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Aviation History
1992
1992 - 0885.PDF
INDUSTRY USAF laboratory aids FAA's bomb team The US Air Force's Wright Labo ratory has been recruited to as sist the US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) civil aircraft bomb damage assess ment programme. Under FAA guidance, a team from the laboratory's Flight Dy namics Directorate is carrying out a project to "...understand the effects of a bomb blast on the structure and subsystems of a widebody commercial air craft", says the USAF. In a sec ond phase of the programme, the team will aim to provide solutions to the FAA for harden ing an aircraft to survive in flight bombings. As part of the project, Wright Laboratory engineers have deto nated explosives in the tails of eight B-52 bombers stored permanently at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. The B-52 structure will be modelled on computer, then the data from the blast tests will be viewed and compared to that which the model predicted would happen. Ricky Peters, programme manager of the directorate's commercial aircraft hardening programme office, says: "Once we've done that, we feel confi dent that we can model a com mercial aircraft." Peters adds: "We're looking at the controllability of the air craft... First, we want to keep it together; and second, we want to make sure it has a safe and controlled landing." Godiva reveals new firefighting gear A UK-based company has devel oped new firefighting equipment capable of penetrating an aircraft fuselage before tackling internal fire. Godiva, the company behind the Fire Spear development, says: "It provides the capability for firefighters to create access to the fire, and sprays water inside to fight the fire with one single tool and thereby help the pas sengers to make a safe escape." In operation, the Fire Spear is held against the side of the aircraft to allow the water- powered drilling tip to penetrate the aircraft body. The tool has a stepped cutting head to elimi nate drill torque reaction on the operator and can penetrate air craft skin in 7s or a perspex window in 12s. Godiva says: "Once the air craft is penetrated, the other function of the tool comes into action and water sprays through the tip at a rate of 100 litres/min at 140 bar [2,000 lb/in2]." Water to power the tool is provided by a hose connection from a Godiva high-pressure water pump mounted on a Fire Spear does not hamper escape rapid-response vehicle. Andrew Thompson, Godiva sales and marketing director, says: "The Fire Spear can win vital time for firelighters who are first on the scene at an aircraft fire. Water can be sprayed inside the aircraft within seconds, without interfering in any way with the evacuation of passengers through the emer gency exits and escape slides." Rosemount wins 777 ice-detection deal Rosemount has been selected by Boeing to be sole supplier of primary automatic ice-detection systems for the Boeing 777. Rosemount says: "Because icing limits an aircraft's perform ance capabilities and decreases its operational efficiency, air lines use various types of ice- detection systems. Most systems are advisory, however, which require the flight crew to moni tor icing conditions and then manually turn on ice-protection systems. Primary systems can automate this process by provid ing direct control of ice- protection systems." Doug Cozby, Boeing's engi neering manager of 777 ECS/ice- protection systems, says his company "...will benefit in sev eral ways from using the Rose mount ice-detection system on our 777s. We decided to include it as standard equipment on the 777 after getting a lot of positive feedback from airlines who'cur rently use the system on,, the 747-400 and 767 aircraft."!'' As examples of the benefits of a primary ice-detection system, Rosemount says it "...enhances safety, for instance, because the flight crew is alerted to icing conditions that are difficult to detect...saves fuel, and lowers operating costs because the sys tem activates ice protection only when it is actually needed; and, because the system turns on automatically, the crew work load is reduced when activity is highest and icing is most likely to occur — during take-off and landing." NEWS IN BRIEF SMITHS DEAL American Airlines has an nounced the selection of Smiths Industries' Malvern di vision to supply digital fuel gauging updates to be retrofit ted to 67 of the carrier's Boeing 727s in 1992. JAPAN/US ROCKET Japan and the USA will begin a joint study in 1992 into a ducted air-breathing rocket engine to enable missiles to fly long ranges at supersonic speeds. An agreement will be signed by both governments shortly. According to a pre liminary agreement, the cost of the development will be shared equally. DOWTY DEAL Dowty Aerospace Los Ange les, in conjunction with Gen eral Electric Aircraft Control Systems, has been chosen to supply a prototype electrohy- drostatic actuator (EHA), which may be "applicable to next-generation tactical mili tary aircraft", says Dowty. The EHA is part of the electroni cally powered actuation de sign validation programme being run by Wright Labora tory, Flight Dynamics Direc torate, at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio. It will be flight tested in the left-aileron position of a McDonnell Douglas F-18 Hornet. LORI 757/767 STC Heat transfer and exhaust equipment overhaul specialist Lori has received US Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type certificate approval for Boeing 757/767 secondary heat exchangers. Lori is a member of the Nor- dam group. LTV CONTINUES BOEING SUBCONTRACTS LTV Aerospace and Defense has been awarded a contract in excess of S700 million by Boeing for the continued production of major sections of the 747, 757 and 767. LTV says: "At current and projected contract rates, the new agreement will ensure continuous production of Boeing components by LTV through 1995." LTV work for Boeing includes entire tail sections for the 747, vertical and horizontal stabilisers and pressure bulkhead (foreground) and aft body sections (background) for the 757 and horizontal stabilisers for the 767. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL I - 7 April, 1992 37
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