First flight of all-New Lear: Learjet rolls out the 45
When rolling out its latest model, Learjet, Inc., spared no expense in making sure that the public understood that this was no simple engine upgrade or cabin stretch of an existing product. The new Learjet 45 is a brand-new airplane, from nosewheel to tailcone. Well, almost. The new eight-place business jet uses the same model of nosewheel as the smaller Learjet 31A, admitted William W. Greer, Learjet vice president of engineering. Aside from that, the 45 — which made its debut on September 14 — shares little with its Lear stablemates, the 31A and the larger Model 60.
A stage show and Learjet flyover marked the Wichita event attended by more than 3,000 company employees, government officials, and news media representatives.
The Learjet 45's aerodynamics and structures were designed entirely by computer, a first for a business jet, according to company President Brian Barents. The company is so sure of the programming that it designated the first airplane serial number 1, making it a production aircraft, not a prototype. The 45's first flight took place on October 7, 32 years to the day after the first Lear 23 was test flown.
The mid-size 45 is expected to have an IFR range of 1,820 nm, a maximum certified ceiling of 51,000 feet, and a high-speed cruise of 445 knots. It is powered by a pair of Garrett TFE731-20 engines producing 3,500 pounds static thrust each at takeoff. Maximum takeoff weight will be 19,200 pounds, with a projected full-fuel payload of 1,650 pounds.
In the cockpit, the 45 marks the first application of the Honeywell Primus 1000 integrated avionics system and engine instrument/crew advisory system (EICAS) for the mid-size jet class. Information is projected onto four 8 2 7-inch EFIS tubes featuring dual primary flight displays, a multifunction display, and EICAS display.
For the 45 project, Learjet teamed with two other companies owned by its parent company, Bombardier Aerospace. Shorts in Belfast, Northern Ireland, produces the fuselage, and de Havilland of Toronto, Canada, produces the wings.
Certification of the $6 million airplane is scheduled for late 1996, with deliveries to commence in January 1997. — Thomas B. Haines
G-V debuts
Gulfstream rolled out its new G-V, an ultra-long-range business jet, on September 22 at Gulfstream's factory in Savannah, Georgia. With a range of 6,500 nautical miles at Mach 0.80, the G-V is promised to fly nonstop from New York to Tokyo or from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia.
First flight is scheduled this month and FAA/JAA certification is expected in October 1996.
Gulfstream says it already has a $2 billion backlog of orders for the new G-V.
On hand for the ceremony were Gulfstream Chairman Theodore Forstmann, Vice Chairman Bryan Moss, former Chairman and President Allen Paulson, and Gulfstream employees and their families.
Strega wins at Reno
Bill Destefani flew his highly modified P-51 Mustang, Strega, to victory in the Unlimited Class race at this year's Reno National Championship Air Races.
He beat John Penny, who had flown Rare Bear, a modified F8F-2 Bearcat, to a new course record during qualification trials of 489.802 mph. Charles Hutchins won the AT-6 class, while Patti Johnson regained the national championship in the Biplane class. Jon Sharp won in the Formula One class, ahead of second-place finisher Bruce Bohannon in Aeroshell's Pushy Galore.
Goulan wins U.S. National Aerobatic Champion title
Michael Goulian, a 27-year-old aerobatic instructor and airshow performer, became the U.S. National Aerobatic Champion on September 29. Robert Armstrong placed second, while Phil Knight was third.
Goulian is an aerobatic instructor at his father's flying school, Executive Flyers Aviation, located at Hanscom Field in Bedford, Massachusetts.
Top female competitors included Linda Meyers Morrissey, who finished in fifth place; Diane Hakala placed eighth; and Patty Wagstaff finished ninth. There were 36 competitors, including eight women.
By winning the Unlimited Class competition conducted by the International Aerobatic Club at Grayson County Airport near Denison, Texas, Goulian also became captain of the U.S. Aerobatic Team that will enter world competition in Oklahoma City next August. Other team members are Armstrong, Morrissey, Knight, Hakala, Matt Chapman, Wagstaff, John Lillberg, Debby Rihn-Harvey, Ellen Dean, and Cecilia Aragon.
