Flight International 27 Sep - 3 Oct 2011

FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

SWITCH BLADES WHY ROLLS IS COMING TO TERMS WITH COMPOSITES CIVIL ENGINES

FLYING TO FIFTYAirbus suggests monthly A320 output may hit half century on single-aisle demand surge 10

MERGER MOOD As UTC targets Goodrich, many believe new flurry of industry consolidation is on the cards 32

787 HANDOVER

DELIVERANCEThree years on, can Boeing’s wayward prodigy redeem its creator and finally make its mark?

flightglobal.com

£3.10 USA$8.99

27 SEPTEMBER-3 OCTOBER 2011

FIN_270911_001 1 22/9/11 10:03:57

FIN_270911_002 2 21/09/2011 13:46:39

flightglobal.com

FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

27 SEPTEMBER-3 OCTOBER 2011

Jon O

str

ow

er,

Bom

bard

ier

VOLUME 180 NUMBER 5310

Jon O

str

ow

er

Honda A

ircr

aft

Handover to All Nippon Airways puts an end to Boeing 787

delays P8. Bombardier and Comac find commonality P6

NEXT WEEK PRE-NBAA SPECIAL On the eve of the sector’s biggest get-together in Las Vegas, we assess rebounding fortunes in US business aviation within a comprehensive package

PIC OF THE WEEK YOUR PHOTOGRAPH HERE AirSpace user Sharpshot posted this image of a Douglas DC-7B in Fly Eastern Air Lines colours. “Air traffic control asked whether the start-up would be visible from the tower,” writes Sharpshot. “He need not have...” Open a gallery in flightglobal.com’s AirSpace community for a chance to feature here.

COVER IMAGEOur resident Boeing 787

programme expert Jon

“FlightBlogger” Ostrower

took this photograph of a

Dreamliner in ANA colours

on 6 August. Ostrower also

wrote our cover story.

See News Focus P8 Sharp

shot G

alle

ry o

n fl

ightg

lobal.co

m/AirS

pace

27 September-3 October 2011 | Flight International | 3

NEWS THIS WEEK 6 Comac reinforces Bombardier bond

7 Boeing’s party ruined by 747-8F row

8 The dream becomes reality

9 Real-time monitoring of 787 health data aims to boost dispatch reliability

AIR TRANSPORT 10 Airbus hints at 50-a-month A320 rate

14 CSeries risks missing order targets.

US to stub out ‘confusing’ electronic cigarettes

16 TU-134 drifted before fatal approach.

Braking mystery at heart of Yak-42 crash inquiry

18 A350-1000 yet to convince Air Lease.

Germany’s MTU seeks C919 second engine role

SHOW REPORT 20 Trainers and helicopters stuck in USAF

budget limbo

21 EADS uncertain on Air Force One bid.

JSM decision is critical for F-35 buy

DEFENCE 22 Indian air force swoops for Saras.

Australia advances MRH90 review

BUSINESS AVIATION 24 ADS-B urged to dig mining sector out of

capacity hole.

Flying Colours widens its ambitions

25 Flexjet cuts cost of share in first four Learjet 85s by 5%.

Indian green light for Phenom 300

GENERAL AVIATION 28 LoPresti plans November flight for

upgraded Cirrus.

C-NM5 piston takes to the sky

NEWS FOCUS 30 Pilot training advances stifled by

rule-makers

BUSINESS 32 Time to buy growth

REGULARS5 Comment 41 Straight & Level42 Letters44 Classified 47 Jobs 51 Working Week 48 JOB OF THE WEEK Technical Instructor,

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong

COVER STORY8 Delivering the dream The eight-year

struggle to get the 787 into service

FEATURES34 COMMERCIAL ENGINES Coming full

circle Why Rolls-Royce is moving from metalic fan blades to composite versions

36 Out in the cold FAA regulation changes create tougher climate for engine makers

38 REGIONAL AIRCRAFT Slow burn Fuel price spike has boosted the attractiveness of turboprops, but plans to add new products are stuck in the pipeline

flightglobal.com/imageoftheweek

FIN_270911_003-004 3 22/9/11 18:57:53

flightglobal.com

CONTENTS

Flightglobal reaches up to 1.3 million visitors from 220

countries viewing 7.1 million pages each month

Find all these items at flightglobal.com/wotw

For a full list of reader services, editorial and advertising contacts see P43

EDITORIAL +44 20 8652 3842 [email protected]

DISPLAY ADVERTISING +44 20 8652 3315 [email protected]

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING +44 20 8652 4897 [email protected]

RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING +44 20 8652 4900 [email protected]

WEBMASTER [email protected]

SUBSCRIPTIONS +44 1444 445 454 [email protected]

REPRINTS +44 20 8652 [email protected]

FLIGHT DAILY NEWS +44 20 8652 [email protected]

ACAS +44 1788 540 898 [email protected]

HIGH FLIERSThe top five stories for the week just gone:

1 Cargolux will not take 747-8F delivery over contract wrangle

2 Cargolux could seek capacity elsewhere after 747-8F rejection

3 Cargolux 747-8F dispute linked to late Qatar 787 deliveries

4 P-51 Mustang crashes into crowd at Reno Air Races

5 Air France-KLM to take up to 110 A350s and 787s

BEHIND THE HEADLINES Greg Waldron was snapped in

front of a Comac C919 model at

Beijing’s Aviation Expo/China

2011 (below), where it seemed

everyone in aerospace was still

bullish on China’s growth poten-

tial (P6). FlightBlogger had

booked his Seattle trip before

Cargolux cancelled its Boeing

747-8F delivery ceremony, but

completed the journey anyway –

and made it worthwhile (P8). And

en route to visiting Canadian VIP

completions and conversions

specialist Flying Colours (P24),

Niall O’Keeffe was flown from

Montreal to Peterborough,

Ontario, in a Bombardier

Challenger 605 business jet.

IN THIS ISSUECompanies listedACSS ...........................................................33AgustaWestland ...........................................26Air Baltic ........................................................6Airbus ........................................10, 12, 16, 33Aircelle ........................................................33Air France ....................................................28Air Lease Corportation .................................16Airservices Australia .....................................24Alaska Airlines .............................................28Alenia Aeronautica .......................................20Antonov .......................................................22AT Aero ........................................................33Aviation Capital Group .................................16AVIC Commercial Aircraft Engines ...........16, 33Avtrade ........................................................33BAE Systems ...............................................20Baltijas Aviacijas Sistemas .............................6Boeing .......................................10, 12, 22, 33Bombardier ........................ 12, 14, 24, 25, 28Carrier Air Conditioning ................................32Cirrus ...........................................................26Comac .........................................................33Dassault Aviation .........................................25Dassault ......................................................24DeltaHawk ...................................................26DRB Aviation Consultants.............................33Embraer .................................................22, 25Emirates .....................................................16Eurocopter ...................................................26ExecuJet ......................................................25Falcon Trust Air .............................................25Flexjet ..........................................................25Flying Colours ..............................................24GAMA Aviation .......................................25, 33General Dynamics........................................32GippsAero ....................................................26Goodrich ......................................................32Grob Aircraft.................................................22Gulfstream .............................................24, 33Ilyushin ........................................................22Hampson .....................................................33Hawker Beechcraft .......................................24Jet Aviation Moscow .....................................25Landmark Aviation .......................................24Lockheed Martin ..........................................22London Executive Aviation ............................24LoPresti Aviation Engineering .......................26Maguire Aviation ..........................................25Mahindra Aerospace ....................................26MTU Aero Engines ........................................16National Aerospace Laboratories..................22NetJets ........................................................25Nexcelle .......................................................33NH Industries ...............................................22Northrop Grumman ......................................20Oxford Aviation Academy ..............................28Pacific Scientific Aerospace .........................32Pratt& Whitney .......................................12, 33Qatar ...........................................................16Rafael ..........................................................33Raytheon Australia .......................................22RusAir ..........................................................14RusLine .......................................................14Safran .........................................................33Singapore Technologies Engineering .............33Sikorsky .......................................................22TAME Línea Aérea del Ecuador .......................6Teledyne Controls .........................................28Tiger Airways Australia ..................................33Triumph........................................................32Tupolev ........................................................14United Technologies .....................................32Vought Aerospace ........................................32Xian Aircraft .................................................33Yakovlev .......................................................14

4 | Flight International | 27 September-3 October 2011

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

THE WEEK ON THE WEBflightglobal.com

Last week, we asked: Should pilots be forced to retire no later than age 60? You said:

YESIt’s safer and clears the way for younger pilots

NOBut 65 should be

the limit

NOPilots should be allowed to continue as long as fit

26% 38% 36%

Total votes: 3,135

This week, we ask: Will the 787 break even? Undoubtedly – popular and game-changing airliner Touch and go – may take a decade

No chance – too late and too cheap

Vote at flightglobal.com/poll

N

Russia stands out among the world’s biggest military spenders

by not having an indigenous medium-altitude unmanned air

vehicle. Defence blog The DEW Line carried a video that cleared

up the mystery. The clip shows

the fate of Russia’s answer to

the Predator, the Vega Stork, a

demonstrator of which crashed

on 18 January 2010. The

Boeing 747-8F non-delivery had

FlightBlogger trawling the Flight International archives to locate

our August 1991 story on Singapore Airlines’ cancellation of 20

Pratt & Whitney PW4460-powered Douglas MD-11 aircraft in

favour of Airbus A340-300s, after the former were deemed

unable to fly the Singapore-Paris route without a 5t payload

restriction. On Asian Skies, Greg Waldron posted images –

sourced from the Japan Security Watch blog – of the Kawasaki XP-1 maritime patrol aircraft conducting flight tests with two

Type-91 anti-ship missiles on its inboard missile pylons (left).

FIN_270911_003-004 4 22/9/11 18:55:47

COMMENT

flightglobal.com

Are the commercial airframers’ forecasts too optimistic? Is the Boeing 787 worth celebrating? Have your say online at flightglobal.com/comment

Airbus has followed Boeing with a robust 20-year market outlook that may call for unprecedented aircraft build rates – assuming the future does what it is supposed to

Oh, for perfect vision

Good news this week from Airbus, whose experts forecast the world’s air operators will buy nearly

28,000 new jets between now and 2030 – more than doubling the size of the fleet to the high side of 31,000.

While not quite as optimistic as arch rival Boeing, which back in June detailed its 20-year expectations for 33,500 deliveries, Toulouse and Seattle both agree that forecasts published last year needed revising upwards by nearly 3,000 units. This demand is so great that Air-bus may increase output of its workhorse A320 narrow-body to an astonishing 50 aircraft monthly.

Things, it seems, can only get better.But while it would be churlish to argue with either

Airbus or Boeing – success suggests they know their market better than anybody – it should be remembered that forecasts are based on assumptions.

Boeing’s numbers, for example, are based on expec-tations of a 3.3% annual growth of the global economy, which is reasonably consistent with current conditions. But the risks are on the downside. As is painfully clear,

the evolving debt crisis threatens to knock Europe and North America off the rails for many years to come, and it is far from clear that emerging markets can continue even their current – slowing – rate of growth, without these big motors firing at least on most cylinders.

Indeed, Brazil – the “B” lining up with Russia, India and China among BRIC nations – is looking wobbly, and while Chinese growth has more or less held up through the crisis, its rocketing economy will plateau,

See News Focus P6

You might wonder what Boeing has to do to catch a break. Just as its 787 widebody finally rolls toward

commercial service, the high-power beams illuminat-ing Everett turn out not to be theatrical spotlights, but rather the headlamps of an oncoming express carrying a late delivery of trouble.

The timing of “Freightergate” – or the shenanigans surrounding the delivery of the initial 747-8Fs – is without doubt extraordinary. Boeing must have been unpacking a job-lot of Luxembourg-flavoured bunting and polishing the knife to cut the cake when the telex from Cargolux arrived to call the party off.

“Big airplanes are the hardest,” wrote Randy Basel-er, then head of Boeing commercial marketing, in a blog

post five years ago. This was an expression of sympathy for Airbus, which was struggling to free itself from the A380 production quagmire. But it was left in no doubt that the comment was directed inwardly as much as towards Toulouse.

This is why it would be a shame to focus attention solely on the 747’s clattering into the last hurdle, just as the 787 is sailing over its own. After all, the 787 is not just a “big airplane” – it is one which demanded a whole new way of building them.

Achievement of a huge ambition, even if it took longer than expected, deserves recognition. Pop the cork, Boeing, you have earned it.

Champagne on ice tastes all the sweeter

The current downturn couldeasily be not a cyclical dip, but structurally durable

and in any case is highly vulnerable to domestic unrest and prolonged downturn in its major trading partners.

Another reason forecasting is riskier than ever is that some long-standing givens warrant serious reconsider-ation. The current downturn could easily prove to be not a cyclical dip, but structurally durable – like the 1930s, in shape if not scale. Particularly devastating for airlines – and, surely, suppliers like Airbus and Boeing – is the counter-intuitive persistence of high oil prices at a time of slow growth.

A more immediate cause for caution came from Air-bus itself. While forecasting booming demand, it is openly talking about lending money to its customers, because crisis-hit European banks are struggling to raise the dollar finance they need to buy aircraft.

Growth of vendor financing is surely a sign of wobbly markets. Ultimately, Airbus and Boeing alike rely on customers – airlines – which face a financial hurricane of high fuel prices and slack demand for travel.


See Air Transport P10, Business P32R

ex

Featu

res

Airline industry outlook: red or black?

FIN_270911_005 5 22/9/11 16:04:55

THIS WEEK

flightglobal.com6 | Flight International | 27 September-3 October 2011

For a round-up of our latest online news, feature and multi-media content visit flightglobal.com/wotw

Bombardier and China’s Comac have identified seven

areas where the two companies have the potential to find commo-nality on their CSeries and C919 narrowbody programmes.

“We’re now working toward some definitive agreements, but the timeline has yet to be determined,” said Ben Boehm, Bombardier’s vice-president of international business. “We’re progressing.” In March, the two companies agreed to examine po-tential co-operation on their in-development aircraft.

“We’re looking for areas in common between the two planes,” Boehm said. “If we can work together then it will be easi-er for an airline to buy a combina-tion of the C919 and CSeries.”

The co-operation framework covers customer support, market-ing, new product derivatives, systems, materials, suppliers, technology and processes.

Boehm said the CSeries and C919 share 10 suppliers, includ-ing Liebherr (landing gear), Hon-eywell (auxiliary power units) and Rockwell Collins (avionics).

“The benefits of commonality focus on how we can mutually become more competitive,” said Boehm. “The seven elements of the framework are focused on subject areas where customers

see a benefit if there is some simi-larity between Bombardier and Comac aircraft.

“If, for example, we both use the same specification of alumin-ium lithium, it could lower costs and alleviate an airline’s supply challenges.”

Boehm was speaking at Avia-tion Expo/China 2011 in Beijing, where Bombardier displayed its CSeries cabin mock-up – a first for an Asian show.

He dismissed the idea that the CSeries and C919 were rivals, be-cause the minimum capacity of the C919 – 160 passengers – is well above the maximum 145 the CS300 can seat.

Meanwhile, Bombardier will slash output of its CRJ regional jets from January 2012, in the face of an orders slump that has seen its backlog diminish to just over a year’s worth of production.

The Canadian airframer warned last month that the action would be necessary if orders did not materialise. The company is implementing “mitigation ac-tions”, which include employee transfers to other current and in-development aircraft pro-grammes at the firm, to avoid cuts to its workforce.

UNITED TECHNOLOGIES TO BUY GOODRICHACQUISITION United Technologies (UTC) has agreed to buy Goodrich

for $18.4 billion, which includes $1.9 billion of net debt, subject to

regulatory approvals. UTC expects the combined company to have

worldwide sales of approximately $66 billion this year. “Goodrich is a

great business with a solid product portfolio that complements UTC’s

aerospace presence,” UTC chairman and chief executive Louis

Chenevert said. UTC’s portfolio boasts engine maker Pratt & Whitney

and auxiliary power unit manufacturer Hamilton Sundstrand.

Goodrich’s product range includes landing gear and engine nacelles.

See Business P32

US BACKS $5.3BN TAIWANESE F-16 UPGRADEFIGHTERS US President Barack Obama’s administration has backed

a potential $5.3 billion upgrade for Taiwan’s Lockheed Martin F-16A/B

fighters. If approved by Congress, the aircraft would be fitted with ac-

tive electronically scanned array radars, new weapons, sensor up-

grades and possibly more powerful Pratt & Whitney F100-229 engines.

The move comes as Washington is expected, on 1 October, to again

reject Taiwan’s long-standing request to buy 66 new F-16C/Ds.

ROW OVER FUNDING ENGULFS AIR BALTICDISPUTE Latvian carrier Air Baltic has filed for legal protection in an

attempt to enable it to continue operations. The airline, which has re-

quested a lat 60 million ($114 million) bailout from the government –

a 52.6% stakeholder in Air Baltic – said it has filed for legal protection

in order to prevent the state from blocking any of its decisions. Latvia’s

government said it is unwilling to inject any more capital into the airline

unless chief executive Bertolt Flick steps down. Flick owns Baltijas

Aviacijas Sistemas, which has a 47.2% stake in Air Baltic.

A400M ADVANCES ON CERTIFICATION GOALTRANSPORT Europe’s A400M programme has passed two key certifi-

cation tests, according to Airbus Military. Development aircraft MSN1

cleared a high-energy rejected take-off test of its braking performance,

from a maximum take-off weight of 141,000kg (310,900lb) in

Toulouse, France, on 17 September. Emergency evacuation tests were

also completed at the company’s San Pablo final assembly site near

Seville, Spain, using aircraft MSN6.

E-190 BADLY DAMAGED IN QUITOINVESTIGATION An Embraer E-190, HC-CEZ, operated by Ecuadorian

airline TAME Línea Aérea del Ecuador, has been left badly damaged

after it skidded off runway 35 at Quito’s Mariscal Sucre International

airport on 16 September. There were no fatalities among the 97 pas-

sengers and six crew on board. However, the airport’s instrument land-

ing system (ILS) was rendered inoperable until 21 September, after

the aircraft damaged the ILS antenna.

RAPTORS CLEARED TO FLY AGAINCOMBAT AIRCRAFT The US Air Force’s Lockheed Martin F-22A

Raptors have been cleared to fly for the first time in four months – but

the oxygen problem that grounded them remains a mystery. It will be

two months before F-22A pilots regain full operational capability, Gen

Norton Schwartz, USAF chief of staff, told the Air Force Association’s

annual convention on 20 September. The USAF flew 16 flight tests to

identify the source of a possible contamination of the F-22A’s oxygen

supply, which caused 12 reported instances of hypoxia since 2008.

See Show Report P20

BRIEFING

Bom

bard

ier

The CS300 shares 10 suppliers with Comac’s new twinjet

RELATIONSHIP GREG WALDRON BEIJING

Comac reinforces Bombardier bondSeven areas for co-operation pinpointed as Canadians and Chinese move closer to agreements on CSeries and C919

Read more on the Chinese C919 narrowbody, go to flightglobal.com/c919

FIN_270911_006-007 6 22/9/11 18:08:27

THIS WEEK

27 September-3 October 2011 | Flight International | 7flightglobal.com

The 787 dream becomes realityNEWS FOCUS P8

It was meant to have been the week when Boeing started seven

days of celebrations, kicking off the party with the handover of its 747-8 freighter, the first of two in-development aircraft to be deliv-ered to airlines in the period.

But with two major customers publicly revealing their dissatis-faction with early examples of the type, the Seattle airframer has in-stead been left licking its wounds.

Cargolux was the first to break cover. On 16 September, just three days before the first 747-8F was due to be handed over, the airline dramatically “rejected” the deliv-ery and that of a sister aircraft due two days later. Cargolux blamed a “contractual issue” for the dispute,

with the aircraft’s performance shortfall, delays to the programme and subsequent compensation due central issues.

The move coincided with Qatar Airways taking a 35% stake in the carrier on 9 September.

The rejection was followed by more bad news on 20 September when Atlas Air axed a quarter of its September 2006 order for 12 747-8 freighters.

Atlas said the three early-pro-duction freighters were scheduled to be its first deliveries in 2011, but Boeing rescheduled these to early 2012 and three more-recent-ly-built 747-8Fs were moved for-ward. It is the former aircraft which are cancelled.

The carrier plans to accept de-livery of one of the better- performing 747-8Fs in October, followed by two in November.

Boeing has acknowledged the gap in the 747’s performance, call-ing the first examples “somewhat short of initial specifications for fuel burn”.

However, Boeing and GE are still finalising the configuration of the 747-8’s GEnx-2B performance improvement package (PIP) ex-pected in 2013. Boeing is also cur-rently developing a package of improvements for the 747-8, in-cluding a 2012 update to the flight management computer for preci-sion approach, required naviga-tion performance (RNP) 0.1 and

quiet climb features. Boeing said that along with the 747-8 PIP, “coupled with a number of aero-dynamic improvements we have identified for implementation, we are confident that the airplanes we are selling today will meet our customer specifications”.

