aj<JaAL AVIATION

B u s i n e s s j e t s b o o s t U S GA p r o d u c t i o n
GRAHAM WARWCK/WASHINGTON DC
U
S MANUFACTURERS
delivered 16. 5% more
general-aviation (GA) aircraft
in the first half of* 1997, com-
pared with the same period of
1996. Billings were up by 60%
to almost $2 billion for the first
six months, says the US Gen-
eral Aviation Manufacturers
Association (GAMA), citing a
healthy increase in business-jet
sales and a strong market for
piston-powered aircraft.
GAMA members delivered
586 aircraft in the first half of
1997 - 345 piston-powered air-
craft (up by 26.4%), 99 turbo-
props (down by 26.7%) and 142
jet-powered aircraft (up by
49.5%). Cessna delivered the
first 93 aircraft from its restart-
ed piston-single line in the first
six months, while New Piper
Aircraft's output rose to 104 pis-
ton singles and twins. Gulf-
stream delivered ten GIV-SP
and 13 GV business jets worth
almost S773 million in the first
six months, up from 11 GIV-SPs
in the first half of 1996. Cessna
delivered 74 Citation-series
corporate jets, from 50, while
Raytheon shipped 76 twin-tur-
bine business aircraft - 53 King
Air turboprops (from 43) and 23
Beechjet and Hawker business
jets (from 13).
L H T E C f o c u s e s o n C T P 8 0 0 d e s i g n
GU Y NORRI S/ I NDI ANAPOLI S
TS ENGI NE manufacturers
\~J AlliedSignal and Allison are
completing final-design work on
the CTP800 turboprop for the
Ayres LM200 Loadmaster freight-
er, following selection of a Hamil-
ton Standard propeller system.
The Loadmaster will be pow-
ered by twin CTPSOOs, a turbo-
prop version of the T800
turboshaft, developed by the joint-
ly held Light Helicopter Turbine
Engine Company ( LHTEC) . The
twin turboprops will drive the air-
craft's single three-bladed pro-
peller through a combining gear-
box at a take-off rating of 2,000k W
(2,700shp). Hamilton Standard
was selected by LHTEC, beating
bids from several manufacturers,
including Dowty and Hartzell.
LHTEC CTP800- 4T pro-
gramme manager Don Christian-
sen says that hardware is now being
ordered in an effort to meet the pro-
gramme's "aggressive schedule" .
Thi s calls for tests in die second
quarter of 1998 of the full engine
with the GKN Westland-devel-
oped combining gearbox and de-
liveries of the first production units
late in the second quarter of 1999.
Identically configured propul-
sion systems will be delivered under
separate contracts recently signed
with express-parcels carrier FedEx,
launch customer for the Load-
master, and with Ayres, the Geor-
gia-based airframe manufacturer.
FedEx contracted separately for die
propulsion system for die 50 aircraft
it holds on firm order, while the
other contract covers delivery of
complete engines and propellers to
the growing numbers of Load-
masters ordered by other cus-
tomers. Ayres is to begin deliveries
in October 1999, with FedEx
receiving its first aircraft, the
eleventh off die line, in December
1999. Ayres' orderbook stands at 67.
Despite the inherent complexity
of combining-gearbox designs,
LHTEC is optimistic of a relative-
ly trouble-free development pro-
gramme. "We' ve got real confi-
dence in the gearbox," says Chris-
tiansen, who adds that, with the
involvement of AlliedSignal, Al-
lison and Westland, "...we have
got die three best minds in the
world working on it".
The team has held preliminary
design-review meetings and had
initial consultations with the US
Federal Aviation Administration
over plans for certification. J
S w e a r i n g e n a d d s
S J 3 0 d i s t r i b u t o r s
SINO Swearingen Deut -
schland has been named
the distributor for the
SJ30-2 light business jet in
Germany and the Nether-
lands. The Moenchen-
gladbach-based company
has ordered six of the
| Williams-Rolls FJ44-2A
powered aircraft. Munich-
based IBCOL will distrib-
| ute the SJ30-2 in Eastern
Europe, and has ordered
six aircraft.
A v io n s M u n d r y t a k e -
o v e r f o r m a l i s e d
A
YEAR AFTER entering
bankruptcy proceedings,
French general-aviation manufac-
turer Avions Mudry has been taken
over formally by Aeronautique
Service, owner of Dijon-based
Avions Pierre Robin.
Mudry has been in difficult}'
since 1994, when for budgetary
reasons the Government decided
against further purchases of its
trainers. A fire later destroyed the
building at Bernay, in Normandy,
where die Cap 10, Cap 32 and Cap
232 acrobatic aircraft were built.
The decision by die Rouen com-
mercial court in favour of Aero-
nautique Service went against the
solution proposed by Mudry
founder Auguste Mudry, which
called for a take-over by the work-
force. He says that the decision is
wrong. "I have put 30 years into
this company, with no losses until
the last two years, when I have been
unable to raise a single centime to
help with our problems." he says.
He believes that Mudry is worth
Fr20 million ($3.3 million), and
complains that the Fr250,000 price
being paid tor the company by
Aeronautique Services is "ridicu-
lous". In setting the price, the court
took into account the fact that the
company has debts of Frl 5 million.
The president of Avions Pierre
Robin, Jean-Paul Pellissier. who is
on the board of Aeronautique
Service, says that the price being
paid for Mudry is "reasonable". He
adds that ". . . Mudry aircraft are
fine products, but we will have to
invest a great deal to ensure the
future of the company". 1 Ie has
already confirmed plans to retain
and develop the existing Mudry
range, along with the new G222
aerobatic trainer under develop-
ment by Akrotek, another Aero-
nautique Services subsidiary. J
A vsat 6 0 0 0 is ap p ro ve d
R
OCKWELL Collins' Avsat
6000 satellite-based naviga-
tion system has been certificated on
the Canadair Challenger 604 busi-
ness jet. The installation consists of
an FMS-6000 flight-management
system and GPS-4000 global-posi-
tioning system, integrated with
Collins Pro Line 4 avionics. 3
FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 6 - 12 August 1997 17