Piaggio Aviation, manufacturer of the P180 Avanti twin-turboprop pusher, has filed for Chapter 11 protection under federal bankruptcy laws. Only five Avantis have been sold by Piaggio in the past two years. The move is intended to give the company time to reorganize and restructure.
Eemergency ad on Cessna 152 propellers
On September 29 the FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) applicable to Cessna 152s that utilize certain McCauley propellers.
The AD requires that the propeller be visually inspected with a 10-power magnifying glass for cracks within 10 hours' time in service (TIS) if the propeller has been in use more than 3,000 hours (or if total time is not known). Propellers with fewer than 3,000 hours TIS do not have to be inspected until reaching that time.
If the cracks — which form in the front hub area near the mounting holes — are less than a half-inch in length, do not touch a bolt hole, or lie within one-quarter inch of the edge of the centerbore, the propeller does not need to be replaced; however, a 50-hour inspection will be required. Cracks equal to or longer than half an inch will require propeller replacement prior to further flight.
Propeller serial numbers 770001 through 777390 and BC001 up to, but not including, KC001 are affected by the AD. McCauley service bulletin number 219 details the rules of compliance and the inspection procedure.
Only flying Martin B-26 crashes
While practicing for the Confederate Air Force's annual airshow in Midland, Texas, in late September, the last flying example of a Martin B-26 Marauder crashed 18 miles south of the Midland International Airport, killing five people. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.
The restoration of the B-26, Carolyn, was started in 1976 and was completed in 1984. Prior to restoration it served two years with the U.S. Army Air Forces. Its civilian life included time as a racer named Valley Turtle and as a corporate aircraft of the Tennessee Gas Corporation, according to the CAF.
Product liability lawsuits total $420 million
Using a newly passed state law, a Missouri jury in July awarded $350 million to the family of a helicopter pilot who died in a 1993 crash. The family of a medical patient on the same Aerospatiale AStar 350 helicopter, powered by a Turbomeca Arriel 1B engine, won a separate $70 million verdict against Turbomeca in April. The families argued that the engine had defective parts.
Turbomeca is appealing the $70-million award to the family of Sherry Letz, a medical patient who died in the crash near Cameron, Missouri. At press time, no appeal of the $350 million award had been filed. The trials took place in the Circuit Court of Jackson County in Kansas City, Missouri.
In the $350 million case, filed by the family of Rocky Mountain Helicopters pilot James Barnett, the jury awarded $175 million in damages and an additional $175 million in penalties, under the new Missouri law that allows awards as punishment in wrongful death cases.
FlightSafety International will establish a flight training facility on the campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. The center will house Boeing 737-300 and Beech 1900D simulators. Embry-Riddle said that it is the only university in the nation to have such a facility on campus. FlightSafety manufactured the simulators.
FAA says R44 performs as certificated
After three days of tests, the FAA says Robinson Helicopter Company's R44 performs within the aircraft's certification requirements.
Concerns about the R22 and R44's safety, following a number of accidents in which the main rotor contacted the tailboom, prompted the FAA to conduct the flight tests. Roll reversals, low-G pushovers, and panic quick stops were some of the maneuvers evaluated by the FAA.
According to Robinson, the worst case scenario occurred after a full-throttle chop at 130 knots was followed by a delayed lowering of the collective at the maximum forward CG. This resulted in an 8.2-degree flap angle of the blade, which allowed 26 inches of clearance between the blade and the tailcone.
The FAA is expected to release a final report soon; but until then, Robinson operators are required to operate within the specifications of a Special Federal Aviation Regulation setting special training and experience requirements.
Grob sets altitude record
The all-composite Grob Strato 2C research aircraft has set an unofficial world altitude record for piston-engine aircraft: 60,867 feet (18,552 meters). The old record of 56,047 feet (17,083 meters) was set in 1938 by an Italian Caproni 161.
Former NASA test pilot Einar Enevoldson flew the five-hour flight on August 4. It was the twenty-ninth flight of the Strato 2C test program.
The aircraft is powered by two modified 400-horsepower Continental TSIOL-550 Voyager liquid-cooled engines. Each engine turns a five-blade, 19.5-foot-diameter propeller at 650 rpm. Modifications include the addition of a double-stage, low-pressure turbocharger with intercooler developed by Pratt & Whitney.
