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Aviation History
1980
1980 - 3254.PDF
FLIGHT International, 25 October 1980 advantage of existing types or deriva- ? tives through improved fuel efficiency. The fuselage cross-section of 12ft k 10-33in (3-92m) has been chosen to offer , higher comfort standards than any air craft based on an existing design, j Partnership in SA development and production has been offered to Japan, • and were the aircraft to be supported by the Japanese industry and market under the YXX programme Airbus ^ would have very strong grounds for going ahead with it. However, at the *• present time it appears that Fokker is more likely to be selected as a partner r by Japan. Alternatively, the launch of ^ the SA series could provide the oppor- l tunity for increased partnership by <i British Aerospace, which of all the partners has taken most interest in the i narrowbody market. It has been sug gested that assembly and flight-test * facilities for the SA would not neces sarily have to be located at Toulouse, and the possibility that SA development could be managed from Filton, for instance, may be attractive to BAe. t However, the crucial question facing the SA programme is whether such an 4 aircraft can compete against the attrac tions of aircraft such as the 737-300. ». There is also the fairly high probability that the Fokker F.29 will go ahead, A further dividing the market. Of all three Airbus new aircraft options, the l SA is probably the most sensitive to timing; the need to decide fairly soon whether to participate in the narrow- body market will probably set the timing for Airbus Industrie's choice ) among the SA, TA9 and TAIL Airship Industries 1 6 Meadows Court, Ramsey, Isle of Man, United Kingdom ST (0624) 814194 Skyship R40 British development efforts in the design of new-technology J airships have been brought together i under the Airship Industries banner f ol- i lowing the takeover by Thermo-Skyships Ltd of Airship Developments Ltd, which i flight-tested the AD500 non-rigid sur veillance airship before failing finan-1 daily early this year. <; In July, Airship Industries announced ambitious plans to start construction of * a 4-2 million ft3 freight-carrying rigid airship in early 1982. Redcoat Cargo Air- * lines—a small Gatwick-based carrier— / has signed an agreement to purchase four of these craft, designated Skyship * R40, by 1984. Redcoat plans to operate an updated version of the AD500, desig nated NR2, in the course of 1981. + Development of the Skyship R40 is currently being supported by European Ferries Ltd, but the organisation is now seeking help from a number of Euro pean governments. Details of the * design released so far show a hull form similar to that of the Vickers-designed k R.100 of 1930, the 600ft (182-9m) length and 120ft (36-6m) diameter yielding a rather lower fineness ratio than used , in large US or German airships. How ever, the X-form fins, spanning 168ft x (51 • 2m) from tip to tip, are of higher aspect ratio. Powerplants are four 1,120 * s.h.p. Pratt & Whitney Aircraft of Canada PT6A-50 turboprops driving con ventional tractor propellers. A 37,755ft3 (1,070m3) cargo hold is built into the keel. At oil prices prevailing before the Gulf War, the Skyship R40 was claimed to offer ton-mile costs 29 per cent be low narrowbodied jet aircraft. Payload would range from 40 to 58 tons (40,600kg to 58,900kg) and maximum range would be 2,170 n.m. (4,025km) with a 40-ton load at a 67kt (119km/hr) cruising speed. Development of the Skyship R40 will depend on the availability of substan tially more money for the project. By the time the next issue of this survey is prepared, the future of the project should be clearer. Antonov Aviaexport, 32-34 Smolenskaya-Sennaja, Moscow 121-200, USSR S 244 26 86 -at> 7257 An-24/26 30 The An-26 twin-turboprop- plus-booster, civil/military freighter and its An-30 survey derivative are now the main export models of the standard Soviet twin. The type is also reported to be in unlicenced production in China. The initial An-24V Series 1 is now out of production. The An-24V Series 2, with water injection, may continue in produc tion but there are no active sales efforts in progress. The An-26 and An-30, how ever, have been demonstrated at recent Western airshows. In 1979 an An-24RV (standard airliner with jet boost) was shown with new eight-bladed propel lers, designed to