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Aviation History
1992
1992 - 0008.PDF
HEADLINES Russia disputes Ukraine's armament claim BY ALEXANDER VELOVICH IN MOSCOW Russian military commanders believe that the newly- independent Ukraine is trying to retain a large number of conven tional arms which are based on its territory, partly in order to sell the surplus to Third World countries for hard currency. About 70 billion Roubles (the oretically $41 billion) would be needed just to keep the Ukraine's forces operational, and it is thought unlikely that the republic could foot the bill. Ukraine president Leonid Kravchuk is adamant, however, that the money will be found, saying: "Guaranteeing real and long-term independence of the state will be my main task, not the welfare of the population." Maj Gen Georgiy Zhivitsa, head of the Ukraine armed forces, says: "Ukraine claims rights for all units, equipment and arms of the three military districts on its territory, exclud ing strategic missiles and long- range aviation, but including the whole Black Sea Fleet, which does not have strategic ships or units." The Black Sea Fleet has about 65 major warships and 21 Strategic Tu-160 Blackjacks remain under central control submarines. The number of forces personnel in the Ukraine is about 470,000. A delegation from the former USSR defence ministry conduct ing negotiations in Kiev, led by Col Gen Boris Pyankov, has offered to divide the disputed forces, allowing Ukraine to re tain half, the other half being assigned to the joint forces of the Commonwealth of Inde pendent States (CIS) — a for mula agreed by eight of the 11 CIS member states in Minsk on 30 December. Ukraine, Azer baijan and Moldova did not sign the accord, under which the non-strategic joint CIS forces would be stationed in the mem ber states but under joint central command. The republican ar mies would be commanded by the republican governments. The armed forces of the for mer USSR will continue to exist until March, under Air Marshal Evgeniy Shaposhnikov, former USSR Defence Minister and act ing Commander-in-Chief of the CIS Armed Forces. • The release of nuclear weap ons will be agreed by the presi dent of Russia with the consent of the presidents of Byeloruss, Kazakhstan and Ukraine and after consultation with the other CIS heads of state. The agree ment, signed by all 11 states, sets conditions for nuclear weap ons in Ukraine, which will "...re main under the joint strategic forces command for dismantling by the end of 1994, including dismantling of tactical nuclear arms before 1 July, 1992". • Falcons face threat of grounding Grounding of Dassault Fal con business jets powered by the latest version of Garrett's TFE731 turbofan has been rec ommended by the engine manufacturer after two engines had suffered in-flight gearbox failures. The grounding is precaution ary and affects fewer than 20 re-engined Falcon 20 twinjets and Falcon 900B trijets powered by the TFE731-5B, says Garrett. On 17 December, 1991, a TFE731-5B was shut down in flight by the crew of a European- based Falcon 900. On stripping down the engine, Garrett found that a sun gear, which provides the input to the planetary fan- drive gearbox, had fractured. The engine had recently been converted by Garrett from TFE731-5A to -5B standard, and had logged 7h in the new config uration. The A to B conversion increases thrust from 20kN (4,5001b) to 21.1kN, and in volves changing the gears driv ing the fan. On 27 December, 1991, the crew of the same Falcon 900 shut down a second engine in flight. This engine had also been converted from -5A to -5B speci fication, and had logged 8h in its new configuration. Garrett says that preliminary indications sug gest a gearbox failure. Garrett has recommended that operators of TFE731-5B-pow- ered Falcons do not use their aircraft until the company has examined all three engines from the Falcon 900, which will prob ably be later in January. Garrett says the fleet comprises a mix of new and converted -5Bs. • USAir agrees in principle to operate Trump Shuttle USAir has reached an agree ment in principle to operate the Trump Shuttle for up to ten years, with an option to buy after five years. Northwest Air lines reached a similar agree ment in July 1991, but dropped out after failing to strike a deal with unions on operating the former Eastern Air Lines shuttle service linking New York, Wash ington DC and Boston. USAir hopes to begin operat ing the Trump Shuttle as early as February. Under the agree ment, the airline will pay $16 million for the operating rights and an option to buy 40% of the airline. Banks which loaned de veloper Donald Trump $370 million to buy the Shuttle from Eastern in 1989 would own the remaining 60%. The Trump deal is the latest in a series of moves which strengthens Pittsburgh-based USAir's presence in the north eastern USA. In 1991, the airline bought the former Eastern hub at Philadelphia from Midway Airlines for $67.5 million; in November, it reached an agree ment to buy the former Eastern terminal at New York's LaGuar- dia Airport from Continental Airlines for $61 million; and, in December, it agreed to buy Trans World Airlines' routes to London from Baltimore and Philadelphia for $50 million. The Continental deal, if ap proved by the bankruptcy court overseeing that airline's reorgan isation, will give USAir addi tional slots at both LaGuardia and Washington National, where it is already the dominant car rier. The renamed USAir Shuttle will increase that dominance and bring the airline into direct com petition with the Delta Shuttle, which Delta Air Lines acquired from Pan American World Air ways in 1991 for $139 million. USAir hopes that it will begin serving the former Trans Work'. Airlines routes on 1 March. A present, the airline operates to London only from its Charlotte North Carolina, hub. TWA re tains only one London route from its St Louis base, having sold three to American Airline in 1991 for $445 million. 6 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 8 - 14 January, 19S
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