FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1989
1989 - 1970.PDF
HEADLINES Westland signs Apache Moll Westland and McDonnell Douglas ended speculation at the Paris Air Show by signing the memorandum of under standing (MoU) for AH-64 Apache co-production. The agreement paves the way for co operation between the two companies should the UK Minis try of Defence (MoD) select the enhanced version of the AH-64, known as the "Longbow Apache", for its future attack heli copter requirement. Westland stresses that the signing of the MoU does not indicate the end of its partici pation in the four-nation Tonal programme. If the MoD selects Tonal, then the Apache MoU becomes invalid. Westland Heli copters managing director John Varde says: "The Apache is one of several attack helicopter options currently being considered by the Ministry of Defence. Our working relationships with McDonnell Douglas Helicopters have always been cordial and we look forward to working with them should this excellent helicopter be selected to meet the needs of the British Army." Production of the Longbow Apache is expected to start in the United States in mid-1994. The multi-year full-scale engineering and development programme, must await formal approval from a US Army Systems Acquisition and Review Council decision this month, however. The Longbow Apache incor porates the Airborne Adverse Weather System, an advanced fire-control and missile system that will increase the Apache's ability to detect and destroy targets in bad visibility. • NEWS IN BRIEF NORTHWEST SOLD Northwest Airline's board has approved a merger offer by Wings Holdings, a new venture launched by Alfred Checchi, which has offered to buy Northwest shares at $121 each. The deal is worth about $4 billion. UK acts on CFM56-3C On June 12 the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) grounded Boeing 737-400s powered by CFM56-3C turbo- fans after two in-flight fan blade failures in three days. The first incident involved a Dan-Air aircraft en route Gatwick to Minorca on June 9, and the second involved a British Midland 737-400 flying from Heathrow to Belfast on June 11. Both suffered blade failure in the latter stages of the climb. The Dan-Air aircraft returned to Gatwick, and the British Midland flight diverted to East Midlands. On January 8 a British Midland 737-400 crashed just short of East Midlands after diverting with a similar problem but with the wrong engine closed down: 47 people were killed. In all three cases the blade fail ure was indicated by an increase in engine vibration well above normal levels, and an acrid smell permeating the cabin air condi tioning. In all three incidents the failure occurred late in the aircraft's climb. The manufacturer of the grounded CFM56-3C turbofan, CFM International, disagrees with the CAA about the cause of the three fan blade failures. CFM, a partnership of SNECMA of France and General Electric of the USA, says it is certain that the failure is simply a result of demanding extra power from this variant, compared with its almost identical predecessor, the -3B. Hence, CFM believes, it will be safe to fly the -3C- powered Boeing 737-400s at -3B power settings until the cause of failure is determined and rectified. The -3C's higher thrust is achieved not by different archi tecture, says CFM chairman Jean Bilien, but by different fuelling and higher rotational speeds. For example, at climb power the disc speeds are 3 per cent faster, and the airflow is 3-4 per cent greater, and both factors increase the stress on the fan. CFM seems to believe that the increased speed is at the root of the problem. The CAA does not claim to know the cause, but it does not have CFM's confidence that power reduction is the answer. However, the day after the CAA had grounded British oper ators' 737-400s, Boeing and CFM recommended "that 737-400 aircraft powered by CFM56-3C engines be removed from service pending modification". The required modifications, say the manufacturers, "include replac ing fan blades and steps to limit maximum thrust to 22,0001b, rather than the 23,5001b pro vided by current CFM56-3C engines . . . This recommenda tion affects 29 CFM56-3C- powered aircraft outside the USA and five in the USA." CFM is already negotiating compen sation for those operators which have been promised -3C performance and now cannot have it. The US Federal Aviation Administration has issued an airworthiness directive which requires the grounding of any -3Cs which have been operated above 22,0001b thrust (and any -3Bs which have been operated at -3C power levels) until their fan discs and blades have been replaced by -3B equipment. Thereafter, the engines must be US launch for Pilatus PC-12 Pilatus is to launch its much-rumoured PC-12 utility air craft in October. The move will end months of speculation over the nature of the Swiss manu facturer's successor to the PC-6 Turbo Porter. The new design is a turbine single similar to the Cessna Caravan I, Flight under stands. The decision to launch the new design at the US National Business Aircraft Association convention in Atlanta, Georgia (October 3-5), rather than at Paris, met some opposition from within Oerlikon- Buhrle, but reflects the impor tance of the specialist market place, says a company official. Pilatus continues to make ten PC-6 utility aircraft a year, along with the PC-7 and PC-9 turbine- powered trainers, and has sold more than 450 over 30 years. • MIL SHOWS Mi-38 Mil's Mi-38, the replacement for the Mi-8 Hip, is strikingly similar in design to the EH Industries EH. 101 Merlin, and is also destined to have naval, military, and commercial variants. Unlike the Merlin, however, the Mi-38 has two rather than three engines, each developing 3,200 s.h.p. The Mi-38 uses elastomerics in the rotor hubs and a scissors-type tail rotor. Mil expects the Mi-38 to meet international certification standards, and expects to make the first deliveries in 1996. The Soviet Union is expected to display the Mil Mi-26 Halo and the Kamov Ka-126 Hoodlum at this year's Helitech show at Redhill in the UK, from September 19-22. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 24 June 1989
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
