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Aviation History
1976
1976 - 0010.PDF
10 COMMERCIAL & BUSINESS ••••— :'-mm Saunders at the end of the line Saunders Aircraft will be run down to the status of a product-support organisa tion from today. It; was established at Gimli by the Manitoba government in an attempt to set up a local aerospace plant employing some 400 people, and began by taking Heron airframes, installing PT6A-34 engines and reworking the interiors. The resulting aircraft, the ST-27, soild in small numbers, but the supply of air frames was inevitably limited and the company set about producing new airframes with the type designation ST-27B. However, the extent of systems redesign demanded by US Part 25 certification resulted in an almost new design, the ST-28. Finance from the Manitoba Government had reached $37 million before the decision was made to call a halt. A Saunders spokesman tells Flight that only some six to eight weeks are now required to complete certification of the ST-28, the first definitive example of which flew on December 12; he estimates that the programme could be completed at a cost of $200,000. Letters of intent to buy th© ST-28 have been received from several US airlines, including Allegheny, and altogether 34 are spoken, for. The assets of Saunders are now to be sold and the debts are being written off by the Manitoba Government. Included in the assets are the last three ST-27s, completed and ready for delivery. The workforce of the company has been slowly reduced and was 200 when the decision was taken to cut back. Only 24 staff will remain while the long-term future of the company is determined. Westwind production increased Production of the Israel Aircraft Industries Westwind 1124 will steady at two aircraft per month by April. The first delivery is scheduled for March, according to Atlantic Aviation (the distributor for the United States and Canada), which has taken deposits for 13 aircraft. Plea to support Scottish Three local members of Parlia ment have renewed their efforts to obtain British Govern ment support for Scottish Aviation. The government has refused to provide an estimated £4 million launching aid, needed to underwrite new production of the Jetstream executive and commuter turboprop. The three MPs have resubmitted their case following the British Government decision to underwrite Chrysler Motors to the tune of £162 million when expert assessment has doubted the future viability of the firm. The MPs have observed that the viability of Scottish Aviation and the Jetstream is not in question and that, in any case, the company will become state owned once the aerospace-nationalisation Bill has become law. Executaire BO105 certificated The Boeing-Vertol Executaire—a stretched, US-mairket version of the Bolkow BO105—has been given a supplemental type certificate by the US Federal Aviation Administration. The modification. The M-15 agricultural aircraft, right, is undergoing intensive operational development at the Soviet Research Institute of Farming. Its two hoppers have a combined capacity of 2,000kg of mineral fertiliser. The An-22, above, is being prepared by Mann Aviation at Fairoaks for a transatlantic ferry. In addition to its US registration it retains the Polish markings SP-DMA beneath the wings. The aircraft was built two years ago and has been stored at Schiphol
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