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Aviation History
1975
1975 - 1243.PDF
FLIGHT International, 17 July 197S 69 14 batteries of Improved Hawk sur face-to-air missiles ($260 million), eight batteries of Vulcan surface-to- air cannon ($90 million) and 300 Red eye man-portable SAMs ($4 million). Some Congressmen are trying to prevent the sale on the grounds that it would significantly affect the balance of military power in the area, pro viding Jordanian forces with an anti aircraft umbrella against Israeli attacks. Beech and Hawker drop agreement Beech Aircraft and Hawker Siddeley have announced that they do not plan to renew their joint agreement for marketing Beechcraft-Hawker jet air craft in North America when the present agreement expires on Sep tember 30, 1975. In a joint statement from the two companies Sir John Lidbury, manag ing director of Hawker Siddeley, said: "The long and fruitful marketing association is terminated with regret. Economic considerations, particularly inflation, dictate that Hawker Siddeley must take every step possible to mini mise costs and to this end the decision has been made to market our business jets in North America directly through Hawker Siddeley Aviation Inc, in Washington DC. We plan to continue our association with Beech Aircraft in the future for any programmes that would be to our mutual advantage." Beech president, Frank E. Hedrick, said: "The differing rates of infla tion between the two countries have The flight-deck crew on the first British Con corde endurance flight to Bahrain before take-off on July 7 (see page 72). Left to right: Capt E. C. "Mickey" Miles of British Airways, Capt John Cochrane of BAC, senior engineer Lou Bolton of British Airways and flight engineer Denis Ackary of BAC changed the circumstances under which the original agreement was made and Beech concurs that it is in the best interests of both com panies for Hawker Siddeley to market the aircraft in North America on a direct basis. We welcome the con tinued association with Hawker Sid deley in the future." The two officials emphasised that both companies will continue product and service support of all North American BH-125 aircraft until such time as Hawker Siddeley is in a posi tion to resume complete responsibility for service and support. Hawker Sid deley and Beech announced their working association on December 1, 1969, at which time it was intended that the two companies would jointly design and develop successors to the HS.125. In October 1972 it was announced that Beech would buy 45 HS.125s, the majority of which would be the then-new -600 version, but the energy crisis forced an adjustment to the agreement in May 1974 by which Beech would take aircraft as needed. Throughout the period of associa tion between the two companies 60 HS.125s were delivered through Beech, 25 of which were -600s. SENSOR British officials close to Concorde expect the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to publish its final "Environmental Impact Statement" (EIS) in September or October. This will follow the draft EIS discussed at the public hear ings in April. There is no evidence to suggest a major change in the draft EIS, in which the FAA has recommended approval of Concorde operations into the USA. The FAA can be taken to court by environmental groups within 30 days of the final EIS being passed to the US Office of Environmental Quality. The odds are that the EIS will be challenged in a US district court, and followed by appeals. Thus, although the environmental challenges to the EIS are unlikely to succeed, it is vulnerable to "foot- faulting" on technicalities, and the US legal process could delay the introduction of Concorde services to the US beyond next spring. The 500th Rolls-Royce RB.211-22 is due to be delivered towards the end of September. The US Civil Aeronautics Board's proposed "deregulation" policy is holding up a number of major investment decisions. Prominent among these is United's possible order for Boeing 727-300s. A deci sion is not now expected until after October. The East African inquiry into the Lufthansa 747 leading-edge flap accident at Nairobi is likely to show that Boeing had heard of two and possibly three similar previous in cidents, but not the 12 which have been reported. Boeing is not seriously examining the 727 with 10-tonne engines. The aircraft would be underpowered with even the higher-rated CFM56 or JT10D. Boeing is continuing to show in terest in the Rolls-Royce Spey 606, which it believes may be 5EPNdB quieter and 10 per cent lower on s.f.c. than the refanned JT8D-217, though United want the latter. A stretched, 140-seat version of the 737 with refanned JT8Ds or Speys is also being studied by Boeing. The name Tornado for MRCA is regarded by Panavia as a matter for the customer air forces. In- service date for the first MRCAs still looks like 1978, and fly-away price is holding at £3-9 million at December 1974 values. The Iranian contract for Concorde appears to the British Government likely to remain unsigned until the aircraft has been seen by the Shah as successful in operational service. One problem found in the negotia tions is also being discovered by Pan American—the lack of oppor tunity to talk with Iranians who have the authority to make deci sions. F.28 operators are being told that the Turkish accident commission investigating the THY take-off accident at Izmir on January 26, 1974, in which 62 people were killed, is looking at crew alcohol levels as a factor. If this is con firmed it will be the first time that a public-transport aircraft accident has been officially attributed to alcohol. Drinking is currently the subject of a special study also by the American Air Line Pilots Asso ciation. Some European airline managers believe that a new 50/80-seat air craft is needed with adequate range for province-to-province services and seat-mile costs comparable to those of the current twin jets. Existing aircraft and those now proposed tend to be too large for the inter-regional routes, on which the potential for growth is high provided that profitable load factors can be combined with attractive frequencies. Last year Boeing was dismissing the A300 as "a Government aero plane," but now the company's executives are worried that a US success by Airbus Industrie could fatally damage the 727-300B and force the 7X7 forward to fill the gap. The Lancaster bought by the Strathallan Collection is expected to cost much more than the £42,000 purchase price, by the time the restoration is complete. The aircraft will have turrets and its original RCAF squadron markings.
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