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Aviation History
1974
1974 - 0011.PDF
fLIGHT international, 3 January 1974 II of room on the centre, avionics panel for the most ambitious equipment and displays likely to be specified by commercial users. The presence of two equipment bays (one in the nose, the other in the rear fuselage aft of the passenger cabin), will provide adequate volume for the associated black boxes and also for luggage. An important ingredient for civil operation is passenger comfort, which among other things means low noise and vibration levels, two factors not always associated with helicopters. The four-blade rotor, according to Westland. provides a notably smoother ride over that of a two-blader, and in fact the measured vibration level is lower than that specified by the American Standard MIL H8501A at 9,5001b and up to 150kt. Cabin noise and vibration alleviation can also be achieved by the judicious design and application of furnishing and the adoption of specially designed seats. Models at recent air displays represented the civil Lynx as having a retractable wheeled undercarriage, but a con ventional skid type unit is now offered as standard. The retractable undercarriage will be offered as an option at a penalty of about 801b or so in payload. Westland prob ably has in mind that Bell offered the Model 212 with a wheeled undercarriage which failed to penetrate the market significantly. Skids also do not need maintenance, and very low maintenance—2hr per flying hour for the military utility version—have been specified by the Services. Curiously, some commercial operators have in the past tended to overlook this aspect of helicopter operation, which prob ably reflects the earlier remarks about styling and appear ance being more important than upkeep and other operational factors. Certification is planned for mid-1976 in the public transport category, which will mean a reasonably repre sentative aircraft taking the air in the latter half of 1975. The structural and equipment similarity of the commercial and military versions will allow considerable flexibility on the production line, so that the decision about whether a particular airframe will have a long body or a short one can be left until a quite late stage. No decisions have yet been made on how the new heli copter will be financed during the development period. At the present time it is supported entirely by Westland, and the company has declined to show its hand at this very early stage of the game. Development to certification may continue to be supported on a private-venture basis, but it is more likely that the cost would be shared between the company and the British Government. No financial contribution towards launching is expected from France since the aircraft lies outside the terms of the Anglo- French agreement. Westland's partner Aerospatiale would, however, continue to build components as it does for the military versions, in the same way that the Yeovil firm provides sub-assemblies for the civil Puma. Further away, though perhaps only by a year, is an uprated version which will be offered at 10,5001b. This again will be very largely borne on the shoulders of military development already planned. The commercial Lynx will in some roles be limited by cabin volume before this weight is reached, and it seems likely that part of the growth would be absorbed in a greater fuel capacity to provide more range, which could be used to give an improved diversionary performance, an important factor in rig- servicing operations. The existing rotors and transmission system now flying at Yeovil will be adequate to power a 10,5001b helicopter, though some strengthening of the main gearbox will be needed. The Rolls-Royce Small Engine Division's RS.360 Gem engines, which will be initially released at 900 s.h.p. for all Lynx versions, will be pro gressively upgraded to 1,050 s.h.p. for this purpose. At this rating the Lynx would have a very adequate perform ance, but there is no doubt that the further uprating to 1,150 s.h.p. being discussed would provide an exceptionally high standard of single-engine safety. It is not yet clear whether Rolls-Royce would offer this rating by 1977, but the RS.360 undoubtedly has this potential. Significantly, the maritime version proposed for the US Navy Lamps helicopter by Sikorsky and Westland would probably require 1,050 s.h.p. per engine initially, rising to 1,150 s.h.p. Undoubtedly one of the biggest things going for the commercial Lynx is the background of military experience over four versions. Britain and France have more than 100 aircraft firmly on order, but the budgetary estimate is about 360 aircraft, not including military export sales, which should double this figure.
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