flight international - 22-28 july 2014

FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

AERIAL VIEW TWENTY-NINE PAGES OF NEWS AND PERSPECTIVESHOW REPORT P8

COMFORT FACTOR Boeing’s in-development 777X to have same cabin pressurisation levels as the Dreamliner 8

STEALTH CHECKS Tests on Taranis UCAV saw demonstrator fly ‘virtually invisible’ to radar, BAE reveals 34

22-28 JULY 2014

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COMING AFTER YOUAirbus ups the ante in widebodies

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FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

22-28 JULY 2014

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Czech airframer Evektor secures much-needed backing to complete certification of 14-seat Outback P36. Navy impressed by upgraded Merlin P24

FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

AERIAL VIEW TWENTY-NINE PAGES OF NEWS AND PERSPECTIVESHOW REPORT P8

COMFORT FACTOR Boeing’s in-development 777X to have same cabin pressurisation levels as the Dreamliner 8

STEALTH CHECKS Tests on Taranis UCAV saw demonstrator fly ‘virtually invisible’ to radar, BAE reveals 34

22-28 JULY 2014

Official Media Partner

FARNBOROUGH REPORT

COMING AFTER YOUAirbus ups the ante in widebodies

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

3 0£3.40

30 E2 capitalises on CSeries misfortune. Farnborough orders propel ATR toward new record

31 LM-100J lifts off with first customer

32 UK space industry readies for launch

34 Taranis goes ‘fully stealthy’ for tests. Lockheed readies K-Max for UGV deployment trials

35 AgustaWestland completes Solo demonstration flights

39 Atlas deliveries ready to power up. Prototype of low-maintenance KC-390 on track for maiden flight by year-end

40 Global supply strategy key component in MB’s success. AerCap applies the rational approach to explode order bubble warnings

41 Asian airframers celebrate agreements for MRJ, ARJ21. MC-21 on track for flight testing in 2015 – Irkut

REGULARS7 Comment 46 Straight & Level47 Letters49 Classified 51 Jobs 59 Working Week

NEWS THIS WEEK 8 Boeing to adopt Dreamliner pressure-

altitude on 777X

9 F-35 fans lose out to flight restriction

14 Typhoon gets AESA programme boost

15 Sentinel to keep watch until 2018

16 Airbus to tweak A350-900 maximum take-off weight

17 Al Baker fury at A380’s no-show

18 P&W defends CSeries engine failure. CFM powers to a backlog of 7,500

19 Airbus and engine suppliers will not commit to A380neo

20 Scorpion makes first strike with UK debut appearance. MC-27J passes weapons trial

22 Saab continues talks with Swiss over Gripen sales

24 Boeing ‘confident’ MSA will locate international buyers

26 Bell displays SAR 525 amid Relentless marketing drive. X3 helicopter technology climbs aboard LifeRCraft

27 Missile deal sharpens Wildcat’s claws

28 Boeing to offer 200 seats on Max 8

29 Superjet targets Embraer’s home turf

COVER STORY10 A330neo unveiled Our four pages of

analysis uncovers the first purchase deals announced and explains how the re-engined variant will help the airframer compete in the widebody sector

FEATURES42 High-flying displays Fine weather and a

wide variety of aircraft types kept eyes on the sky at Farnborough

44 Thrills and stills Although the flying display always receives the most attention, there are still plenty of must-see aircraft in the various static areas

VOLUME 186 NUMBER 5449

PIC OF THE WEEK This shot of the Avro Vulcan taken at Farnborough last week has a certain poignancy as it could mark the last appearance of the flying version of the bomber (XH558) at the biennial event. The iconic Cold War-era jet, which dates back to the 1960s, is expected to retire next year having reached the end of her agreed life.

Bill

yPix

flightglobal.com/imageoftheday

Ric

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ooper

COVER IMAGERenowned aviation photographer Rich Cooper took this amazing end-of-runway shot of the Airbus A350 launching its air display at Farnborough, with, behind it, the A380 coming in to land after completing its routine P10

NEXT WEEK SAFETY REVIEWCommercial air transport is getting so safe that traditional learning from mistakes is no longer reliable. We examine whether there is a danger of complacency.

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CONTENTS

Flightglobal reaches up to 1.3 million visitors from 220 countries viewing 7.1 million pages each month

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

Vote at flightglobal.com/poll

Find all these items at flightglobal.com/wotw

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Total votes: 1,493

This week, we ask: The A330neo is a: ❑ Runaway success ❑ Niche product ❑ Panic measure

62% 34% 4%

Cover your earsNice distraction but limited business use

It’s what air shows are about

Last week, we asked: Air displays at industry shows? You said:

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Flightglobal’s Farnborough chalet

was buzzing as teams from

London, Washington DC and

Singapore worked tirelessly to

provide multimedia coverage of

the event. We produced four

issues of Flight Daily News and

three interactive iFlight Daily News, including video presented

by our journalists.

The Flightglobal team was all over the Farnborough air

show and even we couldn’t keep up with each other’s

news, views, images and videos – but we made it easy for

you to follow – or revisit – all

the action at the biggest

aviation event of the year.

From flightglobal.com/farnborough, just click

through features ranging from

our interactive or print show daily newspapers to special

features and flying display highlights. Or, see what our

consultancy Ascend says about two of the pivotal issues

of a busy civil aviation year: has Airbus cracked the

250-seat market with the A330neo (flightglobal.com/a330neodebate)? Is the order backlog frothy or firm (/orderbubble)? The twitterati might prefer to follow us @flightglobal or search for @FIA14. And, bien sûr, we’ll do it

all again from Paris and @PAS15...

HIGH FLIERSThe top five stories for the week just gone:1 VIDEO World’s largest aircraft, An-225, emerges to set new lift record

2 FARNBOROUGH Rockwell Collins joins European GNSS project

3 FARNBOROUGH E2 to be star of Embraer’s show

4 New deal to protect UK helicopters

5 Cessna’s new light jet move signals industry optimism

IN THIS ISSUECompanies listedAerCap ........................................................41AgustaWestland .....................................35, 36AirAsia X ......................................................13Airbus ........................................12, 32, 39, 40Air Lease ......................................................13Air New Zealand ...........................................30Air Tahiti .......................................................30Alenia Aermacchi .........................................20Al Maha Airways ...........................................13Aspirasi Pertiwi ............................................36ASL Aviation Group ......................................31ATK ..............................................................20ATR ..............................................................30Avianca .......................................................30Aviation Group International ........................37Avolon .........................................................13BAE Systems ...............................................34Boeing .........................................................41Bombardier .................................................37Bravia Capital ..............................................36Brooklands Aerospace .................................37Cathay Pacific ..............................................13Cessna ..................................................36, 37CIT Aerospace ..............................................13Comac .........................................................41CybAero .......................................................35Dassault ......................................................34Delta Air Lines ..............................................13Diamond Aircraft ..........................................20Eastern Air Lines ..........................................41Embraer .......................................................39Enstrom .......................................................36Europrop International .................................39Evektor ........................................................36Garmin ........................................................37GE Aviation ..................................................40General Electric ...........................................13Guimbal.......................................................36HISS ............................................................39Honeywell ..............................................20, 37Irkut .............................................................41International Aero Engines ...........................39Kaman .........................................................34Lockheed Martin ........................22, 31, 34, 39MB Aerospace .............................................40Mitsubishi Aircraft ........................................41Norbert Industries ........................................40Nordic Aviation Capital .................................30Optica..........................................................37Pratt & Whitney Canada ...............................36Piaggio Aero .................................................36Pilatus .........................................................36Pratt & Whitney ............................................40PZL Swidnik .................................................35Qatar Airways ...............................................13Robinson .....................................................37Rolls-Royce ................................12, 13, 37, 40Rotron Power ...............................................35Saab ...........................................................22Santos Lab ..................................................35Selex ES ......................................................22SkyWest Airlines ...........................................41Sparkle Roll Group .......................................36SR Jet ..........................................................36Synergy Group .............................................30Surrey Satellite Technology ...........................32Thales ..........................................................22Tekever.........................................................35Textron AirLand .............................................20Textron Systems ...........................................22Transaero .....................................................13UTC Aerospace Systems ...............................22Villa Air ........................................................30Virgin Galactic .............................................32Weststar Aviation Services ...........................36

4 | Flight International | 22-28 July 2014

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COMMENT


Airbus’s easy decision

As recently as last month’s media briefing in Tou-louse, smokescreens were being laid. Airbus was

pondering re-engining the A330, but in “no hurry” to decide. So the confirmation of the A330neo as almost the first announcement of this year’s Farnborough got the air show off to a flying start.

First orders and the predictable riposte from Boeing followed swiftly. Airbus super salesman John Leahy extolled the virtues of and “overwhelming demand” for the revamped twin-aisle as if launching it was the easiest decision his bosses had ever made. Seattle’s Randy Tinseth accused Airbus of resurrecting an aban-doned, decade-old concept and said the A330neo was proof Toulouse’s A350 strategy had failed.

The A330neo will fill a void in the market. Whether it sells in the numbers Airbus hopes remains to be seen, but the fact that the cost of developing the origi-nal A330 has been amortised means Toulouse will be able to price the reborn widebody keenly. This will worry Boeing, as it pays back its own considerable bill for developing the Dreamliner.

Airbus had little choice but to launch the A330neo. With the A350-800 dead and A350-1000 looking frag-ile, the European company’s widebody strategy was in trouble. The A330neo is not a game-changing launch in the way the 787 was, but it will buy Airbus time and prove an irritant for its rival. ■See Show Report P10

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

See Show Report P9

False hope – and not just in replica form

Bill

yPix

Simply put, the F-35 had to be at Farnborough. As well as being conspicuous by its absence, the Joint Strike Fighter’s no-show is likely to delay orders from vital international customers

Lightning fails to strike

Very seldom is an aircraft more conspicuous by its absence than the Lockheed Martin F-35, and the

embarrassing saga that accompanied its attempted journey to the UK and the Farnborough air show. For Lockheed, in this instance the advertising proverb that all publicity is good publicity failed to ring true.

The F-35 has been in development for nearly 13 years. More than $80 billion has been spent on devel-oping and building a fleet of aircraft. Showcasing the F-35B’s unique and – it must be said – impressive hov-ering capability on a global stage could have been a critical moment in the history of the programme.

Quite simply, the F-35 needed to be at Farnborough. The type cannot be sold until it becomes more afforda-ble. The US programme office has a plan to reduce the unit price to $85 million by 2019, but it depends on a steep production ramp-up, with output projected to rise about 500% compared with fiscal year 2014 levels.

There was a time when the programme could count on the US Department of Defense to underwrite the vast majority of the ramp up, but those days are gone under the USA’s sequestration policy. So the majority of the ramp-up over the next five years must come from the in-ternational market. Orders have already been won in Is-rael, Japan and South Korea, but the eight development partners are needed to fulfil their obligations.

It is this situation that underscores the devastating impact of the F-35’s absence.

Until the last minute, officials spoke in baited breath of how “hopeful” they were

The programme’s pre-show script was completely dif-ferent. As an F-35B hovered over the Farnborough crowds, programme officials were supposed to roll-out a cost reduction programme aimed at Europe’s frugal arms buyers. With that context understood, it is perhaps easi-er to comprehend how desperate US government offi-cials bungled the communication strategy so awfully.

In a less stressful situation, programme officials may have adopted a more realistic tone about the F-35’s ap-pearance. They could have said that the programme is on a solid footing with or without Farnborough.

Instead, the programme office and service officials made it all too clear how desperate they were to see the F-35 come to the show.

Until the last minute, government officials spoke in baited breath of how “hopeful” they were that the F-35 would arrive. Even after an accident investigation board imposed a 3h maintenance interval for the F135 engine – rendering a transatlantic flight impossible – US officials still spread false hope. ■

SHOW REPORT

flightglobal.com8 | Flight International | 22-28 July 2014

The long-rumoured launch of the Airbus A330neo and the non-appearance of the equally widely-anticipated Lockheed Martin F-35 – as well as more than a hundred Russians – were among the big stories of this year’s Farnborough. No big air show would be complete without a verbal sparring match between the two industry heavyweights, and this year’s event did not disappoint, with brand A and brand B rubbishing their rival’s widebody strategies. Farnborough remains a key gathering place for the defence community and an agreement to supply a new radar for the Eurofighter Typhoon was among the headlines in that sector. Our global team provided unrivalled coverage

FARNBOROUGH 2014

Boeing has raised the stakes in its battle against the Airbus

A350-1000, after announcing its 777X family will adopt the 787’s lower cabin pressure-altitude.

For the 777X, Boeing is adopt-ing an all-new engine – the Gener-al Electric GE9X – and scaling up the composite wing technology from the 787. The compromise of re-engining meant accepting the cross section and cabin experi-ence of the original 777, bypassing the 787’s advances in cabin pres-surisation and other technologies.

However, that formula changed with the revelation at the show that the 777X cabin will “repli-cate” the maximum 6,000ft pres-sure-altitude of the 787 cabin. This is a significant cabin im-provement from the 8,000ft maxi-mum pressure-altitude of the 777.

As a result, Boeing accepts the increased risk and cost it takes to strengthen the 777X pressure bulkheads and protect the air-frame from being corroded faster by humid air.

“We’ve been getting input from customers all along that they wanted to replicate the 787 expe-rience,” says Scott Fancher, sen-ior vice-president and general manager of airplane development at Boeng Commercial Airplanes.

One of those potential customers was Air Lease founder Steve Ud-var-Hazy. ALC has not yet an-nounced orders for the 777X, but has an orderbook that includes 15 777-300ERs and 45 787s.

“On the pressurisation, they made a big deal out of that on the 787,” says Udvar-Hazy. “So how can you have an airplane that comes out after the 787 in terms of time and then the pressurisation is the same as the original 777 that came out in the mid-1990s? “Our position was: look, you’ve got to make some improvement on the pressurisation.”

Although the appeal seemed obvious, it took Boeing several

months after the programme launch last November to be con-vinced that the 777X could repli-cate the 787 pressure-altitude for an acceptable cost, Fancher says.

It was only two months ago that Boeing said the 777X would offer a 787-like cabin experience, but it declined to comment spe-cifically on whether it would offer the same pressurisation.

Boeing introduced the 6,000ft pressure-altitude on the 787 as an upgrade enabled by the higher strength and corrosion resistance of the type’s pioneering compos-ite fuselage. The metallic fuselage structure of the 777 seemed to present an obstacle to managing the same level of pressurisation, but Boeing found a way to pro-vide the same strength with “local reinforcements” to struc-ture, Fancher says.

ALC president John Plueger says the modifications were not quite so simple, however. Higher cabin pressurisation risks lower-ing the fatigue life of the struc-ture, but Boeing discovered that the original airframe was certifi-cated with more take-off and landing cycles than necessary, so the 777X could enter service with a lower fatigue cycle rating with no impact on customers. ■

More than a hundred Rus-sians due to attend the air

show were refused or failed to get visas to enter the UK. It meant the country’s sizeable intended pres-ence at Farnborough was affect-ed, although the majority of those who had booked travel made it to the show. There were more than 60 Russian exhibitors and several large chalets, although, this year, no military aircraft.

Some alleged that the visa problems were down to budget cuts in the UK’s embassy in Mos-cow slowing down visa-process-ing, rather than a deliberate poli-cy by the UK government over concerns about Russia’s involve-ment in Ukraine.

Mikhail Pogosyan, president of Russia’s biggest aerospace and defence company, United Air-craft, told reporters that he did not believe the Ukrainian crisis would affect relationships with Western partners, which include Alenia Aermacchi, Pratt & Whit-ney and Safran on the Sukhoi Su-perjet and Irkut MC-21 commer-cial jet programmes.

“The aviation industry is fo-cused on long-term co-operation and changes in the political situa-tion should not affect co-operation in the long term,” he says. “All our international partners are keen on further co-operation.” ■

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Many Russians fail to get visas to attend show

Boein

g

Increased corrosion is a risk

MODIFICATION

Boeing to adopt Dreamliner pressure-altitude on 777XMove will add to programme costs but Seattle says technical challenges can be overcome


FARNBOROUGH 2014SHOW REPORT

Bill

yPix

After a week of “will it, won’t it” speculation, false rumours

and conflicting messages from programme officials and industry, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter failed to appear at the Farnborough air show.

“We are disappointed that we are not going to be here,” the company said as news of the no-show decision emerged from the US Department of Defense while the show emptied on 16 July. “But we agree with the ultimate decision.”

