Newsdesk – Commercial Aviation

Airbus (and MDC) has lost out to Boeing in BA’s last four procurement programs, and it is worth noting that the airline (through its predecessors BOAC and BEA) have a long history of ruining local products’ chances of success on the open market through vacilla- tion and the imposition of stringent demands which made the aircraft unattractive for other customers. The VC10 and Trident are two excellent examples.

 Fokker’s 70 Seater:

In a surprise move, Fokker has announced it will develop a 70 passenger regional jet before the 80 and 130 passenger derivatives of the F100 it had already been considering (refer p. 8 Nov 91 AAL Fokker says that market studies have revealed the airlines want a 70 seat jet airliner as quickly as possible and plans launching the resulting Fokker 70 by the end of this year with first deliveries planned for the sec- ond half of 1994. Several airlines are in advanced negotiations with Fokker, which sees a potential market of 700 aircraft in the category. The F80 and F130 have not been cancelled, but the manufacturer sees them coming onto line towards the end of the decade.

The F70 will use F100 wings combined with a fuselage slightly longer than the original 65 passenger F28 Fellowship. Power will be provided by two 13,850b thrust Rolls-Royce Tay 620 turbofans and range with maximum payload will be 1,200nm (2,220km)

Australian Sets CFM56 Standard:

Australian Airline’s Maintenance and Engineering department has developed a world leading procedure in performing essential modifications to the CFM56 engines which power its Boeing 737 fleet, without removing the engine from the aircraft.

The engine’s manufacturer believed removal was necessary to carry out the modifications which involve replacing the conical nose spinners with elliptical units which will improve rain and hail protection and overall reliability. General Electric (a partner with France’s Snecma in CFM International) and various operators of Boeing 737-300 and 400 aircraft have requested details of the procedure.

 Airbus’ Soviet Certification:

The Airbus A310 has become the first western aircraft to receive Type Certification by the aviation authorities in the Soviet Union.

The widebody airliner is due to enter service with the Soviet flag carrier, Aeroflot, by the end of this year. The process which has resulted in the certification of the A310 began in 1989 and involved several Soviet aeronautical and technical institutes plus Airbus Industrie. Aeroflot has ordered five A310-300s powered by General Electric CF6-80C2 engines. Delivery will be completed by the third quarter of 1992 and the aircraft will be used on the airline’s North American, Asian and some European routes.

 Resurrected Soviets?:

The Soviets are investigating the possibility of reopening production of the Antonov An-28 17 seat turboprop and Yakolev Yak-40 27 passenger trijet commuter aircraft fitted with Garrett engines and offering them to the wester market.

The An-28 is still manufactured in Poland with WSK-PZL TVD-10B turboprops and a new Soviet built version would be powered by 940shp Garrett TPE331-10 or 11 turboprops. As part of the investigations, a stretched An-28 (the An-38) with 27 seats is also being considered. This would be powered by 1,500shp TPE331-14 engines.

The Yak-40 went out of production in the late 1970s after about 1,000 had been built. New aircraft would have their three 3,300lb thrust Ivchenko Al-25 turbofans replaced by 4,000lb thrust Garrett TFE-731-55.

A decade ago an American company announced plans to manufacture a re-engined Yak-40 but the project was shelved. Yakolev is also proposing to develop an 8-10 seat corporate twinjet (the Yak-48) which if built will also be powered by TFE731s.

Sign of the Times:

The recession/ depression we needed to have: Aerospace Technologies of Australia (ASTA) offered 19 apprenticeships in October and received no fewer than 1,008 applications, some of them from school leavers, others from people in their mid-30s. Our sympathies to the ASTA employee/s who will have to make some very tough decisions on this one.

Saab Two Million:

The Saab 340 regional turboprop achieved something of a milestone in late October when the type recorded its two millionth flight.

According to Saab, the 340 completes about 1,700 flights each day, which means one takes off or lands every 25 seconds. The 340 first entered service with Switzerland’s Crossair in June 1984 and since then more than 270 have been delivered.