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FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

INDIA ON A HIGHWHO WAS BUYING,WHAT WAS FLYINGIN BENGALURU?SHOW REPORT P12

REVAMPED HOPESIts next-generation E-Jetis on the way, but or nowEmbraer is pinning hopeson mid-lie upgrade 16

PIPER CALLThousands o ownerso Cherokees, Senecasand Seminoles told toinspect their aircrat28

DEFENCE SPENDING

WINDS OFCHANGEWhy transormation is fnallyin the air or UKs fghting orces

flightglobal.com

3.30

12-18 FEBRUARY 2013


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Y O U R F L I G H T I S O U R M I S S I O N

Chronospace

Selfwinding chronograph

Officially chronometer-certified

Slide-rule

Water-resistant to 200 m/660 ft


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12-18 February 2013 |Flight International| 3fightglobal.com

FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

12-18 FEBRUARY 2013

QuestAircrat,

ArvindManjunath

Quest seeks new operators as it eyes global expansionP27.

Historical, civil and aerobatic aircraft types take to the skies

at Aero India P14

FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

INDIAONAHIGHWHOWASBUYING,WHATWASFLYINGINBENGALURU?SHOWREPORTP12

REVAMPEDHOPESItsnext-generationE-Jetisonthe way,butornowEmbraerispinninghopesonmid-lieupgrade16

PIPERCALLThousandsoownersoCherokees,SenecasandSeminolestoldtoinspecttheiraircrat28

DEFENCESPENDING

WINDS OFCHANGEWhytransormationisfnallyintheair orUKsfghtingorces

3.30

12-18FEBRUARY2013

NEXT WEEKAUSTRALIAWe preview the Avalon air show with acountry report spanning procurementplans, rotorcrat and regulatory reorm.Plus: a commercial engines special

NEWS

THIS WEEK

8 Indian Raale deal remains on track

9 Battery ailure cause remains elusive

10 Continuing budget impasse threatensUS programmes

11 Bristow bullish on EC225 comeback.First CSeries engines arrive

AERO INDIA SHOW REPORT

12 Boeing stays upbeat on Indian market.New Delhi to learn lessons rom Tejas

13 Helicopter manuacturers jostle ormaritime deals.Business jet makers upbeat

14 Pictures rom the showNEWS FOCUS

16 Embraer pins strategy on E-Jet revampAIR TRANSPORT

19 ATR crash puts Carpatair pact on hold.Russians test potential 19-seatturboprop design

20 SriLankan nearing decision on A340feet replacement.Geared turboan will not hold up MRJprogramme

21 Improvisation damaged landing 737

22 Red Wings sceptical over grounding

DEFENCE

23 Alenia, ATK set sights on armed MC-27J

test ring.Peru oered 18 surplus Spanish

Euroghters

24 Brazilian tax breaks prompt UASdevelopers to team up.

Dutch NH90 programme fies orward

NEWS FOCUS

25 Irans dubious stealth claims

BUSINESS AVIATION

26 LEA puts aith in big cabins as it stakesout West Arica.

G280 sets 15 city-pair speed records

27 Embraer predicts growth on rising output.EASA plans new fight-time ruling

GENERAL AVIATION

28 AW169 number our fies as testing entersnal phase.

FAA orders Piper aircrat inspections

SPACEFLIGHT

29 Industry begins to run out o space.Koreas KSLV-1 mission succeeds atthird attempt

BUSINESS

30 Space risk is at a premium

REGULARS7 Comment

38 Straight & Level

40 Classified

43 Jobs

47 Working Week

44 JOB OF THE WEEKRadiola Aerospace,business development manager, UK

COVER STORY32 Out with the old The UK Ministry o

Deence has set a 10-year equipmentplan, but can the armed orces live withintheir budgets?

PIC OF THE WEEKYOUR PHOTOGRAPH HEREAirSpace user Keith Campbell, AKA

sunshine band, posted this shot of BAESystems Hawk T1 trainer XX242conducting a sunset-lit practice run aheadof a display by the UK Royal Air Forces RedArrows team. Our latest World Air Forcesdirectory lists 58 T1s in the RAF fleet. Opena gallery in Flightglobal.coms AirSpacecommunity for a chance to feature here

flightglobal.com/imageoftheday

sunshine

bandgalleryonfightglobal.com/AirSpace

VOLUME 182 NUMBER 5377

RexFeatures

COVER IMAGE

The UKs 10-year defence

equipment plan will run

beyond the life of the Royal

Air Forces remaining

Panavia Tornado GR4s. Thetypes low-level pedigree is

highlighted in this image

from Rex Features.

See Cover StoryP32

Australia

ndeenceministry


4/48

fightglobal.com

CONTENTS

Flightglobal reaches up to 1.3 million visitors from 220

countries viewing 7.1 million pages each month

BEHIND THEHEADLINES

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FLIGHT DAILY NEWS


THE WEEK ON THE WEB

flightglobal.com

Vote at flightglobal.com/poll

Find all these items at flightglobal.com/wotw

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

36%

Took too big a riskwith lithium-ion Too early to sayStill the right choice

28%

36%

Total votes: 2,933

This week, we ask what you think oIrans stealth fighter:RDomestic propaganda RItll never fly RSign of things to come

Last week, we asked or your take on Boeings battery strategy onthe 787. You said:

HIGH FLIERSThe top five stories for the week just gone:

1 Iran reveals new Qaher 313 stealth fghter

2 Israeli experts dismiss Irans Qaher fghter claims3 Japan probe fnds signs o thermal runaway in ANA 787 battery

4 Still no root cause or 787 problem: customers

5 American ups 777-300ER backlog to 20, CEO says

On The DEW Line, Craig Hoyle hailed good news or

people o a cer tain age (okay, and children too): there isgoing to be a new series oThunderbirds produced or UK

channel ITV. Gerry Ander-

sons tales rom Tracy Island

are to be given a new-

generation,CGI spin I

could be opening a real can

oworms here, but my

aircrat choice would

certainly be Thunderbird 2 [see Rex Features shot, above]:

it will be interestingto see whether the new programme

is true to its groundbreaking design or a strategic

transport. On the Airline Business blog, Graham Dunn

detected some unlikely language used during Ryanairslatest results briefng. Such events are usually

dominated by a mix o steady profts news and a

generous scattering ocolourful jibes at rivals and

regulators alike, wrote Dunn. But this time two words

took an unusually high profle customer service.

Ellis Taylor (below left) and Greg

Waldron were in Bengaluru or

Aero India (P12). The ardu-

ous process o obtaining visasand media passes was reminis-

cent o the uphill battle many

aerospace companies ace

when dealing with New Delhi,

notes Taylor. Nevertheless,

the lure o a large developing

population and a growing

armed forces continues to

tempt many, and in some

cases the rewards are great.

Srikanta HU shot de Havilland,

Mil and Sukhoi aircrat or our

photo special (P14), and Bala

Vignesh Medha captured theDassault Raale.

IN THIS ISSUECompanies listedAgustaWestland .....................................13, 28Airbus ..........................................8, 10, 20, 22Airbus Military ..............................................23Air India .......................................................12Alenia Aermacchi .........................................23

Alitalia .........................................................19All Nippon Airways .........................................9American Airlines .........................................16Antonov .......................................................19Arianespace ................................................29Astronics......................................................31ATR ..............................................................19Aviastar .......................................................22Avibras ........................................................24Avjet ............................................................27Boeing ...................... 9, 10, 12, 20, 21, 22, 25Bombardier ...............................11, 16, 17, 18Bristow Group ..............................................11British Airways ..............................................31Cargotec ......................................................31Cessna ..................................................26, 27CFM International ........................................20CHC Helicopter ............................................31Comac .........................................................20Dassault ......................................8, 13, 23, 26

Delta Air Lines ..............................................16Elbit Systems ...............................................24Embraer .............. 8, 13, 16, 17, 18, 24, 26, 27Eurocopter .......................................11, 13, 28Euroghter ...................................................23ExecuJet Arica .............................................28Harpia Systems ...........................................24Hindustan Aeronautics .......................8, 11, 12Honeywell ....................................................11Ilyushin ........................................................24

Japan Airlines ................................................9General Electric .........................10, 18, 20, 25General Atomics Aeronautical Systems ........10GippsAero ....................................................28Gulstream .............................................27, 28International Launch Services ......................29

Jet Airways ...................................................12Lockheed Martin ..........................8, 10, 25, 33London Executive Aviation ............................26Malaysia Airlines ..........................................20

Maldivian Air Taxi ..........................................26Mitsubishi Aircrat ........................................20NetJets ........................................................27NH Industries ...............................................24Northrop Grumman ......................................25Piper Aircrat ................................................28Porvair .........................................................31Pratt & Whitney ................... 11, 16, 18, 20, 28Prox Dynamics .............................................30Quest Aircrat ...............................................27Red Wings ...................................................22Robinson Helicopter ....................................28Rolls-Royce ......................................10, 11, 20Row 44 ........................................................31Royal Air Maroc ............................................21Russian Helicopters .....................................13Saab ...........................................................23SCAT ............................................................22Sea Launch ...........................................29, 30Sikorsky .................................................11, 13

SpaceX ..................................................29, 30SpiceJet .......................................................12SriLankan Airlines ........................................20Sukhoi ...................................................22, 23Summit Aviation...........................................28

Tailwind Airlines ...........................................21Trans Maldivian Airways ................................26Tupolev ........................................................22United Launch Alliance ................................29

Xian Aircrat .................................................19

4 |Flight International| 12-18 February 2013

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Download the Military SimulatorCensus online now.