US Marine Corps officials and members of Lockheed’s Fort Worth, Texas-based F-35 team had been in the UK for weeks prepar-ing for a trio of short t ake-off and vertical landing F-35Bs to make the type’s international debut at

the Royal International Air Tattoo and then participate in the flying display at Farnborough. Lockheed had spent months preparing for the shows, which would have given foreign partners the oppor-tunity to see the aircraft flying out-side the USA for the first time.

All F-35s had been grounded following a fire which erupted on an A-variant aircraft at Eglin AFB in Florida in late June. Hopes that the type could still reach the UK for a Farnborough debut rose after a safety board lifted the grounding order on 15 July – partly due to

comments made by Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James at the show – but fell when details of the step’s associated flight restrictions were disclosed the following day.

Key among these is a require-ment for the front fans of the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine to be in-spected after every three flight hours – a restriction which re-moved any chance of a non-stop trip from NAS Patuxent River in Maryland with tanker support.

One consequence of the fight-er’s absence was the UK deferral of a planned contract signature for its first 14 production examples of the F-35B. Departing defence sec-retary Philip Hammond said that the UK is still waiting to agree the exact terms of its acquisition. ■

Only a full-size model of Lockheed Martin’s fighter was on display

Bill

yPix

SAFETY

F-35’s starring role thwarted by DoDJoint Strike Fighters fail to make journey to show after return to flight limitations rule out non-stop Atlantic crossing

Total order and option commit-ments at Farnborough reached

1,210 – compared with just under 1,500 at last year’s Paris air show.

Airbus launched the A330neo and racked up orders for 121 of the aircraft. AirAsia X, with a memo-randum of understanding covering 50, is the largest customer. Transae-ro has also agreed to take a dozen of the type, while three lessors – Air

Lease, Avolon and CIT Aerospace – ordered 55 between them.

There were 317 commitments for the A320neo family, includ-ing 110 from lessor SMBC Avia-tion Capital. Lessors AerCap, Air Lease and BOC Aviation also fed the figure, while British Airways is to take 20 A320neos.

Airbus, which also secured an A350 commitment from Air

Mauritius, ended the show with 496 commitments, split between purchase orders (358) and MoUs.

Boeing announced commit-ments for 269 aircraft. That in-cludes the purchase rights Qatar Airways took in addition to order-ing 50 firm 777-9Xs. The One-world carrier also ordered four ad-ditional 777Fs, taking four options.

There were also widebody

commitments from several les-sors, including orders from Air Lease and Intrepid Aviation for 777-300ERs, as well as deals for 18 787-9s with Avolon, CIT and MG Aviation.

Hainan Airlines, Okay Air-ways, Monarch Airlines and Air Lease contributed to 121 commit-ments accumulated by Boeing’s 737 Max. ■

A330neo pushes Airbus toward 500 commitments ORDERS



For more news about the Airbus A330 programme, visit our landing page at: flightglobal.com/A330

Rolls-Royce secured an exclusive

engine supply deal on the Airbus

A330neo after rival General Electric

decided not to participate as it could

not work the business case.

The current A330 is offered with

engines from all big-three engine

makers, but the A330neo is avail-

able only with the Trent 7000, a de-

rivative of the Trent 1000-TEN which

will power the Boeing 787.

Launch customer Air Lease had

been “campaigning for two engine

choices”, says boss Steve Udvar-Hazy.

He says Air Lease’s market research

forecasts demand for more than

1,100 aircraft in the A330neo’s cat-

egory to the end of the next decade.

“Rolls-Royce and Airbus agreed

with our position, but General

Electric felt that the market was

maybe not as large as other experts

in the industry felt,” he says. “And in

the end Airbus and Rolls came to-

gether and were able to forge an

arrangement that is very satisfac-

tory to the customer.”

Airbus chief operating officer for

customers John Leahy explains that

Airbus has negotiated the discount

that can be achieved through an en-

gine competition “in advance with

Rolls, so all the customers get a

good price”. He adds that “mainte-

nance costs on the Trent 7000 will

be the same as on today’s A330”.

GE aviation chief executive David

Joyce confirms that the US engine

maker talked to Airbus about offering

a solution and would have done so if

no alternative was available. Joyce

adds that GE’s absence “was the right

decision…. It was kind of mutual”.

Rolls-Royce is merging features

from engines for the Boeing 787 and

A350 into the A330neo’s powerplant.

Based on the architecture of the

787’s Trent 1000-TEN, the Trent

7000 incorporates technology from

the A350’s Trent XWB. Rated at

COVER STORY

New A330 allows Airbus to take on Dreamliner at last Short development cycle gives Toulouse early advantage as six customers get programme flying with 121 orders

Airbus launched its assault on the lower end of the wide-

body market at the Farnborough air show with the Rolls-Royce Trent 7000-powered A330neo. And it aims to capitalise on a short development cycle to max-imise its chances of competing with the all-new Boeing 787.

Backed by launch commit-ments for 121 aircraft from six customers, Toulouse aims to take advantage of learnings from the A320neo to cut the time to mar-ket for its re-engined A330neo.

While Airbus intends to bring the A320neo into service just under five years from launch, it is ambitiously projecting a develop-ment period of just 42 months for the A330-800/900neo, allowing the re-engined family to enter ser-vice by the end of 2017.

“We are able to do this in only three and a half years, which is quite new in this business,” says Airbus chief executive Fabrice

Brégier. “I want an Airbus that is more agile, which is faster in deci-sion making, which works together better and I insisted internally that we could develop this product in line with market expectations.”

Brégier says using the Trent 7000, a derivative engine of the 787’s Trent 1000, instead of the new ones for the A320neo, is a “big de-risking factor”. The programme will cost “between €1 and €2 bil-lion” ($1.4-2.7 billion), he adds.

“We have learned a lot of les-sons, of course, in building the A320neo,” adds Airbus executive

vice-president for strategy Kiran Rao. He says airline customers are asking for the A330neo “as soon as they can get it”.

The A330neo launch raises further doubts about the future of the smallest A350 variant, the -800, which is currently in limbo amid a shrinking orderbook.

Brégier hints that the remaining orders are likely to be absorbed by the A330neo and A350-900.

“There are still 34 orders [for the -800], so we are committed to them, but this trend [to transition orders [to other aircraft], I think, will continue,” he says.

“The big difference is that with

COVER STORY

Rolls-Royce wlll single-source engine after GE fails to make business case

“We are able to do this in only threeand a half years,which is quite newin this business”FABRICE BRÉGIER Chief executive, Airbus

Trent 7000 is derived from Trent 1000-TEN

Rolls

-Royc

e



68,000-72,000lb (303-320kN)

thrust, in line with the Trent 700, it

will have 10% lower specific fuel con-

sumption than its predecessor.

Airbus says that the sole-sourcing

of the engines will ease some of the

design work because it will not have

to come up with a compromise pylon

to handle two engine options, as

with the A320neo.

The Trent 7000 will run for the

first time in 2015. Flight testing of

the engine is to begin in 2016, with

certification due to follow in 2017.

The fan diameter is set to grow

from around 97.4in (2.47m) on the

Trent 700 to 112in on the Trent

7000. As this will in turn require a

more powerful low-pressure turbine,

Rolls-Royce is increasing the num-

ber of LPT stages from four to six.

The bypass ratio will double from

5:1 to 10:1, while the overall pres-

sure ratio is set to increase from

36:1 to 50:1. New thermal barrier

coatings will be used in the HPT to

cope with increased temperatures

due to the higher pressures in the

engine core.

Although the Trent 1000, on

which the new engine is based, is a

bleedless engine, Rolls-Royce and

Airbus will stay with a conventional

bleed-air design for the A330neo.

But the powerplant will be made

more reliable with greater use of

electrical, rather than pneumatic,

regulation systems. ■

Airbus has hit back at claims by its rival that it has just

dusted off a decade-old plan to compete against the Boeing 787 with an A330 derivative, which formed the basis of the original A350 before it launched the all-new A350 XWB in 2006.

Boeing chief executive Ray Conner points out that airlines rejected Airbus’s original plan for the A350 and that the new model is the “same airplane they brought forward in 2005”.

“We know the [A330] very well. We knew the airplane in the 1980s,” he adds.

However, Airbus chief execu-tive Fabrice Brégier believes that the A330 and 787 are both very different today: “Clearly, we have been continuously optimis-ing the A330 and we are now ready to offer this product which was not the case five years ago. So we have a much better Neo when you compare with the 787,” he says.

“Then compared to the initial performance of the 787 back in 2004, [today’s 787 has] extra weight and cost. And so the gap

COVER STORY

Boeing accuses rival of dusting-off old design

the A330neo, we can also offer a slightly smaller aircraft than the A350-900, in very competitive conditions. And in this segment, the A330neo is more cost effi-cient than the A350-800. So I be-lieve that all our customers will elect either to go with the A350-900 or A330neo.”

Jeff Knittel, chief executive of A330neo launch customer CIT Aerospace, says Airbus “has it right” with the decision. “That’s far stronger than de-optimising the A350 today,” he says. CIT aban-doned the -800 in 2011 by convert-ing its orders to the larger -900.

“There’s an unfortunate reality about aircraft,” says Knittel. “They’re a point design. As you get smaller the aircraft are de-opti-mised. [The A350-800] carried a lot of capability and, unfortunate-ly, cost for the number of passen-gers it had.”

Knittel firmly backs Airbus’s decision to modify the wing of the A330 and equip the type with new engines. Rob Morris, head of consultancy at Flightglobal’s advi-sory arm, Ascend, says it was cru-cial that Airbus launched the re-engined A330 if it was to compete in the 250-seat segment in future.

“Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets database shows the market sector for the A330neo in the 250- to 300-seat market is potentially lu-crative and one in which Airbus already has a healthy customer footprint,” says Morris.

“For an airframer with the de-sire to offer airliners in every seg-ment from 100 to over 600 seats, completely ignoring this market is impossible,” he adds. ■

Launch party: Fabrice Brégier (centre) and John Leahy of Airbus

(right) with Eric Schulz of Rolls-Royce

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“We know the [A330] very well. We knew the airplane in the 1980s”RAY CONNERChief executive, Boeing

“The reaction fromour competitor issimilar to the onewhen we launchedthe A320neo”FABRICE BRÉGIER Chief executive, Airbus

has reduced on both sides, and now we are on top.”

Airbus claims that its larger-variant A330neo will offer a 7% reduction in overall costs com-pared with the 787. The airframer believes a 310-seat A330-900neo will have a 1% cash operating cost advantage against the 304-seat 787-9 on a 4,000nm (7,400km) sector.

Chief operating officer for cus-tomers John Leahy adds that the A330neo will also have a 7% ad-vantage in total operating costs per seat. He says the re-engined aircraft “beats the 787 on trip cost and seat cost”.

“The reaction from our com-petitor is similar to the one when we launched the A320neo, which was that ‘the A320neo will hardly match the performance of our 737NG’,” says Brégier.” So I will not be surprised that you will get the same message that the A330neo will still have a big shortage of fuel burn to the 787.This is not true.” ■

Download our white paper “The great A330neo debate”: flightglobal.com/A330neo

Bill

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For more news about the Airbus A330 programme, visit our landing page at: flightglobal.com/A330

el-burn per trip. Interior reconfig-uration to save space will allow another six to 10 seats, bringing the fuel-burn reduction per seat to 14%.

LIGHTERThe manufacturer believes it can almost fully negate the weight in-crease of the new A330neo by im-plementing a reduction exercise to trim structure across the entire A330 airframe.

It intends to shed 800kg (1,760lb) of weight as it develops the re-engined aircraft, to offset the modifications required to ac-

commodate the larger Trent 7000 powerplants.

“We’re trying to head back to an almost neutral [weight] posi-tion,” explains Airbus executive vice-president for programmes Tom Williams.

Pylon design is one of the criti-cal Airbus tasks for the A330neo. The airframer is planning to maintain the current powerplant ground clearance, which is just under 0.9m for the Trent 700, on the A330neo.

This means that, owing to the larger engine diameter, the pow-erplant must be mounted higher.

“The pylon has to be more care-fully thought through,” says Wil-liams. He points out that Airbus must consider the temperature consequences, particularly on leading-edge systems, of installing a hot engine closer to the wing.

Williams adds that the engine-nacelle interface will also be “critical” to the design effort. “You can easily lose 1-1.5% [effi-ciency] between a well-optimised and a poorly-optimised configu-ration,” he says.

Airbus and Rolls-Royce have already sealed a partnership with Safran Group’s Aircelle division covering development of the A330neo nacelle.

Williams says that the engi-neering needs to consider not just the turbine but complex issues relating to configuration of the

The two new Airbus A330neo variants are developed from

today’s A330-200 and -300, with major changes beyond the new engines focused on aerodynam-ics and cabin improvements.

Airbus aims to reduce per-seat fuel burn by 14% versus the cur-rent models, but promises 95% spares commonality with the A330 and will seek a common type rating for cockpit crews.

Airbus expects to achieve a range of 6,200nm (11,500km) with its A330-900neo, which will be the first re-engined vari-ant to market, while the -800neo will be able to fly 7,450nm.

Both A330neo variants will have a maximum take-off weight of 242t, with design freeze for the type taking place in 2015, shortly after the entry into service of the

242t version of the current A330.The A330-900neo – with a

basic configuration of 310 seats – will be introduced in the fourth quarter of 2017, while the 252-seat -800neo will arrive in early 2018.

Aerodynamic modifications will include a re-twisted wing and optimised slats and fairings, as well as A350-style wing-tips that will increase the span by 3.7m (12ft) to 64m. The smooth-er line of the wing-tips means they will be just 1m high rather than the 1.6m of the current A330 winglets.

Airbus chief executive Fabrice Brégier insists that the wing changes will be minimal, amounting to reinforcement and weight-reduction measures.

“We don’t intend to change, for example, the centre wing-box, which is very complex,” he says.

On a 4,000nm flight, Airbus in-tends to achieve an 11% fuel-burn saving over the 235t A330-300, through the use of Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, minus around 1% for additional drag and 2% for weight.

But the aerodynamic enhance-ments will provide another 4% in fuel-burn benefit, giving an overall 12% improvement in fu-

• New A330 sharklets• 4% aerodynamic gain from re-optimisation• Span extension to 64m

Aerodynamic improvements

• Increased fan size (from 97.5 to 112in)• 11% lower fuel burn at Powerplant level• Latest engine performance improvements

New generation engine – Trent 7000

• Up to 10 more seats• Cabin modernisation

Cabin developments

• 95% spares commonality with A330• Same type rating as A330ceo• Common type rating as A350 XWB

Commonality

A330NEO KEY FEATURES

SOURCE: Airbus

COVER STORY

A330neo changes go beyond engineImproved aerodynamics and interiors will be part of improvements as Airbus aims to reduce per-seat fuel burn by 14%

“We don’t intend tochange, for example,the centre wing-box,which is verycomplex”FABRICE BRÉGIERChief executive, Airbus

A330NEO BASIC DATA

-800neo -900neo

Length (m) 58.8 63.7

Wingspan (m) 64 64

Maximum take-off weight (t) 242 242

Maximum Landing weight (t) 186 191

Maximum zero fuel weight (t) 172/176 177/181

Maximum fuel capacity (l) 139,100 139,100

Maximum range (nm) 7,450 6,200

Engines Trent 7000 Trent 7000

Engine thrust (lb) 72,000 72,000

Fan size (in) 112 112

Seating (J/Y) 252 (36/216) 310 (36/274)

List price ($ million) 242 275

SOURCE: Airbus



Having pressed Airbus for the A330neo, low-cost operator

AirAsia X demonstrated its loy-alty by becoming the largest ini-tial customer for the type with a commitment for 50.

Although AirAsia had sought General Electric GEnx engines, group chief Tony Fernandes says the Rolls-Royce-powered twinjet will be a “killer aircraft”.

“I think GE has missed out big-time,” he says. “The A330, pound for pound, is the best air-craft ever made. It’s a fantastic aircraft – fantastic reliability, easy to turn around.”

AirAsia X chief Azran Osman-Rani says the A330neo will ena-ble the airline to operate 13h sec-tors. The carrier still had 38 baseline A330s on order at the end of June, and it is unclear

whether some might be convert-ed to the re-engined jet.

Three lessors – Air Lease, CIT, and Avolon – committed respec-tively to 25, 15 and 15 aircraft, all the -900neo variant. Two other buyers: Transaero and an undis-closed Asian customer signed for 12 and four aircraft respectively.

