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Aviation History
1985
1985 - 3313.PDF
WORLD NEWS Dassault rolls out Rafale ST CLOUD To the strains of Richard Strauss' "Thus Spake Zarathustra", Avions Marcel Dassault-Breguet Aviation rolled out the prototype Rafale at its St Cloud factory on December 14, reports Gilbert Sedbon. "It's a beautiful aircraft, there is nothing like it in the world today," Marcel Dass ault said to Flight. When asked if the Rafale will stay totally French or become European, 93-year-old M. Dassault told Flight: "Neither French nor European, but a universal aircraft". Within a few hours of the roll-out the Rafale was dismantled and ferried to the Istres flight-test centre in southern France for ground runs and vibration tests before its maiden flight, scheduled for next June. This is some six months ahead of the December 31, 1986, first- flight date scheduled in May 1983. The prototype, which Dassault says will be flying at next year's Farnborough Show, is powered by two General Electric F404s, but present plans are for in- service variants to have Snecma M88s. US Secretary of Defence Caspar Weinberger has offered industrial collabo ration on Rafale, and Snecma is "seriously considering" full collaboration with General Electric on Rafale's engines, saying that "nothing is excluded". Dassault technical director Bruno Revellin- Falcoz is cautious: "The United States' proposition needs to be analysed, but with a lot of care". Meanwhile, Rafale's F404s have demon strated nominal thrust, and exhaust temperatures of 1,800°K on bench runs. Revellin-Falcoz released some details of Rafale's projected performance. The aircraft has an empty weight of 9 • 5 tonnes and a wing area of 47m2. The Active Gener alised Control digital fly-by- wire control system will give carefree handling at high angles-of-attack for air com bat, plus an anti-turbulence function for low-level, high speed penetration, and thrust/drag control for approach and landing. "Rafale will be capable of 800kt near the ground and will manoeuvre at continuous g loads higher than 6g at tran sonic speed at 20,000ft or 9g at low altitude." FLIGHT mnrmNATioNAi NEXT WEEK On the eve of the Asian Aerospace Show in Singa pore, Flight takes a closer look at Far East aerospace. Japan's three major carri ers are preparing for a shake-up in the world's third largest domestic mar ket. Chris Birkett reports on the future of Japan's deregulated market. Private investors are eager to acquire a stake in Asian carriers. P. T. Bangsberg assesses the recent spate of flotations. China plans to double its airline traffic and fleet in the next five years. Peter Middleton investigates. Why does Australia regu late its air transport indus try so carefully? Will it continue to do so, and does anyone benefit? Stanley Brogden provides the answers. The Australian aerospace industry's programmes, problems, and plans for the future are reviewed by Simon Beavis. A thriving avionics retro fit market centres on Northrop's ubiquitous F-5. Graham Warwick looks at the choices available. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 21/28 December 1985
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