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Aviation History
1992
1992 - 0012.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Bendix/King ready to test windshear radar BY GRAHAM WARWICK IN ATLANTA In-service flight evaluation of a Bendix/King weather radar, modified to detect windshear, is set to start shortly on a Conti nental Airlines Airbus A300. Flight tests on board a Con- vair 580 have already confirmed the modified radar's ability to detect microbursts, the meteoro logical phenomena producing windshear, says Bendix/King. The US Federal Aviation Ad ministration has required that, by the end of 1993, some form of windshear detection be in stalled in all US airliners carry ing 30 passengers or more. While most airlines have opted for reactive systems, four carri ers have been granted extensions to the 1993 deadline so that they can test predictive systems. Reactive systems are triggered when windshear is encountered, and provide escape guidance, while predictive systems provide advance warning of microbursts, thereby allowing windshear to be avoided. Bendix/King's air-transport avionics division has developed a forward-looking windshear de tection/avoidance capability for its RDR-4A Doppler weather radar. This uses the radar's abil ity to measure raindrop velocity to determine actual horizontal wind. The goal is to provide the 30-60s advance warning re quired to avoid windshear areas. In flight tests on board the Convair 580 between May and October 1991 "...the system cap tured confirmed windshear ac tivity", says Bendix/King. On a 10 October flight from Fort Lau derdale, Florida, the radar de tected an isolated microburst at a range of 18km (lOnm), the presence of which was con firmed by ground sensors. According to Bendix/King, horizontal shear was estimated at 0.013m/s/m, producing a haz ard factor greater than 0.11 where the currently accepted hazard-factor threshold is 0.1. The left "WX Velocity" image shows the relative speed of radar returns with respect to the ground — blues and greens indi cating movement towards the aircraft, oranges and reds move ment away. The right "DBZ" image shows radar reflectivity, with yellow indicating light driz zle (lmm/h) and red showing heavy rainfall (16mm/h). Bendix/King plans to certifi cate its predictive windshear sys tem in 1992. Airlines investigat ing predictive systems have until the end of 1995 to install those systems, the company says. Windshear data would be pre sented on the radar display in terms of calculated hazard fac tor: green for mild hazard, yel low for medium and red for dangerous. An aural "windshear ahead" alert would be generated when an area exceeding the yel low threshold is detected be tween 5km and 9km ahead of the aircraft. • The microburst is shown centred about 15km ahead of the aircraft • \ • ma -• DAA 92 UNDERGOES TESTING A l:7.25-scale model of the Deutsche Aircraft-Aerospatiale-Alenia DAA 92 regional aircraft has carried out high-lift system performance and tail and elevator efficiency tests at the Deutsch-Niederlandischer Windkanal (DNW) windtunnel in Germany. Detailed flow-visualisation studies were also made, using ultra-violet illumination of very fine tufts on wings and tailplanes. "Further testing is foreseen in 1992," says the Germany concern. Bangkok Airways speeds up expansion Bangkok Airways is planning to go public in mid-1992. The Thai regional carrier is also bringing forward plans to ac quire jet aircraft to add to its expanding turboprop fleet. Director of finance and ad ministration Paichayon Uatha- vikul says: "We have engaged TISCO, one of the leading Thai finance companies, to advise us on the new regulations for list ing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. We have a plan to be listed by August 1992." Bangkok Airways will have its full registered capital of Baht 220 million ($8.8 million) paid up by early 1992, and it is then planned to double the registered capital to Baht 440 million. This year will see Bangkok Airways expanding substantially. Two new domestic destinations are planned to come on line in April, and four ex-Thai Interna tional Shorts 330s and two 360s have been bought for Baht 95 million, along with a second Embraer Bandeirante. Plans for the lease of a small jet — probably the Boeing 737-500 or the Fokker 100 — have also been brought forward, with a decision on the type imminent. The jet will be used on the increasingly busy Bangkok- Phnom Penh and Bangkok-Ko Samui routes. Bangkok Airways' private air port at Ko Samui is undergoing a Baht 150 million expansion programme to enable it to han dle larger aircraft by late this year. It is also embarking on the construction of its second pri vate airport, near the ancient capital city of Sukhothai. The Baht 300 million project is due to be completed during the next three years. • Airbus on line to show large profit Airbus Industries is expected to announce a profit close to $220 million this year, according to a report by Klein- wort Benson Securites, the Brit ish financial institution. In an examination of the airframe manufacturer Kleinwort estimates that in 1990 the first profit made by Airbus totalled $110 million, after the repay ment of $400 million of devel opment funding. Profits for 1991 will be about double the previous year's figure after a much higher development-fund repayment. Revenue is also calculated to make spectacular gains rising from $4 billion in 1990 to an expected level of $7 billion this year and $14 billion-15 billion by the middle of the decade. • 10 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 8 - 14 January. 1992
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