Newsdesk – Commercial Aviation

The Boeing 747 is the largest airliner in commercial use in the world. First ordered in 1966, the 747-100 entered service in January 1970. As of early June, 770 were in service with 71 operators. Five 747-200 freighters and one 747-300 Combi are still to be delivered to customers over the next year and a half. Two of the freighters will be delivered to Air France, two to Nippon Cargo and one to an unannounced customer. The 747-300 Combi is for Sabena. The first 747-400 freighter will be delivered to Air France in 1994.

As at early June, Boeing had taken orders for 1,002 7478, made up of 205 of the -100 series, 46 SPs, 391 of the -200 series, 81 of the -300 series and 279 of the -400 series. Coincidentally orders for all Boeing jetliners have reached 7,747.

 CFM56-5B Offered as A320 Engine Option:

CFM International (CFMI) is offering its CFM56-5B turbofan as an option to power a hot and high version of the A320.

The new engine option will also allow airlines operating CFM56-5 powered A321s to have engine commonality in their A320/321 fleet. The -58 is planned for certification in late 1991 with a rating of about 31,500lb, which should further enhance A320 performance. The engine choice could even lead to a longer range A320.

CFMI is planning also to further develop the -5B (which is itself a development of the -5A) for higher thrust than the present 31,500lb, with the new higher rating being certified by late 1993. A CFM56-3 engine derated to 18,500lb for 75-100 seat airliners is now also being studied. CFMI are set to increase engine production from 65 units a month to 100 a month with expected higher demand for its products.

Airport Security to Be Checked:

A parliamentary committee is to examine airport security problems at Australian airports, in particular those at Kingsford Smith.

An Auditor General’s report last year raised several concerns about Australian airport security and found KSA to be the least secure. Allegations the committee will examine include that Customs makes too little use of sniffer dogs and frisk searches (though new legislation is clearing the way for more use of the latter), and that there are too many agencies at KSA able to issue security passes. There are at least eight agencies capable of issuing security passes at KSA, and it is claimed that Customs is not able to properly assess their security procedures.

The committee will follow up on criticisms of airport security and will take evidence at public hearings. The Australian Customs Service, the Federal Airports Corporation and other agencies involved with airport security will be asked to not only explain why there are security problems, but what is being done about them.

 Fewer Delays at Melbourne:

There should be fewer landing delays at Melbourne Airport from now on following the introduction last month of systems improvements and software modifications which allow aircraft sequencing intervals to be reduced.

The most recent ATCARDS software was commissioned on May 1 and after extensive flight testing and operational evaluation, the Melbourne Terminal Approach Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR) was put into service three weeks later. That completed stage one of the ongoing Melbourne upgrade and will be followed by further software upgrades this month and later in the year which should permit the current five nautical miles separation within the Mel- bourne Terminal Area to be reduced to three miles.

Pratt & Whitney Redefine PW4000:

To accommodate the proposed weight increases in the 767-X, Pratt & Whitney have decided to increase the fan diameter of their PW4000 engine.

The engine’s fan diameter will be increased to 2. 85m (9ft 4in) from 2. 6m (8ft 7in), and the engine will now be certified at about 83,000lb thrust instead of the previous lower rated 70,000lb thrust. The larger fan of the new PW4000 version will increasefan flowby about 50% over present versions, changing the bypass ratio from about 5:1 to 7:1.

By comparison, General Electric are planning a bypass ratio of about 9. 5:1 for its GE90 767-X engine proposal which is expected also to have a more efficient cycle. P&W, however, believe their engine will make up for this when the GE90’s weight and drag from its 3. 1m (10ft 3in) fan is taken into consideration.

 Millionaire 146:

British Aerospace’s 146 regional jetliner has logged its first one million flights, nine years after the prototype first took to the air and seven years after the aircraft entered revenue service.

Around 160 1468 are currently in service with 40 operators, and the aircraft is returning an average annual utilisation of around 3,300 hours. Current orderbook stand at 183 with 48 on option.

767-X Program Proceeding With Japanese Investment and Design Changes:

Boeing have signed a memorandum of understanding with Mitsubishi, Kawasaki and Fuji Heavy Industries for the Japanese companies to participate in the 767-X program.