Any performance improvement package developed by GE would be available for retrofit, although this could only take place five to seven years later.

Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific Air-ways says it remains on track to take delivery of the first of 10 air-craft in October.

DISPUTE JON OSTROWER SEATTLE & LORI RANSON WASHINGTON DC

Boeing’s party ruined by 747-8F rowKey customers for early examples of Seattle’s new freighter back away from the type blaming performance shortfall

On the eve of celebrating the 50th anniversary of first flight,

the US Army took the first step to-wards launching the fourth major growth version of the Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter.

A modernisation programme office was opened in early Sep-tember at the acquisition head-quarters for the army aviation community at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, CH-47 product manager Col Bob Marion said on 21 Sep-tember. The army is already con-sidering options for introducing a new CH-47H variant in the 2020 timeframe, succeeding the CH-47F and MH-47G models launched about a decade ago, said Maj Gen William Crosby, programme ex-ecutive officer for army aviation.

With the CH-47F/G models, the army introduced the Rockwell Collins common avionics archi-tecture system (CAAS) cockpit and the BAE Systems digital ad-vanced flight control system (DAFCS). Asked to describe op-tions for configuration upgrades

under review for a CH-47H, Mari-on declined. The army is still de-veloping requirements for the fourth-generation of the Chinook family, he said.

Boeing, however, has previous-ly listed several options for a “growth Chinook”.

A minimum effort would in-crease the helicopter’s lift by 1 tonne by optimising the existing rotor hub and transmission.

Any CH-47H modernisation programme would be launched after the F/G-model production line expires in 2019.

Bra

ndon F

arr

is

Boein

g

CH-47F assembly ends in 2019

ROTORCRAFT STEPHEN TRIMBLE PHILADELPHIA

US Army moots major Chinook growth plans

PATROL

Indian navy’s first P-8I emergesBoeing is close to conducting the first flight of a 737-800-based P-8I

maritime patrol aircraft for the Indian navy, with its first example

having emerged at the manufacturer’s Renton Field assembly site

in Washington. Photographed by Flightglobal AirSpace user Brandon

Farris, the aircraft has been painted in Indian markings and as-

signed the registration IN320. It is the first of eight P-8Is on order

for India, which will field the aircraft from early 2013 as replace-

ments for its current Tupolev Tu-142s.

Follow Jon Ostrower’s blog and read the latest news online at flightglobal.com/flightblogger

FIN_270911_006-007 7 22/9/11 18:13:16


For a round-up of our latest online news, feature and multi-media content visit flightglobal.com/wotw

NEWS FOCUS

This week, Boeing should earn its first dollars from the 787

programme, when the long-ar-ranged sources of capital set up by launch customer All Nippon Air-ways begin to be transferred into Boeing’s coffers.

The delivery of the first 787 to the Japanese carrier on 26 Septem-ber ends a 40-month delay and a production nightmare that has be-devilled the airframer since even before the 787’s original May 2008 delivery date. The troubles began in mid-2007, when ZA001 – the company’s flight test workhorse – arrived in pieces at its Everett, Washington, US factory.

From an uprooted olive grove to a fastener shortage, supplier dis-ruptions and a fire during a flight test, the 787’s headlines seemed to mark two steps back for every step forward for years.

The Dreamliner – as it was dubbed in June 2003 – came to life when Boeing abandoned the Sonic Cruiser’s higher, faster, fur-ther performance in 2002, in fa-vour of “super efficient”. It would seek a faster, better, cheaper busi-ness model after its 777.

The now fully-amortised and hugely profitable 300- to 400-seat-er was believed to have been too expensive and too slow to return its investment to shareholders.

With the notable exception of Concorde’s Mach 2.0 experiment, commercial air travel has been

Handover to All Nippon Airways of the first Boeing 787 brings an end to 40 months of development delays

Finally, a dream is deliveredPROGRAMME JON OSTROWER SEATTLE

cruising between 30,000 and 40,000ft (9,150m-12,200m) for over a half century, poking along in the skies between M0.75 and M0.85 since the first Comets, 707s and DC-8s came into use.

The basic swept wing, podded under-wing engine configuration of Boeing’s 707 has served as the basis for all of almost all of the airframer’s new aircraft.

In fact, in its market segment, the 787 is the direct descendant of the 707 – which was replaced by the 767 in the early 1980s.

The 787 is 70% more fuel effi-cient than the company’s first 1950s-era four-engine Pratt &

Whitney JT3D-powered 707s.Jetliners exist as mature tech-

nology in a mature market, and each successive 20% improve-ment in fuel efficiency yields a smaller lever to pull for a new de-sign, as explained by Oxford and MIT academic Dr Theodore Piepenbrock. Gone are the cost leaps achieved by cutting crew from three to two and four engines down to two.

Piepenbrock’s work posits that “faster, better, cheaper” – incre-mental change and process opti-misation – creates more successful outcomes than “higher, faster, fur-ther” – when each leap forward is

more risky and expensive than the previous undertaking.

While faster, better, cheaper was Boeing’s goal, the airframer was determined to push its global manufacturing, composite materi-als and electric systems higher, faster and further than they had ever performed before.

However, Boeing has already failed to realise two of its three aims. More than three and a half years after it was first promised, faster has disappeared.

It remains the company’s inten-tion to deliver 10 787s per month by the end of 2013 – a goal it may achieve, though four years later

THE LONG AND DIFFICULT PATH FROM PIPE DREAM TO DREAMLINER – 2003-2011

2003Boeing proceeds with 7E7

development. Targeting offers to

airlines in early 2004, service

entry in 2008. Boeing dubs 7E7

the Dreamliner, airframer reveals

plan to fabricate composite fuse-

lage and wing for forthcoming air-

liner project

2004Boeing names Rolls-Royce and

General Electric as engine suppli-

ers. 7E7 launched with 50-aircraft

order from All Nippon Airways

20057E7 officially becomes the 787,

with order for 60 aircraft from five

Chinese airlines. Each promised

first delivery by Beijing Olympics

2006Air New Zealand becomes 787-9

launch customer

2007Orders pass 500. Boeing amends

delivery schedule of early aircraft

and test airframes. First flight

slips from late August 2007 to

mid-November/mid-December,

then end of first quarter of 2008

2008First flight slides to fourth quarter

of 2008, first delivery to third

Aircraft ZA101, registration JA801A, will perform its maiden passenger service on 26 October

Jon O

str

ow

er/

Flig

htg

lobal

FIN_270911_008-009 8 22/9/11 18:39:22


Airbus hints at 50-a-month A320 rateAIR TRANSPORT P14

Si l i l T i125 150 175 210 250 300

3,380

6,429

4,757

2,8642,362 2,156 NEWS FOCUS

than first planned. The delays and supplier acquisitions have created billions in cost overruns that have eroded the mantra of cheaper – as a profit may not be realised until 1,000 are sold, according to esti-mates from analysis and survey firm Bernstein Research. Boeing’s backlog for the twinjet stands at 821 aircraft.

However, the first 787’s 27 Sep-tember departure from Everett for Tokyo should at least allow one key question to be answered: is the 787 better than anything Boeing has built before?

New aircraft always face teeth-ing problems – the 747-100’s trou-bled Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines stymied its first service. These events mark the early years of new

types – but each soon becomes a profit generating machine.

Never has an aircraft been so comprehensively marketed as bet-ter: better fuel efficiency from Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 and Gen-eral Electric GEnx engines, better cabin experience for passengers with larger windows, bigger stor-age bins and higher pressure and humidity, better maintenance in-tervals and a better flying aircraft for pilots.

The 787 should get its first live trial on 26 October – its maiden passenger service, connecting To-kyo’s Narita airport with Hong Kong on a special charter.

Boeing plans a dedicated mis-sion-control centre to moni-

tor its early 787s in service by harnessing live data streamed from the aircraft.

By harnessing live data from the 787’s Airplane Health Man-agement (AHM) system, Boeing aims to deliver 777-level dis-patch reliability on its 787 fleet.

Housed in the airframer’s 40-88 building at its Everett, Washington campus, the 787 Operational Control Center (OCC) will be manned 24 hours a day with six to seven staff on each of the three daily shifts.

The facility will be staffed by Boeing personnel handing engineering, material manage-ment, service engineers and flight test staff.

The OCC is modelled on the company’s commercial aviation services unit’s Boeing Opera-tions Center (BOC) near Renton, Washington, which is aimed at returning aircraft classified as aircraft on the ground (AOG) to revenue service.

“It’s like a little mini-BOC,” said Mike Fleming, 787 director of services and support, who said the OCC supported the 787 flight test aircraft during extend-ed operations (ETOPS) and sys-tem functionality and reliability testing this summer. “Once we go into service, it will be focused on the in-service airplanes,” said

Fleming. As well as AOG avoid-ance, the operations centre would monitor live data coming from the aircraft, he added.

Fleming said the OCC was “looking at data proactively to get ahead of anything before it [becomes] AOG to make sure we can undertake [preventative] maintenance to prevent it getting into that situation”.

The arrival of live AHM, which did not exist on the same scale when the 777 first entered service in 1995, has enabled use of the OCC to bolster the 787’s dispatch reliability, he added.

“Our customer, All Nippon Airways, has the highest reliabil-ity goals in the world. The competition over there is high-speed trains, which have very high reliability.

“So for us and for our customers, the expectation is that we will rapidly achieve 777 levels of reliability and, in fact, surpass those.”

SUPPORT JON OSTROWER SEATTLE

Real-time monitoring of 787 health data aims to boost dispatch reliability

quarter of 2009, 787-9 to 2012.

Machinists’ strike brings 57-day

work stoppage at Boeing’s

assembly plants in Puget Sound,

Washington. Boeing admits need

to replace 3% of all 787

fasteners, moves first flight to

June 2009, delivery to first

quarter of 2010

2009Air New Zealand reveals another

12-month slide in first 787-9 deliv-

ery. Boeing selects North

Charleston for second 787 final

assembly line. First flight in

December launches what is in-

tended to be 8-9 month certifica-

tion campaign

2010 787 achieves initial airworthiness

in January. First GEnx-1B-powered

787 completes first flight. After

uncontained failure of a Trent

1000 test engine first delivery

slides to mid-first quarter of

2011. In-flight fire brings halt to

test flying for a month

2011First delivery: third quarter 2011.

Boeing predicts 25-40 deliveries

of 787s/747-8s in 2011, later

revised to 25-30. Ninth 787

begins ETOPS and F&R testing.

Boeing gains type and production

certification from FAA and EASA

in August

Review all our coverage of the 787’s handover, go to flightglobal.com/787

“The expectation is that we will rapidly achieve 777-levels ofreliability and, in fact,surpass those”MIKE FLEMING 787 director of services and support

Rolls-Royce Trent 1000s power ANA’s initial example of the type

Boein

g

FIN_270911_008-009 9 22/9/11 18:33:39

AIR TRANSPORT

flightglobal.com

Check out our collection of online dynamic aircraft profiles for the latest news, infor-mation and images on civil and military programmes at flightglobal.com/profiles

Airbus is taking an initial look at the requirements for in-

creasing A320 production to an extraordinary 50 aircraft per month, as it forecasts a strong in-crease in demand for single-aisle jets over the next 20 years.

The airframer’s latest global market outlook, covering the peri-od from 2011 to 2030, raises the new-build single-aisle demand by 7% – meaning its A320neo family will be battling for a share of 19,165 deliveries over the next two decades.

Speaking at the forecast pres-entation in London, Airbus chief operating officer for customers John Leahy said the airframer had already committed to increasing production to 42 per month, and was “studying” a further rise to 44.

He said the company was confi-dent about reaching a decision on such an increase “in the not-too-distant future”.

He added that Airbus was taking a preliminary look at what might be involved in pushing the rate up to 50. Airbus had an A320 backlog of 3,132 at the end of August.

Engine manufacturers would probably be able to cope with the higher rate, Leahy said.

Rival US airframer Boeing, which is developing its re-engined 737 Max to counter the A320neo, previously forecast a 10% increase in demand for single-aisle aircraft – to 23,370 – in its own 2011-30 outlook, released in June.

Airbus, however, predicted single-aisle demand would ac-count for 71% of deliveries and 43% of the overall $3.2 trillion passenger jet market. Its forecast raises the overall 20-year new-build demand by 2,000 aircraft to 27,848 – of which 26,921 are pas-senger aircraft.

Airbus, which focuses heavily on the passenger sector in its out-look, also predicted a strong in-crease in twin-aisle demand, raising its forecast by 11% to 6,425 airframes.

Leahy pointed out that slots for its A350 were becoming scarce, stating that none were available until around 2018-19.

But Airbus kept its forecast in the large-capacity sector – that served by the A380 – essentially static, at 1,331 passenger jets – al-though this estimate is still more than double the figure of 570 expected by Boeing.


PRODUCTION DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Airbus hints at 50-a-month A320 rateAirframer cautions over pressure on smaller suppliers as latest forecast predicts demand for nearly 28,000 jets by 2030

CARGO

Freighters barely mentioned as outlook concentrates on passenger jet demandAirbus concentrated heavily on the

demand for passenger aircraft in its

2011-30 market forecast, but insist-

ed that this did not indicate a lack of

interest in the freighter market.

The European airframer estimated

that 927 new-build freighters would

be needed over the next 20 years – a

figure broadly consistent with com-

petitor Boeing’s figure of 970.

Freighters barely warranted a men-

tion in the detailed breakdown, but

Airbus’s head of market forecast,

Chris Emerson, stressed there was

“no change of focus” for the airfram-

er. The freight market’s dynamics

were different, he said, and the

sector was a “complex topic”, which

Airbus planned to address in a

separate forecast.

Airbus’s only new-build freighter,

the A330-200F, has not sold well,

compared with the Boeing 777F. The

777F has topped 100 orders,

including 25 this year, against the

A330F’s total of 57 overall.

Chief operating officer for

customers John Leahy also gave the

first formal indication that deeper

problems have affected Airbus’s ef-

forts to start an A320 passenger-to-

freighter conversion line in Russia.

He said the joint venture with

Russian manufacturer Irkut “wasn’t

working out well” before it was dis-

solved, adding: “They hadn’t sold

many of the conversions.”

Leahy said the A320 conversion

scheme had been “put aside for a

while”, but added: “It doesn’t mean

we won’t be back in the single-aisle

freight market in the future.”

Some 10,500 of the 26,900 new

passenger aircraft deliveries over the

forecast period will go towards replac-

ing current airframes.

Airbus expects nearly 2,200 of

those replaced aircraft to be subse-

quently converted to freighters.

Boeing’s latest equivalent forecast

had predicted an overall conversion

figure of 1,990 airframes, and added

that conversions would absorb the

entire demand for small freighters

– those with a cargo capacity below

45 tonnes.

The US airframer put total freighter

demand over the next 20 years at

2,960 aircraft, with the balance of

970 being new-build, and a total

value of $250 billion.

Boeing believes the freighter mar-

ket will be the primary source of cus-

tomers for high-capacity aircraft – into

which the 747-8F falls – with new-

build airframes accounting for nearly

70% of the 1,000 airframes opera-

tors will need by 2030.

Follow our web coverage of the airline sector by logging onto flightglobal.com/airlines

GLOBAL PASSENGER AIRCRAFT DEMAND – 2011-30

Fleet size x1,000

Passenger aircraft >100 seats (excluding freighters)

SOURCE: Airbus

Global fleet 2011 Global fleet 2030

15,002

31,424

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Growth To new operatorsReplaced Same operator

26,921

16,422

10,499

3,4401,063

20-YEAR DEMAND BY SEAT CATEGORY

New aircraft

SOURCE: Airbus

Single-aisle Twin-aisleSeat category

(VLA = A380 or 747)

100 125 150 175 210 250 300 350 400 VLA0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

1,735

3,380

6,429

4,757

2,8642,362 2,156

1,206701

1,331

FIN_270911_010 10 21/9/11 20:09:56

AIR TRANSPORT

flightglobal.com


CSeries and development and execution risks, as well as un-proven performance data.

“We did look at the CSeries, but determined that the training would be too complex and expensive for our purposes,”

remarked one of the respond-ents. Despite tepid interest in or-dering the CSeries in the short-term, 22% said they were likely to purchase the aircraft in the next 10 years or beyond. The RBC analysts added that, as

additional development mile-stones are met, CSeries order traction should strengthen, and Bombardier will eventually cap-ture a significant share of the 100- to 149-seat market, to allow for a return on the $1.7 billion the airframer is investing in the aircraft programme.

“We estimate that if Bombar-dier captures just 20% of the forecasted market share in the 100- to 149-seat capacity seg-ment over the next 20 years, a positive [return on investment] will likely be obtained,” the analysts said.

Bombardier, in its commercial aircraft market forecast released earlier this year, estimated the 100- to 149-seat aircraft fleet would reach some 9,200 aircraft by 2030.


Analysts at RBC Capital Mar-kets have concluded Bom-

bardier’s goal of having 300 or-ders for its new CSeries narrowbody by entry into service in late 2013 is at risk.

The Canadian firm reached this conclusion after surveying 26 airlines, representing roughly 35% of the 100- to 149-seat aircraft operating globally, to gauge their interest in ordering the CSeries.

Eleven of the carriers were headquartered in North America, eight in Europe, three in Asia and four in other regions.

RBC determined those carriers have significant interest in the aircraft, but no real sense of ur-gency to order the CSeries.

Only 7% of the test group, said they would be “likely” to acquire the CSeries in the next five years.

“This compares with over 20% of respondents indicating they would likely purchase Boe-ing’s 737, and 18% for the Air-bus A319neo,” the analysts added. “There is significantly lower conviction towards the CSeries than towards its com-petitors in the near term.”

The main driver behind interest in the CSeries failing to translate into orders is trepida-tion over introducing a new fleet type, with 50% of survey re-spondents ranking fleet commo-nality as their top concern. Other hurdles included the price of the

US Department of Transporta-tion regulators are proposing

to ban the use of electronic ciga-rettes on aircraft.

It has submitted a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Fed-eral Register, laying out plans to prohibit electronic cigarettes in all forms, including electronic ci-gars and pipes.

“Airline passengers have rights, and this new rule would enhance passenger comfort and reduce any confusion surround-ing the use of electronic cigarettes in flight,” said transportation sec-retary Ray LaHood.

The DOT is also considering ex-tending a smoking ban – including electronic cigarettes – to charter

flights operated by US and foreign air carriers with aircraft that seat 19 or more passengers.

“Electronic cigarettes cause po-tential concern because there is a lack of scientific data and knowl-edge of the ingredients in elec-tronic cigarettes,” said the DOT. “The Department views its cur-rent regulatory ban on smoking of

tobacco products to be sufficient-ly broad to include the use of electronic cigarettes.”

The public is invited to sub-mit comments on the proposed ban until 14 November, the DOT added.

US to stub out ‘confusing’ electronic cigarettesSAFETY GHIM-LAY YEO WASHINGTON DC

AIRFRAMES LORI RANSON WASHINGTON DC

CSeries risks missing order targetsMarket analysis of 100- to 149-seat operators reveals reluctance to order new Bombardier twinjet in the short term

PROPULSION GHIM-LAY YEO WASHINGTON DC

Geared turbofan completes initial flight-test programmePratt & Whitney’s PW1524G engine,

which will power the Bombardier

CSeries, has completed its first flight

test programme, logging 25 flights

and a total of 115 flight hours.

“Results confirmed our earlier

sea level test findings, validating the

geared turbofan’s overall engine de-

sign. The engine operated flawlessly,

enabling us to conduct double the

number of flight hours we planned,”

said Bob Saia, vice president of

Pratt & Whitney’s next generation

product family. “Our expanded test

programme enabled us to conduct

additional flight testing, which was

planned for early 2012.

“This engine will return to our sea

level test facility in West Palm,

Florida, to continue testing.”

The US company had been test-

ing the engine on its Boeing 747SP

flying test bed, at P&W Canada’s

Mirabel Aerospace Centre in,

Quebec, since 20 June. Final as-

sembly and testing will also take

place at the facility.

The PW1500G-series engine test

programme will run over the next 16

months with eight test engines,

before certification – scheduled in

2012 – and entry into service in

late 2013.

SOURCE: RBC

SURVEY – NEAR-TERM LIKELIHOOD OF NARROWBODY ORDER

0-5 5-10 10+ 0-5 5-10 10+ 0-5 5-10 10+Years

BombardierCSeries

Boeing737-700/800

AirbusA319neo

Definitely Likely Unlikely Definitely not

47% 30% 11% 46% 25% 50% 27% 17% 33%

7%

27%

67%

45%

33%

23% 25%

23%

42%

33%

18%

17%

67%

20% 20%

50%

22%

8% 8%17%

9%

33%

Keep up with our coverage of the civil aircraft industry online flightglobal.com/aircraft

Check out David Learmount’s cabin air quality coverage onlineflightglobal.com/cabinair

FIN_270911_014 14 22/9/11 16:31:31

AIR TRANSPORT

flightglobal.com


Investigators probing the Yakov-lev Yak-42 crash in Yaroslavl,

Russia, have revealed the presence of an apparent braking force on the aircraft during the take-off run, but have yet to establish its origin.

