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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0781.PDF
fl GHT,S June 1961 RC .'ce engines and Rotol propellers as he has done for the Broussardjvl lor. It makes a man feel good to have Rolls-Royce with him. ; wo interesting, but little known, projects were the Italian S1AIM rchetti Riviera amphibian and the Simmering Graz Pauker 222 Fl.-rningo from Austria. Marchetti feel themselves in a strongpcition because they have no competition and they are therefore ta.i ;ng their time about finalizing the aircraft. They have sixjni.rnational speed and height records to their credit and have flc vn 700hr so far. The object is to work every possible bug outof the aircraft by intensive flying so that the first production m; chine will be as nearly perfect as possible. They do not want tosp. nd money on modifications which have to be done thousands of nn.es away across the Atlantic, where the main market exists. Infat;, airframes will be shipped to America for installation of engine an>1 instruments. Engine horsepower will increase as Continentalge; more out of their basic 240 h.p. unit. There is already a big de nand and the price in the US will be about $34,000. The firstaircraft will be intensively flown up to 1,000hr and then dismantled and X-rayed. It certainly looks like a good aeroplane. The SGP.222 joins the Procaer and Aviamilano types in thesuperfine-finish class: its laminated plywood skin is positively glossy; and the aft portion of the steel-tube fuselage is covered in apolyester shell. All fuel is contained in tip-tanks and the nose- wheel is steerable. The SGP.222 can attain 187 m.p.h. on its twoLycoming 150 h.p. engines and orders are already on hand from Austria and Germany. The third machine was at Paris and pro-duction is just beginning. Dassault, with their Spirale III, are making a strong bid for theFrench Government order for a light tactical freighter, even though Holste claim that they have already won the competition with theMH.26L Dassault are always powerful contenders in a com- petition and they were reinforcing their claims at Paris with therebuilt Spirale/Communaute prototype. This flew frequently during the show and the pilot was rolling the aircraft with passengers onboard. It would have made a delightful executive type. The German industry this year made a combined effort in thestatic display. It was noteworthy that, among the new equipment, were reminders of the industry's past achievements and manyWorld War II aircraft were illustrated. Messerschmitt even issued a booklet on the company's history. I have not noticed this before.Pierre Laureys, head of a French magazine group, brought in from Belgium one of six Spitfires he has bought for use in a new war film.If the German photographs and booklet were surprising—which they need not be—a commentary on the history of the Spitfire,given over the loudspeakers, was a shock. It included some tactless war-time sentiments, but it was luckily in English and few peoplewill have understood it. The Astazou Has Started Something The Astazou turboprop wasone of the key factors at this year's Salon; it has produced a com- pletely new range of aircraft. I heard it said years ago that M.Szydlowski'ofTurbomeca had intended the engine to fit the 250 h.p. bracket and was dismayed when it gave 500 h.p. He was going tohave to start all over again. But it is the aircraft designers who have started all over again—with six Astazou-powered aircraft flying atLe Bourget and five projects on the boards. Not so long ago the story was that turboprops for small aircraft were many years off.But they are here today. Admittedly the engine is expensive, but it has compensating economic advantages. Its fuel consumption athigh powers and altitudes is better than that of the supercharged Lycoming; it is more powerful; and it has better high-altitudeperformance and a longer overhaul life. I talked to Herr Elsaesser, of Pilatus, just after he had first flown the Astazou Pilatus, and hewas bubbling with enthusiasm. The Astazou Porter had beaten the standard Lycoming-powered version by 45min from Geneva toParis and had used only 30 litres more of a fuel half as expensive— and the later Porter has a normal gross weight increased by 3301b.The Porter is a splendid aircraft and, with the Astazou, looks even better. The Alouette 2 with Astazou has greatly increased range byvirtue of improved s.f.c. The small four-seat Agusta 115, with its severely derated Astazou, looks promising. First cost is still aproblem, but it can only improve with time. Meanwhile, the power of the Astazou is still increasing and will certainly soon reach600 h.p. The Beech Baron is stimulating, but the SFERMA Marquis ispositively exciting. Last week we gave general details of the new powerplant, and