The agreement will give Japan an 8-10% risk sharing investment stake in the program, the greatest share in any civil airliner program that Boeing has ever allowed another entity to hold. It is, however, below the 25% risk sharing investment Boeing had sought for the now defunct 7J7. The Japanese companies were not willing to take a25% stake in the project, due mainly to a shortage of trained personnel such as engineers that this would have caused. The Japanese share in the program now enables Japanese engineers to participate in all stages of the program, including design, and ensures Japanese participation in production.

The 767-X design team is already investigating the inclusion of a folding wing design for the new airliner. T he aircraft’s base wingspan of 60. 1m (197ft), will severely restrict the number of now international airport gates worldwide which could accommodate it, so a wing folding mechanism located about 7-7. 6m (23-25ft) in from the wingtip is being considered. Despite necessary modifications which will virtually create an all new aircraft, Boeing believes there will still be a fair degree of component commonality with the 767, though it definitely will not receive common type rating.

It is expected that the basic airliner will seat 353 passengers in a two class domestic configuration and will havea range of 4,600nm (8,534km). Boeing forecast a market of 4,000 airliners in this class for the period up to 2005, with the main competitors being the A300-600, A330 and A340 and the MD-11/12.

 MDCCuts:

Despite a burgeoning orderbook for its MD-80 series of airliners and forthcoming major production programs such as the MD-11, MD-90 and C-17 military transport, the Douglas Aircraft Company division of McDonnell Douglas will reduce its currently 50,000 strong work force by approximately 3,000. The company has recorded poor financial results recently despite an attempt to cut costs and its ostensibly healthy state of activity. The next step is to reduce its number of employees and an imbalance between personnel directly involved in design and production and those in general and administrative areas will be corrected by the laying off of many of the latter group.

 Australian to Head Icao Fans II Committee:

Mr Brian O’Keeffe, General Manager Advanced Systems Development with the CAA, has been elected Chairman of ICAO’s new FANS II committee.

FANS II (Phase two of the Future Air Navigation Systems Committee) is responsible for planning, monitoring and coordinating the development and progressive introduction of the FANS concept worldwide over the next decade.

Under the FANS concept, aviation communications, navigation and surveillance worldwide will be satellite-based, except in areas of high density traffic where current line of sight systems including microwave landing systems (MLS) will remain operational.

Mr O’Keeffe has been the Australian mem- ber of the FANS committee since its formation. He joined the old Department of Civil Aviation in 1956, has been involved primarily with MLS development, communications and the DCA’s Airways Division, and has held his present CAA position since 1988.

 Roller and Bimmer Together:

BMW and Rolls-Royce will form a joint venture company in Germany for the development and manufacture of jet engines.

The new company will be called BMW Rolls-Royce and its ownership will be split 50. 5/49. 5%, with the German company holding the greater equity. The new company will take over the business of KHD Luftfahrt- teknic (a manufacturer and repairer of major engine components and APUs) and add to those activities collaboration with Rolls-Royce in the Tay and Trent programs. It will also begin the design and development of a new engine in the under 20,000lb thrust class for civil use.

Super Airbus Transporter on the Drawing Board:

A guppy like version of the A30082 is one option being considered as a possible solution to Airbus Industrie’s requirement to airlift large components and major airliner subassemblies to the assembly line.

The transporter would be based on the A300B, but would have a 19. 7m (64ft 7in) long, 7. 6m (25ft) diameter parallel cabin section in which to stow subassemblies. The forward section would open about 8. 6m (28ft 2in) from the nose for access to the cabin, and the aircraft would typically have a 20 tonne payload capacity with a range of 1,800nm (3,335km).

The design is, however, still very much a paper project. Airbus will continue to airlift major subassemblies and components to Toulouse on the wings of Boeing 377-based Guppys for some time (refer June 90 AA cover).

 Aeroflot to Include Tu-334 in Fleet Update:

Aeroflot have included the Tupolev Tu-334 as one of seven new types it expects to introduce to service by 1994.

