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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1510.PDF
19-22 June Kehl Air Show Kehl, Germany info@aero-club-kehl.de 14-17 July International Air & Space Symposium & Exhibition Dayton, Ohio, USA Tel:+1703 264 7530 merries@aiaa.org www.aiaa.org/dayton2003 18-20 July Royal International Air Tattoo RAF Fairford, UK www.airtattoo.intheuk.com 5-9 August Pioneers of Flight Exhibition London, UK Tel:+44 20 7670 4300 www.aerosociety.com 19-24 August MAKSAirshow Moscow, Russia www.maks.ru 30 August-1 September Canadian International Airshow Toronto, Canada admin@cias.org www.cias.org 8-12 September Aerospace Conference and Exhibition Montreal, Canada Tel:+1604 473 9664 info@aerospace-na.com 9-12 September WAEA Seattle, Washington, USA www.waea.org Defence Systems and Equipment International London, UK bob.munton@dsei.co.uk www.dsei.co.uk 13-17 September Air Force Association Convention Washington, DC, USA www.afa.org/events/2k3conv.asp 14-17 September ACI-NA 12th Annual Conference Tampa Bay, Florida, USA Tel: +1 202 293 8500 ext 3019 apeters@ad-na.org 17-19 September ERA Dublin, Ireland Tel:+44 1276 856495 www.eraa.org full list of events see Flight International welcomes letters on any aspect of the aerospace industry. Please write to: The Editor, Flight International, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS.UK. Or e-mail flight.interna- tional@rbi.co.uk The opinions on this page do not neces sarily represent those of the editor. Letters must have a name and address and must be no longer than 250 words. AFTERMARKET Stick to OEM spares Anthony Mullard's reasoning ("PMA spares the equal of OEM", Flight International, 3-9 June) is perhaps a little biased. I too worked in the repair and overhaul business for several years, for companies on both sides of the fence, for an approved parts manufacturer (PMA) and strict original equipment manufacturer (OEM) spares purchaser. Was it not a PMA manufactured burner that was the cause of the Manchester acci dent some years ago, when a British Airways Boeing 737 suffered a ruptured burner can which ignited fuel and caused the death of several passengers? I feel that in non-critical areas (if there is such a thing in an engine), PMA parts are acceptable, but where structural integrity, containment and life-limited parts (LLPs) are concerned, the OEM parts should be adhered to. It is true that airlines can save large amounts of money by buying PMA parts, but it only takes one part to fail and cause an uncontained failure, and the total warranty on the engine will be invalidated as far as the manufacturer is concerned. » PMA has its place in the industry, but not at the total exclusion of the OEM. Eric Walmsley Aviation Parts UK, Ascot, UK Build aircraft, not runways The article "Paving The Way" (Flight International, 3-9 June) reviews the projected needs for air ports in the USA and assumes that the only solution is to increase the number of runways. Surely an alternative would be to develop new aircraft with exceptionally short take-off and landing capabili ties (ESTOL) and combine these with the capabilities of steep angles of climb and descent. An essential feature of such aircraft is their abil ity to fly at low speeds which would be the most effective way of reducing noise during all phases of flight close to airports. Such aircraft would require either long wingspans, high-lift coefficients or a combination of both. In general, long wingspans are not the answer since they restrict maximum speed. New advances in high-lift wing technol ogy are available, why not use them? If BAE Systems held the patents on such developments, this could pave the way for a new take-off. Richard Adkins Square One Consultants, Child Okeford, UK Landing at a suitable airfield I was interested to read (Flight International, 20-26 May) about pilots being given discretion on extended-range twin operations (ETOPS) diversion decisions. As a former long-range twinjet pilot, I often decided that in the event of an engine failure, it would be preferable to keep going to an airport well equipped with instru ment landing systems rather than carry out a night non-directional beacon/circling approach some where far less suitable. John Faulkner Department of Aviation, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Air shows are fun to attend In your Comment "Wrong to say no" (Flight International, 6-12 May), about the USA scaling back its pres ence at the Paris air show, you ask why air shows are so busy. You also wonder why companies' chalets are such a popular venue. It is my pleasure to give you the answers. First, people all over the world like to go to air shows because they mostly give the spec tators a lot of fun and spectacle. A lot of business people like to go abroad for such an occasion. Secondly, about the busy chalets: there they serve free drinks and food, sometimes there are goodies available and one can rest there after long walks, at the same time watching the flight demonstrations from a top spot. Henk Heiden Oosterhout, The Netherlands Flying in darkness You say in "Seeing clearly" (Flight International, 6-12 May) that dark ness is one of the worst enemies of pilots. You cannot be more wrong. After 12 years in the Swedish air force and 30 years as a flight officer and captain for Scan dinavian Airlines, I believe I know what I am saying. I have on occasions when my runway visual range (RVR) has been below the minima waited for my trusted friend darkness, know ing that in pitch dark the RVR will be much better for the same weather conditions. Statistics show that flying during the months of darkness is much safer than at other times of the year. Terrain awareness is improved by the moon at all stages and is suf ficient even during nights of starlight when the ground is snow covered. Capt P Kristoffersson Sweden Just a minute In the debate about kilometres and nautical miles, nobody has remarked on the unique and con venient relationship between the latter and aeronautical/marine charts - namely that lnm=l min of longitude. Michael Badger Chichester, UK 144 10-16 JUNE 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.fliqhtinternational.com
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