I made sure of having a flight later in the week.First a discussion with Jacques Lecarme, one of France's great engineer test pilots, who has directed the conversion design. Thento the aircraft with test pilot Cliquet, formerly with Morane, and two American Beech distributors. There are two levers for each engine, one to control speed-upfrom starting to constant-speed range and the other to select the propeller pitch which forms the power datum for any operatingcondition. We started on internal batteries, with zero pitch selected and fuel switched on. Interlocks prevent a start unless thePreliminary settings are made. Automatically the engines turn, light up and accelerate to 60 per cent r.p.m. Then the governor-bias 791 handle is moved to bring r.p.m. to about 90 per cent, after whichconstant-speed control takes over and the buzz-saw hum sets in. The fuel system is entirely automatic and safety devices preventtoo fine a pitch or overheat in flight. Per cent r.p.m. gauges show speed; and per cent power gauges indicate P1-P2, i.e., compressorintake to compressor outlet pressure ratio. Fuel-flow gauges are also fitted. The pressing of a single button brings both engines tofull power in a constant-speed variable-pitch mode; and if fuel flow fails, pitch automatically coarsens towards the feathered setting toreduce drag. In the normal fixed-pitch mode, no additional drag follows power failure and a switch can be pressed to shut off fueland feather the propeller. If electrics fail, they can be isolated from the propeller control, and a handle can be pulled to shut off fuel andactivate a hydraulic feathering system. If electric control is isolated, the engine will continue to run at constant speed and can befeathered hydraulically j ust before landing. Fuel and air shut-offs are provided in the engine bay and the cowlings are lined withstainless steel. Lecarme feels this is the best cure for an engine fire, but actual extinguishers are fitted as well. The Astazou can bestopped and relit in flight, using an abbreviated version of the standard starting cycle. All this involves additional switches and dials on the Marquis The Potez 840 was the first aircraft designed specifically for Astazou power. It is easy on the eye and looks like making a name for itself panel, but mixture and fuel controls of the Baron are eliminatedand the layout does not appear too crowded. Having digested these details, we moved off. Cliquet pressed the button and we roared offin automatic 100 per cent full power with the pitch levers inching themselves forward as speed built up. We rose into a steep climb,and a slight pull back on the levers broke the automatic circuit and put us back into fixed-pitch operation. We climbed steeply at 35°pitch and 1 lOkt, passing the end of Le Bourget's 03 runway at over 2,000ft. Then we levelled off, set 40° pitch and worked up to aroaring 180kt i.a.s. on 65 per cent power at 3,000ft with a fuel consumption of 120 litres/hr per engine. Normal cruising at 78-80per cent power gives an i.a.s. of 190kt at 3,000ft. It was too noisy for comfortable conversation, even in the back seats, but this wasthe hard-used prototype. Szydlowski's own Marquis, delivered during the Show, is much quieter. At 25 per cent power and140kt it was smoothly quiet. After some demonstration of the self- adjusting power characteristics and some automatic climbs, wereturned to Le Bourget and approached at lOOkt, crossing the hedge at 90kt and applying fine pitch to slow us down rapidly. SFERMA are now embarking on a series of Marquis and maylater actually manufacture the aircraft in France. There seems to be a healthy demand already and six have been sold.A short while ago I would not have been prepared to back the Potez 840 as a runner in the international stakes although I hadinspected the mock-up last year and saw the prototype prior to its first flight in April. But the machine made a big impression at Parisand OFEMA's forecast of a market for 1,000 may not be so wild after all. Last week we called it a cross between a Heron and aViscount and I think that this happy combination is very much in its favour. I was greatly honoured, early during the show, to be invited for aflight with Jacques Grangette, Potez chief test pilot. He regretted that I could not yet fly it because only 31hr had been logged at thetime. On board were Grangette and his ing&nieur navigant, M. Henri Potez, the great man himself, M. Ziegler and M. Szydlowski,moving spirit of Turbomeca and therefore of the Astazou, and Jacques Noetinger, pilot PRO of the USIA. We settled in forward-facing seats aft of the banks of test instrumentation. The Caravelle- type windows were set a bit low, but the side boxes for hand-luggage were practical and made neat table-tops.
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