Flight International - 15-21 July 2014

FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

NO CARBON COPY TECNAM TAKES ON PAIR OF CESSNA PISTON VETERANSFLIGHT TEST P48

A380 NO SHOW Qatar Airways blames delays for decision to pull its first superjumbo from Farnborough display 20

F-35B ON COURSEAs Queen names carrier, UK MoD moves closer to deal for fighters that will grace her deck 29

PROGRAMME

DREAMLONGERInside the new improvedflagship of the 787 fleet

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15-21 July 2014 | Flight International | 5flightglobal.com

FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

15-21 JULY 2014

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Boeing’s 737 production derailed by transport incident at Clark Fork River, Montana P11. Textron AirLand’s Scorpion completes its first transatlantic crossing P29

FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

NO CARBON COPY TECNAM TAKES ON PAIR OF CESSNA PISTON VETERANSFLIGHT TEST P48

A380 NO SHOW Qatar Airways blames delays for decision to pull its first superjumbo from Farnborough display 20

F-35B ON COURSEAs Queen names carrier, UK MoD moves closer to deal for fighters that will grace her deck 29

PROGRAMME

DREAMLONGERInside the new improvedflagship of the 787 fleet

9 7 7 0 0 1 5 3 7 1 2 6 6

2 9£3.40

15-21 JULY 2014


INSIDECUTAWAY POSTERBOEING 787-9

DEFENCE 28 RAF deploys strengthened Reaper UAV

in Afghanistan. Mozambique MiGs boost capabilities. JSM integration bang on target for Kongsberg

29 UK set to ramp up F-35 procurement. Northrop takes lead on Hawk bid for T-X contest

INTERVIEW30 Tahir Rafique Butt: ‘New aircraft, new

capability’

NEWS FOCUS 32 North Sea safety under fire

BUSINESS AVIATION 33 IAI re-enters light jet sector with

undisclosed partner. Wijet and Air France team up to launch private service

REGULARS9 Comment 53 Straight & Level54 Letters56 Classified 59 Jobs 63 Working Week

NEWS THIS WEEK 10 Poland seeks new attack helicopters

11 Train incident derails 737 production. Boeing slashes forecast for high-capacity market

12 Farnborough F-35 display in doubt amid grounding delay

14 ‘Next generation’ Albatros set for air show unveiling. NASA launches search for long- endurance UAS

AIR TRANSPORT 20 Qatar superjumbo to miss air show.

Commercial orders ‘will top 500’ at Farnborough. Airbus nets 150 A320 bookings

21 ANZ receives its first 787-9. MC-21 to gain CTT cockpit humidifier. FSF advocates triggered flight data recorders

22 Check slip led Ryanair 737 to take off unpressurised. A350 breezes through crosswind trials. WestJet to fly widebodies by 2015

24 Norwegian 737 Max fleet to stretch legs on US routes. LCD screen upgrade installed on 767. Investment for Frigate Ecojet

COVER STORY36 Stretching the dream We evaluate the

improvements of Boeing’s 787-9, with technical description and cutaway poster

FEATURES44 ROTORCRAFT Onwards, upwards The

next generation of rotorcraft for the US military is coming closer to realisation

46 OSHKOSH The new in view AirVenture – known by all as Oshkosh – has a history of debuting big industry innovations

48 FLIGHT TEST Tecnam triumphs We put the carbon-fibre P2010 through its paces

VOLUME 186 NUMBER 5448

PIC OF THE WEEK This shot, taken by the US Navy, shows an aircraft director signalling to the pilot of a Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye on the flight deck of the USS George Washington. This aircraft carrier, along with its carrier air wing, protects the collective maritime interest of the USA and its allies in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

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COVER IMAGEBoeing supplied this image of a 787-9 – the first example of which was handed over to launch customer Air New Zealand on 9 July. See our cutaway and technical description of the first stretched Dreamliner variant on P36

NEXT WEEK FARNBOROUGH REPORTThe Flight team will decamp to the centre of the aerospace universe for a week of in-depth reporting and a special edition covering the biggest air show of the year

Bill

yPix

THE WEEK ON THE WEBflightglobal.com

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CONTENTS

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK

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This week, we ask: Air displays at industry shows? ❑ It’s what air shows are about ❑ Nice distraction but limited business use ❑ Cover your ears

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Last week, we asked: Will Airbus announce an A330neo at Farnborough? You said:

Yes No, it will be later this year

It won’t be launched

25%30%45%

HIGH FLIERSThe top five stories for the week just gone:1 Farnborough: Redesign transforms KC-390 into new market threat

2 Picture: A350 performs crosswind tests in Iceland

3 Delays prompt Qatar to cancel Farnborough A380 plan

4 Airbus books undisclosed orders for 150 A320s

5 Analysis: Boeing tweaks 777 interior to boost sales

The UK Royal Navy’s newly-named HMS Queen Elizabeth

comes under the spotlight on our The DEW Line blog, where

Craig Hoyle looks at the handy vital statistics of the vast

aircraft carrier prepared by the

Ministry of Defence to help

even journalists understand.

“With a height of 56m, she is

taller than Niagara Falls. At

280m long she has a flight

deck the size of 60 tennis courts. Four jumbo jets

could fit alongside each other on the 70m-wide deck [but the

take-off would be challenging, to say the least].” On his Ariel View blog, Arie Egozi discusses the critical role played by

unmanned air vehicles in Israel’s conflict over the Gaza Strip. “The Israel Defence Forces launched the ‘Protective

Edge’ operation on 8 July and from that moment, UAVs have

become a crucial tool in suppressing rocket fire on Israeli

populated areas.”

Managing editor Craig Hoyle (top) visited the RIAT show site

for an update on the absent F-35

(P12). And Flight International test pilot Peter Collins travelled

to Capua near Naples to evalu-

ate Tecnam’s latest four-seat

piston single, the P2010, which

is earmarked for certification

this month (P48).

IN THIS ISSUECompanies listedAerostar .......................................................28Aero Vodochody .....................................14, 28AgustaWestland ...........................................10Airbus ..........................................................23Airbus Helicopters ..................................10, 32Air France ....................................................33Air New Zealand ...........................................21Alenia Aermacchi ...................................10, 29Aviation Technology Group ...........................33Avocet .........................................................33AVX ..............................................................44BAE Systems ...............................................29Bell Helicopter .............................................44Boeing .................... 10, 11, 20, 23, 24, 28, 29British Airways ..............................................53Cessna ..................................................30, 33Chengdu ......................................................30China Eastern Airlines ..................................20China Southern Airlines ................................20CTT ..............................................................21Deloitte ........................................................20Draken International ....................................14Emirates Airline ......................................10, 20Fokker..........................................................53Frigate Ecojet ...............................................24Garmin ........................................................33GE Aviation ..................................................10General Atomics Aeronautical Systems ........28General Dynamics........................................29General Electric ...........................................20Gulfstream ...................................................33Honeywell ....................................................30Hongdu........................................................30IHI ...............................................................10Ilyushin ........................................................30Irkut .............................................................21Israel Aerospace Industries ..........................33JetTech .........................................................33Karem Aircraft ..............................................44Kongsberg Defence Systems ........................28Korea Aerospace Industries ..........................29L-3 Link Simulation & Training ......................29Lockheed Martin ........................12, 28, 29, 30Lufthansa. ....................................................33Lufthansa Private Jets ..................................33Mikoyan .......................................................28MTU Aero Engines ........................................10Northrop Grumman ................................14, 29Norwegian ...................................................24Pakistan Aeronautical Complex ....................30Paramount ...................................................12ProFlight ......................................................33Qatar Airways .........................................20, 23Raytheon .....................................................28Rockwell Collins ...........................................24Rolls-Royce ......................................21, 23, 29Rosaviaconsortium ......................................24Russian Helicopters .....................................10Ryanair ........................................................23Saab .........................................14, 28, 29, 30Safran .........................................................10Shaanxi .......................................................30Sikorsky .......................................................10Snecma .......................................................10Spirit AeroSystems .......................................11Techspace Aero ............................................10Textron AirLand .............................................29Textron Aviation ............................................33Thales Alenia Space .....................................10TRU Simulation and Training .........................33Turkish Aerospace Industries ........................30United Aircraft ..............................................24WestJet ........................................................23Wijet ............................................................33Williams International ..................................14

6 | Flight International | 15-21 July 2014

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COMMENT


See News Focus P32

The forest and the trees

The UK parliamentary review of North Sea oil indus-try support helicopter operations safety brings a

human touch to a subject already being reviewed ex-tensively by the industry itself and the Civil Aviation Authority. It is a call to the industry and CAA to take a step back and think about the recent victims – and po-tential future victims – of failures, and to wonder whether they are guilty of hubris.

The parliamentary transport select committee has called for a full public inquiry on the subject. It would be easy – and perhaps reasonable – to reject such a call on the grounds that the issue is subject to such intense scrutiny that yet more would be pointless. However, always leaving the matter to the industry risks a failure

to see the forest because the trees are in the way. The CAA’s contention that there is no statistical signifi-cance in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea only recording one fatal accident in a period where the UK sector has seen six is something only a statistician could understand. The rest of us see the difference and wonder about it.

Norway has an oil support helicopter fleet only slightly smaller than the UK, but a much smaller popu-lation. To attend a safety meeting of Norway’s rotary wing professionals is like being with a family sorting out its problems. With the British it feels corporate – and the select committee has noticed that too. ■

Read our archive of Flight International comments on editor Murdo Morrison’s blog at flightglobal.com/comment

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See This Week P11

That’s going to slow things down

Today’s aerospace industry supply chain is an impressively efficient machine, but because it handles very large components it is highly vulnerable to disruption as output rates rise

Big and fast is difficult

Aviation’s just-in-time supply chain model has en-countered its latest threat: train derailments.

The six Boeing 737 fuselages that toppled from a loaded train on 3 July in a remote corner of the Mon-tana wilderness raised new alarms about the pace of commercial aircraft production, and the ability of a global supply chain to deliver on time with ever-de-creasing margins.

Lost amid this broader discussion is a single fact that is not enough appreciated, even within the aerospace industry: the commercial aviation supply chain has become incredibly good.

It was less than 20 years ago that a long-planned pro-duction ramp-up at Boeing nearly broke the entire sys-tem. Boeing was forced to halt deliveries for six months to clean up a logistical mess.

In the last three years, both Airbus and Boeing have accelerated production across nearly their entire port-folio of commercial aircraft with great skill. Boeing has faced temporary slowdowns at the complicated centre fuselage join of the 787 in Charleston, South Carolina, but still managed to raise monthly output of the Dreamliner by 500% in two years.

Even “acts of God” have been overcome. The 2012 tornado that ripped the roof off the 737 fuselage factory in Wichita did not delay a single delivery. The 2011 fire that consumed a Brazilian A320 component factory failed to disrupt Toulouse for even a day.

The just-in-time supply chainmodel is simpler in industrieswith smaller products

But the train derailment presents a more serious challenge. Several – if not all – of the fuselage barrels involved may be written off, placing a hole in Boeing’s 737 production that could take weeks to refill.

The just-in-time supply chain model is simpler in industries with smaller products. In the aerospace in-dustry, large Boeing 747s and Airbus A300s must be modified in inelegant ways simply to carry sections of a final product from one supplier to another. Logistics will only get more difficult as production rates rise.

Indeed, the transportation links in today’s aerospace supply chain were designed in a different era, which could not have anticipated modern production rates.

Boeing has already signalled that it may seek alterna-tives to using the 747-400-derived DreamLifter fleet as the sole transport system for shuttling sections of the 787 between suppliers.

It may also be time to consider alternatives to relying on Spirit AeroSystems as sole supplier for the 737 fuselage – especially if production ramps up further. ■

THIS WEEK

flightglobal.com10 | Flight International | 15-21 July 2014

Poland is advancing a plan to update its army’s rotorcraft

fleet, with the launch of a process to acquire up to 40 attack helicop-ters. This comes on top of its exist-ing competition for a tri-service order for 70 multi-role transports.

Intended to replace the Polish land force’s fleet of 29 Mil Mi-24D/Vs, the attack helicopters were originally scheduled to be delivered from 2020. Statements from the nation’s ministry of na-tional defence issued on 8 July indicate an accelerated timeline, but it has not revealed specifics.

The procurement – known as the “Raven” programme – will be conducted in two phases, the de-fence ministry says. Initial scop-ing work will help to define the requirement before a more de-tailed market study, which may include dialogue with bidders.

Airbus Helicopters – already of-fering its EC725 Caracal for the transport requirement – will pitch the latest HAD version of its Tiger attack type, says Dominique Mau-det, executive vice-president, global business and services. The airframer has already indicated it will partner with local companies to create a final assembly line for the EC725 and its Turbomeca Makila 2A engines if selected for the utility transport requirement.

Although the two contests are not linked, says Maudet, they do

offer Poland the chance to align itself more closely with the rest of Europe’s aerospace industry.

“We would put all our efforts into developing the country – both in terms of the capability of its armed forces and from an industrial and business perspec-tive,” he says.

Maudet also stresses the inter-operability of the two Airbus Helicopters types, which have been combat tested during de-ployments with the French armed forces in both Afghanistan and Somalia.

Potential bidders for the attack requirement have until 1 August to respond, with a detailed re-quest for information to be issued at a later date.

AgustaWestland, already pre-sent in Poland through its PZL Świdnik subsidiary, is expected to offer the AW129, while Boeing is likely to pitch its AH-64E Apache.

Warsaw in early June issued a request for proposals covering the transport acquisition. Bids must be received by 30 Septem-ber, with a decision by year-end.

Alongside Airbus Helicopters’ EC725, AgustaWestland is pitch-ing the AW149, and Sikorsky is offering locally-produced S-70I Black Hawks assembled by its PZL Mielec unit. ■Additional reporting by Bartosz Glowacki in Warsaw

For more in-depth coverage of the global rotorcraft sector, go online to: flightglobal.com/helicopters

REQUIREMENT DOMINIC PERRY LONDON

Poland seeks new attack helicoptersWarsaw launches two-stage “Raven” programme to procure up to 40 military rotorcraft to replace its fleet of Mi-24D/Vs

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Warsaw currently operates 29 of the Soviet-era combat aircraft

BIRDSTRIKE CAUSED PAVE HAWK CRASHMISHAP A multiple birdstrike by a flock of geese caused the fatal

crash on 7 January of a Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter from

the US Air Force’s 56th Rescue Squadron in the UK. An accident re-

port from the service says the impacts at 110ft above ground level

and 110kt (204km/h) during a night-time training exercise rendered

“the pilot and co-pilot unconscious and disabled the trim and flight-

path stabilisation system”. All four crew members were killed.

BRUSSELS KICKS OFF CLEAN SKY 2ENVIRONMENT The European Commission has launched its €4

billion ($5.4 billion) Clean Sky 2 aeronautics technology develop-

ment initiative, to be funded 50:50 by Brussels and industry.

Designed to support research into “game changing” aircraft con-

cepts, the second phase follows a €1.6 billion activity from 2008.

ISRAEL GETS FIRST ‘LAVI’ TRAINERSDELIVERIES Alenia Aermacchi has transferred the first two of 30

M-346 advanced jet trainers to the Israeli air force. Renamed the

“Lavi” by Israel, the type will replace Douglas TA-4 Skyhawks and

eliminate the need for new pilots to also receive instruction on the

Lockheed Martin F-16A/B. Israel’s next six aircraft are in final as-

sembly, with its entire fleet scheduled to be delivered before 2017.

MERCURY MISSION MAKES MILESTONESPACEFLIGHT The ambitious Europe-Japan BepiColombo mission to

Mercury is a step closer to its 2016 Ariane 5 launch with the start of

final functional testing in Turin by Thales Alenia Space. This includes

tests of thermal control systems to enable operation at 400°C. A

solar electric propulsion system will be key to a seven-year transfer to

Mercury, which is difficult to reach owing to the Sun’s gravity.

CHINA SIGNS FOR FOURTH MI-26TS HEAVYLIFTERROTORCRAFT Russian Helicopters will in 2015 deliver a Mil

Mi-26TS, the world’s largest helicopter, to China’s Lectern Aviation

Supplies for forestry management in Shandong province. The

aircraft, able to carry 20t, will be the fourth of the type in China. It

was used after the 2008 and 2013 Sichuan earthquakes.

EMIRATES A380 FLEET HITS HALF CENTURYAIRLINERS Emirates Airline has taken delivery of its 50th Airbus

A380. The Dubai-based carrier received its first A380 in July 2008

and expects to have about 90 of the 140 it ordered by late 2017.

The aircraft was the 136th delivered since service entry in 2007.

ATV GETS READY TO GO OUT WITH BIG BANGSPACE STATION The European Space Agency’s fifth Automated

Transfer Vehicle has been integrated with its Ariane 5 launcher for a

24 July International Space Station resupply flight. ATV-5, named

after Belgian physicist and Big Bang theorist Georges Lemaître, is

the programme’s final flight but the craft is being adapted as the

service module ESA will supply for NASA’s Orion crew capsule.

GE NAMES PARTNERS IN GE9X ENGINE FOR 777XPROPULSION GE Aviation has named Japan’s IHI, Safran units

Snecma and Techspace Aero and MTU Aero Engines as participants

in the GE9X engine being developed for the Boeing 777X. Together,

the participants will be responsible for an approximately 25% share

in the GE9X programme.

BRIEFING

THIS WEEK


AHRLAC breaks cover in PretoriaTHIS WEEK P12

A freak transport error threat-ens to temporarily derail

Boeing 737 production, once again raising questions about supply chain vulnerabilities as commercial aircraft production rates climb ever higher.

Boeing is still evaluating the ef-fect of a train derailment in Mon-tana on 3 July that dislodged six 737 fuselages en route from the Spirit AeroSystems factory in Wichita, Kansas to its final assem-bly site in Renton, Washington.

Montana Rail Link, the rail-road company involved in the derailment, has recovered three fuselages that had slipped down a steep embankment into the Clark Fork River. Pictures from the scene show the three fuselag-es had sustained severe damage.

Boeing is assessing the extent of the damage, and how it will impact a production system that rolls out six completed 737s every three working days at current rates.

Boeing has cut the expected demand for new high-capac-

ity aircraft by nearly 20% – from 760 to just 620 – in its latest 20-year forecast.

