FLIGHT International, II May 1970 835

M a r u t t ra iner 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

In 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 IT 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 arma­ment training, the aircraft appears to be the forty-sixth airframe in the produc­tion 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 com­mittee, 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 the extraordinary general meeting of Icao from June 16-30 in Montreal.

After two years of studying hijacking and associated problems, lata considers it essential that the "air" side and the "ground" side of every airport should be kept separate—fuel storage, passenger and vehicle areas should be adequately

protected, as should such things as baggage-handling conveyor belts; maxi­mum security liaison should be main­tained with the postal authorities; x-ray and chemical "sniffer" weapon-detecting systems should be employed, and the role of dogs should not be underesti­mated; 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 air­port authorities, and the minimum re­quirement 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 the 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 Con­corde should reach 240 in the first five years of operation but should drop sharply when American SSTs are in pro­duction. In practice, he added, the differ­ence in performance between the Con­corde 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" heli­copters recently under discussion between the British and French Minsters of Defence (Flight, April 9). An announce­ment that agreement had been reached was made by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the

S E N S O R The Royal Air Force does not intend to replace the Chipmunk for at least two years. Close appraisals of the Bull­dog 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 train­ing stage, thus ensuring an adequate supply of Chipmunks for the Univer­sity Air Squadrons.

The proposal to introduce electroen­cephalograph tests for all applicants for pilots' licences may prove a greater hardship than expected. The BMA in­tends 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 appro­priate to the air situation it is con­trolling. 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 air­craft. In Caledonian's view this assess­ment 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 pro­duction with assembly by approved maintenance organisations. Nymph flight tests are progressing well though slowly as priority is being given to Islander development, including proto­type-flying with turbocharged Lycom­ing 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.