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C O N S E R V A T I O N T H R O U G H A V I A T I O N I N N O V A T I O N

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Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh spent much of their lives promoting anessential balance between developing technologies and the preservation of thenatural environment. They would be pleased to know the Lindbergh Foundation andits Aviation Green Alliance are working to promote technological advances that easeaviations environmental footprint. Join our alliance, Aviation Green, and connect

with the growing number of leading individuals, companies and organizationsworking together for the future of aviationand all of humanity.

Creative by Greteman Group | Ad space donated by Flight International

COMPOSITES

INNOVATION

BENEFITS

REDUCED FUEL

CONSUMPTION

GREATER FATIGUE

RESISTANCE

The model airplanes Burt Rutan played with as a child helped inspire

innovation that transformed the aerospace industry. For his first

aircraft designs, Rutan drew on his experience with the light, plastic-

and-foam models. Though his goal was simplicity and ease of

construction, Rutans creations helped usher in the composites era in

aircraft construction. His radical conceptsfrom the ahead-of-its-time

Beechcraft Starship to the out-of-this-world SpaceShipOnepushed

the conceptual envelope, freeing aviation from the straightjacket of

derivative design. The cumulative environmental impact of Rutans

influence is literally incalculable. But there can be no doubt: the planet

breathes easier thanks to the countless efficiencies he pioneered.

Photo courtesy of Mark Greenberg Photography 2004

Simplicity and efficiency

drive great aircraft design.Its not an accident that the

best designs also are the

most environmentally friendly.

Burt Rutan FOUNDER / CHAIRMAN EMERITUS,

SCALED COMPOSITES

BURT RUTAN COMPOSITES VIRTUOSO


6/48

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7/48

COMMENT


See Defence P25

To read more about Irans

stealth fghter, go to

flightglobal.com/qaher See This Week P10

Seriously?

RexFeatures

The agony o not knowingO

ne thing that characterises managers in any indus-try or region is that they work hard to give the im-

pression theyre in control even if they dont knowwhats going on. So, when they dont know whatsgoing on and admit it, things are probably getting bad.

Alarmingly, thats a dynamic that can be observed inthe aerospace industry today but dont blame the man-agement; the problem is with politicians in WashingtonDC. Their 11th-hour deal to prevent the US federalbudget from going off the so-called fiscal cliff of auto-matic spending cuts on 1 January did nothing but pushthe cliff back a couple months, so a new cliff looms.

There is much to argue about the amount of moneythat should be spent on everything from new equip-

ment to modernisation. But the real problem is uncer-tainty. The US Air Force has warned Congress that thebudget impasse may force it to cut back on key pro-grammes. Just about every recent corporate financialreport has flagged up uncertainty as cause for worry.

Consultants PwC have concluded the defence aero-space industry is in need of consolidation but impor-tant players are waiting for clarity from Washington.

The Aerospace Industries Association may not beoverstating the dangers by warning that automaticbudget cuts threaten to throw the economy into a tail-spin. But even without a tailspin, loss of altitude can

bring danger.O

Fooling no-oneIrans advanced stealth fghter lacks in size, power, access panels, weapons bays and, most

o all, credibility. It seems less a threat to the nations rivals than an insult to their intelligence

Irans rollout of its Qaher-313 stealth fighter is littlemore than a poorly executed propaganda stunt for do-

mestic consumption. It is immediately apparent from themany photos and video imagery of the purported ad-vanced aircraft with a very small radar cross-sectionthat this is not a serious development. At best, it is a sub-scale testbed, but in reality, it is probably just a mock-up.

Perhaps the most immediate giveaway is the minus-cule size of the craft, which looks to be made from crude-ly painted fibreglass or Dacron fabric. There appears tobe no room for avionics or fuel, let alone weapons. More-

over, its doubtful that there is an engine installed, giventhe lack of a nozzle and the two tiny air inlets.

The other problem for Iran would be to find an enginesmall enough. Options seem limited to something likethe General Electric J85, which Iran has previously re-verse-engineered, but without a nozzle the heat wouldprobably set this papier-mch mock-up alight.

Additionally, the cockpit appears to be too small inrelation to the pilot. The canopy is made of what appearsto be polystyrene and visibility through the material canonly be described as horrendous. But the cockpit instru-ments are among the only items in the Qaher-313 thatmight be real. The Iranians appear to be using instru-mentation developed for the home-build aircraft marketwith hardware sourced from Dynon and Garmin.

There are also no visible access panels or weaponsbays. Features such as access panels are found on every

aircraft for routine maintenance, and in the case of astealth aircraft, weapons bays are a must to maintain itslow-observable signature while carrying armaments. But,as one engineer familiar with low-observables design as-tutely points out, while superficially resembling what onemight imagine a stealth aircraft to look like, the Iranianmachine has serious radar cross-section (RCS) problems.

Stealth aircraft design is much more than simply mas-tering the low-observable shapes. Advanced materialssciences need to be developed for the aircrafts skin and

coatings. Advanced analytical tools are needed to shapethe internal bulkheads and other structures. Moreover,one has to master the man-machine interfaces so a pilotcan manage the aircrafts RCS spikes in flight. There isno evidence that might suggest Iran has anywhere neareven a rudimentary grasp of those technologies.

The mystery is how Irans leaders might assume thatthey could present such a transparent farce before theeyes of the world and expect anything other than mer-ciless mockery.O

Without a nozzle the engine

heat would probably set thispapier-mch mock-up alight


8/48

THIS WEEK

fightglobal.com8 |Flight International| 12-18 February 2013

For a round-up of our latest online news,

feature and multimedia content visit

flightglobal.com/wotw

Indias acquisition of up to 126Dassault Rafale fighters for its

Medium Multi-Role Combat Air-craft (MMRCA) requirement re-mains the air forces top procure-ment priority as negotiations withthe airframer continue.

The project is very much on

track as far as the [contract nego-tiation committee] is concerned,says Air Chief Marshal NAKBrowne. Its an extremely com-plex project to bring together. Themain focus now is the work sharebetween [Hindustan Aeronautics]and Dassault.

Browne made the commentsduring a media briefing at theAero India show in Bengaluru.The Dassault Rafale was desig-nated as the final competitor inthe MMRCA contest in February

2012. Three French air force Ra-fales attended this years show.

By April or May the contractshould move to the next stage inthe process, says Browne, includ-ing a crucial review by the minis-try of finance. If all goes well bythe middle of the year we will bein a position to sign the contract,he says. There are no shortcutsto this process.

He notes, however, that it takessome programmes years to clearthe negotiation committee stage,

citing the protracted three-yeardebate around the upgrade of 51

FIGHTERS GREG WALDRON BENGALURU

Indian Rafale deal

remains on trackDassault and New Delhi still in negotiations to naliseorder that would lead to acquisition o 126 combat aircrat

RexFeatures

The air forces MMRCA requirement is its top procurement priority

UK REVEALS COST OF FAILED F-35C SWITCH

SELECTION The UKs ditched plan to switch rom the short take-o

and vertical landing to carrier variant o Lockheed Martins F-35 JointStrike Fighter wasted 100 million ($157 million), according to a

report by the House o Commons deence committee. The proposed

change was rushed and based upon incomplete and inaccurate

policy development, it says. Meanwhile, Lockheed has announced

that F-35 general manager Tom Burbage is to retire in late March.

See Cover Feature P32

TUNISAIR A320 DAMAGED IN HIGH-WIND LANDING

OPERATIONS One o Tunisairs Airbus A320s has been badly dam-

aged in a landing accident at Tunis on 6 February. It had arrived as

fight TU712 rom Casablanca at around 14:20, but Tunisair says

there were strong wind gusts as the aircrat landed and that it experi-

enced a slight excursion rom the runway. None o the 75 passen-

gers and eight crew members was injured. The twinjet (TS-IMB)sustained heavy nose damage, including uselage skin wrinkling, a-

ter the nose-gear collapsed. Meteorological data or Tunis at the time

o the accident show gusts o nearly 40kt (74km/h) rom the west.

The ministry o transport has established an inquiry into the accident.

See Air Transport P19

ANGOLA RECEIVES INITIAL SUPER TUCANOS

DELIVERIES Embraer has delivered its rst three o six EMB-314

Super Tucano light attack and reconnaissance aircrat to the Angolan

air orce. The new type will supplement the Arican nations existing

combat aircrat, which include RAC MiG-29s and Sukhoi Su-25s.

EMBRAER PESSIMISTIC ON 2013 JET DELIVERIES

AIRFRAMES Embraer predicts that deliveries o its large regionaljets will all by 10-15% in 2013, marking the lowest projected level o

output or Embraer in several years. Ater delivering 106 E-Jets to

airlines and lessors last year, the Brazilian airramer estimates deliv-

eries o 90-95 aircrat this year. Embraer also expects the deliveries

to generate net revenues o $3.2-3.35 billion. Compared with

Embraers latest guidance or 2012, the outlook or this year as-

sumes a reduction in the segments revenues o $500 million.

US COAST GUARD ADDS OCEAN SENTRY

ORDER The US Coast Guard has exercised an option to purchase

its 18th o a planned 36 HC-144A Ocean Sentry maritime patrol air-

crat. Airbus Military will prepare the converted CN235 turboprop or

the role at its San Pablo acility in Seville, Spain.

