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Aviation History
1983
1983 - 2190.PDF
WORLD NEWS FedEx orders Caravan TENNESSEE After protracted negotiations and repeated suggestions of an imminent announcement, Federal Express has ordered 30 Cessna Caravan I utility aircraft, as forecast in Flight (July 30). The Memphis- based small-package carrier has taken options on a further 70, Each will be "cargo- configured" and able to carry a specially developed 307ft1 underbelly pod. Federal Express will take its first Caravan I in late November/early December 1984, and will be among the first to receive the type, which is scheduled for certification in October. The carrier will have another aircraft almost immediately. These will be followed by two a month during the first six months of 1985, and three a month subsequently. The options cover 35 delivery positions in both 1986 and 1987. Aircraft acquisition-and- sales manager David Sutton tells Flight that FedEx looked at six types before selecting Caravan: all the others were twins. Caravan's lower initial purchase price and estimated cost of single-crew operations were two deciding factors. Caravan I will be used on FedEx's proposed system of "mini-hubs" being formed to expand its network of eight major cities, feeding overnight packages across the country through the Memphis central clearing house (Flight, Nov ember 5). The operator's 12-month evaluation pro gramme with four leased Cessna 402 freighters began three weeks ago and FedEx is "very happy" so far. Services are operating between San Angelo and San Antonio in Texas, and Duluth and Minneapolis. Further services will be added. Federal Express is inter ested in a stretched Caravan I; the current model "cubes out before it weighs out". Negotiations have gone on for almost two years, and no doubt both sides feel that they have an acceptable agree ment. The more FedEx exam ined its mini-hub concept, the more it felt that two types were needed. Several tvpes with a 6,500/7,5001b payload are likely to be proposed to complement FedEx Caravans. # FedEx will continue to operate ten Dassault Falcons for at least another year. It has disposed of four to Ever green International and two have gone to Itek. The origi nal FedEx Falcon has been refurbished and placed in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. One aircraft is leased to Flight Systems at Mojave. California, and ten are stored at Miramar, Arizona. Eight of FedEx's 727-200s have been delivered. US Navy hits Syrian Sam sites BEIRUT United States Navy aircraft hit Syrian surface-to-air missile sites in the Bekaa Valley region of Lebanon on December 4. The 28-aircraft reprisal raid was launched early in the morning, after Syrian posi tions fired on US Navy photo- reconnaissance aircraft the previous day. During the raid one A-6 Intruder and an A-7 Corsair were shot down. The A-7 pilot, Cdr Ed Andrews, ejected safely and was recovered from the sea near Jounieh by a Lebanon Navy patrol boat. The A-6 pilot was killed and his injured bomb- adier was captured. Syria claims that three US aircraft were shot down. Flight understands that the strike was launched by Carrier Air Wing 3 from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. The usual composition of a mixed force or "Alpha" strike is E-2C Hawkeyes providing stand-off deep search, EA-6B Prowlers for stand-off jamming, and F-14 Tomcats for target combat air patrol. Defence suppression would be handled by A-7 Corsairs which specialise in "Iron Hand" anti-Sam/AAA radar strikes, while the A-6 Intruders are used to take out the missile launchers. Shortly after the strike, Syrian-backed Druze rebels bombarded US Marine Corps positions on Beirut Airport; eight Marines were killed. US Navy ships returned fire. # HMS Fearless has joined the naval forces off Lebanon. Flight understands that its Wessex and Commando heli copters will replace Royal Air Force Chinooks in Cyprus as backup for the British Army peacekeeping force in Beirut. As Columbia carries Spacelab 1 around the Earth, Nasa's third flightworthy Orbiter is being prepared for its space debut. Called Discov ery, the new Orbiter is the first to make extensive use of insulation blankets instead of white silica-foam tiles Piper loss continues LOCK HAVEN After a year in which it announced six new models. Piper has filed an operating loss of $38-5 million on aircraft sales worth some $140-1 million. This includes the supply of about 30 kits for T-35 Pillan aircraft (valued at about $4-5 million) to be assembled in Chile. A year ago, Piper incurred a $22-4 million loss on sales valued at $205 million. The previous 12-month period to September 30, 1981, saw the delivery of aircraft worth $382 million. Bangor Punta, which has owned Piper since 1977, has written off $54 • 7 million against "goodwill relating to Piper Aircraft" in its own accounts, which consequently show a loss of $64-6 million. The parent company made a $3 • 1 million profit a year ago. The decision to write off this sum is seen by Bangor chairman David Wallace as "prudent". Piper's loss "reflects the depressed state of the general-aviation industry". Last year's loss has combined with "an unexpectedly large loss this year, and our expectation (is) that Piper will report a loss in 1984, though not of this magnitude". The $54 million "non-cash charge to income is in keeping with our conservative accounting philosophy", Wallace says. Piper reports considerable interest in its Malibu six-seat pressurised single, of which three examples had been delivered by the end of Nov ember. It has sold almost all the units scheduled to be built in the current year. Develop ment of the Aerostar 700P and Cheyenne IV is continuing, with the first Cheyenne IVs set for delivery to customers in Mav or June 1984. Other Piper models in production for 1984 include Warrior, Archer, Dakota, Turbo Arrow IV, Seneca III, Saratoga turbocharged and SP variants, Chevenne IA. IIIA and IIXL, Navajo Chief tain, Mojave, T.1029 and T.1040. 1510 FLIGHT International, 10 December 1983
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