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Aviation History
1968
1968 - 1552.PDF
WORLD FUCHT International, 15 August 1968 E W S ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE ON BASSET, PHANTOM The effects of modifications and addi- tional equipment on the performance of the Beagle Basset (the military ver- sion of the B.206) came under scrutiny from the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts in a report published last week.* The Committee also looked at the escalation of costs in installing the Rolls-Royce Spey in the Phantom, and at the cost of refitting HMS Ark Royal. Before the Basset contract was let in October 1963, says the report, trials with the civil prototype revealed that at high temperatures there was a greater fall-off in engine power than had been anticipated, and a lower guaranteed single-engine rate of climb for the Basset was agreed with the contractor. But the full effects of this on com- pliance with British Civil Airworthiness Requirements (to which the RAF in- tended it to conform) were not pointed out to the Ministry of Aviation—and were not appreciated by the Ministry. In 1966 it was found, in MoA trials, that partly because of the reduced single-engine rate of climb and partly because of the addition of extra equip- ment weighing 1,0001b, either the pay- load or the range was restricted, and the Basset could not do all that the RAF *First, Second and Third Reports from tht Committee of Public Accounts, Session 1967-68. HM Stationery Office, London, £3 16s. hoped for, particularly when operated to BCARs. The range of the five-seat aircraft became 380 n.m., and that of the seven-seat version nil, when flying to the civil standards with a full pay- load at 15°C; the ranges called for in the specification had been 1,000 n.m. and 400 n.m. respectively. The extra equipment consisted of items not neces- sarily installed on the civil version, in- cluding military radio, engine fire-detec- tion and fire-extinguishing equipment, de-icing equipment and a dinghy. In practice, says the report, the RAF are operating the Basset in the com- munications role to military standards, and accepting a lower single-engine rate of climb; this means that, at 15°C, this aircraft has a range, with maximum payload, of 485 n.m.; but the seven-seat version (intended for ferrying V-bomber crews) suffers a reduction in maximum payload from 1,5001b to 1,2891b, and its range becomes 194 n.m. at 15°C, falling to nil at 30 °C. The witness before the Committee was Sir Ronald Melville, Second Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Technology—to whom the chairman, Mr Boyd-Carpenter, said in an aside: "I have been consumed with curiosity as to who was the humorist who named this aircraft the Basset. You will be aware that this, as compared with the Beagle, is heavy, slow and feels the heat." Asked about the Continued on page 272 Soviet supersonic transport A moving model of the Tupolev Tu-144 on view at the Soviet Exhibition at Earls Court, London, shows for the first time in public the geometry of the droopable nose and the layout of the undercarriage. By using a multitude of small- diameter wheels (12 per leg) the designers have been able to retract the main undercarriage into the wing outboard of the engine nacelles, and to preserve a moderate pavement-loading. The one and only prototype is about to fly, but no production plans have been made 1011s for BOAC? If the projected longer-range version of the Lockheed 1011 is developed and built, iBOAC may order ten or more for introduction into service from 1973 on- wards. By that year about 30 wide- bodied, big-capacity aircraft, including the Boeing 747s, will be needed. This was said last week by Sir Giks Guthrie, the airline's chairman (see also page 244). ATS-D No-go NASA's latest applications-technology satellite, ATSO, failed to achieve orbit when launched from Cape Kennedy last weekend, because of a failure in the second stage of its Atlas Agena booster. ATS-D was to have been gravity- gradient-stabilised when in geostationary orbit (as described and illustrated in Flight last week) so that it continually faced towards the Earth, taking day-and- night TV photographs. Among its experi- ments the spacecraft carried a small ion engine. Hie Jaguar Delay A combination of minor technical snags—no one of which, in isolation, would have affected the first-flight pro- gramme—is the reason for the postpone- ment of Jaguar's maiden flight, due to have taken place on July 28. A large proportion of the Jaguar team, including nearly all the British representatives, were in favour of going ahead to meet the planned flight date. The flight is now expected during the first week in September. It is understood that the computer programme defining flight parameters had shown some uncertainty about the correct approach speed to be used. This difficulty could have been resolved, at least temporarily, by small changes in the flight plan. There had been struc- tural problems associated with an engine mounting a week or so before the original first-flight date, but this fault has now been cleared. An engine failure during taxying trials has also give" cause for doubt concerning air >*\ starting, and was a further reason for the postponement decision. The Rolls-Royce/ Turbomeca Adour engines are My flight-rated and have been operating satisfactorily, but the French are con- cerned that the engine bench running. programme is behind schedule, and some other parameters are understood to oe not yet fully qualified. . The decision to postpone the nrsi flight was therefore probably as niucn psychological as technical. Jaguar fcw> a French aeroplane, will be tested vy'* predominantly French team, in the sam way that the British aircraft wU'-T operated by a mainly British team, i" French point of view was to err on" side of caution when the aeroplane w not absolutely ready. This years cnair
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