FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1986
1986 - 0894.PDF
BUSINESS AVIATION Aberdeen calls for MLS ABERDEEN Aberdeen Airport, the world's busiest heliport, is the ideal location for conducting ser vice trials of the UK's first Microwave Landing System (MLS). The benefit of evalu ating the system is high lighted by Christopher Barlow, manager of the airport, who spoke at Helitech 86, held in the Scottish city last week. The symposium brought together 140 dele gates from 11 countries involved in the civil and military helicopter industry, reports Robin Blech. Trials of MLS have been taking place in the USA for some time, but the only UK example of the new system is at Yeovil, the home base of Westland Helicopters, and is for research only. The UK Civil Aviation Authority has already endorsed the Icao policy of introducing MLS into member countries by the 1990s, and has been looking at installing the equipment at London's Stansted and, possi bly, Gatwick Airports. Barlow cites aircraft noise and the impact that helicopter operations have had on local residents in the Aberdeen area. MLS could be used to great advantage to minimise the environmental impact of noise, allowing air-traffic control to vary the traffic flow to avoid critical areas of the surrounding country. Installed on Aberdeen's Runway 23 (used exclusively for helicopters), MLS would complement the use of ILS on the main 17/35 runway, increasing the airport's ability to accept IFR arrivals, pres ently restricted to the main runway. This forces fixed- wing and helicopter traffic to share the same runway. "An MLS system could be used to great advantage, and it is very disappointing that such a system has not yet been installed at Aberdeen, if only on a trial basis," says Barlow. The CAA is looking at the possibility of MLS at Aber deen, but Barlow sees its installation as being a long way off, if it ever happens at all. "The UK is lagging behind the USA, where the advan tages of MLS, particularly to helicopters, has been appre ciated," he says. Barlow believes that this is another indication of the CAA treating helicopters as fixed- wing aircraft. He points out that "this does not hold much water at an airport with 57 per cent of its traffic being heli copter movements". The versatility of the helicopter must be recognised by legis lators, if its advantages over fixed-wing aircraft are to be utilised, he says. MLS offers significant advantages over current ILS installations, with low-cost installation and flexibility of approach profiles. In addition, MLS offers improved signal accuracy, eliminating the scalloping which is associated with ILS signals that are all too frequently disrupted by surrounding high ground and obstacles. Six die in helicopter accident BANBURY Six people died when an Aero spatiale AS.355F-1 Twin Squirrel helicopter crashed in Britain last week. The acci dent occurred six miles west of Banbury, Oxfordshire, on April 8, killing the pilot and all five passengers. The machine, registered G-BKIH, was owned by Philip Coussens, head of computer-leasing company IBL, and was operated by McAlpine Helicopters (MAH). Capt Jeremy Howe, the pilot, had left the MAH base at Hayes earlier in the day and had picked up the owner's wife, two children, and two friends at the family home in Pangbourne (Berks). He departed Pangbourne IFR to fly to Alton Towers Leisure Park, near Uttoxeter, Staffs. Weather conditions were reported to be poor, with rain and nimbostratus along the route. Cloud base near Banbury was down to 500ft a.g.l. Howe had entered the Upper Heyford military radar area, and had been given a radar vector on to a westerly heading when he transmitted a Mayday call, saying that he had suffered an engine failure. The helicopter crashed into a field, broke up, and caught fire. Flight understands that the wreckage was confined to a small area, and first evidence indicates that the rate of descent had been very high. Rotor speed appears to have been low, according to MAH development test pilot Capt Geoffrey Holder, who arrived on the scene shortly after the accident. Whether the rotor speed was allowed to decay, following the failure of the first engine, or whether the second engine also failed (or was shut down accidentally) was unknown late last week. Investigation by the UK Department of Trans port Accidents Investigation Branch will not be helped by the state of the burned wreck age, Flight understands. There have been two recent Water or ice ingestion is being considered as a factor in two incidents in which Aerospatiale AS.355 Twin Squirrel helicopters suffered flameouts I^^Mn^ •v;."' s^assepw incidents of Twin Squirrels, powered by 420 h.p. Allison 250 C20F engines, suffering engine flameouts with no immediately apparent reason. The latest of the two incidents occurred to a similar machine which suffered an engine fail ure during a flight in the prox imity of the crash on the same day and in similar weather conditions. MAH, as Aero spatiale's UK distributor, is looking at the possibility that these failures could be occur ring due to ice or rain inges tion. This could be relevant to this accident, says MAH, which has found that compressor blades inspected after one engine failure had been wiped clean. 0 One person is reported to have been killed and two others seriously injured in a helicopter accident in Spain on the same day. A television camera crew was covering the Basque Country Tour cycle race when the machine came down. Civil defence officials are quoted as saying that it could have hit high-tension cables. Kentucky will host new GA show LOUISVILLE Air 87, a new event planned to take place in Louisville next year, will be a general- aviation trade show offering aircraft sales, exhibition, and conference facilities. The organisers claim that it will be the first show of its kind to offer such opportunities to buyers and sellers. The event is expected to comprise an industry exhibi tion (including avionics, airframes, engines, and pilot's equipment, interior and ex terior aircraft completion, insurance and finance), a con ference programme (covering maintenance, aircraft regis tration, new or used aircraft purchase, refurbishment of aircraft, and pilot refresher courses), and a marketplace where owners and dealers will meet to buy and sell all types of GA aircraft. Air 87 is organised by Andry Montgomery & Asso ciates (101 N Seventh Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, USA; tel [502] 582-1672). FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 19 April 1986
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