Grob says the aircraft has the world's largest one-piece composite wing, with a span of 185.4 feet. The cockpit is pressurized, with optically clear observation windows. The aircraft is expected to be used for ozone research.
Australian-based Skyfox Aviation recently introduced its CA-25N Gazelle trainer. The Gazelle is certificated to JAR-VLA standards and is powered by an 80-horsepower Rotax 912A. Skyfox's David Anning says, "The aircraft has filled a void in the market, providing a versatile airplane that combines safety and reliability with a competitive low-cost price." The Gazelle cruises at 95 knots. For more information, call (011) 61 74/91-5355.
Hoover cleared to fly in U.S.
Super showman Bob Hoover, 73, has regained the medical certificate he voluntarily surrended at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration. The certificate's return follows two years during which Hoover could not perform airshows in the United States, although he continued to perform in Australia while courts, lawyers, and the FAA haggled over Hoover's fitness to fly.
On October 18, Federal Air Surgeon Jon L. Jordan faxed to Hoover's California headquarters a letter restoring the Second Class medical certificate that was revoked in 1993.
The loss of the medical occurred after a June 1992 airshow in Oklahoma City, in which Hoover abruptly interrupted his performance because of a landing-gear pump cavitation problem that could have resulted in the gear's lowering. FAA officials watching the show said that Hoover had become confused, although he successfully performed another 33 shows before he was asked to surrender his medical certificate.
The certificate's return follows by four months a second magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cerebral examination that disclosed no problems reportedly seen in an earlier test.
Coincidentally, at about the time that the second MRI exam was performed, Rob Ciddell, the chief surgeon for the Australian Civil Aviation Authority, wrote a letter to the FAA, urging that Hoover's medical be reinstated. Ciddell suggested that had he reached the same conclusion as the FAA after reviewing medical results then available to the U.S. agency, he would have lost his license to practice medicine in Australia. Friends of Hoover personally handed the letter to FAA Administrator David R. Hinson, stating their concern that Hinson would never have been allowed by FAA medical officials to see the letter.
Hoover was represented by attorneys F. Lee Bailey and John S. Yodice.
Bell helicopter climbs to 19,300 feet for rescue
A Bell 206L-4 LongRanger, in Pakistan to demonstrate high-altitude capability to the Pakistani army, was pressed into service to rescue the crew of a crashed army helicopter.
The LongRanger was into the second day of the demonstration when pilot Alain Rousseau was asked to rescue two Pakistani army crewmembers, as well as two sick Pakistani army soldiers who were stationed in the area along the country's border. The Pakistani helicopter had been attempting to rescue the soldiers when it crashed.
The Bell helicopter reached 19,300 feet while conducting rescue operations in the Sachen glacier field near K-2, the second highest peak in the world.
Arvin Schultz, AOPA 1089540, publisher of Arizona Flyways magazine, has presented a $1,000 aviation scholarship to Thomas Dent, a senior in aerospace engineering at the University of Arizona. Dent plans to use the money for aerobatic training prior to entering the Air Force flight screening program at Hondo, Texas (see "An Air Force Audition," October Pilot).
BDM International of McLean, Virginia, has formed BDM Air Safety Management, a firm aimed at capturing contracts for the FAA's planned upgrade of 240 terminal radar approach control systems. James A. Abrahamson, the former Air Force general who headed the Star Wars antimissile program for President Ronald Reagan, will be chairman and chief executive of the new firm.
Retired U.S. Navy Adm. Huntington Hardisty has been named president of Kaman Aerospace International Corporation of Bloomfield, Connecticut. In addition, Kaman Corporation President and Chief Operating Officer Harvey S. Levenson has retired.
Robert Clyde of Syracuse, Indiana, won King Schools' seventh annual sweepstakes airplane, a 1995 Mooney MSE. Next year, King Schools will give away another MSE to a customer who purchases a video before July 15, 1996.
