QUIET NACELLE HAS BEGUN manufacturing the first production shipset of the Pratt & Whitney JT3D Stage 3 hushkit, which it is developing for US Air Force Boeing OC-135Bs and commercial 707s. Ground acoustic and performance testing was completed earlier this year. The kit has an inner acoustic ring and ejector, and is constructed from acoustically treated carbon-graphite honeycomb. Delivery of the first hushed OC-135B is scheduled for December, and Quiet Nacelle expects to gain a supplemental type certificate for the kit in early 1996. Once they become available, 707 operators flying to the USA and Europe will be forced to purchase the kits or face having to remove their aircraft from service at the turn of the century.
Source: Flight International