In its commercial market outlook for 2014-2033, the US manufacturer predicts an overall rise in demand to 36,770 aircraft deliveries – a hike of nearly 1,500 on last year – but is more pessi-mistic than previously about the 400-seat sector.

The company’s revision fol-lows diminishing sales of its 747-8 and slow take-up of the Airbus A380. There is a “contin-ued shift in demand” from the large four-engined jets to twin-engined types, it says.

Single-aisle types will remain the strongest category over the next two decades. Boeing has raised forecast demand for this

DISRUPTION STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

Train incident derails 737 productionAccident highlights vulnerability of Boeing’s supply chain, which includes regular freight shipments from Spirit AeroSystems

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Montana Rail has recovered the fuselages from Clark Fork River

It is a system designed to ac-commodate a minimum of dis-ruption from a globally scattered supply chain, with parts flowing into Renton by air, sea and rail.

Spirit, which Boeing divested in 2005, builds 70% of the 737 – the forward and aft body, nose section, nacelles, pylons, vertical fin, horizontal stabiliser, flaps and wing-to-body fairing – at its production facility in Wichita.

Spirit ships the complete fuse-lages, lacking wings, landing gear and most systems, by train to Ren-ton. The freight cars pass through Kansas City, Nebraska and Wyo-ming during a journey of nearly 2,000nm (3,700km) through most-ly remote plains and wilderness.

The latest derailment is the most significant disruption in modern memory. In 2011, a tornado dislodged two 737

fuselages from a train passing through Nebraska. The following year, damage caused by another tornado closed the Wichita facto-ry for a week. Somehow, the storm ripped off a section of the factory’s roof, but did not cause any damage to the fuselage struc-tures lying below. Spirit took sev-eral weeks to fully recover, but never missed a “load date” for a 737 fuselage in Renton.

The latest incident again highlights Boeing’s heavy reli-ance on Spirit for a 737 product line in a market segment with un-precedented demand.

Boeing plans to raise 737 out-put to 47 aircraft per month in 2017, from 42. At current produc-tion levels, two assembly lines in Renton each complete one 737 roughly every working day.

Boeing is opening a third line in 2015 in the same factory to build the 737 Max, creating the capacity to deliver more than 60 aircraft per year. ■

Boeing slashes forecast for high-capacity marketOUTLOOK DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

sector by 4% to 25,680 aircraft; about 70% of the total require-ment. It believes the single-aisle sector will be centred on 160-seat aircraft such as the 737 Max 8 and A320neo.

“There’s no question the market is converging to this size, where network flexibility and cost efficiency meet,” says Boeing vice-president of marketing Randy Tinseth, speaking in London on 10 July.

Tinseth, who describes the air transport market as “strong and resilient”, says that low-cost air-lines remain a single-aisle de-mand driver.

Boeing sees a requirement for 4,520 aircraft in the small twin-aisle category, covering 200- and 300-seat aircraft, and another 3,460 large twins accommodating 300 to 400 seats.

Asia-Pacific customers will ac-count for 37% of the total deliver-ies, far ahead of North America and Europe with around 20% each. Boeing estimates the over-all value of the global demand at $5.2 trillion.

Meanwhile, Boeing’s outlook for the freighter market for the same period is lower than last year’s forecast, although the

reduction is mainly in the conversion sector.

The company predicts demand for 840 new-build freighters by 2023, down 10 from last year’s forecast. But it has low-ered its conversions forecast by 8% from 1,450 to 1,330 – comprising 370 modifications of widebody types and 960 involv-ing smaller aircraft. ■

Demand for narrowbodies like the 737 Max is expected to rise

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THIS WEEK


To get more defence sector coverage, subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter:flightglobal.com/defencenewsletter

The US Department of Defense had still yet to lift its ground-

ing order on the F-35 as Flight International went to press, but the Lockheed Martin type was confirmed as being unable to par-ticipate in the 11-13 July Royal International Air Tattoo because of the safety measure.

On 10 July, the UK show’s chief executive Tim Prince confirmed the short take-off and vertical landing F-35B would be unable to reach the event even if cleared to leave the US Navy’s Patuxent River site in Maryland, noting: “We’ve simply run out of time”.

Speaking at the RIAT site at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire the previous day, Lockheed’s general manager for the F-35 pro-gramme Lorraine Martin said in-vestigation work was ongoing, following an “issue with the en-gine” on an F-35A training air-craft late last month.

The US Department of Defense has yet to release details of the aircraft fire at Eglin AFB in Flori-

South African conglomerate Paramount unveiled its ad-

vanced high-performance recon-naissance light aircraft (AHRLAC) on 10 July in Pretoria.

High-speed taxi tests have been performed, and first flight is expected “shortly”, says Para-mount chief executive John Craig. The company plans to offer the aircraft to the market early next year, with deliveries possible by 2016, he adds.

The twin-boomed, singled-en-gined type is aimed at a develop-ing market among military and paramilitary groups for a low-cost surveillance and attack platform. South Africa’s air force is moni-toring the programme, but Craig says Paramount is focusing on a wider, global market for orders. ■

DEPLOYMENT CRAIG HOYLE RAF FAIRFORD

Farnborough F-35 display in doubt amid grounding delayJoint Strike Fighter misses RIAT appearance, as wait continues for return to flight approval

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First flight is expected shortly

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The type was at the Air Tattoo – but only as a full-scale model

UNVEILING STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

AHRLAC breaks cover in Pretoria

da, but Martin says “all the right, bright minds are working it”.

“As soon as we have returned to flight, those aircraft are poised and ready,” she said.

With the US Marine Corps de-ployment also due to support participation in the 14-20 July Farnborough air show, Martin said: “I have confidence that at one of these shows we will have an F-35.” Support equipment and spare parts required to support the aircraft had already been de-livered to RAF Fairford.

Meanwhile, Martin says Lock-heed is in the final stage of negoti-ating a contract for an eighth lot of low-rate initial production, with the deal covering 43 aircraft.

The company has also part-nered with the US government and F-35 partner companies “to invest some funds to help make sure we bring the cost of this air-craft down”, she adds. “My goal is that when we get to 2019, to have an aircraft price that is below any for a fourth-generation aircraft you can buy at that time.” ■

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THIS WEEK


NASA has launched a concept study to evaluate options for

acquiring a new fleet of large pay-load, long-endurance unmanned air systems within five to 10 years, the agency says.

The study was revealed shortly after NASA briefly posted an on-line request for information to in-dustry, seeking options that meet its requirements for the Earth observation mission.

The request was quickly re-moved from the website and reworded to emphasise that the information would inform a con-cept study, rather than serve as a prelude to an imminent acquisi-tion, the agency says.

A reworded request is expect-ed to be reposted to a website listing all business opportunities with the US federal government.

NASA currently operates one of the first Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawks developed under an advanced concept tech-nology demonstration programme sponsored in the late 1990s by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

A version of the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

For more coverage of the burgeoning unmanned air system sector, go to flightglobal.com/UAV

One of the oldest and most ubiquitous jet trainers is

being given a new lease of life.During the Farnborough air

show, Czech manufacturer Aero Vodochody is to unveil a “next generation” version of its 46-year-old single-engined L-39 Albatros.

Around 450 of the venerable type remain in military service with 30 countries.

The L-39NG will be offered with a Williams International FJ44-4M turbofan with full au-thority digital engine control, re-placing the legacy Motor Sich Ivchenko AI-25.

Other enhancements include glass cockpit avionics, a single-piece canopy – offering better protection against bird strikes – new ejection seats and a rede-signed wing with integral fuel tanks. The aircraft will also come with four under-wing pylons and one under the fuselage.

Although the airframe has not been fundamentally altered, en-hancements mean it now has a fatigue life of up to 15,000 flight hours, the manufacturer says. It hopes to make first deliveries of the L-39NG in 2017. The upgrad-ed trainer will be pitched primar-

ily at existing operators of the L-39, says Jakub Fojtik, director marketing and business develop-ment for Aero’s defence and MRO division.

“There was no reason to change what is fundamentally a perfect aircraft,” he says. “These improvements solve all the con-cerns our customers have.”

The L-39 was first flown in 1968, and around 2,800 were produced between the early 1970s and late 1990s.

US private operator Draken International will also announce a deal at the show to buy 12 L-159s – a 1990s-designed suc-cessor to the L-39.

A total of 72 of the advanced jet trainer/lead-in fighter were de-livered to the Czech air force in the early-2000s, but 48 were deemed surplus to requirements after Prague opted for the Saab Gripen C/D as its flagship type.

Stored L-159s are still owned by the Czech government, but Aero Vodochody is responsible for keeping them airworthy and marketing them. ■

NAS

A

The agency operates one RQ-4

Aero

Vodoch

ody

The L-39NG will be offered with a Williams FJ44-4M turbofan

Follow the very latest news from the Farnborough air show at flightglobal.com/Farnborough

Russia’s space programme has taken what its stakeholders

hope is a giant leap to modernity with the successful maiden flight of the new Angara launcher – the eventual replacement for the ac-cident-prone Proton-M.

Flown from the Plesetsk cos-modrome on 2 July, Angara-1.2ML was a two-stage vehicle with a 1.43t payload mockup and fairing.

A ballistic flightpath saw the payload fairing and first stage dropped as planned into the Bar-ents Sea, and the second stage and payload simulation reach the planned target zone in the Kam-chatka peninsula after a flight of 21min and 3,080nm (5,700km).

The Proton has been flying since 1965, but its latest variant, Proton-M, has a success rate of barely 89% over 83 launches.

Failures have been traced to various causes and scattered throughout the launch timeline, suggesting persistent quality con-trol shortcomings.

Angara is a modular concept built around common core boost-ers burning oxygen and kerosene, and can be configured for light, medium or heavy payloads.

The Krunichev space centre is responsible for development, and its US subsidiary, International Launch Services, will handle commercial sales – as it does for Proton. ■

PROGRAMMES MURDO MORRISON LONDON

‘Next generation’ Albatros set for air show unveilingCzech airframer Aero Vodochody to detail new version of venerable L-39 single-engined trainer at Farnborough

MILESTONE DAN THISDELL LONDON

Angara flight a boost for Russia

UNMANNED SYSTEMS STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

NASA launches search for long-endurance UAS

Predator, the Ikhana, is co-located with the Global Hawk at the NASA Armstrong research centre at Edwards AFB, California.

The agency has used the aircraft in Earth science missions, including the airborne tropical tropopause experiment and the hurricane and severe storm sentinel mission.

The original request for infor-mation, posted on 7 July, said NASA wants future UAS with a minimum ability of carrying 300kg (661lb) as payload, with a 3kW power supply.

The space agency also wants aircraft that can remain aloft for more than 24h. ■

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AIR TRANSPORT


For the latest orders news live from the Farnborough air show, go to: flightglobal.com/farnborough

OUTLOOK

Commercial orders ‘will top 500’ at FarnboroughManufacturers and airlines

will announce orders for at least 500 large commercial air-craft at this year’s Farnborough air show, consulting company Deloitte predicts.

If this comes to pass, orders at this year’s show would be 45% less than the 908 orders an-nounced at the 2013 Paris air show, according to Deloitte’s data.

The firm’s numbers include narrowbody and widebody jet-powered aircraft produced by Boeing and Airbus, and exclude regional aircraft and turboprops.

Tom Captain, vice-chairman and leader of Deloitte’s aerospace and defence unit, says the differ-ence is not surprising. Farnbor-ough lacks some of the interna-tional status of Paris, he says, and typically does not generate as many orders as the French show.

“Farnborough is typically lower – almost 30% lower,”

Captain says. “Paris is more glitzy and generates [a higher] order percentage per year.”

The 908 orders announced last year in Paris represented 29% of the total 3,150 gross commercial aircraft ordered during 2013 as a whole, Captain says. By compari-son, the orders announced at Farnborough in 2012 represented 21.8% of orders that year.

Captain says the market re-mains very strong, due largely to sky-high demand for commercial air travel in emerging markets like China, which has a rapidly expanding middle class, as well as nations like India and regions such as the Middle East.

Also, the expected decline this year comes on the heels of an ex-ceptionally strong 2013, when carriers worldwide eagerly snatched up production slots for the next generation of fuel- efficient airliners. ■

FLEET

Emirates finalises 777X Dubai dealEmirates has finalised its order for

150 Boeing 777X twinjets – a deal

originally disclosed at last year’s

Dubai air show.

The agreement comprises 115 of

the 777-9X variant and 35 of the

777-8X, plus purchase rights on an-

other 50 of the family. Deliveries will

begin in 2020.

All of the jets will be powered by

General Electric GE9X engines.

Boeing values the overall agree-

ment at $56 billion at catalogue pric-

es. This could rise to $75 billion if all

options are exercised. Emirates

president Tim Clark says the agree-

ment gives the Dubai-based carrier

208 777s on backlog. It already has

138 777s in its fleet.

“The 777X will offer us opera-

tional flexibility in terms of range,

more passenger capacity and fuel

efficiency,” says Clark.

Boeing says development of the

777X is progressing, with production

set to commence in 2017. The type

has secured 300 orders and com-

mitments from six customers. ■

Bill

yPix

Boeing and Emirates dignitaries mark the deal at Dubai last year

Qatar Airways has cancelled plans to display its first

Airbus A380 at this week’s Farn-borough air show, in the wake of continuing delivery delays.

Airbus, however, confirms that its own A380 – MSN1 – will con-tinue to be on the exhibit throughout the week-long event.

The Gulf state flag carrier had been due to take delivery of its first three A380s in June, but the schedule had to be revised after problems were discovered during delivery acceptance inspections.

The airline is unable to say when it now expects the first aircraft to arrive.

Speaking recently about the situation, Qatar Airways chief ex-ecutive Akbar Al Baker said that deliveries had been delayed “as certain elements of the aircraft are being finalised to meet the

high standards and expectations of Qatar Airways”. He added that the delay was caused by “certain issues affecting the interior of the cabin which were identified dur-ing the standard delivery process, which includes vigorous inspec-tions by a technical team”.

Flightglobal’s Innovata net-works data service indicates the Qatar Airways A380 will not be in service before 1 August. It is due to enter use on one of the air-line’s daily flights between Doha and London Heathrow.

Despite the move, Qatar will still have a major presence at Farnborough, as it will be display-ing an Airbus A320 with sharklet wing-tips and a Boeing 787-8. Air-bus will also have an A350-900 test aircraft at the show, featuring a hybrid scheme incorporating Qatar Airways branding. ■

Airbus booked undisclosed orders for 150 A320-family

jets in June, sourced from two separate deals.

The airframer recorded the ac-quisition of 70 A320neo aircraft as well as an 80-jet order comprising 30 A321neos, 16 A320neos and four A319neos, plus 20 A321s and 10 A320s.

While Airbus has not identi-fied the customers, China Eastern Airlines stated in February that it intended to take 70 A320neos, while China Southern Airlines revealed an agreement to take 50 A320neos and 30 baseline A320s in May. The new deals bring overall orders for the A320neo family to 2,843. ■

BACKLOG

Airbus nets 150 A320 bookings

AirTe

am

Image

s

The airline is unable to say when it expects its aircraft to arrive

STATIC DISPLAY MAX KINGSLEY-JONES LONDON

Qatar superjumbo to miss air showDelivery delays due to acceptance inspection issues lead Gulf flag carrier to cancel planned display for its first A380

AIR TRANSPORT


The US-based nonprofit Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) says

deployable flight data recorders or other “triggered” data trans-mission systems should be in-stalled on commercial aircraft.

The group’s chief executive Jon Beatty says the 2009 crash of Air France flight 447 and the March disappearance of Malaysia Air-lines flight 370 show there is “clearly the need for a better way to retrieve the flight data informa-tion immediately following an ac-cident. When it takes an unusual-ly long time to recover a flight data recorder after an accident, it leads to a delay in answering questions,” Beatty says.

“That makes us uncomfortable as safety professionals, especially since the technology exists that would eliminate this threat.”

FSF expresses “strong support” that either a deployable recorder with an emergency locator trans-mitter or a “triggered flight data transmission” system be installed on commercial aircraft. These would be in addition to standard cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders, it says.

It notes that deployable flight data recorders have long been used on military aircraft. They are designed to eject from aircraft prior to a crash.

The International Civil Avia-tion Organisation is currently considering amendments that would require such systems. A working group formed by French investigation agency BEA after the crash of Air France flight 447 also recommended that civilian transport aircraft be fitted with such devices. ■

Norwegian 737 Max fleet to be deployed on US routesAIR TRANSPORT P24

“There is clearly a need for a better way to retrieve flight data after an accident”JON BEATTY Flight Safety Foundation

Air New Zealand (ANZ) took delivery of its first Boeing

787-9 at a hand over event in Ev-erett, Washington on 9 July.

The Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered aircraft is the first of 10 787-9s the launch customer has on order, with options for a further eight. The aircraft is 6m (19.7ft) longer than the 787-8 vari-ant and able to carry up to 40 more passengers.

The New Zealand flag-carrier is anticipating a smooth entry- into-service (EIS) for the first “stretch” Dreamliner.

The 787 will flight plan with 180min extended operations (ETOPS) certification, according to Capt Dave Morgan, ANZ’s chief pilot. The airline expects to eventually obtain 240min ETOPS for the 787-9 – 90min below what regulations allow.

Air New Zealand legally ac-cepted the aircraft on 30 June, about three weeks after Boeing completed a nine-month flight

test programme to obtain airwor-thiness certification. One of the airline’s pilots has been working for Boeing, assisting with pilot training for other airlines.

The aircraft will undergo a three-week proving programme in New Zealand, including some flying within the country and a trans-Tasman non-revenue flight.

The FAA approved certifica-tion of the 787-9 with two ex-emptions, including a waiver in-volving the aircraft’s emergency ram air turbine (RAT).

Boeing is redesigning a compo-nent in the RAT after the unit failed to produce power during flight and ground tests. Morgan confirms that ANZ has received a similar operating exemption from the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand.

“It is extremely improbable for us to end up in that failure mode, having to deploy the ram air tur-bine,” says Morgan.

The FAA approved the exemp-

tion for the 787-9 until the end of February, requiring Boeing to de-liver a compliant ram air turbine.

