FLIGHT International, II May 1970 835

Mar ut t r ai ner Hindustan HF-24 Mk IT

tandem two-seat trainer, powered by two
4,8501b, 2l.6kN R-R/Bristol Orpheus 703
engines, made its first flight at Bangalore on
April 30. Dual controls are fitted but no
reheat is incorporated
I n charge Mr Duncan Simpson (left) has
been appointed chief test pilot to the Kingston
division of Hawker Siddeley Aviation. He
succeeds Mr Hugh Merewether, who has
retired from the company. The post of deputy
chief test pilot is filled by Mr John Farley
(right). Mr Simpson joined the company
in 1954 and has been continuously associated
with the development of the HS.II27, Kestrel
and Harrier VjStol fighters
ger appeared a possibility that Mr Roy
Mason, President of the Board of Trade,
froze BOAC' s bid, and if there is no
improvement in the situation he could
unfreeze it again. Whether BOAC is still
interested remains to be seen.
HF-24 Trainer Flies
Hindustan' s Mk I T trainer version of
the HF-24 Marut ground-attack aircraft
made a successful first flight on April 30
at Bangalore in the hands of Wg Cdr
R. D. Sahni. Fitted with dual controls
and underwing strong points for arma-
ment training, the aircraft appears to be
the forty-sixth airframe in the produc-
tion run of sixty ground-attack Mk Is
ordered.
Development of the trainer version
has been undertaken by a team led by
Mr S. C. Das, HAL' s chief designer,
since the departure of the German
engineers led by Dr Kurt Tank, designer
of the Marut.
Anti-hijack Measures
The immediate establishment at every
airport of a composite security com-
mittee, to be headed by a government-
appointed co-ordinator, is the principle
lata proposal for action against what
Mr Knut Hammarskjold described in
London last week as "armed aggression
against civil air transport." This and
other proposals are to be put before t he
extraordinary general meeting of Icao
from June 16-30 in Montreal.
After two years of studying hijacking
and associated problems, l at a considers
it essential t hat t he "ai r" side and t he
"ground" side of every airport should be
kept separatefuel storage, passenger
and vehicle areas should be adequately
protected, as should such things as
baggage-handling conveyor belts; maxi-
mum security liaison should be main-
tained with the postal authorities; x-ray
and chemical "sniffer" weapon-detecting
systems should be employed, and the
role of dogs should not be underesti-
mated; the public should be advised by
such means as the notices adopted by
the FAA in the US.
Mr Hammarskjold spoke of the length
of time it has taken for governments to
take the problem seriously, and stressed
their responsibilities: "It is my firm
conviction that the main responsibility
for combating these international crimes
still rests with the governments and air-
port authorities, and the minimum re-
quirement is for adequate international
and national legislation and its prompt
and severe implementation."
Congress Debates SST Funding
At a US Congressional sub-committee
hearing on May 13 a call was made for
$291 million to be allocated to the SST
programme in 1971. According to the
US Department of Transportation, the
total cost of t he development programme
has risen by $76 million (32.7 million),
largely as a direct result of SST budget
cuts in the current financial year.
Supporting the case for the American
SST, Mr B. J. Vierling of the Office of
SST Development said that sales of Con-
corde should reach 240 in the first five
years of operation but should drop
sharply when American SSTs are in pro-
duction. In practice, he added, the differ-
ence in performance between the Con-
corde and the American SST was not
likely to cause the sales of either to be
adversely affected by the other.
Revised Helicopter Package
The French Government has confirmed
that the French Navy will be taking the
WG. 13, one of the "package deal" heli-
copters recently under discussion between
the British and French Minsters of
Defence (Flight, April 9). An announce-
ment that agreement had been reached
was made by the Parliamentary Under-
Secretary of State for Defence for the
S E N S OR
The Royal Air Force does not intend
to replace the Chipmunk for at least
two years. Close appraisals of the Bull-
dog and the SIAI-Marchetti SF.260M
will not lead to the early placing of
a contract. With the introduction of
the Jet Provost 5 more JP3s may be
released for use in the primary train-
ing stage, thus ensuring an adequate
supply of Chipmunks for the Univer-
sity Air Squadrons.
The proposal to introduce electroen-
cephalograph tests for all applicants
for pilots' licences may prove a greater
hardship than expected. The BMA in-
tends to recommend a charge of at
least seven guineas for an ECG and
intends also to increase the cost of
audiometry tests. The proposal is being
supported by the Ministry of Health
on the grounds that the aviation
medical service should be financially
self-supporting.
Automatic preselection of telephone
lines by computer is currently being
mooted for both NORAD and FAA
application. In order to save the time
spent dialling a number, and to obviate
the risk of error in a critical situation,
the computer will maintain a running
selection of telephone codes appro-
priate to the air situation it is con-
trolling. Engineers estimate that the
computer will have calculated the
necessary message routeing up to ten
seconds before the operator initiates
the call.
BUA's estimate of its market value
is 9 million plus a further 15 million
in contingent liabilities, mainly for air-
craft. In Caledonian's view this assess-
ment is now too high in view of the
company's current profit forecast.
Britten-Norman will in the next few
weeks complete a rework of its Nymph
production costings. These have been
carried out during the last few months
in the light of Pup manufacturing costs
and the general state of the light-
aviation market. The costings still look
good on the original basis of kit pro-
duction with assembly by approved
maintenance organisations. Nymph
flight tests are progressing well though
slowly as priority is being given to
Islander development, including proto-
type-flying with turbocharged Lycom-
ing IO-540 engines to open up new
"hot-and-high" markets.
Saab is considering fitting a light
turboprop engine to the Saab MF1-15
and the type would then be offered as
an artillery spotter or forward air
control aircraft. Saab is looking at
Budworth gas turbines which, although
not yet certificated, are in the right
power and price bracket.
Salford docks in Manchester could be
a suitable site for a VfStol port. It
would form one terminal in an internal
air service network. Airport to city-
centre traffic is not likely to develop
unless Foulness becomes the third
London airport.