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Aviation History
1971
1971 - 1770.PDF
396 AIR TRANSPORT . . . GARRETT STOL THINKING SMALL Stol aircraft of up to 20-passenger capacity will continue to use turboprop power, with more attention paid to noise reduction, but larger types will be fitted with high bypass-ratio geared turbofans, according to Mr James D. Eastham of the Garrett Corporation. Speaking at the first Canadian V/Stol symposium in Vancouver last month and reported by Interavia Air Letter, he said that in Garrett's view the turbofan would have a bypass ratio of 8:1 to 10:1 and no variable geometry would be used in the fan or gas generator. He thought the TBO of Stol powerplants would be determined by the number of flight cycles completed rather than on a time basis. FLIGHT BAN GOES TO COURT PROCEEDINGS were instituted by India in the Inter national Court of Justice at The Hague against Pakistan last week as a result of a hijacking incident last January. In this incident an Indian Airlines F.27 was forced to land at Lahore on January 30. In protest against the failure of the Pakistan authorities to return the aircraft, India imposed a ban on overflights by Pakistan civil aircraft. The F.27 was later blown up by the hijackers. The overflight ban has created operational difficulties for PIA in operations between East and West Pakistan. The Council of Icao has ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear a complaint by Pakistan against the ban and it is against the council's ruling that India is now appealing to The Hague. The ban is seen by observers as only one symptom of current strained relations between the two countries. BAC COMMERCIAL REDUNDANCIES LAST week the British Aircraft Corporation announced 1,200 redundancies in its commercial aircraft division spread over all five of its establishments at Weybridge, Filton, Hum, Wisley and Fairford; the Military Division of BAC, however, is not affected. The loss of employment will make itself felt by the end of October. BAC says that the redundancies have been caused by a sharp reduction in aircraft (i.e. One-Eleven) orders, coming at a time when the Concorde production build-up is still relatively slow and the design development has passed its peak. A retaliatory ban on overtime, which was called for last week by shop stewards at Filton where Concorde assembly is based, had not been officially notified to the management as we went to press. An early meeting between staff and management representatives was expected to take place at Weybridge. At Filton and the flight-test establishment at Fairford 80 direct productive workers are losing their jobs, together with 380 "indirect" staff. Weybridge and Wisley staff levels in these two categories are to be reduced by 35 and 260 respectively, while at the One- Eleven assembly plant at Hum some 220 production workers will be leaving along with 225 other staff. "The slow-down in One-Eleven orders" reflects "the diffi culties being experienced by many of the airlines in main taining profitable operations," according to BAC. The cor poration is still developing proposals for new generations of commercial transports with emphasis on QStol, "but could anticipate no alleviation of its problems by way of a new project at this time." Mr Derek John, director of marketing, predicts the sale of about 70 more new One- Elevens by 1975. Concorde, said BAC, was also affected because design effort was past its peak and production was only being built up gradually. Action had been essential because Concorde costs had to be even more tightly controlled if the project was to continue to receive the support which it currently had, and which was so vital to the future of the corporation. Every effort had to be made to reduce manufacturing overheads so that the Concorde price to airlines ($30 mil lion with spares) could be held at a competitive figure. Front and forward fuselage sections for the first two production Con cordes are now being equipped to an advanced state at BAC Weybridge. The first fuselage, above, is soon to be fitted with its droop nose before electrical harnesses are installed. Delivery to Toulouse is scheduled to take place before the end of the year, while the second production unit will go to Filton next month where the electrics will be fitted. The first production rear fuselage will soon be shipped from Weybridge to Toulouse, where assembly of the first series aircraft is taking place (right, background) behind the structurally complete second pre- production Concorde (foreground) Unless this was done immediately the sales campaign, now at a critical stage, would suffer. To minimise the impact of the redundancies BAC will be releasing more than 300 men at present working under contracts with other employers, and plans to re-allocate and re-train staff where this is feasible. The corporation is arranging some early retirements with adjustment to pension terms and "will not replace normal retirement unless this is absolutely essential." After the October redundancies nearly 2,500 of the corporation's 37,000 labour force will have been laid off during 1971. 500 on a 747 A record for the greatest number of people carried in a single commercial aircraft has been claimed by Condor, the charter subsidiary of Lufthansa, by flying 490 passengers and ten crew from Frankfurt to Las Palrnas in a 747. National DC-10 Services will begin on December 15 with four daily round trips between New York and Florida. The start of the services is timed to coincide with the Florida peak winter travel season. The aircraft will be fitted with 265 seats, 44 of which will be first class. National has 11 DC-lOs on order, including two intercontinental -30s to serve the London-Miami route. Uprated TriStar An extended-range version of the basic TriStar, using natural thrust growth of the standard RB.211, is again featuring in Lockheed's discussions with prospective customers now that Government backing for the required bank loan has been approved by Congress. A range of more than 4,000 n.m., 7,400km with a typical load of about 270 passengers is the aim, but a go-ahead is un likely until final resolution of Lockheed's difficulties.
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