The 787-9 enters service as Boe-ing continues to improve the 787-8. The first version of the 787-8 has been in service for more than two-and-a-half years, but still op-erates a percentage point below Boeing’s 99.5% standard for dis-patch reliability. A series of planned improvements should lift the rating to 99.5%.

Kerry Reeves, the airline’s di-rector for aircraft programmes, feels that the lessons learned in the smaller -8’s EIS have benefit-ted ANZ. “We believe that a lot of the problems on the -8 have been resolved on this aircraft, so we’ll immediately see an initial start point of reliability way above where the -8 was at EIS,” he says.

ANZ expects to have three air-craft delivered this year. ■See P36 for a cutaway poster and technical description of the 787-9

SAFETY

FSF advocates triggered flight data recorders

Russian airframer Irkut’s new MC-21 will be fitted with

cockpit humidification systems from CTT.

Based in Sweden, CTT specialises in development of equipment to reduce excess con-densation within aircraft.

It says its flightdeck humidifier was selected by Russian compa-ny Teploobmennik, which is re-sponsible for the MC-21’s inte-grated air management and wing anti-ice systems.

CTT chief executive Torbjörn Johansson says his company is

“pleased with the decision”, add-ing that the system will be stand-ard line equipment.

First flight of the MC-21 is scheduled for next year, with service entry expected in 2017. CTT says the aircraft family has 175 firm orders. ■

DELIVERY HOWARD SLUTSKEN SEATTLE

ANZ receives its first 787-9New Zealand flag carrier anticipates smooth entry into service for first “stretch” Dreamliner

Air N

ew

Zeala

nd

Air New Zealand formally took delivery at a ceremony at Everett on 9 July

MC-21 to gain CTT cockpit humidifierCABINS

AIR TRANSPORT


For up-to-the-minute air transport news, network and fleet information sign up at: flightglobal.com/dashboard

WestJet plans to begin operat-ing widebodies on transoce-

anic routes by autumn 2015, ac-cording to the Canadian airline.

The carrier is “in the advanced stages of sourcing widebody air-craft”, and plans to initially ac-quire four.

The airline has not specified which type of aircraft it is seeking to acquire, but says it plans to ini-tially deploy its widebodies be-tween Alberta and Hawaii.

WestJet already offers services from Edmonton and Calgary to Honolulu and Maui using Boeing 757-200s operated by Thomas Cook. However, that arrangement will end in spring 2015, the airline adds.

WestJet also uses Boeing 737s to fly between Victoria and Hono-lulu and from Vancouver to Kauai, Honolulu, Maui and Kona, according to Flightglobal’s Innovata networks data service.

“This is the natural, next-step evolution for WestJet,” says presi-dent and chief executive Gregg Saretsky. “It’s made possible by our low-cost business model, growing network strength [and] airline partnerships.” ■

Irish investigators have deter-mined a Ryanair Boeing

737-800 crew missed an incorrect checklist response which led the aircraft to depart without its pres-surisation system active.

Subsequent checks at 3,000ft and 10,000ft failed to detect the system’s configuration, and the oversight was not discovered until the aircraft, operating from Liverpool to Dublin, had reached its cruising height of 18,000ft.

Inquiries by the Ireland Air Ac-cident Investigation Unit found that during the after-start check-list, the captain responded “packs off”, when the first officer called out the air conditioning system status. While the before-start checklist requires the air conditioning packs to be off, the after-start checklist demands a “packs auto” response.

The first officer did not query the error, the inquiry says. “This is the point at which the incorrect configuration of the pressurisa-tion system should have been identified and remedied,” it adds. However, while it acknowledges

the possibility of lapses “can never be eliminated”, it says pilots must “always strive to maintain a high level of attention and awareness”.

The crew believe confirmation bias over the pressurisation sys-tem setting contributed to their failure to resolve the configura-tion error, despite completing fur-ther checks during the climb.

Investigators add the light load – just 50 passengers – and the decision to carry out a high-power climb – around 2,850ft/min – means the pilots may have been misled by cockpit indicators regarding the state of the aircraft’s pressurisation.

The crew was alerted by a cabin altitude warning horn and, after

putting on oxygen masks, activat-ed the pressurisation system.

Investigators could not deter-mine the maximum cabin alti-tude, but the inquiry says it is “sat-isfied” that – although it exceeded 10,000ft – the cabin altitude did not reach beyond 13,500ft. Cabin oxygen masks would normally deploy at 14,000ft.

Although the incorrect config-uration was diagnosed, the first officer became concerned that the pressurisation system was not operating correctly, and the crew opted to carry out an emergency descent and deploy the cabin masks manually.

Ryanair introduced a proce-dural change following the 20 May 2011 incident, requiring the monitoring pilot to verbalise cabin pressure gauge readings – rather than simply call “check” – during the climb.

The inquiry is recommending that this change be introduced by all carriers. ■

INVESTIGATION DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Check slip led Ryanair 737 to take off unpressurisedCarrier has instituted procedural change after flightcrew missed erroneous response

The Airbus A350-900 has tack-led a series of crosswind han-

dling trials at Reykjavik’s Keflavik airport, as the twinjet’s test campaign continues.

Test aircraft MSN1 arrived in Iceland from Toulouse on 3 July, the airframer says, with testing starting the same day.

The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered jet initially carried out a set of departures and approaches on the east-west runway 29, be-fore switching to the opposite- direction runway 11.

Meteorological data for Kefla-vik shows crosswinds from the north at the time of the testing,

Airbus

MSN1 arrived in Keflavik from Toulouse on 3 July

A350 breezes through Reykjavik crosswind trialsFLIGHT TESTING

with wind speeds of around 25kt (46km/h).

The test crew subsequently started including approaches to the north-south runway 02/20.

Airbus says that following the crosswind tests, the A350 still

has to undergo a maximum-ener-gy rejected take-off. The aircraft is also to undertake route proving this summer. The five test aircraft have completed more than 2,100h of the certification pro-gramme in more than 500 flights.

Airbus is also preparing to se-cure approval for its full-flight A350 simulator, which will be put into operation in the fourth quarter – the same time period in which Qatar Airways is due to re-ceive its first aircraft. ■

FLEETS JON HEMMERDINGER WASHINGTON DC

WestJet to fly widebodies by autumn 2015

The crew opted to carry out anemergency descent and deploy the cabin masks manually

David Learmount offers his views on aviation safety issues: flightglobal.com/learmount

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AIR TRANSPORT


Russian investors have set up an organisation to direct

efforts to develop a new aircraft concept, the Frigate Ecojet, which includes a broad elliptical fuselage cross-section.

Rosaviaconsortium has named Vasily Danilov to head the new Moscow-based company, formal-ly named Frigate Ecojet, which will take over all rights on the project. Danilov is a former advis-er within the marketing division of United Aircraft and was previ-ously sales director at powerplant specialist NPO Saturn.

He says the Frigate Ecojet pro-ject is “entering a very important stage of its realisation”. Concept development is nearing comple-tion, he says, and the company is preparing to begin design and construction.

The company is to set up an engineering centre in the Zhukovsky region of Moscow, the site of various aeronautical test facilities. Danilov says: “The main objective of this centre will be the execution and co- ordination of further design and integration activities.”

The future test regime will include windtunnel modelling and durability analysis of a full-scale fuselage section.

Frigate Ecojet is aiming to attract Russian and foreign in-vestment in the programme. Marketing director Sergey Grachev says the programme “needs a new management structure and principles” as it seeks strategic participation in the aircraft’s development. ■

For up-to-the-minute air transport news, network and fleet air information, vist: flightglobal.com/dashboard

“The centre will focus on the execution and co-ordination of design andintegration activities”VASILY DANILOVChief executive officer, Frigate Ecojet

Norwegian is planning to turn the transatlantic business of

established European and US carriers “upside down” by de-ploying its on-order Boeing 737 Max narrowbodies on routes to the USA, says chief executive Bjørn Kjos.

The Oslo-based low-cost carrier is due to take delivery of its first of 100 737-8s in 2017.

Speaking at a 3 July UK media briefing on the launch of Norwegian’s 787-operated US routes from London’s Gatwick airport, Kjos said the extended range of the re-engined narrowbody would allow its deployment on routes from Euro-pean cities to destinations on the US East Coast.

This will in turn open up long-haul traffic on thin routes. Where today it might be viable to use a widebody on certain days per week, a single-aisle aircraft

The first Boeing 767 equipped with three 15.1in, large for-

mat displays – replacing six smaller screens illuminated by cathode ray tubes – will soon be delivered by Rockwell Collins.

The Iowa-based avionics spe-cialist has an undisclosed launch customer for a supplemental type

CONCEPT

Development investment for Frigate Ecojet

STRATEGY MICHAEL GUBISCH LONDON

Norwegian 737 Max fleet to stretch legs on US routesLow-cost carrier boss vows to turn market for transatlantic flights “upside down”

LCD screen upgrade installed on 767AVIONICS STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

Boein

g

Collins plans to offer the retrofit on all 757 and 767 variants

certificate (STC) recently ap-proved by the US Federal Avia-tion Administration, allowing it to replace the displays. The custom-er has not authorised Collins to identify the variant of the 767 that received the STC.

Collins plans to certificate the retrofit package on all variants of

the 757 and 767, which share a common avionics architecture. Boeing introduced the 757 and 767 models a decade ahead of the 777, when the company switched to lighter-weight and more reliable flat panel displays.

In addition to the weight and maintenance savings, Collins says the upgrade will provide flight-crews with greater situational awareness, commonality with the 787 and 737 Max and the ability to show engine-indicating and crew-alerting system information on the liquid crystal displays.

“The flightdeck transformation modernises these flightdecks, taking the aircraft into the next decade and beyond,” says Steve Timm, vice-president and general manager of air transport systems for the company. ■

could be used on a daily basis, says Kjos.

Such a change will “turn up-side-down a lot of the business” of established long-haul carriers operating widebodies from main hubs and large airports, he says.

Both the 737 Max and Airbus A320neo will be used more on

long-haul routes than their current-generation predecessors. Norwegian has also ordered 100 A320neos. But while the Europe-an model is a “good aircraft”, Kjos argues that the 737-8 will be more suitable for long-haul routes as its range is higher than that of its rival. ■

The carrier is due to take its first deliveries

of the type in 2017

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DEFENCE


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Aerostar of Romania is close to completing a programme

which will equip Mozambique’s air force with eight refurbished Mikoyan MiG-21s.

“The programme commenced over a year ago and has involved six single-seat fighters and two double-seat trainer variants,” the company says.

Performed at its facility in Bacau, the overhaul has included equipping the fighters with GPS navigation equipment and a digi-tal flight recorder. “In many in-stances the aircraft involved had not flown operationally for some 20 years,” Aerostar notes.

Cro

wn C

opyr

ight

UK use of the type has gone beyond 54,000 flight hours

Aero

sta

r

Aerostar says it has delivered six of the refurbished fighters so far

MUNITIONS BETH STEVENSON LONDON

JSM integration bang on target for Kongsberg

The Norwegian Defence Logis-tics Organisation has award-

ed Kongsberg an NKr1.1 billion ($177 million) Phase III contract to complete the development of its Joint Strike Missile (JSM), and prepare it for integration with the nation’s Lockheed Martin F-35s.

Oslo has committed to the pur-chase of up to 52 conventional take-off and landing F-35As to re-place its Lockheed F-16AMs. It will allocate funding for the air-craft on a year-by-year basis, with its first training example expected to be delivered in 2017 – the same year the JSM should be complete.

Integrating the weapon with the F-35 has been a priority from the beginning of the nation’s ac-quisition of the type. In 2012 a risk reduction study funded by the Norwegian defence ministry was awarded to Lockheed to ex-plore the process. This activity included performing physical fit checks, windtunnel tests and en-gineering analysis.

The phased approach to the JSM acquisition began in Novem-ber 2013, when a bridging phase contract was signed.

According to Kongsberg, the Phase III investment – signed on 2 July – totals NKr1.5 billion.

The JSM is designed to engage both land and sea targets and features a low-observable radar signature and autonomous target recognition.

Kongsberg has worked on inte-grating the missile on a number of other platforms since develop-ment began in 2008. In November 2013 the firm completed a fit check on a Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet, and discussions are under way with nations interest-ed in potentially fielding the weapon on the Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab Gripen E.

The JSM has an international market potential of some NKr25 billion over the next 20 to 30 years, according to Kongsberg Defence Systems president Harald Annestad. ■

Royal Air Force operations with the General Atomics

Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper have been boosted in Af-ghanistan, following the intro-duction of a second batch of five of the unmanned air vehicles.

A fleet of five Reapers operated by the RAF’s 13 and 39 squadrons from Kandahar airfield were able to provide a combined maximum of 36h of intelligence, surveil-lance, target acquisition and re-connaissance services per day in support of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force. The extra aircraft will double this out-put, the Ministry of Defence says.

“As we focus on the draw-down of UK forces from Afghani-stan, the ability to provide force protection will become increas-ingly important, and [the] Reaper allows us to provide this assur-ance remotely and without sig-nificant ground presence,” says minister for defence equipment, support and technology Philip Dunne.

The RAF’s new aircraft feature General Atomics’ strengthened heavy weight landing gear, which the manufacturer says “has been a standard feature for current MQ-9 production deliveries since March 2013”.

The feature, which enables the Reaper to operate with a heavier gross maximum take-off weight, is also to be retrofitted to the RAF’s earlier production aircraft.

UK Reapers fly armed recon-naissance missions carrying four Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles and up to two Raytheon Paveway II-series 226kg (500lb) laser-guid-ed bombs. RAF use of the type in Afghanistan has passed 54,000 flight hours, during which time a total of 459 weapons have been released, says the MoD. ■Additional reporting by Craig Hoyle in London

The deal also covers the provi-sion of training services, plus the overhaul and delivery of one Aero Vodochody L-39 jet trainer.

Aerostar says it has delivered six of the refurbished MiG-21s, with the remaining two poised for transfer this month.

The fighters introduce a new capability for the Mozambique air force. Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets database records the service as having two Mil Mi-8 transports and two Mi-25 attack helicopters in service, plus one VIP-roled Hawker 125 business jet. ■

Mozambique MiGs boost capabilitiesFLEET

UNMANNED SYSTEMS BETH STEVENSON LONDON

RAF deploys strengthened Reaper UAV in AfghanistanNew arrivals will enhance force protection during drawdown phase of NATO campaign

DEFENCE


‘New aircraft, new capability’INTERVIEW P30

The UK Royal Navy’s first new aircraft carrier has been for-

mally named the HMS Queen Elizabeth, as the Ministry of De-fence moves closer to signing a deal for its first operational batch of Lockheed Martin F-35Bs.

Performed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Rosyth dock-yard near Edinburgh, Scotland, the 4 July naming will be followed by the flood-up of the dry dock be-fore the 65,000t ship can be float-ed out later this month.

First Sea Lord Adm Sir George Zambellas says the new carrier’s role “will be global, strategic and one of inter-service and interna-tional partnership”, with the navy planning for the vessel to be in use for 50 years.

The bow section for second-of-class vessel HMS Prince of Wales is already in Rosyth, ready for the Aircraft Carrier Alliance to start assembly.

A decision on whether to bring it into service will come as part of the UK’s 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review process, in

what defence secretary Philip Hammond says will be a trade-off between “strategic capability and cost”. However, pointing to a pro-jected programme spend of £6.4 billion ($10.9 billion), he notes the MoD “should pull out all the stops to operate both of them”.

Each vessel will deploy with an air wing of up to 40 aircraft, and be capable of launching 72 fast jet sorties per day.

Hammond says a temporary grounding order imposed on the

F-35 fleet on 3 July following an aircraft fire at Edwards AFB late the previous month was “unfor-tunate”, but also “the kind of thing that happens in aircraft

development programmes”. In June, he suggested the MoD could sign for its first batch of op-erational-standard Joint Combat Aircraft around either the Royal International Air Tattoo or Farn-borough air show, where the short take-off and vertical landing type was scheduled to appear.

A suspension of flight activities with the Joint Strike Fighter has “no impact on our process”, Ham-mond says, with the remaining steps to signing a deal – likely to be for 14 aircraft – “a matter of commercial negotiation”.

The UK has previously or-dered four F-35Bs to support ini-tial operational test and evalua-tion and training activities, under combined investments worth just under £1 billion.

Attendees at the naming event were able to see a full-scale replica of the F-35B positioned at the top of the carrier’s “ski-jump” ramp. This combination will first be used during sea trials due to take place off the US East Coast in the fourth quarter of 2018. ■

The 65,000t ship will revive the Royal Navy’s carrier strike role

Northrop Grumman is to take the lead role in a bid to offer

a version of BAE Systems’ Hawk advanced jet trainer for the US Air Force’s T-X contest.

“The decision to realign was reached mutually by all team members to better leverage Northrop Grumman’s domestic development and production ca-pabilities,” the US company said on 7 July of the agreement for the airframer to assume “prime con-tractor responsibilities”.

Also involving Adour engine supplier Rolls-Royce and L-3 Link Simulation & Training, the Northrop-led team “is committed to providing the Hawk as the most capable and affordable

training solution for the air force,” the company says.

The pitch will be based on a US-optimised version of the Hawk 128/T2 flown by the UK Royal Air Force.

Yet to be formally launched, the T-X programme to acquire up to 350 aircraft to replace the USAF’s Northrop T-38 Talons has also at-tracted General Dynamics and Alenia Aermacchi, which are pro-moting a T-100 version of the lat-ter’s M-346. Lockheed Martin is offering the T-50 developed joint-ly with Korea Aerospace Indus-tries, and Boeing and Saab have teamed up on an all-new trainer design, the details of which have yet to be disclosed. ■

PROTOTYPE

Scorpion hightails it to air showsTextron AirLand’s prototype Scorpion light attack aircraft completed

its first transatlantic crossing, ahead of participating at the Royal

International Air Tattoo and Farnborough air show in the UK. Now

sporting a two-tone grey colour scheme, the aircraft was flown from

Wichita in Kansas, with stops made in locations including Mirabel

and Iqaluit, both in Canada, and Edinburgh, Scotland. It then con-

ducted test flights from the Ministry of Defence/Qinetiq airfield at

Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. Textron says the type has recently

been flown to its maximum speed of 455kt (840km/h).

