Newsdesk — General Aviation

Lycoming Gears Up

Textron Lycoming is gearing up for increased production of its range of piston engines with the return to production of some Cessna piston singles and the emergence of a revitalised Piper from four years of bankruptcy protection. Cessna plans to be producing 2000 172s, 182s and 206s annually by 1998, all of them powered by Lycoming engines. Cessna and Lycoming are both part of the Textron group, but the engine manufacturer says it had to engage in a hard fought contest with Teledyne Continental to win the Cessna business despite this. Of the three Cessna models re-entering production, two (the 182 and 206) were previously powered by Continental engines. Piper’s models are all Lycoming powered. Lycoming currently manufactures 1200 new engines each year but this will have to increase to about 3000 if Cessna reaches its production goals. Piper’s needs will add to this. It plans to deliver 174 aircraft this year and increase the tally to 600 annually by the end of the decade.

Hawker 800xp Certificated

The Hawker 800XP, an upgraded variant of the former BAe 125-800 corporate jet, was awarded British CAA and American FAA certification in late July. The 800XP offers improved speed, range, payload, time to height and airfield performance over the previous model along with an aerodynamically improved wing and upgraded environmental control system. To date 125-800 and Hawker 800 sales have exceeded 270 aircraft, the highest number of any of the 125 variants over the years. The 800XP will be the last variant of the 125/Hawker family to be certificated from Hatfield in England, 31 years after the original 12. Australian Aviation October 1995

Skyfox Leasing Opportunities

Caloundra based light aircraft manufacturer Skyfox Aviation has started what could be an important new trend in training aircraft financing. The release of the tricycle undercarriage Gazelle two seater earlier this year has not only boosted Skyfox’s fortunes but also given flying schools an ideal replacement for ageing trainers such as the Cessna 150 without their finances being stretched. This is achieved by leasing the aircraft from an investor owner rather than the flying school or aero club purchasing it outright.

Most of the Gazelles sold so far have been for investment purposes, the manufacturer offering buyers a complete investment package which includes arranging financing and placing the aircraft with an operator. Many flying schools have found the cost of running older aircraft with high maintenance requirements has left them with insufficient funds to upgrade their fleets, hence the trend towards leasing newer aircraft. Skyfox says that at least 35 flying schools around Australia are keen to lease the Gazelle. The idea is a potentially lucrative one, both in Australia and overseas. The manufacturer points out that a typically small regional flying school which will fly its aircraft for 400 hours each year will provide a return of about 28% per annum to the investor who owns the aircraft. The more hours flown, the greater the return. A Gazelle flown for 840 hours would return its owner a 62% per annum return on investment. Leasing programmes are based on an hourly fee.

Gremlins Strike Home

In our recent article “Who’s Minding the GA Store” by Tony Wilkinson (p38 Sept 95 AA), the final sentence of the second paragraph should have read “Such statistics only reinforce the industry’s arguments for relief from the excessive regulatory zeal of recent years and the rational arguments of ‘dry’ economists for increased cost recovery”. The omission of the crucial half of the sentence unfortunately confused the argument and we regret any misunderstanding that may have resulted.

A Must Have!

One of the most important things we all need is information. If this wasn’t so then I suppose it’s true to say you wouldn’t be reading this magazine. Every book we have produced has had to survive one primary question — “Is it truly useful, is the information contained in it of real value to the buyer?” If the answer is an honest ‘yes’, then the project proceeds to the next stage. When we applied this simple question to our International Directory of Civil Aircraft we all came up with a resounding ‘yes’. As nothing like the Directory had ever been attempted before, either here or abroad, we confidently felt that the book would be well received. Well that’s proved to be somewhat of an understatement and no doubt buyers of the inaugural (civil) edition will be looking forward to the release next February of its companion, covering military aircraft in the same thorough detail.

However, we wanted to make a point to those who don’t already have their own personal copy of this unique 212 page all colour reference tool that of all the hundreds of reference books in AA’s extensive library this is the book that we now use the most. As an example, this writer referred to the Civil Directory no less than nine times in researching the EMB-145 Update which appears on page 24 of this issue. In the editorial department we do this because it saves us a considerable amount of time being able to quickly cross reference technical and historical data on various aircraft from the one handy easy to use source. Whilst this might be looked upon as an advert for the Directory (which it unashamedly is) we really are very proud of our creation and just wanted to let you know that the Directory could be just as useful for you too. If curious, then turn to our advert on page 23, it could prove to be the solution to many of your aviation reference problems.

Toyota Aero Engine

Toyota has confirmed long held common knowledge that it is developing an aero engine based on the V8 unit used in the Lexus luxury car. The engine is being developed in conjunction with Hamilton Standard, which is providing the propeller and engine controls. Certification is planned for the end of this year. Development of the 4 litre, 24 valve, 360hp (265kW) engine began in 1989 and was first flight tested in 1991 in an aircraft built by Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites. Other Japanese manufacturers are also believed to be examining the possibilities of developing aircraft powerplants based on existing car engines, Subaru with a version of its 3 litre SVX flat six and Mitsubishi with a 3 litre V6.

The Gg’s Chopper

Governor General Bill Hayden caused a bit of a flap recently when he used a helicopter to bypass a blockade of Sydney Airport by noise protesters. Hired at a cost of $2100 at taxpayers’ expense, the helicopter allowed Mr Hayden and his staff to travel from North Sydney to the airport in order to catch a flight to Melbourne, where he had an engagement the next day. Clever lad!

Win a Flying Training Scholarship

Essendon airport based Pearson Aviation is offering two people a scholarship to train with them to GFPT (restricted PPL) standard. Pearson Aviation will award the scholarships after conducting a series of aptitude tests on potential candidates. The scholarships are open to people of all ages, although an interest in aviation is essential. Interested? Fax or write to Pearson Aviation with details of your name, address, age, phone numbers, occupation, and an explanation as to why you would like this opportunity to learn to fly. Write to Pearson Aviation, Terminal Building, Essendon Airport 3041, or fax (03) 9374 1944. For more details you can phone Pearson Aviation on (03) 9379 1644.