HELI-ONE NETS LONG-TERM MAKILA DEAL

REPAIR Maintenance provider Heli-One has secured a 13-year con-

tract with the UK Ministry o Deence to support the Turbomeca

Makila 1A1 engines that power the newly upgraded Eurocopter

Puma HC2 troop transports operated by the Royal Air Forces 33 and

230 Sqns. Servicing will be carried out at Heli-Ones acility in

Stavanger, Norway.

COLLIER TROPHY SHORTLIST UNVEILED

CONTEST The US National Aeronautic Association (NAA) has an-

nounced the seven aviation and aerospace projects that will com-

pete or the 2012 Robert J Collier Trophy. Nominees include

Lockheed Martins cargo UAS, the Gulstream G650 and skydiver

Felix Baumgartner along with the Red Bull Stratos team.

BRIEFING

Dassault Mirage 2000Hs. Wehope this wont happen in thecase of the MMRCA, he says.

Both Browne and defence min-ister AK Antony, who also at-tended the show, stressed the ac-quisition process is beingfollowed extremely carefully in

the MMRCAs case.Unlike Browne, Antony de-

clined to give a timeframe forwhen he expects the contract tobe signed. He says there are sixor seven layers before theMMRCA deal reaches the CabinetCommittee on Security, whichwill make the final decision onthe procurement.

We are in the process of clean-ing up the contract, says Antony.At every single stage we want tobe sure there is absolutely no sign

of malpractice.Antony and Hindustan Aero-

nautics chairman RK Tyagi alsostressed that HAL remains theprime contractor for the licensedproduction of 108 MMRCA air-craft. Sources suggest Dassaulthas pushed in contract negotia-tions to move a substantial pro-portion of the work-share to itsjoint venture with Indian con-glomerate Reliance Industries.OSee Show Report P12

For more reports and picturesrom Aero India 2013, visitflightglobal.com/aeroindia


9/48

THIS WEEK


Continuing budget

impasse threatens

US programmes

THIS WEEK P10

787 CRISIS STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

Battery failure cause remains elusiveSaety investigators widen probe to include certication process as NTSB challenges assumptions made by airramer

US safety investigators havewidened their probe of 787battery failures to include the cer-tification process used by theFederal Aviation Administrationand Boeing to declare the lithium-ion batteries safe before the air-craft entered service.

The move by the NationalTransportation Safety Board on 7February could complicate re-ported efforts by Boeing to gainapproval from the FAA to starttesting an interim solution to the

battery problem.The assumptions used to cer-

tify the battery must be reconsid-ered, says Deborah Hersman,chairman of the NTSB.

Boeings pre-certification anal-ysis determined that a batteryfailure could lead to the emissionof smoke in less than one of 10million flight hours by the 787.

The 787 fleet has accumulat-ed less than 100,000 flight hoursand there have now been two bat-tery events resulting in smoke

less than [two] weeks apart ontwo different aircraft, Hersman

says. We know that some of theassumptions they made to ensurethere was not a smoke event werenot met, much less a fire event.

The NTSB also has narrowedits search for a root cause of bat-tery fire on a Japan Airlines 787last month to the source of ashort-circuit in one of the bat-

terys eight cells, but the team stillremains probably weeks away

from reaching a conclusion, Hers-man says.

Microscopic and flight data re-corder examinations have point-ed to the sixth cell as the sourceof the short circuit, which trig-gered a thermal runaway thatcascaded to other cells and gen-erated temperatures above 260C

(500F), Hersman says.The NTSB is evaluating three

possible reasons why the sixthcell in the battery failed.

There could be a problem inthe 787s overall electrical sys-tem that charges the battery,Hersman says.

The NTSB also is still consid-ering possible contamination ofthe cell during manufacturing,she says. Finally, the review isevaluating the design of the bat-tery as the potential root cause.

Boeing continues to work on asolution to issue. Reports suggest

it has identified an iterim fix, butno further details were available.

Meanwhile, the US FederalAviation Administration contin-ues to consider a request fromBoeing to restart 787 flight tests.Although a single ferry flight by aDreamliner, line number 43 forChina Southern Airlines, wasperformed on 7 February oper-ating as flight BEO382 from ForthWorth to Seattle the FAA hasyet to approve Boeings plan.O

Boeing

Air India has six aircraft affected by the Dreamliners problem

OPERATIONS MAVIS TOH SINGAPORE

Grounding forces fleet rethinksJapan Airlines could delay the retire-

ment o two Boeing 767s to cope

with the impact o the grounding o

787s in its feet.

The two aircrat were scheduled

to be retired between April 2013 and

March 2014, the airramer says.

JAL has implemented plans to

use replacement aircrat on routesserviced by the 787s until 28

February. However, delaying the re-

tirement o its 767s could indicate

the airline is preparing or a longer

disruption to its 787 operations.

And on 4 February, the other aect-

ed Japanese carrier All Nippon

Airways said it is in talks with Boeing

to speed up the delivery o three

777s. The 777s were initially sched-

uled to be delivered between April

2013 and March 2014.

Between them, the two Japanesecarriers operate the bulk o the

worlds in-service Dreamliner feet.

ANA operates 17 o the type, while

JAL has a feet o seven 787-8s. O

Rex

Features

JALs 767s may stay in service longer than anticipated

Japanese saety investigators

released new data on 5 February

showing signs o thermal runa-

way and a short-circuit in the

main battery on an All Nippon

Airways Boeing 787 in January.

The indings, released in a

12-slide presentation, appearsimilar to evidence released the

previous week by the US

National Transportation Saety

Board (NTSB), which also re-

ported evidence o similar prob-

lems which led to a ire on a

parked Japan Airlines 787 in

Boston earlier the same month.

But there also appear to be

dierences in heat damage

caused in the incidents.

Whereas the most damage on

the JAL auxiliary power unit bat-

tery was in the ith o eight

cells, the ANA battery showed

the most extensive thermal

damage in the third and sixth

cells, including a hole in the

side o the sixth cell and a melt-

down o the anode or positive

electrode in the third cell,

states the brieing by the JapanTransport Saety Board (JTSB).

The Japanese investigators

also are investigating why a

grounding wire inside the bat-

tery enclosure was severed. A

root cause or the thermal runa-

way eect and the short circuit

in the ANA battery is also being

pursued by the JTSB, as well as

by the NTSB or the JAL battery.

JTSB oicials also ound no

meaningul clues ater inspecting

the GS Yuasa actory which man-

uactures the 787s batteries.

Evidence of thermal runaway grows

See our timeline showing the

Dreamliner nightmare:

flightglobal.com/787woes


10/48

THIS WEEK





The Lockheed Martin F-35 com-bat aircraft, Boeing KC-46

tanker and General Atomics Aero-nautical Systems MQ-9 Reaperunmanned air system programmescould all be restructured if an on-going budget impasse is not re-solved, according to a US AirForce presentation to Congress.

If Congress and PresidentBarack Obamas administrationare unable to reach a fiscal agree-ment before 1 March, US defenceoutlays will be automatically cutby 10% across the board.

Without substantial repro-

gramming flexibility, a year-longCR [continuing resolution] and se-questration disrupts modernisa-tion programmes, delays capabili-ty to the warfighter and increasescost, the USAF document says.F-35 quantities would be reduced,the KC-46 contract would be re-structured, and the MQ-9 Block 5would be delayed.

Such restructurings would beon top of delays already being im-plemented on the F-35, LockheedMartin AC-130J gunship and

space-based infrared satellite pro-grammes, with new-start procure-

ment and research and develop-

ment efforts also being frozen.If the sequestration measure is

enacted, flying hours would be re-duced by 18% across the USAFfleet and depot level maintenancedeferred, the USAF says. Flighttraining for pilots could shut downand 180,000 civilian workers couldbe furloughed for up to 22 days.The service is also reviewing non-readiness flying for necessity,including aircraft appearances atthe Paris air show and the RoyalInternational Air Tattoo in the UK.

The USAF suggests to Con-gress that if a full year continuing

resolution is unavoidable, that

legislators ensure its funding ap-proximates the fiscal year 2013budget plan, and allow it to re-programme money more freely.However, it requests that Con-gress undo sequestration.

Obama has called for anothershort-term agreement to onceagain postpone the sequestrationcuts beyond a 1 March deadline,but negotiations with Congres-sional Republicans have so farproduced no results.O

Uncertainty generated by theUS governments ongoing po-

litical battle over spending cuts isholding back a wave of defence

industry consolidation, accordingto a 2012 mergers and acquisitionsanalysis by consultancy PwC.

While 2012 was overall a busyyear in M&A, with 108 deals cov-ering aircraft or component man-ufacturers compared to 107 in2011, the value of the agreementstells a different story. After rack-ing up $22.7 billion worth ofM&A activity in 2011, the sectormanaged just $9 billion in 2012.

But while civil sector M&A re-mained reasonably solid 2012

saw GEs $4.3 billion acquisition ofAvio there was not one $1 billion-plus mega deal in defence.

PwC US aerospace and defenceleader Scott Thompson placesthe blame on Washingtons ongo-ing budget wrangles but warnsthe industry to brace itself for awave of takeover deals if the poli-ticians can settle that issue.