Text

ron A

irLa

ndCOMPETITION CRAIG HOYLE LONDON

Northrop takes lead on Hawk bid for T-X contest

MILESTONE CRAIG HOYLE ROSYTH

UK set to ramp up F-35 procurementDefence secretary looking to sign order for operational aircraft, after naming of lead aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth

Aircr

aft C

arr

ier Alli

ance

Flight trials with theSTOVL aircraft aredue to take place offthe US East Coastin late 2018

Are you watching the Farnborough air show? Keep up to date with the very latest news, in-depth analysis, high-quality videos, industry interviews and more. Head online to flightglobal.com/Farnborough

INTERVIEW


Keep up to date with the latest news from the global defence sector: flightglobal.com/defence

After years of rapid modernisa-tion, the Pakistan air force’s

chief of air staff Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt is ushering in a period of consolidation.

“I want to concentrate on the [Pakistan Aeronautical Complex/Chengdu] JF-17 Thunder now. I don’t want to lose focus on what is a very important programme for Pakistan,” he said in an inter-view at his office in Islamabad.

Since 2008 the nation’s air force has introduced a number of new aircraft, including 18 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 52s and four Ilyushin Il-78 in-flight refuelling tankers.

Also added to the air force’s fleet were four Saab 2000 Erieye and four Shaanxi ZDK-03 air-borne early warning and control (AEW&C) system aircraft, while most recently a batch of mid-life update-standard F-16A/Bs from Turkish Aerospace Industries have been deployed.

INTEGRATION“The new Erieye and ZDK-03 AEW&C aircraft have brought us a capability we wanted, but for various reasons could not get. Initially we had spares issues with the ZDK-03s, but now they are working well as part of our integrated air defence system along with the Swedish Erieyes,” he says.

“Actually, the Chinese aircraft probably provide us a little extra,” he adds.

TRANSFORMATION ALAN WARNES ISLAMABAD

‘New aircraft, new capability’Pakistan air force working to get best from combat and surveillance investments, says chief of staff Tahir Rafique Butt

Tahir pays tribute to the close relationship the air force now enjoys with Pakistan’s army, re-vealing that his counterpart ser-vice chief helped fund the Jorda-nian F-16 procurement.

“The understanding of joint operations has underlined to the army the importance of air power,” he notes.

As security operations in sup-port of the army continue, he stresses: “Our F-16s, under the guidance of the government, will continue that role until it decides whether to negotiate or strike.

“The most important thing is there [must] be no collateral dam-age during these operations, so we always use the most capable platforms to ensure it doesn’t happen.” He refers to the night vision-capable targeting systems integrated in both the Block 52

and MLU-standard aircraft. Meanwhile, work is now under way on the first Block 2 JF-17 unit at Kamra air base, which is likely to lead to the activation of a third operational squadron with the type next year.

“These aircraft will bring us newer capabilities with different weapons,” Tahir says. He de-clines to confirm whether the ser-vice could equip a maritime at-tack squadron with the type at Masroor air base, but says: “We have the weapons available to make that possible”.

DEVELOPMENTAnother development during Tahir’s time in office has seen the JF-17 Flight A test group separat-ed from Minhas-based 26 Sqn. “I felt it was too much for a squad-ron to expect them to be opera-tional, train pilots, visit air shows and do testing too, so I split it,” he says.

He adds that a replacement for the Cessna T-37 trainer is now being considered.

“I recently flew a [Hongdu] K-8P to see for myself what this jet trainer can do,” he says. “While the [Honeywell TFE731] engine spool up time could have been better and it lacked a bit of power in certain manoeuvres, it could certainly take over the T-37’s basic training role.”

He adds: “Longer term we need a lead-in fighter trainer for the JF-17 and F-16. While it’s true we have looked at the Hongdu L-15, it’s a matter far from resolved.”

On the subject of China’s Chengdu J-10, he says the Paki-stan air force is interested, but that the JF-17 is a much more pressing matter.

“We have to get all the depot work and operational procedures sorted on the JF-17 before we consider [the J-10]. And also be sure we have the money available,” he says. ■

Paki

sta

n a

ir forc

e

The service lost one its ZDK-03s during an attack by in-surgents at Minhas air base in 2012. Addressing security issues takes up much more of the air chief’s time than he would like, but having suffered another attack on Minhas in 2007 and repelled another at Peshawar, improve-ments were clearly needed.

“The attacks by miscreants have led us to recruit an extra 7,500 personnel for new security wings.” Tahir says. “Now we have an air wing, [a] maintenance wing and [a] security wing at all the air bases.”

Another issue is the service’s budget. “I have to be mindful of the monies the government makes available,” Tahir says. “Operational flying and training is being kept at previous levels, but the modernisation has been curtailed.”

However, during his two years in office Tahir has presided over one major acquisition – 13 F-16A/Bs from the Royal Jorda-nian Air Force.

“They have allowed us to cre-ate a fourth F-16 squadron, which means we can relieve the high-value Block 52s and MLU F-16 Block 15s from some of the training duties and preserve their flying time,” he says.

Delivery of the ex-Jordanian Block 15s earlier this year saw the activation of 19 Sqn at Mush-af air base as an F-16 operational conversion unit.

“I want to concentrateon the JF-17. I don’t want to lose focus on a very important programme”ACM TAHIR RAFIQUE BUTT Chief of air staff, Pakistan air force

Paki

sta

n a

ir forc

e

The service promoted the ‘Thunder’ at last year’s Dubai air show

Introducing the Boeing Maritime Surveillance Aircraft. It combines proven ISR capability derived from the

Boeing P-8 mission system with the Bombardier Challenger 605. The result is a low-risk, non-developmental

system that delivers an affordable and superior multi-mission surveillance solution, sized to meet your

operational requirements.

COMPLETE SURVEILLANCE CAPABILITY SIZED FOR YOUR MISSION.

NEWS FOCUS


David Learmount offers his succinct views on the complexities of aviation safety: flightglobal.com/Learmount

Having examined the recent safety performance of oil and

gas industry support helicopter operations in the UK sector of the North Sea, the UK parliamentary transport select committee has called for an independent public inquiry into the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s failure to “consider the evidence that commercial pressure impacts on helicopter safety”.

In a report, the committee adds that the “role and effectiveness” of the CAA also needs to be inde-pendently reviewed. However, the committee does not question the CAA’s technical expertise, nor the Air Accidents Investiga-tion Branch’s conclusions in re-cent accident investigations.

The report also reveals a lack of confidence in EASA, citing “regulatory inertia”, and calls on the CAA to take leadership – and for the UK government to give it that power – in the event of Euro-pean failure to act.

While the report says it wel-comes the CAA review of off-shore operations published in February, which contained 32 recommendations for improve-ment – particularly in ditching survivability – the committee says there are areas neither agen-cy has addressed.

Of the CAA’s recommenda-tions, the report says: “The CAA now needs the co-operation of the oil and gas industry, helicop-ter operators and EASA to ensure its recommendations are carried through to conclusion.”

CONCERNSThe committee says its own study is a reaction to the fact that UK North Sea helicopter opera-tors providing support to the off-shore oil and gas industry have suffered five serious accidents since 2009 – two of them fatal. This has resulted in concerns among the oil rig workforce about

The Super Puma family is not considered a singular danger risk

Parliamentary committee calls for inquiry into UK CAA “role and effectiveness” following offshore helicopter accidents

STUDY DAVID LEARMOUNT LONDON

North Sea safety under fire

the safety of the industry as a whole – and of the Airbus Heli-copters Super Puma fleets in par-ticular – and this concern has not been adequately addressed.

The report says: “We were dis-heartened to learn of instances that reflect a ‘macho bullying cul-ture’,” in which worried workers were told if they disliked the risk they should leave the industry.

“We were extremely concerned to hear about how crash survivors wearing safety equipment strug-gled to evacuate through egress windows after helicopters cap-sized in the sea,” the committee adds. Another major concern, says the committee report, is the lack of standardisation in operat-ing procedures. This is driven by differing customer requirements, which the operators strive to meet, but it forces crews to oper-ate different procedures for dif-ferent customers.

The committee notes that there is much greater operational standardisation in the statistical-ly safer Norwegian sector, and adds: “The CAA must use its chairmanship of the [newly formed] offshore helicopter safe-ty action group to lead the stand-ardisation of customer require-ments for helicopter operators.”

Although the committee says there is insufficient evidence to dismiss the CAA’s claims that there is no “significant” differ-ence in safety statistics or operat-ing practices in the UK and Nor-wegian sectors, the report notes a difference in reporting culture.

“The CAA identified a worry-ing difference between Norway and the UK in occurrence report-ing, but it acknowledged that more work is required to explain it,” the report states. “The CAA must undertake a joint review with its Norwegian counterparts to uncover why more occurrenc-es are reported in Norway, de-spite its smaller fleet.”

Mandatory occurrence report-ing has been a part of the British system for years, and was intro-duced by the Norwegians rela-tively recently – but from that standing start Norwegian opera-

tors have apparently set up a sys-tem more open to participation.

The committee was particular-ly shocked by the discovery that a standard pre-flight briefing for passengers on the use of emer-gency breathing systems (EBS) was out of date and inaccurate, adding that this demonstrated complacency among operators and at the CAA.

DISTURBINGThe report, referring to the death by drowning of four passengers in the 23 August 2013 Sumburgh ac-cident, says: “It is deeply disturb-ing it took a fatal accident before the flawed EBS briefing was iden-tified. The CAA must ensure that helicopter operators regularly re-view all safety briefing material to ensure it is up to date.

“The CAA must consult the offshore workforce to ensure that safety briefing material is easily understood and fit for purpose.”

In fact, the committee makes it clear it believes the CAA and AAIB do not consult survivors and system users to the extent they should, adding: “The AAIB must keep survivors informed on the progress of investigations.

“The CAA could learn a great deal by meeting survivors and considering their experiences. For example, survivors’ sugges-tions on enhancing the visibility of equipment are compelling, and from personal experience.

“More widely, the oil and gas industry must examine the expe-riences of crash survivors. In par-ticular, more must be done to ad-dress the financial and psychological anxiety of survi-vors who cannot [face the jour-ney to] work [after the accident].”

One area of agreement be-tween the committee, the CAA and the AAIB is that there is no cause to conclude that the Super Puma is more of a safety risk than its competitors. ■

“The CAA could learn a great deal by meeting survivors and considering their experiences”SELECT COMMITTEE REPORT

Airbus H

elic

opte

rs

BUSINESS AVIATION


Stretching the DreamFEATURE P36

JETTECH CERTIFICATIONUS engineering company JetTech

has received US supplemental

type certification to install

Garmin touchscreen

GTN650/750 GPS navigation

and communication systems on

Cessna Citation Jets manufac-

tured between 1993 and 1999

– serial numbers 0001 to 359.

The certification paves the way

for the upgraded light business

jets to perform fully autopilot cou-

pled global position system-local-

iser performance with vertical

guidance (GPS-LPV) approaches.

PROFLIGHT SOLDTRU Simulation and Training

has acquired US training pro-

vider ProFlight for an undis-

closed sum. Carlsbad,

California-based ProFlight pro-

vides flight training on the

Cessna Citation Jets series of

light business jets and the air-

framer’s Conquest family of

twin-turboprops. “This acquisi-

tion allows us to better leverage

our manufacturing, product and

service expertise to bring the

most comprehensive pilot train-

ing to current and future Textron

Aviation customers,” says

Goose Creek, South Carolina-

based TRU – a subsidiary of

Textron Aviation, along with

Cessna and Beechcraft.

HELICOPTER SAFETYThe ASEAN helicopter safety

team (AHEST), which repre-

sents the 10 countries of the

Association of Southeast Asian

Nations and China, has met for

the first time to address the

region’s poor civil helicopter

safety standards. The 15-strong

group includes manufacturers,

operators, regulators and cus-

tomers. “In uniting stakehold-

ers from the helicopter industry,

AHEST is committed to estab-

lishing international partner-

ships that can reverse negative

helicopter industry safety

trends and improve the helicop-

ter safety culture overall,” says

CHC Helicopter, one of the

region’s largest rotorcraft

operators.

IN BRIEFANNOUNCEMENT ARIE EGOZI TEL AVIV

IAI re-enters light jet sector with undisclosed partnerIsraeli airframer remains reticent on who is involved in six-seater development project

Israel Aerospace Industries has become involved in an effort to

develop a small business jet that will offer low cost travel up to 1,300nm (2,400km).

The Israeli company will only confirm the small jet is designed to seat six passengers, and that the basic operational costs will be low. The company is working with an undisclosed partner, and has so far completed the aircraft’s initial design.

IAI has previously made two short-lived forays into the low end of the business aircraft mar-ket. The first venture came in the late 1990s, when the then-Israel Aircraft Industries signed a co-operation agreement with US start-up Avocet to co-develop a very light jet.

The twin-engined ProJet was designed for six passengers, and intended to have the capability to take-off and land in as little as 914m (3,000ft).

The type would have flown at 365kt (675km/h) up to an altitude of 41,000ft, with a maximum cruising range of 1,200nm.

The programme was cancelled in 2006, after Avocet failed to se-cure additional partnerships to help complete development.

A year earlier in 2005, IAI es-tablished a strategic partnership with Colorado-based start-up Aviation Technology Group to co-develop the two-seat Javelin per-sonal jet. However, this project was also cancelled two years later, due to a lack of funding. While IAI’s previous involve-

ment with business aircraft start-ups has been unsuccessful, the company has had a long-standing and fruitful partnership with business jet airframer Gulfstream.

IAI manufactures the midsize G150 and super-midsize G280 for Gulfstream from its Tel Aviv base. Production rates for both models have suffered, however, due to the international economic situation.

The Israeli company has been searching for a way to utilise its knowledge and capability to de-sign and manufacture aircraft for years. These capabilities were de-veloped in the 1980s to support IAI’s Lavi single-engined multi-role fighter.

However, this programme was cancelled in 1987 as a result of pressure from Washington DC. ■

Wijet, Air France launch private serviceCOLLABORATION KATE SARSFIELD LONDON

French business aircraft opera-tor Wijet has teamed up with

Air France to offer private jet services to the flag carrier’s first class passengers.

The collaboration is designed to enhance Air France’s premium offering in what has become a competitive and lucrative niche for many international airlines.

The Wijet/Air France service launched on 3 July using a fleet of Cessna Citation Mustangs, but the charter operator – which began operations seven years ago – says it performed “test flights” in April, May and June that “proved very popular”.

The service is targeted at Air France “La Première” long haul passengers flying into its Paris Charles de Gaulle hub. These cus-tomers can charter the entry-level jet to and from their final destina-tion at a cost of €2,400 ($3,300) per hour. The connections are available to or from 1,200 airports

Wije

t

The charter firm will operate a fleet of Cessna Citation Mustangs

located within up to 3h of Paris.Air France will be hoping to

emulate the success of fellow European airline Lufthansa.

The German flag carrier blazed a trail nine years ago with the in-troduction of its Lufthansa Pri-vate Jets (LPJ) service, which it offers in partnership with the world’s largest business aircraft operator, NetJets.

“LPJ has grown year on year since services began,” Lufthansa says, although it remains tight-lipped on passenger, revenue and

flight numbers. LPJ offers passen-gers onward travel via the NetJets fleet throughout Europe and North America, plus ad hoc point-to-point business jet travel.

WiJet currently operates four Mustangs, is scheduled to take delivery of a fifth this quarter and will accept another pair of four-passenger twinjets before the end of the year. The Le Bourget-head-quartered company is adding new bases in Brussels, Geneva and Luxembourg in September and October. ■

Illustration shows conceptual data only

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Aviation news, fleet data,forecasts and analysis on demand

COVER STORY


MAX KINGSLEY-JONES SEATTLE

CUTAWAY DRAWING TIM HALL & TIM BICHENO-BROWN

ENGINE DEVELOPMENT

POWER KEEPS PACE WITH AIRFRAME GROWTHNEITHER ROLLS-ROYCE or

General Electric have produced

new hardware specifically for the

787-9, but both engines have

their nominal thrust bumped to

74,000lb (329kN) – up around

4,000lb. The -9’s introduction

coincides with the latest up-

grade to the Trent 1000.

Both engine makers have

been progressively upgrading

their 787 engines with pack-

ages that address fuel-burn

and weight improvements as

well as maintenance costs.

“Package C is standard for

the Trent 1000 on the -9,

which will be standard for the

entire 787 family going for-

ward,” says Mark Jenks, vice-

president of 787 development.

“Right now all the -8s are flying

with Package B engines, and

they will move to Package C,

so it will be a common engine

going forward.”

PACKAGE C DELIVERY“It so happens that the first pro-

duction delivery of a Package C

will be on the first -9.”

The GEnx-1B standard for

the -9 is already being deliv-

ered on the -8, which features

the latest performance im-

provement package, “PIP 2”.

R-R is developing a Trent

1000 growth version for the

787-10, dubbed the “TEN”, but

this engine will also be avail-

able on the smaller 787s “and

will likely precede” the arrival of

the new Dreamliner variant,

says Jenks. “The engine growth

path isn’t strictly tied to the

airplane. It’s to everyone’s ad-

vantage to have one engine

standard as we go forward.”

The 787-10 will have a nom-

inal 2,000lb thrust increase

over the -9, to 76,000lb.

Boeing is yet to disclose which

launch customer will be the

first to receive the new aircraft

and which engine manufac-

turer will be the lead partner in

the flight-test effort. ■

The 1,500h flight-test programme was kicked on on 17 September 2013 with the maiden flight of ZB001 from Everett

Boeing has acted on the lessons it learnt with the original 787 in developing the larger -9, incorporating major improvements to simplify build and boost performance

When launch customers Air New Zealand, United Airlines and All Nippon Airways introduce their first 787-9s in the coming

months, it will mark a watershed for Boeing’s Dreamliner. Seattle will be hoping that after a smooth nine-month flight-test programme on the -9, it can finally put the troubled birth of its smaller sibling behind it. It will at last be able to fully focus on the remarkable techno-logical innovation that this all-new twinjet represents, and move on from the undercur-rent of issues that surrounded the pro-gramme’s early years.

The first 787-9 built (ZB001), which was the 126th Dreamliner off the line, made its first flight from Everett on 17 September 2013. At the first flight event, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and chief executive Ray

STRETCHING THE DREAM

Conner described the new arrival as “a beauti-ful machine. It’s going to be the backbone of the 787 fleet, for sure.”

