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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 2046.PDF
HEADLINES Door opens for French F-18 Matra has signed an agree ment with McDonnell Douglas to offer its Mica missile on the F-18 Hornet. The initiative removes one of the obstacles to the French Navy's selection of the F-18 as a replacement for its LTV F-8N Crusaders. The Crusaders are due to be retired from service in 1995, and were to have been replaced by the naval version of the Rafale. However, France's defence cutbacks, announced last month, will delay the naval Rafale's entry into service by at least two years, allowing the F-18 to be consid ered as an alternative. The agreement is also seen as an attempt to offer Matra's Mica in competition with the Advanced Medium Range Air-to- Air Missile (AMRAAM) in due course. As a first step the com panies will integrate the Matra Magic 2 air-to-air, close-combat missile with the F-18 in prepara tion for full Mica integration. The two countries believe that AMRAAM exports to countries outside NATO might prove diffi cult. The active radar seeker Mica could offer an alternative, especially as it is destined to be the main armament of the Rafale D, and has been designed for multi-target fire control systems. The Mica is undergoing ground testing, and its air-to-air flight tests are scheduled to start in mid-1990. • Gripen crash blame allotted The Swedish Accident Inves tigation Board's report on the crash of the JAS39 Gripen proto type blames the manufacturer and the Swedish Defence Mate riel Administration (FMV). According to the report, the acci dent would not have happened had correct conclusions been drawn from the results of the second flight test. Programme managers did not deem it necessary to examine test data from the first two flights in sufficient depth, the report says. The FMV is blamed for failing to ensure that rigorous enough standards were applied. This contrasts sharply with the FMV's declared intention to delay the prototype's first flight until it was satisfied with the integrity of the flight-control software and the aircraft's design. The Board considers that the test pilots chosen to fly the Gripen did not have the neces sary background to evaluate the aircraft's flight characteristics or to communicate their experi ences to the development team. It recommends that test pilots with suitable backgrounds should be recruited on to the pro gramme. JAS Industrial Group's parallel investigation reaches similar con clusions. Saab says that it has solved the particular control problem and introduced the necessary modifications to the flight-control system software. According to JAS president Harald Schroder: "The proposals for improvements include increased resources regarding development, simulation, and testing of flight-control laws and flying characteristics". Although Saab remains con fident that the second Gripen prototype will fly before the end of the year, the crash has delayed the development programme by a year. Delivery of the first 30 production aircraft to the Swedish Air Force will not now take place until 1993. According to Swedish Air Force Commander in Chief Gen Lars- Erik Englund, the order for the main batch of 110 Gripens will not be placed until 1991 at the earliest. • NEWS IN BRIEF GULFSTREAM TEAMS WITH SUKHOI Soviet fighter manufacturer Sukhoi has teamed with the USA's Gulfstream to study the joint production and market ing of supersonic business aircraft. Rolls-Royce might also participate. The Sukhoi/ Gulfstream accord was signed in Paris on June 18. Derating clears CFM56-3Cs to fly Grounded Boeing 737-400s powered by General Elec- tric/Snecma CFM56-3Cs have been cleared to fly again, having undergone fan changes and modifications which derate them to the thrust of the -3B marque. The UK Civil Aviation Author ity says: "Following investigation by . . . the engine manufacturer and Boeing, fan fatigue has been identified which occurs near the top of climb at the CFM56-3C engine rating. This would account for the fan failures which have been experienced." The CAA took the grounding decision on June 12, following two incidents within three days in which 737-400 CFM56-3C fan blades broke during the latter stages of climb (Flight, June 24, page 4), as happened in January to the British Midland aircraft which crashed on approach to East Midlands Airport. The CAA's decision to clear the engine to fly again stems from its confidence that, following investigation of all three inci dents, the problem's cause has been identified and can be elimi nated. The derating required by the airworthiness directive (AD) which ends the grounding reduces engine thrust from a maximum 23,5001b to 22,0001b. This is to be achieved by resetting the electronic engine controls, not merely by revising aircrew operating manuals. The CAA's instruction to oper ators says that before engines are returned to service they must be derated and have their fan blades and discs replaced, "in accord ance with the Federal Aviation Administration's Airworthiness Directive T89-13-51". The CAA has not changed any detail in the FAA's AD. The direc tive states: "Because of fatigue failure of stage 1 fan blades and cracking of stage 1 fan disc dove tail posts which may result in fan blade release and complete loss of engine power, this AD requires that CFM56-3C and certain CFM56-3B model turbofan engines have their fan blade and fan disc hardware removed from service prior to further flight. Additionally, aircraft with CFM56-3C model turbofan engines must be modified to operate at reduced thrust levels." The FAA's explanation of the failure tallies with Snecma's Piaggio sells Avanti Piaggio has announced a $4-13 million pricetag and first customers for the P. 108 Avanti twin-pusher propeller business aircraft. The price includes elec tronic flight instrumentation system and eight-seat interior. The first production Avanti has been bought by Bob Pond, presi dent of the Advance Machine Company of Plymouth, Minne sota, and the man behind the Pond Racer (a futuristic aircraft being prepared for an assault on the world speed record for piston-engined aircraft). AMR Services, picked by Piaggio to sell Avanti aircraft in the USA, has bought the second. AMR will also lease Pond's Avanti on delivery next June and use it as a demonstrator. Piaggio had not been accepting orders for the new aircraft before the pricing announcement, but now says that the orderbook is open. Piaggio had offered "delivery positions" to potential customers for 20 aircraft, however, and these might be converted into orders. Piaggio hopes for Italian and US certifica tion by the end of this year in the FAR Part 23 category. The firm, in which Aeritalia has a 31 per cent stake, says that it is considering offering a stretched Avanti in the future, and may apply Avanti's unusual three-lifting-surface layout, com prising wing, foreplane, and tail- plane, to new aircraft designs. • 4 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 1 July 1989
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