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Aviation History
1982
1982 - 1698.PDF
PROPULSION Thrifty Dart launched DERBY A new version of the Dart, Rolls-Royce's long-lived tur boprop, has been launched. Fuel burn is cut by 8 per cent, which, on a short- haul operation with a typical 100 n.m. stage length, will cut fuel bills by about £29,000 a year per aircraft. The Mk551, which pro duces 2,330 e.h.p., was offered to British Aerospace and Fokker after the BAe 748 and F.27 manufacturers had discussed with R-R (at the 1981 Paris airshow) -an interim engine called the Mk538. This offered a 5 per cent improvement on s.f.c, but both BAe and Fokker decided to wait until the better Dart was avail able. The Mk551, which incor porates a redesigned impel ler, along with a better tur bine and higher efficiency combustors, will be certifi cated by the end of 1983 following first demonstator tests in September. It will see airline service in early 1984. A redesigned hushkit, based on that already intro duced on the current Dart, will be fitted as standard to suit the higher airflow of the uprated engine. Rolls-Royce says that all changes made to the Dart have been achieved without increasing its dimensions or adding significantly to its weight. The improvements will see the Dart to the end of this century, by which time it will have been in ser vice a respectable 50 years. Italy promotes new turboprop NAPLES ~ Alfa Romeo's new low-cost turboprop, the AR.318, has exceeded its specifications in tests and looks set to find several applications besides the Partenavia P.78, for which it has already been J 60S II •i mm JW$ r • 5JB k mmm Two versions of the Normalair-Garrett WAM-342 are produced, a three-main-bearing model with a reduction gearbox (foreground) and a two-bearing version with direct drive chosen. Certification of the 600 s.h.p. AR.318 (the first all-Italian turbine engine) is due next summer. Other applications in the pipeline include alternative power for the Pilatus PC-7 turbo trainer, currently engined with a Pratt & Whit ney PT6A, and on Siai Marchetti's Cormorano S.700, the amphibious version of the Canguro SF.600. Alfa Romeo is also having discus sions with "a US company which builds piston engines" on licence manufacture, supply, and maintenance of AR.318s. The AR.318 has now com pleted some 130hr flight testing aboard the com pany's Beech King Air. Eleven prototypes have been built to date and ten more are planned for this year. Four engines will be flying by the end of 1982. With its single centrifugal compressor, reverse flow annular combustion cham ber, and two uncooled tur bine stages, the AR.318 is very simple, but it promises to be rugged and economical to run and maintain. The configuration also means that it is short, and features such as integrally cast turbines will keep the weight to a minimum. An aerobatic ver sion is also under develop ment. General Electric reshuffles management OHIO General Electric has re organised the management of its aero-engine business into two separate but inter dependent parts. Brian Rowe, GE's senior vice-president, says that the reshuffle is to help cope with the oppor tunities and demands of the future. Rowe has split engineer ing and management into military and small commer cial engines, to be headed by James Krebs and based at Lynn, Massachusetts, and civil and military tranport engines, now placed under Harry Stonecipher and based at Evendale, Ohio. An ad vanced technology opera tions section has been formed to serve all projects. The reorganisation will not affect the geographical loca- cations of engine manufac ture. Engines built at Even- dale include the CF6-50, CF6-80, and CFM56, while Lynn is the home of the new CT-7 turboprop, its military counterpart the T700, and the F404 fighter engine. Normalair-Garrett builds up engine production This year's expected produc tion of 1,500 Normalair- Garrett WAM-342 25-5 b.h.p. engines is spoken for by US microlight manufacturers. Production rate could be 400 a month by May, 1983. Other potential applications include remotely - piloted vehicles, for which higher ratings are available. NGL tells Flight that all but one of the 18 major microlight producers have purchased trial engines, and the com pany claims that the power- to-weight ratio is twice as good as that of other engines on the market. RB-199 deliveries MTU plans to deliver 21 RB- 199 Tornado engines a month, compared with the production rate of 22 to 24 envisioned earlier. This is due to the stretched Tornado procurement programme in Genrmany. For the PW2037 MTU has already delivered three out of 13 sets of the low pressure turbine for the test units. FLIGHT International, 19 June 1982
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