He added that the 787-9 is in “the sweet spot from the long-haul perspective. The -8 is more of the 767-sized airplane, to open up thin routes, more of a pathfinder. The longer-range, higher density 787-9 will pick up from there.”

IN DEMANDBy June 2014, the 787-9 was closing in on its smaller sibling in the sales stakes, with its order book of 413 sales (from 26 customers) approaching the 486 for the 787-8. According to Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets database, 787-9 sales have been outpacing the -8 in the order of two to one since mid-2010.

Boeing had a stretched derivative as part of the 787’s family plan from day one – as well as an optimised short-range variant for the Japanese regional market. At the time of launch in April 2004 (as the “7E7”), the

baseline 240-seater was due to fly in 2007 and enter service a year later. When plans were firmed for the 787-9 stretch, it was ex-pected to follow the -8 by around two years and debut in 2010.

There was also early talk of a “double-stretch”, the -10X, but plans went on the back burner before being revived last year when it was launched at the Paris air show for a 2018 debut. Air New Zealand was nominated launch operator for the 787-9 in May 2006, when it converted its order for six 787-8s to the larger variant. Delivery was slated for late 2010.

As is now well known, the only date that Boeing kept to in the 787’s original develop-ment schedule was the much-vaunted roll-out, on 8 July 2007 (or “7-8-7” in US date for-mat). First flight – originally due within weeks of the roll-out – finally took place two and a half years later on 15 December 2009. By that time Boeing had dropped plans for the “regional” 787-3, but was moving forward with its 787-9 efforts.

787-9 TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION


As well as falling far behind schedule, the early 787s also missed their performance tar-gets, with Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ then chief, Jim Albaugh, admitting in March 2011 that “the first [-8] airplanes are going to be a lit-tle heavy”. Engine performance was also be-hind target, and all the stakeholders have worked hard to claw back the deficit – an effort that the 787-9 appears to have benefited from.

Launch customer All Nippon Airways flew the Dreamliner’s debut service on 26 October 2011, but operations were halted globally in January 2013 before deliveries could get fully into their stride in the wake of the infamous lithium ion battery fires. The Dreamliner’s air-worthiness was restored through a series of

❯❯

“The -9’s a beautiful machine. It’s going to be the backbone of the 787 fleet, for sure”RAY CONNER Boeing Commercial Airplanes president

modifications to the battery installation, and the fleet returned to service after a three-month hiatus in April 2013.

Although the stretch was in the plan from the very beginning, Boeing concentrated on the baseline variant initially, before finalising the 787-9 configuration in mid-2010. By this time, service entry with Air New Zealand was slated for late 2013.

The rationale behind the larger variant was simple: take the 787-8 with its innova-tive carbonfibre wing and fuselage structure (composites represent 50% of the aircraft, by weight, compared with 20% for aluminium)

and advanced technology engines from General Electric and Rolls-Royce, and stretch it to boost capacity by around 40 seats to 280 passengers.

Despite being a growth variant, the -9 has an increase in range over its smaller sibling to the tune of some 450nm to 8,300nm (15,370km), despite having near identical fuel capacity.

LOSING WEIGHT“We made a conscious decision to drive im-provements into the second 787 model to get the increased range as well as passenger count,” explains Mark Jenks, vice-president of 787 development. “But the fact that we were able to take significant weight out of the airplane with the learnings that we had, in ad-dition to the reduced drag from the HLFC (hy-brid laminar flow control) system, we were able to go to a place on the [aircraft develop-ment] ‘Z’ chart that normally would not be the spot for the second model.”

Boeing is guarded about the -9’s clever new

Boein

g

BOEING 787 ORDER BOOK

Delivered Backlog Total

787-8 161 329 490

787-9 1 408 409

787-10 0 132 132

Total 162 869 1,031NOTES: Data to July 2014 SOURCE: Boeing

COVER STORY


The wing is identical in shape to the -8’s but incorporates significant structural changes

Air N

ew

Zeala

nd

❯❯ piece of engineering for competitive rea-sons, saying only that the HLFC system pro-vides a “significant” reduction in drag and therefore fuel burn. It clearly believes in the technology, as it will be standard on both the -10 and the new 777X family.

Learnings from the design and construction of the baseline Dreamliner incorporated into the -9 deliver more efficiency both to the pro-duction system and the aircraft’s perfor-mance. But incorporating these improve-ments has impacted commonality between the -8 and -9, with the latter now effectively becoming the base aircraft from which the -10 is being developed.

MORE DIFFERENT“The -9 is ‘more different’ from the -8 than the -10 will be to the -9,” says Jenks. “We made a number of improvements based on the early learning on the -8. Some of those learnings and revisions are going back on the -8, but some won’t.

“There are a number of improvements we made on the -9 that we’ve either already put back on the -8 or we already know we will and have a specific line number. There are others where we haven’t made any firm decisions.

“We have reduced the weight of the -8 since its introduction by putting -9 improve-ments on to it,” he adds.

“We still see a demand for the -8, but the -9 and -10 look like the bigger long-term markets”MARK JENKS Vice-president of 787 development

“So there was a fair amount of difference when we rolled in our learning from the -8. Because we learned so much so quickly and got all that into the -9, it’s at a point where we can keep it very common and the -10 will be very, very similar to the -9. Large parts will be virtually identical.”

The -9 improvements that are being re-worked into the -8 have been phased in groups, but there has been no major block change, says Jenks. “We do have a very disci-plined process where we group together the changes into logical blocks of improvements and put them back on to the -8.”

While the 787-9’s weight is higher than the -8’s due to the stretch and increased skin gauges to cater for the higher maximum take-off weight, Boeing has saved “greater than

1,000lb” through weight efficiency over the -8, says Ed Petkus, deputy chief project engi-neer on 787 derivative development. “And we are below our committed weight on the programme. Mark [Jenks] and I drove the team to watch the weight because we were re-covering performance for our customers, so that was a major focus,” he adds.

SIMPLE STRETCH“The -9’s weight today is virtually identical to mid-2010 when we had firm configuration. It’s actually a few hundred pounds less,” Jenks says.

All the -9’s improvements will be carried across to the 787-10 – which is effectively a “simple stretch” of the -9 offering 40 more seats but approximately 1,300nm less range.

The main gear trucks are wider and longer to accommodate the larger tyres and brakes needed for the -9’s higher operating weights



BOEING 787-9 FLIGHT-TEST FLEET

787-9 no. Line no. Aircraft code Engine First flight Responsibilities

1 126 ZB001 R-R 17 Sep 2013 Flight controls, flutter, ground effects, Initial airworthiness, stability and control (to be reworked for delivery to Air New Zealand)

2 133 ZB002 R-R 7 Nov 2013 Autoland, avionics, fuel, propulsion (performance) and systems (ECS and nitrogen generation) (to be reworked for delivery to Air New Zealand)

3 139 ZB021 GE 19 Nov 2013 Aero (low-speed performance), braking, flutter and propulsion (performance) (to be reworked for delivery to Japan Airlines)

4 146 ZB197 R-R 9 Apr 2014 Electromagnetic effects, ETOPS, and function and reliability (for All Nippon Airways)

6 181 ZB167 GE Due July 2014 Electromagnetic effects, ETOPS, function and reliability (for United Airlines)

NOTE: fifth 787-9 (ZB003) is first aircraft delivered to Air New Zealand (line no 169, ZK-NZE)

SOURCE: Boeing/Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets database

CERTIFICATION

FIVE-AIRCRAFT FLEET COMPLETES SMOOTH 1,500H FLIGHT-TEST EFFORTAFTER THE maiden flight of the ini-

tial development 787-9 – a Rolls-

Royce Trent-powered version – in

September last year, Boeing has

completed a relatively straightfor-

ward 1,500h flight-test programme

involving three Trent-powered air-

craft and two General Electric GEnx-

powered aircraft (including two

customer aircraft).

Boeing’s three development 787s

(Trent-powered ZB001/ZB002, and

GEnx-powered ZB021) undertook the

bulk of the test programme. They are

all being reworked for customers

once their test duties are completed.

The fourth 787-9 (ZB197), which

is the first for All Nippon Airways,

flew in April (in ANA colours) and

undertook function and reliability

(F&R) testing for the Trent-powered

787-9. The first 787-9 for United

Airlines (ZB167) was due to fly in

July, and is undertaking the F&R pro-

gramme for the GE-powered version.

Boeing received type approval

from the US FAA and the European

Aviation Safety Agency on 13 June.

However Boeing needed last-minute

waivers for two flight systems. These

applied to a reliability problem with

the ram air turbine discovered late in

testing, and a functional issue with

the altitude-select dial on the mode

control panel. ■

Boeing flew the Trent-powered F&R programme with the first 787-9 for ANA (ZB197)

Boeing completed firm configuration in April 2014 and is targeting a 2017 first flight for a 2018 service entry.

Jenks says that the decision “not to chase extra range” on the -10 is key to the very high level of commonality between the two stretched variants and enabled them to be similar structurally. “We kept the MTOW the same and let the range fall out, which is plenty for over 90% of the addressable mar-ket,” he says.

Probably the single most interesting fea-ture of the new 787 variant is its HLFC sys-tem on the leading edges of the fin and tail-plane. Petkus explains that the system works by providing suction which delays the tran-sition of the boundary layer from laminar flow into drag-incurring turbulent flow. “So we get a block fuel efficiency overall, for the airplane,” he says.

“I can’t share [much more], except that both Airbus and us have been working on that for decades and I think Boeing has finally

found the ingredients to the ‘secret sauce’ to make that work,” he adds.

“We demonstrated that on a small inboard panel on a -8 flight-test airplane a couple of years ago, which gave us the confidence to put that on to the -9.”

SIGNIFICANT BENEFITBoeing will not disclose the magnitude of the aerodynamic benefit that HLFC delivers, be-yond saying it is “significant”. Jenks adds: “The tail contributes a fair amount of drag in cruise, so being able to attack the drag of the empennage has a pretty significant benefit to the overall performance.”

While HLFC is incorporated into the 787-10, Jenks says that there is “no firm plan” to introduce it on the -8. “We certainly could. There’s a business case we have to run – it’s a function of how many more -8s are we going to build and the detail cost to put it on.”

The 787-9 is 10 frames longer than the -8, with five-frame (3.05m/10ft) extensions

forward increasing overall length to 62.8m. The -10 is stretched by a further nine frames – five forward and four aft.

The increased length is achieved by pro-ducing longer integral fuselage sections, which on the -9 are the Kawasaki Heavy In-dustries-built section 43 and Alenia-pro-duced section 46.

Despite its longer fuselage, the -9 does not need a tailskid, but one will be incorporated on the -10, says Petkus.

The highest MTOW option offered on the -9 is 252.7t (557,000lb), which is 24.8t greater than the 787-8. This high-weight option was confirmed by Boeing for the -9 (and the -10) shortly after the -9’s certification. It is an ap-proximately 2t increase over the previously highest weight offered (250.8t), delivering a range boost of around 120nm for each variant.

Boeing cites its “disciplined execution” of the 787-9’s development in allowing more range capability than previously planned. “Customers have the option of a higher

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❯❯

COVER STORY


Tim Bicheno-Brown/Flightglobal

BOEING 787-9 GENERAL ARRANGEMENT

10m

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Tim Bicheno-Brown/Flightglobal

BOEING 787 VARIANT EVOLUTION

+5 frames

+5 frames +4 frames

+5 frames

787-1068.3m

787-962.8m

787-856.7m

HLFC system on empennage delivers “significant” drag reduction, says Boeing

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❯❯ MTOW to unlock even greater range or fly more passengers and/or cargo,” it says.

The fuselage structure of the -9 incorpo-rates local strengthening to cater for the high-er operating weights, as well as a revised frame design to improve weight efficiency.“In the fuselage, we went from a two-piece frame construction [on the -8] to a one-piece frame construction,” says Petkus, referring to the internal fuselage frames which provide reinforcement every 60cm along the barrels.

“These look like a ‘Z’ and we didn’t know how make a ‘Z’ in one piece so the -8 is basically made up with two ‘Cs’ that are riveted,” says Pet-kus. “We also didn’t know how close we could control the tolerances, but after we got confi-dence we found a way of making a one-piece frame which saves weight and complexity.”

REDUCED GAUGEThis improvement is unlikely to be adopted wholesale for the -8’s fuselage, says Petkus, but might be incorporated in some sections.

In some areas, the fuselage skin gauge has actually been reduced, such as in the Spirit AeroSystems-built section 41 nose assembly. “We found we had over-designed it in some areas – and we’ve already put that [improve-ment] back on the -8,” says Petkus.

The section 41 also incorporates a rede-signed cockpit surround structure that is light-er and more efficient to produce. “We’ve gone from a pretty complex machined-titanium structure for the ‘bird cage’ that supports the windows, to a single-piece aluminium design – which gives very significant cost and weight savings,” says Jenks. “We initially used a lot of titanium due to galvanic corrosion concerns [around using aluminium with composites], but as we’ve got smarter we’ve got very robust ways to work those issues. As long as you seal and coat things properly, it’s not an issue.”

Petkus says that this redesign, along with the reduction in fuselage skin gauge, was incorpo-rated into 787-8 production on an aircraft built close in the sequence to first -9. Flightglobal understands that the section 41 redesign was introduced at a “design optimisation block point” with 787-8 line no. 127, immediately

after the first 787-9 (line no. 126).The use of titanium has also been dropped

within the door surrounds. “We went to com-posite on the -9 and will put that back on the -8,” says Jenks.

The cockpit itself is identical to the earlier model, with changes limited to improve-ments to the flight control laws and the addi-tional flap settings.

The major system changes on the -9 are as-sociated with the higher passenger count, says Jenks.

“We have fundamentally upgraded the ca-pacity of the environmental control system

(ECS), and there are some electrical power changes that go along with that. We’ve also in-creased the capacity of the ICS chilling sys-tem due to the additional galleys and in-creased number of carts.”

There are no changes to the modified lithi-um battery installation, which was intro-duced on the 787-8 in response to the fires that caused the 2013 grounding.

STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCESWhile the -9’s wing is identical to the -8’s in planform and area, it incorporates revised structural design, partly to improve construc-



tion and partly to cater for the higher weights. The 787-9 has what is effectively the third

major iteration of 787 wing, which had a block change from aircraft seven to incorporate sig-nificant weight reductions. More weight im-provements were introduced throughout the airframe from aircraft 20 as part of a “mission improvement” block change, although the wing was affected to a lesser extent, says Jenks.

The -9 wing will be adopted for the -10, which is currently envisaged to share the same operating weights. The wing has been strengthened to accommodate the higher weights, as have the high-lift devices due to the higher approach speeds of the larger vari-ant, says Petkus. There are also three addi-tional, deeper flap settings.

The -9’s wing skins are increased in thick-ness and some of the fittings are increased in size. The -10 wing will have additional strengthening “in the order of 100lb” to cater for the slight increase in dynamic loads cre-ated by the longer fuselage, says Jenks. “Be-cause it is very little weight, we can poten-tially put that same wing back on the -9, because it’s almost identical. So our goal is to truly have the same wing [on the -9 and -10].

“Right now we still see a demand for the -8, but the -9 and -10 look like the bigger long-term markets and so having the bulk of production use the same wing is a tremendous advantage.”

Petkus says material was removed from some parts of the wing on the -9, such as in-side the leading edge, because “after further refinement we found we had too much strength capability in the -8, so we optimised it to have a weight improvement.

“One technology we introduced is the ‘vent stringer’. Instead of an I-shaped stringer on

the -8, we went to a hat shape. This co-func-tions as the airplane’s fuel vent system in place of regular vents on the -8. It was expen-sive for us to build but it’s more structurally efficient,” says Petkus.

The redesign provides savings in both weight and assembly time, but is “one of the things that doesn’t make sense to put back on the -8”, he adds.

There are no material changes with the wing or fuselage structure, and earlier plans to replace some of the aluminium ribs with com-posite ribs in the -9’s wing were dropped. “We looked at it for three or four of the inboard ribs, but the technology wasn’t quite there and we didn’t need it for weight perfor-mance,” Petkus says.

JOIN EFFORTFundamentally the -9’s side-of-body join de-sign is “very similar” to the -8’s, which itself was subject to a redesign late in the pro-gramme after Boeing ran into major problems during ground testing prior to the Dreamlin-er’s maiden flight. This required major modifi-cations to reinforce the structure inside the centre wingbox and wing.

“We cleaned those changes up a little bit as they were made late in the game, and so it wasn’t necessarily the lightest design. We made some improvements to take out weight and make it a little bit easier to build to allow increased production rate. Some of those minor adjustments have been put back on the -8,” says Jenks.

“It’s a little bit heavier than before we had to add some of the changes, but we don’t plan a redesign.”

The architecture of the composite tailplane has been simplified by moving from the -8’s

“Being able to attack the drag of the empennage has a pretty significant benefit”MARK JENKS Vice-president of 787 development

Cockpit differences between the -8 and -9 (above) are limited to the flap controls

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Engines are common between variants but have higher thrust options

❯❯

COVER STORY


BOEING 787 FAMILY SPECIFICATIONS

787-8 787-9 787-10

Length (m) 56.7 62.8 68.3

Wingspan (m) 60.2 60.2 60.2

Height (m) 16.9 17.0 17.0

Fuselage cross-section (m) 5.74 5.74 5.74

Internal cabin width (m) 5.49 5.49 5.49

Cargo volume (m3) 124.5 154.4 175.2

Seating total (3-class) 242 280 323

Seating breakdown (F/J/Y) 16/44/182 16/50/214 18/58/247

Maximum take-off weight – basic (t) 227.9 247.2 242.7

Maximum take-off weight – option 1 (t) - 250.8 250.8

Maximum take-off weight – option 2 (t) - 252.7 252.7

Maximum Landing weight (t) 380.0 192.8 201.8

Maximum zero fuel weight (t) 161.0 181.4 192.8

Maximum fuel capacity (l) 126,200 126,370 126,370

Engine thrust nominal (lb) 69,800 74,000 76,000

Cruise speed (Mach) 0.85 0.85 0.85

Range (nm) with 3-class pax (basic MTOW) 7,845 7,925 6,300

Range (nm) – MTOW option 1 - 8,185 6,895

Range (nm) – MTOW option 2 - 8,310 7,020

List price (2013 $ million) 211.8 249.5 288.7

SOURCE: Boeing

787-9: DIFFERENCES FROM 787-8

SOURCE: Boeing

Main landing gear trucks wider and longer and incorporate larger tyres

and brakes

Tailplane design simplified from three-piece to two-piece construction

Revised environmental control system with increased capacity

Hybrid laminar-flow control system on leading edge of fin and tailplane

Five frame extension (3.05m/10ft) in Section 43

Five frame extension (3.05m/10ft) in Section 46

Revised section 41 incorporating lighter, simpler cockpit-surround

structure

Nominal engine thrust increased by 4,000lb to 74,000lb

Structure – changes introduced to reduce weight and simplify

production

Wing: strengthened for higher weights with structure locally

optimised for weight saving; revised “vent stringer” design

Additional flap settings

Higher operating weights (MTOW raised by

up to 22.9t)

Forward cargo hold – four additional LD-3

containers

Rear cargo hold – four additional LD-3

containers

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three-piece construction to a two-piece construction which improves weight and pro-duction efficiency, says Petkus. “We went from building it like a wing with two out-board sections and a centre box, to one centre-line join.”