Squawk sheet
A proposed airworthiness directive aimed at Piper PA-23-150, -160, -235, and -250 Apache and Aztec aircraft would require the installation of external fuel ramp assemblies in order to lessen the possibility of water contamination in the aircrafts' fuel bladders. Since 1975, the FAA has pinpointed 16 accidents in which water contaminated fuel and a subsequent power loss or engine failure was believed to be the cause. Two previous ADs addressed the problem. However, the FAA feels that further rulemaking is needed. The so- called "ramps" will be blocks of rubber-like material placed between the bladder and the wing skin to force any water toward the drains. For more information, call the FAA at 404/305-7373.
An AD aimed at the Mooney M20K calls for the replacement of Gerdes fuel selector valves (part number A-2580) with an Airight valve. Malfunction of the Gerdes valve in one M20K did not allow the pilot to select the desired tank, resulting in an unscheduled landing. According to the FAA, the Gerdes selector is located on the floor and is subject to being stepped on. If stepped on, the spool of the valve may be forced into the valve body, effectively wedging it into position. The FAA has estimated the cost of compliance to be $715, including parts and labor.
Mooney M20Ks retrofitted with Continental TSIO-520-NB engines, as part of the "Rocket" conversion, are the target of a new AD requiring repetitive inspections of the exhaust transition tube and turbo mount assembly for cracks. Inspections will be required every 25 to 50 hours, depending on the part. Service information is available from Rocket Engineering Corporation.
The FAA published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) applicable to Cessna models 441 (Conquest II), 500, 550 and 560 (Citation I, II, V) aircraft that would require the replacement of pressurization outflow/safety valves. The NPRM follows an AD affecting most of the Learjet series after a similar valve failed in a 31A, which led to a rapid decompression.
How long does it take to become a pilot? Eight and a half days, if you ask Chuck Gallagher of Sporty's Pilot Shop. Sporty's President Hal Shevers told Gallagher the aircraft rental and instruction were free as long as he completed the recreational certificate in 15 days or less. Gallagher, Sporty's plant engineer, used as his trainer one of two Diamond Katana aircraft Sporty's will give away in a sweepstakes next year. His ground instruction consisted solely of Sporty's Recreational Pilot video course.
InspecTech Aero Service has introduced a new electric air conditioning system for the Cessna Caravan that provides ground cooling when connected to a ground cart. The system is compatible with the new Freon R-134a, preventing the need for new plumbing and components when Freon R-12 is phased out. For information, call 800/224-6561.
Free Flight, the concept of allowing pilots to chose their own routes, will be studied by a newly formed NASA/FAA Integrated Product Team. The goal is to implement the program in 10 years. The concept will apply to all users, including transport, general aviation, rotorcraft, and military aircraft.
A scholarship for young people seeking aviation careers has been named after Charlie Wells, an Illinois airshow performer who was killed in 1993 during his performance. Two scholarships are awarded annually. Contact Jerry Coleman at the Illinois Pilots Association, 708/331-2117.
Gregory Moss of Annapolis, Maryland, and Venkatram Sri Ram of Singapore, both students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, won free Cessna Citation II type ratings from SimuFlite Training International of Dallas. The scholarships are valued at $20,000 each. Both recipients have completed their training.
AOPA members in the news
Garret Willat (above) celebrated his fourteenth birthday in style, soloing 18 gliders comprising nine different makes and models. Two days later he flew a 431-mile solo cross-country glider flight — accompanied by his dad in another glider — from Warner Springs, California, to Hatch, New Mexico, in a Grob G-102. The flight qualified him for six soaring badges and set a new Arizona State Youth Distance Record. Willcat's parents, Bret and Karen, own Sky Sailing, a soaring center at Warner Springs Airport.
Margorie Thayer, AOPA 580608, of Mesa, Arizona, and Ruby Sheldon, AOPA 661459, of Phoenix won the nineteenth annual all-women Air Race Classic in a 1978 Cessna 182RG.
Betty Pfister, AOPA 880246, of Aspen, Colorado, will receive the Federation Aeronautique Internationale's Rotorcraft Gold Medal for outstanding contributions to national and international helicopter flight.
Matt Chapman, AOPA 123317, won the Fond du Lac Cup during International Aerobatic Club competition at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The invitational competition featured last season's highest-scoring Unlimited category pilots. Chapman flew a Cap 231EX in the competition. Shown are Chapman, his wife Patti, and coach Alan Geringer. Chapman has flown competitive aerobatics and air shows for 11 years, and is a first officer with American Airlines.
