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The CAA Is Making A Number Of Changes With Its Flying Unit Including Selling Off Its Bae.125 And Transferring Its Two Fokker F28S From Essendon To Tullamarine The CAA is making a number of changes with its flying unit including selling off its BAe.125 and transferring its two Fokker F28s from Essendon to Tullamarine. The BAe.125 has been identified as surplus to requirements and has been hangared without flying at Essendon for over two years, during which time its value has reportedly depreciated by over $1m, as much work would need to be done to return it to an airworthy condition. The F28s meanwhile are being moved to Tullamarine because of noise sensitivities. It is now considered unlikely that the CAA will farm out its navaid calibration/checking functions to external private enterprise operators. (Gerard Frawley)
Newsdesk — General Aviation
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Coastwatch Row Developing
Considering the previous history of the Australian Coastwatch contract, it is probably no surprise to learn that a major row has developed since the awarding of the new contract to National Jet Systems (NJS) last September. The four losing bidders — Skywest, Chopperline, the Direct Flight Consortium and Cobham Aviation (a combination of Australian Jet Charter and Flight Refuelling) — have joined forces to challenge the decision, citing alleged irregularities in the tender evaluation process. Among them: published tender evaluation procedures were not complied with; critical decisions were selectively withheld from tenderers; bidders were excluded on the grounds of public service evaluation of management background; and an extra aircraft was added by NJS and there was a late substitution of the Texas Instruments APS 134 radar in place of the original GEC-Marconi Seaspray 2000. NJS plan to operate a fleet of three DHC Dash 8-200s, three Reims Caravan IIs and six Britten-Norman Islanders on the $270m, nine year contract.
Falcon 2000 Certificated
The Dassault Falcon 2000 bizjet has been awarded certification by the European Joint Airworthiness Authority (JAA) and as a result has become the first corporate jet to do so. The Falcon 2000 entered service this February and production is booked out for the next two years. The first Falcon 2000 flew in March 1993 and 1055 test and demonstration hours were logged by five aircraft before certification.
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Cessna For Independence
Swearingen has announced the official formation of Sino-Swearingen to complete development and construct the eight place SJ30 business jet (refer p15 Nov ’94 M). The company is a joint venture between Swearingen and Sino Aerospace Investment Corporation, a grouping of Taiwanese investors, including Taiwan Aerospace Corporation. With the formation of the new company construction will start in the coming months on a new 18,600m2 (200,000sq ft) assembly plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia (major components will be manufactured in Taiwan and shipped to the US), while the original SJ30 prototype has returned to full test and certification flying duties. First customer deliveries are due in late 1996.
Cessna has announced it will base production of its reopened piston engined light aircraft line in the Kansas town of Independence. Relaxation of the USA’s product liability laws will see the Cessna 172, 182 and 206 back in production in 1996 at a combined rate of 2000 per annum initially. One thousand workers will be employed. Cessna chose Independence after proposals were submitted by five Kansas towns. Local financial incentives, tax abatements, guaranteed infrastructure improvements and the installation of an instrument landing system at the airport clinched the deal for Independence. Cessna asked only centres located in Kansas to offer a proposal for the siting of the new 500,000sq ft (46,450 sqm) factory due to its ongoing commitment to that state. Cessna’s headquarters have been in Wichita for many decades.
Tbm 700 Stretched
Aerospatiale is offering a stretched version of its TBM 700 pressurised single turboprop business aircraft in an attempt to increase its suitability for a wider variety of roles. Designated the TBM 700S, the new variant features a 1.1m (3ft 7in) longer fuselage, engine power uprated to 852shp (636kW), increased payload and a higher cruising speed. Passenger accommodation remains unchanged at six but the longer fuselage allows the fitting of a cargo door and more space for cabin equipment or freight. Special role conversions of the standard TBM 700 have also been announced including photo survey, patrol and law enforcement versions.
Aac Wins New Contracts
The Australian Aviation College (AAC) at Adelaide’s Parafield Airport has won multi million dollar contracts to train pilots for Cathay Pacific and South African Airways. The College will train between 60 and 80 Cathay cadets in three groups and 40 SAA students, the latter starting their 12 month courses in April this year. Both contracts were won against competition from flying academies around the world and add to the impressive list of airlines which have already trained at the AAC. These include Qantas, Malaysian, Singapore Airlines, Air Mauritius, Olympic Airways, Solomon Airlines, Air Niugini and Korean Air.
Essendon Noise Restrictions Threaten Jobs
Melbourne’s Essendon Airport and the companies based there face further problems following a decision by the local council to allow only aircraft which comply with the latest Stage 3 noise regulations to operate from there. Despite this, ultimate responsibility for the final decision rests with the Department of Transport which has yet to make a definitive ruling on the matter. The Department (and its political masters) faces a difficult situation as on the one hand they would want to be seen to be doing the right thing when it comes to aircraft noise (particularly in view of the recent goings on at Sydney Airport) but on the other hand would certainly not want to be perceived as having cost jobs and export dollars. Several organisations at Essendon are involved in aircraft maintenance including work from overseas and many of these aircraft do not comply with Stage 3 rules. If the rules are enforced, lucrative maintenance contracts will be lost to overseas or interstate firms and jobs will go with them. One maintenance business says its plans to expand and employ a healthy number of extra staff will have to be scrapped if Essendon comes under Stage 3 regulations.
Impulse Snares Santos Support Contract
The Impulse Transportation Group has won an important five year contract to provide air transport services for Santos Ltd. The five year contract requires Impulse to operate scheduled flights for Santos and its joint venture partners between Adelaide and the Moomba natural gas fields in South Australia and between Brisbane and the Jackson oilfield in south west Queensland starting from July 1. Impulse plans to service the contract with a mixed aircraft fleet comprising a BAe 146-100, a corporate configured Jetstream 31 and a Beech King Air, and will establish infrastructure and facilities at Adelaide airport. The contract is currently operated by National Jet.
Gulfstream Orders More Tays
Gulfstream Aerospace has extended its long running association with Rolls-Royce by placing a $US150m contract for additional Tay turbofans for the Gulfstream IVSP long range business jet programme through to the end of 1997. Gulfstream has used only Rolls-Royce engines in its 36 year history, starting with the GI (Dart turboprop), GII and GIII (Spey turbofan) and GIV (Tay). In that time the company has taken delivery of 1800 Rolls-Royce engines including more than 500 Tays. The connection will continue with the forthcoming Gulfstream V very long range corporate jet which will be powered by the BMW Rolls-Royce BR710 turbofan now under development. Rolls-Royce has so far delivered over 1100 Tays for the GIV, Fokker 70/100 and Boeing 727 re-engining programme.
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