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Aviation History
1969
1969 - 2560.PDF
200 FLIGHT International. 7 August 196V AIR TRANSPORT LIGHT COMMERCIAL & BUSINESS 100 Islanders On July 24 the 100th BN-2A Islander rolled off the assembly line at the Britten-Norman factory at Bern- bridge, Isle of Wight. Destined for New Guinea, C.100 is the sixth Islander for Aerial Tours Pty Ltd, of Port Moresby, who have a further four Islanders on order. Sixteen Islanders a month are now being produced. The first 100 are in service with 56 companies in 27 countries; 34 are operational in the USA and others in Canada, West Indies, South America, Germany. Portugal. Italy, France. Sweden, Gabon, Libya. Abu Dhabi. Thailand. Malaysia. Japan, Australia, New Guinea and Tahiti. Although serving most owners in its primary role as a highly profitable feederliner, the ten-seat Islander is also operating on oil exploration work, in Canada and Alaska, aerial photographic survey work in Britain and Australia, locust control in Thailand and military liaison transport in Abu Dhabi. The type is operating from primitive jungle strips in New Guinea. Malaysia and Gabon and from specially con structed STOL runways in New York. Over 270 are on order. Australian Mini-Skyvan? The Government Aircraft Factory. Fisherman's Bend, Melbourne, is designing a general-purpose light transport powered by two 400 e.s.h.p. Allison 250 turboprops. The projected design has a high-wing layout with strut bracing, retractable undercarriage and swing-aside rear fuselage for straight-in loading. Estimated cruise speed is 200 m.p.h., and the take-off distance to 50ft is expected to be about 1,000ft. GAF is hoping for a military order for 50 aircraft; civil sales on top of this could, it is estimated, be offered at $A200,000 (£94,000) for the basic aircraft. Hughes 500 Sales Twenty-one Hughes 500s will be delivered by air freight to Trans World Helicopters Ltd at Shannon Airport, Ireland, during the next eight months. The distributor will reassemble them for delivery to customers in Britain, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean. The first Air Gregory's demonstrator, was at the Flight Business and Light Aviation Show and is now being shown to potential customers in Britain. The ex-Shannon basic price of the Hughes 500 is $95,000 (£39,500) and the estimated direct operating cost, according to the distributor, is $26 (£11) per hour. B-N Islander number 100 off the production line rolled out at Bern- bridge on July 24. It is destined for Aerial Tours Pty Ltd of Port Moresby, New Guinea. Islanders are now being produced at lb a month, and the first from the Rumanian line is to fly shortly. Over 270 Islanders are on order from the combined production lines. See first news item Collision Avoidance The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has asked the McDonnell Douglas Astro nautics Company of St Louis to define a collision-avoidance system for general aviation aircraft. The contract calls for a definition of operational requirements for a possible lightweight airborne system to detect impending collisions, and to compute and present avoiding action instructions. Basis of the work will be the manufacturer's four years of experience in the develop ment of the EROS system for commercial airliners which is now being evaluated by the Air Transport Association. Digital ADF King Aviation is about to launch an entirely new solid-state ADF receiver of low cost and light weight. Called KR85, it is specifically designed for panel installation in general aviation aircraft and it has a digital read-out of frequency selection to ease the task of tuning and making it nearly as easy as for crystal tuning. Progress with the ST-27 Initial flight testing of the Saunders ST-27 prototype, a turboprop conversion of the DH Heron. has been completed. The first flight was at Montreal on May 28 (Flight, June 19, page 1005). The company is now satisfied that all design specifications will be met or exceeded. Dual certification is to ARB requirements, at 13,5001b for the Euro pean market, and to Canadian DoT and FAA requirements at 12,5001b for the US market. Designed to offer a commuter airliner to local-service and third-level operators, the ST-27 will carry 24 passengers over a 100-mile stage under IFR. The two PT6A-27 free turbines drive three-blade Hartzell constant-speed fully feathering pro- Saunders Aircraft Corp of Dorval, Quebec, is very satisfied with the initial flight trials of the ST-27 twin-turboprop conversion of a stretched D H Heron. Price, performance and efficiency make this a serious contender in the third-level stakes. There is every possibility that the basic airframe may be put into production when the supply of old Herons dries up. See news item above
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