He says: Defence M&A is facinga perfect storm of pent-up demand,strong balance sheets and cash po-sitions, and most importantly

the necessity to consolidate in re-sponse to a contracting market.O

European regulators have cer-tificated the Rolls-Royce Trent

XWB engine ahead of the plannedfirst flight of the Airbus A350later this year.

Patrick Goudou, EASAs execu-tive director, handed over the pow-erplants type certificate to ChrisYoung, Rolls-Royces director forthe Trent XWB programme, at theauthoritys headquarters in Co-logne, Germany, on 7 February.

The approval covers the en-gines for the baseline A350-900and planned smaller -800 variant.The largest A350-1000, however,

will require a higher-thrust ver-

sion of the engine, which is stillunder development.

Airbus plans to conduct the firstflight of the twinjet which is ex-clusively powered by the TrentXWB in the middle of this year.

On 1 February it began conduct-

ing virtual first-flight operations

with the A350 test rig, a crucialpreparatory step for the maidenflight of the MSN1 prototype.

The engines for the A350 pro-totype have already been deliv-ered to the airframers final as-sembly line in Toulouse.

Rolls-Royce says that the certi-

fication programme involved 11engines and led to a total runtime

of around 3,100h.Deliveries of the A350 are due

to begin in the second half of 2014.The programme received a furtherboost on 4 February when lessorAir Lease underpinned the AirbusA350-1000 by ordering five of thetype, as well as 20 A350-900s.

Airbus says the company hasoptions for five more A350-1000s.The deal marks the third endorse-ment of the largest member of theA350 family since its redesign.

The order takes the A350 back-

log to more than 600 aircraft.O

Test flights were conducted on an A380 flying testbed

Cuts may be needed to the already tardy F-35 programme

Read the latest analysis of

global defence aviation on:

flightglobal.com/dewline

A350 gains momentum with Trent XWB approvalCERTIFICATION MICHAEL GUBISCH LONDON

SEQUESTRATION DAVE MAJUMDAR WASHINGTON DC

Continuing budget impassethreatens US programmesAir force warns failure to reach agreement would result in further delays and costs

LockheedMartin

INDUSTRY

Political battleholding backconsolidation

Rolls-Royce


11/48

THIS WEEK


Less noise butplenty of action at

Aero India 2013SHOW REPORT P12

Bristow Group believes it willbe able to return its 16

grounded Eurocopter EC225 heli-copters to service by spring orearly summer using an interimfix developed by the airframer.

The Texas-based company,which has operations across theglobe including the UK, disclosedthe move during a third-quarter

earnings call on 5 February.Bill Chiles, president and chief

executive of Bristow, says he ispretty confident over the in-terim solution to the issue thathas restricted operations of thetype since a North Sea ditchinginvolving an EC225 in October.

He says that as a longer-term fixto the shaft-cracking problem couldtake up to a year and a half to im-plement, it will find a way to safe-ly fly these helicopters throughreduced inspection intervals and

increased monitoring of the typesvibration detection system.

To cope with the grounding,which has particularly affectedits North Sea operations in theUK and Norway, Bristow hasbrought several older aircraft outof retirement. It also plans to addthe first Sikorsky S-92s from its

November 2012 order for 10 ofthe type to its operation in the re-gion from mid-2013.

In the UK, Bristow is one of thetwo shortlisted bidders for theDepartment for Transports long-running search and rescue con-test. It confirms that if successfulin its bid, it will offer the Agus-taWestland AW189 for at least

one part of the requirement.In addition, the company plans

to begin training flights later thismonth on the first of four S-92s thatit will operate as part of the UKsGap SAR contract from 1 June.

Examination of the operatorsfleet plan also indicates a possibleorder for 10 Sikorsky S-76D medi-um helicopters to its orderbook,along with 16 options. But asFlightInternationalwent to press Bristowwas unable to confirm the deal.

For the three months to 31 De-

cember, net income stood at $36.3million on turnover of $326 mil-lion, against 2011s figures of$290 million and $25.5 millionrespectively. Nine-month turno-ver was $960 million, generatingnet income of $89.7 million, com-pared with $856 million and$49.2 million in the prior year.O

New Delhi is considering a

pitch from Honeywell to up-grade the engines of 125 SepecatJaguar attack aircraft after issuinga sole-source request for propos-als (RFP) in late 2012.

Honeywell recently submitteda bid for 270 F125IN powerplantsto the Indian ministry of defence,says an industry source at theAero India show.

Honeywell says the F125INwill allow for 23% shorter highand hot take-offs, 17-40% higherthrust, greater mission range,

and better fuel efficiency. It addsthat the Jaguars, introduced in1979, have become overweightand underpowered followingyears of avionics and weaponsystems upgrades.

New Delhis Hindustan Aero-nautics-produced Jaguars arenow powered by Rolls-Royce

Turbomeca Adour 811s. The UK

engine manufacturer had pro-posed upgrading these to theAdour 821 standard. However,the company says that in Novem-ber 2010 the Indian governmentissued an RFP to itself and Hon-eywell calling for a new design.

In February 2011, Rolls-Roycethrew the planned upgrade intolimbo when it decided not to ten-der for the work. This created asingle-bidder situation that isgenerally not allowed under In-dian procurement policy.

Although sole-source bids con-travene normal acquisition prac-tice in India, the air force andministry of defence appear to bemaking an exception in the caseof the Jaguar, says the source.O

Bombardier confirms it has re-ceived its first pair of enginesto power the initial flight-test ve-hicle for the CSeries.

The Pratt & Whitney PW1524Ggeared turbofans the first of thePurePower engine series to be de-livered to a manufacturer for test-ing arrived at the CSeries final as-sembly plant in Mirabel, Quebec inearly January, Bombardier says.

P&W is still awaiting certifica-tion approval of the engines byTransport Canada.

Bombardier plans to launchflight testing of the CSeries engine

before the end of June, and hasindicated the first flight eventcould come months earlier.

The CSeries was originallyscheduled to enter flight testing in2012, but was delayed severalmonths. Bombardier now plans todeliver the first aircraft in 2014.

Bombardiers new jet is the firstaircraft to test the P&W gearedturbofan in flight. Different ver-sions have been selected to powerthe Airbus A320neo, Irkut MS-21,Mitsubishi MRJ and, most recent-

ly, the Embraer second-genera-tion E-Jet.O

ROTORCRAFT DOMINIC PERRY LONDON

Bristow bullish onEC225 comebackOperator expresses confdence in interim fx enabling returnin spring or summer but will add aircrat rom rival airramer

POWERPLANTS STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

First CSeries engines arrive

CONTRACT GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE

Honeywell bids in India torepower Sepecat Jaguars

Bristows Super Pumas were used for oil and gas crew transport

New Delhi plans to upgrade the strike aircrafts capabilities

For ull coverage o this years

Aero India air show, visit

flightglobal.com/aeroindia

Euro

copter

SimonWatson


12/48

SHOWREPORT



feature and multi-media content visit


AERO INDIA 2013

Aero India 2013 was more subdued than the 2011 edition,where the climax o the nations Medium Multi-role CombatAircrat competition took place, and fghter displays above

Yelahanka air base made conversation impossible. Thisyear, the only candidate was the Dassault Raale, the fnalcontender or the yet-to-be-awarded contract. Day one thisyear is like day three in 2011, noted one executive. Itsso quiet. But there was still plenty o action. India is atough place to do business, but has an insatiable thirst oraircrat. Report by Greg Waldron and Ellis Taylor

Abig newcomer at this yearsshow was the Hindustan Aero-

nautics Rudra, a weaponised vari-

ant of the indigenously developedDhruv helicopter.

Designated the Advanced LightHelicopter Weapons System In-tegration (ALH MkIV), the Rudrais armed with a 20mm cannon ina chin turret. It can also carry70mm rocket pods, anti-tank mis-siles and air-to-air missiles.

Two Rudras were shown atBengaluru, with one on the staticline and the other performing inthe flying display.

The Indian army reportedly

has plans to obtain up to 60 ex-amples of the type.O

New Delhi has adopted a go-slow approach for its planned

Advanced Medium Combat Air-craft (AMCA), which is in the

early stages of being designed byIndias Aeronautical Develop-ment Agency (ADA).

We plan on finalising the con-

figuration by 2018, with a firstflight in 2020, says an ADA rep-resentative. The AMCA willdraw from what we learn with

the [Hindustan Aeronautics-built]Tejas MkI and Tejas MkII.

The 20t AMCA is envisaged asa twin-engined fighter with simi-

lar stealth characteristics to theLockheed Martin F-35. For thefirst time, the ADA displayed amodel of the proposed design for

the future fighter. Outwardly, theaircraft resembles the F-35, withtwin canted tails and shaping op-timised for low observability.

It will be powered by a variantof the indigenously developedGas Turbine Research Establish-ment Kaveri engine.

The Kaveri was originally in-tended as the powerplant for theTejas but was detached from theprogramme owing to weight andperformance issues.O

STRATEGY

Boeing stays upbeat on Indian marketSeattle confdent that customers will stick with 787 despite recent troubles as it pitches 737 Max or narrowbody needs

Boeing is targeting its existingcustomer base in India for

new orders for the Boeing 737Max and 787, despite the lattersrecent troubles.