Initial manufacturing development work of the revised design was undertaken by Boeing at Everett and series production is allocated to Boeing’s plant in Salt Lake City, which also builds the fin. Tailplane production will be shared with Alenia Aermacchi, which al-ready builds the 787-8’s tailplane at its Foggia

plant in Italy. “It was a matter of balancing Alenia’s production capability,” Jenks says. “They were ramping up on the -8’s [tailplane] just as we needed to get the -9 developed.”

Major changes have been incorporated into the 787-9’s Messier-Bugatti-Dowty-built main landing gear, which will be fed into the -10. The -9’s main gear trucks are both wider and longer than the -8’s to accommodate the larger tyres and brakes to cater for the higher operat-ing weights. The nosegear is unchanged.

“The truck changes were made to get more width so we could keep the pavement loading in line as we increased the take-off weight,” says Petkus. “We will use the same truck size on the -10, but we’re going to add a semi-lev-ered gear to buy a little more rotation margin.”

To accommodate the larger gear, the depth

of the main-gear wheel well has been in-creased. This enables the shape of wing-to-body fairing to be identical on the -8 and -9.

DELIVERY RATEFinal assembly of the -8 and -9 is shared be-tween Boeing’s Everett plant near Seattle and the new line in Charleston, South Carolina, from where deliveries are running at a com-bined rate of around seven a month. The cur-rent production rate is 10 a month, rising to 12 by 2016 and 14 by the and of the decade, with further increases planned.

787-9 launch operator Air New Zealand, a

R-R customer and new to the 787, took deliv-ery of its first -9 on 30 June, and after some short-haul proving flights plans to introduce the 302-seater on services between Auckland and Perth in October, with Shanghai and Tokyo joining the network by the end of 2014.

United Airlines, which already flies the 787-8, will be first to take the GEnx-powered version. It is due to receive its first aircraft this summer and will initially operate the 252-seater (48 business class, 88 economy-plus and 116 economy) on US domestic routes before using it to launch Melbourne services from Los Angeles in October. ■

“We went from a two-piece fuselage frame construction to a one-piece construction”ED PETKUS Deputy chief project engineer, 787 derivatives

❯❯


787-9 CUTAWAY

This page should come with a cutaway poster

of the Boeing 787-9. If yours is missing or

damaged please contact:

Dawn Hartwell Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS, UKTel: +44 (0) 20 8652 3315Fax: +44 (0) 20 8652 [email protected]

FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

ROTORCRAFT


STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

Two bidders will shortly be chosen to build demonstrators for a US Army-led programme to demonstrate a potential next-generation high-speed rotorcraft for the military

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Two companies will be chosen on 1 August to build separate demonstra-tors under the US Army-led Future Vertical Lift (FVL) initiative.

Describing exactly what that means, how-ever, comes thick with technological, indus-trial and programmatic caveats.

First, FVL is not a funded acquisition pro-gramme, which leaves the future beyond the five-year demonstration of two high-speed rotorcraft open to doubt.

It could become the heart of the US military rotorcraft fleet after 2030, or it could become another chapter in the long history of failed attempts to combine the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft with the vertical lift and hover capabilities of a helicopter.

Second, the consequences of winning or losing the two demonstration contracts are not clear. US defence officials emphasise any future competition for an FVL contract will be open no matter which teams are selected to

build and fly the two demonstrators in Fiscal 2017. That policy keeps the door open to the losing bidders of 1 August decision, as well as companies that either abstained from this round, such as Airbus Helicopters, or were not among the four selected to bid, such as Piasecki Aircraft.

TECHNOLOGIESThird, the army and industry appear to be hedging their bets. While FVL proposes switching to all-new platforms, the technolo-gies – engines, transmission and mission soft-ware – are each designed – just in case – to flow back as upgrades to the existing fleet of Boeing AH-64 Apaches, Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks and Boeing CH-47 Chinooks.

So far, FVL’s main accomplishment has been to reinvigorate the clean-sheet design skills of a rotorcraft industrial base that has been slow to innovate, compared with fixed-wing aircraft peers. To date, the programme’s funding and promise has prompted key play-ers in the industry to establish a modern

digital design database, allowing Pentagon of-ficials to experiment with different configura-tions much more rapidly than before.

“We can go to the industry today and say we want to alter a particular aspect of your so-lution and they can give us solution feedback fairly quickly,” says Dan Bailey, the army’s programme director for FVL. “What we’ve done to date is already leaps ahead of where we were five years ago.”

Despite the many uncertainties, rotorcraft makers have fully committed to FVL as the first initiative that seeks as a long-term goal to design a clean-sheen, vertical-lift aircraft for the US military since the cancellation of the Sikorsky/Boeing RAH-66 Comanche in 2004 and the fielding of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey two years later.

The army’s aviation and missile research development center is now evaluating pro-posals from four teams – AVX, Bell Helicop-ter/Lockheed Martin, Karem Aircraft and Sikorsky-Boeing – for two contracts under the joint multirole technology demonstrator (JMR-TD) programme. The two winning teams will match the army’s investment in the demonstration, which is budgeted for about

Bell has teamed up with Lockheed Martin to develop the V-280 Valor for the programme

A variant of the TR-75 is in the running

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FUTURE VERTICAL LIFT

flightglobal.com

capability gaps, ranging from an armed scout known as the FVL-Light to a UH-60 and AH-64 replacement called the FVL-Medium in the short term.

In several decades, the Army would re-place the CH-47 with the FVL-Heavy. A more ambitious project seeks to define an aircraft larger than a C-130, but with vertical take-off and landing capability.

The challenge for the bidders in the ongo-ing JMR-TD competition is to design an air-craft for the FVL-Medium requirement that can be scaled up or down. The FVL-Medium must be sized to carry 14 troops, accelerate to 230kt (425km/h) and fly at least 2,100nm (3,890km) without refuelling.

Last October, the army narrowed to four the bidding teams for JMR-TD, selecting two groups using a tiltrotor configuration and two using coaxial compound helicopters.

Of the latter, Sikorsky and Boeing have teamed up to offer the SB-1 Defiant, a follow-on to Sikorsky’s self-funded X-2 high-speed demonstrator and the ongoing S-97 Raider de-velopment project.

The SB-1 would feature the same coaxial and rigid rotor system to provide vertical lift and a pusher propeller to provide thrust. Boeing would integrate the Honeywell T55 engine that now powers the CH-47.

AVX, a company founded by former Bell chief engineer Troy Gaffey, is pairing a similar coaxial rotor system with dual ducted fans. The fans provide propulsion and differential thrust for yaw control, a classic problem for coaxial rotor systems, Gaffey says.

The airframe will consist of composite skins bonded to metal frames.

Gaffey is also proposing to use an innova-tive business model by teaming with a group of 15 or 16 small companies scattered across

15-21 July 2014 | Flight International | 45

$240 million. For that sum, the two teams de-sign and build a full-scale, flying demonstra-tor, with first flight scheduled in the fourth quarter of FY2017. The army plans to retire both demonstrators after the JMR-TD pro-gramme ends in FY2019, and each aircraft will be designed to accumulate less than 200h of flight time.

DEMONSTRATIONThe flight demonstration will be followed by a second phase focused on developing mis-sion systems software, a frequent cause of cost overruns, delays and operational constraints in military aircraft acquisition.

It follows an ongoing effort by the US Navy called the future airborne capability environ-ment, which seeks to create a definitive stand-ard for military aircraft. New applications could be rolled out in the same way that Apple provides for the iPhone, replacing the current version with bespoke software sys-tems with each platform that can only be ac-cessed by the original manufacturer.

To save costs, Phase 2 of the JMR-TD does not include integrating the new software ar-chitecture in either of the demonstrator air-craft, so it will be limited to ground tests.

“We want to ensure the architecture is longstanding. Subsystems will change, but the architecture will be enduring,” Bailey says. The goals of the flying demonstration and the software phase are two-fold: to inform the army as it decides how to replace the UH-60 fleet in the mid-2020s and to reduce the risk of several new technologies before en-tering a full-scale development.

Which course the army proposes – a clean-sheet FVL or upgrading the UH-60s with bigger engines – is still open to debate.

Army officials insist on one hand that the inventory of platforms today is not sufficient to meet the needs of the future. A capability-based analysis completed by the army in 2009 looked at future vertical lift missions and found 35 shortfalls with existing platforms, although the details are classified.

“You’re not going to be able to do what the army wants in the future without a significant step change,” says Robert Hastings, Bell vice-president of communications and chief of staff. “Or they’ll be trying to do very different missions in the future with aircraft that were designed long ago.” The army has outlined four classes of FVL aircraft to address those

the USA to produce the aircraft. “We are try-ing to become a virtual aircraft OEM,” says Gaffey. “It could very well bring a different level of competitiveness going forward.”

“One thing we learned about composites is if you mechanically fasten them the way alu-minium is built, you end up with a very ex-pensive carbonfibre structure,” he says.

REQUIREMENTIn some ways, Bell Helicopter has already fielded an aircraft in the FVL-Medium class with the V-22 Osprey. However, it represents an older generation of design skills and tech-nology and the efficiency of its rotor system is constrained by the US Marine Corps’ require-ment to operate on amphibious carriers.

So Bell has teamed with Lockheed to de-velop the V-280 Valor, which it describes as a third-generation tiltrotor, with the experimen-tal XV-15 representing the first generation. The “280” part of its designation represents the aircraft’s potential velocity in knots, slightly higher than the V-22’s listed maxi-mum speed of 272-275kt.

Finally, Karem Aircraft has proposed an op-timum-speed tiltrotor. Founder Abe Karem gained prominence by designing the Amber unmanned air system, which was renamed the Predator after it was acquired by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. Karem then moved on to develop optimum-speed rotor technology. For the past decade, Karem has been adapting the geared rotor for commercial and military markets, with a 75-seat tiltrotor aircraft called the TR-75 Aerotrain.

Karem adapted the TR-75 into a design called the TR-36 to meet the FVL-Medium re-quirements. The “36” in the designation re-fers to the size of the aircraft’s rotor diameter in feet. ■

Sikorsky and Boeing have joined forces to offer the SB-1 Defiant

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“What we’ve done to date is already leaps ahead ofwhere we were five years ago”DAN BAILEY Programme director for FVL, US Army

AIR SHOWS


KATE SARSFIELD LONDON

AirVenture – known by all simply as Oshkosh – is an enthusiasts’ get-together and aviation spectacular, with a history of debuting big industry innovations

THE NEW IN VIEWTerrafugia is developing what it calls a “street-legal aircraft”, which the company hopes to bring to the market in the next couple of years

Cirrus Aircraft will display a full-scale mock-up of its Vision SF50 personal jet at the event

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The AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin has become synonymous with aviation and innovation.

The annual event – known global-ly as “Oshkosh” – is arguably one of the best known and most celebrated aviation shows in the world. For one week during the balmy US Midwest summer, the town’s Wittman Regional airport’s 648ha (1,600 acre) show site is transformed into one of the busiest airports on the planet.

Between 28 July and 3 August, more than 800 exhibitors and well over 500,000 visitors will flock to Oshkosh – situated 320km (200 miles) north of Chicago – to celebrate all as-pects of flying.

“There is nowhere else like it in the avia-tion world,” says Dick Knapinski, senior com-munications advistor for the Experimental

Aircraft Association (EAA), which has been hosting the show since its inception in 1953.

AirVenture’s popularity is unrivalled in terms of visitor numbers. At the height of the market in 2007, Oshkosh pulled in a record 560,000 visitors.

“Even during the economic downturn our visitor and exhibitor numbers have remained healthy,” Knapinski says. The 2010 Oshkosh saw the worst turnout in recent years, with 503,000 visitors recorded that year.

“This drop in numbers had nothing to do with the financial downturn, but the heavy rainfall ahead of the show,” Knapinski says. “This led to that year’s event being branded Sloshkosh.”

That visitor numbers remained high even in inclement conditions is testament to the popularity of Oshkosh within the global avia-tion arena in general – and the owner-flyer community in particular.

“Oshkosh has become a celebration of avia-tion, covering everything from innovative new aircraft designs and fabulously restored antiques to the latest powerplant, cockpit and software technology,” says Knapinski. “For many, it’s has also become an annual aviation family reunion. “It doesn’t matter if you fly a light sport aircraft or an Airbus A380 – the show is relevant to anyone and everyone who has an interest in aviation.”

EXHIBITIONThis year Oshkosh will welcome more than 10,000 aircraft, of which more than 2,500 will form part of the exhibition. The line-up will cover an array of types, from homebuilds, light sport aircraft and seaplanes to turbo-props, helicopters and midsize business jets.

Traditional airframers will be out in force with their varied product lines, hoping to drum up sales from the throngs of owner-flyers.

OSHKOSH PREVIEW

flightglobal.com

Cessna and Beechcraft will be exhibiting their full piston, turboprop and business jet families under the Textron Aviation banner, while Cirrus Aircraft will display a full-scale mock-up of its Vision SF50 personal jet for the first time at Oshkosh.

The six-seat aircraft is on track to enter ser-vice next year, and Cirrus will be hoping to bolster the aircraft’s already healthy order-book – which totals in excess of 500.

Honda Aircraft – fresh from the successful maiden flight of its first production HA-420 – will also be seeking fresh orders for the all-new light business jet, as certification ap-proaches. Embraer, meanwhile, will return with its Phenom 100 and 300 business jets, and during the event the Brazilian airframer could finally receive certification for its midsize Legacy 500.

Piaggio Aero will be promoting its recently launched Avanti Evo at the show, as it pre-pares the third-generation Avanti twin pusher for service entry in September. The Italian air-framer will also be plugging the seven-seat Avanti’s new auxiliary fuel tank, which re-ceived certification last month and boosts the aircraft’s range with four passengers by 250nm (463km).

Another Italian manufacturer, Tecnam, will display its P2006T, P2008, P92 Eaglet and Astore piston signles and is hoping to secure certification for its first four-seater – the P2010 – during the show.

Start-up Kestrel Aircraft, meanwhile, will provide an update on its eagerly anticipated Kestrel single-engined turboprop programme.

Oshkosh’s huge and varied flight line will mark the debut of a number of show-stopping aircraft, including one of NASA’s three WB-57F high-altitude research platforms. The aircraft are used to support scientific research and advanced technology development and testing around the world for US government agencies, academic institutions and commer-cial customers.

The US Air Force’s Lockheed Martin F-16 Thunderbirds display team will also be mak-ing their Oshkosh debut, alongside a record seven-strong line-up of Lockheed 12 Electras.

“Worldwide there are about 24 surviving Lockheed 12s out of the 126 built in the late 1930s and early 1940s, so being able to as-semble this many at one time will be a mod-ern day achievement,” the EAA says.

While traditional aircraft and technologies


More than 800 exhibitors and well over 500,000 visitors will flock to Oshkosh

EAA

“It doesn’t matter if you fly alight aircraft or an A380 – the show is relevant to anyone”DICK KNAPINSKI Senior communications advistor, EAA

are an integral part of the Oshkosh experi-ence, Knapinski believes the show’s ability to attract and encourage innovators from across the world is key to the event’s success – and to the long-term viability of the general aviation industry.

“Creativity is still alive and well among in-dividuals and small start-ups,” he says. “Os-hkosh provides a platform for these inventors to display their products and ideas.”

Innovation is key at the light end of the avi-ation market, Knapinski argues. “Engineers from across the aerospace spectrum come to the show to see what the little guys are doing. SpaceX, for example, began in the [minds] of a small group of innovators – including Elon Musk – in a small facility in the desert of Cali-fornia,” he says. “Winglets – now a feature on many aircraft across the spectrum – are a 40-year-old invention that came out of the homebuilt market.”

INNOVATORSOshkosh attracts dozens of innovators in the light end of the sector that are pushing the boundaries of innovation.

Start-up airframer Terrafugia is an example of this avant-garde vision. The US firm is de-veloping what it calls a “street-legal aircraft”, which it hopes to bring to the market in the next couple of years.

“The Transition made its public debut at Os-hkosh four years ago, and the event also pro-vided a platform for the two-seater’s first dem-onstration fly-in last year,” says Transition director of sales and marketing Alex Min. “We will be bringing the aircraft to show again this year. Oshkosh attracts the perfect audience for the Transition.”

Oshkosh could also attract investors will-ing to help fund production of the $280,000 aircraft. The Woburn, Massachusetts-based company is also working on another innova-tion – the TF-X four-seat, vertical take-off and landing flying car which it hopes to bring to market in the next decade.

To help foster and promote ingenuity in aviation, EAA has introduced an Innovations Center to allow emerging companies a chance to showcase their newest ideas. Now in its second year, the exhibits range from new air-craft designs to the latest in power systems and 3D printing for aircraft parts.

“For more than a half-century, the latest in aircraft design and technology has been intro-duced to the flying community and the public at the EAA fly-in,” says EAA chairman of the board Jack Pelton.