The aircraft had entered run-way 23 at taxiway five – about 300m (984ft) from the beginning of the strip – for the flight to Minsk on 7 September.

Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) said the Yak-42 accelerated to around 89kt (165km/h) – in line with the en-gine power setting – but that the pitch did not increase when the crew attempted to lift the nose-wheel at 100kt, despite elevator deflection of 9-10°.

About 6s later the engine power was increased to a higher thrust setting. However, MAK

said that despite this setting, the acceleration “slowed significant-ly”. It added that this might be explained by “the appearance of an additional braking force”, al-

though further tests – possibly using a similar aircraft – are need-ed to determine the magnitude.

Parts of the brake system re-trieved from the wreckage are undergoing special examination, MAK said.

The Yak-42’s centre of gravity

was within limits; investigators have already disclosed that the aircraft’s weight was not exces-sive, its flaps were set to their 20° take-off position and that its stabiliser was set at the 8.7° pitch-up position.

MAK said the pilots had checked all the flight controls, including the elevator, which deflected cleanly to a pitch-up position of 21°. The last check was carried out 1min 40s prior to take-off.

Although the elevator deflected to the pitch-up position during the take-off roll, said MAK, the aircraft failed to lift off.

Its speed increased to 124kt, and evidence at the crash scene indicates that the jet eventually became airborne 400m beyond the end of the runway, with the

elevator deflected 13-14° and the stabiliser set at 9.5° pitch-up. But the aircraft failed to gain sufficient height to clear the localiser anten-na, colliding with the structure and suddenly pitching up to 20° for a few seconds.

The aircraft did not achieve a height of more than 5-6m before banking left and hitting trees and terrain. Wreckage analysis shows the flaps and slats were in the take-off configuration, the spoilers were retracted and the stabiliser was positioned at about 10° pitch-up. There was no disconnection of el-evator control cabling.

“Technical investigators are considering all possibilities for the additional braking force during take-off, and the reasons why the aircraft failed to lift off in time from the runway,” MAK added.


Parts of the brakesystem retrieved fromthe wreckage areundergoing specialexamination

Descent below the glide path in poor weather and a failure

to execute a timely go-around led to the fatal RusAir Tupolev Tu-134A crash on approach to Petrozavodsk, Russia, investiga-tors have concluded.

Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) also found that the aircraft’s navigator – who was supposed to aid the pilots in aligning the aircraft with the runway – was mildly intoxicated at the time of the 20 June accident.

Only five of the 52 passengers and crew survived the crash. The flight from Moscow’s Domode-dovo airport was originally scheduled to operate through fel-low Russian carrier RusLine, with a Bombardier CRJ regional jet. This flight was cancelled, and the RusAir Tu-134 was char-tered to replace the service.

The flight had progressed nor-mally and the aircraft was about 8min from touchdown when the crew took full manual control at

an altitude of 8,860ft (2,700m). The aircraft then continued to descend towards a cleared height of 500m.

However, as it made its right-hand base turn to Petrozavodsk’s runway 02, the aircraft drifted 4km to the left of the centreline.

MAK said strong south-easter-ly winds of 17kt (31km/h) prob-ably contributed to the jet being off course. Discussions between the pilot and navigator led the crew to try correcting the flight-path by bearing right.

This reduced the drift but as they deployed flaps the Tu-134 gained height, rising to 550m. It overflew the outer marker at 385m, about 55m too high, and the crew increased the rate of de-scent to regain the glide path.

As the height reduced the wind weakened, but the crew did not compensate with a head-ing correction and the Tu-134 drifted to the right of the approach. MAK said the crew appeared to be referring to a

satellite positioning system which was prohibited during ap-proach. The aircraft descended “well below the desired path”, it added, and the co-pilot failed to warn about the steep approach.

Weather conditions in the immediate vicinity were sub-stantially different from those relayed to the crew, with low cloud and fog reducing visibility to 500-700m.

Despite failing to make visual contact with the ground, the crew did not execute a missed approach. The aircraft struck 25m-high trees, 1.2km short of the runway. It was some 270m to the right of the centreline.

MAK said the aircraft’s crew descended below minimum safe altitude while in poor weather and in absence of seeing the ap-proach lights of the airport or other landmarks. There had been poor communication and a lack of crew resource management. The navigator had a “mild de-gree of alcoholic intoxication”, while the co-pilot appeared to have been left out of the com-mand loop, MAK added.

Braking mystery at heart of Yak-42 crash inquiryINVESTIGATION DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Flightglobal

25km

20km

16km

284°

30°

6.8km

Deviation distance fromapproach path

PETROZAVODSK TU-134APPROACH CRASH PEAP

ETROZAVODSK TU-134PPROACH CRASH

6km6km

6.8km6 8km

25km25km

20km20km

3330°

D i ti di t f

11

Runway 02

Drift over centrelineand impact

17°

Off trackby 4km

Too high overouter markerrapid descent

OPERATIONS ALAN DRON & DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Tu-134 drifted before fatal approachNavigator’s intoxication among findings after crew failed to execute go-around despite absence of visual ground contact

Read our up-to-the-minute news on safety developments online flightglobal.com/safety

FIN_270911_014 16 22/9/11 14:43:15

AIR TRANSPORT

flightglobal.com


“Boeing has the incumbent advan-tage because it can keep improv-ing the existing 777.”

Udvar-Hazy, who has worked closely with the manufacturer since it began studying a new air-craft in this market segment sever-al years ago, is encouraging Airbus

to make improvements to the A350-1000. Concentrating on the larger -1000 and delaying the serv-ice entry of the smaller A350-800 is a “wise” move, he said.

In addition, high oil prices have somewhat spiked the case for the -800. For Udvar-Hazy, the existing

Airbus product in this category is still a valid option. “A330s can do a lot of what the -800 can do for a lower capital cost,” he said.

“Airbus is taking a more cau-tious course,” said Udvar-Hazy. “If it doesn’t get the -1000 right it doesn’t have anything between the -900 and the A380.

“The A350 is the big volume widebody market for Airbus [in terms of units],” he said. “It is the backbone of its widebody strategy going forward.”

According to Udvar-Hazy, the priority for Airbus is to develop the A350-900 and -1000 family further to be able to compete ef-fectively with Boeing’s 787-9 and 777 families.


Air Lease Corporation chief ex-ecutive Steven Udvar-Hazy

has echoed concerns expressed by Gulf carriers Emirates and Qatar Airways over the performance of the revamped Airbus A350-1000.

Speaking to Flight International at the ISTAT Europe finance con-ference in Barcelona, he referred to the type’s battle against the Boe-ing 777-300ER and said: “Airbus is going to have to work really hard with Rolls-Royce to come up with the right recipe to make this airplane really competitive.”

Airbus outlined performance changes to the A350-1000 while at the Paris air show in June, with the main one being the use of a higher-thrust Rolls-Royce Trent XWB powerplant.

“The concern we have now is the planned engine for the -1000 is not interchangeable on the -900 XWB – there is a lack of common-ality,” he said.

In common with the Gulf carri-ers, Udvar-Hazy is concerned about the performance of the A350-1000, especially in hot and high conditions such as those in the Middle East.

“Airbus has to tackle payload range [with the -1000] not only in the context of a full passenger load but it also needs good freight ca-pacity because airlines need that revenue in the belly,” he said.

It is critical that the -1000 does not fall short of the 777-300ER, which is the performance bench-mark in this category, he said.

MTU Aero Engines is likely to become a partner in a

planned AVIC Commercial Air-craft Engine (ACAE) programme to build an alternative powerplant for the Comac C919 narrowbody.

The German engine subassem-bly manufacturer and mainte-nance provider and AVIC’s Shang-hai-based engine subsidiary have

inked an agreement for “possible co-operation” on a future power-plant for the C919, which has been called the CJ1000.

As a first step, the two compa-nies want to conduct a feasibility study into how the medium-thrust engine can be built in China. This study, due to be finalised in November, will determine the

engine’s basic structure and pa-rameters, said MTU. While the C919 will initially be equipped with CFM International Leap-1XC engines, the Chinese engine is ex-pected to follow at a later stage.

The first flight for the C919 is scheduled for 2014, with entry into service due to follow two years later.

When ACAE was set up in 2009, the company said that the Chinese engine would be available in 2016.

MTU has a 50:50 joint venture overhaul shop with China Southern Airlines for CFM Inter-national CFM56 and International Aero Engines V2500 powerplants in Zhuhai.

Airbus

Air France-KLM is taking A350-900s but -1000 sales are stalled

AIRFRAMES MARK PILLING BARCELONA

A350-1000 yet to convince Air LeaseUdvar-Hazy presses for more improvements to Airbus’s largest twinjet after citing concerns over powerplant commonality

Keep up to date with the world of air transport by logging onto flightglobal.com/airtransport

Germany’s MTU seeks C919 second engine rolePOWERPLANTS MICHAEL GUBISCH LONDON

NARROWBODIES

Lessor ACG gives Max and Neo an enthusiastic receptionUS lessor Aviation Capital Group is

preparing orders for both the Boeing

737 Max and Airbus A320neo, and

is also considering taking the A350-

900 twinjet.

“We’re definitely a buyer, Boeing

is aware of that,” said John Feren,

ACG executive vice-president, speak-

ing at the ISTAT Europe air finance

conference in Barcelona. “There is a

scrum of leasing companies trying

to get to the first in the line.”

ACG is also “working on the con-

tract” with Airbus to confirm an order

for the A320neo, said Feren. “It is

on our agenda to get it done – it’s a

2011 project.”

The company has been given a

“delivery stream” from Airbus but

first deliveries would likely be from

2017 at the earliest. Feren added

that ACG is looking at firm orders of

30-50 for both aircraft types.

ACG expects to have more defini-

tion on the performance specifica-

tion of the 737 Max in the next six to

eight weeks, or “at least a satisfac-

tory amount of definition to make an

order”, he said. The main areas of

uncertainty are the engine configura-

tion and fan size.

The 737 Max is “going to be

pretty close to the [A320neo] in per-

formance terms”, said Feren.

He added that the company was

looking at a further departure from

its core narrowbodies, with a pos-

sible A350 acquisition – although

probably through sale-and-lease-

back: “We’re just starting our analy-

sis, but the A350-900 seems to be

the sweet spot of the market.”

FIN_270911_016 18 22/9/11 14:42:20

flightglobal.com

For free access to Flight’s Defence e-newsletter visit flightglobal.com/ defencenewsletter

SHOW REPORT

The Air Force Association’s annual convention was held from 19-21 September in Washington DC. The event attracted a crowd of visitors and exhibitors, demonstrating a wide variety of defence equipment and cutting-edge technology, but the service’s leadership, including Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley (pictured), offered few answers about budget cuts and modernisation programmes.Show report from Stephen Trimble

AFA 2011

US

Air F

orc

e


US Air Force leaders have given firm and explicit backing to

the service’s Boeing KC-46A tank-er, Lockheed Martin F-35A fighter and next-generation bomber pro-grammes, against a backdrop of sweeping new budget cuts.

“There is no question we face difficult choices, but with these priorities firmly in mind, we can still advance air force capabili-ties,” Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley said in a keynote speech on 19 September.

Also including military satel-lites, his list of top priorities left at least four other major programmes in limbo, awaiting the service’s next moves in acquisition or

The US Department of Defense is considering further “tweaks”

to the Lockheed Martin F-35 pro-curement account in its fiscal year 2013 budget request, with Secre-tary of the Air Force Michael Donley expecting the programme to be adjusted again.

In the past two years, the DoD has removed 246 F-35s from its FY2011-17 spending plan, repre-senting a 34% cut. Fresh reduc-tions are expected, despite state-ments of support from the USAF and US Congress.

“Simply put, there is no alter-native to the F-35 programme. It must succeed,” Donley said.

But the DoD and key lawmak-ers continue to review the pro-gramme’s budget, over concerns about the overlap of its develop-ment and production phases.

In a report on the FY2012 budget, the Senate’s appropria-tions committee warned that 167 to 229 aircraft could be delivered before the F-35’s hardware is fully qualified. The DoD could face a bill of up to $2.29 billion to modi-fy the aircraft, the committee said, adding that “the programme’s fu-ture could be in jeopardy” if costs are not brought under control.

But Tom Burbage, Lockheed’s executive vice president for the F-35, said the costs could be sig-nificantly lower. The company plans to start building aircraft using the final production hard-ware configuration next year.

DEVELOPMENT

Trainers and helicopters stuck in USAF budget limboDespite pressure, air force leaders reiterate support for tanker and fighter programmes

budget processes. Neither Donley nor USAF chief of staff Gen Nor-ton Schwartz mentioned the serv-ice’s commitment to the T-X ad-vanced jet trainer project, or for new light attack trainers, common vertical lift support programme (CVLSP) utility helicopters or re-placement combat search and res-cue (CSAR) helicopters.

But if competitors for these pro-grammes were discouraged by the lack of support, it was not obvious in the exhibit hall.

BAE Systems announced team-ing up with Northrop Grumman Technical Services for the T-X pro-gramme, which seeks to replace about 450 Northrop T-38C Talons.

Northrop would manufacture the Hawk 128/T2 in the USA under the pact.

The agreement leaves Alenia Aeronautica still without a US-based manufacturing partner for the proposed T-100 version of the M-346. “We have a lot of options,” said John Young, chief executive of Alenia North America.

Lockheed displayed a model of the Korea Aerospace Industries T-50 Golden Eagle, while Boeing unveiled a concept image for a V-tailed, all-new trainer, which could be available for use after around 2020.

The contract award date for a new light air support fleet has, meanwhile, been delayed from September until November, hav-ing originally been scheduled for announcement in June.

The air force has received bids from the Embraer/Sierra Nevada A-29 Super Tucano and the Hawk-er Beechcraft/Lockheed AT-6.

However, a planned follow-on contract to buy light attack and armed reconnaissance trainers for the USAF is now in jeopardy, with the House of Representatives and the Senate both considering proposals to eliminate funding for the programme.

In the rotorcraft sector, the release of a draft request for proposals for the CVLSP require-ment remains overdue, while the budget to launch the CSAR pro-gramme next year has yet to be fully clarified.

PROCUREMENT

DoD considers further ‘tweaks’ to F-35 plan

To find out more about the F-35, see our online profile atflightglobal.com/f-35 Funding issues could thwart the AT-6’s light attack prospects

Haw

ker B

eech

craft

FIN_270911_020-021 20 22/9/11 12:39:22

flightglobal.com

AFA 2011SHOW REPORT

Indian air force swoops for SarasDEFENCE P22


The US Air Force may have a difficult time finding more

than one aircraft manufacturer to compete for replacing its Boeing VC-25A, ‘Air Force One’ fleet, in a few years.

The service’s long-range budg-et plans anticipate releasing a request for proposals for a presidential aircraft replacement (PAR) contract in the third quarter of fiscal year 2015, ac-cording to budget documents released last February.

EADS North America once considered offering the Airbus A380 to replace two 747-200-based VC-25As, but it is no longer clear if the company is willing to participate in a competition. Earlier this year, Boeing’s 767-based KC-46A defeated an

HEAD OF STATE TRANSPORT

EADS uncertain on Air Force One bidEuropean contender may not participate in presidential aircraft replacement contest, clearing way for Boeing solution

A330-200-based proposal to re-place the air force’s oldest KC-135 tankers. The VC-25A replacement programme does not fit within EADS’s long-term growth strategy for the North American market, which is focused on establishing

777 or 787. Four years ago, the air force requested data on all three types for an analysis of alterna-tives, along with information about the A380 and A350.

The PAR requirement has been quiet for several years, but was highlighted by Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley on 19 September.

“We have recognised for sever-al years now that the Air Force One replacement is out there in our future,” he said. “We’re being asked to look at the status of our forces beyond the five-year future defence plan [FYDP], and we have to be mindful of what’s just outside the FYDP.”

a permanent manufacturing and service base on US soil, the company said.

If the A380 is withheld, the USAF’s only available options will be Boeing products, includ-ing VIP versions of the 747-8I,

Get more from AFA on Stephen Trimble’s The DEW Line blog:flightglobal.com/dewline

Norway warns JSM decision is critical for F-35 buyWEAPONS

DEVELOPMENT

Lockheed Martin stays in dogfight to replace AMRAAM, HARM missiles

Norwegian firm Kongsberg has warned that the country

needs a commitment from the US government within six months to integrate a national-specific missile on the Lockheed Martin F-35, or it could with-draw from the programme.

A Lockheed Martin/Northrop

Grumman team has revealed plans

to compete for a contract to replace

Raytheon’s AIM-120 AMRAAM and

AGM-88 HARM missiles, despite

being shut out of a series of

technology development

contract awards.

Lockheed displayed a notional

concept for the US Air Force’s next

generation missile requirement,

and expects the service to release

a request for proposals to industry

in late 2012, said Chuck Morant,

the company’s manager of strike

weapons business development.

So far, Norway has received no assurance that the Kongsberg joint strike missile (JSM) will be integrated as part of the Block 4 software update on the F-35 in 2019. The absence of such a commitment could prompt the Norwegian parliament to reject

an expected request early next year from the nation’s defence ministry to buy an initial four F-35s, in order to launch training activities in 2016.

“That is what I think is the critical issue [for the Norwegian parliament’s decision]”, said Bjorne Bjune, Kongsberg vice president of business develop-ment. “That decision needs to be forthcoming.”

Integrating the JSM as the Nor-wegian F-35’s primary surface-to-air missile system killer is considered an absolute require-ment by Oslo, Bjune said.

Norway has already invested $1 billion to adapt its naval strike missile design into the air-launched JSM, and is planning to spend a further $200 million.

Oslo wants the US Depart-ment of Defense to spend $20 million to integrate the JSM on the F-35 Block 4, and would match this contribution with an equal amount.

Tom Burbage, Lockheed’s executive vice-president for the

F-35, said that the JSM integra-tion decision must then be made by a committee of operational advisers to the F-35 joint programme office.

But Bjune said the commit-tee’s decision-making process will be too slow to support the Norwegian parliament’s vote next year.

Kongsberg and the Norwegian government want the office of the US secretary of defence to commit to the JSM integration plan, ahead of the advisory committee’s process.

If the missile integration is ap-proved, Kongsberg plans to launch flight tests of the JSM in 2015-16, Bjune said.

Previously referred to as the joint

dual-role air dominance missile, the

long-range weapon is being de-

signed for internal carriage by the

Lockheed F-22 and F-35 for use

against aircraft and surface-to-air

missile systems.

Boeing and Raytheon last year

received awards from the US

Defense Advanced Research

Projects Agency to complete a sup-

porting advanced missile demon-

stration programme. This covers

work on a new directional warhead

and a new kind of seeker with an

integrated fuse.

Oslo wants the US Department of Defense to spend $20 million to integrate the JSM on the F-35

Rex

Featu

res

The process to replace the VC-25A fleet should start in 2015

FIN_270911_020-021 21 22/9/11 13:09:56

DEFENCE

flightglobal.com

For free access to Flight’s Defence e-newsletter visit flightglobal.com/ defencenewsletter


India’s air force will buy 15 Na-tional Aerospace Laboratories

(NAL) Saras multi-role transports, with the 14-seat aircraft to be em-ployed as trainers.

The twin-engine, push-prop aircraft will be produced by Hin-dustan Aeronautics in Bengaluru, an industry source said. Three will be delivered in 2014, fol-lowed by four in each of the fol-lowing three years.

The air force will use the air-craft to train flight crews for types including the Antonov An-32, Boeing C-17 and Ilyushin Il-76.

However, the source suggested that it could ultimately acquire 50 Saras for use across a range of roles. About 25 could also be ac-quired by the Indian navy for use

as land-based coastal patrol as-sets, with a navalised version at the preliminary design stage, and likely to be rolled out in 2014.

India’s Saras aircraft was flown for the first time in 2004, some 18 years after the programme’s inception.

Three prototypes have been produced so far, with the latest featuring a new glass cockpit and reduced weight via the use of composite tails and wings and fewer bulkheads.

A production order from the air force would deliver a major boost for the Saras programme, which is still recovering from the crash of the second prototype in 2009.

All three crew members died in the accident, which investiga-tors said happened after the mili-tary test pilots attempted to re-light an engine with insufficient recovery altitude.

Australia will in late Septem-ber launch a further review

of its NH Industries MRH90 mul-ti-role helicopter programme, with the findings to be reported by the end of October.

The Australian army has accepted just 13 MRH90s so far for testing and initial crew training from a 46-aircraft order, with transmission oil-cooler fan failures and the poor availability of spares having plagued the programme.

