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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 3853.PDF
TECHNICAL: AIR TRANSPORT SST propulsion behind us." MITI has solicited inter national expertise in its SST plan in the run-up to the first big spending phase of its eight-year research programme. The SST propulsion research plan has been granted a major funding boost of ¥1,694 million ($11.6 million) for Fiscal Year 1990 and ft is expected to rise even further forFY1991. MITI is looking at four powerplant types for the SST, all based around the combined, or variable cycle, engine. Of these options, the turboramjets be lieved to be under consideration are the over/under turboramjet, with a ramjet placed outside the turbojet cowling; the airturboramjet and the inte grated turboramjet. In all cases the conventional turbine engine is used for take-off and accelera tion to Mach 2-3 and is then turned off. The ram system is used to take the SST to a cruising speed of between Mach 5 and 6. Along with three Japanese aero engine companies, the pro gramme participants are ex pected to establish an engineering research association for a combined cycle engine with a static thrust of 3t. Associated with the SST propulsion reasearch, MITI has also been cleared to receive ¥1,116 million for investigation into heat-resistant materials and ¥75 million for airframe research and development. • NEWS IN BRIEF LUCAS Lucas Avitrcm has won a con tract to supply the DC elec trical system for the BAe Jetstream 41, while a US di vision of the company is to design and develop a 550A, 30V DC starter generator system for the same aircraft. CHEN-TECH Pratt & Whitney has signed contracts worth about $584,000 with two Taiwanese organisations for the supply of engine components. The orders, with Chen-tech In dustries and the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan are for gear shafts, engine supports and cases. Funding delay hits hydrogen-fuelled Airbus project MBB is planning to initiate a feasibility study into the use of liquid hydrogen fuel to power an Airbus, using tech niques pioneered by the Soviet Union. The plans have been de layed, however, while partners are found for the project. The feasibility study, due to have started in the third quarter of this year, will not now begin until next year at the earliest. MBB has contacted various organisations for the project, including the German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR), the LudwigJ3olkow Foundation, Lufthansa and hydrogen produc ers Huls and Messer-Griesheim. A study group from a number of West German companies com pleted preparations for the study earlier in the year. MBB, which announced the project in June, had hoped to have the first flight of the hydro gen-powered Airbus "as early as the mid-90s". The first flight will now almost certainly be set back, although MBB sources expressed confidence that the project would still go ahead. A source confirmed that "there has been contact" between MBB and the Soviet Union on the use of liquid hydrogen to power an Airbus. Although talks have taken place the source said that co-operation with the Soviet Union was not likely in the foreseeable future. The Soviet hydrogen-powered Tupolev Tu-155 first flew on 15 April last year. Basically it is a Tu-154 transport converted into a testbed to carry out trials with MBB learns from Tu-155 experience with hydrogen power cryogenic fuels. The three-en- gined Tu-155 has the centre engine replaced by a Kuznetsov NK-88 which is fed with liquid hydrogen from a large fuel tank fitted in the rear of the aircraft cabin. The eventual aim of the MBB project is to convert an existing Airbus airframe into a test air craft by installing batteries of hydrogen tanks in the aircraft's cargo compartment. According to MBB, "any attempt at a radical new design (a flying wing, for example) would be time- consuming, costly and would close the modification option for aircraft already in the air". The fuel capacity of the con verted Airbus would be sufficient for routes of around 1,852km; according to MBB. The major advantages of the use of hydrogen to power aircraft are that it is, in theory, available anywhere in the world by electrolysing water. It is also claimed that it is less harmful to the environment than con ventional kerosene. MBB points out that "hydrogen combustion produces none of the 'hothouse gas' C02 which results from burning kerosene". Although it is unlikely that liquid hydrogen will be able to compete economically with kerosene in the short term, MBB points out, "increases in the price of kerosene could modify this prediction", adding that "the issue will again become current if; in the middle to long term, there is no cheap oil to burn". Both MBB and Airbus denied reports from East European sources that MBB was carrying out paper studies into a projected A-640 H2 800-seat capacity hydrogen-powered commercial transport. • SAA crash prompts cargo safety system development South African engineering company Pellew has designed and • built a fire detection and extinguisher system for use aboard cargo aircraft. Develop ment of the system, known as the AKE container, follows the Fed eral Aviation Administration (FAA) directive on modifications to aircraft fire protection systems which was issued after the loss of the South African Airways Boeing 747 Combi following a suspected fire two years ago. Pellew, based at Johannesburg, says that when the system is deployed in a 747-sized cargo aircraft, up to 40 containers could be served by one master fire sensor and extinguisher system. These couldN be con trolled and monitored by the flight engineer on the flight deck where alarms would sound if smoke or gas in the ratio of six parts to a million was detected. The company says the AKE system could be an economic safety alternative to the expen sive measures proposed by the FAA. As a result of the measures many operators face extra costs in terms of reduced cargo capac ity, down-time for installation and equipment procurement and installation. The International Air Transport Association has requested that the FAA reduce the scope of the new fire-proof ing regulations and increase the compliance time. The directive affects all Class B pax/cargo air craft with passengers and freight accommodated on the freight deck. It affects Boeing 707, 727, 737, 747, 757 and McDonnell Douglas DC-8, DC-9, DC-10 and MD-80. • FUGHT INTERNATIONAL 13-19 December 1989 25
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