William H. Ottley, AOPA 160221, of Washington, D.C., and Joseph W. Kittinger, AOPA 886166, of Altamonte Springs, Florida, were presented Elder Statesman of Aviation awards for 1995 for their significant contributions to aeronautics. Ottley was the executive director of the National Pilots Association and the U.S. Parachute Association. He has set world records in aircraft and by jumping out of them. Kittinger was involved with Project Manhigh, an experiment to study cosmic rays and high-altitude hardware for Project Mercury in a specially designed balloon at altitudes as high as 96,000 feet. Kittinger was the first human to exceed Mach 1.0 in a freefall.
Darrell Lowe, AOPA 887682, of Valrico, Florida, recently opened Gulf Coast Aviation Services, an aircraft appraisal and aviation security consulting firm.
William M. Jones, AOPA 606432, of Champaign, Illinois, has published a new book, titled Simplified Instrument Flying/Instructing Techniques. The book is published by Eastern Dakota Publishers and is available for $9.95.
Richard L. Newman, AOPA 234499, of San Marcos, Texas, has written Head-Up Displays: Designing the Way Ahead. The book is published by Avebury Aviation of Aldershot, England.
Jayson Altieri, AOPA 1173642, a captain in the U.S. Army, received the Department of Defense's Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal for his work with the Kentucky Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.
David E. Nieser, AOPA 850024, of Oklahoma City, was awarded the Air Force Material Command's Outstanding Career Achievement Award for his efforts in solving aging aircraft corrosion problems. Nieser is an aerospace engineer for the Air Force.
W. E. Gene Armstrong, AOPA 292859, of Jal, New Mexico, and Jim Ryan, AOPA 748502, of Clute, Texas, spend their weekends re- creating the history of World War II for airshow crowds across the nation as pilots in the Tora Tora air show act. The act includes a dozen World War II aircraft, some of them modified to look like Japanese military aircraft, and dynamite/avgas explosions choreographed by Robert W. West, AOPA 251717, of Bellevue, Nebraska, to simulate bombs. Other aircraft, such as B-17 bombers, also participate in the historical re-creation. The group is lead by Charles Hutchens, AOPA 184450, of LaMarque, Texas, an AOPA member since 1959.
NBAA '95 pilot briefing
Raytheon announces new light jet
After keeping the project under close wraps for a number of months, Raytheon Aircraft Company displayed a fuselage mockup of its new Premier I six-passenger light jet at the National Business Aircraft Association convention in Las Vegas. At $3.9 million, the Premier I will cost $700,000 more than its chief competitor, the Cessna CitationJet, but the Premier will be capable of speeds up to 461 knots, compared to the CitationJet's 382 knots.
The Premier I will have a 20-degree swept aluminum wing and a wide, composite fuselage. The cabin mockup on display at NBAA highlighted dimensions larger than those of its competitors. The Premier's cabin will be seven inches taller and eight inches wider than the smaller Citations (CitationJet, Bravo, and the V Ultra).
Two Williams FJ44-2A fanjets producing 2,300 pounds of thrust each will power the Premier I up to 41,000 feet. According to Raytheon, payload with full fuel and one pilot will be 800 pounds. Range claims are pegged at 1,500 nautical miles at long-range power settings. The airplane is guaranteed to have a balanced field length of less than 3,000 feet.
Swearingen announces stretched SJ30
Sino-Swearingen Chairman Ed Swearingen announced at NBAA that the company will introduce a stretched version of the SJ30 light jet dubbed the SJ30-2. The new airplane will be 42 inches longer than the original SJ30-1.
At a planned price of $3.5 million, the SJ30-2 will cost $1 million less than most turboprop aircraft, said Swearingen. Utilizing the Williams FJ44-2C, the SJ30-2 claims a top speed of Mach 0.83 (476 knots) and a range of 3,000 nautical miles. Swearingen claims the SJ30-2 will maintain a sea-level cabin while cruising at 41,000 feet.
Swearingen said he will not abandon the SJ30-1 project to work on the -2. Instead, he will let the order book tell him which airplane to build first.