The fleet was also grounded for three months last year, while the Department of Defence and industry investigated the reasons behind the in-flight fail-ure of a Rolls-Royce/Turbomeca RTM322 engine.

A new inspection regime and other measures were introduced after the event was attributed to compressor blades fracturing after coming into contact with the engine casing.

To “examine whether further action is necessary to remediate the project”, the new diagnostics review will build on an assess-

ment conducted by the Defence Materiel Organisation last April. This recommended that the Department of Defence should work with prime contractor Australian Aerospace to address problems.

Separately, the Royal Austral-ian Navy is to lease three Bell 429 training helicopters from Raytheon Australia under a $26

million deal also including sup-port and maintenance. The new aircraft will be introduced in 2012 and flown for around a combined 1,500h annually for four years, said minister of defence materiel Jason Clare.

They will be used to train crews for the navy’s MRH90s and future Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky MH-60Rs.

Grob Aircraft has secured a launch customer for its

G120TP, with the Indonesian air force to operate the type as an el-ementary and basic trainer.

Announcing its selection on 19 September, Grob said a contract signature is expected within the next few weeks. The deal is likely to be for around 18 aircraft, for delivery from 2012.

In addition to supplying the turboprop-powered aircraft, the company will also provide a computer-based ground training system, mission briefing and de-briefing equipment, embedded cockpit simulation capability and a full package of mainte-nance support.

Jakarta’s new aircraft will sup-port its air force’s introduction of eight Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano armed turboprops, or-dered in June 2011.

National A

ero

space

Labora

tories

The first three of the 14-seat type will be delivered in 2014

Com

monw

ealth o

f Austr

alia

The army’s 13 aircraft are used for test and training activities

PROCUREMENT GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE

Indian air force swoops for SarasService to buy an initial 15 push-prop transports to support crew training, in major boost for NAL’s indigenous project

For more regional coverage, go to our Asian Skies blogflightglobal.com/asianskies

Australia advances MRH90 reviewHELICOPTERS GREG WALDRON SINGAPORETRAINERS

Grob’s G120TP takes off with launch order

Read our flight test report on Grob’s G120TP turboprop at flightglobal.com/g120tp

FIN_270911_022 22 21/9/11 15:06:38

FIN_270911_023 23 21/09/2011 14:01:23

flightglobal.com

Keep up to date with all the latest business and general aviation news at flightglobal.com/bizav

BUSINESS AVIATION


BACKING BUSINESSOne of the Europe’s largest char-

ter and management compa-

nies, London Executive Aviation

(LEA), is calling on the industry

to work harder to publicise the

economic importance of busi-

ness aviation. Speaking at the

Business Aircraft Europe confer-

ence at London Biggin Hill air-

port earlier this month, LEA chief

executive Patrick Margetson-

Rushmore said: “Our industry is

an important enabler to eco-

nomic growth and a significant

employer, directly and indirectly,

across Europe. We need to con-

vey these points more widely

and more powerfully.”

TORONTO CHOSENBombardier has selected its

Toronto, Canada facility as the

assembly base for its for Global

7000 and 8000 business jets.

The ultra long-range aircraft are

scheduled to enter service in

2016 and 2017 respectively.

The 83-year-old Toronto site has

produced more than 8,000 air-

craft to date. It is home to

Global 5000 and 6000 assem-

bly and Learjet 40 and 45XR

wing manufacture.

G550 RECORDThe Gulfstream G550 ultra long-

range business jet has set an-

other city-pair speed record – this

time between the airframer’s

Savannah, Georgia headquar-

ters and Campinas, Brazil. The

aircraft flew 7,212km

(3,894nm) in 8h 28min, at an

average cruise speed of 451kt

(835km/h), Gulfstream said.

The G550 has set more than 50

city-pair records since it entered

service in 2003.

LANDMARK ACQUISITION Landmark Aviation has acquired

the assets of Miami-based

Falcon Trust Air, bringing its

network of fixed base

operations to 50 locations

across the US. The 1,670m2

(18,000ft2) facility includes two

VIP suites, a pilot’s lounge,

conference room and 3,900m2

of hangar space.

IN BRIEF

Air navigation service provider Airservices Australia is call-

ing for the “urgent fitment” of au-tomatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) equipment to the country’s fly-in, fly-out mining charter fleet – particularly in West-ern Australia – in light of the “ex-plosive growth” in the sector.

Airservices chief executive of-ficer Greg Russell said the growth in fly-in, fly-out operations is an immediate challenge to the service provider. Until now, Airservices has been using traditional proce-dural separation standards in managing regional airspace in Western Australia, particularly in the northwest of the state, where most of the mines are located.

However, the system is now close to capacity: “The industry is telling us that significantly more growth is going to occur in fly-in, fly-out operations in the next two to three years,” Russell said. “Put

simply, this cannot occur safely without a major change to the surveillance picture so we can see the aircraft involved, and that involves a programme of urgent fitment of ADS-B.”

Australia has nationwide ADS-B coverage above flight level 300 (around 30,000ft), and Airs-ervices has long been keen to ex-tend the programme below FL300. The company said it is in discus-sions with operators on the issue, and they are receptive to fitting ADS-B equipment.

The service provider held a re-gional safety forum to review cur-rent and future demand issues in Western Australia earlier this month, attended by more than 30 representatives of the mining and resources industry, airlines, char-ter operators and Perth airport.

Russell said in order to “buy some time” Airservices is install-ing a transportable radar in

Paraburdoo, which will provide coverage of six airports within 100km (62 miles).

The growth of fly-in, fly-out op-erations is also putting a strain on Perth airport. “Aircraft leave and return to Perth in large waves, which exacerbate issues with ground infrastructure and cause lengthy delays,” Russell added.

Perth airport is undertaking a Australian dollar 500 million ($515 million) redevelopment, in-cluding construction of Terminal WA – which will primarily cater for the resource sector’s fly-in, fly-out market when it opens in 2013.

How Airservices fixes the is-sues in Western Australia will provide lessons for other parts of the country, Russell said – with mining projects expanding in Queensland and elsewhere.

Canadian completions and conversions specialist Flying

Colours is working on the design of a new facility capable of accom-modating widebody aircraft, as a project to expand the airport it is based at nears conclusion.

The federal and provincial gov-ernments have invested Canadian dollar 28 million ($28.3 million) in developing Peterborough air-port, Ontario, from a municipal facility to a regional one.

Completion of the upgrade – expected by mid-October – will open many new possibilities for Flying Colours. “That was the key driving force in us consider-ing further expansion here,” said Eric Gillespie, director of comple-tions sales and management. “We have aspirations to get into widebody airplanes.”

OPERATIONS EMMA KELLY PERTH

ADS-B urged to dig mining sector out of capacity hole‘Explosive growth’ of fly-in, fly-out charter operations prompts call for safety upgrade

Flying Colours widens its ambitionsEXPANSION NIALL O’KEEFFE PETERBOROUGH

See all our coverage of aviation safety matters by going to: flightglobal.com/safety

Flyi

ng

Colo

urs

The completions firm specialises in work on Bombardier aircraft

Flying Colours’ services have hitherto been specialised in Bom-bardier, Gulfstream, Dassault and Hawker business jets, with Bom-bardier’s Global models sitting at the upper end of its size range. Its core products include VIP conver-sions of used Bombardier CRJ re-gional jets, under the “ExecLiner” brand name, and interior fitting of factory-fresh Bombardier Chal-

lenger 850 aircraft. Flying Colours delivered the first of five Chal-lenger 850s earmarked for Chi-nese customers late last year. Now, the family-run business is drawing up plans for a new facili-ty that would be roughly three times the size of its existing one at Peterborough, and capable of han-dling narrowbody airliner size business jets.

FIN_270911_024-025 24 22/9/11 11:36:27

BUSINESS AVIATION

flightglobal.com

C-NM5 piston single takes to the skyGENERAL AVIATION P26


Bombardier’s in-house fraction-al ownership provider, Flexjet,

is in a race to sell out the shares in four mid-sized Learjet 85s, before it puts the new type into service.

“We need volume,” Flexjet sales and marketing vice-president Bruce Peddle said. “We have to start with four aircraft fully com-mitted and flying in the system.” Flexjet placed its order in 2008, and launched the fractional pro-gramme in August.

To help reach its target, the Dal-las-based company is offering a 5% discount on shares in the first four aircraft, down to $1.08 mil-lion from $1.14 million.

Each share represents 1/16 of an aircraft – or 50 flight hours per year. The sale so far has netted five customers, though Peddle said he

is confident that he will sell out one aircraft by the end of the year. The launch customer for the all-composite eight-passenger aircraft in the US, Flexjet has firm orders for seven Learjet 85s in total. The first is scheduled to arrive in late 2013, followed by four aircraft in 2014 and two in 2015.

Having the ample resources of an established fractional – 84 aircraft and approximately 1,000 customers – is likely to be a bonus for bringing in a new technology aircraft.

“It takes time to get an aircraft into service and get up to a stand-ard you accept,” Peddle added.

Flexjet’s fleet, as of early September, comprised 19 Learjet 40s, 12 Learjet 45s, 10 Learjet 60s, 31 Challenger 300s and 12 Chal-

lenger 604/605 models, with three Challenger 300s and one Chal-lenger 605 on tap for delivery in 2012. Peddle said Flexjet was given a private update on the Lear-jet 85 program recently, with Bom-bardier indicating that the type’s first flight is on schedule for mid-2012 – as is its first delivery, in the fourth quarter of 2013. Bombar-dier said the first delivery will likely go to Flexjet.

“Follow-on orders will be con-tingent on how we’re doing with [the initial aircraft] moving into the fractional space,” Peddle added. “Seven aircraft is a nice order, but to get economic volume, we would like to see more.”

Embraer has received Indian validation for its Phenom

300, paving the way for the light business jet to begin commercial operations in the country.

With a range of 3,650km (1,971nm), the aircraft can con-nect the main hubs of Delhi and Mumbai with every major city in India. Further afield, it is also ca-

pable of flying nonstop from Delhi to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Phuket in Thai-land and Malé in the Maldives.

The Phenom 300 was first cer-tificated in December 2009 by Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency and the US Federal Aviation Administration. Since then, the seven-seat aircraft has

been approved in almost 40 countries, including Australia, Denmark, France, Indonesia, Morocco, South Africa and the UK.

Embraer delivered 26 Phenom 300s last year.

GAMA GROWTHUK-headquartered business

aviation charter and manage-

ment company Gama Aviation

has introduced a UK-registered

Cessna CJ2+ to its managed

charter fleet, and is poised to

add a 13-seat Dassault Falcon

2000, boosting its business jet

fleet to 28 aircraft. Gama is wit-

nessing “a steady amount of

wide-bodied charter, and clients

are primarily business clients

flying to destinations in the USA,

India and South Africa”, it said.

The company also reports an

uptick in UK/Europe charter

demand from governments,

VIPs, business executives and

leisure travellers. “Overall, busi-

ness is up about 7%, compared

with this time last year,” it said.

NETJETS FBONetJets has signed a long-term

lease with US fixed base opera-

tor (FBO) Maguire Aviation, to

provide the fractional ownership

giant with a dedicated, private

terminal at Van Nuys airport in

southern California. Scheduled

for completion next year, the

facility will consist of a new “pri-

vate-use” 10,000ft2 (930m2)

terminal, a conference and busi-

ness centre and rest areas.

RUSSIAN EXPANSIONJet Aviation Moscow has re-

ceived European and Russian

approval to expand its mainte-

nance offering at Vnukovo air-

port. The company already

provides line maintenance, de-

fect rectification and aircraft-on-

ground services on a range of

Bombardier, Gulfstream,

Embraer and Hawker types, but

plans to expand its capabilities.

EXECUJET ADDITIONSExecuJet Europe has added six

new aircraft to its managed fleet

since April this year, and is con-

tinuing to add one aircraft a

month on average, the business

aviation services provider said.

The new arrivals boost

ExecuJet’s European-based

managed fleet to more than

50 aircraft.

IN BRIEF

OWNERSHIP JOHN CROFT WASHINGTON DC

Flexjet cuts cost of share in first four Learjet 85s by 5%Fractional provider wants initial batch of aircraft ‘fully committed’ prior to service entry

Read more about Embraer’s Phenom 300 twinjet, go to flightglobal.com/phenom300

Indian green light for Phenom 300APPROVAL KATE SARSFIELD LONDON

Study the Learjet 85’s vital statistics in our database at flightglobal.com/learjet85

Bom

bard

ier

Bombardier is aiming for first delivery of the type in 2013

FIN_270911_024-025 25 21/9/11 15:19:42

FIN_270911_030-031 30 22/09/2011 10:29:45

FIN_270911_030-031 31 22/09/2011 10:30:24

GENERAL AVIATION


Explore 100 years of aviation history as it appeared in the original pages of Flight: flightglobal.com/archive

LoPresti Aviation Engineering has received the first produc-

tion DeltaHawk diesel engine destined for its Cirrus SR20 en-gine upgrade programme, dubbed the SR2X.

The DeltaHawk DH-180A4, is a 200hp (147kW), four-cylinder two-stroke diesel powerplant.

RJ Siegel, LoPresti’s chief ex-ecutive, said the first flight of the company’s modified SR20, with the engine upgrade, will take place in November.

The Florida-based company expects to receive US Federal Aviation Administration supple-mental type certificate approval for the $100,000 upgrade by the

third quarter of 2012. Included in the kit will be the FAA-certificat-ed DeltaHawk diesel engine – which can burn a variety of fuel types, including Jet A – a rede-signed cowling and a Hartzell three-blade propeller.

Siegel said the turbocharged and supercharged engine will provide full power up to 18,000ft (5,486m), making the SR20 as fast as the normally aspirated SR22 at altitude.

LoPresti picked the SR20 as its first prototype for the diesel en-gine due to the age of the fleet, meaning a large number of air-craft are approaching engine overhaul. Future plans call for a

diesel-powered version of the SR22, which would be attractive to European and Asian markets, where avgas is less available.

Cirrus acknowledged the chal-lenge of selling avgas-powered aircraft overseas, and had been testing several alternative engine designs in the 2000s.

Challenges with the diesel en-gines in various environments – for example, restarting the engine at high altitudes and cold tem-peratures – proved to be too diffi-cult for the company to overcome at the time.

India’s CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) and

Mahindra Aerospace have con-ducted the first flight of their C-NM5 piston single, taking off from Mahindra’s GippsAero facil-ity in Victoria, Australia.

The C-NM5 is a five-seat, all-metal aircraft powered by a Lycoming IO-540, featuring non-retractable landing gear and a spacious cabin with large access doors. The aircraft interior is reconfigurable for different roles, including air taxi, charters, cargo and medical evacuation.

The 45min first flight in early September tested the basic han-dling of the aircraft, with subse-quent flights evaluating aircraft stability and control in different flight regimes, Mahindra said. The Indian manufacturer is working towards certification next year.

The aircraft was jointly de-signed and developed over the past three years by CSIR-NAL and Mahindra, in India’s first public-private aircraft development.

The prototype aircraft was built over 10 months by a rapid prototyping team at Mahindra’s Australian subsidiary GippsAe-ro, in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria.

Mahindra acquired GippsAero – formerly Gippsland Aeronau-tics – in 2009, along with Aero-staff Australia, as part of the Indi-an group’s efforts to build up its

aerospace activities. Flight testing is being conduct-

ed by GippsAero. A second air-craft, to be used for certification, is being developed in India.

GippsAero, manufacturer of the GA8 Airvan utility aircraft, is currently developing a new 10-seat stretch version of the Airvan – the GA10 – as well as a re-launched Nomad, the GA18.

EUROCOPTER DEALSEurocopter has sold two EC225

helicopters to utility operator Air

Greenland. The medium, twin-

engine aircraft be used for

search and rescue (S&R) and

passenger transportation

missions. The airframer has also

clinched a contract for a single

EC225 from the Spanish

government. The aircraft will be

used by the Spanish Maritime

Safety Agency (SASEMAR) for

S&R and pollution control

o perations, replacing one of its

Sikorsky S-61Ns.

CHINESE AW139SAgustaWestland has sold two

AW139’s to Qinghai Zhingao

Natural Gas and Chemical of

China. One of the two medium

twin-engine helicopters will be

fitted with a mixed VIP-utility con-

figuration, including a forward

looking infrared camera and res-

cue hoist. This aircraft will be

operated in Gulmud, Qinghai

province, Western China. The

second AW139 will be operated

in Southwest China’s Chengdu,

Sichuan province.

TRAINING FEEDBACKAustralia’s Civil Aviation Safety

Authority is seeking industry

feedback by the 30 September

on a proposed advisory

publication on aircraft flight in-

structor training. The document

is designed to provide flying

schools with guidance on

developing flight instructor train-

ing courses which satisfy

regulatory requirements.

FUEL APPROVALThe US Federal Aviation

Administration has approval a

new fuel that meets a “very low

lead” (VLL) specification, for use

in all aircraft currently operating

on 100LL. The maximum lead

content of the new fuel – dubbed

100VLL – is nearly 20% less

than the existing 100LL specifi-

cation. This “better represents

the actual amount of the lead

additive used in aviation fuels

today”, said industry trade

association AOPA.

IN BRIEF PERFORMANCE JOHN CROFT WASHINGTON DC

LoPresti plans November flight for upgraded CirrusFlorida-based firm receives first production DeltaHawk diesel engine for SR2X programme

C-NM5 piston single takes to the skyDEVELOPMENT EMMA KELLY PERTH

Read more about diesel engines for GA aircraft at flightglobal.com/diesel

FIN_270911_028 28 22/9/11 12:58:52

FIN_270911_027 27 21/09/2011 14:02:38

NEWS FOCUS


Check out our collection of online, dynamic aircraft profiles for the latest news, infor-mation and images on civil and military programmes at flightglobal.com/profiles

into account the growing need for pilots to be skilled in managing PRNAV (precision area naviga-tion), operation in MNPS (mini-mum navigation performance service) airspace, the use of HGS (head-up guidance systems) or electronic flight bags (EFBs).

However, as William Cecil, di-rector of business development for US-based Teledyne Controls, pointed out: “Airlines are account-able for the discovery of issues.”

But using flight monitoring data will only be of real use to airlines that are running an approved ATQP – and they would pay a heavy financial cost for using dis-covered data as a part of type rat-

ing training, because it has to be added to the legacy exercises.

But Cecil maintained there is a price to be paid by airlines for not running an efficient data recovery system, and failing to use quality flight data to improve training would compound the cost. There

may, however, also be a case for saying that FTOs and airlines protest too much, he said.

For example, it seems reasona-ble that training for economical operations – or the optimum use of HGS or EFB – should be an air-line investment in better perform-ance at lower cost, rather than a regulatory requirement, he added.

A CHANGE IN REGULATIONBut the general sentiment at the seminar was that the regulators should either address the training needs demonstrated by the accidents afflicting modern air-liners, or get out of prescriptive training regulation and into spec-ifying required line flying compe-tencies, and acceptable measures of performance.

After all, pilot licences are now defined by a level of performance that must be demonstrated, not by completing a prescribed syllabus.

Flybe’s training standards manager, Capt Steve Deverall, said the airline’s experience with its multi-crew pilot licence (MPL) graduates – who joined the line on the carrier’s Bombardier Q400 fleet last November – has been universally good.

But the airline pleads for a re-

Regulators failing to take account of changing aviation needs, Flightglobal conference hears

SAFETY DAVID LEARMOUNT LONDON

Pilot training advances stifled by rule-makers

Quality piloting may not have been the prescribed theme of

Flightglobal’s Flight Safety Confer-ence (8-9 September, London), but it emerged as the dominant sub-ject, despite a strong field of con-tenders.

Oxford Aviation Academy’s (OAA) commercial director Lloyd Watson spoke for all flight training organisations (FTOs), in bemoan-ing the fact that the statutory requirements for type rating and recurrent training have not been modernised, to take account of the changes to state-of-the-art flight-decks and modern air traffic man-agement (ATM).

The FTOs, much as they would like to offer evidence-based train-ing or economical flying skills, are condemned to continue train-ing for “legacy” skills, according to Watson. The European Avia-tion Safety Agency’s director gen-eral Patrick Goudou, also speak-ing at the conference, said “pilot training must remain dynamic”, but he gave no hint as to what that might mean to the Cologne-based agency.

The general consensus among delegates was that regulatory guid-ance on flexibility and innovation in training was totally lacking – and not just in Europe.

Watson remarked that although the EASA offers airlines a degree of flexibility in recurrent training – through the alternative training and qualification programme (ATQP) – this does not apply to training for the pilot licence itself, or the type rating.

He added that there was no move to ensure recurrent training addresses current real-life, evi-dence-based safety concerns – loss of control, runway excursion, run-way incursion and ground colli-sions, onboard fire or controlled flight into terrain. Nor does it take

Pilot licences are now defined by a level of performance... not by a prescribed syllabus

Patrick Goudou, EASA: “Pilot training must remain dynamic”

Jam

es L

ake

r

duction in the statutory number of landings graduates have to complete for base training, as a part of winning the MPL.

