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Aviation History
1969
1969 - 0259.PDF
FLIGHT International, 13 February 1969 and continuing development have shown that slight modifications to the wing leading edge, engine air intakes and to the .fineness ratio of the rear fuselage and fin might give a bonus as big as 5,0001b. It is suggested that the modi- ;fications could be incorporated on the two pre-production Concordes which in any case are not due to fly until next year. Anti-Concorde Advertisement A full-page advertisement appeared in The Guardian last Monday, February 10, calling for cancellation of the Concorde. It had been placed by the Anti-Concorde Project at a cost of about £1,350 and contained sections on the cost of the project, on sonic booms and on insurance against damage from them. C-5A Totals 47 Flight Hours- The three development Lockheed C-5As at present engaged in the initial flight test schedule had accumulated a total of 47 flight hours up to February 6. The test programme has included stalls up to 40° indicated angle of attack, and in-flight engine shutdowns followed by starting in the reverse-thrust configuration. The 4l,l00lb-thrust General Electric YTF39 development engines have logged 500hr in flight. One engine has a flight time of 164hr. Those on the No 1 aircraft are being replaced by production engines. UK Air Industry Plans A plan for projects by the UK aircraft industry in the 1970s has been published by the Society of British Aerospace Companies. It was submitted to the Minister of Technology. Mr Wedgwood Benn, last December. A Mintech/SBAC meeting on it has been held and further discussions are envisaged. The plan, which took nearly a year to prepare, has been drafted by SBAC in consultation with its member com panies and the Electronic Engineering Association. The Society's director, Sir Richard Smeeton, has said that the programme outlined "is the logical answer to current spending of £100 million a year on imported defence equipment." He stresses that member companies have set aside differences of view in order to reach general agree ment on a complete plan for the industry. Projects which the industry feels should be pursued "in order to optimise its exploitation of the known civil market opportunities and to satisfy essential defence requirements with the bonus of substantial military exports during the next decade" are divided into six categories, of which the follow ing are main features:— Civil Aircraft (a) continued develop ment of supersonic transports: (b) short medium-range subsonic transports: (c) V/STOL inter-city transports; (d) medium- size STOL transports: (e) turbine-powered executive aircraft: (f) light transports. Military Aircraft (a) continued develop ment of Harrier and Jaguar type aircraft: (b) advanced combat aircraft to replace I-104G. Canberra, Buccaneer and Phantom: (c) supersonic advanced trainer: (d) front line support transports: (e) replacement for Gnat. Macchi and Jet Provost trainers. Engines General considerations are: (a) engines for all UK requirements listed in the paper; (b) engines launched speci fically for foreign aircraft: (c) military engines, especially for MRCA: (d) civil engines with further development of three- shaft principle- noise reduction and new materials: (e> engines for V/STOL aircraft: (f) R&D programme: (gl operation of demonstrator engines. Guided Weapons la) continual develop ment of SAMs; (b) ship-to-ship weapons: tc) anti-tank and (d) air-to-surface missiles: (el air-to-air and (f( stand-off air-to-surface weapon; (g) continued applied research. Equipment Development of VTOL is going to bring a demand which Britain is well suited to taking a lead in supplying. British equipment should he specified initially for British aircraft and engines. Space Emphasis should be placed on initiating national programmes and on pro duction of applications satellites and ground systems. In a background introduction to the list of projects, SBAC says that in aerospace, Britain "has a world position it would be catastrophic to let slide. Her engine industry is the only one in the Western World to match that of the US .... In airframe, equipment and missile manufacture there is a level of know-how equal to that of the USA. But each sector needs the support of the others." A more detailed report of the industry's plan will appear in next week's issue of Flight. THE L.1011 TRISTAR . . . . . . Lockheed's 250/345-seat Rolls-' Royce-engined transport will be the sub ject of a full technical description in Flight next Thursday, February 20. Illustrations will include the first major cutaway drawing of this important new commercial aircraft. Neil Harrison and artist John Marsden recently spent several days at the Lockheed plant at Burbank, Calif, studying the 1011 at first hand. Collaboration: A French View European countries should maintain independence in producing military air craft but co-operate more closely on civil requirements. This view was expressed in a recent interview by the chairman of USIAS (Union Syndicale des Industries Aeronautiques et Spatiales), M Marcel Chassagny, president—chairman of Matra. He made a distinction between different types of co-operation, saying that each country must maintain individual activities, especially in advanced fields and for types of military equipment considered necessary for national independence. Of the different forms of collaboration, the best kinds were based on agreements between manufacturers, each being between two, three or four countries. Associations SENSOR Three VTOL transport design studies are competing for adoption in Britain: the jet-lift or fan-lift design by USA Hatfield ; the circulation-controlled rotor concept by HSA Manchester (under Ministry—NGTE contract); and. the Westland lilting-wing design. A deci sion will probably he made on only one of the three, though possibly two on different time and expenditure scales. The Ministry hopes to tnake a decision, and possibly to order a prototype, before the end of I9f>9. It is unlikely that the Dornier OoSI project will be a factor in the selection mainly because of the safely aspects of wing-mounted lift jet pods and noise. The fan-lift engine project, the HS.liJ. differs substantially from the DoJl configuration. BAC is developing an STOL project rather than I'TOL. and this is also a factor in the situation. The Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) feasibility study is now in the hands of the British and German governments, but there is still no common agreed design. Four projects are the subject of the study, which has been presented jointly by Munich and Warton: one single-engined and one twin-engined proposal by BAC. and the same by Messerschmitt. The biggest area of difference at the moment is whether the common aircraft should be a single or a twin. BAC favouring the twin and Messersclnnitt the single- engined design. The atmosphere of co-operation on MRCA is extremely good, and the governments are leaving it to the German and British companies to resolve the single versus twin issue. This will have to be done before com missioning of the project definition phase. This is due on April I, but there are now some doubts whether this will be achieved. Although Messerschmitt-Biilkow Have been assessing the single Pratt <£ Whitney TF30 for the MRCA. this has- been largely to arrive at a "ctist- effectiveness" yardstick to sa\'e £50 million development cost of a new engine. There is no doubt in the minds of the contractors or the officials thai u very advanced new type of engine will be required to achieve a good SEP factor (specific excess power) which decides the ntameuvrabiHtv margins. The Rolls-Royce RB.I99-3J has been the subject of studies to date, and pro posals are also being invited for advanced-technology engines front both Pratt & Whitney and General Electric. There are signs at official, though not necessarily Ministerial, levels in France of disillusionment with the A-300 type of industrial consortium as a means of producing aircraft more cheaply than can the Americans. There is a lack of confidence caused by the fact that it failed on the original cost proposals.
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