Dinesh Keskar, the airframerssenior vice-president of Asia-Pa-cific and India sales, says thethree operators of Boeing aircraftin the country Air India, Jet Air-ways and SpiceJet are its uni-

verse for the time being.In particular, he is keen to en-

sure SpiceJet, Jet Airways and AirIndia low-cost subsidiary Air

ders for current-generation 737s 32 and 44 respectively andKeskar believes this will makethem key customers for the Max,despite Airbus hinting recently itwould also pitch the A320neo tothe two airlines.

He is also upbeat about pros-pects for the 787, despite recentbattery troubles that have ground-ed the worldwide fleet of 787-8s,

including the six Dreamliners op-erated by Air India. Prior to thegrounding it was flying the air-craft on some domestic services

Photography:Ellis

Taylor/Flightglobal

India Express continue to operatethe 737, eventually moving overto the 737 Max. For the timebeing, we do not see a lot of newairlines coming into the market,so we are going to work with ourcustomer base and will do every-thing right to make sure that theyunderstand what the Max is allabout, says Keskar. We havegreat confidence that the 737 will

continue to be the mainstay of In-dian aviation, he adds.

SpiceJet and Jet Airways stillhave substantial outstanding or-

The ACMA will have similar stealth characteristics to the F-35

as well as to London and Frank-furt and had plans to add Paris atthe end of January.

Keskar says Air India maintainsits confidence in the aircraft, notingit is a cornerstone of the airlinesplans to return to profitability. Hepoints to recent remarks from thecarrier suggesting the efficiency ofthe Dreamliner had allowed it tostem losses on its Delhi-Frankfurt

route. Air India still has 21 787s onorder, while deliveries of Jet Air-ways 10 Dreamliners are sched-uled to begin in 2014.O

ROTORCRAFT

Rudra makespublic debut

New Delhi to learn lessons rom TejasCOMBAT AIRCRAFT

For more reports and pictures

rom Aero India 2013, visit

flightglobal.com/aeroindia


13/48


AERO INDIA 2013SHOW REPORT

See more fantasticphotographs from

Aero India 2013PHOTO SPREAD P14

India is proving fertile groundfor business jets, its growing

wealth making it a significantmarket for business aviation man-ufacturers and the airframerswere out in force at Aero India.

Embraer dominated, showcas-ing its Lineage 1000, Legacy 650and Phenom 100 on the static dis-play. Dassault also brought its Fal-con 900LX, 2000S and 7X to Ben-galuru. Dassault Falcon Jet chiefexecutive Jean Rosanvallon says it

has nearly 60 years of history inIndia, and it remains a key marketfor the French manufacturer de-spite sales dipping in recent years.

Things have plateaued a littlebit over the last two to three years,but based on the activity we haveseen recently, we are optimistic forthe 2013-2015 period, he says.

Embraer is a relative newcom-er to the market, delivering itsfirst business jet to an Indiancustomer in 2005, but it now has18 in service.

Jos Eduardo Costas, vice-pres-ident, marketing and sales AsiaPacific for Embraer Executive Jetssays the market for business jets

has improved in line with theeconomy: With the growth ofIndia over the last five years it hasdeveloped a lot of high-net-worthindividuals and companies.

The poor state of Indias infra-structure, and the growing needsof companies and individuals totravel domestically has helped tobolster interest, he says.

During the show, Embraer an-nounced that it had entered anagreement with local service part-ner Indamer to provide support

for the midsize Legacy 500, whichis due to enter service in 2014.O

Helicopter manufacturers Agus-taWestland, Eurocopter, Rus-

sian Helicopters and Sikorsky hada high profile at Aero India, as theyjostle for position around fourmajor naval contests.

Indias planned naval build-uprequires maritime rotorcraft insubstantial numbers. The navyhas three major requirements fornew helicopters, while the coast-

guard has one.The navys long-running Multi-

Role Helicopter (MRH) require-ment for 16-18 aircraft is still upfor grabs, following the release in2009 of a request for proposals(RFP) by New Delhi. The main ri-vals for the deal are the NH In-dustries NH90 and SikorskyS-70B Seahawk.

A further RFP is expected in thesecond half of 2013 for the serv-ices 120-aircraft Naval Multi-RoleHelicopter (NMRH) competition.

Sources stress that New Delhihas yet to specify its requirementfor the NMRH contest, but theybelieve it will call for an aircraft

capable of performing both anti-submarine and anti-surface war-fare roles, similar to the MRHcompetition. However, unlikethe smaller contract, some of theaircraft obtained under NMRH

would also be used for trooptransport. Contenders includenavalised versions of the Euro-copter EC725 and the SikorskyH-92 Superhawk.

Despite the lengthy delay tothe MRH decision, sources areconfident that it will not berolled into NMRH.

These are two separate RFPs,says one source. Besides, theMRH is badly needed to replacethe navys [Hindustan Aeronau-

tics] Cheetahs. NMRH will coin-cide with a broader build up ofthe Indian navys surface fleet inthe coming decades.

Other contests include the na-vys 56-aircraft Naval Utility Heli-copter requirement. The RFP forthis was released in August 2012,with bids due in May 2013. Eye-ing this contest, Eurocopter dis-played a naval variant of its

AS365 Panther outside its pavil-ion at the show.

The fourth and final competi-tion is for a 14-unit order by thecoastguard, which issued an RFPin November 2012 for its Twin-Engined Heavy Helicopter(TEHH) requirement.

Bids are due in March 2013,with the customer calling for ahelicopter optimised for bothsearch and rescue and combattasks. The TEHH will be based onland, but must be capable of oper-

ating from coastguard vessels.O

TRAINERS

Air forces first Pilatus PC-7 Mkll takes show bowThe Indian air orces frst Pilatus PC-7 MkII basic trainer made its public debut at Aero India. So ar, New

Delhi has received two examples o the type, which in 2011 emerged victorious in a contest or 75 basic

trainers. Pilatus, however, denied widespread Indian media reports that India has exercised an option or

35 additional aircrat. In May 2011, New Delhi signed a deal worth more than Swr500 million ($548 mil-

lion) or the 75 aircrat. The successul conclusion o the deal was o great importance to the air orce,

which suers rom a severe shortage o modern trainer aircrat.

Indias navy has three

major requirements

for new helicopters,

while the coastguardhas one

BUSINESS AVIATION

Business jetmakers upbeaton lure o India

COMPETITION

Helicopter manufacturersjostle for maritime deals

AgustaWestland, Eurocopter, Russian Helicopters and Sikorsky eye our major contests

Based on activity we

have seen recently,

we are optimistic for

2013-2015JEAN ROSANVALLONChief executive, Dassault Falcon Jet

For more reports and picturesrom Aero India 2013, visitflightglobal.com/aeroindia


14/48

14 |Flight International| 12-18 February 2013

With indigenously built and imported combat aircraft on display,

national airpower dominated Aero India. But historical, civil and

aerobatic types also featured, as our gallery attests. Photography

by Arvind Manjunath, Srikanta HU and Bala Vignesh Medha

SHOW OFSTRENGTH

AERO INDIA 2013PHOTO SPREAD


15/48


(Clockwise from main)

The HAL light combat

helicopter; a Tejas taking

off; a vintage de Havilland

Tiger Moth; Mil Mi-8/17

helicopters flying the

flag; a Lockheed Martin

C-130J casting a long

shadow; a Sukhoi

Su-30MKI from below;

Capt Ryan Worrell at the

controls of a US Air Force

Lockheed Martin F-16; a

Pilatus PC-12; Dassaults

Rafale, earmarked for a

huge Indian deal; and a

Zlin Z-50 demonstrated

by the Flying Bulls


16/48

NEWS FOCUS

fightglobal.com16| Flight International |12-18 February 2013




Embraer pins

strategy onE-Jet revamp

REGIONAL JETSSTEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

Brazilian airramer clarifes near-term proposal or aircratimprovements anticipating rush o orders or regional jets

For Embraer, winning

more US regional jet

orders is essential to

bridge a gap before

the second generationE-Jet arrives in 2018

ing a five-year gap before the sec-ond generation E-Jet arrives in2018, featuring new Pratt & Whit-ney PW1700 and PW1900 en-gines, new wings and a 15% im-provement in fuel efficiency.

With so much still at stake,Embraer is making a new push inthe market and describing the de-sign changes that Americanfound so compelling.

As the launch customer, Amer-icans regional partner, RepublicAirways, will be the first to re-ceive the E-175 with the im-proved features in 2014.

This new version of the E-Jetadds a redesigned pair of winglets,a wingspan that is 2.7m (8.86ft)longer and various smaller im-

provements to reduce fuel con-sumption by 3.5% to 5.5%, de-pending on which of the four E-Jetmodels is ordered, says Embraer.

Embraer describes the updatepackage as a part of a long-termstrategy of continuously improv-ing the E-Jet family, says Clau-dio Camelier, vice-president ofmarket intelligence for the Bra-zilian airframers commercialaviation division.

It will arrive a decade after thefirst E-170 was introduced with

LOT Polish Airlines in March2004, the first of more than 900

New battle lines have quietlybeen drawn in the resurgentcompetition between Bombardier

and Embraer ahead of an expect-ed glut of regional jet orders.

Five years after Bombardierunveiled the CRJ NextGen series,Embraer now confirms it is pre-paring to roll out a similar aero-dynamic makeover of the currentE-Jet family. The mid-life upgradeof the E-Jet design had been ex-pected, but its arrival was over-shadowed by Embraers ongoingpreparations to launch the devel-opment of a second generationE-Jet later this year.

