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Aviation History
1978
1978 - 2753.PDF
1683 Polished steel indicates the heated parts of the Astafan intake. Fan blades are seen rotated to the fully coarse position runway centreline to less than lOOdB, says. Turbo- meca. The twin Marbore installation of the production Fouga Magister reached almost 115dB on the same measurement. Add such a gain to a cruising fuel con sumption of a miserly 0-361b/lb-thrust/hr and the poten tial benefits of the design are obvious. The centre fuselage is outlined by the different heat-treatment colours in this illustration of the seventh production aircraft. The windscreen has been offered for assembly after installation of the forward fuselage and instrumentation module of our visit. It is at the other end of the light aircraft spectrum—private-owner touring or business travel—that Socata has recognised the inability of the Rallye to com pete. Socata has come up with the TB.10 to stay in that end of the business. From parts visible along the production line we deduced that Socata has laid down an initial batch of at least 24 TB.10s in readiness for demonstrations throughout Europe. At least five aircraft have been involved in flight or ground tests, and type certification should not be long delayed. First examples of the TB.10 have five seats, a fixed undercarriage, and are powered by the four-cylinder 180 gives us Vxo (217kt) at 4,000ft in ISA plus 16°C. Engine response is very good, and the power is quite enough to generate a healthy kick in the back if a handful of levers is advanced fast. Caution is necessary when taking off power because the fan can easily be brought back into the discing range. One attraction of the fan when com pared with the propeller is that the complexity of flight- fine and ground-fine pitch stops can be dispensed with. One simple stop—the Minivol—prevents accidental excur sions into reverse pitch. Turbine temperatures, having reached only 485°C on take-off, remained low throughout our short flight. The limit-speed level check recorded 500°C at one point, but otherwise the 350°C-450°C range seemed to cover all cases. At the heart of the fuel-control system is the thermic-load limiter. This acts as a constant-speed unit, adjusting the fan-blade pitch hydraulically to keep the turbine-inlet temperature within close limits. The Astafan II series will enter service with 750hr life between overhauls. Turbomeca expects this interval to be extended quickly as experience of the engine is gained. The Astazou XVI, flat rated for use by Sierra Pacific Air lines and other American Jetstream operators, is up to l,800hr TBO, which augurs well for the fan. No civil applications are foreseen for the Astafan in the immediate future. One designer who was enthusiastic about the engine was the late Ted Smith, who had plans for a fan-powered Aerostar. Now that Aerostar is a division of Piper, further de velopment along these lines is unlikely. The engines remain on offer, however, and are clearly competitive in the vital areas of fuel consumption and noise emission. Planned sound proofing of the Astafan II in the Fouga 90 will reduce sideline noise measured 100m from the Socata prepares for TB.10 launch SEVERAL important French aeronautical names have hung over the door of the Socata plant at Tarbes, Ossun. Once a Dewoitine overspill factory, it was later to be occupied by Morane Saulnier; managed by Potez; absorbed within Sud Aviation; and finally included in the amalgama tion that created Aerospatiale. To most people Tarbes is synonymous with light aviation, but the factory has a wide remit nowadays. Only about a quarter of the 880-strong labour force is directly concerned with designing, building and selling the Rallye line. Programmes include the manufacture of major heli copter sub-assemblies. The whole Ecureuil lower fuselage and tailboom is built there, as is the top decking and intake unit for the Puma. The Puma work is logical because these are large plastic items which the factory is especially well equipped to handle. Parts for Dassault were also much in evidence when we paid a visit recently. Rear fuselages, including the lower part of the fin, are assembled for Falcon 10s and 20s. Smaller, more specialised, assemblies are supplied for the Alpha Jet and Mirage. Complete aeroplanes, to wheel out of the door and fly, are confined to Rallyes for the time being, but the. TB.10 is beginning to take up floor space and there will be a healthy number available for the forthcoming launch. Rallyes have been successful. More than 3,000 have gone to customers, and production is still continuing at a rate exceeding 200/year. But the Rallye has to compete in a demanding market. The versatility, which was so promis ing when it came on the market 18 years ago, is no longer enough to generate world-wide sales. The Rallye image is of a training aircraft, having excep tional slow-flying characteristics and thus particularly safe near the stall. These attributes have encouraged Socata to move into agricultural aviation and a batch of the 235 h.p. Ag Rallyes was being produced at the time
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