FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1981
1981 - 2378.PDF
210 FLIGHT International, 25 July 1981 W rid news Air Florida orders RB.211 powered Boeing 757s AIR FLORIDA has ordered Boeing 757s, powered by Rolls-Royce RB.211- 535s; the $20 mililion order covers three aircraft for delivery in Septem ber and October 1983 with options on three more for handover in late 1984. Boeing 757 sales stand at 155 with options taken on a further 62. Sales and options on -535 engines have now passed the 100 mark. Air Florida, which is set to more than double its passenger traffic over last year and is one of the world's fastest-growing airlines, is trying to buy control of Western Airlines (see page 215). Western is seen by Air Florida president Eli Timoner as an ideal customer for Boeing 757s to re place its 45 727-200s. Rolls-Royce's recent inauguration of a Miami manufacturing base (see Flight, July 11) was very important, says Timoner. R-R plans to make RB.211 engine parts at the factory and the product support offered by its proximity to Miami-based Air Florida has clearly been helpful in securing the order. Another impor tant factor is that the RB.211-535 is available earlier than Pratt & Whit ney's PW2037. The first six engines for Air Florida 757s will be 37,4001b thrust -535Cs, but the deal duplicates that made with Eastern Airlines by offering retrofit of the more powerful and fuel-efficient -535E4 (due for service entry in late 1984). Aircraft on option will have the improved engine. MX and new bomber decisions by August 1 US DEiFENCE Secretary Caspar Weinberger must decide in the next few days how to base the MX ballistic missile and which bomber will re place the B-52. The original mid-July deadlines have passed and President Reagan has told Congress that he now hopes to make an announcement be fore August 1, putting pressure on Weinberger to make his recommenda tions known. The $72,600 million 1982 US de fence budget just passed by the House of Representatives includes $2,500 million for the new bomber, or Long- Range Combat Aircraft, with prefer ential treatment accorded to the Rockwell B-l. The bomber decision is now a straight fight between the "interim" B-l and the longer term Stealth-technology aircraft, with the tacit agreement that the Stealth bomber will be required eventually. The first squadron of B^ls, modified to reduce radar signature and to in crease payload, would enter service in 1986 and the 100-aircraft fleet would cost an estimated $20,000 million. The all-new Stealth bomber could enter service in 1992 and a force of 150 aircraft would cost some $35,000 mil lion. The US Air Force has recom mended the B-l There is strong opposition to the road-shelter basing option for the MX intercontinental ballistic missile be cause of the financial and environ mental repercussions of building 8,000 miles of road and 4,600 hardened shelters in the remote valleys of Utah and Nevada. Both the House and Senate have adopted a budget amendment which makes it difficult to block Reagan's eventual choice of basing method. Alternative methods of providing near-invulnerability for a force of at least 100 missiles include launch from submarines in the shallow waters of the Great Lakes, airborne launch from a fleet of C-5A Galaxies and provision of an anti-ballistic mis sile defence system for Minuteman- style silos. Air Force of the People's Liberation Army Shenyang F-7s (MiG-21 copies) a- wait re-arming with Chinese-built Atoll air-to-air missiles at an airbase somewhere in China l!i£ Chance door impact may have led to 748 accident INVESTIGATORS into the Dan-Air British Aerospace HS.748 accident at Nailstone.on June 26 are following up the possibility that the starboard cargo door separated when cabin pressure reduced during the descent The door hit the starboard tailplane and by a freak of chance remained folded over the leading edge, leading to loss of control and structural failure. The manufacturer has issued an Alert Telex Service Bulletin, which the CAA has made mandatory, on the subject of HS.748 door security. In the House of Lords on July 14 Lord Trefgarne said that there had been similar incidents in the past and that "a number of minor modifications have been called for to the door sys tem of this aircraft. So far as I know, none of them was made mandatory." The manufacturer and investigators are reviewing 35 previous relevant in cidents, of which 13 involved baggage- door separations, five of which re sulted in airframe impacts. A pas senger-door separation in Argentina in 1962, when a cabin attendant was lost, resulted in substantial modifica tions to all HS.748 doors, including double-shoot bolts. Still open in the current case is the reason for the failure of the door-warning system (or procedure) to alert the crew. • Baggage spilt on the runway from an Aero Trasporti DC-9 was re ported to the Milan control tower by the crew of an incoming flight; more baggage fell out after take-off. The incident happened last month, reports our Italian correspondent, and it is still not clear why the crew did not observe the door-warning light before take-off. The aircraft returned with out further incident and the aircraft is reported to have taken off again, with the door properly locked, after a short delay.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