Avolon has also signed for the Boeing 787. Chief exec Domhnal Slattery says: “They have different

markets they can serve. We don’t see them as being conflicting.”

Aeroflot and Hawaiian Air-lines, key customers for the fading A350-800, have yet to put forward a verdict on the A330neo.

But Cathay Pacific chief Ivan Chu says he will take a “good look” at the aircraft. “Anything that im-proves efficiency is good for the airline community,” he says.

A330 operator Qatar Airways would only be interested in the jet for its Saudi Arabian start-up Al Maha Airways, it says. “But this decision will only be made some time far into next year,” says Qatar chief Akbar Al Baker.

While lessors have indicated that Delta Air Lines would be in-terested in a re-engined A330, the airline has yet to react formally to the launch. ■

gearbox and other peripheral equipment, all within the tight deadline to enable late-2017 ser-vice entry.

“That’s more or less tomorrow in aircraft development terms,” he adds.

While the Trent 7000 is based on the Trent 1000, it will have an electronically-controlled bleed-air system and Airbus has started the process of selecting a bleed-air supplier. Initial discussions have taken place with Liebherr.

Reinforcement of the wing will be “quite extensive”, says Wil-liams, and involve some material improvements, such as alloy changes, to optimise the loading capabilities. But the architecture of the high-lift devices and spoil-ers will stay unchanged.

Airbus considered several winglet designs before settling on the swept tips similar to those on the A350. Williams says they pro-vide a “clean extension” of the wing, with a better loading of the centre wing-box which will avoid substantial modification.

The landing-gear, which is al-ready being designed to handle the higher-weight 242t version of the A330, will remain un-changed.

Airbus will also keep any cockpit changes minimal beyond the upgrades necessary to cope with the new engines, in order to stay within the demanding schedule.

Although the A330 secured certification two decades ago, Williams points out that the A330neo will face a tougher re-gime including criteria that were not previously included. He says the aircraft will have to demon-strate, for example, that it can cope with flying several hours with the vibration from sustained engine imbalance. ■

“You can easily lose1-1.5% between awell-optimised and a poorly-optimisedconfiguration”TOM WILLIAMSVice-president for procurement, Airbus

COVER STORY

Fernandes gets his reward as AirAsia X commits to 50Low-cost operator delighted at launch despite disappointment at no second engine option

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Tony Fernandes (right) shows his appreciation for the new Airbus creation to sales boss John Leahy

A330NEO CUSTOMERS

Customer Commitment

AirAsia X 50

Air Lease 25

Avolon 15

CIT Aerospace 15

Transaero 12

Undisclosed 4

Total 121


14 | Flight International | 22-28 July 2014 flightglobal.com

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Eurofighter’s push for fresh sales of the Typhoon has

been given a major boost, follow-ing its receipt of a four-nation backing to complete integration and test activities involving a new- generation radar.

With an active electronically scanned array (AESA) sensor typically being requested in mod-ern fighter competitions, the availability of the Euroradar-de-veloped Captor-E could be a key factor in Eurofighter hitting its target of extending production beyond late this decade.

Officials from partner nations Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK were at the show on 15 July to underscore their commitment to the Captor-E, which Eurofighter chief executive Alberto Gutierrez says will be followed by a firm deal to complete development activities.

“We are confident that the core nations’ contract will be signed before year-end,” he says. “Some have gone through the process, and some have still to go through the process.”

The UK Ministry of Defence is leading the way, announcing at the show that it has awarded Eurofighter partner company BAE Systems a £72 million ($124 million) contract to conduct na-tion-specific testing on a proto-type AESA system. This is de-rived from the four-nation “Radar 1+” sensor which was brought to the show for the first time follow-

ing its installation on test aircraft IPA5, which performed its first “shakedown” flight carrying the sensor earlier this month.

The three-year extended as-sessment phase contract with BAE will involve ground and flight tests to be conducted from the company’s Warton site in Lancashire. The work “will inform the UK’s procurement

process, ahead of the award of a full scale development contract,” BAE says.

Noting that activities to sup-port the AESA development have been under way since 2006, Euroradar consortium chairman Andrew Cowdery says: “The Captor-E is at the forefront of technology, and features a unique repositioner.”

An operational version of the Radar 1+ system – which is to enter flight testing with IPA5 im-mediately after the show – could be available to the Eurofighter partner nations within the next two or three years, the consorti-um says.

“This capability will be insert-ed into the existing [Tranche 2] fleet and Tranche 3A aircraft,” says Gutierrez, who adds: “It puts us in a very strong position with regard to existing and future opportunities.”

The new AESA sensor will meet the operational require-ments of the four partner nations and export customers out to 2040, Eurofighter says. ■

“These are power houses of the British economy, and they are essential to our long-term economic plan”UK Prime Minister DAVID CAMERON on the importance of the UK aerospace, defence and space industries

SHOW QUOTE

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AVIONICS

Typhoon gets AESA programme boostFour-nation backing to complete radar integration will enhance fighter’s capabilities and strengthen sales potential

The Euroradar-developed Captor-E features a unique repositioner

PAYLOAD

Storm Shadow on the horizon for RAF’s Eurofighter fleetThe UK’s Eurofighter Typhoons will

be armed with MBDA’s Storm

Shadow cruise missile from mid-

2016, following a contract signing at

the show.

Ric

h C

ooper

New weapons will be added

Defence minister Philip Dunne

visited the Eurofighter pavilion on 16

July to announce the deal, which

was confirmed by the NATO

Eurofighter and Tornado

Management Agency the following

day. Storm Shadow proved highly

effective in Iraq and Libya when

launched from Royal Air Force

Panavia Tornado GR4s.

Eurofighter capability manager

Paul Smith says Typhoons have al-

ready flown with the weapon on

board in Italy and the UK as part of

development trials.

About a year of test flights are still

to come – including drop tests – be-

fore the standoff-range missile can

be employed by the RAF.

MBDA has, meanwhile, launched

production of its Brimstone 2 air-to-

surface missile, which it expects to

enter service in 2015 on the RAF’s

Tornado GR4s. The first production

missile was due to be assembled

late last week at its sites in Lostock

and Henlow.

The new version of the precision

strike weapon has more range, en-

hanced accuracy and carries a more-

lethal warhead than the original

Brimstone, says market develop-

ment executive Cliff Kimpton.

The weapon also is equipped with

semi-active laser guidance and a

millimetre-wave radar sensor, which

allows the missile to strike moving

targets with accuracy.

Brimstone 2 is also scheduled to

arm the RAF’s Typhoons from to-

wards the end of this decade, with

BAE Systems under contract to

study the possibility of accelerating

its availability to 2018. ■

flightglobal.com


Royal Air Force operations with the Sentinel R1 and

Shadow R1 intelligence aircraft will be extended until 2018, as part of a £1.1 billion ($1.8 billion) funding boost for the Ministry of Defence.

Speaking at the show, Prime Minister David Cameron said that £800 million of the sum will be spent on continuing operations with the intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance types, which had been slated for retirement after the UK ends its involvement in Afghanistan.

Retaining such equipment will allow the UK to respond to threats “that you cannot defend against from the white cliffs of Dover”, he says, citing examples as including “terrorism and hostage taking”.

To coincide with the funding announcement, a Sentinel R1 from the RAF’s 5 Sqn visited the show. The units’ five heavily-adapted Bombardier Global Express aircraft will be brought into the MoD’s core equipment budget under the move, along with its Beechcraft King Air 350ER-derived Shadows.

The RAF is now looking to add maritime capability to Senti-nel, driven by Raytheon’s experi-

ence in the development of naval systems. This work will include a specific maritime radar mode, as well as options for long range optics, signals intelligence and an enhanced airborne mission system.

Wg Cdr David Kane, com-manding officer of 5 Sqn, says a decision has yet to be made as to whether or not one of its aircraft will be temporarily withdrawn from operations in order to un-dergo the upgrade testing.

Combined with new spending to complete the development of an active electronically scanned array radar for the Eurofighter Typhoon and to study the devel-opment of an unmanned future combat air system with France, Cameron says: “This is a huge programme of investment to give our armed forces the tools they need to the job.”

The £1.1 billion sum matched an underspend by the MoD last year. Such funds would ordinari-ly be returned to the Treasury.

Not included in the investment was any money to bring the RAF’s General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Reaper remotely piloted air systems into the core budget, or to start a process to reinstate the service’s lapsed maritime patrol aircraft capability. ■

INTELLIGENCE

Sentinel to keep watch until 2018Reprieve for surveillance fleet previously set for retirement, as Ministry of Defence reclaims £1.1 billion underspend

The Global Express-based type will gain a maritime radar mode

Rex

Featu

res



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A irbus is to offer a higher max-imum take-off weight for its

twin-engined A350-900, raising the capability by 4t to 272t.

A350 programme head Didier Evrard confirmed the shift during the show.

The airframer’s previous speci-fications for the A350-900 put the maximum take-off weight at 268t, with a maximum landing weight of 205t and a maximum zero-fuel weight of 192t.

While Evrard stated in June that the aircraft weight was 3.3t above specification, he says the airfram-er has “mitigated the weight situation” with the manufacturer’s

empty weight by offering the greater performance capability.

“The potential of the [airframe] structure has been demonstrat-ed,” he says.

Evrard says the higher take-off weight will be available on the initial aircraft delivered to Qatar Airways.

The first A350 will be handed over in the fourth quarter of this year. He says that following flight testing of the type, Airbus is con-fident of “meeting its commit-ments” to customers regarding the A350’s performance.

“That’s clearly the most im-portant point,” he adds.

Airbus has been aiming for a maximum take-off weight of 308t for its stretched variant, the A350-1000.

It is as yet unclear whether this capability will be similarly adjusted. ■

Following flight testing, Airbus is confident of “meeting its commitments” to customers regarding A350 performance

“We would never say no”ALAIN BELLEMARE, UTC

president of propulsion and

aerospace systems, refuses

to rule out a return to the

large-aircraft engine sector

for Pratt & Whitney

SHOW QUOTE

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PROGRAMMES

Airbus to boost A350-900 maximum take-off weightAirframer says new 272t limit will be available on initial aircraft delivered to Qatar Airways

RULING

Boeing displaying restraintAirbus and Boeing widebody rivals took to the skies

above Farnborough for the first time in more than 30

years, but one of the participants was forced to curtail

its display by the show’s organisers. The A350 flew

Airbus’s usual impressive aerial display, which included

some tight turns and slow flypasts. The 787-9’s routine

was similar to previous Dreamliner displays, and includ-

ed a tricky touch-and-go followed by a steep, climbing

turn. However, Boeing had to remove this manoeuvre

after Monday’s show, when the air show’s flying control

committee deemed it inappropriate for the display – this

was despite it being initially approved during Boeing’s

validation flight.

flightglobal.com

Qatar Airways blames its A380 no-show on Airbus, and is

threatening to seek compensation for the ongoing delay to its superjumbos.

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

Chief executive Akbar Al Baker says there are issues with “the interior and the exterior”, and does not know when the air-line’s first aircraft will arrive.

“The delivery date is when they will be able to fix all the is-sues,” he says.

With the first three A380s now delayed for more than 30 days, Al Baker says the airline is entitled to compensation. “Beyond that time, the penalties will trigger,” he says, adding that “we are very much through that period”, and he will “of course” be seeking compensation.

The airline had long held plans to display the A380 as part of a four-aircraft Qatar Airways extravaganza at the show, which included an A320 with sharklets, a Boeing 787 and an Airbus test A350 with Qatar Airways titles. Al Baker says he is disappointed

his A380 could not be at the show, and that the decision was down to Airbus, which brought its development aircraft instead.

“Quite frankly, we were ex-pecting they would not deliver the aircraft to us before Farnbor-ough, but we [still] expected Air-bus to showcase the aircraft to the public,” he says. “They decided [not to bring it, rather than Qatar Airways] because it is their air-craft – it’s not my aircraft yet. This was absolutely disappoint-ing to Qatar Airways.”

Al Baker says the reason Air-bus offered was that it was work-ing on the aircraft. “I think it was a way to pressure Qatar Airways to take delivery of the aircraft. But Qatar Airways does not get bullied by anybody,” he adds.

Also at the show, Qatar dou-bled its commitments for the Boeing 777-9X as it firmed up its letter of intent for 50 aircraft and added 50 purchase rights. It also signed for up to eight 777Fs.

“What changed is the confi-dence we have in Boeing to be able to make absolute top-class aircraft,” says Al Baker. “Qatar Airways will also be in the air-craft leasing business soon, so we will have not only [an] aircraft re-quirement for our fleet but also for our leasing arm.” ■


STATIC

Al Baker fury at A380’s no-show Gulf carrier threatens to seek compensation after blaming ongoing delays and missed display opportunity on airframer

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Al Baker: “Qatar Airways does not get bullied by anybody”



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CFM International netted $21.4 billion-worth of new

business during a successful show, taking the number of Leap engines in its backlog to more than 7,500.

“We started the show predict-ing that 2014 would be another record year; that prediction came true in a big way,” says Jean-Paul Ebanga, president and chief executive of the GE-Snecma joint

venture. “As of today, we have total orders and commitments for more than 3,000 engines.”

The manufacturer says it raked in “orders, commitments, and long-term service agreements” covering a total of 1,062 engines at Farnborough.

CFM’s Leap-1A also won many of the previously unannounced deals for engines on the re- engined Airbus A320neo family.

These include engines to power 40 of the jets for Mexican carrier Interjet and 100 each for EasyJet and American Airlines. The UK low-cost carrier is also taking 70 more CFM56s for or-dered current-generation A320s.

CFM’s backlog has also been bolstered by commitments for the Boeing 737 Max, powered exclu-sively by the Leap-1B. Deals at the show included Monarch’s acquisition of 30 of the twinjets and Hainan’s deal for 50. ■

ENGINES

P&W plays down CSeries groundingManufacturer describes PW1000G problem that prevented narrowbody from appearing at show as “a technical issue”

Pratt & Whitney president Paul Adams is standing

by the manufacturer’s PW1500G engine for the Bombardier CSeries and describes a recent uncontained failure as a problem “that you run into” at this stage of testing.

“We don’t see this as a major issue; we see this as the type of thing that we do in development,” he said during a briefing at Farn-borough. “It’s the type of problem that you run into when you’ve gotten 10,000h [of testing].”

The geared turbofan engine family has accumulated more than 9,400h of testing to date, says Adams. “We expect to work through one of the technical is-sues that we have on that pro-gramme in the coming weeks and continue flying,” says Adams. “That has not interrupted any other testing on any other pro-grammes at this point in time.”

CFM powers to a backlog of 7,500 ENGINES

The Leap-1A won many of the deals for the re-engined A320neo

CFM

EFFICIENCY

Bombadier to ‘clean-up’ CRJ to save on fuelBombardier plans to “clean

up” its CRJ regional jet in order to achieve further efficien-cy improvements, says the programme’s general manager Sylvain Leclerc.

The “aerodynamic clean-up” includes putting a cap on the tail bumper, closing a roughly 2.5cm (1in) gap between the tail and rudder, introducing the carbon break on the CRJ900 from the CRJ1000 and using lighter-weight materials throughout the aircraft, says Leclerc.

Bombardier had an American Airlines CRJ900 in the static dis-play at the show.

The tail bumper cap and closure of the gap between the tail and the rudder combined could reduce fuel burn by up to 0.5% alone, says Leclerc. ■

P&W geared turbofan engines are also on the Airbus A320neo, the Embraer E2 E-Jet, the Mitsubishi MRJ and other in-de-velopment aircraft programmes.

Bombardier has provided a similar line on the impact of the failure. The Montreal-based airframer says it has in place

minor modifications to the oil system to correct the issue and hopes to have the CSeries test aircraft flying again in the “coming weeks”.

Both the airframer and P&W anticipate entry into service for the CSeries on schedule in the second half of 2015.

P&W will shoulder the costs of the modifications, says Adams.

“When we invest in a programme… we typically will fund the development of that engine… so we will manage through any configuration changes we make in the develop-ment,” he says. ■

Paul Adams expects the test aircraft to be flying again in weeks after modifications to the oil system

AirTe

am

Image

s/B

illyP

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“We have more business than we know what to do with over the next five to eight years”GE Aviation chief executive DAVID JOYCE on why the engine maker is happy to leave the A330neo powerplant to rival Rolls-Royce

SHOW QUOTE

Bombardier has launched a cargo-passenger combi ver-

sion of its Dash 8 Q400 turboprop, and expects to announce launch customers for the aircraft shortly.

