FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1809.PDF
Military trainers: Phase I Private finance initiatives (PFI) and power-by-the-hour contracts are becoming increasingly popular. "PFIs have changed the nature of competitions," says Doll. "Before, it was only a matter of the budget and how many aircraft were required. Now banks are involved, so they need guaran tees of life cycles, maintenance require ments and hourly costs," he adds. Private contractors are more focused on cost. In an effort to control expenses, Grob has brought the seat manufacture back in- house at its Tussenhausen-Mattsies factory near Mindelheim, Germany, a decision necessitated by its supplier being unable to reduce its costs as Grob renegotiated the final price for 20 G120A-1 Snunits ordered by Elbit Systems for Israel. This process could lead to other components being brought back in-house, as air forces increas ingly push elementary training contract values down, says Strohmayer. Air forces have also identified other mis sions for basic aircraft during downtime, such as personnel transport, which has led to manufacturers developing four-seat vari ants. The G140, which is set for certifica tion by year-end, has a full aerobatic capa bility, but has four seats, and has received "serious interest" from three NATO air forces as well as potential private owners, says Grob. Slingsby, too, has considered a four-seater and Aermacchi is pushing its M290TP for a variety of non-training roles. School options Another option, being explored by Moravan and Serbia-Montenegro's Utva Aircraft, is to strip the two-seat aircraft of the military equipment and sell it to civil ian flying schools. Slingsby says it has dis counted this avenue, chiefly because an aircraft designed to withstand repeated rough landings while maintaining full aer obatic capabilities will never be able to compete on price with the proliferation of all-composite light aircraft and pre-assem- bled kitplanes entering the market to replace ageing Cessna 172s. Slingsby has insider knowledge: it builds the fuselage kits for Europa Aircraft, which is also situ ated in Kirkbymoorside, near York, UK. Slingsby has studied a faster, upgraded T67 to extend the Firefly's capabilities as air forces reconsider the syllabus boundaries. The third-generation Firefly is likely to have a 180kt (330km/h) cruising speed, compared with 150kt, to cover some of the traditional turboprop syllabus Flight International, 24-30 June). Slingsby believes that the aircraft could be successful in the Middle East, where air forces are looking at the two-stage approach adopted by Bahrain to see whether it is viable. The country's air force took delivery of three standard Fireflys last year and is expected to order additional aircraft this year, which could include the new variant. "We expect to sell around 20-30 aircraft in the region over the next couple of years," says Steven Boyd, Slingsby sales manager. Similarly, the Enaer T-35 Pillan, like Aer- macchi's SF260, has been re-engined with a 250hp (310kW) Rolls-Royce 250 turboprop in an attempt to find new customers, and a glass cockpit has been developed. There is another model being explored by several nations, however, which could threaten all the manufacturers' business. Diamond Aircraft is hoping to place its DA20-C1 Katana into air force flying schools following their use by US Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University for US Air Force Academy flight training. The lease of the 35 Katanas followed the grounding of the USAF Slingsby T-3 following three fatal crashes. Although subsequently dispelled, the cloud of doubt "seriously damaged" sales of the Firefly, not least since it proved that civil light aircraft can be used for ele mentary "circuits and bumps" airmanship. Manufacturers, therefore, are stressing the sophisticated nature of their products, and constantly refining them. Avionics is one area where military ab initio trainers lead the way. "Usually, the aircraft are crammed full of military kit, which requires re-engineering each time to fit in each new box," says Lovering. Slingsby's intention is to follow Grob and move to all-glass cock pits, based on fellow Cobham Group mem ber Chelton Flight Systems' electronic flight instrument system. The system is likely to include night-vision goggle compatibility and hands-on-throttle-and-stick inceptors. This is the result of a shift in thinking, says Slingsby, with several nations express ing an interest in their pilots using digital systems from day one. "You take your raw recruit, who is likely to be used to flight sim ulator games already, and you teach him how to use counter-intuitive dials and knobs, and then you put him back on to Nintendo-style displays after one year. A lot of people are asking 'why put him on ana logue at all?' and espousing a philosophy of one-system training instead," says Lovering. Several manufacturers are working to gether to develop end-to-end training pack ages, mimicking Aermacchi's complete suite. Grob has been approached, along with Pilatus, by EADS to offer jointly a three-stage training package built around the Mako advanced jet trainer. Similarly, Slingsby is working with BAE Systems to develop a syllabus for the UK's Military Fly ing Training System programme and Moravan has offered to neighbouring coun tries training on the Czech air force's Zlin 142 and the Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatros. Despite some resource-sharing, most air forces prefer to define their own pro grammes, and requirements often differ substantially, leaving manufacturers to respond to each tender with a modified aircraft, which is expensive. Thus, squeezed between budgetary constraints at one end and shifting syllabuses at the other, military ab initio trainers are being forced to compete in new ways. They also have to find other income sources, prepar ing for the worst-case scenario of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter being the last manned fighter ever. • www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 15-21 JULY 2003 31
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
