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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1969.PDF
772 FLIGHT International, 7 November J 963 AIR COMMERCE (continued from page 748) Trident Progress A SUBSTANTIAL proportion of the 80 hours flown by DH Trident G-ARPE during its recent Far East tour (see page 774) will be credited by the ARB to the 200hr route-proving content of the C of A programme. The remainder will be carried out on BEA's routes, starting at the end of this month with G-ARPE, which is now back in the shops being brought up to the latest mod standard. BEA's first aircraft, G-ARPF, will be delivered to the airline on December 15. The flight development programme is now virtually complete except for some flight manual work and, as John Cunningham, chief test pilot, puts it, some "detailed polishing up." The major remaining task on the performance side was rounded off in the summer with a second series of tropical trials at Madrid and Cairo. Stalling characteristics of the Trident are said to be completely satisfactory, and a large number of hours, probably more than 250, have been devoted to this aspect of airworthiness. When Trident development flying began it was expected that more hours would be devoted to high Mach number evaluation than to stalls; in the event more hours than expected have been spent getting the stall absolutely right, and few hours on high Mach number work. The extra time spent on the stalling programme is firmly believed to have been well worth while and to have paid off. One aircraft, G-ARPD—representative of the slatted IE, but without increased span—was observed last week to possess a tail parachute installation, and it is presumed that this aircraft has benefited a great deal from the 1C stall programme that was done with 'PA and 'PC. Compared with the original wing, the only outward noticeable changes by way of flow appurtenances on the 1C are retractable vortex generators and kruger flaps near the root. One of the two most flown aircraft, Trident 01 G-ARPA, has completed more than 500hr (as has G-ARPB) and has borne the brunt of the high-speed flying, which has included flutter artificially induced by hydraulic exciters. Indicative of the fact that the development programme is now nearly complete is the fact that G-ARPC has now gone back into the shops (at Bitteswell) for refurbishing and modification up to final current standard. Altogether more than 1,570 Trident hours have now been flown; by the time certification is granted at the turn of the year more than 1,850hr will have been flown by the manufacturer. A team of BEA pilots, including the corporation's Trident flight manager, Capt A. S. Johnson, and Capt W. R. Mitchell, has been flying the air craft since flight trials began in January 1962 and to date ten pilots have done about 40hr of left-hand-seat conversion-flying with DH test pilot Pat Fillingham at Hatfield; about another 20hr will be done at Hatfield before BEA have their first aircraft G-ARPF in mid-December. As BEA have said, scheduled services are due to begin before March 31, by when the corporation will have at least three Tridents. MEDWAY HEADWAY FIRST hint that the Rolls-Royce Medway turbofan, a development of the RB.141 originally conceived for the DH.121 (precursor of the Trident), is being contemplated for Super VC10 application came from Sir Matthew Slattery, BOAC's chairman, as reported in the October 17 issue, page 635. The effect of installing the developed version of the Medway in the Super VC10 could—in the round figures given by Sir Matthew—improve Super VC10 fuel consumption by about 10 per cent, and he has referred to the possibility of the last six Super VClOs being fitted with this engine. The RB.141 began life as an engine designed specifically for the DH.121 and therefore started in the 12,0001b thrust category. As the engine was developed, and the rating increased to the 14,0001b mark, the DH.121 outgrew the original BEA conception of the aircraft in terms of size and capacity and, in 1959, the smaller Spey was introduced and matched to the scaled-down Trident. Test-bed development of the RB.141 then continued under low priority while Rolls-Royce concentrated on the Spey, but a total of l,633hr has been logged. During the past year the RB.142 military version has come into the limelight as a candidate for the Hawker Siddeley 681 STOL transport for the RAF, with a "switch- in" reverser cascade (described in this journal last June 27), to provide the necessary downward-vectored thrust. As development work has proceeded the engine's power potential has shown considerable promise. Already running has reached thrusts of the order of 17,5001b, and it is possible that, with not- too-fundamental modifications, such as minor juggling with one or two compressor and turbine stages, the engine could be brought up to the 22,000-23,0001b thrust class required by the Super VC10. Bypass ratio of the developed Medway would be much higher than the 0.6 of the Conway 42 or 43 (the engines, respectively, of the Standard and Super VC10) and would be of the order of 0.8. The Medway is, for such a civil application, probably about two years off, depending on the amount of development money and effort that can be expended on it; but its rewards in terms of improved specific fuel consumption have clearly been engaging the close attention of BOAC's chairman. Zantop Air Transport is reported to have achieved a 99.9 per cent rating by the USAF for on-time performance with its two Argosies operating "Logair' services in the months of July and August. One of the aircraft is seen here flying near the airline's base at Detroit
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