New Zealand News

There is little doubt Air New Zealand is hurting, but following the old Australasian tradition of ‘parallelism’, both almost simultaneously raised fares by 8% in May. Air New Zealand warned that more increases could be expected – partly a delayed clawback of competition prompted improvement costs.

Mr Smith credited the turnaround to the introduction of the new fleet of eight BAe 146 aircraft, and “a conscious decision by many New Zealanders to switch allegiances. ” Despite the less than buoyant economy, he believed the airline was well placed to win up to 50% of traffic soon on the routes in competition.

Air New Zealand’s chief executive, Mr Jim Scott, later charged that Ansett was losing between $30-40 million on a turnover of about $100m. There was a ‘massive over capacity’ since Ansett entered the market, and Air New Zealand was not making much out of domestic operations due to significant increases in costs and lower load factors brought about by the competitive environment. It was inevitable that real prices would rise or there would be a dramatic cutback in capacity being flown, he said.

Super ARV2 Sparks Interest

An attention-getter around summer fly-ins has been the Super ARV2 (Aviation Recreational Vehicle), flown by owner pilot, Dougal Dallison. With 25 local flying hours posted and a provisional certificate of airworthiness, the unusual two seater was believed to be the only one flying in Australasia.

Mr Dallison (ex RAF-RNZAF wing commander) was the New Zealand agent for the aircraft whose brief production run of about 25 machines came to a halt recently when the Isle of Wight manufacturer went into receivership.

The ARV was the brainchild of racing car driver, Richard Noble, whose intention was to produce a cheap-to-run aircraft suitable for sports flying and pilot training. It is an all metal aircraft with forward swept wings mounted at about shoulder height, a tricycle undercarriage and a three cylinder engine driving a wooden propeller via a reduction gear; the 75hp Hewland engine is perhaps better known to car buffs. Adapting the Hewland to aviation reportedly caused early problems, though these apparently have since been resolved.

Visit From Old (New) Bus

The Old Bus – Australia’s magnificent replica of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith’s Southern Cross – has been stooging (how else would you describe an 80 knot cruise?) around New Zealand skies. Crowds have been a little thin in some places, but no less charmed than they were in 1928 when Smithy put the original Fokker F VII-3M trimotor down at Sockburn.

Unlike the 1928 flight, the Adelaide-built replica did not fly non stop across the Tasman. Pilots Colin Watt and Doug Mooy elected to fly via Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, a prudent choice despite the 300 extra horsepower and modern radio and navigation aids on the newer aircraft.

Like the epic trans-Tasman crossings of 1928, 1933 and 1934, the visit was not entirely free of incident. Flying out of Paraparaumu Airport, near Wellington, all three engines cut while the aircraft was at 150ft. According to engineer, Brian McNulty, the machine was very close to the waves when the engines were coaxed back into life.

Sockburn Airport near Christchurch has long since been RNZAF Base Wigram. In 1928, the New Zealand Permanent Air Force managed to scramble four Bristol fighters to escort the Southern Cross in. This time, the RNZAF sent up three Airtrainers. The Service also placed a large, luminous cross on the airport site on which the original Southern Cross touched down, enabling the new machine to touch down in the same spot.

Two Birds and a Nest

For sale: two F27 Friendship aircraft and (possibly) a fully automated hangar tailor-made for the aircraft. It sounds like an airline fire sale – actually its the last gasp of Civil Aviation’s calibration flight as its contract with the Airways Corporation expires and doors open to private enterprise. One of the aircraft is fully outfitted for checking beacons and landing systems. The other is on lease to Mount Cook Airlines until the end of next year. The aircraft are expected to each fetch between $NZ2. 4 million and $NZ3m, and there’s $NZ1m worth of spares.

The hangar at Paraparaumu was opened in 1985 by the same Government which is now overseeing the demise of the flight. Its features include automatically opening doors and an interior designed to deny birds any perches – the symbolism was unintended.