The UK-based carrier said none of the young pilots had a problem with landing the aircraft, so six touchdowns, instead of the statu-tory 12, would suffice.

The point is that base training on Q400s is arguably affordable, but the cost of MPL base training for the Airbus A320 or Boeing 737 might swing the case against hir-ing MPLs for an all-jet fleet.

One non-intuitive piece of learning Flybe picked up, during its pioneering work for MPL in the UK market, was to observe an in-teresting difference between the multi-crew training phase for its first course of students at Flight Training Europe (FTE), and those on its second course at OAA.

The FTE students did their training in a generic Boeing 737 simulator, whereas the OAA crew, because they had a Q400 simula-tor, used it. As a result, the FTE students absorbed pure flying knowledge better in the 737, be-

FIN_270911_028-029 30 22/9/11 12:33:41

NEWS FOCUS


Airbus looks into the vendor financing gameBUSINESS P32

Alaska Airlines’ head of flight

standards, Capt Jim Freeman,

explained to the conference why

the carrier is trialling the Apple

iPad as its solution to the need

for an electronic flight bag (EFB).

He said Alaska wants a com-

pact, easily accessed Class I

EFB with flightdeck stowage, so

pilots can recover the informa-

tion they want on the ground or

in the air. He added that he sees

the Alaska Airlines iPad as an

“operational document manage-

ment system – a mobile pilot

resource centre”.

The more he spoke about

Alaska’s objectives, the more it

became clear that the compa-

ny’s plan is not an endorsement

for the iPad, but a recognition

that the unit comes as near as

any compact computer does to

being a commercial-off-the-shelf

(COTS) solution to its hardware

needs – and the carrier insists

on off-the-shelf availability.

Freeman said that looking at

a COTS EFB is all about being

practical and uncomplicated:

“The amount of information

pilots are required to reference

has grown astronomically over

the years.”

He added that there are sig-

nificant potential cost savings in

fuel use through weight reduc-

tion, print costs, bag storage

areas and the maintenance of

computer resource centres.

The iPad’s sync feature allows

quick, accurate updates, and

Freeman thinks this can be ex-

tended to additional servers,

holding instructor guidance and

information. He sees the poten-

tial for pilots to access training

reference material, along with

Alaskan’s existing web page.

The carrier is gradually

preparing its crews for transition

from paper to EFB, and is looking

at future potential functions,

like limited internet access, to

allow crews to view real-time

weather data.

Alaska prepares for iPad EFBsTraining for economical

operations should be an

airline investment

Rudi R

iet

Stay up to date with the latest news on aviation safety at flightglobal.com/safety

% Data recovery (monitoring)

SOURCE: Teledyne Controls, an example of actual customer airline experience

2002

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Initial FDM

introduction Wireless and

data automation

implemented

Further safety

event reduction

Monitoring Events

DATA RECOVERY AGAINST FLIGHT DATA MONITORING EVENTS

cause they were treating the ses-sions simply as a multi-crew man-agement learning process.

The OAA students were tempt-ed to treat their Q400 multi-crew time as preparation for their type rating, so intrinsic learning – the purpose of that stage – competed with type learning.

Deverall added that he is a fan of getting away from formulaic re-current training simulator ses-sions, where pilots are mentally prepared for packaged routines.

He argued for more evidence-based training, with line-relevant exercises injected, un-briefed, into the sortie, to provide “startle ef-fect”. This has the potential to test the crew in a way more likely to provide genuine learning, he said.

Avionics guru Don Bateman, of Honeywell, addressed the issue of loss of control from the technical angle.

He said a tweak to the graphics generators associated with prima-ry flight displays could provide a pilot whose aircraft has got into an extreme attitude with pitch and roll vector arrows. These

could show the pilot which way to direct the aircraft, to get it rap-idly back to straight and level.

Such a change could be a powerful tool in preventing acci-dents, like the nine fatal airline loss of control accidents since 2000, which led to the death of 1,128 people, he said.

One of those was the Air France AF447 accident, in which an Air-bus A330 was lost at night over the Atlantic in 2009, because the crew did not understand what

their flight instruments were telling them.

One critical piece of informa-tion not shown was angle of at-tack data. Bateman said such data – known by the flight control computer, but not provided di-rectly to the pilots – should be provided on the primary flight display.

The most common accident type, however, is runway excur-sion. At the conference, the sub-ject of all the runway accident

varieties were addressed by Gide-on Ewers, of the International Fed-eration of Airline Pilots’ Associa-tions and Dave Carbaugh, Boeing’s senior engineering test pilot.

Ewers looked at what actually happens, while Carbaugh ad-dressed the certification issues.

He admitted that the certificat-ed runway performance results achieved by test pilots under measured conditions cannot be routinely achieved by ordinary line pilots in the real world – even if they are the basis of the calcula-tions line pilots use.

He also dispelled some myths associated with landing as short as possible, going on to recom-mend that the pilot approaches on speed, does not flare long, gets the nosewheel down quickly, does not pump the brakes but ap-plies them steadily and, finally, uses reverse thrust.

As usual, it is sticking to proce-dures and using your common sense that works.

FIN_270911_028-029 31 22/9/11 11:08:57

BUSINESS

flightglobal.com

Good week

Bad week


Commercial Aviation Online tracks aircraft finance worldwide. To find out how to sub-scribe visit flightglobal.com/aboutcao

AIRBUS Citing a looming

“dollar crunch”, Boeing’s

rival might get into the

vendor financing game to

help customers who get

hit by the debt crisis in

Europe, where banks

show signs of struggling

to raise the dollars need-

ed to pay for aircraft.

Airbus parent EADS is

sitting on €11 billion

($15 billion) in cash, but

may not be wise to stray

from its core expertise by

opening a bank; that

business is challenging

enough these days with-

out adding a manufac-

turer’s commercial risks.

BOEING Business-

friendly Republicans in

the US Congress passed

a bill to stop the National

Labor Relations Board

from blocking the air-

framer operating a sec-

ond 787 Dreamliner final

assembly line in South

Carolina. The NLRB al-

leges Boeing chose

South Carolina – a so-

called “right to work”

state which forbids

closed shops – over

Everett to get back at

unions for past strikes.

The bill must still pass

the Democrat-dominated

Senate, though.

MANAGEMENT DAN THISDELL LONDON

Time to buy growthThe aerospace supply chain is ripe for another round of consolidation

United Technologies (UTC), the parent company of Pratt

& Whitney and Hamilton Sund-strand, made the news last week, with an offer totalling $18.4 bil-lion for Goodrich – a deal that makes sense on several fronts.

Goodrich’s aerostructures divi-sion is to produce nacelle systems for the Bombardier CSeries, Mit-subishi Regional Jet and Airbus A320neo – all to be powered by variants of Pratt & Whitney’s PW1000G geared turbofan.

But the division would also ex-pose UTC to the Rolls-Royce Trent-powered fleet, through na-celle contracts for the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350.

Some probable overlap with Hamilton Sundstrand in engine controls and power management would likely be outweighed by ex-pansion into new markets through Goodrich’s strong landing gear business and interiors unit. This division supplies cargo, evacua-tion, lighting and seating systems.

On the military and security side, Goodrich capabilities in sur-veillance and reconnaissance would be a clear plus for UTC.

SUCCESS STORYAs Richard Aboulafia, vice- president analysis at US industry consultancy Teal Group puts it, the creation of big mezzanine con-tractors in the late 1990s was an industry success story for the prin-cipal players – Honeywell, Goodrich, Safran and UTC – which bought Sundstrand in 1999, and merged it into its Ham-ilton Standard business. The re-sult, he says, gave these suppliers “critical mass in terms of market power relative to the primes and aftermarket networks”.

A Goodrich-UTC combination, assuming regulatory go-ahead, he adds, would yield “more of the same critical mass” and, for UTC, greater aftermarket exposure to balance strong new-build revenue and “a great hedge against potential declining defence reve-nue at Pratt and Sikorsky”.

Deal valuation multiples

Deal volumes and values – 2000-2010

SOURCE: PwC

4

6

8

10

12

14

AEROSPACE MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Acquisition multiple

0099 01 02 03 07 08 09 10 11

Market multiple

Total deal volume $bnNumber of deals

EBITDA multiple

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

10

20

30

40

50

04 05

Year

06

01 02 03 07 08 09 1004 05

Year

06

Boein

gAirbus

Ben Mitchell, from PwC Corpo-rate Finance, sees such a deal as having implications far beyond the two players: “It could trigger another wave of consolidation.”

KEY DRIVERMitchell sees mergers and acquisi-tions (M&A) as the significant near-term growth driver in aero-space. As the Flightglobal-PwC Top 100 revealed, industry reve-nue growth in 2010 was a mere 2%, with many of the biggest com-panies seeing sight sales decline. Companies with strong growth, notes Mitchell, were almost exclu-sively acquirers, so to hold reve-nue growth rates the industry will have to continue its current rate of M&A activity (see chart).

Four key trends are emerging, Mitchell adds. One, such as Tri-umph’s $984 million acquisition of Vought Aerostructures, is to continue supply chain consolida-tion, to spread risk and gain scale.

A second trend is to buy key enabling technologies. Mitchell cites Meggitt’s $685 million pur-chase of Pacific Scientific Aero-space, and its expertise in the elec-tric systems that will gradually replace hydraulics.

A third option features deals to expand into new product lines or geographic markets. For instance, General Dynamics’ $960 million offer for healthcare information technology company Vangent, or BAE Systems’ various partner-ships with India’s Hindustan Aer-onautics.

Fourth, private equity firms are making a “tentative return” to the market, Mitchell says, “but more as sellers than buyers”.

Another driver is price. As the above chart shows, recent deals have been done at prices around 10 times earnings, which Mitchell calls “a sensible level” for buyers and sellers.

Whether UTC may be overpay-ing for Goodrich is an interesting question. Before news of the talks broke, Goodrich shares were trad-ing at $85-90, giving it a market capitalisation of nearly $11.5 bil-lion, or around 11 times 2010 op-erating profit. Shares then rose to $105 for a market capitalisation of some $13.5 billion. UTC’s offer is for $16.5 billion, plus $1.9 billion of net debt.

See the Top 100 at flightglobal.com/top100 or visit flight global.com/pwcdataexplorer

FIN_270911_032-033 32 22/9/11 13:07:36

BUSINESS

flightglobal.com

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Very little in defence is off the shelf”At London’s DSEi military

equipment show,

Finmeccanica UK boss

ALBERTO DE BENEDICTIS

stressed the need for a

strong industrial base to

supply “sophisticated”

armed forces like those

of the UK


PEOPLE MOVESATA, Avtrade, Gama Aviation, Gulfstream and Tiger Airways

Kelley: Gulfstream Savannah

Meyer: L3 man at ACSS

HAMPSON SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE DIVESTMENTSALE Hampson shareholders approved the $84 million sale of four

shims-making businesses to Bridgepoint Development Capital, which

will operate the US and UK units as a single business called Shimtech

Industries. The businesses turned over $44 million last year, and

stand alone within UK-based Hampson, which will roughly halve its net

debt with the sale proceeds, and intends to focus on composite com-

ponents and precision tooling.

RAFAEL LOCKS ONTO INDIA DEALSARMS Israeli arms maker Rafael hopes to capitalise on the absence

of a US candidate in India’s $10.2 billion contest to supply 126 fight-

ers. Revealing that the Indian air force has purchased the Rafael

Litening targeting pod in kit form, Rafael vice president marketing Lova

Drori said the shortlisting of the Dassault Rafale and the Eurofighter

Typhoon opens opportunities that would not be available to Israeli

companies had the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet or Lockheed

Martin F-16IN Super Viper made the cut.

P&W, AVIC FORM ENGINE MAINTENANCE VENTUREPROPULSION Pratt & Whitney Canada and China’s AVIC Engine have

formed a 25:75 maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) joint

venture in Zhuzhou, China. The newly-formed company, AEMC, will

provide in-country MRO services for PT6A and PW100-series civil

turboprop engines.

BANGALORE AEROSPACE PARK ON THE WAYINVESTMENT The government of Bangalore’s Karnataka region, in

India, is to set up an aerospace industrial park on 1,000 acres (405ha)

of land at Devanahalli, close to Bangalore International airport. More

than 40 businesses have signed memoranda of understanding to lo-

cate there, including state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics.

‘FIRST’ CHINESE NACELLE PRODUCTION UNDERWAYMANUFACTURING Xian Aircraft and Safran subsidiary Aircelle have

opened a nacelle components production facility in Xian. The site,

which the firms claim to be the first nacelle provider in China, will man-

ufacture Comac C919 and Airbus A320 components for Aircelle-GE

Aviation joint venture Nexcelle.

ST BUYS CABIN INTERIOR ENGINEERING FIRMACQUISITION ST Aero parent Singapore Technologies Engineering is

to acquire US aircraft cabin interior firm DRB Aviation Consultants for

$1.45 million net of debt. DRB, which can issue minor supplementary

type certificates for avionics and interiors, will become a subsidiary of

ST Engineering’s VT Aerospace unit.

SUPPORT OPERATOR UP ON CIVIL SPARES DEMANDSERVICES Chicago-headquartered maintenance, engineering and

logistics company AAR posted a 19% rise in revenue to $479 million

in its first quarter to the end of August. Commercial sales increased by

21% on robust demand for spare parts support – or 40% including the

completion of a $33.3 million sale of two aircraft. Defence sales

increased just 2%. Pre-tax profit was up nearly a fifth, to $25.9 million.

GERMAN-POLISH MERGER FOLLOWS ACQUISITIONAIRLINES German regional airline Ostfriesische Lufttransport (OLT)

will be merged with Poland’s Jet Air by their new owner, Gdansk inves-

tor Amber Gold. The carriers will keep their bases in Bremen and

Warsaw, and be managed separately. OLT will be renamed.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

turboprops general manager Ian Cheese has become flight operations director. Components servicer Avtrade has appointed Martin Assmann as global marketing director, Tay Kay Lai as Asia regional sales director and Daphne Teo as Singapore office manager. L3-Thales safety avionics systems joint venture ACSS has named L3 veteran Kenneth Meyer as VP programme management and customer support. Macquarie AirFinance has appointed Liam Kavanagh as senior VP trading. He joins from HBOS where he was head of aircraft finance at Lloyds following their merger.

At Gulfstream’s Savannah service centre, Darrell Frey, James Kelley and Jeff Kilgore have been promoted to directors. The Air Transport Association of America has appointed former Citigroup senior lobbyist Christine Burgeson as senior VP global government affairs. Andrew David, former Virgin Blue chief operating officer, will join Tiger Airways Australia as CEO. At Gama Aviation, captains Steve Wright and Steve Woodfine have been promoted to chief operations officer and chief pilot, XL Airways head of training Brian Cozens has joined in the same role and Flybe

Rolls-Royce working on composite blade FEATURE P34

Gulfstr

eam

AC

SS

Dan T

his

dell/

Flig

htg

lobal

FIN_270911_032-033 33 22/9/11 13:07:50

flightglobal.com

COMMERCIAL ENGINES


MICHAEL GUBISCH LONDON

Thus far an unfaltering defender of metallic fan blades, Rolls-Royce is now working on a composite successor

COMING FULL CIRCLE

Blades from the black stuff:

Rolls-Royce’s composite fan

blade demonstrator

Rolls

-Royc

e

Rolls-Royce is preparing to move on from its long history of employing hollow titanium alloy fan blades for its turbofan engines, instead turning

to manufacturing the frontline aerofoils out of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP).

The company has developed a composite fan blade design – together with its UK part-ner GKN Aerospace – which is to be flight-tested in 2013, and could become available on a new engine, beyond the Trent XWB, towards the end of the decade.

While General Electric introduced carbon fibre fan blades on the GE90 engine in 1995, and has since used a similar design for the new GEnx-family, its competitor across the Atlantic has held on to a titanium construc-tion until now.

It has thus far not been possible to produce a composite fan blade that is as thin as its metal-lic counterpart, says Robert Nuttall, vice-presi-dent strategic marketing at Rolls-Royce. The thickness of the aerofoil’s cross section deter-mines its aerodynamic efficiency. Titanium

has thus far delivered the best balance between weight, drag and durability against vibrations, foreign object damage (FOD) – such as bird strikes – and erosion through sand, volcanic ash and rain. All of Rolls-Royce’s large turbo-fans since the original RB211-22 have been equipped with hollow, wide-chord titanium fan blades, produced via a super-plastic form-ing, diffusion bonding (SPF/DB) process.

“Composite blades are light[weight] but, in order to have the strength to deal with the real-world requirements, they tend to have been thicker than a normal [metallic] blade, which means they are not as aerodynamically effi-cient,” Nutall says. Rolls-Royce says the titani-um fan blades are “lighter and more aerody-namically efficient than those on the [General Electric] GE90.” Now, however, Rolls-Royce and composite specialist GKN have developed a carbonfibre fan blade demonstrator that is as thin as the titanium aerofoil, and fulfils the other criteria in robustness, manufacturing costs and production volume scalability as well. This carbonfibre fan blade has already undergone ground tests, including blade-off and bird strike tests, and is to begin flight tests on a Trent 1000 in the second quarter 2013. The Boeing 787 powerplant has been selected because it is the model that is best understood,

“Composite blades are light but... tend to have beenthicker than a normal blade”ROBERT NUTTALL Vice-president strategic marketing, Rolls-Royce

FIN_270911_034-035 34 22/9/11 12:32:00


MATERIALS

he adds. With the ever-increasing availability of data, such as pressures, temperatures and flow patterns at multiple measuring points throughout the engine, the Trent 1000 has al-lowed more insight during ground runs in Derby and flight tests on the aircraft than any previous engine model.

WEIGHT SAVINGNuttall declines to comment on how much weight the manufacturer expects to save by moving from titanium to composite fan blades. He says, however, that the total weight reduc-tion will not result from the lighter aerofoil alone – a “significant” contribution will also come from a new carbonfibre fan case.

Like the blade, the case has to fulfil different purposes, and has thus been designed as a sandwich construction, where each layer takes on a certain function. The inner surface is to provide as little as possible clearance to the ro-tating blade tips, to avoid wasting energy in the fan stream, which gives approximately 90% of the total thrust. At the same time, however, damage to the blades must be avoided if their tips touch the sealing liner during vibration or turbulence. This is why the inner surface is typically covered with an abradable coating.

Moving outward, the next layer is designed to absorb energy in case of a blade failure. To be certificated, the engine must contain any debris if a fan blade or segment of it detaches at maxi-mum power. Finally, the outside part of the fan case has to provide structural support for ac-cessory equipment such as pipes and wiring.

The fan blades and case are designed as an integrated system. Thus far, the case has under-gone separate ground tests, including blade-off tests, Nuttall says. Both components will be tested together on the aircraft in 2013, as an advanced low-pressure system (ALPS).

The composite fan and casing will be avail-able to become of a new engine “before the end of the decade”, says Nuttall. However, a retrofit to current models, including the Trent XWB, will not be possible because the existing engine cores have been optimised for their dedicated fan blade and case systems, he says.

While the weight benefit of carbon fibre ob-viously increases with larger fan sizes – sug-gesting applications on high-thrust engines – the currently tested composite blade and case system could “quite easily” be used for a nar-rowbody powerplant, according to Nuttall.

Due to increased strength requirements for the smaller and lighter fan blades for medium-thrust engines, GE’s CFM International partner, Snecma, will utilise a new CFRP construction process for the Leap-X – the successor generation for the CFM56-family.

Instead of laying-up multiple pre-impregnat-ed carbon-fibre sheets, as for GE90 and GEnx fan blades, Snecma will produce the Leap aero-foils using a 3D resin transfer molding (RTM)

process. In this, the carbon fibres are woven into a three-dimensional pattern, before resin is injected and the blade cured in an autoclave.

ONE SIZE FITS ALL Rolls-Royce is certain that its composite fan blade will be suitable for all large by-pass tur-bofans, except for small powerplants on busi-ness jets, where titanium still offers a weight benefit. The manufacturing process is the main area of the partnership with GKN. To-gether with the South of England Economic Development Agency, both companies invest-ed nearly £15 million ($23 million) last year in the setup of a pre-production facility at GKN’s site in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight. Nuttall explains that, while the lay-up of cur-rent-generation CFRP fan blades involves a

Rolls

-Royc

e

Michael Gubisch delivers premium news from the maintenance, repair and overhaul sector at flightglobal.com/mroThe Trent 1000: testbed for CFRP blades

large degree of manual labour, the future proc-ess will be fully automated, which should guarantee high production consistency, and the possibility to scale up the output. It will also allow the carbon fibre material to lay-up in a three-dimensional fashion, he adds.

The technology step-change comes more than four decades after the engine maker ini-tially attempted to introduce composite fan blades on the RB211 engine, which it devel-oped for the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar in the late 1960s. Those blades, made from a carbonfibre-based composite named Hyfil, did not withstand foreign object impact.

