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Aviation History
1978
1978 - 0432.PDF
756 FLIGHT International, 18 March I97B Export customers size up the A-10 AS the A-10 R&D programme draws to a close, three prospective customers have asked the US State Department for costing information. Pentagon officials have recommended that A-10 data be made available, but the requests are still being considered. Fairchild has now delivered 82 pro duction aircraft and is a month ahead of schedule. Present production rate is six per month, a figure which should rise to ten in April and thirteen per month by January 1980. Most of the development work now being done covers possible improve ments for the future. The effects on engine performance of gun firing, external fuel tanks, slat position and alternative locations of engine guide vane have been checked out. In no case was there any adverse effect, Fairchild claims. Tailhook and barrier-engagement trials at 150-160kt and up to 50,0001b gross have shown that a hook would be of limited value. Hooks will not therefore be fitted to production air craft. Flare and chaff dispensers have been installed in the wingtips and aft ends of the undercarriage pods of a test aircraft. Ground trials have been completed and air tests are under way. Electrical discharges can be a hazard when any aircraft is being fuelled. A programme to investigate discharges from the A-10 has now been successfully completed. Some of the planned modifications are intended to help the pilot during attacks. Two modified stability aug mentation systems have been competi tively tested, and a winner has been chosen for installation on production A-lOs. This should make target track ing easier, faster and more accurate during a curved approach. An optical coating has been applied to the HUD to> give better visibility at night. The entire unit has also been repositioned to provide a better field of view. Preparations' are being made to con tinue the airframe extended-life pro gramme. So far the second fatigue lifetime has been exceeded by l,740hr. While the manufacturer presses ahead with these tests, the USAF continues to work up with the type. Earlier this year the 356th Tactical Fighter Squadron, based at Myrtle Beach AFB, North Carolina, passed its first operational readiness inspec tion. This puts the squadron through its paces, checking its ability to deploy and redeploy as required, fly opera tional missions at a high sortie rate, and cope with hostile F-4s. The 356th is the first combat-ready A-10 unit. British Army to publish Gazelle crash findings BRITISH Army HQ in Northern Ireland is to publish the results of an investigation into the crash of a Gazelle close to the border in South Armagh last month. This is not nor mal practice, and follows an IRA claim that the Army Air Corps helicopter was shot down by one of its units equipped with the newly acquired American M-60 belt-fed machine gun and what were described as "specially developed magnetic bullets designed for use against aerial targets." The fast-firing M-60 could indeed be effective against helicopters, but magnetic bullets are better left to low-grade science fiction. The trajec tory of bullets made from even the most powerful magnetic alloys would be virtually the same as that of ordi nary ammunition, given the muzzle velocity of the M-60 or any other machine gun. The crash came some minutes after an exchange of rifle fire between troops and IRA men close to the village of Jonesboro. The main eye witnesses are a group of Irish Repub lic policemen who saw the crash from a few hundred yards south of the border. According to reports, there was no shooting going on when the Gazelle, which had been scrambled to the inci dent, struck the ground after what looked like a sharp pull-up. The pilot and an officer of the 2nd Battalion Royal Green Jackets survived, but battalion CO Lt Col CordenrLloyd was killed. The two survivors are the only Army witnesses. Although the Army says that a board of inquiry at RAF Aldergrove has not yet reported, the investigators are understood to have ruled out the possibility that the Gazelle was shot down. Investigations are apparently centred on a structural or dynamic failure after a beyond - limits manoeuvre. The first of ten P-3C Orions for the Royal Australian Air Force flies over the Pacific on a training flight from Moffett Field, Calif W§t^iUfml^^^^^i^f§9§ 111 •'Tf Ills BMHH Indian defences improved SA-3 Goa surface-to-air missiles are now in service with the Indian Air Force, supplementing the earlier SA-2 Guideline. They are reported to carry the Indian designation Pichora. The Indian Navy has mounted Styx anti- ship missiles on the Whitby-class frigate Trishul. Sister ship Talwar was modified some time ago. The missiles were probably obtained from decom missioned Osa-class fast patrol boats, though at least four Osa lis remain operational. 'Local press reports continue to sug gest that the army has taken delivery of ZSU-23-4 Shilka self-propelled anti aircraft guns, but this has yet to be confirmed. While government teams shop around in Europe for new strike air craft, licence production of the MiG-21 is reported to be falling behind schedule. Only 15 aircraft were de livered in the first year of MiG-21M production, and a batch of 50 MiG- 21PFMAs was bought from the Soviet Union to equip two squadrons. A pro duction rate of 30 per year is ex pected when the programme switches to a later model, but so far only about 10 or 15 MiG-21Ms are built each year, one source suggests. India's latest defence budget shows a modest increase of about seven per cent over the previous year's esti mates. Total spending will be Rs32,930 million ($4,060 million), the air force share of which is Rs5,860 million ($723 million). More than half the budget is allocated to India's 900,000-strong army. Air force spending accounts for only 17-8 per cent of the total. Although increased by Rs200 million ($24-7 million), the IAF share has fallen slightly as a percentage of the total. ItlliiBBilfil
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