FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1987
1987 - 2271.PDF
GENERAL AVIATION New Manhattan heliport opens NEW YORK ~ The new Downtown Manhattan Heliport in New York has been dedicated. Also known as the Wall Street Heliport, it was originally opened by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in December 1960, reports Warren Goodman. It is located at Pier 2 on the eastern shore of Lower Manhattan, just north of the Staten Island and Ferry Island terminals. The heli port's operations had been moved to the Battery Park City and World Trade Centre heliport in September 1983. The four-year project inclu ded mounted parking on barges moored at a right-angle to the original pier (giving the heliport space for up to 16 helicopters "instead of only five"), reinforcement to allow the heliport to handle heli copters of up to 50,0001b, a three-storey terminal with space for operators, ticket counters and waiting rooms, new lighting and operational facilities, and new MLS to give the heliport an all- weather capability. Of the $13 million cost, $6 million was provided by the Federal Government as part of the FAA's project to build four demonstration heliports in the USA. The FAA, New York State, New York City, and Port Authority justify the cost by hailing the importance to New York for helicopters and making optimistic, but cautious, predictions on the future of vertical-lift trans port. The heliport is expected to see immediate use by courier- service helicopters which transport tremendous vol umes of paper for the Stock Exchange and other financial institutions in that area of Manhattan. Manhattan is claimed to have more than 125,000 helicopter move ments a year, far more than anywhere else in the USA. Although the heliport does not yet have scheduled passenger services, the Port . * N* •HJ*J"-''ME! mm \ - 1 * . • •I Emdair's CF.092B two-cylinder l-5lit engine is flying in the Verilite Sunbird, which is being flight-tested in New Mexico Authority says that arrange ments are under way to provide such services. Port Authority chairman Philip Kaltendaicher says that by the end of this century it may be possible to fly from the heliport to similar facili ties within 300 miles without going near an airport, a refer ence to possible civil versions of the V-22 tilt-rotor. Speakers at the dedication were cautious not to make specific forecasts on future traffic, a caution perhaps generated by the memory of the predictions that had been made in 1952. These had fore seen the possibility of millions of helicopter passengers a year into and out of Manhattan by 1975. Despite the completion of a number of heliports, traffic has always been far short of those predictions. Manhattan has had no scheduled passenger helicopter service at all for some time. Part of the problem has been the lack of all-weather capabilities. New vertical-lift aircraft and MLS might overcome that, but they have actually done nothing to avoid the other, perhaps very important problem—the difficulties which passengers encounter getting ground transport to and from the heliports, some of which are on the periphery of Manhattan. The dedication ended with a "ceremonial" start of the clock on the apron of the handsome new terminal. But nobody has said how long the clock will have to run before the heliport begins to provide the type and amount of passenger service which the speakers have envisaged. King Air hits high ground LEEDS The high frequency of British general-aviation fatal acci dents continues. Beech B200 Super King Air G-MDJI, owned by construction equip ment supplier Artix, struck high ground during an ILS approach to Leeds/Bradford Airport on October 19. Company pilot and sole occupant Alan Turley died in the accident, which occurred 2 n.m. from the threshold of Runway 14. Turley was positioning from Teesside to pick up passengers for a charter to Malaga. Weather is reported to have been poor, with a 200ft ceiling, limited visibility in rain, and a light surface wind. The aircraft disap peared from radar at 0715hr, and the King Air was found near the top of Ottleychevin Hill, which lies 936ft above sea level and 261ft above Leeds' 675ft QFE datum. The aircraft had struck trees, and had been destroyed by fire. The cause of the accident is under investigation. Turley had been a Light ning pilot with the RAF before specialising ,' in air-taxi work at Teesside. He and his wife survived serious injury when their Percival Proctor crashed during an air race in the 1960s, and fought their way back to fitness. Emdair engine flies in Sunbird RYE The Emdair CF.092B engine which powers the Verilite Sunbird is arousing interest as a power unit for remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs), surveillance craft, and pos sibly autogyros. The second Sunbird made its first flight last month. The 70 h.p. aircooled piston engine, which is designed to run on avgas or premium- grade mogas, has been derived from the engines developed by the former Weslake company. Emdair built five prototype engines, one of which has been used to power the proto type Sunbird. Ten more pilot- build engines are in pro duction. The CF.092B has been de signed to meet international airworthiness requirements (European JAR-E and US FAR Part 33). It has four valves per cylinder, dual elec tronic ignition, direct fuel injection, and an electric star ter. This is said to give high specific power, low propeller speed, and overall simplicity. A belt-driven alternator and an exhaust muffler are options. Emdair quotes a cruising fuel consumption of ll-81it/hr for the CF.092B, which develops 52-5 h.p. at 3,075 r.p.m. The 1 - 51it engine is 40-5in long, 27-5in wide, and 17-6in high. Its dry weight with starter is 1381b. The compression ratio is 9:1, and in the Sunbird installa tion the propeller-gear reduc tion ratio is 1-43:1. The engine delivers 70 h.p. at 3,600 r.p.m. Verilite parent company De Vore has taken orders for 32 Sunbirds, and expects to have more than 100 by the time it goes into production, with initial deliveries in mid-1989. Flight testing is taking place at Roswell, New Mexico, an old B-52 bomber base which has long runways. Test pilot Robert Sharp has 6,200hr, has been a test pilot for McDon nell Douglas, and designed the cockpit for the Gemini space capsule. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 7 November 1987 13
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