Rolls-Royce worked in parallel on a titanium alloy blade as a fall-back option, which was used for the RB211-22. Still, the development cost for the engine increased so much that, combined with adverse economic conditions, the company went bankrupt and was national-ised in 1971, with the government underwrit-ing development cost. Since then, Rolls-Royce has refined the production of hollow titanium alloy fan blades to an art form.

The SPF/DB process starts with the front and rear surfaces of the fan blade being welded together along the edges. The aerofoil is then inserted into a mould and heated to a tempera-ture where the metal becomes elastic. Inert gas is injected between the two surfaces, so that they assume the shape of the final aerofoil.

Additional titanium strips initially been welded to the insides of both surfaces thereby become an internal support structure.

But this closely guarded expertise might lose its significance in the future, at least on medi-um- and high-thrust engines – provided an air-framer comes up with a new aircraft.

A fan blade about to undergo a bird-strike test

FIN_270911_034-035 35 21/9/11 19:59:57

flightglobal.com

COMMERCIAL ENGINES


JOHN CROFT WASHINGTON DC

Upcoming FAA regulation changes could create a tougher climate for engine manufacturers by imposing more rigorous requirements on icing trials

The McKinley Climatic Laboratory at

Eglin AFB serves as an icing test facility

US

Air F

orc

e

US engine manufacturers will soon have to run an icier gauntlet when ground testing their next-generation turbofans for certification. While

bird strikes and blade-outs tend to grab the most attention when turbofans are designed and put through their paces, handling ice build-up and ingestion is no small feat – and one which will soon get tougher.

Under new US Federal Aviation Adminis-tration Part 33 engine certification rules – set to go live in 2012 – the test regime for induction icing will be expanded. Part 33 will include ex-posure to supercooled large droplets (drops of freezing rain), ice crystals (a high-altitude phe-nomena) and procedures for extended hold-over times, to simulate long tarmac waits in foggy winter weather. As with all engine tests, to pass muster the turbofan must stay within

power and temperature bounds and cannot stall, surge, flameout or rollback when ice on the induction system gets sucked into the en-gine. Similarly, ice slugs must not damage the engine either, by bending blades or vanes.

Engines are certified at the component level first (Part 33) and then at the aircraft level under Part 25 (transport aircraft certification) rules. Part 33 is considered to be the more rig-orous of the two. For icing certification, manu-facturers first define an operating environment for the engine. The next stage is to use Part 33 and FAA advisory circular guidance to deter-mine the liquid water content, droplet size and temperature ranges the engine should be ex-posed to in ground testing.

Tom Bond, FAA chief scientist and techni-cal advisor for flight environmental icing, says the companies develop a “critical point analy-sis”, which determines the most stressful oper-ating conditions. This then becomes part of a

test plan, that ultimately will include 15-20 test points. “Once they get an approved test plan [from the FAA], they run the engine at a sea level or altitude facility, where they generate an icing cloud and operate the engine at vari-ous conditions,” Bond says. He adds that the new rule will pose “different conditions” the manufacturers will have to assess.

Jim MacLeod, group leader for environment and certification testing at the Canadian Na-tional Research Council’s (NRC) gas turbine laboratory, says NRC allots 4-6 weeks for a Part 33 icing test. NRC, working with Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney, recently opened a new two-stand direct-connect outdoor turbofan en-gine natural icing facility in Manitoba, Canada – one of only a handful of Part 33 icing facilities in North America.

This year NRC tested its large turbofan stand using a Rolls-Royce Trent 900, and its smaller stand with Pratt & Whitney’s PW1524G, the

OUT IN THE COLD

FIN_270911_036-037 36 21/9/11 20:02:15


ICING TESTS

geared turbofan for Bombardier’s CSeries re-gional jet. The first official Part 33 icing test will take place later this year, with the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine for the Airbus A350.

Other icing test facilities in North America include the Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee, the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin AFB in Florida and GE Canada’s icing center in Manitoba.

UNDER THE WEATHERThough each test point takes roughly 10min to 1h to perform, waiting for the right weather at NRC’s outdoor global aerospace center for icing and environment research can take time. NRC uses the natural weather and spray masts to create the icing conditions. Thompson, Mani-toba, has two icing test seasons per year for the typical -2°C (28°F) to -20°C testing range – Oc-tober-November and March-April. January is too cold for ice, but serves as a good month to test engine cold-start performance.

Along with the set test points – which re-quire a quick throttle-up after dwelling at the test point, to throw any accumulated ice into the engine and see the effects – there are also “engineering points”. At these moments, in-stead of throttling-up, the engine is shut down to take pictures and samples of the ice. “We have to show airworthiness officials what the points were, and that models were accurate with reality,” MacLeod adds.

The icing portion of an engine certification typically takes place late in the programme, leaving little flexibility for schedule changes if problems are found. “Icing oftentimes is left to ‘cross your fingers and hope for the best’”, Ma-cLeod says. “[Engine makers] usually do this after bird ingestion and blade-off tests, when the design is pretty much cast in stone. In the past, when an engine was five years in devel-opment there were lots of opportunities to tweak and test again. Now with 18-24 month development times, there’s not enough oppor-tunity to carry out a number of tests.”

First published in June 2010, the Part 33 en-gine icing amendments are part of a broader package aiming to address decades-old air-frame and engine icing certification, in the wake of key accidents and incidents. The fatal 1994 crash of an American Eagle ATR 72 in In-diana had a particular influence on the amend-ments. The US National Transportation Safety Board surmised that supercooled large droplets

AirTe

am

Image

s

“Icing oftentimes is left to ‘cross your fingers and hope for the best’”JIM MACLEOD Group leader, Canadian National Research Council

On his blog As the Cro(ft) Flies, John Croft dis-sects news from the general-aviation sector: flightglobal.com/croft

created a clear ice ridge behind the deicing boots and ahead of the ailerons. This led to an uncommanded roll, from which the pilots could not recover.

Supercooled large droplets can be 10- to 100-times larger in diameter than the typical freez-ing raindrop sizes tested today. The issue af-fects engines as well as airframes. While engines may have inlet, spinner and guide vane heating, ice can still form on various sur-faces – particularly during long waits at idle power. This build-up threatens to break off and flow into the engine when throttling up to move or at take-off. When ingestion occurs the ice flashes to steam in the compressor core, this can then cause a stall or other problems.

Along with the larger droplet sizes, the re-vised Part 33 rules will also require manufac-turers to prove that engine designs can handle falling and blowing snow and, more impor-tantly, ice crystals. This high-altitude phe-nomenon has become a topic of increasing concern – NASA says that since 1989 there have been nearly 100 cases of turbofan power problems at high altitude. The administration, along with Transport Canada and other groups, is seeking to better define ice crystal testing criteria by using a specially-equipped Gulfstream II in two flight campaigns in Aus-tralia in 2012 and 2013. The FAA plans to up-date the ice crystal certification requirements

going into effect next year by 2015, based on the flight test data. The new rules will also ad-dress a growing problem on the apron, where long wait times and crowded take-off queues – combined with efficient, heat-conserving engines – are cause for concern. While engine manufacturers currently have to demonstrate an engine can withstand 30min of idling in icing conditions, Part 33 will add a require-ment to develop an engine run-up procedure for the aircraft manual

“If you have to run up to 60-70% [to clear ice], that can be detrimental to aircraft [follow-ing],” says John Fisher, an aerospace engineer for the FAA’s engine and propeller directorate, adding that some manufacturers are adding anti-ice systems to engine components, to allow for a longer idling time.

MacLeod says requests to prove out engine operations during long idling periods are com-ing from airlines. “In the past they would have only done a ground fog test for 30-60min, where the engine would idle for 30min, fol-lowed by a throttle movement to shed the ice, then return down to idle,” he says. “For large planes now, there’s so much thrust that goosing the throttle would cause sliding or blowing ice on aircraft behind them. Now they’re saying the engine has to accumulate ice for one or two hours, with no throttle-up in the middle.”

Fisher says there are cases where manufac-turers have not been able to demonstrate the ability to handle “long term” idling in ground fog. “Some have to return to the gate if they are unsuccessful in running up to a specified power level by a certain time,” he says.

A Gulfstream II is to be used in upcoming tests

The Trent XWB will undergo

the first Part 33 icing tests

FIN_270911_036-037 37 21/9/11 20:02:38

flightglobal.com

REGIONAL AIRCRAFT

38 | Flight International | 20-26 September 2011

MARY KIRBY PHILADELPHIA

Obsession with fuel economy, amid spiking oil prices, has boosted the attractiveness of turboprops, though plans to add new products at both ends of the spectrum have yet to reach fruition

SLOW BURN

Whenever fuel prices spike, as they are doing now, the indus-try inevitably mulls over wheth-er a sustained turboprop revival

is in the offing. A true resurgence seemed al-most assured in 2005 and 2006 when airlines’ appetites for turboprops returned, and order-books swelled at ATR and Bombardier.

But the economic recession that ensued in the years that followed prompted many air-lines to postpone equipment planning and fleet renewal, resulting in a flattening of turbo-prop growth for the period. Even though the two manufacturers have enjoyed solid success

with their current generation turboprops, the types have not reached critical mass. And so, the industry’s on-again, off-again affair with turboprops continues.

“The excitement over turboprops always peaks when fuel goes up and not surprisingly. It’s the logical solution,” says George Hamlin, president of Hamlin Transportation Consult-ing. “When fuel goes down, people forget about it.”

The often-cited “logical” reasons for air-lines to deploy turboprops remain the same as they did six years ago.

Their speed, size and fuel efficiency make them well suited to replace less efficient re-gional jets that fly 300-400nm (560-740km)

routes, as well as aged 20 and 30-seat turbo-props that will be coming out of service in the next decade such as Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and Saab 340s.

“As fuel is getting higher, people are look-ing at the high cost of operating regional jets, knowing they could save a lot of money if they could persuade passengers to go back to turboprops. Actually, when push comes to shove, passengers actually really care about the ticket price so airlines might have a win-dow of opportunity to add turboprops,” says Peter Morris, chief economist at data and con-sultancy group Flightglobal Ascend.

Gordon Pratt, director of Q Series programme management at Bombardier, says: “Compared

to a 70-seat jet, the Q400 has 30% better eco-nomics and costs.

“Compared to a 50-seat jet, it will have the same trip costs, but you get an airplane that is 40% more capacity so it offers an ideal opportunity for airlines to replace their 50-seaters and grow their business without growing their costs.”

Boeing sees a need to replace regional jets with turboprops. “You can’t make money today flying a small regional jet,” maintains Boeing vice-president of marketing Randy Tinseth. “What we’re seeing is small regional

““What we’re seeing is small regional jets replaced by turboprops”RANDY TINSETH Vice-president of marketing, Boeing

Global passenger turboprop deliveries

SOURCE: Flightglobal Ascend’s Online Fleets database

500 –

450 –

400 –

350 –

300 –

250 –

200 –

150 –

100 –

50 –

0 –1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s

1978: US deregulation‘Hub and spoke’ model

1989-91: Market peak1,100 delivered in three years

Early 1980sNew 19-seaters such

as Beech 1900 and Jetstream 31

Mid 1980sNew 30-40 seaters

such as ATR 42 and Saab 340

Late 1980sNew 50-70 seaters

such as ATR 72 and Dash 8-300

1990sRise of the regional jetATR, BAe, Bombardier,

CASA, Fairchild Dornier, Fokker and Saab remain important players

2000sSkyrocketing fuel

prices prompt new interest in large turboprops

Low-cost carriers begin to erode the hub-and-spoke model advantage with low point-to-point fares

ATR/Bombardier Western duopoly for 30+ seat turboprops

THE RISE AND FALL - AND REBIRTH - OF TURBOPROPS

Bombardier expects

a rebound in demand

for its Q400

FIN_270911_038-040 38 22/9/11 11:50:59

27 September - 03 October 2011 | Flight International | 39flightglobal.com

TURBOPROP REVIVAL

ing age of its 30-seat EMB-120s and its more than 150 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200s is a factor in SkyWest’s studies. Company presi-dent Chip Childs admits the operating eco-nomics of CRJs beyond 40,000 cycles “gives us pause”.

However, scope restrictions at SkyWest’s partner United-Continental remain highly un-certain and will colour any decision. The merged United and Continental pilots are in the midst of contract negotiations and it is un-clear if United’s more relaxed scope clause, which allows for the operation of 70-seat air-craft by regional carriers, will prevail in a final contract. Continental’s pilot contract caps re-gional jet flying to 50 seats, but allows for the operation of 70-seat turboprops.

“I think there is quite a big question as to what the US airline strategy is going to be, and whether they even know it at the moment. Route economics, scope clauses, deals be-tween majors and their suppliers, all of these things come into it. The big turboprop count at the moment, even though it has been de-clining the faster, has been in North America,

and while regional jets did take over turbo-props, that one has swung into reverse,” maintains Flightglobal Ascend’s Morris.

The Q400s in operation with Horizon Air and Colgan Air in the USA have shown that the aircraft “definitely fits in a set of markets”, notes Hamlin. And the type has become a workhorse for UK carrier Flybe, which serves countries across Europe.

All three carriers are considered prime can-didates for a larger sized turboprop, should ATR and/or Bombardier opt to offer a 90-100 seater. Both airframers have indicated interest, but have postponed a final decision on pro-gramme launch into 2012.

An important factor in their decision- making is whether or not engine manufactur-ers will bring game-changing new engines to market. GE is actively engaged with manu-facturers interested in a 90-seat turboprop platform to support the CPX38 engine, which is based on the GE38 being developed for the Sikorsky CH-53K heavylift helicopter.

GE general manager of small commercial and business aviation engine programmes Chuck Nugent says the manufacturer has run tests on two development GE38 engines to date, and the CPX38 would share a common core with that powerplant. Nugent cites “strong interest” from airlines around the

Bom

bard

ier

ATR

“I think there is quite a bigquestion as to what the USairline strategy is going to be”PETER MORRIS Chief economist, Flightglobal Ascend

current order base we have. That’s what we do, but we anticipate recovering that as the orders come in. We are seeing a big resurgence in the number of sales contacts we’re making, the quality of those contacts, the pulling for-ward of the decisions,” says Pratt.

At present, ATR is faring far better than its rival. The airframer achieved 84 net orders in the first half of 2011, bringing its backlog to 226 aircraft, according to figures disclosed by EADS in its half-year results.

Referencing the new ATR -600 series turbo-prop, EADS chief financial officer Hans-Peter Ring says the order performance “confirmed the success of the upgraded product range”.

Embraer, meanwhile, believes the regional turboprop market is too crowded, and thus it is still focused on a possible larger jet.

However, among the carriers examining how the ATR 72 or Q400 will fit into its fleet is US regional SkyWest Airlines. The increas-

jets replaced by turboprops, maybe larger aircraft in the single aisle market,” Tinseth continues.

A Q400 pilot who works for a prominent operator that swapped out regional jets for Q400s shares this memory: “Before I flew the Q400, I was flying the Embraer ERJ-145 so our company took the position of replacing the ERJ-145 with the Q400. Their opinion at the time was the Q400 had the exact same cost base as a 50-seat jet, but it had another 28 or 30 more seats they could sell.”

POSITIVE FOR PROPELLERSThe pilot continues: “The Q400 is a very, very quick turboprop. It cruises at around 360kt [670km/h], only about 90kt slower than the ERJ-145. But we cruise at 25,000ft [7,630m] because the aircraft is not equipped with pas-senger oxygen, so we get to top climb in 12 to 13 minutes versus the ERJ-145, which took roughly 20-25 minutes. So we’re finding that, on sectors of an hour to an hour-and-a-half long, our block time is no longer than it was on the jets. So we’ve kept the cost base the same, increased the number of seats, and no penalty in time.”

Accustomed to receiving endorsements such as these, Bombardier remains firmly op-timistic that it will once again see a rebound for its in-production turboprop, the 74-seat Q400 turboprop, “as the market recovers from the 2008 era of economic decline”, says Pratt.

But with a backlog of just 40 Q400s, or only nine months worth of production, Bombar-dier has opted to cut production of the turbo-prop towards the end of the year. “We did an-nounce sizing the production rates to the

ATR won 89 net orders in the first half

FIN_270911_038-040 39 22/9/11 11:51:10

REGIONAL AIRCRAFT

flightglobal.com40 | Flight International | 27 September - 03 October 2011

Mary Kirby blogs on in-flight entertainment and connectivity developments at flightglobal.com/runwaygirl

world for a larger turboprop and “a lot of eagerness from airframers over what we can deliver”. The engine manufacturer is tar-geting a 15% improvement in fuel consump-tion with the CPX38, and Nugent says the manufacturer seeks to deliver an integrated propulsion system of the propeller, engine and nacelles.

Pratt & Whitney Canada, meanwhile, has outlined a plan to offer a next generation tur-boprop engine, which the manufacturer esti-mates could offer a 20% fuel burn improve-ment over today’s models.

“Most sales today are for 70-seat aircraft,” says Richard Dussault, PWC vice-president of marketing. “We definitely see a place for 90-100-seat aircraft and that’s where we’re aim-ing for with a 5,000-7,000shp engine. We could easily do 8,000shp as well.”

In terms of speed and altitude, Dussault says 300-350kt is the “most likely goal of that market” with similar cruise altitudes to to-day’s turboprops – in the mid-20,000ft range.

Meanwhile, industry stakeholders are try-ing to determine if a market exists for a new, clean-sheet 50-seat turboprop for replacement of smaller types.

“The whole 20-30 seat turboprop market is interesting. There is something like 1,000 air-

craft in that category, but there is an awful lot of aircraft wandering around the world and the ones in other parts of the world have not been driven by esoteric things like scope clauses,” says Morris.

“These aircraft were put together in the 1980s and 1990s; they’ve got 20-year technol-ogy. Since that time, the avionics have improved and everything has gotten better,” says Morris.

“Could a new turboprop provide a step change with composites, or a new engine? If you could get an increase in productivity on to that new turboprop it could start to change the game,” he continues.

Childs points out there is no ideal replace-ment option for the 30-seat EMB-120s and CRJ200s in the carrier’s fleet, and believes a 50-seat turboprop will be suitable for many of the missions carried out by those aircraft. So

SOURCE: Flightglobal’s Ascend Online Fleets database

No. of aircraft 15-19 seaters 20-39 seaters 40-69 seaters

TURBOPROP PASSENGER FLEET DEVELOPMENT: 1970–2010

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

20102000199019801970

70-119 seaters

TREND IN GLOBAL IN-SERVICE AIRCRAFT FLEET: 1970-2010

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

Number of aircraft x1,000

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Turboprops

Narrowbody

Regional Jets

Widebody

far airlines have been able to manage the lack of a new small turboprop by shifting aircraft around the marketplace, notes Morris. “The other thing is that the cost of aircraft has been really quite stable.

But now it is trending towards tumbling up because there is market scarcity. Still, there is not enough information to give critical mass for airframers to be certain that there really is a market opportunity here.”

A QUESTION OF STRATEGYMorris continues: “The difficulty is proving what the strategy will be five, ten years out for everything from regional airlines in North America to those in China and India.”

Small turboprops were once a familiar sight in the USA. A map of a 1962 Lake Central Air-lines timetable, provided BY Hamlin Trans-portation Consulting, shows the many Mid-western cities once served by the carrier, which merged into Allegheny in the late 1960s (see flightglobal.com/lakecentral).

“The interstate highway killed most of these places. Just because a market exists now doesn’t mean it will exist in the future,” says Hamlin, noting, however, that “there are al-ways exceptions like Cape Air”, which flies nine-seat Cessna 402.

But airframers have little interest in creat-ing a high-speed 50-seat turboprop. Bombar-dier built 267 50-seat Q300s but the aircraft was much slower, at 287kt, than the Q400’s 360kt. The manufacturer says shrinking the Q400 to 50 seats is not viable because the ca-pacity will not support the cost of the higher power engines. “You need enough chairs to cover the speed,” says director of market de-velopment Jerome Cheung, who adds that 50-seat high-speed turboprops had struggled to meet large-scale demand. For example, only about 60 Saab 2000s were produced.

Childs says if the airline had more visibility on the outcome of scope talks, it may have made an aircraft decision by now. A dual-class Q400 looked attractive, he says, but eval-uations rest on the economics of a larger tur-boprop and “what happens with scope”.

The wild card, suggests Hamlin, could be non-traditional markets like India or China. “I’m not certain they have the need, but if they do, it’s likely to be a need in significant num-bers. The combination of those plus North American need could be the critical mass that someone needs to make this kind of aircraft.

“That might be a manufacturer in China. It might be something for ATR or Bombardier, but if sufficient demand materialised, I’m sure that’s even something Embraer would look at too,” he says. Additional reporting by Lori Ranson

“If you could get an increasein productivity on to that newturboprop it could start tochange the game”PETER MORRIS Chief economist, Flightglobal Ascend

FIN_270911_038-040 40 22/9/11 11:51:22

STRAIGHT&LEVEL


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

100 YEAR ARCHIVEEvery issue of Flight from

1909 can be viewed

online at flightglobal.com/

archive

One can, she says, only imagine the terror the occupants must have felt. “No doubt it scared the **** out of them.”