Several airlines, however, arealready well-briefed on the make-over planned for the current E-Jet.A concept for an Embraer 175+,featuring roughly a 5% fuel burnreduction, was first disclosed but not publicly explained inOctober, as part of an ultimatelyunsuccessful campaign by Em-braer to win an order from DeltaAir Lines. Instead, Delta selectedthe Bombardier CRJ900 for a

40-aircraft order that launchedthe long-awaited refleeting of theUS regional jet fleet.

Embraer kept refining its E-Jetimprovement programme de-spite the setback. The E-175+nomenclature was dropped, per-haps to avoid creating confusionin the market with the secondgeneration E-Jet programme. It isagain simply called the E-Jet,with improvements.

Embraer declined requests toprovide the details of those im-provements until very recently,following a critical vote of confi-dence from a major customer.

In January, American Airlinesannounced an order for 47 E-175swith the improved configuration.Both the American and Deltacontracts served to immediatelystabilise the order backlogs ofboth regional jet manufacturers,but they were also merely a tasteof larger deals to come.

Last May, Bombardier and Em-braer predicted that there could beas many as five major regional jet

orders involving more than 400aircraft by US carriers. So far, onlytwo orders in the US market havebeen announced, involving up to164 aircraft, including options.

For Embraer, winning more ofthese orders is essential for bridg-

Bombardier remains confident in the CRJ1000 NextGens performance against the improved E-Jet

Bom

bardier


17/48

NEWS FOCUS


ATR crash puts

Carpatair pact

on hold

AIR TRANSPORT P19

portion of drag that exists becausethe wing generates lift. This newdesign we are developing com-pared to the current one gives asignificant benefit in terms of dragreduction and there is a signifi-cant benefit in terms of fuel burnper flight.

In aerodynamics, of course, few

if any changes that designersmake have only a positive out-come. For every desired result,there is some inescapable trade-off, and the challenge is for the de-signer to find the right balance.

Embraers new winglet pro-vides better aerodynamic charac-teristics, but at the cost of twonegative effects a weight in-crease on the overall wing, and alonger wingspan that couldreduce access to a small numberof airport gates. Embraer consid-

ered these negative changes,and in consultation with itscustomers, determined that thebenefits outweighed the nega-tives, Laia says.

Although the new winglet isavailable for new aircraft, the in-ternal structural changes re-quired inside the wing means itwill not be a feasible option toretrofit it on the existing E-Jetfleet, says Laia.

Embraer has already inductedthe new winglet design in sub-

sonic and transonic wind tunneltests. A flight test phase to vali-date the windtunnel data isscheduled to begin by mid-year,says Laia.

The winglets are the only newaerodynamic feature that is notavailable as a retrofit option onthe current E-Jet fleet. A packageof aerodynamic improvements isalready available on new produc-tion aircraft and as a retrofit.These include steps to mitigatethe drag caused by gaps in the

horizontal tail area, the rain de-flector, the ram air door and the

Republic Airways will

operate 47 of the

modified aircraft

for American Eagle

The main objective [of

the redesigned winglet

for the improved E-175]

is to reduce induced

drag of the wingLEANDRO LAIAVice-president of programmes, Embraer

E-JET FUEL BURN IMPROVEMENTS SUMMARY

Availability

E170 E175 E190 E195

Horizontal tail gaps Jan/13

Rain deflector Jan/13

Ram air door Jan/13 HwDec/13 Sw

Wheel fairing Jan/13

ECS Anti-ice optimisation Jan/13

Aerodynamic cleaning(APU inlet, red beacon)

2014

New wingtip 2014 E1752015 E1902015 E1702016 E195

Total fuel burn benefit (%) 5.0% 5.5% 3.5% 4.0%SOURCE: Embraer

look first at the outboard sectionsof the wings. This is where astandard aircraft wing is least ef-ficient at generating lift, a rarearea of a lack of complete aero-dynamic optimisation on a mod-

ern aircraft.By simply adding a pair of

winglets, airframers can simulta-neously improve the lift efficien-cy of the outboard section of thewing and reduce the induceddrag produced by any lift-gener-ating surface, says Leandro Laia,Embraers vice-president of pro-grammes in the commercial avia-tion division.

Embraer introduced the E-Jetfamily with a first-generation win-glet. However, it found that a sub-

stantial redesign could achievesignificant fuel savings, account-ing for roughly one-third of the5.5% fuel burn reduction on theimproved E-175, says Laia.

The redesign lowers the cant ofthe winglet from a near-90 angleon the original E-Jet to about 60.It roughly doubles the length ofthe flattened winglet, which re-sults in the wingspan increasingto 28.7m from 26m.

It provides some additionallift, says Laia. But the main ob-

jective is to reduce induceddrag of the wing, which is that

such deliveries over nine years.The original E-170/190 proved aformidable competitor to theBombardier CRJ700/900.

In 2008, Bombardier respond-ed by launching the CRJ NextGen,

leveraging on the development ofthe CRJ1000 to roll back aerody-namic and interior improvementsto the CRJ700 and CRJ900 series.The improvements included a setof redesigned, fuel-burn reducingwinglets. The CRJ NextGen fami-ly also included various aerody-namic clean-ups on the fuselageand the wings, as well as a majorincrease in the duration betweenbasic maintenance intervals.

Five years later, it is Embraersturn to roll out a package of simi-lar improvements with undoubt-edly the same goal keeping itsproduct relevant in a market thatis only becoming more competi-

tive, especially with the Mitsubi-shi MRJ on track to enter servicein the third quarter of 2015.

Aircraft makers are alwayslooking to find new ways to im-prove the fuel efficiency of theirproducts, despite the limitationsimposed by the mostly fixed ge-ometry of the original airframe.

To make meaningful improve-ments, the trend among manu-facturers in the past decade is to

Embraer

gg


18/48

NEWS FOCUS

fightglobal.com18| Flight International |12-18 February 2013




Track the progress of develop-

ment programmes at

flightglobal.com/aircraft

wheel fairing. Embraer hasalso optimised the environmentalcontrol system.

A second package of aerody-namic tweaks will be introduced,with the E-175 equipped with re-

designed winglets next year.These reduce the drag caused bythe shape of the inlet for the aux-iliary power unit and the anti-collision beacon.

In an industry with productsdelivered at near-peak efficiencylevels, such aerodynamic chang-es may seem modest, but aregratefully received by both air-lines and lessors.

Indeed, Bombardier rede-signed the original CRJ series air-craft with an almost identical list

of improvements when the Next-Gen series was introduced in2008. Not surprisingly, perhaps,Bombardier remains confident ofthe competitiveness of the CRJNextGen compared with the im-proved E-Jets.

Were a couple years ahead ofwhat Embraers doing now, saysBen Boehm, Bombardiers vice-president of business develop-ment and strategy.

While Embraer predicts a 3.5-5.5% improvement across the

E-Jet series, compared with its

original design, Bombardierclaimed an improvement of up to4% on the NextGen CRJ seriesversus the baseline CRJ.

Moreover, Bombardier can al-ways claim an inherent advan-

tage on fuel efficiency. That is be-cause of Embraers designphilosophy, with the E-Jet seriesemphasis on cabin comfort. Theoriginal E-Jet cabins are longer,wider and taller than the equiva-lent CRJ NextGen models, andEmbraer is making no interiorchanges to the improved version.The result is a heavier airframe.

The basic operating weight of theE-170 is 6.63% more than theCRJ700 NextGen.

Even if they could make theiraerodynamics just as good asours, were still lighter and we

still burn less fuel, says Boehm.

It is an advantage that Bombar-dier believes will carry over eveninto Embraers second generationE-Jet, which will not enter the mar-ket until 2018. That E-Jet will haveredesigned airfoils and new P&Wengines designed to be significantlymore efficient than the General

Electric CF34s powering both thecurrent E-Jet and CRJ family.

With its commercial aviationsegment focused on deliveringthe CSeries small narrowbody,Bombardier has no plans tolaunch a further refresh of the CRJNextGen or new regional jet air-frame to compete with the secondgeneration E-Jet and MRJ.

Moreover, Boehm argues thatthe existing CRJ1000 NextGenwill be able to compete with thesecond generation E-Jet family.

Even with all those [second

SOURCE: Embraer Flightglobal

Current Wingspan 26m

New Wingspan 28.7m

EMBRAER E-JET WING-TIP MODIFICATION

an 26m

.7m.

generation] changes, well stillhave an advantage, especially theCRJ1000, Boehm says.

Bombardier has ruled out there-engine option for the CRJ, de-spite the strategy being embracedby Airbus, Boeing and Embraer.The CSeries was launched before

Airbus and Boeing decided to re-engine their single-aisle productsrather than launch an all-new air-frame. We dont believe in re-engining airplanes, says Boehm.Optimisation of an airplanestarts at a pre-natal age.

That means the competitivelandscape for the large regionaljet market is now officially set forthe remainder of the decade. Bar-ring some unforeseen announce-ment, the competition will besplit initially between the im-

proved E-Jet and the CRJ Next-Gen, and then between the MRJ,the second generation E-Jet and,still, the CRJ NextGen. In the nearterm, Bombardier may claim a le-gitimate advantage in fuel effi-ciency, if not always in cabincomfort. But Embraer will not bewithout other favourable com-parisons on the improved E-Jet.

