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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 1273.PDF
710 FLIGHT International, 30 April 1944 Above, the moment of lift-off on April 21, when the West German aircraft industry's first civil jet, the HF& 320 Hansa, become airborne, flown by chief test pilot William "Swede" Davis. Below, making its international debut is one of the two prototype Malmo Vipans HANOVER 1964 . . . in the first week of May. All the early difficulties with internal noise have now been overcome and prospective customers flying in the aircraft say that in this matter it is equal to the best. Changes resulting from the noise-reducing programme include a hump on top of the flight deck to smooth the airflow coming up off the windscreen, and revised, lighter weight, soundproofing in the cabin. With the remarkably low US first price of $575,000 for the basic unfurnished aircraft, and $750,000 fully furnished and compre- hensively equipped with electronics, the 125 seems more than likely to fulfil its early promise. United States agents for the HS.125 are the Atlantic Aircraft Sales Corp in Washington and AirResearch in Los Angeles, both of them big organizations with much experience of selling large executive aircraft. The first US demonstration 125 will be at work in May and both agents should have aircraft at the Miami Business Aircraft Convention in November. The first customer delivery will be in July, with an aircraft for the Krupp organization. The eleventh aircraft, the first of the RAF order, should fly before the end of this year. The only new shape in executive jet aircraft at Hanover is the Messerschmitt Me3O8 Jet Taifun. Although a project with this name was first shown at Paris last year, the latest configuration is quite different, notably in the specified powerplant and in the size and shape of the cabin. Final details of how or when the Jet Taifun will be built have not yet been decided, but Messerschmitt feel that of all their civil aircraft projects this is the one with the best market prospects. A full-scale mock-up is being built and the company is having talks with other firms with a view to sharing development work, costs and profit. The small six-seater Jet Taifun is in the same class as the Lear Jet and the Paris III. The powerplant is now two Daimler-Benz DB 720 aft-fan engines of 1,4701b thrust each. With a gross weight of 9,7501b, and an equipped empty weight of 4,9001b, the Jet Taifun has a maximum range of 1,900 miles with five passengers. With the Pan American order for 40 Mystere 20s securely under their belt, there is perhaps some justification for the satisfied grins on the faces of Dassault salesmen. Although the first, and so far only, prototype is not at Hanover, the fuselage mock-up, with the squarish CF 700 nacelles but sans wings, is on show in the aircraft park, painted in Pan American's blue-and-white colour scheme with the Business Jet motif on the fin. Also repre- sented by a fuselage mock-up is the Douglas Piaggio PD 808. The first prototype is now on its wheels and should fly shortly. Private and Executive Light Aircraft Apart from the three leading American manufacturers' huge ranges of 1964 models, all resplendent in their latest pastel-shade paint jobs and restful interiors, there are surprisingly few new light aircraft on show. Only the Malmo Flygindustri four-seat 180 h.p. MFI-10 Vipan is entirely new to an international show. Development flying with the first two prototype Vipans is now almost complete for the award of a C of A. Because of the unusual kind of moulded honeycomb structure, which can be assembled by unskilled labour using simple tooling, the Vipan promises to be extremely cheap to produce; and can be put into production in a very short time. Participation at Hanover is arranged by VFW, who are looking at the aircraft for the possibility of getting a manufacturing licence in Germany. The Swedish Army are very interested in the Vipan and have had one under evaluation for some time; the type is also to be shown to the Bundesvehr (German Army) after Hanover. An "In the Air" assessment of the Vipan will appear in an early issue of Flight International. The Bolkow and Malmo Juniors are now displaying the many improvements bred of experience from a reasonably long production run. The most notable changes are trailing-link nose-wheel suspension, bigger wing span, electrically operated flaps and improved detail finish. Flight trials of a floatplane Junior started in Malmo last week. A revised project on show in model form is the SIAT 223 two-seat fully aerobatic tourer, powered by a 165 h.p. Continental IO-345 and developed out of the design which won the German Government design competition of two years ago. Special features of the 223 are its small size, light weight, and high power-to-weight ratio that ought to make it a useful aerobatic trainer. Two prototypes are being built. Roll Over Lightly It was one of those demonstration junkets, with an assortment of visiting pilots and invited journalists, eight or nine of us, taking a routine ride in Lockheed's JetStar demon- strator. Registered N711Z, this was formerly the Italian national petrol company's aircraft, lavishly equipped with director instru- ments, Doppler, weather radar and every possible trimming. Our APS weight was 24,5001b, coinciding exactly and unfavourably with the zero-fuel weight of 24,5001b. Vs had been 136kt, with 10,0001b of fuel, nine passengers and a crew of three. The wheels had come off the runway with their characteristic clunking, the climb had been steep, and we were now settled at 18,500ft and Mach 0.76, cruising VFR towards Heligoland for an IFR return via Bremen. I was strapped in, conversing with an Italian colleague standing in the aisle next to me and we both knew that a visiting pilot was up front, presumably flying. Suddenly very considerable g develop- ed, and we both noticed countryside rotating rapidly upwards past the window. The g-load ceased, and we watched fascinated as first countryside, then sky and then countryside again whirled past the window and level flight was re-established. We had been rolled immaculately, and the three people who had been standing up had remained in stable contact with the floor throughout, though at least one of the standers and not less than one of the sitters completed the rotation several shades paler than they began it. The story developed rapidly during succeeding hours, but we can categorically deny that the standers were seen walking round the walls and over the ceiling, or that the bubbles in their gin-and- tonics were running from top to bottom in their glasses. A brief visit to the right-hand seat to fly at a fixed height and head- ing, making an i.a.s. of 290kt at 18,500ft, a Doppler groundspeed of 318kt and starboard drift of five degrees, with 84 per cent r.p.m. and an e.p.r. of 1.6, gave a very pleasant impression of stability, coupled with firm, but very powerful controls and a tailplane adjustment which, at this airspeed, required very brief "beeping" of the twin switches on the wheel. In trimmed condition elevator and tailplane are in streamline and stick position is always central. A descent with the v.s.i. on the peg beyond 6,000ft/min produced no noticeable changes in cabin pressure, which can be maintained at sea-level value up to 23,OOOft. Yaw resulting from sudden throttling of two engines on one side was not excessive, and one engine was extinguished and relit with a single switch movement at 18,000ft. Two-engined i.a.s. dropped to 250kt. Maximum relighting height is 30,000ft, if the weight and airspeed are correct to give windmilling flow through the engine. For the landing, base leg was flown at 160kt, the threshold crossed at 140kt and touchdown was at 120kt, with liberal demonstration use of the very potent thrust reversers, which, incidentally, are also regularly used for backing on the ground. With eleven people the JetStar must surely have established a record for the largest number of people on board during an in- tentional roll. Lockheed pilot W. M. Lee regularly rolled during his demonstrations at Hanover. Continued on page 711
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