Two customers in two different regions are in “advanced negotia-tions” to acquire the aircraft, ac-cording to the Canadian airfram-er’s general manager for turboprop programmes, Simon Roberts.

Bombardier is offering the combi version of the Q400 in vari-ous configurations. The version with the highest payload capabili-ty will offer 3,700kg (8,200lb) of cargo capacity and up to 1,150ft3 in volume. It carries 50 passen-gers, with a 32in (81cm) seat pitch.

Roberts says the combi variant is being launched in response to customers with low to medium passenger demand but who re-quire capacity for cargo. He says Bombardier will announce launch operators for the version in the “near future”. ■

With a gaping hole in its portfolio plugged by the

launch of the A330neo, Airbus faces a possibly more awkward decision on the A380 as one of the two engine suppliers is now drawing sharp lines over its will-ingness to participate.

Emirates chief executive Tim Clark, the A380’s most significant patron, has called since last year for Airbus to do for the double-decker what it has already done for the A330 and A320 families.

But Airbus officials have been slow to embrace the concept, and still make clear that an A380 re-engining ranks low on the priori-ty list as it ushers into service the A350, A320neo and A330 fami-lies over the next five years.

“We’re pretty occupied for the time being,” says Antonio da Costa, head of A380 marketing for Airbus.

Having just revealed a refresh of the Trent 700 with the Trent 7000, Rolls-Royce is careful not to seem too keen to do the same with A380’s Trent 900.

“What happens with the A380 in the future is very much for Airbus to decide,” says R-R spokesman Richard Hedges.

But R-R’s engineering depart-ment stands ready to co-operate,

should Airbus call for a Trent 9000-type upgrade to the Trent 900. R-R officials are in talks with Airbus about various technolo-gies that could be available for an A380 re-engining programme, with the details depending on the timing and scope that Airbus adopts, he says.

R-R’s competitor on the A380 – the Engine Alliance GP7000 – unveiled during the show a plan to propose a suite of upgrades that could reduce specific fuel consumption by up to 5%.

But improving the GP7000 – which merges a core derived from the GE90 with the low-pres-sure section of the PW4000 – faces certain practical limits.

To achieve the maximum 5% reduction, the joint venture of GE Aviation and Pratt & Whitney must raise the overall pressure ratio, which means widening the

diameter of the fan and adding a stage to the low-pressure turbine.

“I’ll be honest with you. When you start moving from 2% to 5%, cost and time becomes prohibi-tive, and then you start to ques-tion are we doing the right thing by investing in this architecture,” says Engine Alliance president Dean Athans.

GE Aviation, in particular, is sceptical that a business case ex-ists to justify redesigning the fan module of the GP7000 at all.

“Doing a new fan is hard. Think about all the certification,” says GE Aviation chief executive David Joyce. “You don’t normally do fans as an upgrade. It’s just too expensive.”

More palatable from the joint venture’s perspective are a series of performance tweaks that can incrementally reduce fuel con-sumption and increase durability for the GP7000. The Engine Alli-ance is testing a package of dura-bility improvements that can im-prove time on wing for the GP7000 by 50%. The same pack-age if adopted, could also reduce fuel consumption by 0.5-1%.

How much fuel-burn reduc-tion is possible depends on how many performance tweaks are deemed a good investment. ■

TURBOPROPS

First customers ready to commit to Q400 combi

WIDEBODIES

Airbus and engine suppliers will not commit to A380neoToulouse insists re-engined superjumbo low on its priorities, despite Emirates enthusiasm

“When you move from 2% to 5% [reduction in fuel consumption] cost and time start to become prohibitive”DEAN ATHANSPresident, Engine Alliance

Toulouse officials have made it clear that re-engining the superjumbo is not currently a top priority

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Textron AirLand’s Scorpion strike and surveillance aircraft

made its first international ap-pearances in the UK, having made the transatlantic trip from the USA at the beginning of July.

Sporting a new two-tone grey colour scheme, the aircraft is a clean-sheet design, developed to offer a low-cost alternative to other strike/intelligence, surveil-lance and reconnaissance aircraft that are in the market. The proto-type left Wichita in Kansas on 1 July and touched down in the UK four days later, in order to partici-pate at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Glouces-tershire, and then at Farnborough.

First flown in December 2013, the Scorpion has since under-gone a flight test campaign to val-idate its performance. The air-craft is expected to fly some 300h

in 2014, and once it returns to the USA it will have flown half of these. It had completed 68 flights and a total of 125h when it land-ed at RIAT.

Utilisation of sensors has begun, and a retractable L-3 Wes-cam MX-15 electro-optical/infra-red payload has been integrated onto the belly of the aircraft.

Once Scorpion returns to the USA, Textron AirLand is due to demonstrate the aircraft to the Kansas National Guard using the MX-15, to show the platform’s potential to support disaster re-lief operations. “We will be pip-ing down video,” says Dan Hin-son, Textron Aviation’s chief pilot, government and special mission aircraft.

The activity will be part of a US Northern Command exercise named Vigilant Guard, and once

this has been carried out, the Scorpion could be used by the US National Guard.

Scorpion will have an air-to-air refuelling capability, although this has not yet been tested. Dur-ing the flight from the USA to the UK, the aircraft travelled in bursts of approximately 2h in order to make refuelling stops, and was accompanied by a Cess-na Sovereign+ business jet.

Textron AirLand has not yet performed weapons testing. A second aircraft has also not yet been developed, although the company is preparing to build a sister airframe using feedback from the first development to en-hance the performance. Its first prototype is powered by Honey-well TFE731 engines, and has demonstrated a top speed of 455kt (840km/h). ■

ATK and Alenia Aermacchi have successfully completed

the first phase of ground and flight testing for the palletised gun system on the MC-27J gun-ship variant of the tactical trans-port, with the support of the Ital-ian air force.

The system utilises a side-mounted GAU-23 30mm cannon

integrated into a to roll-on, roll-off (RO-RO) pallet. The MC-27J has also been modified with an L-3 Wescam MX-15Di electro-optical/infrared sensor housed in a nose-mounted turret.

“The completion of successful testing with the Italian air force further validates the capabilities of the RO-RO gun and mission

systems and demonstrates that the programme is ready for field-ing,” the companies say. “This testing builds on previous gun ac-curacy flight tests performed with the MC-27J at Eglin AFB in 2013 and will provide the aircraft with a vital capability and a greater mission flexibility at an afforda-ble cost.” ■

Austrian manufacturer Dia-mond Aircraft is moving for-

ward with development of its Dart 450, a new single-engined turboprop for both civil and mili-tary roles.

Diamond has released few de-tails about the Dart 450, but chief executive Christian Dries says it will be capable of performing aer-obatics and will excel as a recon-naissance and training aircraft.

The Dart 450 will have a wing-span of about 10m (33ft), a maxi-mum take-off weight of 2,130kg (4,700lb) and a range of up to 1,240nm (2,300km).

Diamond is seeking a strategic partner for the project, and Dries says a prototype could fly within 18 months – in time to appear at the 2016 Farnborough air show.

He says the company has al-ready produced some parts for the Dart 450 and will soon start trials of the Motor Sich AI-450 turboshaft engine that will power the type on a test aircraft.

The engine’s low hourly fuel burn rate of 90 litres and a “sound design” will give the Dart 450 an operating cost of about $500 per hour. ■

Text

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from Wichita on 1 July

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Palletised RO-RO system ready

MC-27J passes weapons trial with flying coloursGUNSHIPS

TURBOPROPS

Diamond seeks partner for Dart 450 project

SURVEILLANCE

Scorpion makes first strike with UK debut appearanceSensor testing and demonstrations to follow for light attack aircraft on its return to USA

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RADAR

UTC, Selex ES join forces to develop TacSAR

UTC Aerospace Systems and Selex ES are partnering to

develop a long-range synthetic aperture radar that can be inte-grated into the former’s DB-110 electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) sensors.

The companies say the prod-uct – named TacSAR – will allow DB-110 operators to collect imag-es through cloud cover that the EO/IR system cannot penetrate.

TacSAR can be integrated seamlessly into existing opera-tions and uses the same aircraft interface and datalink, UTAS president Alain Bellemare says.

The DB-110 is derived from the SYERS reconnaissance sys-tem carried by the US Air Force’s Lockheed U-2s, and collects high-resolution images during day or night using visible and in-frared light.

However, TacSAR uses radar – it is based on Selex’s Seaspray unit – to collect images in all weather conditions, and can track threats with a ground mov-ing target indicator. ■

Saab’s chief executive remains hopeful about future business

opportunities in Switzerland, de-spite a May public referendum which rejected the nation’s planned deal to acquire 22 new-generation Gripen E fighters.

Håkan Buskhe says that al-though the Swedish manufactur-er “respects” the decision to block the acquisition, it is still working with the government in Switzerland.

“We are of course very open for the next step. At the same time, we have full understanding and we also respect the outcome of the referendum. We are not doing ‘hard selling’ as we speak.”

Buskhe says Saab also retains “extremely good relationships” with the 135 Swiss companies that had signed on to be suppliers as part of the deal. Those con-tracts will continue to be hon-oured, he says, “provided they can keep their competitiveness”.

Saab is also open to offering

Switzerland the Gripen C as an alternative to the E-model, he says. “We are more than open and happy to supply if they see the need and it fits with the deci-sion that the people have taken,” he says. “Switzerland is a very important market for us, we are good friends, so let’s see.”

“The Gripen C/D is not some-thing of the past; it’s something of

the future, and we foresee more customers coming in as C/D cus-tomers,” says head of aeronautics Lennart Sindhal. “It is not as if we have left the C/D era going into the E. This is an aircraft that will fly until 2030 at least.”

Saab has recently completed “edition 20” of its updates for the C/D models, which will become operational in 2015. ■

Thales has introduced a freefall variant of its precision-guided

Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM) suited for integration on a wide range of light combat air-craft and unmanned air vehicles.

The company partnered with Textron Systems around 18 months ago to perform integra-tion of the 6kg (13.2lb) munition on-board an undisclosed UAV, which the partnership is now ready to bring to market.

Textron calls the precision-guided glide weapon the Fury, and exhibited it with a Beechcraft AT-6 strike aircraft.

Three Fury bombs can be mounted on a single missile rail usually used by a Lockheed Mar-tin AGM-114 Hellfire. After re-

lease, the weapons glide to their targets – typically light armoured vehicles, small boats or person-nel – using a GPS-aided inertial

navigation or semi-active laser system, says Christian Leimkue-hler, Textron vice-president of precision weapon systems.

He declines to speculate on po-tential sales but expects the de-velopment effort to last for around two more years.

Textron and Thales will share production, with the former con-tributing the height-of-burst sensor and the electronic safe and arm de-vice. The weapon has already been integrated onto a Shadow M2 UAV manufactured by Textron’s sister company AAI.

Initial test drops commenced in August 2013, with live warhead trials expected to be conducted later this year.

Thales, meanwhile, expects demonstrations for potential cust-mers to start soon. The company will produce a standard version of LMM for the UK Royal Navy. ■

FIGHTERS

Saab continues talks with Swiss over Gripen salesAirframer seeks compromise to respect May referendum result and protect suppliers

Saab

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Offering the Gripen C instead of the E could resolve the dilemma

The LMM system can be fitted to combat aircraft and UAVs alike

Thales, Textron alliance launches free-fall missileMUNITIONS




The Royal Norwegian Air Force is promoting the inte-

gration of its indigenously-built anti-surface warfare Kongsberg Joint Strike Missile (JSM) to other future operators of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Speaking at the show, Lt Col Sigurd Fongen said the Norwe-gian requirement for anti-ship ca-pabilities on its F-35s is not unique to the country, and future adopters could choose to co-de-velop the munition.

The air force is in talks with the Australian government re-garding potential integration of the JSM on the Royal Australian Air Force’s F-35As.

A decision is expected in six to 12 months, Fongen says. “We are in discussions as we speak. We would obviously like other na-tions to get involved,” he adds.

It was announced earlier this month that Norway had awarded Kongsberg a NKr1.1 billion ($178 million) Phase III contract to complete development and integration of the JSM on to its on-order F-35As.

“JSM is the first weapon tai-lored to the F-35 weapons bay,” Fongen says. “We think all other F-35 users with this requirement will consider using this.”

Oslo has committed to the pur-chase of 52 conventional take-off and landing F-35As, to replace its Lockheed F-16AMs.

Raytheon and Kongsberg also confirmed a teaming arrangement at the show, under which the companies will promote the JSM’s capabilities globally. ■

“[The] JSM is the first weapon tailored to the F-35 weapons bay”LT COL SIGURD FONGEN Royal Norwegian Air Force

WEAPONS

Australia looking at JSM missile, Norway reveals

DEVELOPMENT

Boeing ‘confident’ MSA will locate international buyersDemonstration flights to begin from late 2014, as company talks to several customers

Boeing’s maritime surveillance aircraft (MSA) was only a

concept when the airframer an-nounced the programme’s launch at Farnborough in 2012.

It returned to the show with its demonstration aircraft – a modi-fied Bombardier Challenger 604 business jet – on display to po-tential international customers.

While the aircraft still operates under an experimental flight cer-tificate, its development is com-plete and Boeing is ready to start taking orders.

“We are confident it is going to move forward with production,” says Robert Schoeffling, the com-pany’s senior manager of business development. Discussions have been held with “five or six” poten-tial customers in the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, although he declines to name them.

Boeing could deliver an air-craft within 36 months of receiv-

ing an order, and expects to begin customer demonstration flights by the end of 2014 or early next year, says Schoeffling. The dem-onstrator has been outfitted with mission equipment from Boeing’s larger P-8A anti-submarine war-fare aircraft by Canada’s Field Aviation, which also performed the structural changes needed.

Boeing has previously indicat-ed a target price of $55 million to

$60 million for the MSA, but Schoeffling says this can vary, based on customer requirements.

He insists the aircraft will offer more capability than any of its competitors can provide, and says Boeing’s decision to fund de-velopment of the demonstration aircraft reflects its confidence in the programme. The production MSA will be based on the new Challenger 605. ■

One of the world’s “most ad-vanced” maritime helicop-

ters has entered service four months ahead of schedule, as the Royal Navy expressed its satisfac-tion with the type’s performance.

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The company’s proof-of-concept is based on a Challenger 604

Cro

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ight

Nine of the UK’s AW101s were deployed for exercise “Deep Blue”

Navy impressed by upgraded MerlinACCEPTANCE

Nine of the UK’s upgraded AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin HM2 rotorcraft took part in the four-week exercise “Deep Blue” last month, during which they amassed a combined 480 flight

hours operating over the Atlantic from the deck of the aircraft carri-er HMS Illustrious. RN helicopter force commander Cdr Ben Frank-lin says the first HM2 aircraft will be deployed to the Arabian Gulf later this year, and embarked there on a frigate during 2015. However, he adds that “they are available now”.

Approval for the HM2 to enter frontline use came on 30 June.

Thirty Merlins will be upgrad-ed from the original HM1 stand-ard to the enhanced variant.

The aircraft – 15 of which re-main to be delivered by next year – will also be equipped with elec-tro-optical/infrared sensors.

They also are to receive en-hanced self-protection equip-ment, and there are other devel-opments on the horizon. ■

Follow more defence topics on our The DEW Line blog: flightglobal.com/dewline

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

Bell Helicopter displayed a full-scale mock-up of its 525

Relentless in a search and rescue (SAR) configuration, as it contin-ues to advance the developmen-tal rotorcraft’s sales prospects.

Due to make its first flight by year-end, the super-medium type is pitched at the offshore trans-portation market. However, says chief executive John Garrison, “the next biggest segment for [the 525] is going to be SAR”.

Garrison describes the 525 as a “tremendously capable platform” for the rescue role, pointing to its 500nm (925km) range even without auxiliary fuel tanks, and

the full fly-by-wire controls, which offer “additional safety”.

Farnborough was the second major showing for the configura-tion, with Bell having previously displayed it at the HAI show ear-lier this year.

Garrison says several of the company’s customers are inter-ested in a dual role for the 8.7t helicopter and the fact that its cabin can quickly be reconfig-ured from a 16-seat passenger layout to SAR guise.

“For some of our global oil and gas customers, to have that type of capability is significant. They don’t necessarily have to have dedicated assets when they can use the 525,” he says.

Matt Hasik, senior vice-presi-dent commercial programmes, says assembly of the first flying prototype is well under way at Bell’s Amarillo, Texas facility.