Maintenance cost has been aconstant back-and-forth battle be-tween the two manufacturers.The CRJ700 was introduced in

2001 with a 4,000h interval be-tween basic maintenance checks.Embraer delivered the E-170 in2004 with a 6,000h interval,which Bombardier matched withthe CRJ NextGen.

Airframers are always seekingan advantage, and Embraer hasmade the next move. The im-proved E-Jet, says EmbraersCamelier, will enter service witha 7,500h interval between main-tenance checks.O

We dont believe in

re-engining airplanes.

Optimisation of anairplane starts at a

pre-natal ageBEN BOEHMVice-president, Bombardier

Prat

t&Whitney

Second-generation E-Jets will be powered by variants of the Pratt & Whitney PW1000 engine

gg


19/48

AIR TRANSPORT


SriLankan nearingdecision on A340feet replacementAIR TRANSPORT P20

Alitalia has suspended allflights operated by Romaniancarrier Carpatair, after a landingaccident at Rome involving anATR 72-500.

The aircraft was badly dam-aged as it arrived from Pisa, oper-ating domestic flight AZ1670 atnight on 2 February.

Alitalia says the ATR was inthe final stages of approachingRome Fiumicino but experi-enced difficulties in landing as aresult of strong wind. The air-

port had been experiencingstrong gusts from the southwestat the time.

Preliminary data from the Italianinquiry, disclosed by French au-thority the BEA, indicates that theaircraft suddenly lost altitudebefore touchdown and struck therunway with its nose-gear.

It bounced three times, the BEAadds, before sliding off the runwayon its fuselage underside.

Alitalia says the aircraft(YR-ATS), which had departed

Aerospace researchers in Russiahave developed a potentialinexpensive multipurpose aircraftplatform aimed at the 19-seat re-gional airliner market.

Similar in appearance to theAntonov An-38, the high-wing,twin-engined aircraft features a

double vertical fin and fuselage-mounted main landing-gear.

Its design is intended to com-bine high aerodynamic efficiencyin cruise with high-lift capabili-ties during take-off and landing,says the Moscow-based CentralAerohydrodynamic Institute. Itsays windtunnel testing of mod-els has confirmed these character-istics, and the institute has alsoundertaken landing-gear testingof the design.

The institute cites analysis by

Russian aerospace co-ordinationcompany Avia Prom pointing to

INVESTIGATIONDAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

ATR crash puts Carpatair pact on holdAlitalia suspends operation perormed by Romanian partner airline ater turboprop is badly damaged during Rome landing

FLEET FIRDAUS HASHIMSINGAPORE

Kyrgyz government expresses interest in Chinese MA60s

Kyrgyzstans government has be-

come the latest potential customer

to show interest in the Chinese-built

Xian Aircrat MA60 turboprop.

The Central Asian states deputy

prime minister visited the airramers

acility earlier this month and Xian

says the two sides would negotiate

sales o the type, but has not speci-

fed urther details.

Kyrgyzstans talks ollow delivery

o an MA60 to Arican operator

Eritrea Massawa Airways towards

the end o last year, as well as the

handover o an eighth airrame to

Chinas Okay Airways.

Okay has a deal to lease 10

MA60s rom Chinas AVIC

International Leasing, and the car-

riers development director, Liu

Zhonghui, says they have helped the

airline develop its regional routes.

Xian also entered the Middle

Eastern market in December ater

the Yemeni government took a pair o

its new MA600 reighters or Felix

Airways, becoming launch customer

or the type. Yemen also signed an

order or six MA60s and says a Xian

spares centre will open in Aden. O

demand for 1,770 airframes during2016-2030, with more than 60%configured as a 19-seat regionaltransport. Two other variants a13-seat and a nine-seat version would account for the balance.

It states that the airframe wouldbe constructed of composite ma-

terials and the aircraft would be

able to cope with unpaved air-ports in areas such as Siberia.

Russias state aviation researchinstitute GosNII GA suggests suchan aircraft could serve to replacetypes including the Let L-410,and cut costs of operations withcurrent equivalent airframes by

up to 45%.O

Russians test potential 19-seat turboprop designAIRFRAMES DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Pisa at 19:15, was carrying 46 pas-sengers and four crew members.One passenger suffered a brokenleg as the turboprop left the run-way and came to a halt on grass.The aircraft sustained collapsedlanding-gear and damage to itsstarboard propeller.

The Italian airline says it im-mediately suspended all flightscarried out on its network by Car-patair, which has two ATR 72-500soperating for Alitalia.

Italian investigation authority

ANSV says it downloaded thedata from the cockpit voice andflight data recorders in co-opera-tion with public prosecutors.

The operation went smoothlyand the data was read, saysANSV, adding that it is preparingto analyse the information.

The recovered equipment wassubsequently returned to judicialauthorities, the investigatorsstate, because it remains in astate of seizure.

ANSV has previously publicly

clashed with the countrys judici-ary over access to flight recorderinformation, notably in the wakeof a Cessna executive jet crash inRome in February 2009.

It reiterates that its sole objec-tive regarding the ATR accidentis to determine its cause for thepurpose of prevention, and thatthe courts are tasked with estab-lishing responsibility.

While the inquiry has yet todetermine the precise circum-stances of the accident, meteoro-

logical data shows that Fiumicinowas subject to gusting crosswindsexceeding 30kt (56km/h) duringthe day.

Irish investigators studying anAer Arann accident at Shannonin July 2011, which similarlydamaged an ATR 72, recom-mended that the carrier reviewcrosswind limitations. The turbo-prop had landed in gusting con-ditions with a nose-down attitudeand bounced, sustaining a nose-gear collapse.O

Gusting winds were present as the flight from Pisa touched down

TsAGI

PA

The design includes an H-tail


20/48

AIR TRANSPORT


Check out our collection o online dynamic

aircrat profles or the latest news, images

and inormation on civil and military

programmes at flightglobal.com/profiles

SriLankan Airlines has com-pleted most of the work need-ed to assess potential replace-

ments for its fleet of seven AirbusA340-300s, and could make a de-cision around mid-2013.

The airline is assessing the Air-bus A330 and Boeing 777-300ERfor the requirement to replace Sri-Lankans long-haul aircraft,which are too expensive to oper-ate amid high fuel prices.

A decision will be made in afew months as the airline hopesto begin retiring its A340s from2014, chief executive KapilaChandrasena said on the side-

lines of a ceremony to mark Ma-laysia Airlines entry into theOneworld alliance.

Sources close to the situationsay the airline is leaning towardsthe A330 because of its familiari-ty with the type the airline op-erates seven A330s, all -200spowered by Rolls-Royce Trent700 engines.

Introducing a new type of air-craft into the fleet will also addunnecessary complication to op-erations and potentially increase

costs. But Chandrasena says theairline is determined to be fair to

both airframers and will make adecision based on what will bethe best option for the airline.

We want an aircraft that willmake the most sense for us, hesays, adding that the carrier hasconducted 60% of the assessmentwork for the fleet renewal.

SriLankan hopes to have an en-tirely new generation of aircraftby 2023 and is likely to begin ex-amining the Boeing 787 and Air-bus A350 in 2014, says Chandrase-na. A competition to find a nextgeneration replacement for itseight Airbus A320s will eventuallybe needed as well, he adds.O

MarkKwiatkowskigalleryonfightglobal.com/AirSpace

A330s are tipped as a strong candidate owing to the commonality

Pratt & Whitney has affirmedthat development of itsPW1200G geared turbofan willnot delay Mitsubishi AircraftsMRJ regional jet programme.

Its PW1217G powerplant forthe 90-seat MRJ90 had its firstflight on a Boeing 747 flying test-bed in mid-2012, and has sinceclocked some 130h.

Weve now completed twoflight-test programmes for the firsttwo MRJ geared turbofans, saysPratt & Whitney president David

Hess. The engine is progressingvery well. When the aircraft isready, the engine will be readywith it. The engine will not delaythe programme.

P&W is working with the air-

framer as well as Mitsubishi HeavyIndustries to ensure the certifica-tion programme for the engine issynced up with the certificationprogramme of the airframe.

The engine manufacturer saidin January that certification of thePW1200G had been pushed backto the latter half of 2014, or atleast six to 12 months after the re-gional jets scheduled first flightin late 2013.

Mitsubishi, meanwhile, wouldonly say the programme is on

track to perform its first flight in2013, and that it can start testflights before the engine com-pletes certification. The MRJ wasoriginally scheduled to enterflight testing in late 2011.O

ENGINES

Comac talks future options with P&WPratt & Whitney is discussing with

Comac possible applications o its

geared turboan range or uture

models o the Chinese airramers

aircrat, including variants o its

ARJ21 regional jet.

Talks are in the early stages as

Comac is still working on its strategy

and is ocused on the development

o its C919 narrowbody, says Pratt &

Whitney president David Hess.

Comac has asked that we con-

tinue to keep them updated on the

progress o the [geared turboan],

says Hess. Theyre very excited

about the technology and new engine

and weve been engaged with them

in a number o studies on the applica-

tion o the [engine] on some o the

uture aircrat they are looking at.

The C919 is powered exclusively

by the CFM International Leap-1C

engine, while the ARJ21 has

General Electric CF34s. However,

the Chinese also want to develop

their own alternative powerplant or

the C919.

With multiple variants o the

C919 and ARJ21 still on the drawing

boards, Comac is continuing to seek

other engine options.

