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Aviation History
1993
1993 - 1644.PDF
MR TRANSPORT P&W plans PW4000 improvement tests Pratt & Whitney and McDonnell Douglas plan to start flight-tests of the PW4000 turbofan Phase III product- improvement package (PIP) on an MD-11 in July and aim for airframe/engine certification later this year. P&W is due to begin flight- tests after receiving US Federal Aviation Administration certifi cation for the improvement package, which affects the PW4000 variants in the 220- WORKSHOP CHINESE OVERHAUL Lucas Aerospace and China National Aero-Technology Import and Export (CATIC) are to create a repair, over haul and manufacturing ven ture in the People's Republic of China. The pair have al ready signed a joint-venture agreement, but are still plan ning the details. Lucas says that it will concentrate on the repair and overhaul of engine fuel-systems and flight con trols, initially for CATIC- manufactured aircraft, includ ing the K-8 jet trainer and the Harbin Y-12 turboprop. Con struction should be complete by mid-1995. The two compa nies are also examining the possibility of developing a manufacturing plant for hydromechanical and elec tronic systems. BEDEK TIE-UP French airline Euralair and the Bedek aviation division of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) are to operate jointly a main tenance centre at Le Bourget Airport near Paris. A memo randum of understanding was signed by the two companies on 18 June. The work will be performed by Euralair, with engineering back-up by the IAI subsidiary. In recent years, Bedek has become a major conversion contractor and the alliance with the French airline is aimed at customers which prefer to ob tain maintenance of their air craft in Europe. 276kN (50,000-62,0001b)- thrust range. Testing at simulated altitude conditions at P&W's Andrew Wilgoos Laboratory confirm a 3.1% improvement in specific fuel consumption. An improved engine for the Boeing 747 and 767 will be shipped to Seattle in September for flight-tests on a 747 testbed starting in November, with cer tification within the same month. A PIP PW4000 is scheduled to be delivered to Airbus for flight-testing on an A300 in late October. Testing is expected to begin in January 1994 and certification is due in July 1994. The basic ingredients of the PIP include re-profiled fan blades; revised low-pressure turbine aerodynamics; and im proved coating, cooling and high-temperature-resistant ma terials in the high-pressure tur bine. The software in the full- authority electronic engine- control has also been optimised to cope more effectively with Engine product improxements promise MD-11 operators efficiency gains the effects of the changing shape of the turbine case as it expands and contracts during temperature fluctuations. Each aircraft-specific PIP in cludes a reduced-leakage fan case, but P&W is anticipating even greater efficiencies for Airbus and McDonnell Douglas, which use P&W-built nacelles as part of an entire propulsion system. The new nacelles will be built with thrust-reverser sealing im provements and they will have enhanced nozzle performance. P&W says that the improved fuel burn could result in sub stantial savings. It claims, for example, that an MD-11 opera tor could save up to $300,000 per aircraft per year in fuel costs, based on a typical mis sion profile. • North Americans back MLS and GNSS The group representing North American airports is supporting deployment of a satellite-based air traffic-con trol system, but it is also seek ing early implementation of a reduced-specification Category Il/III-capable microwave-land ing system (MLS). The Airports Council Inter national - North America (ACI- NA) says that airport surface- traffic management based on global navigation-satellite sys tems (GNSS) "...would signifi cantly improve airport opera tions, and is the approach of choice for airport surface oper ations". It adds, however, that a new landing system is needed now and supports early fielding of MLS. The group notes that use of GNSS may require "...extensive and expensive precautions and redundancy, especially in the aircraft...the integrity require ments may not be practical or cost-effective in some types of aircraft, thus continuing to jus tify pursuit of a simple ground- based landing system". The ACI-NA believes that perhaps the most serious prob lem with the MLS is that the technology and the perception of the need for the MLS have changed drastically. The FAA says that it should know by 1995 whether GNSS will allow Category II/III automatic- landing operations. "If that be comes fact, it becomes appro priate to question the future need for systems such as ILS [instrument-landing system] and MLS," the ACI-NA says. The airport group advocates the establishment of require ments for a simpler MLS needed to meet the approach- and landing-guidance require ments of 1996, when the po tential of GNSS will be clear. "Adapting the specification to current needs...is crucial if the US Government is to get its money's worth," it concludes. The General Accounting Of fice (GAO), Congress' investi gative arm, believes that the US Federal Aviation Administra tion's decision to replace ILS with MLS was "premature", since MLS benefits may be provided by alternatives such as an enhanced instrument-landing system or GNSS. "A commitment of [suffi cient] resources to developing all three alternatives would put the FAA in the best position to make future decisions on preci sion-landing systems," a GAO report states. It also warns that GNSS feasibility may still be undetermined when the avia tion agency must make its deci sion on full MLS production. The International Civil Avia tion Organisation Transition Plan calls for the installation of MLS on all international run ways by 1 January, 1998. D FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 30 June - 6 July, 1993 11
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