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ndthe race is on ..The starting gun has sounded and [our of the five new entrants in the 30- to 50-seat regional airliner race are out of the gate and making their way around thecourse to certification n d ~ c u s t o m e r delivery. First out, the Saab-Fairchild SF-340has what some consider a commanding lead but the de Havilland Dash 8 andEmbraer Brasilia EMB-120 have broken into pursuit and are pushing the 340 s pace.

The Casa-Nu rtanio entry the CN-235 is now officially in the running leaving onlythe Aerospatiale-A eritalia A TR-42 at the gate. From the way the regionals areputting down their bets it s still anybody s race. One outcome is sure the passengers are going to be the big winners.

Saab Fairchild SF 340Exactly o ne year after the rollout of

the first prototype of the Saa b-FairchildSF-340 on Oct. 27 1982 the partnership reported the airplane had passedthe halfway mark in the flight test program.

The first to fly of the five new re-gional airliners that are scrambling formarketshare n the 30- to 50-passengerseat class tihe SF-340 program literallygot off the ground on Jan. 25 1983 .The second prototype joined the

Tom Turner left), president o the SaabFairchild Joint Venture; Edward Uhf center), chairmano the board o Fairchild Industries; and Sten Gustafsson, chairman o SaabScania, pose in fronto the third SF-340 following the first ride by the two chairmen in the 340. The number-threeaircraft is painted in the col ors o Swedair, a Swedish regional carrier that has ordered ten o the34-passenger, GE CTlpowered airliners.

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With three o its SF-340 aircraft flying Saab-Fairchifd is in the lead o the new regional airlinerrace for certification and entry into service. The third seen here features an airline in terior. Thefleet has Jogged over 600 hr half the number expected to be required by th e flight test program.

flight test program in time for the firsttwo to share the spotlight on the LeBourget ramp for one day during theParis Air Show early last June. Thethird SF -340 is now flying and, according to a spokesman for the company,The flight test program is in line withthe original flight test planning.A year to the day after the rolloutof the first prototype, the fleet of threehad accumulated a total of 603 hours.The number-one aircraft has 277hours; the number-two, 279; and the

number-three, 47 , a spokesman toldAv.iation Convention News We're flying very intensely, so I think thenumber one will be in the lead againsoon, he added.The number-three aircraft , which ispainted in the co lors of Swedair (aSwedish regional airline which hasordered ten), is the first to be equippedto carry passengers. And it has. On Oct .11, the chairmen of the two partnercompanies-Sten Gustafsson of SaabScania AB and Edward Uhl of FairchildIndustries- took their first rides in theSF-340. Following the testing of thewaters by the chairmen, the entireSwedish-American joint managementboard of directors flew in the aircraft. fanyone had any complaints, they havenot been made public.

Except for teeth ing problems withthe avionics, everything is said to beworking quite well. The companyspokesman, specifically complimentedthe General Electric engines, We'revery pleased with the reliability of theCT7, he commented.

The fourth aircraft is due to join theflight test program by the end of theyear, and the estimated 1,200 hr oftesting is exp ected to be completed intime for certification to be awarded inApril 1984. Delivery of the first customer aircraft to Crossair of Switzerlandis due shortly after certification isgranted .

The joint ven ture has been structuredso that Fairchild builds the wings andempennage at its Long Island, N.Y.facility and ships them to Linkoping,Sweden, where Saab-Scania, having builtthe fuselage, performs the final assemblyand flight testing.

A corporate version of the SF-340 isbeing offered and has already garneredsales from Philip Morris and the MellonBank. Altho ugh the 340 is said to beregarded as a replacement for the Gulfstream Gl, Mellon 's chief pilot, BillHanock, has said his company will usethe 340 to replace a Sabre 60.

The company is holding 90 firm orders for the aircraft, which, in a standardairline configuration, sells for $5 .2million in July I983 dollars. The company has a policy not to release thenumber of options, bu t last month atthe NBAA Convention in Dallas, Tex.,Tom Turner, president of the SaabFairchild Joint Venture, reported thatthe sale of II SF-340s was imminen t .According to Turner, a European operator was expected. to sign for three aircraft, while a U S regional airline wasgetting ready to sign on the dotted linefor eight . 0

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de Havilland DashThe development program for the36-passenger de Havilland Dash 8 hasconsistently been slightly ahead ofschedule. The rollout of the first pre

production prototype, which originally was slated for May 1983, was movedup to April 19 ; and the first flight,which was expected to occur at the veryend of June, actually took place on the20th of that month.The first pre-production Dash 8 haslogged more than l 00 flight test hours,and the second of five aircraft that willeventually take part in the flight testand certification program has begunflight testing. T he five aircraft are expected to accumulate 1,670 hr beforethe certification approval is bestowed,anticipated in August 1984.

We've been marching through thecontent fairly fast , reported BobFowler , de Havilland's chief engineeringtest pilot. We haven't had anythingstop us in our tracks and make us focuson it to the exclusion of other things.When you do have to do that, it puts alo t of time on the airplane but notmuch gets accomplished. We don't have

many hours, but an awful lot of materialhas been covered.A great deal has already been accomplished in th e test program , Fowler toldAviation Convention News. We'vedone all the 1-g stalls and we've flown atspeeds from 208 kt down to 54 to 56kt. We've done engine shutdowns andrellghts, and a lot of asymmetric flying.t has gone very well.The Dash 8 will cruise at 270 kt upto altitudes of 25,000 ft, de Havilland

reported. Short-field performance forthe Dash 8 is achieved without what deHavilland refers to as complex leadingedge devices . Runway requirements aresaid to be ,000 ft lower than theclosest competitor.Trailing-edge, single-slotted flaps arelocated on each side of the enginenacelles and extend to 15 deg for takeoff and 35 deg for landing. Manuallyoperated ailerons are augmented byhydraulically powered slot-lip spoilersinboard of the ailerons. There are twopair of spoilers, which are operateddifferentially to increase lateral

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control. All fo ur spoilers operate at speedsup to 140 kt. Between 140 and 205 ktonly the outboard spoilers work; above205 kt only the ailerons are used.

On the ground, when there is weight onthe main gear, the flight spoilers extend todump lift. In addition to the flight spoilers,ground spoilers (one inboard and one out-board of each englne nacelle) provide ex tended lift dumping. The fuselage diameterof the Dash 8 has been reduced by fourinches, compared to the Dash 7, but passenger comfort is said to be unaffected.According to de Havilland, the 6-ft 2-in.headroom from central aisle to cabinceiling is retained and the seats are still17 in wide. The narrower cabin width isachieved by reducing the aisle width by 3in. and moving each pair of seats outboardby half an inch.First deliveries of the PWC PW120-powered Dash 8 , priced at $5 _I million(1982 U S. dollars), are sla ted to go tonorOntair in September 1984. 0

Two Dash s are now flying at de Havilland's Downsview, Canada facility. Eventually five aircraftwill take part in the 1,670-hr flight testprogram . Certification and the first deliveries o the 5.1-mi//ion airliner are scheduled o take place in September 1984. The first customer to take deliverywill be norOntair the air service sector o the Ontario Northland Transp.ortation Commission.

Resource: Aviation Convention News, Vol. 15, No. 12; Midland Park, NJ; November 15, 1983