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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0268.PDF
254 FLIGHT International, 21 February 1963 AIR COMMERCE... The Nord 262 is designed to be completely indepen dent of ground equipment for en route stops. Fuel is normally loaded under pressure through a valve in the front of the starboard wheel fairing "Flight International" photogropb NORD'S ANSWER TO THE PLEA IN a speech last week to the United Nations conference on science in the less developed areas, Mr J. J. Furniss, director of East African Ci»l Aviation, said that in these areas it would generally cost less to establish a local air service than a road or railway; but if they were to be cheaper to operate, the aircraft used must be simple and not require elaborate ground facilities. Where this type of operation is already established the most common type of equipment in use is still the DC-3. Mr Furniss believes that except in a few special cases most DC-3s must be retired during the next four or five years because of the increasing difficulty of obtaining spare parts. Which leads to the perennial problem of a suitable replacement aircraft. However, he listed three main arguments why the aircraft now being offered by manufacturers as DC-3 replacements were unsuitable:— (1) their seating capacity is either too small or too large compared with the 25-30 seats of the DC-3, which is considered to be the best compromise in size for a replacement; (2) speeds are all 75 per cent greater than those of the DC-3 and all cost more than £200,000 with spares, and in consequence the aircraft-mile costs are too high; (3) the "replacements" are all more complicated than the DC-3 and in practice may need bigger and better aerodromes. The other major group of DC-3 operators in the world are the American local service airlines. Their worry is not only ageing equipment but the fight to free themselves from Federal subsidy in the face of stiff competition from super-highways. Mr L. O. Barnes, president of Allegheny Airlines, and chairman of the Assoc iation of Local Transport Airlines' low-cost aircraft design com mittee, recently defined ALTA's specification for a replacement:— (1) 40 cents or less per aircraft-mile direct operating cost on a 2,000hr per year utilization, on 80-mile stages, with first price depreciated over seven years to 10 per cent, and with a two-man flight crew; (2) cruising speed between 250-350 m.p.h.; (3) a maximum landing weight equal to the maximum take-off weight minus fuel for run-up and a 40 st mile stage; (4) a payload of 4,6001b and space for 18 seats at 35in seat pitch; (5) a take-off balanced field length of 3,000ft at ISA sea level; (6) maximum payload range of 500 st miles. An aircraft that comes very close to meeting both of these specifications, and one to which Mr Furniss's remarks appear to do less than justice, is the Nord 262. This aircraft is now being offered for delivery in early 1964 at an equipped first price of £145,000, and on paper at least it comes nearer than any other aircraft to satisfying the above specifications. Only the almost unattainable ALTA requirement of 40 cents per aircraft mile is proving difficult to meet. But then, on present assumptions, even the two-man crew costs are likely to account for at least 15 cents per mile of any aircraft designed to meet the specification. At Melun-Villaroche recently M Satre, Nord Aviation's sales manager, discussed with Flight International the prospects for the 262, mentioning an estimated total world market for about 180 to 200 aircraft. This sounded somewhat conservative when he later went on to give a list—nearly as long as a directory of world airlines —of operators who have expressed keen interest in the possibili ties of the 262.* Although Nord appear to have the aeroplane everyone wants to buy, there is not likely to be a rush of orders because when they do come they will be for well-thought-sut economic, and not competi tive reasons—such is the role of the 262. The equipment-buying deliberations of this branch of the airline business are further protracted by the fact that airlines are by nature reluctant to order from a manufacturer new to the civil market—particularly where the two are separated by a great distance—preferring to wait and see how someone else makes out, and how the aircraft develops. Nord are well aware of this obstacle to early sales, and an intensive programme of flight trials and static structural and system tests aimed at SGAC and FAA certification in early 1964 is well under way at Melun-Villaroche, 20 miles south-east of Paris. The first 262 flew on December 24 and has now made nearly 40 flights totalling around 35hr. The second aircraft is due to fly in April. Both aircraft are powered by Turbomeca Bastan 4bs of 986 e.s.h.p. * Including: Air Gabon, Airlines of South Australia, Ansett-ANA, Arkia. Austrian Airlines, Aviaco, Bahamas Airways, East- West Airways, Finnair. Garuda, MacRobertson Miller, Nordair, Olympic, Thai Airways, TAP, Wideroes, and Wien Alaska. Comparative payload range and take-off performance of three typical kinds of DC-3 replacement 12 O 200 400 600 BOO 1,000 1,200 1,400 I.6O0 I.BOO RANGE (st miles, no reserves) O 200 400 600 800 I.OOO 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 RANGE (st miles.no reserves)
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