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Aviation History
1985
1985 - 0544.PDF
WORLD NEWS Fairchild rolls out T-46A trainer FARMINGDALE A choir, a prayer, dry-ice clouds, and coloured lights heralded the unveiling of Fair- child's T-46A next-generation basic trainer for the US Air Force, reports Graham Warwick. The development aircraft, rolled out on February 11, is scheduled to fly in late April or early May at Edwards Air Force Base, California. A sec ond flight-test T-46 will be ready to fly in July, says Fair- child. The T-46A, with side-by- side seating, pressurised cock pit, and twin turbofans, will replace the turbojet-powered, unpressurised Cessna T-37. Production deliveries start in 1986, and training will begin in January 1988. The US Air Force plans to buy 650 T-46s, and has ordered the first ten for $58 million. A further 33 will be ordered this year. Production will peak at 12 aircraft a month in 1989, says Fairchild, and will continue through 1992. The pressurised T-46 will be able to operate at up to 42,500ft, more than twice as high as the unpressurised T-37, enabling the new trainer to climb above inclem ent weather. The Air Force currently loses 20 per cent of T-37 sorties to weather and other aircraft shortcomings. Fairchild will guarantee 90 [ per cent availability of the T-46. The T-46 is designed for a 20.000hr, 25-year life, and Fairchild will guarantee the airframe structure for 10,000hr or ten years. The development programme in cludes static and durability test airframes. The Garrett F109 turbofan is also covered by manufacturers' warranties, and is the first US engine to undergo accelerated mission testing before flight. Once in USAF service the T-46 will be used for 75hr of the 189hr training syllabus to wings standard. The pro gramme also includes updating of 44 T-37 simu lators to T-46 standard. Reflectone has received a con tract for 24 simulator updates to be operational from Sep tember 1987. The first of two T-46A development flight-test aircraft is unveiled. The twin-turbofan basic trainer is to fly in late April or early May, and deliveries of up to 650 aircraft to the US Air Force are to begin in 1986 Record profit for BCal LONDON British Caledonian Airways has announced a record £15-5 million profit in its financial year ending October 31, 1984, a substantial improvement over the £3-2 million profit recorded for the previous year. A total 2 • 1 million passengers was carried last year. The Caledonian Aviation Group, incorporating trie air line and its five subsidiary companies including BCal Helicopters and Caledonian Airmotive, turned in an over all £15-4 million pretax result, its highest-ever annual profit for the year. This com pares with a £3-3 million profit in 1983. BCal chairman Sir Adam Thomson said that the air line's profits had been achieved despite setbacks caused by political problems in Nigeria and Libya. "This year, with its new routes to Saudi Arabia and New York, BCal is forecasting even higher results," he says. 9 Even though a US Adminis trative Law Judge has recommended that Con tinental be awarded the Houston-London route (see page 4), British Caledonian insists that the decision is not final. "Pan American still has some fighting to do," it stresses. BCal is Con tinental's general sales agent in London, and it would not like to see the airline as a direct competitor on the London-Houston route. It has competed with Pan Am before and would prefer to see the established US carrier on the Turmoil in Dornier management MUNICH ~ Two top members of Dor mer's managing committee have been dismissed without notice. Chairman Dr Manfred Fischer had been in office since September 1 last year, and committee member Dr Karl-Wilhelm Schaefer had held his position for 14 years. Our West German corres pondent says that the key per son in the current turmoil is Justus Dornier, who, along with two other members of the Dornier family, holds the majority of shares in the com pany. Justus was blamed for the unexpected resignation last year of the former chair man, Dr Bernhard Schmidt. The new managing committee chairman is Rainer Hainich, hitherto in charge of aircraft marketing. Government officials in Bonn have expressed serious concern over the develop ments, since Dornier is seen as a necessary competitor to the bigger MBB. Dornier's annual results are out in July. A spokesman for the company says that the fig ures are expected to show that the company is "in the black". New records for Concorde SYDNEY A British Airways Concorde set unconfirmed world records for the outward and return London-to-Sydney, flights last week despite an 80min unscheduled stop in Paris on the return leg. BA senior pilot Capt John Eames landed at Paris after encountering "exceptionally strong" headwinds on the Bahrain-London sector. But the time of the return flight, 20hr 20min 25sec easily shat tered the official record. The outward journey of 17hr 3min was 6shr less than the fastest subsonic times. FLIGHT International, 23 February 1985
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