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Aviation History
1978
1978 - 0787.PDF
FLIGHT International. 13 May 1978 What's new Sperry Flight Systems (PO Box 2111, Phoenix, Arizona 85036) is to add a 30,000ft2 extension to its avionics divi sion's manufacturing and engineering factory. The new building, which will increase working area by almost 40 per cent, has been necessitated by the selection of Sperry autopilots or flight directors for the Challenger, Gulf- stream III, Citation and Bell 222. The avionics division currently employs 400 people in Phoenix and expects to increase this to 700 over the next four years. GQ Parachutes, a member of the RDF Group (Godalming, Surrey), has acquired all the shares of Security Parachutes (San Leandro, California). The American company, which has produced parachutes for over 40 years, will be renamed GQ-Security Para chutes. Howell Instruments (3479 West Vickery Boulevard, Fort Worth, Texas 76107) has introduced a test set which analyses the operation of auto matic-start controllers in helicopter auxiliary power units (APUs). The unit simulates temperature and speed signals for a normal start sequence so that APU start-up can be checked without having to run the engine. Steps in the start cycle can be monitored with annunciator lamps and timed by a built-in clock. The opera tion of automatic-shutdown equipment such as high engine temperature and high or low oil-pressure sensors can also be checked. Vought Corporation (PO Box 5907, Dallas, Texas 75222) has successfully demonstrated a 30mm gun pod mounted on the inboard wing pylon of an A-7. The installation used an Oerlikon KCA gun mounted in a Hughes Model 34 pod. The gun can be operated simultaneously with the internally mounted 20mm armament. Pilots report no noticeable yaw dis turbances during short bursts, and an easily corrected effect during long bursts, with very little vibration. The installation is capable of firing 1,350 rounds a minute. Ferranti Ltd (Hollinwood, Lancashire OL9 7JS) has announced the forma tion of three new companies to take on the roles of existing divisions. Ferranti Computer Systems will be based at Bracknell. Ferranti Instru mentation will have its headquarters at Moston, Manchester, and Ferranti Electronics will be based at Gem Mill, Chadderton, Manchester. Teleflex (155 South Limerick Road, Limerick, Pa 19468) has announced an engine - component coating process which has demonstrated a 0-82 per cent s.f.c. improvement during airline trials. Under the Teleflex 5375 pro cess, an aqueous aluminium-ceramic slurry is sprayed and thermally cured on to compressor blades. Improved smoothness over newly manufac tured plain blades and refurbished components—average roughnesses of less than 22 microinches are achieved —reduces flow disturbances in the compressor. During 1977 the company conducted trials on 21 JT8D engines installed in Northwest Orient Boeing 727s, and achieved almost a one per cent fuel saving—equivalent to 1-7 million gallons over one year's opera tion of the airline's 65 aircraft. The process can be used on almost any axial-flow compressor engine and has been demonstrated on both the JT8D and JT3D. Who's selling what Vought Corporation (PO Box 5907, Dallas, Texas 75222) has been awarded a $5 million contract by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for five Scout launch vehicles. Nasa has already bought 107 Scouts, of which 97 have been used to launch payloads from Wallops Island, Vandenberg AFB and the San Marco platform off the east coast of Kenya. First Scout launch was in July 1960. Dowty Fuel Systems (Gloucester Road, Cheltenham, England) is to supply £1 million-worth of Rolls-Royce Spey engine accessory test equipment to the People's Republic of China. In 1975 the UK concluded an agreement covering the licensed manufacture of accessories by China. Westinghouse (Westinghouse Build ing, Pittsburgh, Pa 15222) has been awarded a $4-9 million contract for the supply of television camera tubes for use in USAF Boeing B-52s. More than 400 tubes are to be delivered during the second quarter of 1979. They will present day and night forward-vision scenes to the B-52 crews. Fisld Aviation Ltd (12 Imperial Way, Croydon CR9 4LE) has been author ised to service and repair ground- proximity warning systems made by Sundstrand Data Control. 1461 Marconi Space and Defence Systems (Hillend, Dunfermline, Fife) is to build a Lynx helicopter simulator for the Army Air Corps. The simulator will be used for pre-flight check and flight procedure training. The com pany is also supplying the AAC with a Gazelle simulator. PPG Industries (One Gateway Centre, Pittsburgh, Pa 15222) has replaced 100ft of a 180ft-high metal mast near Chicago O'Hare airport with glass- reinforced plastic components. The non-metallic portion, which rests on a 40ft-high metal base similar in length to the top, metal section, was adopted to prevent distortion of radiation emitted by nearby radar stations which serve the airport. The plastic half of the mast is made of oval-section tubes with ^in-thick walls, a layout which is said to reduce radar beam-scattering. The material is 70 per cent glass-fibre, and tubes have been tested at loads of 90,0001b. The lOOft-long portion is made of 5ft sec tions which were assembled into five sub-units before shipment to the site. Reinforced plastic bolts and threaded rods which were machined from glass-fibre / epoxy mats hold the assembly together. Outstanding im provements in radar performance have been claimed. CAE Electronics (Royal Bank Plaza, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2J1) has been selected by Swissair to produce a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-80 simulator. The unit will have a six-degrees-of- freedom motion system with 2-5m hydrostatic actuators and a DEC VAX 11/780 main computer. Although the visual system has not been specified, it will probably be of the computer- generated-image type with side- window displays. Swissair already owns four CAE-manufactured flight simulators. Who's where Rolls-Royce and the Arab Organisa tion for Industrialisation have estab lished a new company, the Arab British Engine Company. F. T. Salt has been appointed vice-chairman, R. H. H. Nellist is a director and A. H. Harvey-Bailie is managing director. James Woolnough has been appointed vice-president international for Vought Corporation. Four new directors—Donald S. Mac- donald, Robert L. Johnson, James T. McMillan and John T. Sant—have been added to the McDonnell Douglas Corporation board, which has ex panded to 16 members. Douglas N. Kendall has been appoin ted chairman of de Havilland Aircraft Canada. He succeeds Dr J. Herbert Smith, who has resigned after acting as chairman for four years.
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