As for a plant in which to build the airplanes, Swearingen says he will not announce a specific date for the Martinsburg, West Virginia, groundbreaking until the bulldozers are there.
Visionaire shows mockup of vantage fuselage at NBAA
St. Louis-based VisionAire Corp. displayed a cabin mockup of its single-engine jet at the NBAA show. Using one Pratt & Whitney JT15-D turbofan of 2,900 pounds thrust (a familiar powerplant to many a Citation owner), the Vantage is expected to cruise at about 350 knots, with a maximum operating altitude of 41,000 feet. Pressurization will maintain a 7,000-foot cabin at that altitude. In order to remain within single-engine stall-speed limitations, the Vantage will have about 200 square feet of wing and as-yet unspecified high-lift devices; maximum gross weight is expected to be 7,000 pounds.
Composites wizard Burt Rutan is heading the construction and initial flight test of the Vantage, so it's no surprise that the fuselage will be made out of wound-filament graphite. The wings and flying surfaces will also be composite.
The airplane's unusual forward-swept, mid-mounted wing makes it possible to both reduce drag and get the wing structure out of the cabin. VisionAire plans to equip the airplane with AlliedSignal avionics and provide training for one pilot through FlightSafety International. The predicted equipped price is $1.5 million. — Marc E. Cook
V-8 engines making way into aircraft
At this year's NBAA convention in Las Vegas, many visitors saw or heard about V-8 engines being used in airplane applications. Even some turbine engine installations are being targeted for replacement by powerful new piston V-8s.
In the early 1980s, RPM Development Company developed the sleeveless V-8 technology that allows pistons to run directly in cylinder bores without cast-iron sleeves. Hawker-Siddeley Canada's Orenda Division is now in charge of the venture and is targeting for its engines a number of applications. One of Orenda's conversion firms, Stevens Aviation in Greenville, South Carolina, has already hung 600-hp turbocharged V-8s on a Beech King Air 90. Orenda is targeting agricultural aircraft, the Piper Navajo Chieftain, and the Cessna 421 for 500-hp, normally aspirated V-8 engine conversions.
Currently, the 421 and Chieftain are propelled by large- displacement Lycoming and Continental engines that are turbocharged and, in the case of the 421, utilize a temperamental gearbox to generate the necessary horsepower. It is frequently said that the airplanes are underpowered and the engines are overworked.
In comes Orenda, offering liquid-cooled V-8s generating from 500 to 600 hp that would propel the piston-powered Navajos and 421s to speeds achieved by their turbine-powered brethren — the Piper Cheyenne and Cessna 425 Conquest I — at a lower cost. "With our new aluminum alloy V-8s, the conversion costs for a piston- powered Chieftain are lower than a pair of overhauls on the Cheyenne's gas turbines alone," said Larry Shiembob, Orenda's vice president and general manager of new business development programs.
Toyota is also considering entry into the V-8 game by offering a version of its Lexus V-8 for aircraft use. Currently, Toyota is flying a Cessna 340 with a Lexus V-8 as its right engine. With full- authority digital engine control (Fadec), the 360-hp all-aluminum, liquid-cooled V-8 will have single-lever power control.
At the NBAA convention in Las Vegas, Diamond Aircraft Industries and Spartan School of Aeronautics announced a deal for the delivery of 40 Katana DA-20 two-place composite trainers to the Tulsa, Oklahoma, school. The deal also gives Spartan the option of 10 additional Katanas when the airplane's IFR certification is completed. Spartan will be replacing its aging fleet of Cessna 150 and 172 aircraft.
StarKraft's 700, an eight-place composite, pressurized, push-pull twin, flew in for its first public appearance at the NBAA convention in September. The example at the convention employed two liquid- cooled Continental TSIO-550 engines that produce 350 horsepower each. StarKraft is also planning to use two turbocharged 700-hp Orenda V-8s, creating a 350-knot speedster with a full-fuel (325 gallon) payload of 1,450 pounds. The current Continental-powered version is pegged to cruise at 275 knots. Price for the Continental- powered version is currently listed at $1.3 million.
