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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1073.PDF
GENERAL AVIATION AVIONICS GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC Honeywell offers cockpit retrofits Company to focus on avionics upgrades with its Apex integrated system until general aviation market recovers Honeywell plans to team with 10 to 20 dealers to offer its Apex gen eral aviation integrated cockpit for retrofit into turboprops and light jets. The Apex/R retrofit system, with its large flat-panel displays and cabinet-based architecture, will provide substantial weight savings, says Marc Szczerba, Honeywell gen eral manager, business, regional and general aviation. The company is pursuing retrofit applications while it awaits a GA market recovery. Szczerba says Apex has been picked for two aircraft pro grammes that have yet to be ann ounced, but Honeywell lost the con test to equip Cessna's Citation Mustang entry-level business jet to Garmin International's G1000. Initial retrofit targets are the Beech King Air 200 and Cessna Citation II, as well as Cessna's Conquest, says Szczerba. The com pany will team with selected deal ers to develop and share the sup plemental type certificates. As well as providing increased functional ity at reduced cost, the retrofit could save an average of 90kg (2001b) in line-replaceable units and wiring, he adds. Flight testing of the complete Apex package will begin in the third quarter. In addition to the high-resolution displays, the pack age includes dual-channel, solid- state air-data, attitude and heading reference system; dual digital radios for communication, navigation and datalink weather and traffic; dual GPS with wide-area augmen tation system capability; and three- axis digital autopilot. EVALUATION New safety rules could delay CAG kitplane Spanish manufacturer Construc- ciones Aeronauticas de Galicia (CAG) fears the introduction of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) could delay certification of its Toxo II two- seat kitplane. CAG imposed a design freeze last month and has submitted flight manuals to the Spanish DGAC airworthi ness body for certification under the pan-European Joint Aviation Requirements for Very Light Aircraft (JAR-VLA). Antonio Castelo, CAG's man aging director, says he expects the DGAC to "take its time" in evaluating the aircraft because it has never certificated an aircraft in this category before. CAG has already sold 16 pre-built aircraft, scheduled for delivery by year- end, which would be delayed if the DGAC has to re-examine the aircraft once EASA regula tions replace the JARs as the rules defining aircraft certifica tion requirements in Europe in the middle of this year. Castelo says he has received indications that EASA may seek to change the rules to apply only to aircraft under 500kg (1,1001b). CAG says the maximum take-off weight of the Toxo will be about 650kg, but Castelo says the cer tificated version could be heavier. DEVELOPMENT BRENDAN SOBIE / SINGAPORE Velocity may give Firefly US debut The four-seat Firefly was developed by the Korean Aerospace Research Institute with Korean- and US-made parts A US kitplane manufacturer is to discuss partnering a South Korean company to bring to market South Korea's first indigenous general avia tion aircraft. The four-seat Firefly was devel oped by the Korean Aerospace Res earch Institute (KARI) with local and US-made parts. Government-fund ed KARI has recruited local rocket launch pad and shipbuilding equip ment manufacturer Shin Young Heavy Industries to sell the kits in the USA and kickstart a general avia tion industry in South Korea. KARI and Shin Young will meet Velocity Aircraft in Florida this month to discuss a partnership for manufacturing and selling the kit. Velocity has been involved with Firefly from the start, supplying the canard, fuselage and landing gear, and hosting flight tests. KARI devel oped the wing, vertical stabilisers and rudders, and performed initial flight tests in South Korea before moving the prototype to the USA a year ago. "We are almost ready to sell it," says KARI principal researcher Seokmin Ahn. Pricing for the kits and the South Korean/US workshare breakdown still need to be negotiated. "There's a lot to be worked out," says Velocity vice-president Scott Baker. Velocity is keen to sell the Firefly if it can lead the sales drive and retain rights to the fuselage, bor rowed from the Velocity XL. The Firefly and XL handle differently; the Firefly is more stable at slow speeds. Overall performance is sim ilar, with the 195kW (260hp) Firefly cruising up to 1,850km (l,000nm) at 180kt (333km/h). PROPOSALS Indonesia police force shortlists patrol aircraft The Indonesian police force is evalu ating three proposals for small tur boprops as part of a $31 million pro curement of rotory and fixed-wing patrol aircraft. EADS is pitching the Casa 235, Raytheon the Beechcraft 1900D and PZL Sokol the M-28 Skytruck. The three were notified last month that they had been shortlisted, while sev eral companies, including the Czech Republic's Let, were not chosen. On the helicopter side, the Eurocopter EC120, Enstrom 480B and Schweizer 333 have been short listed. The Robinson R44 Raven II, Bell 206B, Kamov Ka-226 and Changhe Z-l 1 have been eliminated from the competition. The force plans to place $14 mil lion in fixed-wing orders and $17 million in helicopter orders after selecting platforms later this month. Manufacturers must provide as many aircraft as they can at these prices, plus training, maintenance, hangars and heliports. They antici pate the budget will allow two tur boprops and 10 to 17 helicopters. Indonesia is providing 15% of the funds up front and has a loan from the US Export-Import Bank for the remaining 85%. 32 13-19 MAY 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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