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Aviation History
1998
1998 - 1883.PDF
GENERAL AVIATION Power demand delays Koala tests KATE SARSFIELD/LONDON AGUSTA HAS pushed back certification of its Al 19 Koala single-turbine helicopter to the fourth quarter of this year. The Italian company cites two reasons - plans to enhance the aircraft's per formance in response to customer demands, and die need to concen trate on satisfying high demand for its A109 Power stablemate. The Al 19 was originally scheduled for approval this month. "We are having to transfer staff from the Koala flight test pro gramme to concentrate on produc ing the Power because it is so popular," says Agusta. The twin- engined A109, which Agusta claims is "die fastest helicopter of its class in die world", has attracted more than 60 orders so far and is being targeted at the emergency medical services market. The configuration of the seven- seat, lightweight Al 19 Koala is now under review following feed back from customers. "We are keen to make improvements to the aircraft without increasing the $ 1.7 million price tag for the basic model," says the Cascina Costa- based manufacturer. To date, the Al 19 has amassed about 300h of flight time. The first prototype was powered byaTurbomecaArriel 1 turboshaft, but following design changes to die aircraft, die engine was replaced by die more powerful Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6B-37 turbo- shaft, which is now installed on die two flight-test prototypes and sub sequent producdon models. The helicopter offers a maxi mum cruise speed of 140kt (260km/h), a service ceiling of 17,900ft (5,460m) and a range of more than 650km (350nm), says Agusta. "We are in the process of enlarging the total flight envelope and hope to increase die cruise speed by lOkt," adds the company. First deliveries of the Al 19 are scheduled for 1999. • The updated Be- 12P-200 could be the basis for a big water bomber modification programme for Beriev AlliedSignal dispute Beriev Be-200 claims ALLIEDSIGNAL has refiited claims by Beriev that it is responsible for new delays to the maiden flight of its Be-200 twin- turbofan amphibian. The Russian company had alleged that non- arrival of avionics from Allied- Signal, coupled with funding shortages, had stopped the aircraft making its first flight. The absence of the Be-200 was a major disappointment at a general ly lacklustre Hydroaviation show at Gelendzhik on Russia's Black Sea coast from 30June to 5 July. The Tagenrog-based manufac turer, which is part of Sukhoi Aviation-Military Industrial Com plex, has been plagued widi funding difficulties.,The prototype Be-200 was rolled out in September 1996 and was scheduled to make its maiden flight the following year. It took until August 1997 for the part ners to obtain the fi nance just to pay for the Progress D-436TP turbo- fans-and the financial pressures do not appear to have eased. "The money difficulties our industry is experiencinghave caused Only a model of the Be-200 made it to the show substantial delays to our pro gramme," says Beriev's general de signer, Gennadi Panatov. "We had expected to achieve a first flight in May but we are still awaiting deliv ery of the systems from Allied- Signal. If we had received die system even by early June, the Be-200 would have flown at the show." AlliedSignal hit back saying it had delivered die digital avionics to the Russian consortium which is developing die Aria 200 integrated avionics suite for the aircraft. "We are not responsible for the non-appearance of the Be-200 at the show," says the company. Despite die non-appearance of the multi-role amphibian, the show played host to three other members of Beriev's line-up. The modernised Be-128, dub bed the Be-12P-200, is acting as a testbed for the Be-200 avionics and was also demonstrated as a water bomber. Two Be-12Ps are already involved in firefighting in Siberia, and Beriev reckons there are about 160 aircraft diat could be modified to the new role. An A-40 twinjet was also on show while the Be-103 pis ton twin made its show debut. 3 FAA and Coast Guard to maintain Loran-C THE US FEDERAL Aviation Administration and Coast Guard have agreed to keep the Loran-C navigation system in ser vice beyond its planned termina tion date of 31 December, 2000 in a move which will be welcomed by die general aviation sector. The decision, which must be approved by transportation secre tary Rodney Slater, follows politi cal pressure to keep Loran in service until satellite-based naviga tion is fully accepted. Keeping the ground-based network operational also increases Loran's chances of being selected as a back-up to the global positioning system (GPS) if studies now under way determine diat a back-up is required. The Coast Guard has studied keeping Loran in service to 2008 andto2015. Both scenarios involve upgrading the 24 US ground sites with solid-state transmitters. Costs to keep Loran in service are expected to be shared between the FAA and the Coast Guard, which carries the $27 million-a- year burden of operating the sys tem. The FAA is hoping to limit its share to 15 %, based on die estimat ed ratio of aviation to maritime users of Loran, but it expects to be pushed to divide costs equally with the Coast Guard. Sources say the FAA wants to avoid being locked into funding Loran indefinitely unless there is an aviation requirement tor the system (as a back-up to GPS, for example). 3 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 15 - 21 July 1998 21
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