mmnmrnML AVIATION

NEWS IN BRIEF
HNTSB URGES ACTION
The US National Trans-
portation Safety Board
(NTSB) has recommended
that Cessna develop an
inspection procedure for
identifying cracks in the main
retractable landing gear sys-
tems of Cessna 172RGs and
182RGs, following a non-
fatal incident involving an
American East Airways four-
seat 172RG last August. The
NTSB urges the Federal
Aviation Administration to
set inspection intervals in the
main landing gear actuator
housings until the issue is
resolved. The Cessna piston
single landed with the nose
and right main landing gear
retracted and the left main
landing gear jammed in an
intermediate position. The
gear's actuator body had
cracked due to fatigue,
resulting in the jam.
H TRAINING RISE
UND Aerospace at the
University ofNorth Dakota is
forecasting an almost 30%
increase in its student pilot
training flight hours by next
year, fuelled by demand in
North America and from
contract customers in Eur-
ope, Asia and the Middle
East. The school anticipates
completing over 80,000h
next year, up from 60,000h
last year. UND Aerospace
will add 4 5 New Piper aircraft
by the end of this year.
DEFENDER COCKPIT
Britten-Norman is examin-
ing a possible cockpit up-
grade for its turbine-
powered BN2T-4 S Defen-
der. The Isle of Wight, UK-
based company is testing new
turbine temperature gauges.
H JETSTREAM SALE
British Aerospace Asset
Management has sold two
Jetstream 3 Is to Georgia Jet,
based in Lawrenceville,
Georgia. The aircraft will be
used for air medical and cor-
porate transport.
Ay r e s l e t s Cz e c h Re p u b l i c f o r
Fe d Ex Lo a d m a s t e r p r o d u c t i o n
GRAHAM WARWICK/WASHINGTON DC
F
EDEX HAS CONVERTED
options on 2 5 additional Ayres
Loadmaster freighters to firm
orders. Ayres will produce the tur-
boprop-powered aircraft, for the
airline's European operation at Let
in the Czech Republic, says presi-
dent Fred Ayres.
The package carrier already
holds orders for 5 0 Loadmasters to
be used in its US operations. These
aircraft will be produced at Ayres'
new Dothan, Alabama, plant,
Ayres says. FedEx holds options on
a further 175 aircraft.
Ayres hopes to fly the
Loadmaster in November and
certificate the aircraft a year later,
enabling deliveries to FedEx to
begin in December next year - a
year later than originally planned,
Ayres acknowledges.
Wings and empennages for all
Loadmasters will be produced by
Let, which is owned by Ayres.
Fuselages for aircraft assembled in
the USA will be produced in
Dothan, while those for Czech-
assembled Loadmasters will be
produced by Let, Ayres says.
While the company plans to
begin deliveries from the Dothan
line in December, Let is not sched-
uled to begin delivering aircraft
until March 2 0 0 0 , to allow addi-
tional time for European
certification of the Loadmaster.
Deliveries to FedEx are sched-
uled at two a month from the
Dothan line and one a month from
the Czech line, says Awes. FedEx
will account for half the planned
US output, while the production
rate at Let will depend on sales, he
says. Aircraft on order for cus-
tomers in Switzerland, South
Africa and the Netherlands will be
delivered from the Let line.
Ayres' purchase of the Czech
manufacturer has allowed the com-
pany to use the vertical stabiliser of
Let's L-41 0 and horizontal stabilis-
er of its L-61 0 G on the Load-
master. Let will supply the
complete tail section as well as the
air inlet for all Loadmasters.
Ayres says the timing of a first
flight will depend on when the
LHTEC CTS80 0 TP twin-turbo-
shaft/single-propeller powerplant
is released for flight testing. Taxi
trials are scheduled up to 45 days
ahead of the first flight, using a
ground-test powerplant. J
Europa introduces glider wing k i t
EUROPA MRCRAFT has developed a variant of its
Europa XS single-engined all-composite kit plane.
Dubbed the Europa Motor Glider, the aircraft has two
carbon fibre wings spanning 13m (4 2ft) and anew lam-
inar flow aerofoil section. The standard aircraft version
can be changed in 5 min to the motor glider version.
Production tooling and final flight testing on the 7 5 kW
(lOOhp) Rotax 912-powered aircraft are scheduled for
completion within six months.
Fa i r c h i l d l i n e s u p Envo y 3 f o r Ju n e c e r t i f i c a t i o n
F
AIRCHILD AEROSPACE
has completed a prototype of
its Envoy 3 business aircraft, which
it plans to display at the Paris air
show in June.
A Fairchild Dornier 3 2 8 region-
al turboprop has been fitted with a
1 2 -passenger executive interior to
demonstrate the cabin environ-
ment in the Envoy 3 corporate ver-
sion of the company's 3 2 8JET
regional j et. Modification was per-
formed by Fairchild at its base in
San Antonio, Texas, where corpo-
rate versions of the 3 2 -seat 3 2 8JET
and new 7 0 -seat 7 2 8JET regional
j ets will be completed.
Executive vice-president Barry
Eccleston says Fairchild has firm
orders for the Envoy 7 corporate
version of the 7 2 8JET and orders
for the Envoy 3 in corporate shut-
tle configuration - a role already
performed by the turboprop 3 2 8 -
but not yet as an executive j et.
The Envoy 3 costs $13 million,
the price of a mid-sized j et, but has
a cabin size similar to that of large
business jets costing twice as much,
says Eccleston. Range is less, but
will be extended to 3 ,7 0 0 km
(2 ,0 0 0 nm), from the basic 3 2 8JET's
1,700km, by adding fuel tanks.
The Envoy 7 , which is being
offered at an introductory price of
$2 8.5 million, "has a cabin that is
larger than the Gulfstream Vs, but
smaller than the Boeing Business
Jet's", says Eccleston, noting that
both long-range business j ets cost
around $40 million. Range of the
Envoy 7 will be increased to
7 ,7 7 0 km with extra tanks.
Certification of the 3 2 8JET is
due in June. Fairchild is to complete
the first Envoy 3 in time for the
National Business Aviation As-
sociation convention in October.
The 72 8JET is due for certification
in 2 0 0 2 . The Envoy 7 will be avail-
able soon after the basic version.
FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 19 - 25 May 1999