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Aviation History
1986
1986 - 0293.PDF
WORLD NEWS Fiat and Agusta talks disclosed ROME Fiat's managing director, Cesare Romiti, has given the first full account of nego tiations between his company and Agusta to join forces with Sikorsky to rescue troubled British helicopter manu facturer Westland. Currently Agusta is a member of the rival European consortium, which last week stepped up its efforts to block the Westland board's recom mendations that the Sikorsky /Fiat deal should be accepted (see page 11). Romiti's revelations follow an effective ban by the Italian Government on Agusta leav ing the European consortium and joining with Sikorsky and .Fiat. The Government has said that for political reasons it could not agree to Fiat's < offer of a place for Agusta in the Sikorsky/Fiat team. Despite this Romiti says "that Stefano Sandri, chair man of EFIM, the state hold ing company that owns some ~"97 per cent of Agusta, has since been in contact with , Fiat to ask for further talks. These talks have been offered after the shareholder's meet ing on February 12. Early last year Sandri asked Fiat and Agusta to discuss a possible tie-up, with Fiat taking up to a 40 per cent stake in Agusta. The matter was discussed again in September and Fiat was told that, if the deal went through, it could appoint the managing director of Agusta. A study group was set up to investigate the tie-up. Before the studies could begin, the Westland saga began in earnest, and Sikorsky approached Fiat to join in its rescue package for the crippled British company. Romiti then invited Agusta, via Efim chairman Sandri, to join the US/Italian rescue. A few days later Romiti learned "from the papers" that Agusta had joined the European consortium. Agusta chairman Teti then asked him if talks could continue with Fiat if the Sikorsky/Fiat deal triumphed. Romiti agreed. After the Sikorsky/Fiat deal was voted down by West- land shareholders on January 17, Romiti contacted Teti and Sandri again, this time through the Minister for State Participation, Senor Clelio Darida. Romiti offered Agusta a stake in the team, since turned down by the Govern ment. New airline to buy 146s LAS VEGAS ~ Royal West Airlines, a new Las Vegas-based carrier, has ordered three 91-seat BAe 146-100s for $50 million. For delivery in April and May, the aircraft will operate to Las Vegas from Los Angeles, Burbank and Ontario, Cali fornia, from mid-May. Presi dent Grant G. Murray sees a potential market in the large numbers of people who travel to the casino city by land transport at present. Half the capacity on each route will be sold in advance to tour operators; this will cover the direct operating costs, Murray says. The remaining seats will be sold conventionally. BAe says that Royal West is considering taking some 146-200s later this year. French order radar Pumas PARIS ~ The French Army has filled its requirement for a helicopter-borne battlefield surveillance radar by ordering 20 Super Pumas equipped with the Thomson-CSF Orchidee (Orchid) radar. Defence Minister Paul Quiles says that the 20 Pumas will enter service with the Aviation Legere de L'Armee de Terre in 1995. Orchidee has a retractable 360°-scan aerial mounted under the Super Puma's fuselage. The radar has a range of 150km at 10,000ft. Voyager succeeds PASADENA Nasa's Voyager mission to Uranus has been termed a "huge success" by the agency. The craft, now on its way to Neptune, returned excellent photographs of several plane tary moons, and discovered ten new moons and a tenth ring around the planet. The Uranian magnetic field was found to be twisted side ways to such an extent that what was thought to be the north pole was, in fact, facing south. The planetary atmo sphere proved to consist of 15 per cent helium—less than expected. The rest is mainly hydrogen. Highlight of the flyby was undoubtedly the close-up pictures of Uranus' moons (see pages 20-21). Voyager passed Miranda, the inner most moon, by just 29,000km, revealing a host of complex geological features. The craft was travelling at 72,000km/hr through a system whose sunlight level was 1/400th that received at Earth. This meant that exposures lasting 96sec were required, during which Voyager's cameras panned automatically to prevent image smear. Radio signals took 2hr 45min to reach Earth. Greece will buy F-16s direct ATHENS Greece will buy its F-16 Fight ing Falcons direct from General Dynamics, rather than through the US Govern ment. Greece is buying 40 F-16s, but wants to avoid making a commitment to Washington over the future of USAF bases in Greece. The US Govern ment used stalling tactics in granting an export licence for the F-16s because it wanted guarantees that F-16 tech nology would not be passed to the Soviet Union. The State Department is concerned about close ties being forged between the Greek Socialist FLIGHT MTBtNAnOHAL NEXT WEEK TH8HltiV»i "jfifimliWilJ -».-^nii iWumirR..... The Aerospatiale/Aeritalia ATR42 regional airliner, newly in service, combines the basic with the soph isticated in its attempt to be cheap to buy and run. David Learmount investi gates the technical achieve ment, and Flight artist John Marsden provides a cutaway. Chris Birkett describes how Cathay Pacific is adapting to Hong Kong's changing status, and reveals the airlines expan sion plans for the coming year. Robin Blech reports from the HAI Convention at Anaheim, California, on the gathering of the inter national helicopter manu facturing industry. Government and the USSR, and Greece's threatened closure of USAF bases. General Dynamics says that it has not been told offi cially about Greece's intention to buy direct, but is gratified to hear that the deal is now moving ahead. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 8 February 1986
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