In addition, he says the 525 al-ready meets all but one of the rec-ommendations in the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s recently published review of North Sea offshore helicopter safety.

The only capability the company might have to boost slightly is the aircraft’s ditching flotation system, to exceed the CAA’s sea state 6 wave height re-quirement, he adds.

Hasik is confident of the rotor-craft’s ability to meet the specifi-cations, citing the 525’s low cen-tre of gravity and all-round flotation ring system. ■

NH Industries (NHI) is confi-dent it has the correct solu-

tions in place to counter corro-sion problems discovered on the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s NH90 maritime helicopters.

Deliveries of the seven remain-ing NFH aircraft on order were halted earlier this month, after an examination of two previously deployed aircraft – one in aid of anti-piracy missions off Somalia, and one on patrol in the Caribbean – found noticeable areas of galvanic corrosion.

The Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory in May reported its findings from an investigation into 92 instances of corrosion, concluding that the aircraft did not allow for sufficient draining and the required protective coat-ings and insulation had not been properly applied.

“Every programme has teeth-ing problems – that’s normal,” NHI says, adding: “We have analysed the situation and set up a task force.”

NHI has acquired “special mate-rials” that can provide protection against corrosion, including a sur-face coating to prevent water from adhering to the metal fuselage.

Another way to stop metal- on-metal corrosion is to place plas-tic inserts between pieces of metal, it adds.

The company is now in dis-cussions with the Dutch govern-ment on the resumption of deliv-eries, while retrofitting currently operational aircraft may also be an option. ■

“Our [oil and gas customers] don’t haveto have dedicated assets when they can use the 525”JOHN GARRISON Chief executive, Bell Helicopter

Sikorsky plots safer course for S-76DSYSTEMS

Sikorsky is working to add its automated Rig Approach sys-

tem to the S-76D medium-class helicopter, following successful introduction of the technology on the heavier S-92.

Carey Bond, president com-mercial systems and services at the US airframer, says: “What is good in the heavy market is good in the medium market.”

Key to the successful integra-tion of Rig Approach is the pro-cessing power of the rotorcraft’s flight-control computers, “and the

one thing on the S-76D is that there is a lot of processing power”, Bond adds.

Sikorsky has been driving re-search into automated rotorcraft flight through its SARA flying test lab, which uses an S-76 airframe equipped with a suite of ad-vanced systems.

Technology derived from SARA is utilised in the Rig Ap-proach system, which was intro-duced in the USA with operator PHI in November 2013. PHI will now retrofit its entire S-92 fleet

with the system, says Bond, and he believes other operators will follow suit. “I fully expect all major oil and gas operators to in-stall it,” he says. “We think about automation as the biggest change we can make to improve safety.”

EASA certification of the sys-tem is anticipated shortly.

The 5.3t S-76D entered service earlier this year with Trinidad’s National Helicopter Services, and the lead helicopter recently com-pleted more than 500h of flight time, Bond adds. ■

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Farnborough was the second major showing for the configuration

STRATEGY

Bell displays SAR 525 amid Relentless marketing driveFirst flight of new clean-sheet helicopter nears as airframer touts type’s rescue capabilities

MODIFICATION

NHI confident on corrosion fix for NH90s

NFH variants are affected

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The UK Ministry of Defence has formally signed a £90

million ($154 million) deal with AgustaWestland to integrate two new missile types on the Royal Navy’s future AW159 Wildcat helicopters.

Through the Future Anti-Sur-face Guided Weapon (FASGW) programme, the Royal Navy is to receive the Thales-built light and MBDA-developed heavy missile variants for use on its 28 ordered maritime rotorcraft.

Philip Dunne, minister for de-fence equipment, support and technology, signed the deal with the Anglo-Italian airframer at the show. In addition to enhancing the rotorcraft’s capability, the deal will also create jobs within the UK, he says.

“The capability this provides to the Wildcat is innovative and

game changing,” he says. The missiles will be flight tested aboard the aircraft in 2018-2019, and will be ready for deployment by 2020. Work will be carried out at AgustaWestland’s Yeovil, Somerset facility.

Utilising missiles developed by the two companies, the

FASGW programme also serves to enhance the UK’s relationship with the French government.

The deal also leads on from an Anglo-French summit in January, at which both nations pledged to co-operate more on defence ac-quisitions. The heavy missile will also be used with the French

navy’s NH Industries NH90s, and potentially also its Airbus Heli-copters AS565 Panthers.

Meanwhile, there was a further boost for AgustaWestland with the granting of military type certi-fication for its AW149 by Italy’s Armaereo defence aviation pro-curement body. This follows a series of operational tests with the country’s air force.

AgustaWestland says with the approval in place, the 8.5t heli-copter – a militarised variant of the civil AW189 – is “now ready to enter the international market to meet a number of fleet mod-ernisation requirements”.

The first test for the AW149 will come in Poland, where it is being offered for Warsaw’s tri-service contest for 70 transport helicop-ters. A decision on the procure-ment is expected later this year. ■

Airbus Helicopters is planning a rapid return for the technol-

ogy employed on its record-breaking X3 compound rotorcraft demonstrator, which flew off into retirement last month.

During an almost three-year test campaign, the X3 – which features a pair of propellers mounted on stub wings, coupled with a set of standard rotors on an AS365 Dauphin fuselage – cap-tured numerous speed records, with the rotorcraft being taken to

255kt (472km/h) on 7 June 2013. The helicopter has since been handed over to France’s Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace at Paris Le Bourget airport.

However, Airbus Helicopters will now utilise the technologies validated during the X3’s 155h of flights to lead the development of a brand-new high-speed rotor-craft, under the auspice of the Eu-ropean Commission’s Clean Sky 2 greener aviation programme, which has just been given the

green light. Dubbed LifeRcraft by the airframer – or low impact fast and efficient rotorcraft – it is tar-geting a cruise speed of 220kt.

Clean Sky 2 calls for prelimi-nary studies, architecture and specifications to be concluded this year, with development and testing of components and sub-systems envisioned in 2016-2018, says the airframer.

Flight evaluations could start in early 2019, it says. “There is a lot of value in the application of

compound helicopters – not only in terms of performance, but they also offer a high level of safety and reliability,” says Airbus Heli-copters chief executive Guil-laume Faury.

“In hostile environments, such as search and rescue, coastguard and border patrol and offshore operations, these characteristics are vital,” he says.

Clean Sky 2 is planned to run from 2014 to 2023, with €4.05 bil-lion ($5.55 billion) in funding. ■

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MUNITIONS

Missile deal sharpens Wildcat’s clawsAgustaWestland and MoD agree contract to integrate European anti-surface weapons with Royal Navy’s AW159 fleet

Agu

sta

Westland

A total of 28 maritime helicopters will be equipped with FASGW

X3 helicopter technology climbs aboard LifeRCraftINNOVATION



NARROWBODIES

Boeing to offer 200 seats on Max 8Seattle believes 11-seat advantage over Airbus A320neo will give it a further advantage in the single-aisle battlefield

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

Eleven seats is now the differ-ence in the lucrative heart of

the narrowbody market.Ten days after Airbus unveiled

a 189-seat A320neo, Boeing struck back with a plan to add a 200-seat version of the 737 Max 8.

The move by Airbus was in-tended to match the baseline ver-sion of the 737 Max 8, which is limited to 189 seats due to its exit capacity. As Boeing often notes, the 737 Max 8 enjoys a 2.24m (88in) advantage over the A320neo in fuselage length, leav-ing Airbus little if any room to raise the seat count even higher.

Ryanair chief executive Mi-chael O’Leary, one of Boeing’s biggest 737 customers, was not present at the show, yet he seems largely responsible for Boeing’s decision to offer a 200-seater.

For several years the low-cost carrier has agitated for Boeing to raise the seat count on the 737-800 to 199 seats, which is the maximum accommodation al-lowed before a fifth flight atten-dant must be added.

Boeing has not yet announced any customers for the 200-seater, nor has it settled on the final branding (despite a confusing ex-change between reporters and president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes

Ray Conner during a media brief-ing). But Boeing expects the new variant will appeal to the growing field of low-cost carriers, which prize density above all. “It’s cer-tainly a big enough market to go for it for us,” Conner says.

Only a year ago, the size of the market had not impressed Boeing enough to come through on O’Leary’s demands. Airbus’s move to add nine seats to the A320neo clearly motivated a re-sponse from Boeing, but competi-tive forces were only one factor.

Indeed, Boeing has become steadily bolder as the company becomes more comfortable with the design and performance pre-dictions for the 737 Max.

However, it must be remem-bered that Boeing launched the re-engining project in August 2011. The 787 finally entered service two months later, and Boe-ing was still in no mood to take on

anything that seemed risky. In the past year, however, there have been signs that Boeing is regaining a bit of its old swagger, while still being careful to limit risky development projects.

The 737 Max has reflected Boeing’s more confident mood. A year ago, Boeing accelerated the entry-into-service milestone by three months to the third quarter of 2017. More recently, Boeing executives hinted that the deliv-ery schedule could be advanced even further.

The aircraft’s predicted perfor-mance has also improved, with specific fuel consumption rising by 1.5 percentage points.

So it follows that the airframer’s position on the 200-seat 737 Max has evolved. A year ago, Conner answered all questions about a 199-seat Max by repeating a line that Boeing was focused on deliv-ering the 189-seat version first – and only then would entertain even minor variants.

Twelve months later, the com-pany feels more confident about directly and swiftly responding to the 189-seat A320neo. It was never a question of whether the technology was available. Boeing introduced a mid-cabin exit door on the 707. In 2006, the company unveiled the mid-cabin exit com-

plex on the 737-900, which al-lows capacity on that larger vari-ant to increase from 189 to 215. The same exit door will be in-stalled on the 737 Max 9, and now is being brought forward as an option on the 737 Max 8. ■

Boein

g

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has been badgering Seattle for a high-density variant for years

“[Low-cost carriersare] certainly a bigenough market to go for it for us”RAY CONNER CEO, Boeing Commercial Airplanes

“We don’t need to make it look like a fighter with folding wings”Announcing the A330neo,

Airbus’s JOHN LEAHY has

a none-too-subtle dig at

Boeing’s 777X

SHOW QUOTE



Superjet International had a message for rival Embraer at

the show – watch out, we are coming after you in your own back yard.

The Italian company – respon-sible for marketing the Russian-built Superjet 100 in Western countries – sees Brazil and the rest of Latin America as one of its key markets. It also believes the positive experiences of the air-craft’s sole customer – Mexico’s Interjet – will help it win further business in the region.

At a joint press conference on Monday, Interjet’s chief execu-tive Jose Luis Garza Alvarez said that the carrier has been getting better-than-expected fuel econo-my and dispatch reliability from the 93-seat type, and confirmed it is in talks to convert 10 options into orders, and aims to make a decision in the final quarter.

“Other Latin American airlines are watching Interjet with inter-est,” says Nazario Cauceglia, chief executive of Superjet Inter-national. “We are certainly not discouraged about competing in the home of our competitor.”

The move comes as the two or-ganisations responsible for mar-keting the Superjet exhibited to-gether for the first time at Farnborough, using a joint chalet – and each had one of its custom-ers’ aircraft on show.

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An UTAir example was one of two Superjets on display in the static

REGIONAL JETS

Superjet targets Embraer’s home turfDistributor of Russian-built jet sees Latin America as key market, as Mexico’s Interjet reports impressive performance

As well as the Interjet aircraft on display outside the pavilion of Superjet International parent Finmeccanica, there was also an SSJ100 in high-density 103-seat configuration – and special livery – operated by Russia’s UTAir.

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (SCAC) – a joint venture between the Rus-sian design bureau and Alenia Aermacchi – has responsibility for marketing the aircraft in the CIS and Asia. “We used to go to shows separately, but since Paris [air show in 2013], we proposed to SCAC that we integrate the chalet, and that’s what we did,” says Cauceglia. “The experience was positive, so now we have de-cided to continue.”

Farnborough is important to Superjet International, he says,

“because now we can really sell to the market the service experi-ence of our Western customer. They like this aircraft so much”.

Having the two aircraft on dis-play reinforces the message that “this is a worldwide aircraft”, adds Cauceglia. “The Superjet is operating in the hot and high cli-mate of Mexico City and in the northern Russian winter.”

There is another benefit to exhibiting together.

At last year’s Paris air show, tensions emerged between the two partners at a Finmeccanica briefing. “This year we are saying the partnership is solid,” says Cauceglia, who adds that Alenia Aermacchi parent Finmeccanica would not have agreed to display the Superjet as part of the pavil-

ion if it had doubts about its fu-ture. Indeed, Cauceglia insists that with the Mitsubishi Regional Jet still in development, the Superjet remains the “only new-generation regional jet” currently in commercial service.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstani carrier Bek Air has agreed to take delivery of seven Superjet 100s.

Bek Air’s Superjets will be con-figured in an all-economy layout. Three will be delivered in 2015 and the other four in 2016.

The aircraft supplied will be the long-range version, and fitted with 103 seats.

“This [order signature] opens new prospects on the aviation operations market for [Superjets] within the Eurasian Economic Union,” the airframer says. ■

CHICAGO www.cmcelectronics.ca/C4000NG

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For all the latest news, images and video from the show, visit: flightglobal.com/farnborough

ATR is confident it will pass its previous record year for

orders of 157 in 2011 after unveil-ing a string of new commitments at the show.

The European turboprop man-ufacturer had secured 144 firm aircraft orders and options on another 112 at the halfway stage. “We are getting close to our record year,” says ATR chief ex-ecutive Patrick de Castelbajac.

“We are confident that we will surpass the 157 aircraft target before the end of the year.”

Nordic Aviation Capital placed the largest commitment during the show, with 75 units. The

Danish operating lessor ordered 25 ATR 42-600s and took options on 50 more.

The deal not only solidifies NAC’s position as ATR’s largest customer, it also gives it a substantial lead against other operating lessors in the turboprop market. Last year at the Paris air show, it signed for up to 90 ATR aircraft while in October 2013 it committed for up to 35 ATR 600 series. Unlike these earlier orders, which were predominantly for the larger ATR 72, the latest batch are for the ATR 42-600.

NAC chairman Martin Moller says the lessor sees a solid de-

mand in the 30-50 seat market as well as additional capacity. “We have a good idea about where half of this firm order will be going to be placed,” he says.

It was not the only lessor to give a ringing endorsement at the show. “By far it is the most com-mercial turboprop programme ever built and is the only one that has sold and delivered more than 1,100 units,” says Air Lease chief executive Steven Udvar-Hazy, after the lessor ordered a further seven ATR 72s to take its orders for the type to 28.

“We think the ATR 42/72 family has a long way to go and

eventually could reach 2,000 units,” he adds.

Other ATR commitments at the show include 30 from Avianca parent Synergy Group, including 10 firm orders; six firm and six options from soon to be rebranded Myanma Airways; and additional ATR 72-600s for Air New Zealand, Air Tahiti and Maldives-based Villa Air.

The announcements take ATR’s orderbook at more than 500 units for its -600 series. Today’s backlog stands at 325 units – a historical high, repre-senting about three-and-a-half years of production. ■

Embraer’s re-engined E2 left an impact on this year’s Farnbor-

ough air show, as rival Bombardier sought to make the best of the industry’s biggest gath-ering after an unfortunately timed engine failure on its CSeries jet.

Embraer officially launched the E2 at last year’s Paris air show and ensured that its latest commercial offering stayed in the spotlight at Farnborough with a cabin mock-up of the E2 cabin.

Equipped with larger windows and overhead bins, mood lighting and a staggered business class seat configuration, it formed part of the airframer’s strategy to win new or-ders. And it certainly did, unveiling a tentative order for up to 100 E175 E2 jets from US regional carrier Trans States Holdings followed by a commitment for up to 50 E195 E2s from Azul. The Brazilian carrier will be the E195 E2 launch operator.

The new orders come as Em-braer expects to freeze the design of the E190 E2 by end-2014, with the first iron bird to be ready in 2015. The Brazilian airframer also continued to disclose more orders for its current generation E-Jet, the E1. Existing customer Fuji Dream

Airlines, among others, was re-vealed as the customer behind a firm order for three E175s with an additional three options.

While the E2 dominated head-lines at Embraer, Bombardier tried to play down the absence of its in-development CSeries jet. A failure involving the aircraft’s Pratt & Whitney engine in late May grounded the aircraft’s flight test programme and dashed any hopes of the CSeries making its interna-tional debut at Farnborough.