Galaxy production moved to Israel
Four Astra Galaxy prototypes will be constructed in Israel, not in Russia as originally planned, Israel Aircraft Industries President and CEO Moshe Keret announced at the NBAA convention in Las Vegas. Keret said production of the prototypes was moved to Israel to keep the Galaxy program on schedule; the new airplane's first flight is planned for the fourth quarter of 1996 with certification and initial deliveries expected a year later.
The aircraft was designed in conjunction with the Yakovlev Design Bureau in Moscow. "We have been very pleased with the quality of the work we have obtained from Yakovlev," Keret said, adding that he did not believe IAI's relationship with the bureau was over. "It is my belief that we will see them working with us in some aspect of the program."
Convertible from an eight-passenger business jet to a 19- passenger corporate shuttle, the Mach 0.85 Galaxy will be powered by two 5,700-pound-thrust Pratt & Whitney Canada PW306A engines and will be capable of flying nonstop from New York to Paris. Astra promotional materials compare the Galaxy to the Gulfstream IV-SP, Challenger 601-3R, Falcon 2000, and Citation X. Deposits have been received for nearly 30 Galaxies.
IAI's new Astra SPX received its type certificate from the Israeli CAA just before the NBAA convention, and FAA certification was expected within a month. The SPX cruises at 460 KTAS, is capable of Mach 0.855, and with VFR reserves can carry four passengers 3,106 nm. The first SPX will be delivered to a customer in Germany before the end of the year, Keret said. — Michael P. Collins
Soloy flies Dual-Pac Caravan
Soloy Corporation's Dual-Pac Caravan was on display at the NBAA convention in Las Vegas after completing its first flight on September 13.
The Dual-Pac system utilizes two 650-shaft-horsepower Pratt & Whitney PT6D-114A engines driving a single propeller through Soloy's Dual-Pac combining gearbox. The twin-engine, single- propeller setup eliminates the adverse yaw that occurs when one engine fails in conventional twins.
Using a Cessna Grand Caravan as a base, Soloy stretched the fuselage six feet and faired the cowling into a new belly-mounted cargo pod. Certification is planned for early 1997.
Signature dedicates new Las Vegas facility
A gleaming new facility at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport was dedicated during the NBAA convention. The $8 million facility includes an 18,000-square-foot building as well as more than nine acres of short-term parking space. An additional 56 acres of ramp space accommodates six corporate hangars, T-hangars, and a large ramp currently home to ex-airliners awaiting new careers.
Signature's new digs replace the old Hughes facility and the underutilized charter terminal. Signature's move farther from the current runways makes room for a planned extension of the north- south runways and taxiway improvements.
Based on the layout of Signature's Bradley International terminal in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, the Las Vegas facility employs more than 260 people. — Marc E. Cook
Elliott Aviation demonstrates cabin noise reduction system
Until now, active noise canceling technology has been small in scale, used in headsets for local reduction of noise. Now, however, active noise canceling is available for the whole cabin; Elliott Aviation has developed a version of Ultra Electronics' UltraQuiet Active Sound Control System for wide-area noise reduction. It is demonstrating the concept in a Beech King Air 200.
In the King Air, the UltraQuiet system employs 12 speakers and 24 microphones positioned throughout the cabin. A patented electronic link to the prop synchrophaser supplies a digital computer with the precise prop speed. This information is used to determine the props' fundamental frequency. The processor box then sends a digital anti-noise signal to the cabin speakers to help reduce the din at the frequency corresponding to the props' noise. Unlike active headsets, however, the UltraQuiet setup does not attempt to dampen noise across a broad range; it works only within a small bandwidth that is associated with prop noise.
A brief demonstration ride in the King Air discloses that the system noticeably reduces propeller noise. Measurements show a 5- to 7-dBa reduction in noise, depending upon seat location. With the system operating, the quietest seat in the house — in the last row — posted a 75 dBa reading in cruise flight at 27,000 feet and an indicated airspeed of 160 knots. At higher airspeeds, as in the descent, wind noise was more noticeable. And while the difference is not as dramatic as is found in active headsets, the system represents a useful reduction in noise.
The system is currently available for the King Air 90 and 200, and other applications are being developed. Price for the King Air 90 is $24,995; the 200 runs $29,995. Contact Elliott Aviation at 309/799-3183. — Marc E. Cook
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