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Aviation History
1970
1970 - 1884.PDF
384 FLIGHT International, 10 September 1970 WORLD NEWS First A-300B customer Air France has decided to place an order for six A-300B Airbuses, and to take an option on a further ten, said M Henri Ziegler, president of Aero spatiale, at Toulouse last week. The air line signed a letter of intent to this effect on September 3. The finance has yet to be arranged for the purchase, but there is little doubt, now that the deci sion has been approved by the full board of Air France, that a firm order will follow and that the airline will thus become the first customer for the type. Air France is to pay a unit basic price of F60 million (£4.5 million). It plans to use the aircraft on such high-density routes as Paris-London, Paris-Geneva and Paris-Corsica. The airline's choice of the General Electric CF6-50 to power its A-300Bs could finally settle any remaining doubts as to the standard powerplant for the type. Air France plans to take delivery of three Airbuses in 1974 and three in 1975. M Ziegler, who was speaking at a roll-out ceremony for the stretched Caravelle 12, said that the Air France decision had greatly increased the manu facturers' confidence in the marketing prospects of the A-300B. He said that orders from Lufthansa and Air Inter were likely to follow soon, and that sales prospects in the USA were in creasingly bright. The Lufthansa decision is, however, not likely to be taken until the airline has resolved its further order for long-haul equipment, which lies between the 747 and the DC-10 (a letter of intent for the latter having been placed to secure the lower price in force until Nosing into the market The first cock pit section for the A-300B, ordered by Air France last week, on its jigs at Aerospatiale, Toulouse. See story on this page Scouting the idea A Westland Scout, modified to take part in the WG.I3 helicopter development programme, made its first flight on August 31 at Yeovil, as recorded on this page. The Scout carries a representative WG.I3 semi-rigid rotor in place of its normal articu lated system to gain experience before the WG.I3's first flight next December. The semi rigid rotor should result in simpler mainten ance, lower costs and better performance. Behind the Scout is a Wessex 3 August). Such a decision could come at the end of September (see page 388). The Caravelle 12 has been ordered by Sterling Airways—seven aircraft with an option on four more. Also on show at Toulouse last week were the Frigate— new name for the Series C Nord 262 (powered by Bastan VIIs)—and the Cor vette, Aerospatiale's new business jet/ feederliner, which is undergoing flight testing but on which a decision to go into production has not yet been taken. 1 X-rays for JT9D An explosion and lire in an engine of an Air France Boeing 747 on August 17 has resulted in an FAA order for X-ray examination <to be made of all JT9Ds to check for possible turbine mis alignment. This was decided after a meeting with airline representatives on August 26. The blast in the engine of the Air France aircraft, which was over New Foundland en route from Montreal to Paris, damaged a second engine, but none of the 168 passengers was hurt. The 747 landed at New York. Pratt & Whitney has said that the misalignment in the Air France engine was "made on the assembly line" and "just happened in that one engine." But, in a letter, the National Transportation Safety Board urged the FAA to take action "to resolve this most serious matter," to check the records of the 250 JT9Ds in service and to eliminate some of the possible factors that may have caused the explosion. Senate Aid for Lockheed With the recent United States Senate decision to approve a $200 million (£83.4 million) contingency loan, Lockheed Air craft Corp will be able to keep the C-5A Galaxy in production until June . 1971. This loan forms the basis of a $430 million (£179 million) financial/ package negotiated with the US Govern ment and 24 banks to keep Lockheed" solvent. The latter transaction might1 have collapsed if the Senate had not4 approved the contingency loan. Some $344 million (£143 million) of? this year's US defence budget has now been approved by the Senate for pro-' duction of 30 C-5As in 1970. The addi tional $200 million will enable Lockheed1 to finance production of another 121 Galaxies. WG.13 Test-bed Flies The Scout helicopter fitted with a full-, scale WG.13 rotor head and blades made, its first flight at Westland's Yeovil plants on August 31 (see photograph). The air-\ craft is one of a batch, of 15 ordered1
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