Bombardier Commercial Air-

craft president Mike Arcamone attempted to shrug off the CSeries absence, saying that other com-ponents of the testing programme are still progressing as the air-framer hopes to resume flight testing in “weeks”.

Despite the CSeries missing Farnborough, Arcamone says the airframer would rather have prospective customers visit Bombardier’s facilities for a hands-on experience with its new jet instead of jostling with the crowds at a major air show.

The airframer has detailed new commitments for the CSeries, in-cluding its first African CSeries cus-tomer. The unidentified airline has agreed to acquire five CSeries air-craft. Arcamone says the carrier al-ready operates the CRJ and Q400, suggesting African airlines SA Ex-press, Arik Air and Rwandair. Arik, in particular, has indicated interest in the CSeries.

An existing CS300 customer, believed to be Russia’s Ilyushin Finance, committed to order up to 13 additional CS300s. ■

Bombardier had a Q400 in Ethiopian AIrlines colours in the static display

COMMITMENTS

E2 capitalises on CSeries misfortuneEmbraer maintains momentum as Bombardier seeks to downplay impact of absence of its in-development jet from show

Farnborough orders propel ATR toward new recordTURBOPROPS

Bill

yPix



ASL Aviation Group has signed a letter of intent to

purchase 10 Lockheed Martin LM-100J freighters, in a develop-ment that will see the company move forward with certification of its civil version of the C-130J Super Hercules.

The LM-100J will have a list price of about $65 million and deliveries should start in 2018, says Lockheed Martin Aeronaut-ics executive vice-president Or-lando Carvalho.

Hugh Flynn, chief executive of Dublin-based ASL, says the LM-100Js will gradually replace nine Lockheed L-100 Hercules operated by ASL subsidiary Sa-fair, a South African-based char-ter and logistics company. Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets da-tabase records six of these as being in current use; built be-tween 1967 and 1976.

Flynn praises the Hercules’s durability, reliability and perfor-mance from short airfields in re-mote locations.

Carvalho says Lockheed began the LM-100J certification process with the US Federal Aviation Ad-ministration earlier this year, and expects to finish the activity by the end of 2017. A final valida-tion period will follow.

Lockheed built 115 L-100s,

which were based on its original C-130 Hercules, between 1964 and 1992.

In the early 1990s, it began pro-ducing the new-generation C-130J for military customers, but only recently began offering an upgraded civil variant.

The LM-100J will have rough-ly 50% more range than the L-100, with the ability to fly 2,200nm (4,070km) with a pay-load of 18,200kg (40,000lb), Lockheed said in February. The transport will have a top speed of 355kt (657km/h) – 10% faster than its predecessor – and will require a flight crew of two, rath-er than three.

The LM-100J’s four Rolls-Royce AE2100D turboprops will provide 30% more power than the L-100’s Allison T-56 power-plants, according to Lockheed. It will also burn 15% less fuel than its predecessor and cost 35% less to maintain.

Lockheed currently produces 24 Super Hercules annually at its Marietta, Georgia facility, and will sustain that rate for the “fore-seeable future”. It is also in the process of negotiating a new US multiyear contract for 78 C-130Js, and says it has enough orders to extend production “well into the next decade”. ■

TRANSPORTS

LM-100J lifts off with first customerSelection to replace chartering and logistics company’s L-100s edges civil version of C-130J Hercules towards production

Lock

heed M

art

in

South Africa’s ASL Aviation Group plans to operate the type



Read all the news and analysis from the cutting edge of human space exploration: flightglobal.com/spaceflight

The UK is laying the ground-work for a commercial space

transportation industry by open-ing a consultation on a site for a spaceport and looking across the Atlantic for guidance on how to regulate the business of ferrying passengers to space, with opera-tions possible from 2018.

A memorandum of under-standing signed at the show will see the UK Civil Aviation Author-ity and UK Space Agency work with the US Federal Aviation Ad-ministration to ensure operations are safe – without keeping compa-nies Earth-bound with excessive regulation.

Aviation minister Robert Goodwill – speaking in place of David Willetts, the science minis-ter who lost his job in last week’s Cabinet reshuffle – said the UK’s goal is to command 10% of a global space business estimated to be worth some £400 billion ($684 billion) by 2030.

Goodwill underscored the UK government’s understanding that spaceplane technology for so-called “space tourism” was “just over the horizon”, and is expected to be adaptable to launch small satellites. Critically, enabling low-cost launches of small satellites – a UK industrial strength – is key to that strategy, he says.

The UK is looking to learn from best practice, which at this point means the FAA – which currently is the only safety au-thority yet to establish rules on space tourism.

FAA associate administrator George Nield says the administra-tion takes a different approach with space tourism than aviation, regulating operations rather than equipment and treating the ma-chines as experimental aircraft.

“A certification regime would stifle commercial operators,” he says. Operators like Virgin Galac-tic – which plans to begin suborbital tourism operations as early as end-2014, from a pur-pose-built spaceport in New

Mexico – are not to be treated as “common carriers”.

Rather, passengers will be ad-vised of the hazards of spaceflight and have to waive any rights to sue the operator before flying.

FREEDOMUltimately, Nield says, the devel-opment of high-speed point-to-point travel by suborbital craft depends on allowing operators wide development freedom – as existed in the pioneering days of aviation – rather than restricting them to defined routines and equipment, as is generally dictat-ed by modern civil aviation regu-lations. UK Space Agency chief David Parker stresses no deci-

sions had been taken as to wheth-er or not a UK spaceport would enjoy any public subsidy.

However, in beginning to es-tablish a regulatory programme and identifying eight remote lo-cations with suitable weather and potential for a 3,000m (9,800ft)-plus runway, the UK is making it possible for entrepreneurs to pro-vide low-cost access to space from British territory.

The long runway feature assumed to characterise any spaceport underscores UKSA’s belief that commercial space transport operations will be via spaceplanes. Spaceport America – the state of New Mexico-subsi-dised facility hosting Virgin Ga-lactic – boasts a runway of more than 3,650m.

Virgin Galactic’s operation re-calls the X-15 era. A six-passen-ger, rocket-powered spaceplane is lifted by a specially built carri-er aircraft to 50,000ft, where it is released to continue its ascent to 328,000ft by its own rocket power, entering a short suborbital trajectory and then a gliding re-turn to the runway.

Significantly, Virgin Galactic is also planning to offer satellite launches. By substituting a boost-er rocket for the passenger-carry-ing SpaceShipTwo, it believes it

SPACEFLIGHT

UK space industry readies for launchWith sub-orbital transport set to boom in coming years, country is moving to secure a share of the burgeoning business

STRATEGY

Scotland prevails in spaceport shortlistIn shortlisting locations for a space-

port, the UK Space Agency looked

for “remote” places where the “unin-

volved general public” would be at

minimal risk from accidents.

Other factors included the selec-

tion being a site where operations

within segregated airspace would be

feasible, a 3,000m (9,800ft)--plus

runway could be accommodated and

which is on the coast, where weath-

er is most amenable – including by

offering take-off into prevailing wind.

The eight locations chosen are:

Newquay Cornwall, Llanbedr,

Campbeltown, Glasgow Prestwick

and Stornoway airports, the RAF sta-

tions at Lossiemouth and Leuchars,

and Kinloss Barracks.

Six of those sites are in Scotland,

where voters will go to the polls in

September to choose yay or nay on

independence.

When asked if geographic con-

centration reflected any hope to

sway the country’s imminent inde-

pendence referendum, UKSA chief

Dave Parker merely says the agency

assumed Scotland would remain

part of the United Kingdom. In any

case, no site will be actually chosen

until well after the vote. ■

Airbus’s spaceplane would use both turbofan and rocket engines

Airbus

flightglobal.com

could push payloads of up to 250kg (550lb) into low-Earth orbit. The “LauncherOne” pro-gramme was unveiled by Virgin boss Richard Branson to great fanfare at the 2012 Farnborough air show.

Enthusiastic potential custom-ers include Surrey Satellite Tech-nology (SSTL). The low-cost and low-mass satellites pioneer is a shining star of the UK space industry – and probably the world’s largest satellite manufac-turer, by volume.

IMPEDIMENTBut as a company spokesperson reminded Flight International at this year’s Farnborough, the cost of access to orbit remains a major impediment to growth.

Modern electronics mean small satellites can increasingly provide services that previously needed very large platforms – but launch costs in the tens of mil-lions of dollars force operators to book multi-payload flights.

Sharing launch costs makes many missions affordable, but leaves operators at the mercy of the timetable of payload partners.

SSTL’s most recent launch was its 150kg-class demonstrator TechDemoSat-1 by Soyuz rocket from Baikonur, as one of more than four secondary payloads.

US government control of the export of sensitive technologies – so-called ITAR rules – would be problematic for UK operation of Virgin Galactic craft. However, while UKSA says it is looking at

ways to work around the ITAR issue, there may be home-grown options. Airbus Defence & Space, which conducts much of its R&D and manufacturing at Stevenage in the UK, is developing a runway take-off and landing sub-orbital spaceplane that would carry both turbofan and rocket engines.

Although it has been running slowly since its start in 2007, the programme has recently been accelerated.

A May drop test from 3,000ft off the coast of Singapore of a quarter-scale model with active flight control surfaces will be followed in early-2015 by a 30km (19 mile) drop from a stratospher-ic balloon, to test the aircraft’s su-personic flight.

Programme head Stéphane Latieule says the goal is to develop key technologies for three promising markets – space tourism, scientific exploitation of suborbital microgravity and the launch to low Earth orbit of small satellites via second and/or third-stage rockets which are released at altitude.

Another UK company, Reac-tion Engines, hopes to revolu-tionise access to full orbital flight.

The company is pitching a system based on a radical air-breathing rocket engine it claims will be capable of driving airline-style operations with a runway take-off and landing, and features a reusable single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane.

The company, based near the UK’s space industry cluster in Oxfordshire, in late 2013 won a grant of £60 million of UKSA support toward the £350 million or so it needs to have a prototype of its SABRE engine in bench testing by 2017 – and ready for flight tests from 2020. ■


Passengers will beadvised of the hazards of spaceflight andhave to waive anyrights to sue theoperator before flying

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Rex

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Spaceport America is a key inspiration for the UK’s future

space business



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

Lockheed Martin is preparing a series of flights to prove the ca-

pability of its K-Max unmanned rotorcraft to transport and deploy an autonomous ground vehicle.

In an effort to prove the poten-tial of “robots moving robots”, the

vertical take-off and landing un-manned air vehicle – derived from a Kaman-designed manned helicopter – will next month take part in the US Army-led trials, which will see it carry a Lockheed squad mission support system

(SMSS) at Fort Benning, Georgia. “For this demonstration the thought process behind it is to use unmanned to move unmanned,” Jon McMillen, business develop-ment lead for K-Max, says. “This will be getting assets in the air to move things on the ground. This is really a proof of concept of how this will happen.”

The K-Max is capable of carry-ing loads of up to 2,720kg (6,000lb), while the SMSS un-manned ground vehicle can weigh some 1,820-2,270kg.

K-Max aircraft have been de-ployed in Afghanistan in a cargo-transport role for the US Marine Corps, during which the type has carried 2,040kg payloads in the hot and high conditions.

“It’s far more than many aircraft could do,” McMillen adds.

Meanwhile, the UAV is also due to undergo further testing

with the US Army under its au-tonomous technologies for un-manned aircraft systems pro-gramme. The K-Max has previously demonstrated multiple “vehicle-agnostic” autonomous capabilities as part of this effort.

Previous testing was carried out in 2013, but modifications have since been made to the system, which the army is expected to test in the coming months.

“We are essentially extending that work that we did,” McMillen says. “We’ve been doing refine-ments and will be ramping up the flight testing portion.”

In parallel to the military test-ing, Lockheed is also looking to certificate the platform for flight in US civil airspace.

McMillen says this could open up the use of the K-Max for emer-gency service applications such as fire-fighting. ■

BAE Systems lifted the veil on a second series of flight tests

with the Taranis unmanned com-bat air vehicle demonstrator, as the UK and French defence min-istries also strengthened their commitment to jointly study a future operational platform.

The highly classified Taranis was first flown at an undisclosed foreign location in August 2013, but it was not until February that BAE and its industry partners – which include Adour 951 engine supplier Rolls-Royce – were al-lowed to disclose limited details about a first series of flights.

Chris Garside, BAE’s engineer-ing director for future combat air systems, reveals that a second round of test flights was per-formed between late 2013 and early 2014. These included flying the demonstrator in a “fully stealthy configuration, making it virtually invisible to radar”.

The aircraft’s communications antennas were replaced with “signature control variants”, and an air data boom installed on the nose for earlier tests removed in favour of using a conformal flight data gathering system.

The latter installation had “very little impact on the radar

cross section”, Garside says. Key elements of the trial included showing the aircraft’s ability to autonomously navigate to a search area before detecting a tar-get using “representative sen-sors” and generating an attack profile for approval by an opera-tor. “We were particularly

pleased with the handling and performance of the aircraft,” says Garside, who adds that “flight tri-als have continued to meet all of the programme objectives.”

Taranis is now back in the UK undergoing maintenance, and discussions are continuing with the MoD with regard to further planned flight testing, BAE says.

Meanwhile, the UK and France signed a two-year feasibil-ity phase deal linked to a bilateral future combat air system pro-gramme. Worth £120 million ($205 million), the activity is to involve airframers BAE and Das-sault, propulsion system suppli-ers R-R and Snecma and sensor and communications specialists Selex ES and Thales.

The activity also will draw on the companies’ experiences with the Taranis and Dassault-led Neuron unmanned demonstrator programmes. ■

The rotorcraft is capable of carrying loads of up to 2,720kg

The UCAV design is ‘virtually invisible to radar’, according to BAE

Lockheed readies K-Max for UGV deployment trialsDEVELOPMENT

EVALUATION

Taranis goes ‘fully stealthy’ for testsUK demonstrator met objectives during second round of analysis, including autonomous navigation and attack profiling

BAE S

yste

ms

US

Marine C

orp

s



Malaysian funding to revive Evektor EV-55 developmentSHOW REPORT P36

“Taranis proves the technologies for the next chapter for the British aerospace industry”CHRIS GARSIDE, BAE Systems’

engineering director for future

combat air systems, on the

importance of the UK’s

demonstrator activity

SHOW QUOTE

Agu

sts

Westland

UK-based Rotron Power is to supply CybAero with en-

gines for its Apid 60 unmanned air vehicle – including a newly-launched heavy fuel powerplant.

The Apid 60 will employ the manufacturer’s RT600 engine in both its gasoline-powered and heavy fuel guises, says chief ex-ecutive Jim Edmondson. Rotron hopes to see the Apid 60 flying with its new engine by the end of 2014, he says.

The selection comes with the announcement that Rotron will offer the first commercial, off-the-shelf heavy fuel engines in the 20-60shp (15-45kW) category.

“Our new partnership with CybAero is a massive step for Ro-tron towards becoming a global leader,” says head of operations Charlie Nicoll.

The burn pattern of the engine was the biggest challenge Rotron faced while developing the new powerplant, Edmondson says. ■

PROPULSION

CybAero selects Rotron for Apid 60 powerplant

AgustaWestland has complet-ed demonstration activities

of an optionally-piloted helicop-ter based on the SW-4 Puszczyk light-single manufactured by its Polish subsidiary PZL Swidnik.

The SW-4 Solo has been devel-oped under a research contract with the Italian defence ministry to “evaluate modern remote- controlled rotorcraft technology and its potential to provide en-hanced capabilities for the Italian

armed forces”, says the Anglo-Italian airframer.

Flight testing, carried out in Poland and Italy, began in Sep-tember 2013 and concluded in May, with final evaluations con-ducted in Frosinone, Italy.

Test activities included system monitoring, hands-off and remote-controlled manoeuvres, hovering and a range of mission profiles. A pilot was on board during the op-tionally piloted phase of the test-

ing as a safety precaution, the company says. The Solo platform could perform a number of missions, including personnel transportation, surveillance and intervention, it adds.

Alongside the work with Italy, AgustaWestland is also collabo-rating with the UK Ministry of Defence on a programme to “evaluate advanced [rotorcraft unmanned air system] technolo-gy and its capabilities”. ■

Tekever has introduced two new unmanned air vehicles

to its family of systems – one of which was involved in a flying display at the show.

The AR2 Carcara was due to get airborne with the older AR4 Light Ray – a hand-launched type that has been used by NATO op-erators in Kosovo.

The AR2 was originally devel-oped by Brazil’s Santos Lab, and has been adapted by Tekever to advance the type’s performance.

