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Aviation History
1977
1977 - 0004.PDF
2 FLIGHT international, I January 197 7 llyushin 11-86 airborne THE Ilyushin 11-86 wide-body medium- range airliner made its first flight on December 22, according to Tass. The 350-seat airliner is the Soviet Union's first wide-body transport, resembling a slightly larger A300 in terms of size and range. It is powered by four 28,5001b-thrust turbofan engines believed to have been developed by the Kuznetsov design bureau. Development of the 11-86 has been considerably delayed by an early switch from rear to underwing instal lation of the four engines, and by a later change from Soloviev D-30-KPs to the new powerplant. Stop press SIKORSKY WINS UTTAS COMPETITION US SPELLS OUT NOISE RETROFIT PROGRAMME See next week's "Flight" New timetable for BA reorganisation INTEGRATION of British Airways' management is now due to be "fully effective" by March 31, rather than by January 1 as expected in Novem- berc. The announcement of the new departmental organisations in British Airways also clarifies some details of the new Commercial Operations department. Commercial Operations will be headed by Mr Ross Stainton, who will be deputy chairman (together with Mr Henry Marking) rather than a director as was planned in November. Mr Roy Watts, former head of European Division, is director of Commercial Operations. Reporting to the Com mercial Operations heads is Mr Basil Bampfylde, current deputy chief executive of Overseas Division, who now becomes controller of route divisions. British Airways' operations will now be divided geographically under general managers reporting to Mr Bampfylde. Six route general managers are to be appointed. The former Western, Southern and Eastern divisions of the Overseas net work are retained, and the European and Regional networks are divided into three parts. European Division planning director Mr Stephen Hans- combe becomes general manager for the UK and Ireland, and European Division corporate planning manager Mr Ron Green takes over West and South Europe. Mr Jim Scarlett takes over North and East Europe. Concorde operations acquire a LEAD LINES Ag-Cat: new engine offered Australia: defence plans 8 15 Next week We look at the reasons why the Boeing 727 —the world's most successful airliner and now 14 years old—is selling better than ever, and review the flight-deck systems which have replaced the navigator. special status with the demise of the Overseas Division. Mr Gordon David son, currently Concorde director in OD, is to become co-ordinator Con corde in Commercial Operations and will be responsible directly to the department heads. Marketing director in the new structure is Mr Gerry Draper, former head of British Airways Travel Division. Mr Charles Stuart, now marketing director of the European Division, becomes head of tariffs and industry affairs, and reports to Draper. One significant appointment is that of Mr Bob Whitby as adviser on future aircraft; reporting to planning director Mr Alec Finlay. Whitby's current post is planning co-ordinator for the British Airways Group. Airline accidents AN AIRWEST Airlines Twin Otter on a flight from Victoria, British Columbia, to Vancouver crashed in the sea off Victoria on December 16. The 16 passengers and crew survived and were rescued by US Navy and US Coast Guard helicopters. • A Convair 880, N5865, owned by Batch-Air crashed on take-off from Miami for Santo Domingo on December 16. Two of the three crew were injured and 30 cattle aboard were killed. • Saudi Arabian 707 HZ-ACG was damaged in flight on November 25 when an engine disintegrated. 'Jane's" highlights growing Soviet power ONCE AGAIN the growing strength of the Soviet Air Forces is the keynote of the introduction to the latest edition of Jane's All the World's Air craft. Editor John W. R. Taylor warns not only of the threat to peace posed by the growing imbalance between East and West, but also of the dangers of complacency. "Any dismay felt by members of the Soviet Defence Ministry at having the MiG-25's secrets revealed," he notes, "must have been mitigated by the con clusions and reactions published in the USA." The dangers of com placency lie in the possibility that politicians anxious to trim budgets will seize on implied shortcomings in Soviet technology as an excuse for further defence cuts. The MiG-25, Taylor points out, is a 12-year-old aircraft; of Soviet air craft flown since 1967 only the Forger Vtol fighter has been seen at close range, and only the Sukhoi Su-19 and Tupolev Backfire have been reported. * Jane's Yearbooks, Paulton House, 8 Shepherdess Walk, London Nl 7LW; £25. Existing aircraft have been further improved; there are the MiG-23/27 Flogger series; multi-role develop ments of the MiG-21; and possibly uprated developments of the Foxbat itself, with the 31,0001b-thrust RD-F engines fitted to the record-breaking E-266M of 1975. Jane's reports that the MiG-25 flown to Japan in September by a defecting SovAF pilot had 24,5001b-thrust engines and was fitted to carry the new medium-range AA-7 Apex. This suggests that the more powerful engine may have been introduced at around the same time as the quartet of massive AA-6 Acrid missiles which has armed some MiG-25s since 1975. Jane's is still the indispensable work of reference it always has been, and it continues to be improved. The world's many home-built aircraft now have a separate and fascinating section to themselves. Hang-gliders are out this year, but will return when the FAI regulations are finalised. The entire edition has been reset, and metric measurements now precede Imperial.
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