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Aviation History
1987
1987 - 0075.PDF
Second Lavi flies TEL AVIV The second Lavi prototype made its maiden flight on March 30. During the aircraft's 51min flight from Ben Gurion Airport, it reached an altitude of 20,000ft and a speed of 350kt. The second Lavi prototype has a flight refuelling probe. Air-to-air refuelling is sched uled to begin on the fifth flight test, not only to test the system, but to permit longer flights. The first Lavi prototype was grounded after com pleting 23 test flights. Changes are being made to some of the systems to enable the aircraft to resume flying. However, Israel Aircraft Industries' chief test pilot, Menahem Shmul, tells Flight that the first prototype demonstrated a performance that in some aspects exceeded the best simulator predic tions. The Lavi test flight programme is based on five prototypes. The first three will be used mainly for flight quality verification and to test multiple combinations of fuel tanks and ordnance. The fourth and fifth prototypes will be equipped with the avionics developed for the Lavi. During the test flights performed by the first prototype, a foreign object was sucked into the Pratt & Whitney 1120 engine, damaging the low-pressure compressor. The repaired engine powered the second Lavi prototype on its first flight. Above The second Lavi, with its Astra and Kfir chase aircraft. Below The touchdown at Tel Aviv, as the Kfir chase overshoots British Aerospace buys Royal Ordnance LONDON British Aerospace has won the tender to buy Royal Ordnance PLC (formerly The Royal Ordnance Factory). The Secretary of State for Defence signed the contract with BAe on April 2 for the company's acquisition of RO's issued share capital for £190 million, subject to consent by the Office of Fair Trading. RO will operate as a wholly- owned subsidiary of BAe, and will continue to trade under its existing name and logo. A new RO management board under the chairmanship of BAe's Sir Raymond Lygo is to be formed, with Dr Maurice Dixson, currently commercial director of BAe's Military Aircraft Division, as Chief Executive of RO. Dr Dixson's management team will be drawn from both BAe and RO. The first task of the team will be to continue the improvement of RO's effi ciency and profitability. Where this involves rational isation, the RO management will continue to consult those employees involved and their trade unions. For the year to December 31, 1985, the last year for which audited accounts are available, RO reported pre tax profits of £9 million and net assets of £204 million. Unaudited accounts for the year up to December 31,1986, indicate that pre-tax profits were about £24 million and valuation of net assets was approximately £235 million (this excludes the Leeds factory, sold off by RO in 1986). R0 has negligible indebt edness and a positive oper ating cash flow. A profes sional revaluation of the property of RO, based on depreciated replacement cost, shows a substantial surplus over the book value. As part of the arrangements for the acquisition of RO, the MoD and BAe have signed new agreements to replace existing agreements on the supply of explosives and DEFENCE propellants by RO and MoD. These agreements provide the basis for a long-term contract for supply of explosives and other related products, includ ing certain types of ammuni tion at fixed prices. The supply contract will also include provisions for improving efficiency of RO and the competitiveness of its products, the investment in which will be shared with the MoD within the terms of the fixed-price contract. This will assure RO's role as a major supplier of explosives and related products to the British forces at competitive prices, and will help RO to develop its overseas markets. Grumman gains C-17 contract BETHPAGE Grumman has been awarded a $28 million contract by McDonnell Douglas to develop flight-control sur faces for the United States Air Force C-17 transport. Grumman will design, develop, and build the ad vanced - composite - construc tion ailerons, rudder, and elevators for the C-17, and each ship-set of control surfaces will include ten subassemblies. Grumman Chairman John Bierwirth says: "The production phase of this contract has a poten tial value to Grumman of about $300 million. Our strong experience in compo site structures has been an important part of Grumman's recent technological develop ment, so we are especially pleased to be involved in this part of the McDonnell C-17 team." Design, engineering, and tooling of the control surfaces will be done at Grumman's Bethpage factory on Long Island. The parts will be made at Milledgeville, Georgia, and at St Augustine and Stuart, Florida. In the development phase Grumman will build two shipsets, one for the flying C-17 prototype, the other for the static-test exam ple. The total weight of a ship- set will be about 2,5001b, saving about 8701b over a comparable metal structure. The USAF currently plans to buy 210 C-17s, and the first flight is scheduled for 1990. Initial operations are to start in 1992. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 11 April 1987 11
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