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Aviation History
1974
1974 - 2026.PDF
836 AMERICAN LIGHT FIGHTER FLY-OFF insofar as an intercepter makes sense, it is a good one, forming a part of the Stril 60 air-defence system. Saab- Scania and the Swedish Government have since August this year been involved in detailed talks with the four nations about offsets and the standard of build of the proposed Eurofighter. This sets out the facts of the case. Obviously the four nations do not want an attack aircraft, which many people feel they need, but an air-superiority fighter. The answer can only be that they want to be part of a programme in which they can be important participants, and that they are less interested in what might happen in any future war. The cost-effective answer, if these countries must have such a thing as a "fighter," might be to convert their existing F-104Gs into the F-104S air-superiority version, which could be done for roughly one-third of the price of building new aircraft and with no technical or financial risk whatever, ff the nations were to recognise that what they need is a properly equipped attack aircraft, then Within their prescribed budget the choice might lie between Jaguar, Viggen and F.1E. In the long term an even more sensible buy would be to come into the MRCA programme. This is the product of nations, also in Western Europe, which have similar needs FLIGHT International, 12 December 1974 ' and which thought things out. Of course, the four nations would reply they want a cheaper aircraft, by which it seems they mean they are not interested in what the aircraft can actually do for them. For anyone who wants an all-weather multi-role aircraft the best answer will be MRCA, at least for the next 20 years. Unfortunately the people who take the decisions are often not technical people. It is easy for Snecma, for example, to question the MRCA's three-shaft RB.199 engine, and to claim that its own single-shaft M53 is a more cost-effective solution. The truth is that a single-shaft engine is perfectly all right if you do not mind the extra size and weight and poorer performance in terms of specific consumption and handling. I do not mean to pour scorn on the efforts of four defence staffs to make the best procurement choices. They have many people trying to make meaningful costings on all sorts of tasks and programmes. But the signs are that the four nations, in a rapidly cost-inflating environment, may buy a fundamentally wrong aircraft, modify it to fit their needs, and find they cannot produce an all-weather, multi-role, Nadge-compatible aircraft within their budget. It is still anyone's guess what the four nations will decide. It is a pity that, whichever of the four aircraft they adopt, if "fighter" it is to be, it might be of little value in war and might greatly dilute the effort Europe can put into useful weapons. INDUSTRY International Hyinatic Engineering (Redditch) has introduced a new miniature cryo genic cooling system for use with infra-red sensors in missiles, fuzes and surveillance equipment. The unit, which uses Freon 14 gas, comprises a 95cm3 sealed bottle, on/off vent valve to control the supply, a guard drier and a minicooler where the gas is liquefied. The equipment, which has a shelf life of a number of years, weighs 0-5kg and can cool infra-red detectors to -128°C for 6hr. Todd Chemical (9 Chelsea Place, Great Neck, NY 11021) has introduced Sno-Ban to remove snow and ice. An exothermic reaction takes place when the chemical is added to snow or ice, melting up to 3in depth and prevent ing further accumulations for several hours. Sno-Ban is claimed to melt 20 times more than salt products at freez ing point and is effective at — 40°C and below. The chemical is supplied in 501b, 1001b and 1501b kegs; about 21b is needed to treat 200 sq ft. Cardion Electronics (Woodbury, NY 11797) has announced what it claims to be the first integrated automated surface-weather system for airport use. The equipment provides auto matic digital read-out of wind direc tion and speed, air and dew-point temperature, runway visual range, cloud height and other meteorological information and records it for future use. Data can be transmitted digitally over normal telephone lines. Inflight Motion Pictures (485 Madi son Avenue, New York, NY), a divi sion of Inflight Services, is now serv ing 32 airlines worldwide with a com plete in-flight film and audio enter tainment service. An annual total of 100,000 flights (350,000 projections) use the service, which now operates in 100 747s (four or five projectors per aircraft), 110 DC^lOs/TriStars (three projectors) and 200 707s/DC-8s (three projectors). The company has recently added Impak Super 8mm cassettes to its range of 16mm films. The service is available at 80 airports around the world. Films are shown in English, French, Spanish, Italian or Japanese; Portuguese is sub-titled. Who's selling what Honeywell's Micro Switch Division (Chicago and Spring St, Freeport, 111 61032) has been awarded a contract worth more than £110,000 over three years to supply switches for the West- land/Aerospatiale Lynx. Hamilton Standard (Windsor Locks, Conn) has been selected to build four hydraulic ground carts to provide ground support for the Space Shuttle Orbiter. The $1 million subcontract is being negotiated by the company and Rockwell's Space Division. The carts will simulate operation of the Orbiter's on-board main hydraulic pumps during final assembly, check-out and pre- flight testing, pumping 3,0001b/sq in fluid at 65gal/min, and will remove air from the hydraulic fluid. Kaman Aerospace (Old Windsor Rd, Bloomfield, Conn 06002) has been awarded a $495,000 contract by Nasa's Lewis Research Centre to study • whether windmills can generate elec tric power commercially. People and posts Mr Kenneth Bentley has been appointed a director of BAC's Com mercial Aircraft Division and is re sponsible for resource planning. Mr George Sandmann has been appointed managing director of Van Dusen Aircraft Supplies with responsi bility for the company's European affairs. Sir John Eden has become an adviser to the management of British Timken. We record with regret the sudden death of Mr Keith Pinder, manufac turing manager of Lucas Aerospace's Electrical Group. Mr B. A. Shaw has been appointed president of Singer's Kearfott Division. Mr John K. Schneider has been appointed manager of corporate avia tion for RCA. Mr Robert C. Curry has joined Electronic Communications as mana ger of the newly established Digital Communications Engineering Section. Mr R. F. Hunt, deputy chairman and managing director—aviation of the Dowty Group, has relinquished his appointment as chairman of Dowty Rotol in order to concentrate on the current growth and development of the group. He continues as a director of Dowty Rotol. Mr Warwick N. Squire succeeds Mr Hunt as chairman of Dowty Rotol.
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