FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0018.PDF
16 FLIGHT, 6 January 1961 Sport and Business THE NEW FRENCH GY80 FOUR-SEATER has now com-pleted its initial flight tests and is being submitted to the French flight test centre for certification to French and American CAR 3standards. Powered by a Lycoming O-320 150 h.p. engine with fixed-pitch or optional constant-speed propeller, the GY80 hasbeen designed by Max Gardan, formerly chief designer of Sipa, and externally resembles the Piper Comanche. Structure is all-metal, based on a steel-tube central frame enclosing the cabin, and providing mountings for engine, undercarriage, wings and tail.The tube frame is covered with unstressed metal skin, the wing and rear fuselage being of riveted stressed-skin employing somenew techniques. During the design stage, exhaustive wind-tunnel tests weremade and each structural item was designed in two or three different ways to discover the most effective method from theweight, strength, producibility and replacement points of view. The production press dies and jigs were then made up and theprototype produced from them. In order to reduce cost, a single surface is used for both ailerons and flaps, two for the former andfour for the latter. The halves of the slab tailplane and fin are also identical, an anti-balance tab or dorsal fin and rudder beingadded as appropriate. The nosewheel undercarriage is retracted by a single mechanical linkage actuated by an electric motor orby stand-by hand crank. Disc brakes are on the mainwheels, the components being mainly automotive parts, and the nosewheelis connected to the rudder pedals for steering on the ground. All three tyres are the same size. Automotive parts are also usedfor engine and electrical instruments and for interior trim. The cabin can accommodate three grown-ups and two children,or four grown-ups, with a baggage allowance of 751b and full tankage of almost 36 Imp gal. The car-type side door on eachside of the cabin extends right down to the wing skin. Navigation and communication radio can be fitted and controllable hot andcold air supplies and demisting are standard. There is a separate baggage compartment as well as stowage for handbags in thecabin and a map pocket on each side. Basic flight instruments are standard, but a full panel and night-flying lighting are optional.Span and length are respectively 31ft 9in and 21ft 5in. Empty and gross weights are 1,1851b and 2,2001b, giving a power loadingof 14.81b/h.p. The prototype first flew on July 21 last year and a second machine should be completed soon. Measured perform-ance so far has shown a speed at 75 per cent power of 156 m.p.h. and of 149 m.p.h. at 66 per centpower, both at 6,600ft. Stalling speed is 53 m.p.h. Initial climbis 890ft/ min and take-off distance to 50ft, 1,210ft. Extreme range at66 per cent power is 685 miles and consumption 20 m.p.g. The firstGY80 will be delivered in June, then five per month fromSeptember. The price will be 66,000NFr(about £4,930) for the standard model. A NEW GAIN-OF-HEIGHTworld record for single-seater gliders was set up by a NewZealander, S. H. Georgeson, at Christchurch, New Zealand, onDecember 18 when he flew a Slingsby Skylark 3F to an abso-lute height of 35,200ft, climbing 34,000ft after release. This gainof height betters by more than 2,000ft the present world recordof 9,665m (31,709ft) set up by a German, Karl Bauer, in a Weiheon June 20 last year. The new record is, of course, still subject toconfirmation. The Skylark 3F in which it was set up is the oneflown by Anthony Deane-Drum- mond in the 1960 World Cham-pionship competition, held last June at Butzweiler in Germany. Georgeson in his Skylark 3F over the New Zealand coast near Christ- church. This pleasing study was used by Mr and Mrs Georgeson as their Christmas card, one of the recipients being Philip Wills Very like the Piper Comanche, but smaller and only half as expensive, the new French GY80, described in col I, cruises at 156 m.p.h. with four occupants, full fuel and baggage. Production begins this summer THE FIRST MAJOR EXPORT ORDER for Australian designedand built light aircraft has been gained by the newly formed aircraft division of Victa Consolidated Industries in Sydney, whohave received a £50,000 order from the Royal Aero Club of Auckland, New Zealand, for ten aircraft—six Victa Air Tourersand four Victa R-2s. The Tourer is a single-engined, two-seater low-wing monoplane with fixed nosewheel undercarriage, cruisingat 105 m.p.h. The R-2 is a single-engined four-seater cruising at 180 m.p.h. It is stated that with full payload and taking off intoa 5 m.p.h. wind, the R-2 needs a take-off run of only 540ft. QUANTITY PRODUCTION of the KhAI-17 (Kharkov Avia-tion Institute), which made its first flight last year, is reported from the Soviet Union. The machine has a 30 h.p. engine, weighs300kg (6601b) including the pilot, has a ceiling of 2,500 metres (8,200ft), a top speed of 93 m.p.h. and a range of "several hundredkilometres." The Institute design office is now working on a two-seat version with 50 h.p. engine. THE STOCK of Piaggio aircraft spares held by McAlpineAviation at Luton Airport is being increased to a value of £30,000. This follows a recent visit to the Piaggio organizationby Mr Ray Young, aviation manager of the McAlpine Co. At Luton, McAlpine are the UK servicing agents for Piaggio P. 166aircraft, and have introduced a comprehensive business flying advisory service. Sir Robert McAlpine & Sons Ltd have operatedtheir own business aircraft for the past 14 years. SPEAKING to a meeting of the US National Aviation TradesAssociation, Mr James T. Pyle, deputy administrator of the FAA, said recently that the agency's Bureau of Research and Develop-ment was undertaking the design and development of an airborne transceiver for light aircraft. The primary objective of this develop-ment would be a production and selling cost comparable to present 90-channel general aviation equipment, while still meetingfull stability, power output and channel spacing requirements. It will provide the pilot with all 360 channels between 118 and136Mc/s on a faster selection basis, permitting full application and use of 50kc/s channel spacing. BELL HELICOPTERS FOR 1961 will all be cheaper and incor-porate many improvements in design and performance. Already certificated is the new three-seat Model 47G-2A, which has anew rotor head and longer tail boom, considerably improving control and allowing a 37 per cent increase in payload. The newgross weight is 2,8501b and the powerplant is a Lycoming VO-435 giving 240 h.p. maximum and 220 h.p. continuous. Maximumspeed is 105 m.p.h. and hovering ceiling in ground effect, 4,500ft. Rotor blades, main rotor hub, transmission and many detail partsare interchangeable between the three models, and the only dif- ference between the G-2A and the G-3 is the engine, the G-3having the Franklin 6VS-335A turbosupercharged unit giving 220 h.p. continuous and 240 h.p. maximum. Gross weight is thesame, but payload is increased by 2001b and high-altitude per- formance should be much better. The Model 47J-2 will have the Lycoming VO-540 engine giving260 h.p. maximum, instead of 240 h.p., and 220 h.p. continuous, New paint finishes and better interiors, plus optional custominteriors for the 47J-2 Ranger are, of course, included in the new line. All will be available early this year. The 47Gs can also carrya full range of landing gears and attachments for a wide variety of operations.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