This business with Comac is

very important. Its clear that they

are going to be a big player in uture

in the OEM business, says Hess.

Its unortunate we missed the

frst aircrat, but we know its not

going to be their last. There will be

others, and we want to be with them

in the uture.O

AIRFRAMESSIVA GOVINDASAMY KUALA LUMPUR

SriLankan nearingdecision on A340fleet replacement

Asian carrier assessing both manuacturers long-haul twinsas its our-engined workhorses prove too costly to operate

SriLankan hopes to

have an entirely new

generation of aircraft

by 2023 and is likely

to begin examining

the Boeing 787 and

Airbus A350 in 2014

For opinions on developments

in the region read Asian Skies

flightglobal.com/asianskies

PROPULSIONMAVIS TOH SINGAPORE

Geared turboan will nothold up MRJ programme

Pratt&Whitney

P&Ws PW1271G powerplant first flew on a modified 747 testbed


21/48

AIR TRANSPORT


Sceptical RedWings vows to fy onAIR TRANSPORT P22

INVESTIGATIONDAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Improvisation damaged landing 737Late request rom controller let Royal Air Maroc pilots with little time to prepare or tricky circle manoeuvre at Paris

Pilots of a Royal Air MarocBoeing 737-800 damagedthe aircraft during an unstablecircle-to-land manoeuvre at ParisOrly, after belatedly improvisingthe approach.

Unavailability of runway 08/26had led to saturation of runway24 on 4 July 2009, and air trafficcontrol asked whether the RAMcrew arriving from Casablanca could accept an approach torunway 20 instead.

This required following the in-

strument landing system ap-proach to 24 before peeling left toline up with 20. Since the twothresholds were 2km apart, theglideslope for 24 was some 300fttoo high, and the controller in-formed the 737 crew that theywould have to dip below it forrunway 20.

SAFETY

Premature Tailwind descent traced to chart fix confusion

French investigators believe the pi-lots o a Turkish-operated Boeing

737-400 misidentied a crucial way-

point on approach to Lyon, resulting

in a premature descent which gener-

ated minimum sae altitude alerts.

The Tailwind Airlines aircrat had

been cleared to descend to 3,000t

(910m) and carry out a localiser ap-

proach to runway 36R, as the glides-

lope was unavailable. But while the

procedure requires a descent rom

6.9nm (12.8km) out, the aircrat be-

gan to lose altitude at about 10nm.

At the time the cloud base was

around 1,200t, close to the mini-

mum descent altitude, and a preced-

ing fights crew had noted this in an

exclamation to air trac control. The

737 stayed below the normal glides-lope and eventually triggered a mini-

mum altitude warning, prompting

the controller to order a go-around.

French investigation authority BEA

says the crew was unaware o the

reason or the go-around instruction.

The aircrat had descended to 250t

above ground level while still 1.4nm

rom the runway.

None o the 105 occupants was

injured during the 7 September 2010

incident. The aircrat (TC-TLE) had

been operating on behal o Tunisair.

Inquiries determined the pilots had

erroneously identied the nal ap-

proach point. Frances aeronautical

charts indicated the approach should

begin at 10nm ater clearance to

4,000t, but also eatured a 6.9nmx or approaches rom 3,000t.

The BEA acknowledges that the

crew was not ully inormed as to

which approach should be per-

ormed, but questions the pilots

control o their descent.

It points out that, nine days later,

another crew on the same approach

detected their own similar error by

routinely cross-checking their dis-

tance and altitude. The pilots cor-

rected their descent at 2,400t

without triggering any alarms.

BEA says the two approach xes

on the same chart contributed to the

Tailwind incident and has recom-

mended that charts eaturing multi-

ple xes be removed.O

French investigation authorityBEA says the aircraft followed theILS 24 glideslope, its captain dis-engaging the autopilot at 1,400ft.It descended at a rate of 1,000ft/

min and was configured for land-ing by 1,250ft.

After being cleared for an ap-proach to runway 20 the aircraftbegan a left turn at 400ft. But the

aircraft was subjected to an 8kt(15km/h) tailwind and, as it contin-ued in a left 28 bank, it overshotthe centreline at about 46m (150ft).

The captain continued the leftturn to compensate, and thenbanked right to realign. At aheight of 40ft the 737 was stillbanking 14 right.

HARD IMPACT

The pilot increased thrust at 20ftbut the aircrafts bank was still 10right when it touched the ground,

to the left of the runway, with animpact of 2.14g. The aircraftsright-hand main gear rolled for200m before the crew aborted thelanding and the twinjet becameairborne again.

It subsequently landed safely this time on runway 24 but theBEA says an inspection revealeddamage to the 737s wheels.

Investigators state the RAM737 was the only aircraft to landon runway 20. The BEA also saysthat using the runway for depar-

tures would probably have pre-vented saturation of runway 24.

It says the crew was offered theapproach less than 8min beforelanding, leaving little time forthe pilots to prepare, and theyimprovised the approach intailwind conditions. Guidancelights for the runway wereswitched off.

This manoeuvre was incom-patible with the operators stabili-sation criteria, says the BEA.All of these circumstances led to

a non-stabilised approach to run-way 20.O

Keep up to date with aviation

saety at our dedicated channel:

flightglobal.com/safety

AirTeamImages

Demanding conditions at Orly resulted in an unstable approach

Open your FREE copy ofAirline Business Interactive magazine

in association with DVB Bank

INTERACTIVE MAGAZINE

Available from 28th January 2013 at www.flightglobal.comTHIS MONTH:

Finance SpecialAvailable now at www.flightglobal.com/ifinance13


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Grounded Tupolev Tu-204 op-erator Red Wings indicates itintends to respond to all the find-ings which resulted in its flightsuspension, but appears suspi-cious about the decision.

Federal air transport authorityRosaviatsia ordered the ground-ing from 4 February, citing thefindings of an unscheduled in-spection of the carrier in the wakeof the fatal Tu-204 overrun atMoscow Vnukovo on 29 Decem-ber but stressed it was not di-

rectly related to the accident.The crash resulted in an un-

scheduled six-day inspection ofthe airline in mid-January focus-ing on flight operations, pilottraining and maintenance. Rosa-viatsia says the inspection turnedup numerous significant viola-tions in these areas.

Red Wings Tu-204s were in-volved in other incidents aroundthe time of the accident and Rosa-viatsia says the latest during aChelyabinsk-Moscow flight on 29

January involved a thrust-re-verser failure in one engine,linked to crew actions. Thrust-reverser operation has been cen-tral to the Vnukovo crash probe.

But the airline points out it has

L oss of a SCAT BombardierCRJ200 in Almaty came asKazakhstans government battlesto convince international regula-tors to lift restrictions on the Cen-tral Asian states airlines.

Few details have emerged sur-rounding the circumstances ofthe accident, but SCAT says thejet, arriving from Kokshetau at13:12 on 29 January, was con-ducting an approach in freezingfog and low visibility.

Weather data for runway 23Rindicated visual range consistentwith Category IIIb conditions.

The aircraft came down some2km before the 23R threshold,

with no survivors among the 16passengers and five crew.

Before departing Kokshetau,the crew was healthy and fullyprepared, says the carrier. SCATadds that the 13-year-old CRJ200(UP-CJ006) underwent a 2A-check at Novosibirsk-based main-tenance firm Sibir Technics inmid-December 2012.

Kazakhstan was blacklisted bythe European Commission in2009, with the exception of AirAstana which operates an Aru-ban-registered fleet. The govern-ment told Europes air safety com-

mittee that in November 2012 ithad halted operations by all Sovi-

et-built aircraft which were notICAO-compliant. Fifteen aircraft

were banned: one Tupolev Tu-134,seven Yakovlev Yak-40s, five An-tonov An-24s and two An-12s.

Documentation accompanyingthe latest European blacklist saysthe Kazakh authorities told the airsafety committee that no air op-erators certificate can be granteduntil the countrys regulators areable to fully discharge their re-sponsibilities towards ICAO.

ICAO conducted an audit ofKazakhstan in April 2009, identi-fying two significant safety con-

cerns in aircraft operations andairworthiness. Since the EU black-

listing, the government has drawnup a new civil aviation code,

adopting dozens of particular reg-ulations, and establishing a flightsafety centre, while performing arecertification of operators. Thetransport ministry says the SCATCRJ200, previously operated byDenmarks Cimber Sterling, hadan airworthiness certificate validuntil September 2013.

Only five days before the crash,the government highlighted thetechnical safety support it hadstarted receiving from ICAO.O

OPERATIONSDAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Red Wings sceptical over groundingAirline suspicious about rationale behind certifcate suspension but vows to respond to fndings rom inspections

PROGRAMME

Situation heaps further uncertainty on Tu-204SMs future

Red Wings is the largest airline user

o the Russian-built Tupolev Tu-204,and its grounding is a urther set-

back to the Tu-204SM programme,

or which the airline had been the

only tentative customer.

The Tu-204SM is a modernised

CRJ accident undermines Kazakh saety overhaulREGULATIONDAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

been regularly checked by Rosa-viatsia and transport supervisoryauthority Rostransnadzor, andclaims an audit committee inSeptember 2012 determined thatRed Wings continued to meet cer-tification requirements.

Red Wings adds that Rostran-

snadzor completed an audit on 28December, with 18 findings, twoof which were dealt with immedi-ately. Another 10, it says, havesince b

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