Art of confusionCongratulations to artist Pascal Anson, who has been selected to design the livery of 12 British Airways airliners as part of the carrier’s Olympics-themed Great Britons initiative.

He might be forgiven some confusion, however. The aircraft he must restyle – according to Birdseed’s release – “range from a Boeing 747 to a Boeing A319”.

You’re the one... We were thrilled to receive an invitation from Bombardier to a glittering Hollywood event last week, at which the Canadian airframer promised to reveal its latest brand ambassador – a “major A-list personality” we were breathlessly informed.

Who could it be? However, the suspense was spoiled somewhat by a glance at the email header: Bombardier & John Travolta Event.

Stinging lessonDomestic airline flights across Russia’s endless interior can be

Up diddly up upThe international meeting

under the auspices of the

Aero Club of New

York brought

together a

magnificent lot of

aviation talent. There were 34

aviators on the ground, and on

the first day, 23 September,

16 of these gave the public a

taste of their prowess.

All friends now...The main topic of conversation

at Croydon last week was the

merger of British

Continental

Airways with British

Airways. The Air

Ministry heaved a sigh of relief

when the announcement was

made, for their competition

was becoming increasingly

difficult to deal with.

Crash landingA pilot of 75 Sqn, Royal New

Zealand Air Force, whose

Canberra aircraft

disappeared on a

flight from RAF

Tengah in

Singapore, to RAF Butterworth

in Northern Malaya, told his

survival story in Singapore

this week, after he walked out

of the jungle.

Comet commentNasa and ESA are edging

towards a joint definition of

requirements for

the ultimate

comet probe: the

return of a sub-

surface nucleus core sample

soon after the turn of the

century. The mission will form

the cornerstone of ESA’s

Horizon 2000 space science

plan, but it will be so complex

and costly that international

co-operation is essential.

Neil

Lom

ax

Road to recovery: Trident G-ARPO is being restored

Saving the GripperThe project to save the world’s sole-remaining intact Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C has reached a major milestone. Last month, the North East Aircraft Museum completed the relocation of G-ARPO by road from Serco’s fire training centre at Durham Tees Valley airport to its Sunderland base.

“Papa Oscar”, which was originally delivered to BEA in 1965, had served the fire school at what used to be known as Tees Side airport for a quarter of a century – luckily without ever being ignited!

Following its relocation to Sunderland, the “Gripper’s” fuselage is now temporarily in the museum’s car park, awaiting then the start of a full restoration led by renowned Trident aficionado Neil Lomax. The team is now seeking more support to start the next phase of the project, and anyone wishing to donate can find out more at: savethetrident.org/donate

Loo-sing control Thanks to former Budgie librarian Ann Tilbury for this dramatic photograph of a pilot completely losing control, narrowly missing a crowd gathered for an air show and slamming into four buildings.

challenging enough, so pity the passengers on a 10h flight to Moscow from Blagoveshchensk on a Yakutia Airlines 757 who had to contend with hundreds of bees, which had escaped from cardboard boxes smuggled on board.

Cabin crew managed to confine the bees inside the wardrobe in the business (buzz-iness?) section by sealing it with sticky tape, reports UK newspaper, the Daily Telegraph.

The trafficker – who claimed an official at Blagoveshchensk had asked him to carry the bees on board – was reported by witnesses to be “slightly drunk”.

Long goodbyeRegular scribe Ian Goold sends us a cutting from the Diplomat magazine in Bucharest, which posted its correspondent to Germany to witness in action the first Airbus using components made in Romania.

“At Berlin’s main airport, an Airbus A320 belonging to Air Berlin is getting ready for takeoff,” the reporter enthuses. “It gets the green light and starts taxiing. Minutes later, the plane is airborne…”

Minutes? And we all thought it was the A340 that had problems climbing.

100 YEAR ARCHIVEEvery issue of Flight from

1909 can be viewed

online at flightglobal.com/

archive

Portaloo panic ensued

FIN_270911_041 41 22/9/11 15:44:51

LETTERS


[email protected]

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

Contribute to the debate on Flightglobal’s AirSpace forum flightglobal.com/airspace

As a longtime employee of

Saab, allow me to comment

in reference to the statement

by Bombardier that “only

about 60 Saab 2000s were

produced” (Flight International, 6-12

September) because I was

there, in the marketplace of

the 1990s.

When we launched the

high- speed, 50-seat Saab 2000 the future looked promising. We

secured options from Skywest itself, American Eagle, Comair,

Express Airlines and others.

But then two events drastically changed the dynamics of

the market and showed yet again how difficult it can be to

predict future aircraft trends. These were cheap fuel and the

Roselawn accident.

Overnight, our fuel arguments went out the window, and airlines

wanted nothing to do with turboprops in the US. I remember major

airlines telling me a similar size jet would attract on average two to

four more passengers per flight. They were falling over themselves

to declare an “all-jet fleet”.

Travel agents began pointing out to passengers that they were

being booked on a propeller plane – and did they realise this?

Bombardier seemed surprised by the market response to the

CRJ. Only minimal changes were made to the basic Challenger

when it was stretched into a 50-seater.

So Bombardier benefited from this sudden change in the market

in the 1990s and we ended up with “about 60 Saab 2000s” – of

which 58 are still flying!

But today the market has turned yet again, so the last chapter of

the high-speed turboprop is yet to be written because it offers un-

beatable fuel economy on medium-range routes.

Michael Magnusson

President, Saab Aircraft Leasing

Still flying – the Saab 2000

TURBOPROPS

A Saab story and its lessonsWe have received in August the aircraft you mentioned in Sweden for system installation on the aircraft.

SSC will deliver this first C212-400 completely equipped with surveillance capability to the Vietnam Marine Police in a couple of months.Aurélie Domargård

SSC Airborne SystemsSolna, Sweden

Olympic idealsWe were surprised Flight Inter-national didn’t contact us regard-ing the ‘Forbidden Skies’ article (20-26 September). We would also have made the very relevant point that when the UK govern-ment bid for the Olympics it made it very clear, for environ-mental reasons, that there would be no helicopter landing sites near the Olympic Village. There-fore, even if there had been no changes to airspace there would have been no helicopter opera-tions to and from the main site.

The article is also misleading when it says the changes will be policed by NATS, working under Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) rules, on the advice of govern-ment. All the airspace restric-tions in place for the Olympics have been decided on by the UK government through the Home Office and Department for Trans-port, as they are solely based on maintaining security. NATS will be providing its usual air traffic control services, but the new air traffic control (ATC) service in the restricted zone will be pro-vided by the Ministry of Defence. Jonathan Nicholson

Civil Aviation Authority, UK

Don’t play the blame gameThe last letters on AF447 (Flight International, 13-19 September) indicate that the authors didn’t read the BEA report, or didn’t fully understand it. The context should be set straight again.

AF447 didn’t crash because they stalled. They crashed be-cause they stalled due to defi-cient training for a situation in which speed indications (includ-ing standby) went blank.

This was aggravated by imper-fect ergonomics and non-stand-ard crew composition.

Anyone with line-oriented flight training (LOFT) experience can attest that this makes a world of difference.

Failing training or eroding skills are deduced from the failed stall recovery, missing the vital clue: successful recovery de-pends on a valid speed indica-

tion, which they had no more.Pitting “good old days” aviators against joystick youngsters turns into a popular but useless debate.

Aviation is so different now from then that you can’t point to one term in the equation as the holy grail.

Environments, aircraft and pilots mould each other to the needs of their time. The risks stay the same – only trading frequency for severity.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against improving basic skills. But I am in favour of respecting the needed nuances in a debate, fed by facts not feelings. If we don’t, the process of making sig-nificant improvements will get irreversibly bogged down in one-liners and bar brawls. These are human flaws as tenacious as loss-

of-control or unstable approach-es. Or turning an accident report into a blaming game. Bert Aerts

Gingelom, Belgium

Careful patrollingIt is with interest that we read your short article on Vietnamese Marine Police taking delivery of the first of three C212 maritime patrol aircraft (Flight Internation-al, 9-15 August).

However, you forgot to men-tion that those aircraft are going to be equipped with advanced maritime surveillance systems from SSC.

SSC is the prime contractor for the design, delivery and installa-tion of those surveillance sys-tems, called MSS 6000 systems.

AirTe

am

Image

s

Rex

Featu

res

BEA delivers report. Read it

Airbus

Pre-makeover

FIN_270911_042 42 22/9/11 16:01:34

READER SERVICES


EDITORIAL, ADVERTISING, PRODUCTION & READER CONTACTS EVENTS

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

Flight International welcomes unsolicited contributions from readers but cannot guarantee to return photographs, transparencies, etc safely.

© and Database Rights 2011 Reed Business Information Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the publishers.

Flightglobal’s ACAS database and its sister

MiliCAS and HeliCAS services offer data and analysis across the world’s fleet of air transport, military and helicopter fleets. [email protected] Tel +44 1788 540898 email [email protected] www.flightglobal.com

Air Transport Intelligence (ATI), Flight International’s sister online service at www.rati.com, contains the full text of Flight International and Airline Business since 1996.

Full text of the magazines can also be found online with Lexis-Nexis, Dialogue, FT Profile, IAC and Reuters.

Flightglobal Insight provides a range of tailored research reports and analysis, with access to information and industry expertise from the unrivalled Flightglobal Premium services portfolio.Tel: +44 20 8652 3914 email: [email protected] www.flightglobal.com/insight

Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper. Published by Reed Business Information Ltd, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS, UK. Tel: +44 20 8652 3500. Newstrade distributed by Marketforce (UK) Ltd, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU, UK. Tel: +44 20 3148 3300.

Classified advertising prepress by ITM Publishing Services. Printed in Great Britain by Polestar (Colchester) Ltd.

Flight International published weekly 51 issues per year. Periodicals postage paid at Rahway, NJ. Postmaster send changes to Reed Business Information, c/o Mercury International Ltd, 365 Blair Road, Avenel, NJ 07001

This periodical is sold subject to the following conditions: namely that it is not, without the written consent of the publishers first given, lent, re-sold, hired out or in any unauthorised cover by way of trade, or affixed to, or as part of, any publication of advertising, literary or pictorial matter whatsoever. No part of the content may be stored electronically, or reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the Publisher.

ISSN 0015-3710

DISPLAY ADVERTISEMENT SALES Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS, UK. Fax +44 20 8652 8981

Sales Director Shaun Barton [email protected] Group Display Sales Manager Stuart Burgess [email protected] Sales Support Gillian Cumming +44 20 8652 8837 [email protected]

GERMANY, AUSTRIA, SWITZERLAND, BENELUX, EASTERN EUROPE, BALKANS, SCANDINAVIA, FINLAND Sales Manager Shawn Buck +44 20 8652 4998 [email protected]

UK, IRELAND, FRANCE, SPAIN, PORTUGAL, GREECE, TURKEY, CYPRUS, MIDDLE EAST Key Accounts Manager Mark Hillier +44 20 8652 8022 [email protected]

NORTH & SOUTH AMERICA Vice-President, North & South America Rob Hancock +1 703 836 7444 [email protected] Regional Sales Director Warren McEwan +1 703 836 3719 [email protected] Sales ExecutiveRachel Sunderland +1 703 836 7445 [email protected] Sales ManagerSteven Kulikowski +1 630 288 8034 [email protected] Reed Business Information, 333 N.Fairfax Street, Suite 301, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA Fax: +1 703 836 7446

ITALY Sales Manager Riccardo Laureri +39 (02) 236 2500 [email protected] Laureri Associates SRL, Via Vallazze 43, 20131 Milano, Italy

ISRAEL Sales Executive Asa Talbar +972 77 562 1900 Fax: +972 77 562 1903 [email protected] Talbar Media, 41 HaGiva’a St, PO Box 3184, Givat Ada 37808, Israel

ASIA/AUSTRALASIA Sales Manager Cory Mathews +65 6780 4315 [email protected] Fax: +65 6789 7575 1 Changi Business Park Crescent,#06-01 Plaza 8 @ CBPSingapore 486025

RUSSIA & CIS Director Arkady Komarov [email protected]/Fax: +7 (495) 987 3800 World Business Media, Leningradsky Prospekt, 80, Korpus G, Office 807, Moscow 125190, Russia

CLASSIFIED & RECRUITMENT Sales Manager John-Paul Bedwell +44 20 8652 [email protected] Executive Christian Warren +44 20 8652 4900 [email protected] Sales Executive Donna Morley +44 20 8652 4897 [email protected] Australasia Lyle Veloso +61 2 9422 2191 [email protected] Asia Cory Mathews +65 6780 4315

ADVERTISEMENT PRODUCTION UK & Europe Production Manager Sean Behan +44 20 8652 8232 Production Manager Classified Alan Blagrove +44 20 8652 4406 [email protected]

MARKETING Group Marketing Director Snezana Petrovic +44 20 8652 2077 [email protected] Senior Marketing Manager Kerry Clayton +44 20 8652 3487 [email protected] Manager Gurjinder Dhamu +44 20 8652 8803

FLIGHT DATA TEAM Head of Data Steve Butler +44 1788 564 817 [email protected] Commercial Aviation Ashley Wileman +44 1788 564 835 [email protected] Fleet & Contacts Geoff Machin +44 1788 564 823 [email protected] Defence & GA Jon Underdown +44 1788 564 828 [email protected]

PUBLISHING MANAGEMENT Managing Director Jane BurgessPublishing Director Melanie Robson Flightglobal Magazines Publisher Mark Pilling

READER SERVICES Subscriptions Jenny Smith, Flight International Subscriptions, Reed Business Information, PO Box 302, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 3DH, UK

Subscription Enquiries +44 1444 445454 Telephone/credit card orders +44 845 077 7733 Fax +44 1444 440619 [email protected]

Subscription Rates1 Year 2 Years 3 Years £119/$199/ £202/$338/ £285/$448/€160 €273 €361Only paid subscriptions available. Cheques payable to Flight International

EDITORIAL +44 20 8652 3842 Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS, UK Fax: +44 20 8652 3840 [email protected]

Editor Murdo Morrison +44 20 8652 4395 [email protected] Head of Content/Flight Daily News Editor Andrew Doyle +44 20 8652 3096 [email protected] Managing Editor Niall O’Keeffe +44 20 8652 4007 [email protected] Editor Dominic Perry +44 20 8652 3206 [email protected] Deputy News Editor Kerry Reals +44 20 8652 3837 [email protected] Air Transport Editor David Kaminski-Morrow +44 20 8652 3909 [email protected] Business Editor Dan Thisdell +44 20 8652 4491 [email protected] Defence Editor Craig Hoyle +44 20 8652 3834 [email protected] Operations/Safety Editor David Learmount +44 20 8652 3845 [email protected] Business & General Aviation Editor Kate Sarsfield +44 20 8652 3885 [email protected] Air Transport/MRO Reporter Michael Gubisch +44 20 8652 8747 [email protected] Enquiries Dawn Hartwell +44 20 8652 3315 [email protected]

EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST Israel Correspondent Arie Egozi Russia Correspondent Vladimir Karnozov

AMERICAS Americas Managing Editor Stephen Trimble +1 703 836 8052 [email protected] Editor John Croft +1 703 836 3084 [email protected] Americas Air Transport Editor Lori Ranson+1 703 548 4706 [email protected] Americas Air Transport Editor Ghim-Lay Yeo +1 703 706 9474 [email protected] Editor Mary Kirby+1 717 626 1456 [email protected] Jon Ostrower+1 703 836 1897 [email protected] & Spaceflight Editor Zach Rosenberg+1 703 836 7442 [email protected]

ASIA/PACIFIC Asia Managing Editor Siva Govindasamy +65 6780 4311 [email protected] Asia Editor Greg Waldron +65 6780 4314 [email protected] Australia Correspondent Emma Kelly

EDITORIAL PRODUCTION Head of Design & Production Alexis Rendell +44 20 8652 8127 [email protected] Chief Sub-Editor Lewis Harper+44 20 8652 4958 [email protected] Sub-Editor, Europe Dan Bloch+44 20 8652 8146 [email protected] Sub-Editor, Americas Fred Seelig+1 713 525 2649 [email protected] Production Editor Louise Murrell +44 20 8652 8139 [email protected] Global Production Editor Rachel Kemp Global Art Editor Dominic RayDesigner Lauren MillsGroup Information Graphics Editor Gareth BurgessSenior Editorial Artist Tim Bicheno-Brown Senior Technical Artist Giuseppe Picarella [email protected] Consulting Technical Artist Tim Hall

FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM Online & Digital Development Editor Michael Targett +44 20 8652 3863 [email protected] Deputy Editor Stuart Clarke +44 20 8652 3835 [email protected] Content Editor Barbara Cockburn +44 20 8652 4248 [email protected] Production Editor Andrew Costerton

2 OctoberThe 17th World Route Development ForumBerlin, Germany, D-14055Tel: +44 161 234 2711 routesonline.com

10-12 OctoberNBAA 64th Annual Meeting and ConventionLas Vegas, Nevada, USATel: +1 202 478 7760 nbaa.org/events/amc/2011

18-20 OctoberICAO Aviation and Sustainable Alternative Fuels WorkshopMontreal, Quebec, CanadaTel: +1 514 954 8219 ext 6321 [email protected]/SUSTAF

26-28 OctoberSpeedNews 16th Annual Regional & Business Aviation Industry Suppliers ConferenceScottsdale, Arizona, USATel: +1 310 203 9603 [email protected]/ConferenceInfo.aspx?conferenceID=81

27-28 OctoberWAF 2011Amsterdam, NetherlandsTel: +44 20 8652 [email protected]

31 October - 3 November64th Annual International Air Safety SeminarSingaporeTel: +1 703 739 6700 ext 101 [email protected] http://flightsafety.org/aviation-safety-seminars/international-air-safety-seminar

8-10 NovemberMRO Asia 2011Beijing, [email protected]/events/current/mas/index.htm

13-17 NovemberDubai Air ShowDubai, United Arab EmiratesTel: +44 20 8846 2700 http://dubaiairshow.aero/

7-9 DecemberNetwork Latin America 2011San Juan, Puerto RicoTel: +44 20 8652 [email protected]

4-6 MarchNetwork USA 2012 Tampa, Florida, USA,Tel: +44 208 652 4610 [email protected]

5-7 MarchSpeedNews 26th Annual Commercial Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference Beverly Hills, California, USA,Tel: +1 310 203 9603 Fax: +1 310 203 9352 [email protected]

FIN_270911_043 43 22/9/11 15:58:42

TEL

+4

4(0

)20

86

52

48

97

FAX

+4

4(0

)20

86

52

37

79

EM

AIL

clas

sifie

d.se

rvic

es@

rbi.c

o.uk

CLA

SSIF

IED

44 | Flight International | 27 September - 3 October 2011 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

Acting as appointed agent,

Skyworld Aviation is pleased

to offer Dash 8 Q400 aircraft

for sale. Lease options could be

considered.

Manufactured 2007-2008

74 seats

Good overall check status

‘N’ registered

Available immediately

Call for details: + 44 1753 832088

•

•

•

•

•

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

For sale

Dash 8 Q400

Cessna Citation Authorised Sales Representative

www.timleacockaircraft.com +44 (0)1258 818181

New and used aircraft

FIN_270911_044-047:Layout 1 21/9/11 11:35

TEL

+4

4(0

)20

86

52

48

97

FAX

+4

4(0

)20

86

52

37

79

EM

AIL

clas

sifie

d.se

rvic

es@

rbi.c

o.uk

CLA

SSIF

IED

flightglobal.com 27 September - 3 October 2011 | Flight International | 45

ZZZ�PW�SURSHOOHU�FRP

$LUSRUW 6WUDXELQJ�:DOOP�KOH�� $WWLQJ � *HUPDQ\SKRQH��ID[��VDOHV#PW�SURSHOOHU�FRP

6$��$& �0HWUR,,,�($6$�$�6��

&GXGNQROGPV��2TQFWEVKQPQH�*KIJ�2GTHQTOCPEG�EQORQUKVG�EQPUVCPV�URGGF�RTQRGNNGTU�CPF�ſZGF�RKVEJ�RTQRGNNGTU�

5CNGU��5GTXKEG HQTRTQFWEVU�OCFG�D[�/E%CWNG[�*CTV\GNN��5GPUGPKEJ��9QQFYCTF��)QQFTKEJ�

Book Dec 2011(meets CAA requirements)

New and Secondhand GSEDe-Icing Trucks

Winter EquipmentSnow Hurl

Runway SweepersCheck our updated list at:

www.flight-wood.com

Phone: +46-22051500Mail: [email protected]

New and Secondhand GSE

De-Icers, Ambulift Cargo

Loaders, Pax steps, Belt

Loaders, Quick Loaders,

WSU’s, TSU’s, GPU’s.

