Commercial Aircraft Sales

A confidential Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) report obtained by The Weekend Australian newspaper has revealed that 450 Australian registered aircraft have been fitted with bogus parts since 1981. The newspaper says that most were found in light aircraft but a substantial number were also fitted to airliners including nine Boeing 747s, five 767s, three 727s and nine 737s. The unapproved parts were found in most areas of the aircraft, from airframe and engines to systems, emergency equipment, electronics and controls. The Weekend Australian says: “The major airlines in the past have insisted their quality control systems have prevented counterfeit or forged parts from contaminating their inventories. The CASA documents, however, show that all Australian operators are at risk”. It goes on to say that an investigation by the newspaper “revealed that bogus parts had ended up with several local operators, including Qantas”.

Securing Farnborough’s Future

The Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) is working to ensure the future of its biennial airshow at Farnborough following the decision by the British Ministry of Defence to declare the airfield and its exhibition sites surplus to requirements. The British Government has guaranteed the availability of Farnborough up to and including the 2000 show, but after that there is no firm commitment as the airfield is earmarked for sale or lease. The Farnborough Airshow injects about $A100m into the British economy and this year’s show has been substantially oversubscribed. The fact that airshows are big business is illustrated by figures surrounding those held in the USA. Attendances at US shows reached 27.4 million in 1995, and each one drew an average 61,000 spectators. These figures exceed a number of popular spectator sports.

747X Fly By Wire

Customer demand has resulted in Boeing agreeing to offer full fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control systems and other advanced technology features on the new 747-500X and -600X. The company originally wanted to avoid FBW to maintain systems commonality with the 747-400 so as to keep a common crew rating. The 747X will now be certificated as a new type. Despite the changes, the 747X could still be ready for service in 2000 as originally planned. Although not yet formally launched, the two 747X versions are being actively offered to airlines. The -500X is about 8m (26ft) longer than the current -400 and will carry 487 passengers (in three classes) over a range of 8200nm (15,200km), while the -600X is stretched a further 6m (20ft) to accommodate 546 passengers and carry them over 7500nm (13,890km).

Stolen Parts Info On Web

Memphis based international aircraft parts sales organisation, Inventory Locator Service (ILS), is providing free access, via the Internet, to its database of stolen aircraft parts information as a service to the aviation industry. ILS created the database in 1989 after hosting a conference to study ways of impeding the flow of stolen aircraft parts throughout the industry. The database contains nearly 7000 items and can be searched using serial numbers and part numbers. ILS will continue to provide the stolen parts information to customers of its online services to help prevent them from inadvertently buying or selling items which have been reported stolen to the proper authorities. ILS created the aviation electronic marketplace in 1979 and currently has more than 3000 subscribers in 64 countries. Over 30 million items are listed and the information is accessed about 20,000 times each business day. The web address is http:\www.go-ils.com

A revolutionary new type of thrust reverser, incorporating a variable exhaust nozzle, has been tested recently and has proved extremely reliable and efficient. Designed by Calcor Aero Systems, this new system offers a number of advantages over existing turbofan reversers. The big advantage is the weight of the system. The REVEN (Reverser/Variable Exhaust Nozzle) weighs 60% less than conventional thrust reversers. The other benefit is the nozzles which, because they vary the area of the exhaust, can increase thrust and reduce fuel consumption markedly. The system can be fitted on engines ranging in thrust from 2000lb to 30,000lb (9kN to 135kN). (Calcor Aero Systems)

IPTN Fact Finding Tour

Senior executives of Indonesian manufacturer IPTN and its Australian representative, Aerospace Technical Services (ATS), have completed a fact finding tour of Australia and New Zealand for the proposed N2130 regional jet. Heading the delegation was IPTN’s Dr Ilham Habibie, the son of Indonesia’s Research and Technology Minister, Dr B J Habibie. The purpose of the visit was to seek input from local airlines for the design of the N2130 which will be offered in 80, 100 and 130 seat versions. Indonesian operators Garuda and Sempati Air have signed Memoranda of Understanding with IPTN covering 20 and 15 aircraft, respectively, while New Zealand company Safe Air has also signed an MoU covering the overhaul and manufacture of parts. First flight of the N2130 is scheduled for 2002 with initial deliveries following two years later.

BAe-DASA Link Discussed

British Aerospace and Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) have held high level discussions about merging their military aircraft businesses. Analysts have suggested such a link could be of benefit to both companies, already partners in the Tornado and Eurofighter projects. They are also linked on commercial aircraft programs through Airbus. A DASA senior manager has been reported as saying: “This is the most attractive option for both companies. Co-operation with the French is less likely to lead to a competitive European industry, given the state of their companies”. Some industry analysts are suggesting that a full scale linkage between the companies is a natural development in a marketplace where competition for military orders is becoming increasingly intense and where manufacturers are struggling to avoid further rationalisation. BAe is undoubtedly in the stronger position with its consistently profitable military division, while DASA is less sound with considerable reorganisation still taking place including the recent closure of Fokker and the sale of Dornier to Fairchild. BAe has made it clear that it will not be prepared to foot the bill for further rationalisation of DASA as part of the price for a merger, while many within Germany are concerned that a merger might be seen as a British takeover of the country’s military aviation industry. Both seem to agree, however, that the European industry is vulnerable to the Americans and that some kind of counterbalance to French ambitions in aviation is needed.

CSIRO Looks Overseas

The CSIRO has been forced to look overseas to find a partner to complete development of a system which will warn aircraft of upcoming clear air turbulence, volcanic ash and windshear. The CSIRO has already been awarded two international patents for the system and others are pending, but the search for an Australian company to complete its development has proven fruitless “due to the immature avionics industry”. It is estimated the installed cost of the system will be about $100,000 per aircraft. Clear air turbulence has until now been undetectable by conventional radar. A Qantas Boeing 747 recently encountered a severe example of it and several passengers and cabin crew were injured as a result.

Hughes Seeks TAAATS Damages

The Hughes Corporation is seeking substantial damages from AirServices Australia in the wake of the controversial $176m The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System (TAAATS) contract being awarded to Thomson-CSF. Hughes alleges that AirServices (then the Civil Aviation Authority) breached the Trade Practices Act and its own tender criteria when it awarded the contract to Thomson-CSF. It claims the French company made two significant reductions to its offer just before the final decision was made, allowing it to undercut Hughes by about $30m. Hughes is claiming compensation for loss of profit and expenses, a figure estimated at tens of millions of dollars.