The machine comes in kitset form, an interesting innovation being the central fuselage cockpit section with comes in two halves, each (like a saucepan) pressed from a single sheet of alloy. The two are riveted together down the centre.

Engineer Lawrie Tribe, who assembled the ARV, noted that a lot of use was also made of epoxy adhesives in joining parts. The aircraft, which has a maximum cruise of about 110 knots and a three hour endurance, flew very nicely and was almost impossible to stall, Tribenoted. Not so accommodating however was the price quoted in New Zealand – $98,000. Meanwhile, this ARV2 is headed back to England for six months while Mr Dallison undertakes a helicopter flying engagement.

Row Becomes Heated

The ongoing row between commercial aviation and the Minister of Transport, Mr Bill Jeffries, is reaching new heights of acerbity. At the centre of the row these days is the yet-to-be-passed Civil Aviation Bill which, among its clauses, firmly glues civil aviation into the Ministry of Transport despite professional recommendations for a ‘stand alone’ authority. The bill also removes a technically trained director as adviser to the minister on safety, and replaces him/her with two civil servant heads without technical knowledge (refer p. 107, Jan 90 AA).

On May 22, a parliamentary select committee began hearing submissions on the proposed bill. But, judging from past form, outrage from the industry (led by the Aviation Industry Association) is unlikely to impinge much on the final form of legislation – despite the fact that similar provisions have·proved a failure in a number of countries, including Canada. For the time being, bureaucrats have the ear of the Minister.

In the latest extraordinary flare-up, Mr Jeffries announced that some segments of the aviation industry were ignoring safety. They should be concentrating on operations instead of arguing about who paid (presumably for aviation services), he said.

President of the AIA, Mr Dennis Thompson, responded, saying that if those responsible could be identified by the minister, hen he should tell the association. He suggested the Minister was really trying to divert attention from a badly drafted bill.

Mr Jeffries then shot back saying he would be prepared to publicly identify operators involved in incidents, and name them if the AIA agreed . . .

Since a well publicised crash program of spot checks aimed to winkle out unsafe operators produced little of significance, the Minister’s new initiative was hardly likely to shake any foundations, Thompson said.

Problems in Hercs

The RNZAF lost a sizeable part of its heavy lift capacity in April when cracks were found in the support structure for the nose landing gear on three of its C-130 Hercules. Two of the aircraft were grounded for immediate repairs and a third was cleared for flight at reduced pressurisation levels (below 23,000ft).

Inspections uncovered the problems after similar cracks were reported in Canadian Defence Force C-130E models. Repairs were expected to take about three weeks. An Air Force spokesman said there was no suggestion that ‘anything dramatic’ would happen if the aircraft had continued flying. The trouble appeared to be caused by a ‘mix’-landing gear stresses, towing loads and pressurisation cycles. The RNZAF owns five C-130s, aged between 21 and 25 years.

Pilots Lose the Struggle

A prolonged bout of wrist wrestling with Air New Zealand appears to have humbled the once mighty NZ Airline Pilots Association.

In mid May, 172 pilots had gone against union strictures to accept individual work contracts offered by the airline. The breakaway group will be more than enough to launch the airline into the 747-400 era. About the same time, the NZALPA announced that it was dropping an old campaign to introduce a general award for all airlines. At present, Ansett New Zealand pilots are not members of the union.

This was followed by Air New Zealand’s rejection of an offer by the union to settle an old and outstanding pay and conditions award, and an announcement by the company that it intended seeking an ‘enterprise agreement’ with the pilots. Without being too specific, the airline has made it clear that this would include a relaxation of the rigid seniority system, allowing some pilots to short circuit the stove pipe system – until now, the bete noir of pilot unions.

Undoubtedly, the spectacular collapse of the Australian pilots’ dispute has aided the airline’s hardliner head, Mr Jim Scott. The possible result of a strike has been too awful for the New Zealand pilots to contemplate, and there was always the knowledge that quite a few Aussie (ex-domestic) pilots would happily cross the Tasman to take up vacant positions.