reduce cabin noise. An-24/An-26/An-30 orders: Aeroflot 700, Air Guinea 4, Air Mali 2, Air Mongol 5, Balkan Bulgarian 8, CAAC 2, Cubana 10, Interflug 7, Iraqi Airways 2, Lebanese Air Transport 1, Lina Congo 2, LOT 17, Tarom 20, Egyptair 9. An-32 Although this substantially up rated version of the standard An-26, first displayed in June 1977 at the Paris Salon, clearly has a military application, it will also be used by Aeroflot for "up- country" operations. It has been selected by the Indian Air Force, and will be placed in production by HAL. The An-32 has nearly twice the basic power of the An-26, being fitted with 5,180 s.h.p. Ivchenko Al-20Ms, but at 57,3001b (26,000kg) grosses only two tonnes more for take-off. The engines are mounted overwing, allowing the bigger propellers to clear the fuselage while retaining the existing wing and engine mountings. The An-32 is now the main production version of the Antonov twin family, and assembly lines have been set up at Kiev and Ulan Ude. Production aircraft differ from examples seen in the West in having leading-edge chord extensions and fixed tailplane slots. The extra power mainly benefits hot- and-high operations. According to Avia export, the An-32 can be operated out of 15,000ft-high airfields in ISA + 10°C conditions. The engine-out ceiling of the An-32 is increased to 16,400ft (5,000m), allowing safe operation in mountainous areas. An-72 Two prototypes of this light short-field transport are being tested before any decision is made on produc- 1579 tion. In the long term, the type is envisaged as a replacement for the An-24 series, suggesting that an airliner version will be developed. At the time of the Paris Air Show in June 1979, the two prototypes had logged more than 300 flights totalling l,000hr. Avoidance of foreign-object damage and noise reduction are the stated aims of the overwing engine mounting of the An-72, although their installation is clearly designed to make use of jet deflection on the Coanda principle. A considerable amount of equipment common to the Yakovlev Yak-42 is used, including the Lotarev D-36 engines and the radar and navigation system. A three-man crew is carried. The cabin is fitted with an overhead traversing crane, like that of most Soviet freighters. Seats can either be installed along the cabin sides or on pallets. Passenger capacity of the present aircraft would be around 40 The An-72 weighs some 76,2001b for take-off from a 4,000ft runway, and can depart from a 3,300ft runway at 58,4001b. Maximum payload is 16,5001b, and this can be carried for 540 n.m. at Mach 0-7. An-40 Nothing has been heard recently of this large freighter, intended as a replacement for the An-22. It is to be presumed that the Soviet Union is developing a large high-bypass-ratio en gine, but so far efforts in this direction have been fruitless and frustrated by the refusal of the West to agree to export such engines. Boeing Boeing Commercial Airplane Company, PO Box 3707, Seattle, Washington 98124, USA ffi (206) 237 2121 ^ 32 94 30 Boeing Vertol Company (234 only) PO Box 16858, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19142, USA S> (215) 522 2121 234 Commercial Chinook The first Boeing 234 Commercial Chinook made its maiden flight from Philadelphia on August 19, commencing a flight-test and certification programme in the USA and Britain. The first aircraft should be delivered to British Airways in Decem ber, but the airline does not plan to start commercial operations until the beginning of July, the first half of 1981 being spent in proving the aircraft for the demanding conditions of North Sea service. The past year has been a time of mixed fortunes for the Chinook. Bristow Helicopters and Helikopter Service both placed orders for the aircraft, and later cancelled them. The main reason for the cancellation, quoted publicly by both operators, was dissatisfaction with the expected trend of performance and reliability improvements on the Chinook. However, British Airways Helicopters remains firmly behind the Chinook, and it is recalled that it was BAH which pioneered commercial operations of the now very successful Sikorsky S-61N. Boeing Vertol expects to sell at least 75 Chinooks for North Sea oil-support operations in the next ten years, and high-side market forecasts suggest as many as 150 sales. The role of British Airways' Chinooks
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