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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 1472.PDF
GENERAL AVIATION PW530 turbofan has successful first flight Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW530 turbofan has been flown for the first time on the company's Boeing 720B flying testbed, from Longueuil, Quebec. The 13kN (3,0001b )-thrust PW530 turbofan was taken up to 40,000ft (12,200m) during the 4h test flight. The engine will undergo more than 6,000h of flight- and test-cell evalua tion before certification, which is expected in late 1995. The PW530 is the first of the PW500 series and was unveiled at the 1993 National Business Aircraft Association in Atlanta, Georgia. It is aimed at an unidentified corporate-air craft programme. The core for the new family is being developed under a parallel test programme as the Turbofan Technology Integrator/Demon strator (TTID). Core testing for the TTID began in October 1992, with flight tests starting in November 1993. • Allison to deliver engines for Bell 430 Allison Engines will deliver the first two prototype Allison 250-C40 turboshafts later this month to Bell Helicopter Textron, for instal lation in the company's Bell 430 — a four-bladed, upgraded and stretched version of the Bell 230. Allison shipped two mock-up engines to Bell for fit checking in May and expects to deliver six initial powerplants, including the two prototypes, by October 1994. "We're looking for certifi cation in May 1995," says Model 250 marketing/sales director, Louis Scipioni. The 250-C40 is based on the basic core of the upgraded C30, with improvements added from the US Army's reliability, avail ability, maintainability and enhancement programme. The engine is fitted with electronic fuel controls, an improved fuel pump and increased torque- capacity gearbox. • Cousteau buys Schweizer Model 330 Jacques Cousteau has become J the latest customer for the 'Schweizer Aircraft Model 330 turbine-powered helicopter. The internationally famous marine biologist previously operated two piston-engined Model 300Cs from the deck of the research vessel Calypso. Executive vice-president Paul Schweizer says that Cousteau will receive the Model 330 helicopter, the seventh to come off the assembly line, in July thanks to a delivery switch to expe dite shipment. Schweizer says that the Model 330 was Model 330. purchased because Cousteau "...wanted turbine performance at the right price". Safety issues sur rounding the continued use of aviation gas on a ship also con tributed to the change. By July, Schweizer Aircraft will begin producing one delivery switch Bede concludes BD-10 test phase Bede Jet has completed the second phase of flight test ing the kit-built BD-10 super sonic two-seat jet-powered air craft at Mojave, California. The company expects to complete the first production aircraft by the end of this month. "The biggest thing is that the second aircraft will soon be ready," says company market ing director Chris Lampe. "Two more aircraft will be completed in July and, alto gether, we have a total of 12 under construction." Of the total, one example of the jet is being built by the owner, one at Bede's Chesterfield site in Missouri and the remainder by a compa ny called Fox 10, based in Minden, Nevada. "Fox 10 was set up to pro vide assembly assistance to buy ers," explains Lampe, who says that complete manufacture of the aircraft by anyone other than the buyer would be disallowed under its experimental-aircraft- category status. This aspect of the pro gramme has already met prob lems, with the US Federal Aviation Administration recent ly informing Fox 10 that it is operating outside the amateur- build regulations (Flight Inter national, 1-7 June). Production is rising to two aircraft a month and will be levelled off at that rate until the end of 1994. "We expect to go up to four per month in 1995," says Lampe. Meanwhile, flight tests at Mojave have almost been com pleted, apart from performance testing for the maker's manu als. "It's done everything that we expected," says Lampe. The BD-10 was flown up to 36,000ft (11,000m) and Mach 0.9 during the tests. The proto type is not pressurised, but subsequent aircraft will have this feature. The aircraft has yet to be flown at supersonic, speeds. "Supersonic flight is down the road," he says. At the lower- speed range, the aircraft has a stall speed of 78kt (145km/h). "We come on to finals at lOOkt with gear and flaps," adds Lampe. Touchdown speed is around 85kt. Tests of the revised tail sur faces indicates that "...the flying controls are well balanced. The flutter testing was no problem at all," says Lampe. • Model 330 helicopter a month — a rate which the company expects to keep until at least the end of the year. Schweizer says that he is disappointed with the softness of the low- end of the turbine helicopter "market, which has depressed Model 330 sales. Even more painful, says market ing director Cole Hedden, were delays in getting the aircraft into full produc tion. The eighth Model 330 helicopter to come off the production line will go to K a w a d a n d u s tri es Aviation divi sion. It is the fourth to go to the Japanese firm. The company declines to reveal its Model 330 order backlog, except to say that orders in hand will support production through to the end of 1994. The Model 330 received US Federal Aviation Adminis tration certification in 1992. Initial production deliveries to commercial customers began in the second quarter of 1993. Over 500 Model 300C rotorcraft have been delivered and annual production remains at about 40 aircraft. Schweizer reports a "solid backlog and orders into next year". Having previously built 60-80 Model 300Cs annually, Schweizer would like to re-build yearly production beyond the present "comfortable" production rate. Schweizer Aircraft, with about 400 workers, also builds fixed-wing surveillance aircraft and manufactures components for several major airframe com panies under subcontract. Sales in 1993 totalled $25 million, and the company is aiming for record overall sales of $35 million this year, increasing by 10%, to $38.5 million, in 1995. • 24 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 15-21 June. W4
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