FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1988
1988 - 3102.PDF
.NBAA REPORT_ Omac's prototype Laser 300 single-turboprop canard was on static display Omac displays Laser 300 Omac displayed its prototype Laser 300 at Love Field in Dallas during the NBAA show. The aircraft is now in develop ment flight-testing and has completed 56hr in 50 flights since its first flight on July 29. The Georgia-based company says "nothing negative" has been discovered so far, and that the aircraft is on target for certi fication late next year or early in 1990. Edwin Chaplin, Omac's chief of flight operations, says the aircraft has achieved 190kt at 17,000ft, and that flutter tests have cleared flights up to 200kt. Stalling speed with flaps retracted is 64kt, which indi cates no problem in reaching the 61kt target stalling speed with flaps deployed, Chaplin says. The Laser 300 is claimed to be general aviation's first single- engine, canard pusher turboprop aircraft, and Omac says it now has more than 20 orders. The Laser 300 is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney PT6A-135A turboprop and is designed for maximum cruise speed of 291 m.p.h., a maximum range of 2,097 n.m. and a service ceiling of 34,000ft (certified ceiling will be 25,000ft). Of all-aluminium construction, the Laser 300 will be certificated under FAR Part 23 regulations for single-pilot operation in icing and IFR conditions. Avtek to start certification Avtek says that the $25 million it needs to complete 22-month certification of its all-composite 400A business aircraft is now in place. Avtek president Robert Adickes says that the company will start construction of four prototypes at its research facility in Camarillo, California. Two will be type-inspection aircraft and two will be used for static and dynamic testing. The company is also anxious to start work on its new manu facturing facility in Battle Creek, Michigan, where pro duction aircraft will be assem bled. The Avtek 400 proof-of- concept aircraft made its first flight in 1984, but the programme has been dormant during the corporate aircraft market recession. Now that funding is available, Adickes says that there will be more than 160 changes from the proof-of- concept aircraft. These include moving the wing up six inches and sweeping it back 15 • 5°, a 20 per cent increase in foreplane ratio, and a 50in fuselage stretch. The first prototype should fly late next year, and Adickes expects certification to be achieved in 1990. The pro jected price is $1-75 million, and Avtec says that it has already received orders for 112 aircraft from its distributors. Construction of the 400A is predominantly of Kevlar/ Nomex composite, and it will be' powered by two counter- rotating Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-35LR turbo- props. Adickes says that the company spent $5 million to get the first proof-of-concept air craft flying, compared with his estimate of $300 million for the Beech Starship. "We don't see ourselves as a direct competitor for the excellent Beech Star- ship. We are faster, we have longer range, we have excellent fuel economy, and we are half the price." Dassault considers future Falcons Dassault-Breguet is considering a business jet sized between its Falcon 50 trijet and the Canadair Challenger. Merignac division technical director Bernard Leroudier says that the 33,0001b gross-weight aircraft would probably be powered by a pair of 5,000- 6,0001b-thrust engines (prob ably Pratt & Whitney Canada PW300s or Garrett/ General Electric CFE738s). Its performance character istics are expected to include a 5,000ft balanced field length, Mach 0-8 long-range cruise, Mach 0-85 high-speed cruise, and 3,000 n.m. range at a cruise altitude of 41,000ft. The operat ing cost is put at 20 per cent less than current medium-size machines, and the price is given as $12 million. The specification follows closely the results of a poll of operators and pilots. Of almost 400 people surveyed, some 52 per cent called for a Falcon 50/Challenger cabin style. They wanted an average 3,300 n.m. range, cruise speed in the Mach 0-82-0-88 range, and cruise altitudes between 41,000ft and 49,000ft. The suggested purchase price was $13 million. More than 90 per cent of people looking for this size of aircraft want composites in secondary structure, 87 per cent want a glass cockpit, 80 per cent leading-edge devices and laminar-flow aerodynamics, while 49 per cent require fly-by- wire controls. The survey showed a degree of conservation, with more than 60 per cent rejecting canard configurations. Some 57 per cent are against composite primary structure, while the vote was split on sidesticks. Leroudier is at pains to emphasise that, while Dassault has no plans to build a super sonic business jet, it has been studying various concepts. A 10,0001b-gross-weight light- passenger aircraft powered by three 14,0001b-thrust engines would cost $40 million-$50 million at current prices. The Dassault study assumes a Mach 1 • 8 cruise, a 4,000 n.m. IFR range, a Mach 0-95 cruise over the same range, and a balanced field length of no more than 6,000ft. According to Leroudier, wing planform design could be used to "manage" the sonic boom and take-off thrust would be limited to about 25,0001b. The Merignac technical director says that such a design must have laminar-flow aero dynamics, which he expects to see on the next generation of business jets in no less than ten years. Leroudier sees no weight advantage in fly-by-wire con trols, which would "require three hydraulic systems, four electrical systems, and cost a million dollars". PW205B flies Pratt & Whitney Canada has flown the PW205B, the lead model in its PW200 turboshaft series designed to power a new generation of helicopters likely to enter service in about five years' time. The flight, in a BO.105LS at MBB Canada's Fort Erie facility in southern Ontario, took place on October 13, just 18 months after the engine first ran. Some 4,000 hours of PW200 develop ment testing have been com pleted. P&WC claims that the new engine has met its performance targets, completed the equiva lent of a certification block test, and shown full-power turbine- blade containment during a gearbox decouple test. Produc tion PW205Bs will offer 590 s.h.p. at take-off, rising to 625 s.h.p. for 2j minutes, one engine inoperative. The PW205B drives a 6,000 r.p.m. reduction gearbox, a configura tion suitable for single or twin- engine applications, according to P&WC. Development of the ubiqui tous PT6A continues, with P&WC reporting post-certi fication improvements in both the -66 and -67 variants. The company claims better per formance above 40,000ft and a 5 per cent increase in altitude cruise power. The latter is achieved through reduced stress resulting from lighter compressor blades. The engine, which was intro duced in 1964, is still being chosen to power new aircraft, including the Beech Starship, Piaggio Avanti, Socata/Mooney TBM.700, Piper Turbine Malibu, and Omac Laser 300. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 29 October 1988
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
