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Aviation History
1988
1988 - 0003.PDF
INTERNATIONAL Weeks ending 2/9 January, 1988 Number 4095, Volume 133 ISSN 0015-3710 IN THIS ISSUE „ REED M BUSINESS PUBLISHING World News Air Transport Defence General Aviation Spaceflight 2 4 9 12 15 XT-4: POTENT WITH POTENTIAL 17 Kawasaki's new trainer for the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force enters service this year. Peter Middleton describes a promising aircraft with no export prospects. VIASA: AN AIRLINE SHORT OF OIL 22 David Learmount reports on the rejuvenated Venezuelan airline seeking an income which is not dependent upon an oil-based economy. ASIAN AEROSPACE UPDATE 25 SEAMLESS TRAINING FOR WELL TAILORED PILOTS 26 Trainee pilots at BAe's new Flying College at Prestwick will proceed right through from ab initio to the right-hand seat of a jet simulator. Harry Hopkins studies the prospectus. FIGAS AT FORTY 30 Eric Beech reviews the work of the Falkland Islands Government Air Service, forty years old this year. Letters 32 Straight and Level 33 Published in association with Airline Business by Reed Business Publish ing Ltd, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS, England. © Copyright Reed Business Publishing Ltd. 1988 Founded 1909 Second-class postage paid at RAHWAY, New Jersey, and additional entries. Postmaster: Send Address Corrections to "Flight International", c/o Mercury Airfreight International Ltd. Inc., 10B Englehard Avenue, Avenel, N.J. 07001. Editor David Mason Associate Editor Peter Middleton Assistant Editor Tom Hamill Air Transport Editor David Learmount Air Transport editorial Ian Dormer Defence Editor Mike Gaines Defence editorial'Eric Beech Technical Editor Graham Warwick, BSc General Aviation Editor Robin Blech General Aviation editorial Ian Goold, Alan Postlethwaite Photographer Janice Lowe Production Editor Philip Jarrett Art Editor Colin Paine Layout Alison Collins Technical Artists Ira Epton, Tim Hall, John Marsden Washington correspondent Julian Moxon (202) 547 2624 Israel correspondent Arie Egozi 03 945326 Paris correspondent Gilbert Sedbon (1) 4825 5261 US West Coast correspondent Norman Lynn (408) 778 0889 West German correspondent Stefan Geisenheyner 061 21 526894 Publishing Director Murray Johnstone Editor-in-Chief J M Ramsden Advertisement Sales Manager Joanna Macpherson • Regional Manager, UK/Scandinavia Nicholas Wilcox Senior Advertisement Sales Executive Anne Williams Sales Executive Nick White Advertisement Production Howard Mason, Simon Smith Advertisement Sales—France Pierre Mussard, 18,20 Place de la Made leine, Paris 75008, France. Telephone: Paris 42655014. Telex: 215334F BISPRSF. Advertisement Sales—USA (East Coast) Clive Richardson, Reed Busi ness Publishing, 205 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 Telephone: (212) 867 2080, Telex: 238327 Advertisement Sales—USA (Mid-West) & Canada Gene Glendinning, Reed Business Publishing, Cahners Piaza, 1350 East Touhy Avenue, PO Box 5080, Des Plaines, Illinois 60018. Telephone: (312) 635 9920. Advertisement Sales—USA (West Coast) John Tidy, Reed Business Publishing, 3700 Campus Drive, Suite 203, Newport Beach, CA 92660. Telephone: (714) 756 1057. Telex: 238327 Subscriptions Manager A. Walden Telephone: England (0444) 441212 (Details of UK and overseas subscription rates and agents are available on request) Telephone: 01-661 3315 (Display Advertisement Sales) 01-661 8877 (Classified) 01-661 3267 (Advertisement Production) 01-661 3321 (Editorial) Telegram/Telex 892084 REEDBP G Facsimile (Group lll/ll). Telephone: 01-661 3305 [Age] Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations Front cover: Flight's Janice Lowe photo graphed Kawasaki's XT-4 trainer at Gifu with the JASDF's Air Proving Wing. See pages 17-21. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 2/9 January 1988 EDITORIAL Every man an economist To readers whose expertise is concerned with the internal work ings of a jet engine, or the behaviour of a molecule of air as it reacts to the arrival of a wing's leading edge, or the organisation of an airport system, recent activity in the field of international economics may be something of a mystery. Many of our readers prefer it to remain that way, and from time to time we receive criticism for venturing in this column into the realms of economic comment, on the grounds that we publish an aerospace industry magazine, and economics is not our concern. If anybody still needed waking up to the fact that the contrary is the case, and that everybody in aerospace is intimately involved with developments in the inter national