It is being launched alongside the AR5 Life Ray Evolution medium-altitude, medium-en-durance UAV.

ROTORCRAFT

AgustaWestland completes Solo demonstration flightsOptionally-piloted helicopter developed under research contract with Italian defence ministry

FLEET

Tekever expands line-up with UAV pairThe Carcara has a 2.1m (6.9ft)

wingspan, is 1m in length and has a 2.5h endurance. The AR5 has a 4.3m wingspan, is 3m in length and has an endurance of 8-12h, and has a maximum take-off weight of 450kg (991lb). The UAV can be provided with a sat-ellite communications fit for be-yond line-of-sight operations.

Additional fuel tanks on the air-craft’s wings may be an option in the future, says Ricardo Mendes, Tekever’s chief operating officer.

Brazil’s navy already operates the Carcara, and under its teaming agreement with Santos Lab, Tekever is now promoting

the system outside the military sector to potential law enforce-ment customers.

Portuguese company Tekever launched a UK division in Sep-tember 2013. This is anticipating testing some of its systems with the UK Ministry of Defence in August, through the Autono-mous Systems Underpinning Re-search programme at Larkhill in Wiltshire. This activity will focus on interoperability of UAVs and how they share information.

The company’s UK division is also best-placed to expand sales in regions such as the Middle East, Mendes believes. ■

The work involved adapting the PZL

Swidnik-built SW-4 Puszczyk



Keep up with the latest news and read in-depth analysis from the business aviation sector: flightglobal.com/bizav

Piaggio Aero has secured the first major contract for its new

Avanti EVO, in a deal that could eventually be worth as much as $370 million at list prices.

Hong Kong-headquartered in-vestment and advisory firm Bra-via Capital plans to acquire up to 50 of the twin-engined turbo-props in a commitment compris-ing 10 firm orders and 40 options, with deliveries scheduled to begin early next year.

The third-generation Avanti will be used for passenger trans-portation in the USA. “The EVO will service the East Coast, West Coast and numerous other areas,” says Bravia Capital chief execu-tive Bharat Bhise.

The $7.4 million EVO was launched in May and incorporates a host of improvements over its Avanti II predecessor. Piaggio Aero hopes to clinch certification for the twin-pusher in September.

Piaggio Aero handed over the first extended-range variant of the Avanti II at the show to Chinese operator SR Jet. This aircraft is part of a multi-million dollar deal for up to 10 of the type placed last year by SR Jet’s parent company, Sparkle Roll Group.

A new auxiliary tank raises the Avanti II’s fuel capacity to 1,470kg (3,240lb), and helps to boost its range with four passen-gers to 1,720nm (3,190km). ■

Evektor has secured a $200 million investment from Ma-

laysian company Aspirasi Perti-wi, giving the Czech design and engineering company much-needed backing to complete certi-fication of its flagship EV-55 Outback utility aircraft.

The twin-engined turboprop was launched in 2005, but a lack of funding has slowed develop-ment of the 14-seater, which was originally scheduled for service entry in 2013.

Initially Evektor bankrolled the programme using company profits generated by its light sport aircraft range and other engineer-ing projects, alongside a Czech government grant.

However, Evektor deputy di-rector Petr Sterba says: “This hasn’t been enough to complete development. But this latest in-vestment should get the EV-55 back on track. We would like to secure certification within the next two and half years.”

The funding from Malaysia will be invested in the Evektor group over the next decade, with a view to creating a global brand in both the aerospace and automotive sec-tors. The EV-55 is the company’s immediate priority, however.

Sterba says Evektor will use the initial tranche of money to complete certification of the tur-boprop, which it estimates will cost around $50 million.

The first EV-55 prototype (MSN001) made its maiden sortie in 2011 and has logged 172h to date. A production-conforming aircraft is now being assembled in preparation for first flight early next year.

Powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-21 en-gines, the EV-55 is Evektor’s first foray into the business and utility aircraft market.

The manufacturer says its ob-jective with the model is to re-place the huge fleets of “obsolete” six- to nine-seat piston twins, in-cluding Cessna 402/404s, and be a “successful competitor” to sin-gle-engined rivals like the Cessna Caravan and Pilatus PC-12. ■

INVESTMENT

Malaysian funding to revive Evektor EV-55 developmentCzech airframer secures much-needed backing to complete certification of 14-seat Outback

Eve

ktor

The utility aircraft is powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-21 turboprops

AgustaWestland celebrated the handover of the first AW189

medium twin-engined helicopter to its Asia-Pacific launch custom-er Weststar Aviation Services.

The 8.3t AW189 will join Weststar’s AW139 intermediate twins in performing offshore transport missions, with a second scheduled for delivery in the sec-ond quarter of 2015.

Weststar also has an order in place for 34 AW139s and two AW169s, and has ambitious plans for further growth.

“To cater for the [oil and gas] industry’s burgeoning operation-al needs, we aim to expand our fleet to 100 helicopters in the next five years,” says Weststar chief executive Gen Tan Sri Mu-hammad Ismail Jamaluddin.

AgustaWestland has also se-cured its first UK air ambulance customer for its AW169, with an order for the intermediate twin from the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance Trust.

The 4.5t rotorcraft is scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2015.

It will be operated on behalf of the trust by UK helicopter sup-port and maintenance company Specialist Aviation Services, which committed to six of the air-craft at the Farnborough air show in 2012. ■

MILESTONE

AgustaWestland marks double first for civil duo

Piaggio Aero clinches first order for Avanti EVO TURBOPROP

Sparkle Roll’s Ji Xingzhuo with Piaggio Aero’s Carlo Logli

Bill

yPix



Atlas deliveries ready to power upSHOW REPORT P39

Two recently introduced mid-size business jets made their

European debuts at Farnborough. Bombardier’s newest family

member – the super-midsize Challenger 350 – made a fleeting visit to the static display, where it was flanked by its ultra-long-range Global 6000 and superlight Learjet 75 stablemates.

Bombardier is hoping to drum up sales of the 10-seat aircraft across the continent ahead of Eu-ropean certification for the twin-jet, which is scheduled for the third quarter.

The $26.5 million Challenger 350 – which entered service last month with fractional operator NetJets – is an upgraded version of the 10-year-old Challenger 300.

The type features more power-ful Honeywell HTF7350 turbo-fans, an increased maximum take-off weight, a longer range and an upgraded interior.

Cessna’s newly certificated Citation X+ also touched down at the show after completing its first transatlantic flight.

The world’s fastest commercial aircraft – an upgrade of the 18-year old Citation X – was launched four years ago to help revive interest in Cessna’s mid-size offering.

Three of the $22 million type have been delivered since the 12-seat aircraft entered service last month.

The type features uprated Rolls-Royce AE3007C2 engines, a Garmin 5000 flightdeck, im-proved performance and pay-load, a longer and refurbished cabin and winglets as standard. ■

John Edgley, designer and de-veloper of the iconic Optica

observation aircraft, is hoping to find a buyer for the three-seater who can restore the brand.

“This is an opportunity to pur-chase a unique aircraft pro-gramme and get it into produc-tion fairly quickly,” says Edgley. He acquired the Optica’s jigs, tooling and design rights – as well as two aircraft – seven years ago from its former owner Avia-tion Group International.

The deal also included the rights to the FLS Sprint two-seat ab initio trainer, which is also for sale. One of the Opticas –

formerly owned by the Spanish government – has been fully re-stored by Edgley and was on dis-play at the show. “We are using this Optica as a demonstrator. It is proving very popular,” he says.

Edgley admits he has “always been passionate about the Optica”, which made it first flight in 1979 and entered service six years later. A total of 22 aircraft were built, while another re-mains unfinished.

However, the programme has a chequered history. Edgley left the company in 1985, shortly after the fatal crash of a police-operat-ed Optica (G-KATY).

The company was then ac-quired by Brooklands Aerospace, but an arson attack at its factory the following year destroyed all but one flying example. Produc-tion ceased in 1990 when Brook-lands was declared bankrupt. The rights then changed hands multi-ple times, before passing to Edg-ley’s company Aeroelvira in 2007.

The Optica has a bubble canopy observation platform, which gives the pilot a “perfect” field of vision. It has a 570nm (1,060km) range, a cruise speed of 70kt (130km/h) and can fly for up to 8h at a speed suitable for observation duties. ■

Bill

yPix

The engineer acquired the aircraft’s tooling and design rights seven years ago from its former owner

Enstrom is preparing to fly its TH180 light piston-engined

helicopter this quarter, and says it will step up sales and marketing efforts for the two-seat single once it has established the aircraft’s per-formance characteristics.

Tracy Biegler, chief executive of the Chinese-owned, US-based airframer says the TH180 – a scaled-down version of the com-pany’s 280FX – is scheduled for certification in 2015.

The TH180 is targeted at the lucrative training school market, and pitched against established brands including the Guimbal Cabri G2, Robinson R44 and Schweizer 300.

“The helicopter training mar-ket has huge potential for us,” Biegler says. “Not only does it help to drive sales of the aircraft, but it introduces a new customer base to the Enstrom product line. We need to capture these poten-

tial customers early in their flying careers so they remember the Enstrom brand if they become helicopter owners.”

Sitting above the $400,000 TH180 in the Enstrom line-up are the three-seat piston-engined F-28F, the 280FX and the five-seat, turbine-powered 480B.

“We are also evaluating the market for a larger turbine single to sit at the top of our product line,” says Biegler. ■

Enstrom readies TH180 for first flightHELICOPTERS

Challenger 350 on debut

Bill

yPix

BUSINESS JETS

Bombardier and Cessna midsize rivals face-off

PITCH

Visionary Optica developer seeks buyer to revive brandBubble-cockpit type’s designer John Edgley offering opportunity to produce three-seater

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FARNBOROUGH 2014SHOW REPORTHigh-flying displays

SHOW REPORT P42

SURVEILLANCE

Embraer is making strides on the KC-390 tactical transport

and tanker programme, and still expects its first prototype to make its maiden sortie by year-end.

“The airplane is becoming real,” says Paulo Gastão Silva, vice-presi-dent of the KC-390 programme.

The prototype’s fuselage is pro-gressing through final assembly and both wings have now been placed into the tooling in prepara-tion for joining to the fuselage.

A second prototype has also started the assembly process at Embraer’s Gaviao Peixoto facili-

ty in Brazil.Delivery of the first aircraft to

launch customer the Brazilian air force is anticipated in the second half of 2016, says Silva.

Embraer says that unlike other military transports, the Interna-tional Aero Engines V2500-pow-ered KC-390 will have no depot-level maintenance requirements. Instead, its maintenance regime will be aligned to that of a civilian airliner, with a one-day A-check to take place after every 600 flight hours, and more comprehensive C-checks to be due every 10 years.

Brazil’s air force has an order for 28 examples of the type. Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Czech Republic and Portugal have also expressed interest in buying up to a combined 32 more. ■

The Airbus A400M’s first year of operational service has

been marked by solid reliability from its TP400-D6 engines, says Europrop International (EPI) president Ian Crawford.

“Things are going as we planned,” he says. “The engine in service is demonstrating the capabilities that the customers wanted.”

Combined, the two Atlas air-craft in service with the French air force and one with Turkey have amassed around 2,000 engine flight hours. “We have had no significant engine issues, no engine removals or major module removals,” Crawford says; just “the usual line mainte-nance snags you would expect”.

EPI has ramped up its production of the turboprop to match Airbus’s increased final assembly rate for the tactical air-lifter. Eleven more aircraft are due to be handed over before year-end, with three of these now

in the delivery process for France. Others include the first examples to be produced for the UK and Germany.

“We have delivered to Airbus all engines required to deliver all aircraft due this year,” says Crawford, who adds that EPI is al-ready testing the TP400s destined for production aircraft MSN22.

Meanwhile, the UK Royal Air Force is gearing up to receive its first Atlas from a 22 aircraft order.

MSN15 is at Airbus Defence & Space’s San Pablo final assembly site near Seville, Spain. It is expected to make its first flight around the end of this month and to be delivered during Septem-ber, the company says.

“We are very excited to have the A400M Atlas arriving into the Air Mobility force in the autumn,” says Air Cdre Jon Ager, assistant chief of staff capability delivery (air mobility and air

enablers). “Its introduction into service represents the greatest step change in tactical capability since the introduction of the [Lockheed Martin] C-130J.”

The RAF expects to have re-ceived 10 of the aircraft by the end of 2015, a further six the following year and its remaining examples by mid-2018.

“Our ramp-up is incredibly quick, so we have really got to be on our game with the training programme, and also for the sup-port,” says Ager. “Over the next two years or so, we will build on the inherent strategic capability of the platform and training sys-tem, to prepare for the high-end tactical operating environment.”

Airbus announced at the show that an A400M has been refuelled in flight for the first time. Conducted over Spain using a Royal Air Force A330 Voyager, a test campaign involved the trans-port receiving more than 80t of fuel during 100 “wet” contacts. ■

REQUIREMENT

Atlas deliveries ready to power upA400Ms amass 2,000 engine flight hours in service without problems, as UK anticipates receipt of first tactical transport

European deal cut for C-130 SABIR system

Canada’s HISS has secured its first European order for the

SABIR multi-mission surveillance system, from an undisclosed Lockheed Martin C-130 operator.

Able to carry any sensor or payload weighing up to 204kg (450lb) without obstructing ramp and cargo operations, SABIR is already in service with units in the US Department of Defense, and also with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Requiring no permanent airframe modifications and capable of being installed and removed within a claimed 45min, the SABIR system has now been certificated for use with the C-130E/H, and also the J-model Hercules. ■

The A400M is in use with the French and Turkish air forces

PROGRAMME

Prototype of low-maintenance KC-390 on track for maiden flight by year-end

Em

bra

er

Bill

yPix

Brazil’s air force is lead customer for the type, with 28 on order



MB Aerospace is continuing its growth push this year on

the back of a stellar 12 months which have seen the company almost double in size.

The aero engine component supplier, which counts such names as Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce as customers, sees example opportunities for further expansion, including develop-ment of its skilled, low-cost operation in Poland.

STRATEGIC“We now have four principal, well-invested global manufactur-ing facilities positioned strategi-cally close to key aero engine manufacturing hubs,” says chief executive Craig Gallagher, citing its Polish, UK and US operations.

“MB Aerospace is now well-positioned to support the growth ambitions for our customers across the globe,” he adds.

The supplier acquired engine component maker Norbert Industries in Michigan and Rzeszow, Poland, this April. The deal boosted the group’s head count by 400 employees to

roughly 900. The component supplier offers a wide range of fabrication and machining capabilities to OEMs, including cases, rotating rings and complex structural assemblies. ■

AerCap president Philip Scruggs has denied the

existence of a global aircraft order bubble, arguing that manufacturers are too rational to allow a situation that could “kill the industry”.

Scruggs says that speculation over an order bubble is the “talk right now”, but stresses that it is important to make the distinction between an order bubble and a delivery bubble.

“An order bubble and delivery bubble are two different things,” he said at the show. “We have to assume that the OEMs are ration-al players, that they’ve been doing this for a long time, and the number of aircraft that are delivered… when they are

delivered may differ from the dates that are currently set and the orders that we see out there.”

He adds: “Airlines often time-slide deliveries. Do I think all of the orderbook that exists today will get delivered or as it’s cur-rently scheduled? Probably not, both Boeing and Airbus double-

book, they plan their orderbooks for some airlines that will need to defer or cancel.

“So don’t get confused by the natural over-booking that the air-framers do – they are both ration-al players, and they’re not going to kill the industry.”

AerCap firmed up an order for 50 Airbus A320neos at the show, bringing its firm orders for the type up to 200 – the largest of any lessor. It is also the largest customer for the Boeing 787. ■Flightglobal’s Ascend consultants have produced an analysis of the so-called orders bubble and the risk posed to the industry. You can download the paper at flightglobal.com/orderbubble

“Don’t get confused by the over-booking that airframers do – they’re not going to kill the industry” PHILIP SCRUGGS President, AerCap

“People are choosing holiday destinations because they are serviced by a 787. The 787 is becoming part of their holiday experience”RANDY TINSETH Vice president marketing, Boeing

SHOW QUOTE

DEVELOPMENT

Global supply strategy key component in MB’s successAero engine part manufacturer points to location of its facilities as it targets further growth

Bill

yPix

CEO Craig Gallagher has seen his company almost double in size

OUTLOOK

AerCap applies the rational approach to explode order bubble warnings

COMPONENTS

GE moves to 3D printing system for fuel nozzlesGE Aviation is to equip a factory in Auburn, Alabama to make engine fuel nozzles using addi-tive manufacturing techniques.