The Tu-334 medium range 102 seat airliner is expected to fly in 1992 and enter Aeroflot service the following year, eventually replacing the Tu-134. The new airliner’s development program has been quite swift, aided by a high degree of commonality with the Tu-204 which is currently undergoing flight testing. It will utilise fly by wire technology control computers limiting angle of attack, bank angle, airspeed and g loading, auto-mated fuel and navigation systems, possibly at wo crew cockpit, and composite materials in the secondary structure and control sur- faces. It will be powered by two Lotarev D-436T turbofans using 20g of fuel per passenger kilometre, but will have a fairly frugal range of just 1,080nm (2,000km. )

Acquiring the Tu-334 is a part of Aeroflot’s fleet modification program, though the number to be purchased is not publicly known. The airline has also ordered 300 Tupolev Tu-204 214 passenger airliners, 100 Ilyushin -96-300 long range wide bodies, 500 -114 regional airliners, and was negotiating the lease of five ex-Wardair A310-300s in addition to the five it already has on order. Also on order are the Let L-610 commuter and the Yak-42M medium range airliner.

Aeroflot is by far the world’s largest carrier though much of its capacity still has military support overtones. According to Avmark aviation consultants of Washington DC, Aeroflot operate over 15,000 aircraft to 3,500 domestic destinations and 120 ports of call in 100 countries. More recently the airlinehas begun to spread its wings and has acquired a 49% share in Turkish charter operator, Greenair, which is in turn leasing an Aeroflot Tu-154M and plans to increase its capacity next year with 11-62 and II-86 aircraft.

 Inverted!

Readers of our KSA story in the June edition may have been perplexed by the locations given in the caption on p. 48.

Well don’t worry becaude you were right to feel somewhat confused as the photo was unfortunately positioned upside down by our film people and missed by us in final proofing. Just reverse our directions and you will have it in perspective. Who knows, one day we may even be able to run the photo again with an additional runway. Don’t hold your breath though!

 Crean Suggests New Aerospace Consortium:

Simon Crean, Minister for Science and Technology, recently suggested that a consortium be formed between Qantas, the CSIRO and Boeing.

MrCrean noted that there”. . . is enormous potential in putting together such a consortium to form a niche in the aerospace industry which Australia could usefully develop. ” He expressed the belief that with the dramatic changes in aerospace technologies expected in the next two decades, and the skills possessed by Australian technicians, engineers and designers, Australia should indeed be striving for more involvement in this rapidly growing industry. Boeing’s involvement in the consortium would give it a strong base for entry into the international market.

As a member of the Qantas board, Mr Crean has been able to not only become acquainted with Qantas technical operations, but has visited Boeing in Seattle. During his visit he learned that Boeing is looking for participation in the manufacturing side of its operations, as illustrated by its recent agreement with Japan for substantial involvement in the 767-X program. Mr Crean has also become acquainted with the CSIRO’s materials science and technologies division in Melbourne, where research into carbon fibres is already being undertaken for Boeing.

This is not the first time a consortium with Boeing has been suggested. The company was in fact suggested as an ASTA partner should the latter government owned company be privatised and/orplan more involvement in the international market. This latest suggestion is, like that just mentioned, only really at the good idea stage, but nevertheless it is great to see government ministers taking seriously an industry long held back.

 IAE Redesignates:

International Aero Engines (IAE) have introduced a new designation system for the V2500 family of tur- botan engines. For the record, the revised designations will signify the thrust of the particular variant in question, the airframe manufacturer for which it has been built and the mechanical standard of the engine.

For example, the designation V2530-A5 for the forthcoming Airbus A321-100 signifies the general engine name (V25, the full name abbreviated), the takeoff thrust (30 for 30,000lb), the manufacturer (A for Airbus) and the mechanical standard (5). Similarly. V2528-D5 indicated a 28,000lb thrust variant for the McDonnell Douglas (D for Douglas) MD90-40.

 Boeing Set to Increase Airliner Production:

Boeing plan to increase production from their present 31 jet airliners a month to 38 by mid 1991, and eventually to 41 a month in 1992.

