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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 1188.PDF
DASSAULT DESIGN Dassault and its industrial part ners are to design the Falcon 7X business jet using sister com pany Dassault Systemes' product life-cycle management software. Dassault will use Catia for digital product defini tion and simulation. Delmia to define and simulate manufactur ing processes, and Enovia to manage the collaborative, dis tributed model of the digital product, processes and resources. GA ACCIDENTS DIP US general aviation accidents decreased last year but, due to an absolute reduction in flying hours following 11 September, relative accident rates increased slightly. Total and fatal accidents were down by 6.4% to 1,838 and 321, respectively, according to the US National Transportation Safety Board. The fatality rate increased from 1.18 to 1.22 accidents per 100,000h flown. Mid-air colli sions were down by over two-thirds, and fatal flight-train ing accidents declined by over a quarter. TARGET REPLACED Helicentro Morumbi Rotortech will replace Target Aviacao as MD Helicopters' distributor and service centre in Brazil. Target will concentrate on fixed-wing aircraft. Sao Paulo-based Helicentro provides helicopter hangarage, maintenance and spare parts. DISTANCE RECORDS Gulfstream and Boeing Busi ness Jets aircraft have broken two world records for non-stop flights. En route to the FIDAE 2002 air show in Santiago, Chile, a Gulfstream 200 super mid-sized business jet flew 3,810km (2,060nm) from Sava nnah, Georgia, to Guayaquil, Ecuador, in 4h 35min at an aver age speed of 449kt (830km/h). Meanwhile, a recently-delivered Boeing Business Jet flew 12,680km from Seattle, Wash ington, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - the furthest distance ever achieved by the narrowbody jet. Average speed for the 14h 12min journey was Mach 0.78. BUSINESS & GENERAL AVIATION DIESEL ENGINES JUSTIN WASTNAGE / LONDON & BRENDAN SOBIE / LAKELAND, FLORIDA SMA tie-ups spearhead SR305 retrofit sales drive French engine manufacturer creates three joint ventures in Europe and Americas Societe de Motorisations Aeronaut- iques (SMA) has established three regional joint venture companies to secure retrofit business for its SR305 light-aircraft diesel engines. The engine has been selected by a number of manufacturers, includ ing Cirrus and Maule, to power new aircraft, but the French firm has set up AeroNexx joint ventures in Eur ope, North America and South Am erica to secure retrofit business. In Europe, SMA is the majority shareholder in AeroNexx, with BN Group and French maintenance firm Aeromecanic 34. BN (formerly Britten Norman) will take over future SMA engine type certifica tions, starting with the FADS Socata TB20 Trinidad four-seat cabin monoplane. Marseille-based Aero mecanic 34 will perform the main tenance, installation and marketing. AeroNexx director Miriam Dunn, says that, although the engine has a market in the original equipment manufacturer (OFM) sector, the firm needs outlets for the retrofit market to reach its target of over 50% of diesel engine sales. At the FIDAF. 2002 show in Santiago, Chile, earlier this month ,SMA announced Brazil's Planestate and Nacional Aero Taxi, and Argen tina's Latina d'Aviation would pro vide South American sales networks. Carlsbad, California-based Riley is to offer a SR305 engine upgrade in the USA. Riley president Mary Ann Kingsley says the company is to seek US Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type certificates for models, starting with the Cessna 182 and Riley Super Skyrocket P-337 light aircraft, a development of the Cessna 337. The engine was demon strated on a retrofitted Cessna 182 at last week's Experimental Aircraft Association's show in Florida. SMA president Jean-Marc de Raffin Dourny says the 225kW (300hp) SR305-230ch Jet A engine will be certificated by the US Federal Aviation Administration in a few weeks. European certification was achieved last year. Production will start this year, and SMA expects to produce over 2,000 engines per year by 2005, with over 70% destined for the North American market. Maule is the first OEM to offer the SR305 in the USA. Founder Ray Maule says the firm plans to offer a new variant of its M-7 rural light air craft, with the diesel as one of two engine options because many of its customers operate in remote areas where avgas is unavailable. FLIGHT TESTING Continental eyes Q3 approval Bombardier has started flight testing the fourth Continental super mid size business jet, and says it is "on track" for certification in the third quarter. The Continental was first flown in August, and flight testing has passed the 340h mark in a five-aircraft, 1,500h programme. The fourth Continental, aircraft 20004, is the first equipped with a com plete interior. Its maiden flight from Bombardier's Wichita, Kansas, test centre on 5 April verified the flight-test procedure to be used for delivering production aircraft to customers, the company says. Deliveries are planned to begin soon after certification. The first aircraft is being used for performance and handling tests, the second to evaluate aircraft systems and operability of the Honeywell AS907 engines, and the third to test the Rockwell Collins avionics and Honeywell auxiliary power unit. Aircraft 20004 will be used for cold- and hot-weather testing; noise and smoke measurements; evaluation of the cabin environment; and climb, cruise and descent-performance testing. SECURITY Washington National to open to GA Rules allowing general-aviation aircraft into Washington National Airport are to be published in May, ending a nine-month GA operations ban after 11 Septem ber. The US Transportation Safety Agency will allow flights from up to 20 airports to be cho sen from those with most traffic with National. All aircraft, crew, passengers and baggage will be screened. The US National Business Aviation Association had opposed the move, proposing individual operators meet security requirements, and be allowed access via "security letters of authorisation". Elements of this proposal are expected to feature in the final rule, such as back ground checks for passengers and crews. 24 16-22 APRIL 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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