economy, events of the past few weeks should have jolted them into a new consciousness. It has taken the French Minister for Foreign Trade, M Michel Noir, to point out that the decline in the Dollar will hit the profits of the Airbus Industrie consortium partners, and that Airbus might find itself selling its products at a loss this year. British Aerospace chief executive Sir Raymond Lygo has been saying as much to his workforce for some time, warning that trading conditions in the inter national market were becoming increasingly difficult as the Dollar slipped. And that was before it went into its post- Black-Monday free-fall. Finding solutions to economic problems is never easy, and if you put three econo mists into a room together to discuss the matter, you will end up with at least four solutions. But certain fundamentals are blindingly obvious. First, there is now difficulty with the practice of designating aircraft sales in dollars. This practice developed when the Dollar was all-powerful, and stable. Now that the US economy has changed its foot ing, some other arrangement may have to be found. It may be that the Japanese will be the new international bankers, and the Yen the new currency. • Secondly, money is only a token of something more fundamental (real wealth), and changes in international currencies only reflect changes in the comparative wealth of nations. It is. possible for central banks to buy and sell in the market to stabilise market trends; for example, they may buy their own currencies to stop dealers from lowering prices and causing a slide. But in the long term, currency fixing will give way to reality, and currencies will find their own levels according to the national economies that back them. Thirdly, the decline in the US Dollar is itself only a symptom of something more fundamental—the decline in US wealth compared with that of other countries, especially Japan and Germany. Deficit budget financing is a technique which some economists support as a way to sustain economic activity, but eventually debts must be paid, and can only be paid out of generated wealth. Fourthly, the strength of most econo mies relates directly to the vitality of their manufacturing sectors. Oil-rich low- population Middle Eastern countries have to be discounted, but among the remain der Japan and Germany stand out as countries with strong economies, and both have nurtured strong manufacturing sectors. Countries which imagine that they can prosper on tourism and financial services alone are being proved wrong. Exploitation of primary resources, devel opment and production of high-added- value industrial goods, and active service industries are all essentials to a healthy economy, After all, service industries need something to service; they cannot service each other. Nations which neglect their manufacturing sectors will pay a high price. Finally, no national currency, and no national economy, is any longer insulated against events in any other. Changes in the Far East cause changes in Europe, which cause changes in America, which in turn cause changes in . . . Events today follow sequentially with the remorseless inevitability of an equatori- ally arranged domino line. Fortunately, most major aerospace manufacturers are cushioned against the more savage consequences of economic difficulties by their international nature. Airbus, whose European production becomes more expensive, has 470 US component suppli ers, not least in engines and avionics, which should help to curb the rise in relative product-price. British Aerospace has US engines and wing boxes on its 146, mitigating some of the worst effects of the strengthening pound. Boeing, which ought to be able to sell its products cheaper on the back of a lower Dollar, will not be able to exploit the full benefit. To take an example, 30 per cent of the 767 is built overseas, including a substantial Japanese contribution, which will cost more. Douglas builds only a third of the MD-80 at home. Internationalism in aerospace may prove to be the saviour of many a company and many a product line in the present turmoil, and more of it is needed. Where does this leave the aerospace professional? The one place it does not leave him is isolated—or insulated—from world economic events. Engineer, pilot, salesman, or manager, the international economy affects you. You would be wise to familiarise yourself with the principles. After all, as economies change, your customers might find it cheaper to buy elsewhere the product which you make. And that puts your job at stake.
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