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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 1202.PDF
GENERAL AVIATION MANUFACTURING PETER CLARK / AUCKLAND Apex offloads aerobatic trainers Deal to sell metal aircraft manufacturing operation to New Zealand's Alpha Aviation includes European and US approvals Manufacture of the two-seat Alpha 120T is heading for Australasia tenance, Hammersmith Holdings and Izard Pacific Aviation - say they have carried out "extensive" due diligence for more than a year. Alpha Aviation says there is a significant market worldwide for an affordable entry- level commer cial trainer. Alpha suggests there have been only a small number of metal train ers produced in the past 20 years, since Cessna and Piper abandoned this niche in 1982 and 1983, respectively, and the fleet is old and becoming increasingly expensive to maintain. Izard Pacific Aviation has been the agent in Australasia for Apex Industries since 2000. Alpha says the formation of Alpha Aviation at Hamilton airport should help to bolster New Zealand's small aircraft manufac turing industry and bring consider able economic benefits. Commercial production of Alpha Aircraft is expected to begin in around 12 months, says the com pany, which plans to ramp up to 100 aircraft a year as demand grows, 90% of which will be exported. Alpha Aviation intends to subcontract most of the parts manufacture to local suppliers. TRAINING HERMAN DE WULF Hub'Air plans flight school at former air base Apex Aviation has sold its all-metal trainer operation, comprising the Alpha 120T and 160A, to New Zealand's Alpha Aviation. The agreement includes the purchase of all the manufacturing plant, tools and jigs, designs and intellectual property as well as the US and European approvals. Dijon, France-based Apex Aircraft will cease manufacture of the two types in about a year, but will continue as European distribu tor for the aircraft. Apex will con tinue to market its range of wooden light aircraft. Alpha Aviation aims to manu facture the aircraft on a new site at Hamilton International airport, New Zealand. The owners of Alpha Aviation - Hamilton Aero Main- PRODUCTION Diamond to expand Diamond Aircraft's Croatian dis tributor is to build a component manufacturing and maintenance facility, which could later be extended to an assembly line. Diamond Aircraft Croatia will start work on the aviation com plex at its base at Varazdin airport this year The site will ser vice parts for all Diamond light aircraft types and may house an assembly line, the company says. The company was estab lished two years ago as a sales agent and distributor for Diamond types in Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Varazdin houses the Diamond flight train ing school, which operates a two-seat DA20 Katana, and plans to add further aircraft and simulators. Rajko Raus, Diamond Aircraft Croatia's gen eral manager, says there is demand for around 100 Diamond types in the region, largely to replace the former Yugoslavia's ageing fleet of Utva-75 basic trainers. SEE FEATURES P82 AND P86 Belgium's Hub'Air Aviation Aca demy is to open a flight school in October at the former Belgian air base at Brustem. Hub'Air says the academy will be the first to provide European JAR-approved ab initio flight training in aircraft equipped with flat screen instrument panels instead of conventional dials. The company will transfer its operation from St-Hubert, near Luxembourg. STUDY The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has concluded that the Robinson R22 has a similar safety profile to other light heli copters following an investigation into light helicopter safety that was prompted by a number of accidents. Between January 1985 and December 2003, light utility heli copters made up half the fleet of helicopters in the country, but accounted for 72% of helicopter accidents. The ATSB studied the R22, Bell/ Agusta/Kawasaki 47G, Hughes/ Schweizer 269 and the Hiller UH- Hub'Air says use of modern flightdecks in trainers cuts out the later conversion training to state-of- the-art airliner cockpits and slashes the duration and cost of training. The company says it is respond ing to increasing international demand for flying training and type rating from the former CIS, the Middle East and Asia. Hub'Air will operate diesel- 12E. The R22 was found to be involved in more accidents but flew more hours than any other type. The 47G had the next highest involvement in accidents, followed by the 269 and the UH-12E. But in terms of accident rate per hours flown, the R22's record was as safe if not safer than similar models. • The Australian Customs Service has been testing Aerosonde's unmanned air vehicle as part of its evaluations of new technology ahead of the release of the request for tender for its Civil Maritime Surveillance 2004 (CMS04) project engined Diamond Aircraft DA40 Diamond Stars and twin-engined DA42 Twin Stars, which will reduce operating costs. Diesel cycle engines burn Jet A fuel at €0.42/ litre ($1.97/USgal) compared with €1.60 for AvGas used in conventional pis ton trainers, the company says. Hub'Air has options for five DA40s and two DA42s, but will increase the fleet only as demand grows. expected this month. Following a slip in the programme, new civil maritime surveillance services are unlikely to be fully operational until July 2007. The tender will close in late September. Evaluation and con tract signature are due between October 2004 and April 2005, con tract signature in May 2005 and full service delivery by July 2007. With contracts valued at A$75 million ($53.5 million) a year over nine years, CMS04 is the largest civil maritime surveillance pro gramme in the world. R22 satisfies Australia safety board www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 13-19 JULY 2004 33
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