EAA approached around 40 inventors and emerging companies, inviting them to send ideas on what they would like to showcase at Oshkosh this year. “Seven were selected as among the best and most intriguing of the hundreds of concepts,” Pelton says.

These include Elytron Aircraft – developer of the Elytron 2S vertical take-off and landing aircraft, and MakerPlane – an open source aviation organisation which aims to help peo-ple build and fly their own aircraft.

Unmanned air systems powerplant devel-oper O’Neill Power Systems is also featuring in the Innovations Center as is LSA start-up manufacturer MVP Aero, which is set to un-veil a new model at the show.

“There is no shortage of entrepreneurs who want to try something new – and these innovators will be out in force at Oshkosh,” Knapinski says. ■

FLIGHT TEST


PETER COLLINS CAPUA, ITALY

The Tecnam P2010 is on course to re-ceive European and US Part 23 certifi-cation this month.

In May, I travelled to the Tecnam production facility in Capua, about 25km (16 miles) north of Naples, to fly and evaluate the production standard P2010 prototype that was being used for the European certifi-cation programme.

The high-winged, four-seat P2010 is planned to fill a defined gap in the Tecnam product line-up that now ranges from the

TECNAM TRIUMPHSBoasting a carbonfibre structure, advanced avionics and stability in flight, the all-new Tecnam P2010 is ready to give 60-year-old piston singles a run for their money

twin-engined P2006 to various two-seat very light aircraft that include the P2008 and from which the P2010 was developed.

With a similar price, as well as external di-mensions, weights and powerplants (varia-ble pitch propellers, diesel engine and turbo petrol engine versions are already planned for after certification), the P2010 is aimed squarely at being the first, all-new, direct competitor to the Cessna Skyhawk and Sky-lane piston singles that first flew nearly 60 years ago, and which remain successful and in production today. The simple objectives for the short test flight were to evaluate just how

well Tecnam had engineered the P2010 to compete with the Cessna duo and whether it truly represents a step change in four-seat, high-winged design and operation, as befitting a 21st century aircraft.

BIGGEST ADVANTAGEThe first and one of the biggest advantages of the new P2010, is that the fuselage is made completely from carbonfibre. This provides considerable basic weight savings, an aero-dynamically complex and streamlined shape and a perfectly smooth surface. That Tecnam has mastered the manufacture, maintenance,

TECNAM P2010

flightglobal.com 15-21 July 2014 | Flight International | 49

A four-cylinder Lycoming IO-360-M1A is the driving force for its twin-blade fix-pitch propeller

Bill

yPix

❯❯

units per year. The aircraft will be certificat-ed for day and night, VFR and IFR operations and for flight outside of known icing.

The wing construction remains conven-tional aluminium alloy, as does the all-mov-ing horizontal stabiliser. The engine (for ini-tial certification) is a four-cylinder Lycoming IO-360-M1A, driving a twin-blade fixed-pitch propeller (again for initial certification) and developing 180hp (134kW) at 2,700 rev/min. The tricycle gear is faired and fixed.

COCKPIT FEATURESThe cockpit avionics will be certificated with three options: analogue IFR, a Garmin G500 IFR or the large, twin-screen Garmin G1000 IFR with integrated autopilot. The G1000 IFR’s digital power and flexibility of display makes it the likely choice for most customers and was the avionics configuration fitted to the aircraft for the evaluation.

As presently set at initial certification level, maximum take-off weight is 1,160 kg (2,560lb) with a basic empty weight (BEW) of 710kg. This gives the aircraft a maximum use-ful load (passengers, baggage and fuel) of 450kg. Fuel capacity is 240 litres (63USgal), while baggage capacity is 80kg. The P2010’s maximum range fully fuelled is 715nm (1,325km), allied to a service ceiling of 15,000ft. Cruise speed (75% power at 6,500ft) is 133kt (256km/h) with a fixed-pitch propel-ler, and 143kt with a variable-pitch propeller. Vne (never exceed) will be set at 171kt.

From a hard dry surface, the take-off ground roll is 800ft (245m) with a take-off distance of 1,260ft to clear a 50ft obstacle. On landing, the ground roll is 660ft, with a landing distance of 1,030ft from 50ft over threshold. Initial climb rate at maximum take-off weight is 850ft/min (4.3m/s) with a fixed-pitch propeller or 1,050ft/

min with a variable-pitch one. All these figures add up to an aircraft that has exceptional short-field performance, combined with excellent cross-country touring capability. The maxi-mum demonstrated crosswind is 20kt.

To set this into a real-world context, full fuel (equalling 96kg), two adults and two chil-dren (weighing an assumed total of 270kg) and 80kg of baggage would still allow for full range (715nm). These real-world figures equate to outstanding aircraft useability for future private owners and flight schools.

Cabin dimensions are also critical to com-fort and the P2010 cabin is 1,810mm (71in) long internally from instrument console to the rear passenger cabin compartment wall and 1,140mm (45in) wide. The rear seats feature

repair and EASA/US Federal Aviation Ad-ministration certification of large, carbonfi-bre structures is significant and this exper-tise will bring the company considerable benefits in future. Tecnam estimates an ini-tial production rate for the P2010 of 20-30

Tecnam has mastered the manufacture, maintenance, repair and certification of large carbonfibre structures

Bill

yPix

Bill

yPix

Pilots Marco Locatelli (left) and Peter Collins

The P2010’s fuselage is made entirely from carbonfibre, but the wings are constructed

from conventional aluminium alloy

FLIGHT TEST

flightglobal.com50 | Flight International | 15-21 July 201450 | Flight International | 15-21 July 2014

❯❯ their own large, separate third entry door on the right hand side of the fuselage, as well as an external access door to the baggage com-partment, set on the same side.

The price quoted for the P2010 with the G1000 IFR option, is €269,900 ($328,000) and indicates that “affordability”, for such a new four-seat aircraft, remains comparable with its competition.

FIRST IMPRESSIONSMy Tecnam safety pilot for the evaluation was Marco Locatelli, a graduate experimental test pilot and former Italian Air Force Lockheed F104G and AMX International AM-X pilot. Marco would handle the navigation/air traffic control and I would fly the complete evalua-tion from the left-hand seat, including forma-tion flying of a chase aircraft. The sortie was flown from grass runway 26 at Capua (LIAU). Weather was OAT +24C, QNH 1,015hp and CAVOK. The aircraft was P2010 registration I-EASA. The aircraft’s all-up weight at take-off was 1,060kg including two pilots with 100 li-tres of fuel (the prototype being heavier at a BEW of 760kg plus 60kg of ballast).

My first impressions when approaching the aircraft were of its very sleek shape, the large size of the three entry doors, the obvious util-ity of the rear passenger door, the low entry sill height and the massive amount of cabin space and legroom for rear passengers. The cockpit instrument layout with the G1000 was exceptionally neat and uncluttered. Once seated, the front pilot seats had a massive amount of fore and aft adjustment, plus rake and additionally, a seat raise/lower, which is an enhancing feature in any GA aircraft. The aircraft instrument console had a very low vertical profile, giving a superb forward field

of view over the nose and the best I have seen in this class of aircraft. The highly raked front windscreen allied with the wing being set well back meant field of view upwards and sideways was still excellent. The very large pilot door side windows extended below elbow level and allowed for panoramic views downwards. The cockpit/cabin felt consider-ably wider than any other four-seat GA air-craft I have flown before – including my own Piper Arrow IV – and overall, the internal air-craft environment felt exceptionally comfort-able, modern and well designed.

Starting was conventional, by key, and the engine started eagerly. The engine controls are set within a control quadrant (rather than being push/pull levers) and were well placed to my right hand in my seating position. The control quadrant, with just throttle and mix-ture control in I-EASA, had a central space for a propeller lever for later variable-pitch pro-peller options.

The G1000 aligned rapidly and we were ready to taxi almost immediately. The parking brake is recessed into the side of the central console at the level of the left-hand pilot’s right lower leg. My suggestion would be to make the operating handle bigger and more obvious. Ground steering is by differential braking, operated by the rudder pedal toe brakes and a free-castoring nose wheel. The

The aircraft instrument console has a very low vertical profile, giving asuperb forward field of view

The aircraft’s highly raked front windscreen provides an excellent upward and sideways view

Bill

yPix

Bill

yPix

TECNAM P2010

15-21 July 2014 | Flight International | 51flightglobal.com 15-21 July 2014 | Flight International | 51

aircraft response was highly accurate to my inputs as I taxied out at Capua on the narrow-est tarmac taxiway I have ever seen.

FLAP CONTROLTake-off was made with TO flap. The flap drive is electric, the flap control is a small lever on the lower central instrument console and the flap indications are three individual lights showing UP, TO or LAND – another neat design feature.

Take-off acceleration on grass with a fixed-pitch propeller was moderate but standard for this class of aircraft and engine power. The rotate of 50kt was achieved within 300m and the aircraft climbed at around 800ft/min in

chase of the lead aircraft. Tecnam quotes a best angle of climb speed (flap UP) of 78kt (or 76kt flap TO) and a best rate of climb speed (flap UP) of 83kt.

RESPONSIVE HANDLINGAfter take-off, I immediately noted the aircraft to be highly responsive. Pitch and roll breakout forces were tiny; there was no freeplay at all in the control yoke; the centring in both axes was exact after yoke displacement. The P2010 con-trols do not use springs for centring or feel but simply use aerodynamic feedback from the control surfaces themselves. Required control displacements at the yoke were small and con-trol loads were light and well harmonised.

The aircraft’s response was instant to input and closed-loop tasks, such as close forma-tion, could be achieved with accuracy. The aircraft was, however, slightly lively in yaw and Tecnam is evaluating an electric rudder trim. I liked very much that the control yoke was small, set quite low, very comfortable to hold in my seating position and did not ob-scure the G1000 display screen in any way.

With distinct longitudinal stability, an ef-fective electric pitch trim, a roll rate in excess of 40˚/s, deadbeat Dutch Roll damping and neutral static stability, the aircraft was simply a pleasure to fly, manoeuvre and cruise. The “flyability” of the P2010 was comparable with a two-seat “sport” type aircraft and was sim-ply the best I have ever flown in this four-seat GA category, by a very large margin.

Stalls were conducted with all flap settings and showed, with full flap, a stall warning oc-curring at 55kt (audio tone and buffet) and stall “G” break at 48kt. Two, one-turn spins were also conducted, one in each direction, from an entry altitude of 4,000ft and an entry

speed of 70kt. Recovery was rapid and total height loss from entry to level-off was 800ft, in both directions.

On the recovery to Capua, I dived the air-craft to 145kt. There were no additional vibra-tions, lateral control forces had increased by only a small amount but pitch response had become more sensitive to input. One visual cir-cuit to full stop landing was flown at Capua. TO flap limit is 95kt and LAND flap limit is 83kt. The final turn was flown with LAND flap at 70kt, slowing to 65kt for final approach.

Speed stability was good but the tape air-speed display of the G1000 presentation could benefit from an adjustable blue target speed bug for pilot attention. The approach was deliberately offset by about 164ft down to about 150ft when a S-bend correction was made to final line-up. This offset manoeuvre was flown with ease into a very accurate touch-down at the intended point and land-ing precisely at the intended speed of 60kt. Ground roll was no greater than 200m.

The G1000 will be able to support systems such as the Traffic Information System, WX pictures overlaid on map display (via Iridium or NEXRAD), modern runway approaches using Satellite Based Approach Systems (SBAS), VFR/IFR approach plates and Safe-taxi (airport ground maps). The combination of advanced avionics and docile aircraft han-dling means the P2010 has high “survivabili-ty” built into its design.

GLITTERING FUTUREThe P2010 impressed me from the outset. It looks, feels and flies like a modern aircraft and does represent a step change in this type of four-seat GA aircraft design. I believe the Tecnam P2010 significantly exceeds the “fly-ability”, “useability” and “survivability” of the Cessna Skyhawks and Skylanes and equals them on affordability.

The P2010 was genuinely a real pleasure to fly and future owners will be inspired by the aircraft’s combination of advanced avionics, very short field performance, exceptional use-ful load capability and excellent cross-coun-try range. With new powerplant and propeller options planned after certification, the P2010 has a glittering future ahead of it and is likely to become a best seller in its class and within the Tecnam product range. If I could trade my own Piper Arrow IV Turbo, the P2010 is the aircraft I would buy. ■

With distinct longitudinal stability, the aircraft was simply a pleasure to fly, manoeuvre and cruise

The cockpit instrument layout, featuring Garmin’s G1000, is exceptionally neat and uncluttered

The sleek design includes large entry doors and massive legroom

Bill

yPix

Bill

yPix

Have airlines and lessors over-ordered?

Next-generation widebodies: will they change the game?

Visit us on stand 1/D14b at the Farnborough Airshow to hear our view and pick up your copy of our exclusive reports.

STRAIGHT&LEVEL


From yuckspeak to tales of yore, send your offcuts to [email protected]

100-YEAR ARCHIVEEvery issue of Flight from 1909 onwards

can be viewed online at flightglobal.com/archive

Sock signallingManton’s private hobby is the

collection of socks and ties of

strange hues and

designs. A sock of

a particularly

riotous colour was

spotted by a spectator at

Taunton, who approached

Manton and claimed him as

an old Winchester boy. On

three other occasions his

hobby has led to similar

misapprehension.

The birth of BOACThe history of British

commercial aviation is largely

the history of

Imperial Airways

and British

Airways. Our

feature marks perhaps the

most important milestone in

the progress of the two

concerns – the publication of

the Bill by which they will be

amalgamated under the title

of the British Overseas

Airways Corporation.

Scientific modestyThe majority of spacecraft

now being launched are

hidden under one

or other of two

types of secrecy

– the military

security of the US Defense

Department and what

appears to be the scientific

modesty of the Soviet Union.

Immature marketEurope is– or should be – one

of the great growth areas of

civil aviation. The

United States, in

comparison, is

now a mature

aerospace market – even if

some of its deregulated

operating practices are

decidedly immature.

Rex

Featu

res

Is this what Boeing means when it talks about new aircraft coming off the line?

(Train carrying 737 fuselages derails in Montana)

Remembering Court LineFormer employees of Court Line Aviation are planning to gather to mark the 40th anniversary of the bankruptcy of the airline and travel operator.

The spectacular failure of the Luton-based package tour pioneer, at the height of the summer season in August 1974, left tens of thousands of holidaymakers out of pocket, and led to the ATOL bonding system in use today that guarantees recompense for consumers in similar situations.

“We are trying to reach as many ex-colleagues as possible, many of whom we have lost touch with,” says Crispin Maunder, now executive chairman of Lease Corporation International, but in the early 1970s a very young executive with Court Line, whose onerous responsibilities, he recalls, included interviewing the all-female cabin crew recruits.

The event will be held at the Aubrey Park Hotel, Redbourn on 6 September. Contact Jaqui Maschera or Crispin Maunder on [email protected] or +44 7785 924 522.

Flushed outHas Boeing set up a secret investigation unit to plug leaks and tap into industry intelligence? Ian Goold found this intriguing entry on a web-based business directory.

Boeing Commercial Aviation Services Europe Ltd

Plumbers25 Victoria Street, London,

SW1H OEX

in Sydney, Nova Scotia? Another couple who intended

to travel to Granada in Spain have now decided to sue British Airways after they were booked tickets to Grenada in the Caribbean instead.

Edward Gamson and Lowell Canaday from Washington DC realised the mistake – too late – when they left London and the map on the seat-back screen showed them flying back over the Atlantic.

Their lawsuit claims that their e-ticket listed Grenada, but not the country or flight duration.

Fokker shockerGott in Himmel! Thanks to the many of you who pointed out that our picture of a Sopwith Camel last week was indeed a Fokker DVII. Apologies. We used the wrong photograph.

“No doubt the RFC and RNAS pilots who flew Camels hoped that the troops on the ground had better aircraft recognition skills,” Roger Caesley chastises.

Justin Swan picks us up on a wayward Americanism in the same piece.

“Biggles never had an airplane of any description,” he reminds us. “His Sopwith Camel was an aeroplane.”

Head in cloudsThis image has been amusing those who have nothing better to do but search for silly things on the internet. Not something you’d catch us doing.

Wrong GranadaRemember the couple who thought they were en route to a dream holiday in Sydney in Australia, but ended up landing

Court summons: former employees will remember 1970s airline

AirTe

am

Image

s

LETTERS


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We welcome your letters on any aspect of the aerospace industry. Please write to: The Editor, Flight International, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS, UK. Or email [email protected]

The opinions on this page do not necessarily represent those of the editor. Flight International cannot publish letters without name and address. Letters must be no more than 250 words in length.

FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

We welcome your letters on any aspect of the aerospace industry. Please write to: The Editor, Flight International, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS, UK. Or email [email protected]

The opinions on this page do not necessarily represent those of the editor. Letters without a full postal address sup-plied may not be published. Letters may also be published on flightglobal.com and must be no longer than 250 words.

FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

I am no engineer, nor am I a statistician, but I am surprised the US

Federal Aviation Administration has granted Boeing’s request for

exemption of a critical safety feature of the 787-9 – namely the po-

tentially defective ram air turbine (Flight International, 24-30 June).

The statistical likelihood of a simultaneous failure of both en-

gines and the auxiliary power unit may indeed be one in 100 million

on the basis of engine reliability – but the fact is that multiple en-

gine failure has happened for other reasons.

For example, in 1983 an Air Canada Boeing 767 lost all power

and had to make a forced landing when it ran out of fuel due to a

fuelling error. Airliners have also lost all power when flying into vol-

canic ash – although awareness is no doubt greater now.

And haven’t there been other fuel-related incidents involving fuel

contamination? And what about a fuel leak? All these problems

have the chilling prospect of causing a multiple engine failure.

I doubt the probabilities of these events are included in the one

in 100 million failure risk cited by Boeing.

And the authorities even granted this aircraft clearance for ex-

tended twin-engined operations? Has the FAA failed to look at the

bigger picture, or has it just bowed to commercial pressure?

Peter SchulzLondon, UK

787-9

Ram air turbine safety critical

Take tracking flights by the tail Michael Banks’s letter about the Flyht AFIRS system (Flight Inter-national, 24-30 June) shows real-time flight tracking is already possible. However, I would take issue with his view that fitting the hardware in the electronics bay prevents disablement.

