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Aviation History
1987
1987 - 0896.PDF
PARIS REVIEW Sikorsky endorses Westland Orders worth £10 million have been announced by Westland, raising confidence that Sikorsky will honour its pledge to offer the company two million manhours of work. Under a contract with the US company, Westland will supply 100 main gear boxes for the Stratford- assembled UH-60 Blackhawk, and more than 400 main-rotor shafts. Westland won the orders in straight competition with US suppliers. The orders mean that, during the first six months of the Sikorsky/ Westland agreement, 600,000 of the two million man-hours promised have been agreed. Westland believes that the order represents the first of many more opportunities to sell its expertise and tech nology to the United States through Sikorsky. The announcement was made during the first public meeting of executives from both countries since the Westland crisis of 1986. Sikorsky's vice-president for international business, Jack Kerns, stated: "As a share holder in Westland we want to see a winning Westland," but he went on to stress that "Westland has to earn any new business". Presenting the first Westland-built WS-70 Black- hawk, Kerns said that the machine could grow in size and in technology. The new Westland "Berp" blades might be fitted, and various combinations of European and US weapons could be carried. Westland group managing director Rob Forsyth empha sised that the company saw Europe and the Middle East as good potential markets for the WS-70, given its hot-and- high capabilities. Forsyth also announced that Westland was looking at ways to re-enter the NH.90 collaborative Euro pean helicopter programme at the development level, follow ing the United Kingdom Government's recent with drawal of financial backing for the project. P&W runs F404 Pratt & Whitney admits that it will not become competitive with General Electric on production of the F404 until after the 250th engine. This month P&W began testing the first two F404s it has built since the US Navy set the company up as a second source of the GE-designed powerplant for the F-18 and A-6F. The company has a non-competitive contract for a further 100 engines. The US Navy held its first F404 competition this year. GE won 70 per cent of production, and Pratt & Whitney received the minimum 30 per cent—some 70 engines. Realistically, the company expects a similar share of next year's competition. BAe sells five ATPs Canadian leasing company Avline Trading Corp has bought five British Aerospace 64-72-seat Advanced Turbo- props (ATP). Sales of the ATP have been slow—two to Liat and three to British Midland—since its launch in 1984, and the new order is a boost for BAe executives who were begin ning to worry about their latest aircraft. The manu facturer would not say whether Avline has any committed lessees lined up. Toronto-based Avline started up only last year. It has engineering and technical support from Innotech, financial backing from Banque Paribas (Suisse), and draws on the marketing experience of its other associ ate, Timmins and Company, fi Ae is now confident that it can clock up 50 to 60 firm orders for the ATP over the next two years. As an incen tive to Greece, India, and Malaysia it has contracted out respectively manufacture of the ATP flaps, tails, and rudders. Hellenic Aerospace Industries is also working on a BAe request for quotation to make 300 shipsets of ailerons. The work will be offset against sales if these materialise. Olympic Airlines could use between ten and 13 ATP- sized aircraft on its popular inter-island services, and might eventually take up to 16, says John Scho field, executive manager, general sales, Europe. The ATP would suit Iberia's new inter-Canary Island services, where it would complement the proposed CN.235 operations, says Tom Saunders, BAe's executive director sales. The main Eastern markets are India, with regional carrier Vayu- doot, Malaysia, the Philip pines, and China. "The advantage of the Eastern market is that it is not competitive," Saunders says. BAe estimated it would sell half a dozen ATPs a year in the USA. "We must raise that number now," Saunders says. The emerging majors are all going to need larger feeder aircraft. He is confident that Liat will take up its options on two more aircraft shortly. Sales should speed up once the ATP begins to prove itself in service with British Midland later this year, he believes. But competition in the large-turboprop market is heating up. De Havilland now says it may stretch its Dash 8 into a 60-70 seater, and Casa is still looking at a larger version of the CN-235. Franco-Italian consortium Avions de Transport Regional (ATR), which has the only other existing contender to the ATP in its ATR-72, esti mates that the total market for turboprops of over 50 seats is for between 1,000 and 1,500 aircraft. It expects to sell around 450 ATR-72s. • British Aerospace (BAe) has received an order for ten Jetstream 31s from Presiden tial Airways of Washington D.C. The first one has just been delivered, another two follow this month, and the remainder by June 1988. Presidential already operates the BAe 146-200, and will soon have 15 of the type in its fleet. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 27 June 1987
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