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Aviation History
1975
1975 - 0013.PDF
FLIGHT International, 2 January 1975 13 termined flightpath and positioning of the aircraft. The first VAK 191 has been mounted on a pedestal which allows movement in three axes and is being fed with sinusoidal control inputs while all engines are running to simu late hovering. These trials are to evaluate frequency response and the influence on aircraft dynamics of various flight-control system com ponents, including the attitude-control stability-augmentation system and the different moment generators. V2 is exploring the transition cor ridor and determining the optimum combination of airspeed, cruise- engine nozzle angle, angle of attack and power settings for transition to and from wingborne flight. Special at tention is being paid to the lift-engine shut-down and relight characteristics with respect to aircraft angle of attack, sideslip angle and airspeed. Although the flight-test programme was suspended for 18 months, follow ing the German Government's decision in December 1972 to stop flying, V2 was ready for flight only five weeks after the project was restarted. By the middle of December V2 had made 20 flights in the new series and VI had flown seven times. Transition times of less than 50sec decelerating and less than 30sec accelerating have been achieved. During flight-testing emphasis has been placed on correlating results with data acquired from earlier trials in order to assess the validity of prediction methods used during design. The test programme has been specially tailored at certain important points to cover this task. Venezuelan Otomat vessels on delivery THE FIRST of three Venezuelan Navy Vosper Thornyeroft 37m fast patrol boats armed with Oto Melara/ Matra Otomat anti-ship missiles is due to begin sea trials this month. The total order is for six vessels, the first three being gunboats. Two of these have been delivered and Flight last month visited the third, ARV Patria, which is the next to sail for South America. The order, placed in April 1972, is worth more than £6 million to Vosper; the Italian weapon systems, which have been bought directly from their manufacturers, double the value. All vessels are on or ahead of schedule despite the fuel shortage and three- day week in early 1974. The three gunboats (see photo graph) are armed with an Oto Melara 76mm Compatto gun with rates of fire from single shots up to 85 rounds/ min. Operation is automatic, the re volving magazine, which is reloaded manually, holding 80 rounds. The gun has a maximum range of more than 16,000m and is used against air and surface targets. An Elettronica San Giorgio (Elsag) NATO Mod 1 fire-control system (FCS) is fitted to the gunboats. It comprises a Selenia RTN-10X Orion X-band tracking radar and its atten dant displays and controls (see photo graph) coupled with an Elsag ana logue fire-control computer. A Dalmo Victor low-light television camera is boresighted to the antenna and is controlled via a joystick. The Orion can conduct a helical-scan search pattern if the surveillance radar, a Segnalamento Marittimo ed Aereo (SMA) X-band SPQ-2D with a range of 60km, is unavailable. The gunboats are being delivered without missile armament but can easily be retrospectively fitted with Otomats. All cabling for the missiles is already installed and six attachment points for each launcher/container are provided on the rear deck. The missile boats also have an SPQ-2D, but the gun armament com prises a Bofors L70 40mm with fire- control inputs from the search radar and no Orion tracking radar or NATO FCS is carried. The Otomat computer fits under the SPQ-2D dis play and control panel. Two missile launcher/containers are mounted on the rear deck, the ramps being canted up and splayed out to each side. The fast patrol boats, powered by twin diesels, are capable of 30kt. Below, ARV "Constitution," the first of three gunboats ordered by the Venezuelan Navy. The forward-mounted Oto Melara 76mm gun and its Selenia RTN-I0X Orion tracking radar are visible. Bottom, the operations room. At the extreme right is the Elsag analogue fire-control computer, in the middle is the display for the SMA SPQ-2D surveillance radar and on the left is the fire-control radar control console W : si NET •>*1
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