FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0041.PDF
LETTERS The various claims for EF2000 Sir — I was interested to read die article "Terminal velocity" (Flight International, 13-19 November, P33) and in particular the reported Royal Air Force simulations with die Eurofighter EF2000/AIM-120B and its "poor exchange ratio" against Sukhoi Su-27 and Flanker Plus derivatives. This is at variance with claims made during a lecture to the Royal Aeronautical Society by Grp Capt Ned Frith (British Aerospace marketing) on the EF2000's advanced medium- range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM)/beyond-visual- range capabilities, reported in Aerospace for September 1994, in which he describes the Joust CRMnot the only training solution Sir — The editorial "Admit it" (Flight International, 13-19 November, 1996) identifies shortcomings in the legal minimum standards for airline- pilot training, and advocates die inclusion of crew-resource management (CRM) and error management as crucial to a radically revised training system. The solution lies not in CRM alone, important though it is, but in the fundamental quality and type of training — particularly the acquisition of traditional airmanship, which consists of die full range of professional disciplines: handling ability, technical and operational knowledge, leadership, situational awareness, CRM and learning from experience. To achieve these skills, rigorous and well-researched selection must be followed by flight and ground training of the highest quality. Cost, aldiough important, must not be die governing factor — adequate resources should be reserved for die fundamentals of basic handling skills, particularly in recurrent training. Reports of computer-model air- combat studies as being "superior to me threat", defined to include die Su-27 and Su-35.Itnow transpires that, far from being superior to the threat, the aircraft requires a weapons upgrade to the future MRAAM before it EF2000 wrong missile for wrong threat? enters service. It is all very well to ".. .give everybody AMRAAM" in the Joust studies, but the AIM-120's range is 50km (27nm). Was consideration given to Vympel's early R-77, with 80km range, fired from an Su-35, with its multi-mode radar having a detection range of some 400km, together with its speed advantage of Mach 2.4 recent accidents indicate diat advances in flightdeck technology reinforce, rather than reduce, die need for basic airmanship. Many operators still meet only minimum regulatory standards for training. It is incumbent on those at the forefront of the aviation industry to set an example of their commitment to safety as the highest priority by an uncompromising approach to die training of their pilots,. CHARLES EVERETT CHAIRMAN Education and Training Committee Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators London, UK The reason flat turns won'twork Sir — In reply to the letter "Will we see turns without banking?" from D F Newland (Flight International, 20-26 November, P74), the reasons against flat turns are: • the biological control unit (the pilot) would pass out because of the high lateral loading; • to maintain equilibrium in a turn, the centrifugal force on the compared with the EF2000's Mach 1.8 at altitude? I suspect that the EF2000/ AIM-120 marriage was never a BAe choice, but imposed by the "buy off-the-shelf policy of die UK Ministry of Defence. I wonder how much taxpayers' money has been squandered? E SMITH Tonbridge, Kent, UK aircraft must be reacted by an equal inwardly acting force. This is provided by die angle of bank, which generates an inward force by "tilting" the lift from the wing. To try to generate this inward force in a flat turn would require lateral thrusters forward and aft of the centre of gravity — not a very efficient system. PGAMBARDELLA Famborough, Hampshire, UK Other mid-air collisions Sir — In the article "Collision raises doubts on ATC routeings" (Flight International, 20-26 November, P8), you say: "The last time a mid-air collision between commercial airliners occurred was 11 August, 1979." I would point out that, in April 1984, a mid-air collision occurred between two Votec Embraer EMB-110s in Brazil and, in December 1993, another mid-air collision took place between an Air Senegal de Havilland Twin Otter and a Gambia Airways NAMC YS-11. Both involved commercial airliners. ANTONIO BORDONI Rome, Italy The opinions on this page do not necessarily represent those of the editor. Flight International cannot undertake to publish letters without name and address and reserves the right to select or edit letters WHAT'S ON Rotary Wing Helicopter Aviation Films Evening 8 January, 'l"he Victory Club, 63-79 Seymour Street, London W2. Contact: Charles Oman, Hon Sec, Air-Britain (Historians), Orchards, Mill Lane, Balcombe, West Sussex RH17 6NP, UK; tel:+44 (1444) 811317. RAeS Events January: Sir Peter Maseficld Lecture: Maintaining Civil Aircraft in the Next Decade 8 January; Aerodynamics Research Forum 9-10 January; D F Mclntyre Lecture: Prestwick Airport Reborn 13 January; Gordon Corps Lecture: Safety Requires a System, not just Regulations 14 January; Micro- Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) 16 January (evening); Charles Abell Lecture: Competing for Aircraft Maintenance in a Global Market 16 January; Slots and Airport Facilities 21 January; Management Software Intensive Programme 23 January; Flight Testing of the Airglow Human Powered Aircraft 30 January, London, UK. Contact: Conference Office, The Royal Aeronautical Society, 4 Hamilton Place, London Wl V 0BO; tel:+44(171)499 3515; fax:+44(171) 493 1438; email: raes&raes.org.uk The 2nd Indian Subcontinent Aircraft Technology and Maintenance Conference 15-16 January, New Delhi, India. Contact: Aviation Industry Conferences, 31 Palace Street, London SW1E 5HW, UK; tel: +44(171)931 7072; fax: +44 (171)9317186. Aircraft Operators' Certification Management Workshop 15-17 January, Singapore. Contact: Chan Pin Pin, Assistant Manager (International Relations) Singapore Aviation Academy, 1 Aviation Drive, Singapore 499867; tel: +65 5430433; fax: +65 5429890. Civil Avionics Conference & Exhibition 16/17January, London Heathrow, UK. Contact: Shephard Conferences, 111 High Street, Burnham, Buckinghamshire SL1 7JZ, UK; tel: +44 (1628~0 604764; fax: +44 (1628)664075. Wavionix Air Navigation Training Course 16-24 January, Zurich Airport Conference center; tel: +41 (21) 641 1313; fix+41 (21)641 1320. Global Financing Opportunities '97 26-29 January, San Francisco, California, USA. Contact: Kirsty Wall, Commercial Aviation Report, 3 Station Approach, Farningham Road, Crow-borough, East Sussex TN6 2JR, UK; tel: +44 (1892) 655006; fax: +44 (1892) 655044; email: 100606.2600@compuserve.com The Development of Surface Access Links to Airports 28 January, London, UK. Contact: Waterfront (/inference Company, 9 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1WOBH, UK; tel: +44 (171)233 7600;fax:+44(171)233 7611. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 1 - 7 January 1997 39
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
