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Aviation History
1968
1968 - 2731.PDF
fUCHT International, 21 November 1968 867 THIRD-LEVEL AIRCRAFT DEMAND STILL FAR EXCEEDS THE SUPPLY of light aircraft With the right sort of characteristics for third-level/air taxi commer- cial operations. The number of aircraft actually on the market and available for early delivery has increased considerably during the last year. America is still the number one market place, with a seemingly inexhaustible demand for every shape and size of twin. Other parts of the world are increasing in importance, but the particular requirements of America are dictating aircraft characteristics. There are no outstanding technical developments to report. There has been a noticeable increase of interest in the faster and cabin-pressurised aircraft. This is mainly for passenger appeal and to achieve compatibility with jet aircraft operating patterns in the busy terminal areas. With regard to the latter, the third-level operators are grouped with private operators in the minds of trunk-route carriers who object to the amount of airspace and runway time occupied by small aircraft. Although there are first signs that the trunk-route aircraft capacity growth trend is beginning to influence the feederline category (see pages 860-866 of this survey for details of the 40-seat DHC-7, GAC-100 and Saab 1071), there is likely to be a strong and continuing demand in the 10-30-seat bracket. Antonov An-14 This seven-seat STOL light utility transport first flew in 1958 and is in production for military and civil uses within the Soviet Union. The good volume and rear-end loading render the aircraft suitable for many tasks. Great emphasis has been placed on simplicity of servicing, and the An-14 is said to be suitable for operation by pilots of average skill. Nothing has come of plans to replace the radical piston engines with a turboprop. Beagle B.206-S This medium-weight twin, which was originally designed for the private and executive market, is now undergoing further devlopment to increase its capacity and make it more attrac- tive as a commercial transport. The basic aircraft is in production and available for immediate delivery with either an ARB or FAA certificate for public transport operations. The present maximum seating capacity is for seven passengers, but the modified version, with a raised rear cabin, will seat up to ten. The prototype is being flight tested. This pressurised aircraft will be available in 1970. The B.206-S is an exceptionally well engineered aircraft, and is unusual among light aircraft in having been subjected to a series of structural fatigue tests. In operations all over the world the type has proved to be immensely strong. Beechcraft Queen Airliner Three models in the Beechcraft Queen Air medium-weight business aircraft range are offered with high- density seating for commercial operators. They are the A65, 70 and R80 with 340-380 h.p. turbo-supercharged engines. Initial development of the Queen Air for commercial use began in 1964 with the delivery of four Queen Air 80s to Trans-Australia Airlines for routes over to Tasmania. The commuter airline and scheduled air taxi market was formerly sought in 1965 with the introduction of the Queen Airliner and associated marketing concepts. Beechcraft Model 99 Airliner To meet the competition of the Twin Otter, Beechcraft combined the P&W PT6 engine (as fitted to the King Air business aircraft) with a super-stretch fuselage of the unpressurised Queen Airliner and came up with the 17-seat Model 99. In fact it was not quite so simple as that—the aircraft is virtually entirely new. The prototype first flew in July 1966 and Bttchcraft Mode/ 99 Mrlmtr the first delivery of a fully certificated aircraft was made on May 2 this year (to Commuter Airlines of Chicago). By early October, over 40 Model 99s were in service with 20 or more small airlines within the US. Orders now exceed 100. Typical of the way these aircraft get used is the record of Commuter Airlines, which now has seven in service (and seven more on order) and has logged over 3,3OOhr while serving 14 Mid-West cities with a total of 130 daily flights. Air Wisconsin has flown l,600hr since putting a pair of 99s in service during May. Betiev Be-30 In July 1967, amid the host of new military aircraft at the once-in-a-while display of Soviet aviation might at Domodedovo Airport, Moscow, there appeared for the first time an entirely new small feederliner from the design bureau of Georgi Beriev. Called the Be-30, this 15-seater turboprop is expected to be the standard Aeroflot local-service airliner of the 1970s and to replace the huge fleets of Li-2s (DC-3s under licence) and An-2s. There has been talk of a competition with the Czechoslovakian L-410 to determine which should become the standard Soviet-bloc transport in this class. The Be-30 has a high-wing, double slotted flaps and large-diameter propellers that confer an excellent claimed STOL performance. The undercarriage is retractable. Other details appeared in Flight for September 28, 1967. Britten-Norman Islander On August 10, 1967, a mere three years after the project was begun, the Islander received an ARB transport- category C of A and first deliveries were made to customers. By early October 1967 five Islanders had been delivered (two to Logan- air, one to Glosair and two to Jonas Aircraft of New York) and services had begun. In December 1967, Britten-Norman received FAA certification followed by an order for 52 Islanders from their USA distributor (since increased to 140 aircraft). Over 30 aircraft have now been delivered—to the USA, Canada, Costa Rica, Vene- zuela, Puerto Rico, Italy, Germany, Gabon, Australia and Thailand. Over 250 Islanders are on order—of which 230 are for export. In April 1968, Britten-Norman subcontracted a production batch of 236 completed aircraft to the British Hovercraft Corporation at Cowes, Isle of Wight, for delivery by the end of 1969. Production Continued at foot of pag« 871 Canadair CL-215 Above, Britten-Norman Islander
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