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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 1611.PDF
HEADLINES British Aerospace sees the Jetstream 41 taking the range into profits BAe's Prestwick, Scotland, plant, with a combined output similar to the 55 to 60 units a year now being achieved on J31 produc tion. Advances made in develop ment of the J41 will pass on to the Jetstream 31, says Lygo. Sales of 400 J41s have been projected, a figure which Masefield believes is conser vative, as it represents only a 25 per cent predicted market share. The Jetstream 31 has about double that market penetration, BAe notes. J41 roll-out is set for spring 1991, with entry into service in autumn 1992. The Jetstream 41 will be the "lightest, lowest-cost, lowest-drag aircraft in its class" according to Masefield. Operators of 19-seat aircraft will be able to straddle the gap to the 30-seat market without the restrictive costs asso ciated with other aeroplanes such as the Embraer Brasilia, he says. Contact Air backs Dornier 328 West German regional Contact Air has converted an agreement for four Domier 328 commuters, forged last year, into a contract, so assuring its place as the first operator of the new 30-passenger turbine twin. Contact Air is to take two of the four aircraft in early 1993, ready for its summer season. The other two will be accepted early the following year. The airline operates domestic and inter national routes from its Stuttgart and Saarbrucken bases. Dornier has identified Swiss operator Sunshine Aviation as another customer—it has a contract for one Dornier 328— but is remaining coy about the orderbook, saying only that by the end of last year it had 11 "preliminary agreements" and it is negotiating with "several other potential customers" to convert agreement into contracts. Dornier is expected to announce a US customer among new orders to be revealed at the Paris Air Show. The company expects to pick up 400 orders between now and the year 2006 out of a market for 19-40-seat aircraft of 1,800 units. Certifica tion is expected late in 1992. The Dornier 328's two main rivals are the Saab 340 and the Embraer Brasilia. Dornier group is blaming 1988's DM4-9 million ($2-58 million) loss primarily on the 328 programme. The company made a profit of $5-58 million in 1987. In July last year the 328 was "cancelled" following disagree ments between the Dornier family and majority shareholder Daimler-Benz. It is now under development again, but the delay in funding approval resulted in additional costs charged to the 1988 budget. Dornier is not revealing sepa rate results for its aviation activi ties, but says that the sector made a "slight loss". It attributes lower sales of the 228 commuter to "the difficult market situation, expecially in the USA". The group recorded new busi ness worth Dm2-23 billion ($1-17 billion). Soviet Havoc comes to Paris BY JULIAN MOXON The Soviet Union will reveal its new Mil Mi-28 Havoc combat helicopter at the Paris Air Show. It is the first time that a Soviet military helicopter has been exhibited at an international air show. According to Mil's designer-general, Marat Niko- laevich Tichenko, the decision to do so is both a reflection of perestroika and a strong desire to sell the helicopter abroad. "We want to sell it, and make a profit, which is why we're exhibiting it," he said at the American Helicop ter Society (AHS) meeting in Boston last week. Tishenko allowed only a brief glimpse of the Mi-28 during his presentation on Soviet helicopter technology. It appears to be similar in size and shape to the AH-64 Apache, with flat cockpit windows and an articulated night vision/targeting system mounted on the nose. The aircraft has been under development "about a decade," he says. Also present at the AHS meet ing was Kamov vice-designer general Akekseevich Kasjenikov, who firmly denied the existence of the Ka-30 Hokum co-axial- rotor air-to-air combat heli copter. "We only build Navy helicopters," he said. "I don't know of such a model." Mil's Tishenko also revealed a new medium transport helicop ter, the Mi-38. "We've been working on it for two years, and hope to be in production by 1995," he says. The Mi-38 will be designed to comply "as closely as possible" with UK and US certifi cation standards, and is to be offered for export. In technology and design the Mi-38 "is very close to the Anglo- Italian EH. 101," admits Tish enko. Principal features are a CRT-based "glass cockpit", digi tal navigation and flight control system, retractable undercar riage, and a six-bladed, 21m- diameter glassfibre main rotor, driven by two 2,400kW TV-7 turbines, yielding a payload of up to 5,000kg over 600km. A 290km/hr top speed is envisaged for the Mi-38. Other new Soviet projects include the Mi-34 sport helicop ter for initial and aerobatic train ing, and the Kamov Ka-126 agricultural/utility helicopter, which is fitted with contra- rotating rotors. In a few months Mil will begin testing an Mi-8 equipped with a single-channel, fly-by-wire flight control system—the first such programme the USSR has carried out. The work is aimed princi pally at developing flight control laws, and might lead to an all- digital system before long. Tishenko describes the US V-22 tilt-rotor programme as being "of the utmost importance for the future world of helicopter engineering". Mil has examined the concept very seriously—"but only on paper, so far," he says. Mil's studies show that the payload/gross weight ratio is still too low for it to rival con ventional helicopters. "I think that, for non-military applica tions, the conditions for profit able tilt-rotor operation have not arrived yet." NEWSINBRIEF BRISTOW TIGER CRASHES The British captain and two Chinese aircrew of Bristow Helicopters Aerospatiale AS.322L Tiger G-TIGN were killed when the helicopter crashed near Hong Kong on May 22, while returning from an offshore installation shortly after a typhoon swept the area. The helicopter is reported to have hit a hilltop. SUKHOI'S US DEAL The Soviet Sukhoi Su-26M aerobatic aircraft is to be offered for sale in the USA under a deal struck last week with the Florida-based Pom- pano Air Centre. PAN AM BIDS FOR NWA Pan Am chairman Thomas Plas- kett was expected to make a firm bid for Northwest Airlines ahead of the May 30 deadline set by NWA. Plaskett claims to have $2 billion in backing. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 3 June 1989 5
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