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Aviation History
1998
1998 - 2467.PDF
Japan's T-7 decision saves Fuji's day ANDREW MOLLETT/TOKYO THE JAPANESE Govern ment has thrown Fuji Heavy Industries' beleaguered aerospace division a lifeline with its decision to choose a modified version of the company's T-3 as the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's (JASDF) next generation basic trainer. Neither the Japanese Defence Agency ODA) nor Fuji will disclose the value of the order, to be officially confirmed later this month. The first two aircraft will be delivered in 2000, with a further 48 scheduled to be shipped over the following decade. A senior Fuji source says, how ever, diat national budgetary con straints might mean that no more than 45 aircraft will be ordered eventually. He admits, neverthe less, that the contract "...will go a long way to ensuring our survival in the sector". The decision to award the con tract to Fuji, which is fast running out of military work, has come under fire from the other shortlist ed contender, Pilatus. The Swiss company says that it is surprised that Fuji has managed to slash the cost from an initial price tag of ¥400 million ($2.8 million) per air craft to a final offering of ¥2 50 mil lion - a slightly lower price than that tendered for the Pilatus PC-7 Mk II Turbo Trainer. A Pilatus source says that the company will be applying maxi mum pressure on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an attempt to get the decision modified. Fuji's tandem-seat T-7 is an updated version of the existing T-3 Kai, powered by a new 298 kW Allison 250 turboprop. The air craft also has some external modi fications, including to die cowling, tail and wing sections. A prototype has already been test flown and has received its air worthiness certificate, however. JDA, test flights on the actual new build T-7 will only begin once the delivery contract has been signed, "some time next year". Meanwhile, the Japan Defence Agency has formalised its budgetary request for fiscal year 1999. It asks for 2 8 aircraft for rhejASDF, valued at ¥ 174 billion and made up of eight Mitsubishi F-2 fighters, two Mitsubishi/Boeing CH-47J heavy- lift helicopters, two Raytheon U- 12 5 Asearch and rescue aircraft, two Mitsubishi/Sikorsky UH-60J utility helicopters, 12 Kawasaki T-4 jet trainers and two Fuji T-7 trainers. The ¥62 billion request for the Maritime Self-Defence Force includes 10 SH-60Js, one Shinmaywa US-1A amphibian and three Raytheon TC-90s, while the Y¥42 billion request for the Ground Self-Defence Force comprises four Kawasaki OH- Is, three UH-60JAs, five Fuji UH-lJs, two CH-47JAs and two Raytheon LR-2s. • Boeing tests reconfigurable control F/A-18E/F BOEING HAS completed tests of a reconfigurable flight con trol system on the F/A-18E/F, which it says will allow the pilot to recover control, and even make a carrier landing, with a combat- damaged aircraft. The tests at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, were part of degraded modes evaluation, dur ing which integrated test team (ITT) pilots assessed the flying qualities of the aircraft with specific systems failures. "We flew two test flights and the results were better than we expect ed," according to ITT test pilot Jim Sandberg. During the flights, Sandberg used the F-18E/F's dial-a-function flight control computer to simulate the failure of the left horizontal sta- bilator actuator. The aircraft was in clean configuration for the tests, with no external stores, and han dled "...extremely well with great control. From a pilot's standpoint, the flying qualities were all Level One," he adds. Once the system sensed the fail ure of the actuator, it automatically directed the horizontal tail to a fixed, known, position and locked it there. The flight control software then compensated for the failed actuator using the remaining flight control surfaces, including the flaps, and ".. .significantly reduced The F/A-18E will be more survivable with reconfigurable controls the pilot's workload", says Boeing. The reconfiguration capability has been developed for the F/A-18E/F's fly-by-wire flight control system to replace the mechanical backup system used in earlier F/A-18 models. Boeing says the system enhances safety, reduces weight and cost and increases reliability. Future tests of the reconfigurable flight control system are planned with a variety of weapon configurations and during an aerial refuelling. • The F/A-18E/F full-scale fatigue test airframe (FT50) has completed a full lifetime of tests, which is equivalent to 6,000 flight hours, or roughly 20 years of oper ational use, at Boeing's St Louis site in Missouri. Data from the tests are now being analysed and will be present ed as part of the US Navy's Pro gram Review III, which is scheduled for November. The assessment is expected to be pivotal to the fatigue test pro gramme, as full funding for low- rate initial production aircraft is contingent on the successful com pletion of the review. • NEWS IN BRIEF • NUCLEAR LUXURY A nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is about $8 billion more expensive to operate over a 50-year period than a conventionally powered car rier, but offers no greater operational advantage, according to a recently released US General Ac counting Office report. The Congressional watchdog says that the US Navy must resolve the powerplant issue before it begins building the first next-generation CVX- 78 class aircraft carrier in fiscal year 2006. The study estimates life-cycle costs for conventionally powered and nuclear powered carriers to be $ 14 bill ion and $2 2 billion, respectively, but concludes that there was little differ ence in their operational effectiveness in past combat operations. • CZECHS TO BUY SPARES The Czech defence minister Vladimir Vetchy is to submit proposals to parliament this month to purchase spares for the air force's Sukhoi Su-22 and Su-25 strike aircraft from Russia. Both types are suffer ing a shortage of parts. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 9 - 15 September 1998
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