The site will be the first in the propulsion industry dedicated to mass production of components by 3D printing, GE says.

The equipment, to be installed this year, will manufacture the 19 fuel nozzles installed in each CFM International Leap engine. Production capacity will be 1,000 nozzles per year at first, increas-ing to 40,000 annually within five years, the company adds.

That pace reflects the steep ramp-up on the Leap programme, which is powering the Airbus A320neo, Boeing 737 Max and Comac C919. The three airfram-ers combined will build more than 1,000 narrowbodies annual-ly by 2020.

As production ramps up, GE will shift to the new way of man-ufacturing the nozzles – previ-ously formed using castings. ■



Comac and Mitsubishi Aircraft broke the order dry

spells for their regional jets at the show, although the wins for the emerging Asian airframers were mainly tentative agreements from small operators.

Mitsubishi Aircraft signed a memorandum of understanding with Eastern Air Lines for 20 MRJ90s, with purchase rights for a further 20. This is the Japanese air-framer’s first sales announcement in close to two years, after it cele-brated an in-principle agreement with US regional airline owner SkyWest Airlines for 100 MRJ90s at the 2012 Farnborough air show.

But Eastern is still a paper car-rier, having not yet received regu-latory approvals for a relaunch.

Myanmar’s Air Mandalay gave Mitsubishi a firm order for six MRJ90s, taking purchase rights for an additional four of the 88-seat regional jet. The carrier only has three dated ATR turboprops in its fleet, utilising them mostly on domestic services.

Air Mandalay’s order takes Mitsubishi’s firm order backlog to 171 aircraft, growing the tally for the first time since the airframer disclosed a programme delay in 2012, pushing the MRJ’s first flight back by more than 15 months into the second quarter of 2015.

The MRJ has started taking shape this year, with the Pratt & Whitney PW1200G engines being mounted onto the aircraft shortly after the completion of a wing-body join. Mitsubishi Air-craft president Teruaki Kawai says first activation of the jet’s electrical system has been sched-uled for August, with the aircraft to be rolled out this autumn.

Kawai adds that progress on the jet is going well, but admits that it is currently “a little overweight”.

Chinese airframer Comac also tried to be more engaged at the show this year, revealing commit-ments for six ARJ21-700 regional jets which bring its backlog to

258 jets. However, it failed to bag any wins from top-tier airlines for its long-delayed programme. Little was said about its C919 narrowbody programme.

The Republic of Congo signed for three ARJ21s, making it the first African country to have signed up for the type. The remaining three commitments came from two Chinese con-glomerates for the business jet variant of the aircraft.

The ARJ21 does, however, appear to be near certification, having completed all necessary ground tests and about 70% of flight-test modules. Four flight-test aircraft have accumu-lated 4,600 flight hours since the first sortie in 2008.

Comac says it is confident of achieving certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China by year-end, and stresses that it has not given up on getting a US Federal Aviation Administration endorsement for the jet. ■

Irkut is targeting the completion of the wing to body join of its

first MC-21 narrowbody flight-test aircraft by early 2015 and hopes to roll it out by the end of that year.

At a programme briefing at the show, Irkut’s vice-president of sales and marketing, Kirill Bu-daev, said the programme is pro-gressing as scheduled and that it is working towards an early 2016 first flight.

“We’re trying our best on the schedule, but let’s be realistic, all programmes shift a little,” he says.

Budaev says the design for the 160- to 211-seat -300 variant of the MC-21 has been finalised, and that tests done on its wings and fuselage so far “fit within calculations”. The Russian air-framer is not expecting further deisgn changes.

Irkut has so far received 175 firm orders and 75 tentative commitments for its MC-21.

The airframer is targeting sales of 1,000 MC-21s from now until 2030, 70% of which it expects to be to operators outside of Russia, says Budaev. ■

Teruaki Kawai says the MRJ90 is progressing well and is on schedule to be rolled out this autumnB

illyP

ix

“If Airbus asserts they have to price at a discount, that implies they have less value”Boeing chief executive JIM MCNERNEY is unworried about the A330neo undercutting the 787

SHOW QUOTE

PROGRAMMES

Asian airframers celebrate agreements for MRJ, ARJ21 Mitsubishi and Comac announce sales of regional jets after a long period without orders

PRODUCTION

MC-21 on track for flight testing in 2015 – Irkut




HIGH-FLYING DISPLAYSFine weather and a wide variety of aircraft types kept

eyes on the sky at Farnborough. Although the eagerly

anticipated arrival of the Lockheed Martin F-35 was

thwarted mid-show, a mix of other debutants and

some old favourites provided plenty of entertainment

Bill

yPix

22-28 July 2014 | Flight International | 43

(Clockwise from main) A star turn by Boeing’s 787-9; M-346 ‘Master’; Starduster SA300; A400M climbing high; Red Devil flies the flag;

Scorpion a first-time visitor; T129 on the ATAK; crowd-pleasing A380; T-6C and AT-6; F/A-18F Super Hornet; Swiss Super Puma



(Clockwise from main) US fighters loom large; tall tails on display; Weststar’s first AW189; Naval gazing – NH90 maritime helicopter; BN Aerospace Islander

gets ISR makeover; Sikorsky’s UH-60 modern legend; F-35’s only show appearance; Qatar nose the value of 787; Pilatus PC-12 turboprop; vintage Vulcan’s farewell


THRILLS & STILLS

Although the flying display at Farnborough

always receives the most attention, there are

still plenty of must-see aircraft parked in the

various static areas across the show site to

excite even the most jaded enthusiast.

Highlights included the Avro Vulcan on what

may be its last appearance at the event,

alongside newer combat types in the US corral

STRAIGHT&LEVEL


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

100-YEAR ARCHIVEEvery issue of Flight from 1909 onwards

can be viewed online at flightglobal.com/archive

Arming for warEurope is arming in

preparation for a war which,

unless it can be

averted, will

constitute at once

the most colossal

catastrophe and the worst

crime against civilisation in all

history. But if it must come,

then at least we have the

comforting knowledge that we

are prepared at all points.

Big but beautifulThere is something

magnificently impressive

about even the

most ordinary of

minor aerobatics

by a large

machine, and the effect in the

case of the Ju 86 was

enhanced by the particular

and unmistakable drone of a

couple of Jumo diesels.

Careful phrasingFortunately my English-

Russian phrasebook included

the phrase “We

should like to see

the USSR

Exhibition of

Economic Achievement”. This

was useful because I did not

speak Russian, know where in

Moscow the place was, and

did not want to be turned in to

the nearest police station by

my taxi driver because of

suspicious activities.

Selling JamaicaThe Jamaican government

wants to sell all or part of

debt-burdened Air

Jamaica. The

airline now has

liabilities of more

than $100 million, and has

needed constant state

assistance since becoming

fully nationalised in 1980.

Lock

heed M

art

in

Before the disappointing news broke that the F-35 would not be able to visit the UK as planned, an existential moment

from Lockheed Martin’s general manager for the programme, Lorraine Martin: “It is here today… it’s just not physically

here today,” she said during a briefing at the Royal International Air Tattoo.

The Boeing executives wondered if cancelling the gun pod option on the 787 had been the right move (thanks to Nick Kay for photograph)

Conner gets in muddle over Max When a 200-seat version of the 189-seat 737 Max 8 was announced during Farnborough, things got a little confusing.

What should we call the new variant of Boeing’s re-engined narrowbody, a reporter asked?

“Max 8,” replied Ray Conner, president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

But isn’t that what Boeing already calls the 189-seat version?

“The other one will be the -8,” Conner said.

So what will the 200-seat version be called?

“The Max 8,” he said.Almost in unison, reporters

said they were now confused. “Look,” Conner said, “we’re

not going to be doing the NG anymore, so [the 189-seater] is going to the be the 737-8. So [the 200-seater] is going to be the 737 Max 8.”

One reporter still could not quite grasp the point. So what will be the 200-seat variant be called, he asked.

“Max 8,” Conner said. At this point, however, even

Conner seemed slightly confused. He looked over to Boeing’s chief salesman John Wojick for support.

“Isn’t that right, you guys?” Conner asked.

Wojick, however, also seemed less than absolutely certain.

“I don’t know if we’ve

“Perhaps an aircraft to avoid on the fear of flying courses,” he suggests.

Boeing nativeAirbus and Boeing executives rarely move from one airframer to the other, but it appears there is some transatlantic crossover at least. Seattle’s corporate vice- president global brand management and advertising has been named as Anne C Toulouse.

Phinally... at PharnboroughFarnborough visitors browsing the Flying Display Programme for 15 July may have been confused about its listing for the “Europhighter”.

On discovering the typo, one disappointed warbirds fan was heard to bemoan: “There’s no eff in F-35 either.”

decided exactly what we’re going to call it,” Wojick said.

There was silent agreement by all in the room that it was time to move on.

Conner returned to the topic at the very end of the hour-long press conference.

“Forget what I said about the name,” Conner added. “We’ll go back and figure it out.”

At least that was clear.

Letters prayIan Holliday snapped this registration as he boarded this Norwegian 737-800 recently at London Gatwick.

flightglobal.com 22-28 July 2014 | Flight International | 47

EMISSIONS

A real fuel alternativeRecent articles on aircraft emissions ignore the very real alternative

and innovative approaches available today that would allow the indus-

try to retain existing hydrocarbon infrastructure systems and involve

little or no change to aircraft fuels, while at the same time producing

zero net emissions – a huge advance on what was proposed.

Hydrogen – which does not occur naturally – is not a fuel, but

merely a transport medium. Production from natural gas requires

substantial emissions be produced elsewhere, but not in the air –

hardly a solution.

An innovative route involves limestone – available in virtually

infinite quantities around the globe – which, when heated by a

renewable or nuclear source, produces both quicklime and a CO2

stream that is captured.

The quicklime is then spread back at the mine, where it will

absorb the same quantity of CO2 from the atmosphere as is driven

off. The CO2 stream is processed with hydrogen produced from

water using renewables or nuclear power in the proven Sabatier

reaction, which produces methane or natural gas.

This stream can then be converted directly into liquid hydrocar-

bons suited to aircraft – as is already done by Shell gas to liquid

plants. Once burnt these traditional fuels will produce CO2 in equal

quantities to that absorbed by the quicklime – and the cycle is

closed. Aircraft continue to fly on existing fuels with existing

infrastructure and zero net emissions.

John BlundellNew Zealand

Automation will result in disaster

Hands onRegarding the editorial comment (Flight International, 1-7 July) that the industry has not prepared the modern pilot to fly modern aircraft using modern automated systems: what it hasn’t done is to prepare the modern pilot to fly aircraft without modern systems. Rodolfo A SernaBogota, Colombia

Pilots’ paysYour correspondent Mr Pette-ford writes on “opening the doors of the profession” (Flight International, 8-14 July). Maybe he has not appreciated that many workers in the transport industry, such as train drivers, lorry drivers, London Under-ground drivers, bus drivers and even white van drivers, earn significantly more than a lot of professional pilots. Name and address withheld

Boeing’s flopsThere has been much negative comment about the poor sales of the A350-800, but I wonder how many people remember the 787-3, which was quietly deleted from the Boeing lineup after customers migrated to the -8.

Shrinks of a good basic design do not always work, with the A319 one of the few successes.

It may also be worth remem-bering the 767-400 (37 sold) and the 757-300 (55 sold), so stretches can also go wrong.

The A330neo looks very promising with a very useful range, and should slot in nicely under the A350.H I H SaravanamuttooCarleton University, Ottawa, Canada

The “Mismatch” editorial (Flight International, 1-7 July) is bang on the nail, but like the NTSB report does not entirely grasp the nettle.

First, using automatic systems on a visual approach is questiona-ble – a view reinforced by the fact that had the Asiana pilot been fly-ing visually and hands-on, it is more or less certain the accident would never have happened.

Second, even with the current level of sophistication in simula-tors, they do not replace actual flying experience.

Third, no matter how much training is available, so long as pilots play second fiddle to flight management systems and are limited to twisting knobs and pushing buttons for the bulk of their airborne time, they will be faced with two very real and grave problems.

Firstly, they will not build real experience – and if something suddenly goes wrong they will have the extra problem of incom-plete situational awareness. The consequence is likely to be pilots who are less and less pilots and more and more computer opera-

tors, and who are likely to find themselves totally out of their depth in an emergency.

It seems astonishing that no one and no organisiation is ad-dressing this problem.Richard ChandlessVovray en Bornes, France

Check north arcI am a retired British Airways captain with over 40 years flying experience – much of it in the Asia-Pacific.

I have noted the methods being used to track and locate the miss-ing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 flight MH370, but I do not agree with the current thinking that the flight came down in the Southern Indian Ocean. I believe the aircraft followed the northern

arc and is likely to have crashed in the Amnye Machen range of Tibet/China.Name and address withheld

Off the radarHow is it possible to present a survey of the British aerospace industry (Flight International, 1-7 July) without even a passing mention of Selex Dynamic Industries, who are leaders in the field of airborne radar?Alan Brough ex-Ferranti employeeEditor’s reply: Our UK aerospace special was not meant to be a comprehensive survey of the country’s sizeable industry. Several of the biggest players – Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems among them – were also not included.

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.

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]

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WORKING WEEK

flightglobal.com

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

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Working Week, or you know

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pitch to kate.sarsfield@ flightglobal.com


GAM

A

Bowles: Started his career at Cessna in Wichita, Kansas

WORK EXPERIENCE GREG BOWLES

Greg Bowles is General Aviation Manufacturers Association director of European regulatory affairs and engineering, in Brussels. He is responsible for laying a solid foundation for the sector across the continent

Getting GA to the heart of Europe

Where did your career begin?I began my career as a young design engineer at Cessna Air-craft, in Wichita, Kansas, work-ing on the design of new busi-ness jets. I remember driving from the East Coast, USA, across to Kansas and feeling apprehen-sion over the flat, barren land-scape. As soon as I saw the air-craft on the flight line, I knew I had found an extraordinary place to begin my career.When did you start with GAMA?I began working for GAMA in January 2005 based at the associ-ation’s headquarters in Washing-ton, DC. Over the last year, I as-sumed the role of the director of European regulatory affairs and engineering based in GAMA’s Brussels office. In my role, I am responsible for working with in-ternational members of govern-ment and industry on technical and regulatory issues to create an environment which fosters gen-eral aviation. My focus is in the area of legislation, regulation and policy affecting airframe design, systems and avionics.How is it going?We have been working very closely with the aviation regula-tors, legislators, and the key Eu-ropean aviation associations to lay a new foundation for GA in Europe. Since its creation 10 years ago, EASA has focused pri-marily on regulating the sched-uled commercial airlines and the rules for GA to more closely match the needs of the airline world. Recently, there has been a concerted effort to improve the

regulatory environment in Europe in the areas of operations, licensing, design and airworthi-ness. GAMA is working hard to ensure that the European avia-tion community speaks with a strong and common voice to en-sure that these changes bring about a healthier and more vi-brant future. With so many cultures and individual needs within the European GA com-munity, it is important that changes don’t segment GA but rather produce a more inclusive system in which it is easier for the industry to participate.

Sounds like a challenge. As a young engineer, it was frustrating to find areas where the regulations governing design would prevent the best solutions. As we work to create a new generation of these design regulations, I am fortunate to help in creating a future where we can attain new levels of safety in shorter timeframes and at lower costs. As a true aviation enthusiast, I find the most excit-ing aspect of this work is imagin-ing a future where aviation be-comes more attainable to people. I certainly don’t have any

delusions that this work will bring about aviation nirvana, but it is a substantial move in the right direction.What about Avgas availability?There is great pressure on the European GA community simply due to the cost of Avgas and, as a result, all factors have influenced designs to be as efficient as possi-ble. There are tremendous efforts to develop and implement sus-tainable fuels for the existing GA fleet and we see many exciting new technologies to keep GA en-gines as efficient as possible, and even electric propulsion, that hold the potential for changing the face of GA in the future.What is the most difficult part of your job?There are many issues that could be taken on to improve aviation and there is simply not enough time to accomplish everything. I find myself wishing for more hours in the day or a button to pause the world. The most frus-trating and difficult part of this job is not having the bandwidth to tackle every issue at the same time. Every day at GAMA we are all challenged to win the biggest issues and that often means we can’t work on all of them.

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flight international - 22-28 july 2014

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