Newsdesk-Commercial Aviation

DHC recently announced staff cutbacks and a reduced production rate for its Dash 8 regional turboprop due to a downturn in sales, but the latter has been recently boosted by an order for 20 from Northwest Airlink.

Airbus Delivery Rates Increasing After Better Than Expected Year:

Airbus Industrie delivered 163 new airliners in 1991, comprising 119 A320s and 44 A300/A310s. Firm orders were received for 101 aircraft-52 A300/A3108, 15 A320s, three A3218 and 31 A330/A340s. To the end of the year the consortium had delivered 815 aircraft and had a backlog of 952

Airbus hopes to receive 150 orders in 1992. a modest total compared with the record 401 sales recorded in 1990 but a 50% increase on 1991 nevertheless. Planned production in 1992 is for 40 A300/310s and 103 A320s. A launch decision on the 120 seat A319 is expected later this month. Airbus earned revenues of $US7. 7bn in 1991, a 60% increase over the previous year.

 Joint Bae/Japan Airliner?:

British Aerospace has been talking to various Jap- anese aircraft companies about the joint development of the proposed 120 passenger BAe 146N RA jet airliner.

The 146N RA is a stretched, rewinged and twin engined development of the existing four engined 146 series of regional jetliners offering greater speed and range. Talks have been conducted with Mitsubishi, Fuji and Kawasaki and have been based on projec- tions that the worldwide fleet of 70-130 seat airliners will grow from the current 2,600 to about 3,600 by 2015. Of these, most will be in the 100-130 seat category.

Peter Jones 5 Michael Smitho

The fight hots up and Jones is now leading five nil against his increasingly out of pocket rival, Michael Smith.

You see, Peter is a direct mail subscriber and again received his December AA days before Michael could get it on the newsstands. What’s more, Peter pays just $3. 45 a copy for his early delivery AA, whilst Michael, still forks out the full $4. 90. Last issue Peter received his AA on Thursday December 5 whilst the earliest that Michael could have purchased his copy was Wednesday December 11. This is now the fifth month in a row that this has occurred!

By taking a two year subscription, Peter saved almost $30 compared with buying AA at the newsstand. On top of that he also received free of charge our Say Again dictionary of aeronautical acronyms, a booklet which usually retails at just under $10. Also, as Peter works in the aviation industry he is able to claim his subscription as a legitimate tax deduction, a further saving in real terms that newsstand buyers can’t really take advantage of in a practical sense. “*

perchance you are not a subscriber then check out our great deal on page 19 of this issue – it can save you both consid- erable time and money.

“Our new mailing process is getting AA delivered quicker than ever with a majority of subscribers on the eastern seaboard now routinely getting their magazine before the weekend prior to newsagency release. “Check with your accountant for precise details.

Korea Plans Airliner:

South Korean industry is planning to design, develop and manufacture an indigenous 70 passenger regional jet by the turn of the century.

It is expected a consortium of South Korean aerospace companies – possibly Daewoo Heavy Industries (DHI), Samsung and Korean Air (KA) will be formed for the project and the aircraft will be designed by the Korean Aeronautical Research Institute. Other projects are also under consideration including a 12 seat commercial twin engined helicopter in partnership with a probably European manufacturer. DHI and KA already make rotor hubs and transmissions for the Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk, while DHI and Samsung produce Bell 212 and 412 subassemblies and Westland Lynx side, lower fuselage and nose structures.

Delta’s 1,000th Pratt:

Delta Airlines has become the third airline to have 1,000 Pratt & Whitney engines in service at a given time and is now the world’s largest user of the company’s commercial engines. P&W engines power Delta’s fleet of 7278, 7378, DC-9s, MD-808, MD-118, 7578, 767s and A310s.

RB2118 for UPS 757s:

In what is seen as a surprise change of policy, United Parcel Service has selected the Rolls-Royce RB211 turbofan to power the 20 Boeing 757 freighters it has on firm order (plus 41 options) for delivery from 1994.

UPS’s existing fleet of 21 757s is powered by Pratt & Whitney PW2040 engines. UPS, Rolls-Royce and engineering/conversions organisation Dee Howard have also been