra. The companies are Hughes Aircraft of Canada, Siemens Plessey (Australia) and Thomson Radar Australia. One company will be selected to provide the equipment which is scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 1992.

 A320 Silly Season:

While the official report into the crash of an Indian Airlines Airbus A320 on approach to Bangalore airport last February cites crew error as the principal cause (the aircraft’s speed was allowed to reduce too much and its rate of descent increase), the general issues sur- rounding the A320 and Indian Airlines continue to create interest.

After the accident, Indian Airlines’ crews refused to fly the A320 and a purge of the airline’s’ top management took place, the new people immediately deciding to sell the brand new A320 fleet despite the aircraft being cleared of any blame.

Meanwhile, the other A320 crash in France in 1988 during an unauthorised low and slow flypast continues to make headlines. The aircraft’s pilot in that case was Mr Michel Asseline, an Air France check pilot who was sacked from the French national carrier after he was found to be responsible for that accident. Mr Asseline has mounted an intensive anti A320 crusade since then (despite the irrefutable evidence which emerged during the enquiry) and recently appeared on the Australian ‘tabloid’ style television program, Hinch at Seven, where he told what were considered by Airbus as distortions of truth about the A320. As a result, Airbus has now taken the unusual step of lodging a defamation action against Mr Asseline.

Us-Japan 777 Deal:

As suggested in Stop Press last month, Boeing has joined forces with Japanese manufacturers Mitsubishi, Kawasaki and Fuji in the development and production of the Boeing 767-X (or 777 as it will be called when formally launched) 400 passenger twin jet.

Larger than the current 767, the 777 is expected to be launched at Farnborough this year and will be in a category similar to the Airbus A330, albeit three years behind that aircraft with an in service date of 1995. Boe- ing and the Japanese companies have thus far signed only a Memorandum of Understanding: a more definite agreement is expected to follow soon. General

GE Sues Daimler-Benz:

Electric has filed a $US1. 15bn suit against Daimler-Benz and its subsidiary MTU follow- ing the German company’s establishment of a new working agreement between itself and Pratt & Whitney.

GE’s reasons for the suit stem from the fact that until MTU’s recent withdrawal from the 80,000lb thrust GE90 large turbofan project, the two companies apparently had an agreement requiring their exclusive cooperation on the development, production and marketing of large turbofans. MTU had previously been a partner of GE in the CF6-50, -80A and -80C2 engine programs, while in the lower thrust categories it has been involved with the Pratt & Whitney PW2000 and JT8D-200 and IAE 2500.

In the suit, GE alleges breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, fraud, negligent misrepresentation and breach of duty to negotiate in good faith. The company has sought injunctions barring MTU from using any of GE’s proprietary information and from participating in any venture or business arrangement with anyone (including P&W) in any jet engine in a class whose thrust would be competitive with the CF6 or GE90.

 II-114 Flies:

The Soviet Union’s latest airliner, the 60 passenger Ilyushin Il-114 twin turboprop regional airliner, on March 29 recorded its maiden flight from the Zhukovsky flight test centre near Moscow. In many ways similar to the British Aerospace ATP, the -114 is powered by two newly designed Isotov TV7-117 turboprops each rated at 2,500shp and driving six bladed propellers with blades of a large “paddle’ design. The II-114 will enter service with Aeroflot in 1992, the Soviet airline is scheduled to take delivery of some 500 aircraft at a rate of 100 per annum. The II-114 will be made available for the export market in 1993, and to help achieve sales in the West the design is capable of being fitted with PWAC PW123 or 124 engines.

Icao Reports on 1989 Safety Statistics for Air Carrier Operations:

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has analysed the preliminary information available on aviation safety and aviation security for the 162 Contracting States in the year 1989. The analysis shows a slight decline in the air safety and security picture when compared to 1988.

In 1989, the scheduled air carriers of the 162 Contracting States experienced 28 aircraft accidents involving passenger fatalities. This was the same number of such accidents as in 1988. However, the number of passenger deaths increased from 729 in 1988 to 825 in 1989. Passenger fatalities per 100 million passenger kilometers increased from 0. 04 in 1988 to 0. 05 in 1989.

For non scheduled air services, the indications are that there were 38 accidents. accounting for 521 passenger fatalities in 1989, an increase over 1988 when there were 23 accidents which took 181 passenger lives. These figures exclude accidents and occurrences which do not involve the loss of passenger lives.

Acts of unlawful interference against civil aircraft also increased. In 1989 there were 14 such incidents, three being fatal occur rences resulting in 279 deaths. In 1988, there were 12 acts of unlawful interference, five of which were fatal occurrences resulting in 300 deaths, including 269 passengers. After a

Airliners Going Cheap:

period of increasing prices for second hand jet airliners of the relatively noisy and thirsty older generation, the market for such aircraft has substantially reduced and lower prices are the result.

Airliners such as Boeing 727s, early model 737s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9s are becoming less desirable as the effects of tightening noise regulations, costlier fuel and the delivery of vast numbers of new aircraft (generally offering more important at a time of high congestion) take effect. In the USA, some 300 such aircraft are currently for sale, double that of last year and not helped by the bankruptcies of Braniff and Eastern which have recently released 128 aircraft to the second hand market.

Last year, a typical price for a used 727-200 was nearly $US6m, today it is $US5m; a 737-200 can now be bought for $US5m compared with $US6. 5m late last year. Federal Express recently paid $US175m for 20 ex Braniff 727-2008 including 19 spare engines and a substantial spares holding. Last year FedEx could have expected to pay SUS200m just for the aircraft.

 Melbourne’s Radar Tested:

With a view to an early introduction to operational use, Melbourne Airport’s newly installed Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR) has been fight tested by the Civil Aviation Authority as part of its commissioning program.

The four day tests involved several CAA and RAAF aircraft which performed an intricate series of manoeuvres to determine the accuracy, coverage and resolution capabilities of the new system. Additional testing and evaluation will follow before the radar is commissioned.