Late last year, the airline leased its first Boeing 747-400 to Cathay Pacific after it was unable to reach an agreement with the pilots on conditions for flying it. The second 747-400 is due in October, and the airline has made it known it will be going into service in November. The leased aircraft will be returned soon after.

Airline sources said about 54 pilots were required to put the first -400 into the air. There would be more than enough suitable senior pilots among the 172 breakaways, and probably enough to put the second and third -400s into the air.

Father’s Theory on Cargo Door

Wellington man, Mr Kevin Campbell, planned to be aboard a United States Navy vessel in June when an attempt was to be made to retrieve a Boeing 747 cargo door from the ocean floor off Hawaii.

The door was from United Airlines flight 811 which blew out as the aircraft climbed away for Auckland and Sydney on February

25, 1989. Mr Campbell’s son, Lee Campbell, was one of nine

passengers blown out through the hole torn in the cabin wall Since son’sdeath, Mr Campbell has carried out a remarkably technical study which disputes the official version of what happened on the ill-fated aircraft. The National Transportation Board has reported that a design deficiency and inadequate maintenance probably caused the blow out. A mandatory modification (the addition of strengthening steel plated to alloy components) had not been done.

Campbell’s investigations led him to the conclusion that the blow-out was in fact caused by the activation of the door’s closing motor – possibly by a short circuit or even a lightning strike.

After months of very public argument and a detailed story in the Wall Street Journal, US authorities agreed the only sensible course of action was to attempt to retrieve the door in order to prove or disprove the Campbell theory.

Footnote: In following the case, the writer sought the opinions of two professional engineers, both with long experience on the 747. One said he believed the Campbell theory was ‘workable’. The other said he was certain the motor involved could never have produced the power to unlock the door, no matter how massive a surge of electricity was put through it.

And Yet Another Runaway

You’ll recall from late last year the unusual spate of pilotless takeoffs which marked New Zealand aviation-three within a few months? Well its happened again.

The Cessna 150 involved had returned from a flight and been securely tied down at Ardmore Airport. Owner pilot Arthur Reville had noted an electrical fault and an attempt was made at hand starting the engine. Engine revs increased for no apparent reason and, as Arthur said, he had to duck to avoid being clobbered by the tail.

Observers reckon the 150 climbed to about 300ft (still trailing its hitching lines) before nose diving into the runway. It was a write-off.

Big Interest in Race

More than 100 ‘expressions’ of interest have been received by the New Plymouth Aero Club in the Round New Zealand Air Race, planned for February, 1991. More than 20 have come from overseas, several from Australia. The race starts from New Plymouth, heads north around North Cape, and then flies south, arriving back in New Plymouth eight days later-on February 14.

The race will have three classes: Class A for less than 110 knots; Class B between 111 and 140 knots; and Class C for 141 knots plus. The projected first prize will be $7,500; second prize $5,000; third yet to be decided; with prizes for the different classes, and day prizes. Entrants can only win one prize.

Entries opened in May, and can be obtained from: The Organiser, Round NZ Air Race, New Plymouth Aero Club, RD3 New Plymouth, New Zealand. Entrants should enclose an initial fee of $NZ5 to cover documentation.

In Briefs

• Up and running in Air New Zealand’sjumbo jet hangar is a new $1. 6m 747 docking system, enabling overall access to all parts of the aircraft while under overhaul and painting.

• The three international airports went into a state of high alert early in May when an overseas agency worried he Ministry of Transport that a south Pacific airline would be the project of a terrorist attack over a weekend. Nothing happened:·and the Ministry has since refused requests for more information.

• Bell Air, a long established regional airline based in the Bay of Plenty town of Whakatane, switched its allegiance from Air New Zealand to Ansett New Zealand in April. Its Auckland services will be linked to the Ansett network.

• Air Nelson, a rapidly growing regional airline, announced last month that it was doubling its Metroliner fleet by leasing three 1988 models from the American company, GPA Jetprop. The deal allows the option of buying the aircraft.