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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0021.PDF
INDUSTRY Smiths withdraws from MD-95 FADEC partnership agreement ANDREW DOYLE/LONDON SMITHS INDUSTRIES has unexpectedly dropped out of an agreement to be a major partner in the development of the full-author ity digital engine-control (FADEC) for the BMW Rolls-Royce BR715 rurbofan, because it does not believe that it will be able to recoup its development costs over the life of the programme. The BR715 has been selected to power the McDonnell Douglas MD-95. The BR715 FADEC was to have been developed by Rolls Smiths Engine Controls (RoSEC), the joint venture between R-R and Smiths, which already produces the FADEC for the BR710 . The BR710 powers the Gulfstream V and Bombardier Canadair Global Express business jets, and has been selected for the British Aerospace Nimrod 2000 replacement mar itime-patrol aircraft. Smiths says that its move to pull out of the BR715 FADEC is "a straightforwardly commercial decision", based on ".. .the amount of investment required compared with the opportunities there may or may not be for the engine in terms of aircraft [applications]". Roger Arthey, marketing man ager at RoSEC, confirms that BMW R-R has instead subcon tracted the BR715 FADEC to R-R. Lockheed Martin has subsequent ly been selected to supply the unit's electronic engine-control, at the heart of the FADEC. "Smiths has elected not to pur sue the BR715 programme, but the BR710 [FADEC] still goes on the way it was before," says Arthey. The BR715 is also being offered as a possible powerplant for the Aviation Industries of China AE100 AirExpress and IPTN N2130 regional jets. • Collins tests 3-D free-flight awareness display R OCKWELL-Collins has developed a three-dimension al situational-awareness display, which, it believes, has a key role to play in making future "free-flight" air-traffic-management systems Powerful graphics make 3-D display a reality safe and viable. The display is made possible by the powerful graphics capability of the large-format, high-resolution, liquid-crystal dis plays which are under develop ment for Collins' Pro Line 21 integrated-avionics system aimed at business and regional aircraft. The situational-awareness data base, developed jointly by Collins' General Aviation division and All- Source Processing of New Jersey, allows pilots to view the surround ing airspace, terrain and traffic, as well as weather-related and man- made obstacles, in real-time three-dimensional view. The system generates a perspec tive view of terrain-elevation data and other objects in real time and is compatible with commercially available databases, providing gui dance in die terminal area as well, according to Collins. J NEWS IN BRIEF • CONTRAN APPROVED British Aerospace (Systems and Equipment's Contran VHF radio anti-blocking sys tem has been certificated by the UK Civil Aviation Au thority. Britannia Airways placed a launch order for 32 units earlier this year, to equip its fleet of Boeing 757s and 767s. • UNISON IGNITES Lufthansa Technik has selected Unison Industries as its sole-source supplier of engine igniter plugs. The three-year contract is valued at $1.3 million. • TURKEY TAKES ASARS The Turkish Air Force has ordered Tadiran Spectralink airborne search and rescue systems (ASARS),worth$3.3 million. Each ASARS con sists of an ARS700 airborne system installed in the air craft, and a PRC 434A trans ceiver mounted in the pilot's flight suite, says Holon, Is rael-based Tadiran. • Tl TILT-ROTOR DEALS The TI Group has secured two separate deals to provide the landing gear and flight controls for the new Bell Boeing 609 corporate tilt- rotor. Dowty Aerospace Wol verhampton is to design and develop a complete suite of fly-by-wire control actuators in a deal reckoned to be worth in excess of $100 million over the life of the programme. Messier-Dowty will provide the landing gear. Atlas upgrades 747s with fuel indicators BFGOODRICH Aerospace's Aircraft Integrated Systems division has been selected to supply upgraded fuel-quantity indication systems (FQIS) for four Adas Air Boeing 747-200s which are due to be converted into freighters at the Boeing Modification Responsi bility Center in Wichita, Kansas. The FQIS retrofit is based on the system developed for the 747- 400. It offers improved accuracy and reliability compared with sys tems on earlier 747s, claims Akron, Ohio-based BFGoodrich. The retrofit is installed on 40 aircraft in service widi three carriers. Meanwhile, Germany's Air Ber lin has chosen BFGoodrich wheels and brakes for six Boeing 7 3 7-800s, deliveries of which are due to begin in 1998. • DLR and DARA prepare for fusion THE GERMAN Aerospace Research Establishment is expected to merge with the Ger man Space Agency (DARA) this month. The agencies had hoped to complete their fusion in 1996 but, says the German Aerospace In dustries Association (BDLI), the plan has been held up by discus sions over trimming the DARA workforce. The merger is being made in an attempt to cut costs and increase efficiency. It is likely to mean that DARAs workforce of about 200 will be reduced by up to 30%, says die BDLI.Once the union is complete, die federal research ministry is to take greater responsibility for man aging space research in a bid to avoid conflicts of interest within die new joint agency. 3 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 1 - 7 January 1997 19
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