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Aviation History
1987
1987 - 0005.PDF
WORLD NEWS BIH to shed one in five ABERDEEN British International Heli copters (BIH) is to shed up to 100 of its 500 managers and workers because of the continuing downturn in offshore support work. Most of the redundancies are expected to be at the main Aberdeen base, where 340 are employed. Other UK bases are at Sumburgh (in the Shetland Islands), Beccles (Suffolk), and Penzance (Cornwall), and overseas bases are in India and China. BIH blames the redun dancies on the reduced offshore exploration and allied helicopter-support work which have followed the oil price slump. However, the loss of a BIH Boeing Vertol Chinook last November has contributed to difficulties, general manager Kit Cham bers admits. Ariane hitch: no delay PARIS Arianespace still plans to launch the next Ariane rocket before the end of June, despite a last-minute switch of third stage engines during accept ance tests at SEP. During preparation of the final acceptance test on March 25, a failure in hand ling of the vacuum chamber induced an abnormal loading on one of the engine sub assemblies. "In order to pre vent any risk, a decision was made to remove this engine from the test stand, and not to use it for the next flight," says Arianespace and SEP. The next engine was imme diately transferred to the test stand, and the acceptance test sequence began on June 30. "Under these conditions Flight 19 remains scheduled before the end of June," Arianespace and SEP add. • The head of the alleged Ariane spy ring is claimed by French police officials to be the second air attache at the Soviet Embassy in Paris, Valeri Konorov. Konorov has been impli cated, together with six other Soviet diplomats, by several members of the alleged spy ring dismantled on March 17 by the French counter espionage service. Five people were arrested: three French men, a Soviet-born woman, and a Romanian-born woman. The names of the Soviet air attache and his fellow diplo mats have been given to the French foreign ministry. It is not yet known whether the Soviet diplomats will be expelled from France. The five arrested are accused of spying on Ariane engine manufacturer SEP, and of passing information on cryogenic rocket engines to a foreign power (these pages last week). Gales damage airship LONDON Hurricane-force winds have damaged an Airship Indus tries Skyship 600, delaying by several weeks the start of airship sight-seeing flights over London. The airship was moored outside at Cardington, Bedfordshire, late last week, when winds gusting to 83kt forced Airship Industries' staff to deflate the non-rigid envelope to avoid damage. In the process the airship's skin tore, allowing £15,000-worth of helium to escape. The craft would have been safe outside in the forecast 48kt winds, the company says. Sightseeing trips will begin after repairs. Soviets agree to overflights LONDON ~ The Soviet Union has signed an air services agreement with the UK which permits nonstop flights from London to Tokyo over the trans- Siberian route. British Airways (BA) and British Caledonian (BCal) will compete on the route, each with two direct flights a week and one flight a week via Moscow. These are in addi tion to existing daily flights to Moscow. Aeroflot is to increase its services to four a week on the London-Moscow-Tokyo route, with the option of flying the larger 11-76 freighter three times a week instead of the 11-62. Provision has also been made for BA and Aeroflot to operate once a week each on a new route between Moscow and Manchester. BCal is starting services on May 31, with its direct flights leaving on Sundays and Fridays. BA's direct flights leave on Thursdays and Saturdays starting on June 4. UK sets fire standards LONDON The UK Civil Aviation Auth ority (CAA) has announced that fire-resistant cabin fittings must be installed on new and refurbished passen ger aircraft by 1988. The new regulations cover ceiling and wall panels, partitions, storage compart ments, and outer surfaces of galleys; they are in addition to the more stringent rules for seating materials introduced last year. The standards have been in preparation for some time, but the CAA could not enforce them until suitable materials such as phenolic resin became available. All new aircraft on the UK register and those that have been substantially refur bished will have to comply with the first phase of new rules by August 20, 1988, and with a second, higher, stan dard by 1990. The standard for materials fitted to new or refurbished aircraft up to 1990 states that total heat release in the first 2 min of a fire should not exceed lOOkW per m2 and at peak heat release rate it should not exceed lOOkW per m2 per min. After 1990 the limit is reduced to 65kW per m2. Materials made from phen olic resin-based glassfibre will meet the highest standard. Plastics like ABS, PVC, and some epoxy glassfibre are banned on new and refitted aircraft from 1988. FLIGHT MTE7WMTIOM41. NEXT WEEK Competition is now a way of life for US military engine manufacturers, but one that can take many different forms. Graham Warwick reports. London companies want a City heliport, but local resi dents do not. Alan Post- lethwaite assesses the chances of success for the latest heliport proposals. How well equipped and trained are airlines to handle passengers' medical problems in flight? Julia Hayley looks at the wide range of standards in an area where rules are few. Harry Hopkins considers the pros and cons of reduc ing the vertical separation of airliners above flight level 290. Snecma has new chief PARIS General Bernard Capillon, former French Air Force chief of staff, is expected to become the new president and director-general of Snecma, the French state-owned aero engine manufacturer. A formal announcement of the appointment was expec ted on April 1. Capillon will succeed Jacques Benichou, who continues as chairman of Gifas, the French industry association. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 4 April 1987
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