It might lessen human med-dling, but the problem is that electronics bays are generally in, or adjacent to, the cargo holds. In the event of a cargo fire, function-ality could be affected by damage to wiring, power supply and the electronic hardware. Even if the fire is extinguished, multiple sys-tems could remain disabled.

The favoured location for flight recorders is in the tail structure, as this offers better survivability in emergency situations. It would also be a good place for a flight tracker or other datalinks, to less-en the risk of disablement.Richard LloydCoventry, UK

AFIRS problemWith respect to Michael Banks regarding his letter about AFIRS

(Flight International, 24-30 June), I want to respond.

I think AFIRS can be a great system giving information about accidentally lost aircraft. But for safety reasons, the system will need a circuit-breaker reachable by the flightcrew – and thus can always be easily disabled by the crew if they want.F PlasmansThe Netherlands

Seated debateIn your item in Straight & Level (Flight International, 28 January-3 February) – I get my copies a bit late on Rodrigues Island – about Biman Bangladesh offering farewell flight tickets for window seats on its McDonnell Douglas DC-10 at a higher price, you mentioned it limited the number of tickets sold, “ensur-ing that no-one gets the dreadful middle seat”.

So, presumably window seats are considered “good seats” and other seats, especially middle seats, are “bad seats”?

I guess classing seats as “good” or “bad” is a matter of opinion and preference – but it makes me muse over the designer of the plane interior coming out and declaring: “Look, I’ve designed a plane interior with 150 good seats and 250 bad seats!”

Airlines, it seems, are quite happy to offer a hefty number of seats on every flight they know quite well are “bad seats” in the eyes of travellers, and yet contin-ue to sell them. Nowadays – as in the DC-10 farewell – many air-lines charge extra for what they consider are “good seats”, and yet I have never heard of an air-line offering you a discount if they give you a “bad seat”. Paul Draper MBERodrigues IslandRepublic of Mauritius

Link to the pastRegarding your extensive report on aircraft pilot training in the 17-23 June issue.

I find it interesting that just a little over 40 years ago, the Link flight simulation division of the Singer company dominated both commercial and military simula-tion training systems.

Now, L-3 Link Simulation & Training is listed as one of many aspiring entrants!Peter ParsonsBy email

Fact-checkingWhile I find Flight International to be a very fine publication, from time to time it has erred from historical fact.

Case in point – I believe that there is an error in an otherwise excellent article about Martin-Baker ejection seats, written by Craig Hoyle (Flight International, 1-7 July).

In this article, Mr Hoyle states that Martin-Baker’s test of its in-novation on 24 July 1946 was a milestone, and “the first in-flight use of an ejection seat”.

In fact, the Germans and the Swedes were the first to employ ejection seats during the Second World War. The first recorded use by the Germans occurred in January 1942, when Helmut Schenk ejected from a Heinkel He 280 in flight.

The Germans went on to equip several of their aircraft with ejec-tion seats, among them the Heinkel He 219 and He 162, and the Dornier Do 335. The Swedes accomplished an in-flight ejection in February 1944.

I believe what Mr Hoyle was describing was the first in-flight test of an M-B ejection seat. Ed GronenthalBoeing Commercial Airplanes

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EDITORIAL PRODUCTION Head of Design & Production Alexis Rendell Global Chief Copy Editor Lewis HarperChief Copy Editor, Europe Dan BlochLayout Copy Editors Andy Hemphill, Sophia Huang, Tim Norman, George NortonGlobal Production Editor Louise Murrell Deputy Global Production Editor Rachel Kemp Production Assistant Lizabeth DavisGlobal Digital Producer Jerome JoyceDeputy Digital Producer Damion DiplockDigital Production Editor Colin MillerWeb Production Editor Andrew CostertonSenior Designer Lauren MillsTechnical Artist Tim Bicheno-Brown Consulting Technical Artist Tim Hall

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CLASSIFIED & RECRUITMENT Group Sales Manager Louise Rees +44 20 8652 8425 [email protected] Manager Sophie [email protected] Recruitment Sales Executive Katie Mann+44 20 8652 [email protected] Classified Sales Executive Daniel Brooker+44 20 8652 [email protected] Key Account Manager – Asia Michael Tang +65 6780 4301

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For a full list of events see flightglobal.com/events

EVENTS28 July - 3 AugustEAA AirVenture OshkoshOshkosh, Wisconsineaa.org/en/airventure

8-9 SeptemberAscend Aviation 2020 Finance ForumTokyo, Japanascendconferences.com

12 SeptemberMediterranean Business AviationSliema, Maltaaeropodium.com/mba.html

17-21 SeptemberAfrica Aerospace and DefenceWaterkloof, South Africaaadexpo.co.za

25-26 SeptemberCentral Asian Business AviationAlmaty, Kazakhstanaeropodium.com/cp/caba

1-2 OctoberAircraft eEnablement Connectivity & IFE Conference (AEEC 2014)London Heathrow, UK aircraft-commerce.com

9-11 OctoberAfrican Air ExpoAccra, Ghanaafricanairexpo.com

14-16 OctoberHelitech InternationalAmsterdam, Netherlandshelitechevents.com

16-17 OctoberInternational Business Aviation SymposiumKursaal Congress Centre, San Marinoaeropodium.com/sanmarino

17-21 OctoberNBAA Business Aviation Convention and ExhibitionOrlando, USAnbaa.org

28-30 OctoberAIRTEC 2014Frankfurt, Germanyairtec.aero

2-3 NovemberOffshore/Onshore AviationArmed Forces Officers Club, Abu [email protected]

1-2 DecemberAscend Aviation 2020 Finance ForumSan Francisco, [email protected]

3-4 DecemberSafety in Air Traffic ControlLondon, UKflightglobalevents.com/safetyATC2013

8-10 DecemberMiddle East Business AviationDubai, UAEmeba.aero

10-11 May 2015Aviation AfricaDubai, UAEaviationafrica.aero

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56 | Flight International | 15-21 July 2014 flightglobal.com

CLASSIFIEDTEL +44 (0) 20 8652 4897 FAX +44 (0) 20 8652 3779 EMAIL [email protected] may be monitored for training purposes

www.skyworld.co.uk

Skyworld Aviation is marketing

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The Regional Aircraft Marketing SpecialistTel. + 44 1753 832088 [email protected]

ATR 42/72’s for sale or lease

For more information visit our

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Tel. + 44 1753 832088

Dauphin AS.365Parts Specialistsw w w. a l p i n e . a e roTel: +41 52 345 3605

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flightglobal.com/jobsEMAIL [email protected] CALL +44 (20) 8652 4900 FAX +44 (20) 8652 4877

Getting careers off the ground


Senior Manager Procurement Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s fast growing 4 star rated international airline domestic and international route network, is seeking applicants for the fulltime position to be based at its operational headquarters in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Job Requirements:• Possess a related qualification with at least five years of working experience in the related field. Membership of C.I.P.S

advantageous.• Past experience managing Technical Procurement for an international airline • Ability to conduct / interface and communicate with most senior Management• Well versed in supply chain processes, EASA/FAA regulations• Excellent organizational and project management skills with ability to multi-task • Strong analytical skills with excellent attention to detail. • Strong negotiation skills, able to demonstrate historic contract Management• Strong interpersonal Management skills, able to lead, mentor and coach. • Proficiency in MS Words, Excel and Outlook • May be required to work beyond normal office hours• University degree in Business Administration

Responsibilities: • Manage and lead an experienced Technical Procurement Department.• Procuring Aircraft materials, technical services and all other services from Local and International markets.• Execute & evaluate supplier contracts, including airframe, engine, PBH repair contracts and other technical service contracts. • In liaison with Engineering Planning, analyse and review the provision of stock/materials and monitor inventory levels while also identifying

and reducing non-moving stock. • For all materials and services( including those other than engineering) design and send requests for quotation, analysis of pricing, placing

orders, invoice controlling, supplier management & closing purchasing orders • Provision of pricing database of purchased materials and services from all sources,• Review key supplier performance as a continuous check to ensure quality from suppliers while maintaining procurement quality procedure and

quality forms • Carry out cost savings and process improvement initiatives • Understand and fulfill the procurement needs for internal business partners• Continually source for competitive vendors to reduce cost and delivery lead time • Record purchases and sales in the inventory system. Knowledge of TRAX desired.• Purchasing function and activities to be performed in accordance to company specifications, procedures, policies and industry regulation /

standards.

To apply, please send your CV to [email protected]

For further information please see www.airastana.com

Get express relief with THE industry

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B777 rated candidates interested in applying for a position in:

[email protected]

Ref: DACGO/Recruitment/2014/907 Date: 19-06-2014

Vacancy Announcement

for Director Finance

Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd., the national flag carrier of Bangladesh, is lookingfor dynamic, experienced and result-oriented candidates for the position ofDirector Finance on contractual basis. The incumbent will be responsible foroverall financial management, planning, treasury, accounting and budgetingactivities and also managing the allocation of project-based funds in accordancewith company requirements. Required terms and conditions:

Qualification: FCA/FCMA/CPA/CMA/FCCA or Graduate and Masters inAccounting/Finance from reputed institution.

Age: maximum 50 years as on 20 July 2014 (may be relaxed in case ofexceptionally qualified candidate).

Work experience: 10-15 years managerial level experience including 05 yearsin leading position in Finance/Accounting in any airlines or multinational or reputedcommercial organization. Knowledge and experience in Company Law relatedmatters.

Remuneration: Negotiable.

Interested candidates fulfilling the requisite qualifications are requested tosend their applications attaching two copies of recent passport-sizedphotograph to the following address or email to [email protected] onor before 20 July 2014.

A.H.M. Shafiul BariManager Employment

Human Resources Department Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited

Balaka, Kurmitola, Dhaka-1229www.biman-airlines.com

Foreign Captains RecruitmentSF Express, set up in 1993, is a world-widely famous express company. Till January 2014 the totalheadcount of SF Express is around 240,000. SF Airlines is affiliated to SF Express, established inDecember of 2009 and headquartered in Bao’an Airport Shenzhen. Shenzhen is a dynamic city whichis bordered with HongKong & Macao. As a Cargo Carrier, there are 34 aircrafts including charter so farand plan for reaching 50 aircrafts until the end of 2017. As a rapid growing company, we are currentlyrecruiting qualified captains, preferably B737, B757 and B767 captains.

Qualifications & Requirements: * Establishment of official diplomatic relation with China;* 55 year-old below before contract signing;* Holder of current /valid License and category Medical Certificate issued by civil aviation

authorities of ICAO contracting parties; or license and medical certificate issued by CAAC; * Experience of being a captain and experience of working in civil aviation industry;* At least a total of 4000 flying hours, inclusive of 500 PIC flying hours, the experience as a PIC

should be exceeding 1 year. Type rating training can be offered for those captains who are not oncurrent B737, B757 or B767 type, but with Boeing experience.

* No history of incident or accident;* No criminal record;* ICAO English 4 or above;* At least I category ILS experience.

Base: Shenzhen, China

Type of Contract and Leave Pattern:* Residence: 4 days off per month, 25 days annual leave* Commuting: 20 days on 10 days off per month or 4 weeks on 2 weeks off* Length of Contract: 5 years, renewable.

Remuneration & Benefit Package:Option 1: China Residence contract: Annual income averaging 278k US$-363k US$ + Annual bonus+ contract completion bonus +Seniority pay before tax for pilots flying during 50-70 Hours. Option 2: Commuting contract:Annual income averaging 258k US$-342k US$ + Annual bonus+ contract completion bonus +Seniority pay before tax for pilots flying during 50-70 Hours. Please visit http://www.sf-airlines.com/sfa-os/SFAPilot.zip for detailed Remuneration & BenefitPackage, SF Application Form and Flying Experience Form.Application Process:The application process entails the following steps:– Initial evaluation based on candidate resume and documents leading to screening invitation;– Screening including simulator evaluation, medical examination and ATPL written test and practical test;– Upon acceptance for employment, work visa documentation process including non-criminal activity

report, license validation and background check will be conducted.For qualified candidate, please kindly download and fill in the form of SF resume, send togetherwith your photo page of passport, front and back copy of license, class I medical certificate, thelast 3 pages of log book, proficiency report and e-photo as well as recommendation letter etc. toMs. Jessie Yu [email protected], [email protected] Ms. Jenny Yi [email protected].

Cobham Aviation Services – Helicopter Services is a partof the Cobham group that specialises in the provision,operation and support of helicopters and associatedservices for military and government applicationsworldwide.

HEAD OF SAFETY AND COMPLIANCE – BASINGSTOKE

As a member of the Helicopter Services Managementteam, contributing to business stragegy, the post holderwill be responsible for the functions of Aviation Safety;Safety, Health and Environment and Quality. Theincumbent must ensure compliance and continuedaccreditation under ISO 9000/AS 9100 and associatedlegislation. Travel will be required at various times to ourUK or overseas locations. It is essential that the postholder has significant experience at managerial levelcovering these areas.

To apply, email your CV with a brief summary of yourcareer to date and your salary expectations, [email protected] or send your application to Sue Denny, HR Advisor, Cobham Aviation Services,Helicopter Services, Jameson House, Lutyens Close,Chineham Court, Basingstoke, RG24 8AG.

A full job specification can be obtained on request.

Closing date: 31 July 2014

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www.ctcaviation.com/ctcflexicrew

CTC FlexiCrewHigh flyers, on demand

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Email: recruitment@sigmaaviationservices.comwww.sigmaaviationservices.com

Tel: +353 1 669 8224Fax: +353 1 669 8201

Email: recruitment@sigmaaviationservices.comwww.sigmaaviationservices.com

The preferred company for Stress (Fatigue & DT), GFEM,Composites), Aeronautical Research. Business units:Contract staff, Workpackages, Innovation and New

Concepts, Aeronautical Research.www.bishop-gmbh.comContact [email protected]

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Flight International


call +44 (0) 20 8652 4900fax +44 (0) 20 8261 8434





call +44 (0) 20 8652 4900fax +44 (0) 20 8261 8434




Engineering Business Strategy Consultant

Glasgow Airport

Due to continued development of our engineering facilities, Loganair

now invites applications from consultants who are experienced in

developing, implementing and driving strategic changes, ideally within

an engineering EASA Part 145 organisation. Applications will also be

considered from experienced personnel who have a strong business

background with defined skills regarding finance, procurement and

project management.

The successful candidate will previously have held senior positions

within mid-large sized airlines and will lead on projects involving:

engineering cost control and optimising value; stock purchasing and

control; aircraft reliability and timely rectification of defects; productivity

and resource allocation; and cultural change and development.

The consultant will work with the existing engineering team, leading

with ideas and solutions. It is essential that the consultant has excellent

people management skills, having the ability to work closely with

others, influencing and developing the existing team. The role is one

of leadership. It is vital that the incumbent has a style of working that

is grounded, practical, open and inspiring.

The consultant will be based in our Head Office, adjacent to Glasgow

Airport, though some travel around our network will be necessary.

Specific working requirements will be discussed at interview.

To apply, please send your CV and a covering letter to

Brian Mitchell, Director of Human Resources by email:

[email protected]

Applications will not be accepted via recruitment agencies or similar.

WORKING WEEK

flightglobal.com

Boein

g

Felgar: Master of international development studies and business

WORK EXPERIENCE JULIE FELGAR

Julie Felgar is managing director of environmental strategy and integration for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. She leads a team working to ensure the aviation giant’s future expansion will be responsibly implemented

Green light for sustainable growth

How did you begin your career with Boeing?I have a Masters in international development studies and busi-ness, and began working for the US government to help develop-ing nations become more pros-perous. Boeing hired me to han-dle regulatory issues related to exports, and I later represented the company with US agencies and foreign embassies to support Boeing’s goals in the Americas and Asia. It’s been very exciting to work in the aerospace industry to promote trade and sustainable travel around the world.Why did you change jobs to work on environmental issues?Having a passion for what you do is critical to achieving success, because it keeps you and your team motivated. I have always had a passion for global issues – and climate change is clearly among the top issues we all face. I feel I have one of the best jobs at Boeing, working with a wide range of stakeholders to reduce our industry’s environmental footprint. Also, as the mother of three boys, I am totally commit-ted to helping to protect their fu-ture and that of their children.What does your job involve?My team is responsible for set-ting an environmental strategy that will allow Boeing’s commer-cial airplanes business to grow sustainably. First and foremost, we talk with our airline custom-ers to see how Boeing can help them thrive. My team works with Boeing’s product development team, airlines, governments and

For more employee work experiences, pay a visit to flightglobal.com/workingweek

If you would like to feature in

Working Week, or you know

someone who does, email your

pitch to kate.sarsfield@ flightglobal.com


biofuel companies to address current or potential environmen-tal regulations or needs. We also share information with media and the public about our envi-ronmental efforts.Why is Boeing working on environmental concerns?From our chief executive to the company’s 180,000 employees, we at Boeing strongly believe in environmental stewardship. We continually look for ways to re-duce the environmental impact of our products, our industry and our company operations. This is clearly the right thing to do for

the planet, as well as for Boeing customers, employees and com-munities where we live.What are the exciting and not so thrilling parts of the job?I love working for a company that has a positive impact, and meeting so many people. I love working with Boeing people, who are brilliant, to make a con-tribution toward solving some of the world’s challenging prob-lems. On the less positive side, a big company can be bureaucrat-ic, which makes it harder to get things done. Also, I travel a lot and jet lag can be tiring.

Do you think that aircraft will fly on 100% biofuel one day?Sustainable aviation biofuel is crucial to our industry’s future growth, because it significantly reduces greenhouse gas emis-sions compared to petroleum. It will take time, but I believe air-planes will eventually fly on 100% biofuel, or with a synthetic fuel that reduces emissions. Boe-ing is absolutely committed to helping develop lower-carbon fuels, because commercial air-planes will fly on liquid fuel for the foreseeable future.What advice would you give to a young person hoping to end up with a job like yours?When you set aspirational goals and envision your future, it is amazing how things start to line up in that direction. After your education, think about what you can do creatively with your de-gree. Then work on your com-munication skills, learn to think through issues from multiple perspectives. In college I wanted to work at the nexus of business and global policy, and I’m fortu-nate to do that at Boeing. Lastly, always treat your peers with re-spect. You never know who will be your boss one day. ■

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Flight International - 15-21 July 2014

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