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Aviation History
1984
1984 - 0904.PDF
WORLD NEWS Shorts and Embraer team up LONDON Brazilian-based Embraer and Short Brothers of the UK have signed an "umbrella" agreement to co-operate on joint projects. Development of the Tucano to meet the Royal Air Force's Air Staff Target (AST) 412 (Jet Provost trainer replace ment) is the first specific project to be handled by the alliance, but a joint working party has already been formed to look at possible collabo ration in a number of fields. The most likely option appears to be an advanced commuter aircraft, in the 40-seat category, to enter service in the 1990s. Although Embraer and Shorts have no plans at present to co-produce missiles such as Shorts' Javelin shoulder- launched SAM, they "will co operate on anything that makes commercial sense", say Shorts chairman Sir Philip Foreman and Ozires Silva, chairman of Embraer. Should the EMB.312 (which the consortium is now presenting to the Royal Air Force as the Shorts Tucano) be picked as the Jet Provost replacement, then it would be built in Belfast "100 per cent by Shorts, and providing around 600 new jobs", says Sir Philip. Other AST.412 contenders are the Australian AAC A.20 Wamira II, the NDN-1T Turbo-Firecracker, and the Pilatus PC-9. Pilatus has teamed with British Aero space to present the last- named aircraft. Falcon 900 rolls out BORDEAUX-MERIGNAC ~ To the strains of the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah, the new Dassault Falcon 900 business jet majestically rolled out on May 18, reports Gilbert Sedbon from Bordeaux- Merignac. Named The Spirit of Lafayette, the aircraft is scheduled to fly in the second half of September. French and US certification should follow in 1985, with deliveries in 1986. The Stars and Stripes and tricolor fluttered side-by-side in a westerly breeze as the $13-5 million (1983) trans atlantic business jet made its debut before a large crowd of French and American engineers, industrialists, bankers, and business leaders. Dassault chairman Beno Claude Vallieres says that production is under way. Some 54 operators are said to have made firm bookings and paid the $100,000 deposits. The Falcon 900 is powered bv three Garrett TFE731-5A turbofans. It is designed to cruise at Mach 0-75, and to have a range of 3,800 n.m. US distributor Falcon Jet says that it has signed up for 50 of the Falcon 900s. First American customer is New York real-estate dealer Peter Kalaco, according to Falcon Jet president Frank Wisekal. Airspur is "not a US » company LOS ANGELES According to the US Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) Airspur is not a US company because it is controlled by Westland, and therefore does not qualify for CAB operating authority. Airspur's main business is a W30 commuter network based at Los Angeles International Airport. US law states that 75 per cent of the company's stock must be owned by US citizens, and that the president and two-thirds of the company's Dassault rolled out the Falcon 900 last week. Investment in the programme will be FF2,000 million (27 per cent French Government). Sales target is given as 300, breaking even at 200 directors and managing offi cers must also be US citizens. Airspur meets these condi tions, but foreign involvement in US carriers has long been discouraged by the CAB. Judge John Vittone says "the board looks beyond the mere technical requirement to see if the foreign interest has power, either directly or indirectly, to influence the directors, officers, or stockholders". Jack Gallagher and his son Tim are the predominant officers in Airspur. Vittone says "the record shows that, aside from the Gallagher's investment of $1,000, all of Airspur's start-up capital and all of its operating capital (has been) provided by a foreign national. To date, that amounts to about $34 million, with Westland committed to another $15 million in the near future". Westland has not made any effort to be represented on Airspur's board, but the manufacturer's investment is "plainly indica tive of Westland's ability to control Airspur ...". Vittone rejects Airspur's contention that the Airspur/Westland agreement is just another example of a manufacturer helping a US carrier purchase its products, such as the Eastern Airlines/Airbus agreement. Vittone says "the two situations are not comparable ... because West- land is not only funding Airspur's purchase . .. but also its daily operations". Robert Gladwell, president and chief executive officer of Westland Inc, tells Flight "we don't agree with CAB judge Vittone's decision. We have no-one on Airspur's board of directors. Nothing we can do can influence the day-to-day running of the airline". Airspur has not yet responded to requests for comment, but it has been suggested that the company may accelerate the process of going public. This may nullify the judge's argument. But for the incident at Long Beach, when an Airspur W30 made a forced landing, Airspur may already have been public. Vittone's decision on Airspur will go before the CAB on June 10. A verbal hearing may be called. Airspur will continue to operate while the CAB works out a number of ways to eliminate what it sees as foreign control. A final decision is expected on August 8. 1378 FLIGHT International, 26 May 1984
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