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Aviation History
1982
1982 - 1872.PDF
INDUSTRY Garbon brakes for 757 COVENTRY Carbon brakes have broken into the subsonic-airliner market, with an initial Boeing order for 100 ship-sets to equip production 757s. Dun- lop has won the £60 million order—which includes eight wheels per aircraft—after a long competition with Ameri can brake companies. With Boeing options on units for another 200 757s. Dunlop claims that orders could eventually be worth £200 million including spares over 20 years, and that it is "one of the most significant penetrations of the US aero space market ever made by a British equipment sup plier." Initial customer will be influential Delta. The Boeing order could be the first step in the airline industry's long- term replacement of heavier steel brakes. The perform ance of Dunlop carbon brakes on Air France and British Airways Concordes is believed to have been a major factor in the selec tion of the British company. Ferranti independent again This month sees the dis appearance of "the last re maining traces" of the British Government's inter vention in the financial affairs of Ferranti arising from a crisis affecting its in dustrial non-aerospace pro ducts. Managing director Derek Alun-Jones says that this month's sale of UK Government shares is "the final signal of our emergence from the difficulties of the past into a major indepen dent electronic and defence company". Taking stock of future prospects, Alun-Jones speaks of significant new business resulting from the company's involvement in the Trident missile and the new SSK 2400 submarine, while this year has also seen important The Boeing 757 becomes the world's first subsonic airliner to have carbon brakes, with the manufacturer's order for 100 Dunlop units (this prototype has steel brakes). See story new contracts for Ferranti's Corned cockpit displays for the US Navy F-18 Hornet programme, and the helmet- pointing system for the British Army's Tracked Rapier. He picks out electro-optics equipment as showing much promise for "more effective ranging, aiming, target-mark ing and target-seeking", and reports that new facilities for optical - coating processing continue to be installed— "with more planned". Alun- Jones adds that the radars for EH101 (joint Westland- Agusta Sea King replace ment) and the UK PV figh'ter P.110 "are development pro grammes indicative of our long-term outlook, the basis being provided by the Sea- spray radar of the Lynx and Blue Fox of the Sea Harrier." Easily the biggest contribu tor to the group's trading profit are the largely aero space Scottish factories— £14 million out of a total of £24 million (both provisional figures). Group profit in the year ending March 31, 1962, is provisionally given as £21 • 5 million after tax on a turnover of £307 million. Racal reports Decca profitable Decca, taken over by Racal in 1980 after troubles with consumer products, contri buted £9'2 million to Racal Electronics' £103 million pro fit for the financial year end ing March 31, 1982. Decca sales rose 21 per cent to £187 million! during the year, swinging the company away from last year's £2J2 million loss. Defence business accounts for nearly 60 per cent of Bacal's £644 million total turnover—up from £26 mil lion ten years ago. The com pany has cash balances of £15 million, arousing specu lation about another avionics take-over bid. Northrop self- sufficiency documented Northrop last year invested $154 million in the private- venture F-5G Tigershark pro gramme, and this year "we expect investment to rise", says Thomas V. Jones, chair man and chief executive officer of the Northrop Cor poration. All expenditures are being written off as they are incurred, "as a result of which", says Jones, "our operating profits, which would otherwise be at con sistently strong levels, are being significantly reduced". The first F-5G flies in Sep tember, and Jones welcomes the US Government's inclu sion of the type in negotia tions with various countries. He regards the F-5G as con tinuing the tradition of the F-5 in "serving the mutual security interests of the United States and 28 other countries into the next cen tury". Jones says that anybody who bought 100 Northrop shares in 1971 for about $2,200 would, at the end of 1981, have had 391 shares worth $19,840. "Even after discounting for inflation [this means that] the value of your 100 shares has nearly quadrupled." Northrop's debt is about $24 million, with equity $507 million, "so we have a large unused borrowing capacity should we need it", says the chairman. In his view "an essential element of our operating philosophy and our performance is a continual modernisation and improve ment of our plant and equip ment to gain increased pro ductivity". Between 1971 and 1981 this investment in creased from $90 million to $490 million, so that produc tivity over the past decade has, he claims, been about 50 per cent better than the aerospace industry average. Sales during the decade more than tripled, while the number of employees doubled to today's 32,000. West German self-sufficiency advocated West Germany's aerospace industry must increase its financial contribution in future, and undertake further rationalisation measures, if it is to remain competitive. This is the message of the Third Report on the industry by Martin Griiner, secretary of state in the Ministry of Trade. National self - suffi ciency in aerospace is not realistic, says Griiner, but the industry should be more independent of the State. 128 FLIGHT International, 17 July 1982
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