Plans are to increase the production rates of the 737, 757 and 767 by 1992. The production rate of the 737 is expected to be the highest, with 21 of all models to be produced each month by mid 1992. Plans are also being studied for further increases in the production rates of the 747 and 767 after 1992, as well as planning for the introduction of the 777 (presently called the 767-X).

In the first three months of this year Boeing announced orders for 140 aircraft (including 38 Dash-88) worth $US8. 7bn, and delivered 97 (13 being Dash-8s). It is planned for 358 more aircraft to be delivered during 1990. With a backlog of airliner orders to the value of $US77. 5bn and with more orders only to be expected, the increase in production rate capability is certainly needed.

 A320 Production Up:

Faced with delayed deliveries due to the effects of the recent four month strike at British Aerospace, Airbus Industrie is planning to increase production of the A320 to 13 per

Strarch See Better Times Ahead:

Australia’s renowned builder of large aircraft hangars, Strarch International Ltd, has stated that it expects a trading loss for the year ending June 30 though it should begin to trade profitably through 1990/91 and beyond.

Locally, the Melbourne based company has been responsible for a number of significant aviation projects including the original Bond Airship hangar in Sydney, ASTA’s Ava- lon heavy jet maintenance facility, AirWorld at Wangaratta and a number of protective hangarettes for the RAAF at Tindal. Strarch only recently won the contract to build a two bay 747 facility at Kuala Lumpur for Airod in addition to a large sports stadium in the USA.

Possible Bid for Ksa Third Runway Work by Eis Firm:

Kinhill Engineering, the firm responsible for the Environmental Impact Statement for the third runway at KSA, stated that it may bid for work on the proposed runway construction.

The admission by a company spokesman that such a bid was probable caused some sensation, with accusations being made by anti runway lobby groups that the firm had been chosen to produce a ‘predetermined result’ in favour of the controversial third runway proposal. The firm specialises in airport work and environmental impact statements, and has had considerable involvement with the FAC with previous contracts. A company spokesman has denied the claim, however, that this will influence the EIS’s findings. Suggestions have been made that it may be improper for the firm to tender for work on the proposed runway, though the Minister for Aviation Support, Senator Collins, noted that it would not be considered unusual if it were to do so.

Allegations about Kinhill Engineering’s involvement with the EIS were first made by former Minister for Aviation Support, Gary Punch, whose opposition to the third runway -fuelled by the need to retain votes from his electorate lying predominantly under the 07/25 flightpaths him to quit the Hawke ministry. It appears his claims are just another episode in the continuing drama of attempted delays to a very necessary project; anti-runway groups have already declared that they will appeal any EIS decision that recommends construction of a third run-way at KSA even though this runway will greatly reduce the noise footprint over sur- rounding airport suburbs.

Iran Sidesteps Embargo:

In conjunction with a British and possibly Australian company, Iran is attempting to dodge the embargo of aviation equipment put on it by the United States as part of its trade sanctions against Tehran.

British company Lucas Aerospace is negotiating with the Iranian Air Force to overhaul the military and civil Boeing 747s in service with the Islamic nation, work on up to 16 aircraft and 90 Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines being involved. In April, Iran’s military 7478 were transferred to the civil register. All of the country’s 747s are in urgent need of major overhaul.

Lucas itself does not have the capacity to perform the work and is instead seeking to subcontract it to an organisation which does. Israel’s Bedek Aviation (a subsidiary of IAI) and Sweden’s FFV were both involved in negotiations but have withdrawn, in the case of the former (which was for engines only) due to the political implications involved. Lucas has also been talking to Australia’s ASTA Aircraft Services (ASTAAS) for looking after the airframe side of the contract and with Qantas for the engines. ASTAAS has said it would go ahead only with the approval of the US government, and perhaps surprisingly, it has been reported that this has been given.

There are some ‘grey’ areas in the deal, notably allegations that one of the principals involved in the negotiations has been trying to covertly acquire spare parts for some of the US built aircraft still in Iranian military service plus Sidewinder missiles. The same person denies any discussions with Iran on the overhaul contract whereas Lucas confirms approaches have been made. A decision on whether or not the company proceeds with the deal is expected this month. .