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Aviation History
1998
1998 - 0819.PDF
>J.\L AVJAfJUn Busy Socata is forced to delay Tangara JULIAN MOXON/PARIS PRODUCTION OF the Socata Tangara light twin is to he delayed by up to a year, as the French manufacturer meets in creased demand for subcontracting work and its TBM700 single. French certification of the Textron Lycoming 0-360-A1G6 powered Tangara was obtained in December 1997, with production start-up originally planned for early this year. Socata now says that the Tangara will not begin rolling off its production line atTarbes in southern France before the end of the year "at the earliest". Socata commercial director Christophe Van den Brouk says: "We remain committed to the Tangara. But we had to choose between remaining on schedule or meeting die demands of our main clients, Airbus, AI(R) and Eurocopter. They're all increasing production, and as major subcon- Demandfor TBMlOOs in the USA and Europe has slowed progress on the Tangara tractors, we have to go with them." Socata supplies main belly fair ings for the Airbus A3 30/A340 and several components for the A320 family, as well as components for Eurocopter helicopters. Production of the six-seat TBM700 is also set to rise, from 11 aircraft last year to 15 in 1998 and "at least 20" in 1999, says Van den Brouk. The entire 1998 TBM700 production is already sold out, and so is some of the production for 1999. This is partly caused by the US Federal Aviation Admini stration decision to permit instru ment flight rules operations of single engined aircraft. Van den Brouk admits that sev eral Tangara orders have been can celled, although he adds that "most of our customers are keeping their deliver)' positions". The four seat aircraft is developed from the orig inal Grumman Cougar, for which Socata obtained the manufacturing rights in 1995. J Orenda completes certification tests on Vee-8 ORENDA RECIP HAS com pleted certification tests on the OE-600 high-power Vee-8 pis ton engine. Transport Canada's approval was granted at the end of March, climaxing a prolonged development and certification effort, which began in 1994 when the Canadian company acquired the engine programme. Certification allows OE-600 production to begin, initially for retrofit applications. Orenda has agreements in place to re-engine Beech King Air 90s, de I Iavilland Beavers and Otters, and Rockwell Aero Commanders. Agreement is also near on a programme to re- engine Air Tractor agricultural air craft, according to general manager Peterjackson. Engines will be produced in a new factor ' at Debert, Nova Scotia, which will also be the site for a supporting aircraft refurbish ment and re-engineing operation. Initial market studies have focused on the Cessna 421 and Piper Navajo piston twins, Jackson says. Other potential applications for the engine include the Mitsubishi Mu-2,headds. In the longer term, Orenda Recip wants to supply engines to manufacturers of new aircraft, ".. .but we won't pursue them until we have a type certificate", Jackson says. The company has already supplied an engine to Lancair for its Tigress high-performance kit- plane, which was scheduled to fly in late March. J Second Sikorsky Skycrane is converted for use as firefighter ERICKSON AIR-CRANE is remanufacturing a second Si korsky S-64 and offering it to oper ators as a firefighting"Helitanker". Oregon-based Erickson bought the S-64 Skycrane type certificate from Sikorsky in 1992. The com pany developed more than 100 modifications for the helicopter before producing its first Air- Crane injuly 1997. The zero-time airframe was the first S-64 to be built since the 1970s. It has joined the Erickson fleet, which now numbers 15, and is being followed by a second model, the S-64E "We have another one being- built, and we think it's the most sophisticated firefightingsystem in the world," says Erickson. The 9,000litre capacity Helitanker is designed to deliver water, long term retardant or water which has been injected with foam. The hcli- coptercan be refilled in around45s by dipping a snorkel into a suitable body of water. The Hclitanker can also make multiple drops, and the pilot can select the volume each time. A global positioning system receiver feeds airspeed information to the microprocessor that controls the tank doors. This automatically adjusts flow to one of eight cover age levels, delivering 4-3 31itres per 10nv, depending on the intensity of the fire. Erickson has also designed the system capable of delivering a salvo of 9,000 litres in about 3s to drown out hot spots. G NEWS IN BRIEF • GULFSTREAM CHARTERS Gulfstream has launched a programme to facilitate char tering of its business jets. Gulfstream Charter Services will act as a clearing house for charter requests, connecting customers with operators in Europe and North America. • VANTAGE PRICE HIKE With orders for its Vantage single engined business jet now past the 100 aircraft mark, VisionAire has in creased the price by almost 3%, to Si.8 million, with a second hike, to Si .85 million, planned for later this year. • TOYOTA PLANS Toyota Motors is developing a four seat light aircraft and a diesel powerplant, according to Japanese press reports. A prototype is scheduled to fly at the end of 1999. Toyota has reportedly earmarked ¥100 billion (S765 million) for the project. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 1 - 7 April 1998 27
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