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Aviation History
1998
1998 - 1884.PDF
GENERAL AVIATION NEWS IN BRIEF • BELL 427 FLIES Bell has flown the first pro duction Model 427 light twin-turbine helicopter. Two prototypes have accumulated over 32 5h flight testing, and certification is expected by year-end. Bell has more than 70 orders for the 427. • GALAXY IN CANADA Jetport, a fixed-based opera tor at Ontario's Hamilton Airport, has been appointed Galaxy Aerospace's sales rep resentative in Canada. Jet- port operates an Astra SPX business jet and will take delivery of a Galaxy next year. • MOONEY EXPANDS Mooney has expanded the upgrade activity of its factory service centre at Kerrville, Texas, to retrofit features from its current production models, such as a new interi or and ice protection, into older Mooney piston singles. • JOINT VENTURE Avidyne and Trimble have joined forces to market a flat- panel central flight informa tion display for general aviation aircraft. Trimble will sell the display as part of its TrimLine avionics suite. • GULFSTREAM CENTURY Gulfstream Aerospace has booked its 100th sale of the Gulfstream V long-range business jet. Almost 20 GVs are now in service. Bombar dier has 80 firm orders for its Global Express, which will enter service by year-end. • DETECTION OPPOSITION The US National Air Trans portation Association is opposing a Federal Aviation Administration proposal to require business aircraft used for on-demand charter to be equipped with fire detection and suppression systems in Class D baggage compart ments, arguing that there have been no cargo fires in such compartments. Deliveries near as Learjet 45 receives JAA certification GRAHAM WARWICK/WASHINGTON DC BOMBARDIER HAS received European Joint Aviation Auth orities (JAA) approval for the Learjet 45, clearing another obsta cle to deliveries of the all-new light business jet. The JAA letter of recommenda tion is expected to result in type certificates from most of the agency's 2 5 member states "within the next few weeks", says the Cana dian company. The first European delivery - to an Austrian customer - is scheduled for this summer. The European JAR 25 approval follows US Federal Aviation Admi nistration FAR 25 certification last September. Customer deliveries were delayed, however, until Bombardier had gained approval for flight into known icing. This was obtained in May. Modifications to aircraft already built are now under way, and the company expects to deliver six by the end of July and 35-40 by the end of its financial year on 31 January, 1999. Deliveries of the Learjet 45 are about a year behind schedule, admits Bombardier. Some certification work re mains. Approval to use the thrust Learjet 45 deliveries are closer after JAA approval for the type reversers on the AlliedSignal TFE731-20 engines is expected this month and certification of the optional auxiliary power unit is planned for September. Work on type approvals from other coun tries is also under way, with Brazi lian certification due later tliis year. Bombardier is gearing up for production of five aircraft a month at its Learjet plant in Wichita, Kansas. The company, which holds orders for more than 150 Learjet 45s, is targeting delivery of 60 air craft in its next financial year. Production of the Learjet 3 lAis being stepped up to more than two a month in 1999 because of strong demand for the entry-level aircraft from Bombardier's Flexjet frac tional ownership programme. The Learjet 60 mid-size business jet is also being produced at a rate of just over two a month. About 25% of Learjet 31A and 60 sales are now to Flexjet, which holds 40 firm orders for Learjet 45s, says the company. J Conair anxious to introduce fire-fighting C-130 CANADIAN fire-fighting spe cialist Conair hopes to intro duce its first Lockheed Martin C-130 aerial tanker by the start of the 1999 fire season. The Abbotsford, British Columbia-based company says it has been "frustrated" in its efforts to find suitable C-130s, or civil L-lOOs, for conversion because delays in the development of Lockheed Martin's next-genera tion C-130J have forced operators to hold on to their older aircraft. Conair owns a diversified fleet of 52 fire-fighting aircraft and heli copters and wants to reduce the number of different fixed-wing types it operates, says president Barry Marsden. It operates Douglas DC-6s, Conair Firecats (company-modified Grumman S- 2s), Air Tractors and Piper Aero- stars, plus some support types. "We want to focus on a single, heavier, fixed-wing type, the C-130," says Marsden. The com pany plans to develop its own firefighting modification for the Hercules and wants to be first on the market with a conversion. "It's not a huge market, but there is some demand," he adds. Conair is looking for either civil- certificated L-100s or military-sur plus C-130Es. The latter are operated by the Canadian forces and, according to Marsden, Transport Canada has said it has access to sufficient data to enable it to certificate a C-l 30E-based aeri al tanker for fire-fighting opera tions in Canada. "We would like to find the right model [Hercules] at the right price," says Marsden, who predicts that "the dam will break" when Lockheed Martin begins deliveries of the C-130J, due later this year. "That will affect both the availabil ity and price of die older aircraft." Conair, meanwhile, expects to continue operating the Firecat and die Air Tractor. Marsden predicts that the company will eventually operate the Bombardier CL- 215/415 amphibious water- bomber. "We have operated the aircraft before and we hope to get back into it," he says. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 15 - 21 July 1998
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