Check our updated list at

www.flight-wood.com

FAA & ICAO Type Ra�ngs and

Airline Training for European,

Asian and Mideast Airlines.

A320 - A330 - A340 - B737- B777

www.simcorpfligh�raining.com

GET THE BOEING 737 / AIRBUS 320 EXPERIENCE

AND HOURS ON TYPE THE AIRLINES ARE

LOOKING FOR WITH THE WORLD LINE TRAINING

SPECIALIST SINCE 1996!

EAGLE JET INTERNATIONAL Miami, USA

Tel: 001 305 278 0012 WWW.EAGLEJET.NET [email protected]

˙ B737/A320 FIRST OFFICER LINE TRAININGEUROPEAN & ASIAN bases. JAA & other ICAO type ratings are

accepted. 300 & 500 hour options.

NEW: 500 HOUR ASIAN BASED B737 NG PROGRAM+ GUARANTEED EMPLOYMENT

˙ JAA B737/A320 TYPE RATING + LINE TRAINING ˙ CADET PROGRAM

Courses and tuitionEquipment, maintenance and service

FIN_270911_044-047:Layout 1 21/9/11 11:35

TEL

+4

4(0

)20

86

52

48

97

FAX

+4

4(0

)20

86

52

37

79

EM

AIL

clas

sifie

d.se

rvic

es@

rbi.c

o.uk

CLA

SSIF

IED


JAA ATPL (A) Theory

Groundschool

Aviation Management

& Operations Degrees

Fixed Base Operators/

Dispatchers course

www.londonmet.ac.uk/ca

[email protected]

+44 (0) 20 7320 1757

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

PROFESSIONAL AVIATION TRAININGFlexible | Reliable | Successful

Q Type Rating Airbus A320, A330, A340, A380

Q Type Rating Boeing B737, B747, B777

Q Type Rating Canadair CRJ / Challenger 850

Q Instructor Rating Course SFI / TRI / TRE

Q CCQ A320 / A330 / A340 / A380

Q Other cockpit related courses…

Fon: +49 30 - 326 639 93 | Skype: c4u_office

[email protected] | www.cockpit4u.com

Airline Training SpecialistSimulator Center and TRTO

New Airbus A320 SIMULATORin Madrid, Spain

Simulator center:A320 and ATR

Type Ratings andAirline Courses:ATR, Airbus A320, A330 & CCQ,Boeing 757/767/747Recurrents on requestCRM, DG, SEPInstructor courses for A320 and ATRFor more information contact us!

TLF +34 91 329 5317www.globaltrainingaviation.com

[email protected]

General

Type rating coursesAircraft spares

CCQ A330/A340$9000

A320 INITIALCOURSE: $6600

Contact:[email protected]: +1 7782378000

FIN_270911_044-046:Layout 1 22/9/11 11:02

HU

ND

RED

SO

FJO

BS

@fli

ghtg

loba

l.com

/job

sR

EC

RU

ITM

EN

T

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

Getting careers off the ground


SITUATIONS WANTED

UK/US CommercialPilot ATPL/IP Qualified

7900 total hrs

5700 turbine & PIC

Multilingual

Available worldwide

Tel: (US) +1-786-245-4179

[email protected]

B757 & B737 Captains & First Officers – Various Bases

Competitive Salary & Benefi ts

Jet2.com is the North’s leading leisure airline, with a fl eet of B757-200s and B737-800s & 300s. As we continue

to grow, we are recruiting type-rated Captains and First Offi cers from both Civilian and Military backgrounds.

We have vacancies at Belfast, Blackpool, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle

from which we operate a mixture of scheduled and charter programmes, and our all important Royal Mail fl ights

– delivering their First Class service. If you are fl exible and adaptable you will enjoy our interesting fl ying.

You will need enthusiasm, energy and commitment to customer service in delivering Friendly Low Fares to

our all important customers.

We offer several contract types including Full-Time or Summer Only, each providing excellent benefi ts.

Interested? Please apply online at

Jet2.com/careers or call the recruitment

team on 0113 239 7815.

Now recruiting for

summer 2012!

FIN_270911_047-049:Flight Rec Template Q& 22/9/11 12:45

HU

ND

RED

SO

FJO

BS

@fli

ghtg

loba

l.com

/job

sR

EC

RU

ITM

EN

T


Technical Instructor

Our vision is to be the world’s best airline. Being the best means that we always strive

to excel in everything we do. As we enter a period of consolidated growth, we are

looking for experienced Airframe/Engine Technical Instructors to join our Hong Kong

based Technical Training School. We are a Part 147 approved training facility.

Key Responsibilities:

• Conduct flight crew and engineering technical training using electronic media and

state of the art simulation devices

• Conduct aircraft practical training and assessments

• Courseware maintenance and development of technology based training

materials

Job Requirements:

• Minimum 3-5 years’ technical training experience preferably on a wide-bodied or

glass cockpit aircraft

• Professional licenses or qualifications relating to aircraft maintenance or

aeronautical engineering

• Experience in courseware design and production of technology based training

material

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills

• Excellent English communication, presentation and written skills

• Computer literacy of MS Office applications

Qualified applicants can apply online at http://careers.cathaypacific.com

Cathay Pacific is an Equal Opportunities Employer. Personal data provided by job applicants will be

used strictly in accordance with our personal data policy and for recruitment purposes only. Candidates

not notified within eight weeks may consider their application unsuccessful. All related information will

be kept on our files for 24 months. A copy of our Personal Information Collection Statement can be

provided upon request by contacting our Data Protection Officer.

Heliservices (www.heliservices.com.hk) is a member of the prestigiousHong Kong Aviation Group. Operating a fleet of SA315B,AS355N and MD500helicopters, the company has provided helicopter charter and utility servicesin Hong Kong for over 30 years.

The Company is developing new aircraft management and maintenanceopportunities in Mainland China.

General Manager (Ref: GM/HS-2011-001)

A vacancy exists for a General Manager based permanently in Hong Kong.

You will have the following duties and responsibilities:

● Manage a small to mid-size helicopter operations company;● Devise business development strategy;● Develop the current and future services and manage the expansion

in China;

The following experience and qualifications are desirable:

● You are a well seasoned leader and manager with goodcommunication skills;

● You have successfully managed a mid-size helicopter operation forat least five years;

● You are well familiar with the business development process withfeasibility study, risk assessment, business plan, budgets etc.

● You are willing to travel extensively in China and to lead meetingswith stakeholders.

The candidate will report directly to the Board of Directors and the owner.

A highly competitive package is offered.

Applications should be addressed to HR Department by email [email protected]

Director of Operations (Korea)

��

��

��

��

� � ��

Flight Simulator Instructors (Seoul, Korea)

!""#$%&' �(��

� �� )�� *��

��

��

��+,� -� ��

Flight Simulator Instructors (UK Based)

��. *� �� /$$ ��.�0� ��#� �� 0� �

!%!. !1!# !2!� !!!� 0�� -� � +�� 34

Altitude Aerospace Interiors New Zealand is an internationally recognised

provider of interior completions, upgrades and reconfi gurations for large

jet aircraft in the commercial and private luxury market on a global basis.

To meet international demand for our services we need senior experienced

Aeronautical Engineers to join us in either Auckland or Christchurch.

Primarily you will create approved data for the modifi cation of aircraft,

designs for manufacturing and provide specialist design advice while also

providing leadership and mentoring to those around you. The work will be

challenging, and customer standards are exacting, so those wanting to take

it easy need not apply.

To be successful you will need to be a professional engineer, ideally with

at least five years experience, perform your best under pressure and

communicate effectively with cross functional groups. Previous industry

experience, e.g. aircraft cabin systems design and modifi cation, VIP interiors

and knowledge of Boeing and Airbus products is a defi nite advantage.

The Altitude design process was born this century, so you will need to be very

computer literate. An appropriate level of knowledge in 3D CAD modeling,

MS Word, Excel, and Project is required.

Expressions of interest are invited for permanent or temporary basis. Please

visit www.alaitude-ai.com ‘About Us>Careers’ and apply by submitting CV

and cover letter.

For further information please contact Anna Lee on 0064 21 757 151.

Interested applicants should apply by emailing Anna Lee at

[email protected]

Senior Mechanical Cabin Systems

Engineers, Electrical Systems Engineers

& Mechatronics Engineers

www.altitude-ai.com


HU

ND

RED

SO

FJO

BS

@fli

ghtg

loba

l.com

/job

sR

EC

RU

ITM

EN

T


RECRUITMENT ADVERTISEMENT FOR CIVIL SERVICE VACANCY

CIVIL AVIATION DEPARTMENT, HONG KONG

Senior Operations Officer (Senior Operations Inspector)Salary: Master Pay Scale Point 45 (HK$82,975 approximately US$10,637 per month*) to Master Pay Scale Point 49 (HK$95,595 approximately US$12,255 per

month*) (See Note 1) (*Based on exchange rate HK$7.8 = US$1) (subject to fluctuation) plus Non-accountable Cash Allowance of (HK$26,480 approximately

US$3,395 per month*) (subject to periodic revision) and Gratuity

Entry Requirements: Candidates should have (a) (i) a current Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence (ATPL) (Aeroplane) (See Note 2) with eight years’ relevant post-licence

experience and at least 5,000 hours of commercial transport flying experience of which a minimum of 3,000 hours should be on civil transport multi-engine

aeroplanes; or (ii) an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) contracting state’s Commercial Pilot’s Licence (CPL) (Aeroplane) with Multi-engine Instrument

Rating; and a minimum of seven years’ post-licence experience in civil aviation management and operations or as a regulator; and have passed the ATPL examinations;

and (b) strong command of written and spoken English.

Note (1): Subject to the prevailing situation, candidates with additional experience may be granted increments for previous relevant experience in the civil

aviation field in excess of the stipulated minimum.

Note (2): A current ATPL (Aeroplane) should include a current Class One Medical Certificate.

Note (3): For the purpose of heightening public awareness of the Basic Law (BL) and promoting a culture of learning of BL in the community, assessment of BL

knowledge will be included in the recruitment for all civil service jobs. Results of the BL test for degree/professional grades will be one of the

considerations to assess the suitability of a candidate but will not affect his/her eligibility for applying for civil service jobs. As a general principle, the

main consideration for suitability for appointment remains a candidate’s qualification, experience and caliber.

Note (4): Candidates should submit their application forms together with an Experience Resume by fax or mail to the enquiry address on or before the

closing date for application. The Experience Resume can be downloaded from the Civil Aviation Department’s website.

(http://www.cad.gov.hk/english/recuitment.html)

Duties: Senior Operations Officer (Senior Operations Inspector) is mainly deployed on flight operations matters including – (a) conducting station facilities, ramp and

base inspections, and other safety oversight inspections of the Air Operator’s Certificates (AOC) holders to ensure that the operator’s documentation with respect to

operations and training manuals, and all other instructions to operating staff are in compliance with the established policies and standards; (b) observing professional

pilot training, monitoring standards and ensuring that the training is carried out in accordance with all relevant legislation; (c) examining persons for appointment as

authorized examiners for the grant of Private Pilot Licence and handling matters on Flying Training Organization and ground training courses; and (d) investigation

of aircraft accidents and incidents. (You are required to travel extensively on duty and work irregular hours)

Terms of Appointment: A new recruit will normally be appointed on civil service agreement terms for three years. Upon completion of agreement, he/she may be

considered for appointment on the prevailing permanent terms.

Fringe Benefits: Upon satisfactory completion of the full agreement period, you will be granted a gratuity for the period of service. In addition, in compliance with

the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance, the Government will arrange to make contributions for the appointee to a registered mandatory provident fund

scheme (MPF scheme). The gratuity payable for the agreement will be the sum which, when added to the Government’s contribution to the said MPF scheme, equals

15% of the total basic salary of the substantive office drawn during the period of agreement. 18 days of annual leave, medical and dental benefits are also provided.

For housing benefits, there is a Non-accountable Cash Allowance, currently at HK$26,480 per month (approximately US$3,395 per month*) subject to periodic

revision.

Closing Date of Application: 14 October 2011.

General Notes:

(a) Persons who are not permanent residents of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) may also apply for this vacancy but will be appointed only when

no suitable and qualified candidates who are permanent residents of the HKSAR are available.

(b) As an Equal Opportunities Employer, the Government is committed to eliminating discrimination in employment. The vacancy advertised is open to all applicants

meeting the basic entry requirement irrespective of their disability, sex, marital status, pregnancy, age, family status, sexual orientation and race.

(c) Civil service vacancies are posts on the civil service establishment. Candidates selected for these vacancies will be appointed on civil service terms of appointment

and conditions of service and will become civil servants on appointment.

(d) The entry pay, terms of appointment and conditions of service to be offered are subject to the provisions prevailing at the time the offer of appointment is made.

(e) The information on the maximum pay point is for reference only and may be subject to changes.

(f) Fringe benefits include paid leave, medical and dental benefits, and where appropriate, assistance in housing.

(g) Where a large number of candidates meet the specified entry requirements, the recruiting department may devise shortlisting criteria to select the better qualified

candidates for further processing. In these circumstances, only shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend recruitment examination and/or interview.

(h) It is Government policy to place people with a disability in appropriate jobs wherever possible. If a disabled candidate meets the entry requirements, he/she will

be invited to attend the selection interview/written examination without being subject to further shortlisting.

(i) Holders of academic qualifications other than those obtained from Hong Kong institutions/Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority may also apply but

their qualifications will be subject to assessments on equivalence with the required entry qualifications. They should submit copies of their official transcripts and

certificates by mail to the above enquiry address.

(j) Civil service vacancies information contained in this column is also available on the GovHK on the Internet at http://www.gov.hk.

(k) Towards the application deadline, our on-line system would likely be overloaded due to large volume of applications. To ensure timely completion of your on-line

application, it is advisable to submit the application as early as possible.

How to Apply : Application Forms [G.F. 340 (Rev. 1/2011)] can be downloaded from the Civil Service Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s

(HKSAR) web site (http://www.csb.gov.hk). On-line application can also be made through the said web site. Candidate must state clearly the details of professional

qualification obtained on the application forms and attach the Experience Resume.(See Note 4) Completed forms, together with the Experience Resume, should reach

the above enquiry address of the recruiting department on or before the closing date for application. If candidates fail to provide the Experience Resume, their

applications may not be considered. Candidates who are selected for interview will normally receive an invitation in about six to eight weeks from the closing date

for application. Those who are not invited for interview may assume that their applications are unsuccessful. For further information or an application form, please

write to the Administration Division, Civil Aviation Department, 46/F, Queensway Government Offices, 66 Queensway, Hong Kong (Fax No. (852) 2868 9867) or

e-mail to [email protected], quoting reference CAD PR/5-25/62 (2011).


50 | Flight International | 27 September-3 October 2011 flightglobal.com

Telephone: +44(0) 844 357 1177Facsimile: +44(0) 871 900 3828Email: [email protected]

FIND THE RIGHT MATCHAVIATION RECRUITMENT SERVICES

WWW.JET-PROFESSIONALS.COMTel: 0041 58 158 8877

Recruitment Support to the Aviation Industry

T: +44(0)1483 [email protected]

aviation recruitment

The experts in aerospace recruitment

T: +32 (0) 2 791 6567

E: [email protected]

www.modisintl.com/aerospace

Leaders in the provision oftechnical personnel

Rebecca Anderson & Kelly RossiT: +44(0)141 270 5007F: +44(0)141 270 5555

E: [email protected]

www.firstpeopleaviation.com

GCT GroupWorldwide specialist for Aerospace Engineering, Certification & Management Servicese: [email protected]: +49 (0) 8153 93130w: www.garner.de

Email: recruitment@sigmaaviationservices.comwww.sigmaaviationservices.com

www.aircraft-commerce.com

+44 (0)1403 240 183

Global Aerospace contractpersonnel and work packagese: [email protected]

t: +44(0)20 8799 8916w: www.strongfield.com

Contract and Permanent recruitmentfor the Aviation industry

David Rowe, Alastair Millar,Jodie Green, Ian Chapman

Tel: +44 (0)1737 821011Email: [email protected]

www.cbsbutler.com

Ǧ ��

Ǧ��

Ǧ ��

Ǧ ��

+353 1 816 [email protected]

www.parcaviation.aero

Looking for on contract basis consultants withworking experience gained from aircra�

manufacturers’ customer services business,incl. maintenance & engineering, supplychain management, aircra� parts service,technical publica�ons, training, opera�on

support and supplier contract management.

Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 20 8643 3981www.3oac.com

Three Oaks Avia�on Consultancy Ltd.

AVIATION RECRUITMENT

WORLDWIDE

T: +44 (0)1483 748252E: [email protected]: www.wynnwith.com

wynnwith

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]

Tel 0049-(0)40-866-258-10 Fax 0049-(0)40-866-258-20

Worldwide Recruitment forEngineering & ManagementProfessionalse: [email protected]: +44 (0) 1905 368 576

www.resource-jobs.co.uk

RECRUITMENT FOR AVIATIONEASA E-LEARNING COURSES

Tel: +44 (0) 1284 700676Email: [email protected]

www.e-techs.co

www.ctcaviation.com/ctcflexicrew

CTC FlexiCrewHigh flyers, on demand

Currently SeekingA320 and B737NG Type Rated Pilots

Various LocationsPermanent Contracts Available

050_FIN061009.qxd:062_FIN120509 22/9/11 10:56

WORKING WEEK

flightglobal.com

If you want to feature in Working

Week, or know someone who

does, email murdo.morrison @flightglobal.com a brief de-

scription of yourself and your job.

Toro

nto

-Ham

ilton In

tern

ational A

irport

Managing to fulfil airport potential

For more employee work experi-ences, visit flightglobal.com/workingweek

Medweth: re-establishing flights to the UK is a priority

WORK EXPERIENCE KAREN MEDWETH

Karen Medweth has been involved in airport management for most of her aviation career. Having spent time in the UK, she is back in her native Canada as director of air services and marketing at Toronto-Hamilton Airport

What are you responsible for in your role as director of air services and marketing? The role is wide ranging, and that is one of reasons why I enjoy it. As the title implies, air service development is one of the most significant responsibilities and entails identifying new route op-portunities for both passenger and cargo sectors. I also oversee the marketing and communica-tion activities at the airport, and we put quite a lot of focus on working with our local catch-ment area to support new and existing passenger routes. As so-cial networking is so important in the travel sector, significant time is spent exploring how best

to utilise the leading online so-cial sites such Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. What is the most challenging part of your role, and what’s the part that you enjoy most?With the global economic slow-down, and the fact that Toronto-Hamilton International airport sits in a very competitive envi-ronment, developing new busi-ness is a real challenge. However, it’s also probably the part I enjoy the most – it feels a little like a puzzle sometimes, and you have to address all of the concerns of the airlines, of our board, of our passengers and once all the piec-es are in place, you get a new route. It’s then very satisfying to

see that schedule do well and have the passengers and airline very happy with the service.Which areas of Hamilton Airport are you interested in developing and why?Toronto-Hamilton International has such great potential. We are well positioned on the cargo side to contribute to the strong goods-movement industry in the area and the planned multi-tenant cross-dock facility will help grow this part of the business. The air-port is also the anchor tenant for the Airport Employment Growth District, which is being devel-oped by the city to attract further investment in the area. I think the airport can be a real economic driver for the region.

The other area is, of course, the passenger market. Toronto-Hamil-ton has very strong connections to the UK and re-establishing flights there is a priority. We are also well positioned between the two largest tourist attractions, downtown To-ronto and Niagara Falls, so charter traffic does very well here; I’m an-ticipating that we’ll increase this sector over the next few years. ■


When did you become involved in aviation and why? What attracted you to the airport side of the business?My father used to drag me to air-strips as a kid, and I’ll always re-member going to Arthur, Ontario, to a small grass strip that was home to a glider club. It wasn’t high excitement at seven years old, but something must have stuck, and I’ve been interested in aviation ever since.

Airports are fascinating plac-es: there’s the persistent air of anticipation that exists and while they are large, immovable assets, they connect with loca-tions all over the world. For me, it was natural to pursue a career in the airport sector.What does your average week consist of?Most weeks, I’ll spend quite a bit of time working with the airlines – either our existing carriers like CanJet and WestJet, or meeting with those we are working to es-tablish new routes with. We are pursing domestic, USA and inter-national schedules, so juggling the time zones can be an interest-ing challenge. Toronto-Hamilton Airport also has a significant cargo presence, and part of the week is always focused on that sector. We are in the process of developing a new multi-tenant facility to attract freight forwarders and cargo carri-ers, which results in lots of meet-ings with suppliers, contractors and future partners.

FIN_270911_055 51 22/9/11 10:39:30

FIN_270911_056 56 21/09/2011 13:48:30

Flight International 27 Sep - 3 Oct 2011

Documents

Transcript of Flight International 27 Sep - 3 Oct 2011