AIRFIELDS UNDER THREATsheet freighter variant of the 72-600 which features a new windowless...

AIRFIELDS UNDER THREAT IS THE UK TAKING GENERAL AVIATION FOR GRANTED?

December 2017

FLIGHT TESTING THE AIRLANDER 10

THE FUTURE OF PILOT TRAINING

AERO VODOCHODY BOUNCES BACK

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DECEMBER 2017@aerosociety Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

Contents

Comment

All change at the Ministry

Regulars

Afterburner

The future of UK airfieldsWhat are the future prospects for the UK’s general aviation airfields?

Expanding the envelopeAn update on the flight test progress and prospects for HAV’s Airlander 10 hybrid airship.

4 Radome The latest aviation and aeronautical intelligence, analysis and comment.

10 Antenna Howard Wheeldon asks if the Bombardier CSeries is living on borrowed time?

12 TransmissionYour letters, emails, tweets and feedback.

58 The Last WordKeith Hayward argues the case for unmanned rather than manned space missions.

41

Features

Ready, SET, go!New commercial service opportunities for single-engined turboprops.

Teaching MRO new tricksHow the MRO industry is increasing efficiency and reducing costs using new technology and innovative solutions.

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Volume 44 Number 12 December 2017

Correspondence on all aerospace matters is welcome at: The Editor, AEROSPACE, No.4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ, UK [email protected]

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Training for the new millenniumA report on the RAeS annual flight training conference.

Aero Vodochody on the rise again The past and future prospects of the Czech Aero Vodochody L-39 jet trainer.

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Allies of the UK awaiting signs of strategic direction may have to wait a little longer after the shock resignation of the Secretary of State for Defence, Sir Michael Fallon, last month following allegations of sexual impropriety now rocking Westminster. Whatever the truth of these allegations, there is no doubt that Sir Michael has been a steadying hand at the UK MoD over the past three years earning respect. He was also vocal in defending the forces from additional cuts and had won a 0.5% increase from the Treasury – a pledge which now maybe in jeopardy. His replacement, the Government Chief Whip (for non-UK readers a combination of rabble rouser, party spymaster and persuader) Gavin Williamson inherits the Ministry at a critical time, with Main Building in the final throes of a Defence Review in all but name – and facing hard choices about budgetary priorities with the MoD aiming to find £20bn in efficiency savings. As well as this challenge, which threatens to undermine the UK’s 2% of GDP to defence NATO commitment, his in-tray also is full with questions over Navy cuts, Trident renewal, Russian assertiveness, an ongoing jihadi threat as Islamic State collapses, as well as a UK political leadership paralysis caused by Brexit negotiations. Relations with the UK’s closest ally, a constant backdrop since 9/11, are also under extra scrutiny as President Trump conducts ‘diplomacy by Twitter’ with the world holding its collective breath. Williamson, with no ministerial experience, has thus taken over an organisation with a £40bn annual budget, personnel engaged on global operations and thus will have a steep learning curve ahead to get to grips with the MoD’s ‘closest alligator to the boat’. Detractors, of course, may point to his lack of military background in taking up this role, however, it may be that no previous affiliation may in fact be an advantage, if it does come to the stage where service sacred cows need to be sacrificed on the altar of a coherent and workable future defence budget.

Tim Robinson, Editor-in-Chief

[email protected]

Editor-in-Chief Tim Robinson +44 (0)20 7670 4353 [email protected]

Deputy Editor Bill Read +44 (0)20 7670 4351 [email protected]

Publications Manager Chris Male +44 (0)20 7670 4352 [email protected]

Production Editor Wayne J Davis +44 (0)20 7670 4354 [email protected]

Book Review EditorBrian Riddle

Editorial Office Royal Aeronautical Society No.4 Hamilton Place London W1J 7BQ, UK +44 (0)20 7670 4300 [email protected]

AEROSPACE is published by the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS).

Chief Executive Simon C Luxmoore

Advertising Simon Levy +44 (0)20 7670 4346 [email protected]

Unless specifically attributed, no material in AEROSPACE shall be taken to represent the opinion of the RAeS.

Reproduction of material used in this publication is not permitted without the written consent of the Editor-in-Chief.

Printed by Buxton Press Limited, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AE, UK

Distributed by Royal Mail

2017 AEROSPACE subscription rates: Non-members, £160

Please send your order to: Chris Male, RAeS, No4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ, UK. +44 (0)20 7670 4352 [email protected]

Any member not requiring a print version of this magazine, please contact: [email protected]

USA: Periodical postage paid at Champlain New York and additional offices.

Postmaster: Send address changes to IMS of New York, PO Box 1518, Champlain NY 12919-1518, USA.

ISSN 2052-451X

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42 Message from our President

43 Message from our Chief Executive

44 Book Reviews

47 Library Additions

48 New 2018 awards criteria

49 The Cody maquette

50 NAL Sound Archive

52 Diary

55 Corporate Partners

56 RAeS Elections

57 50-year memberships

OnlineAdditional features and content are available to view online on www.media.aerosociety.com/

aerospace-insightIncluding: Dubai Air Show preview,

Turbulence in the Gulf, Should drone pilots get medals?, In the November issue of AEROSPACE, Training for the new

millennium, Out of Africa, Airbus swoops in to save CSeries,

Soaring dreams.

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32 Future aerospace workplaceThe RAeS Young Persons’ Conference looks forward to technologies of the future.

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Radome

AEROSPACE / DECEMBER 2017

DEFENCE

BAE’s hybrid drones

INTELLIGENCE / ANALYSIS / COMMENT

BAE Systems has revealed a new concept for a hybrid VTOL UAV that combines fixed-wing and rotary-wing configuration. The ‘Adaptable’ UAV, developed in conjunction with students studying Autonomous Vehicle Dynamics & Control from Cranfield University uses an innovative launch and recovery system where the UAV, after converting to vertical flight, docks on a vertical pole. This vertical pole allows multiple air vehicles to be stacked and carried by a tank, armoured vehicle or ship.B

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Docking poleThe Adaptable UAV would launch and land vertically using a gyro-stabilised docking pole – able to be mounted on a vehicle, ship or subma-rine. BAE say this pole would stabilise the UAV in high-winds and allow safe launch and recovery even when the vehicle is moving.

5DECEMBER 2017fi@aerosociety Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

Transforming flightThe blade-shaped UAV features two propel-lers on each wing with one able to rotate fully forward or backward for either horizontal or vertical flight. – optimising the UAVs range and endurance. BAE say the Adaptable UAVs would use “adaptive flight control and advanced navigation and guidance software.”

Swarm tacticsWith a swarm of Adaptable UAVs equipped with a variety of sensors and weapons, BAE envisage that this concept of highly autonomous drones working together could be useful in tackling future advanced air defence systems and complex urban battlespaces.

Rapid responseAs well as the pole launch and recovery system,CGI video from BAE of the Adaptable UAV shows it being air-dropped by parachute from a stealth aircraft, with multiple UAVs being disgorged from a pod while drifting to the ground.

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NEWS IN BRIEF

At the 2017 Dubai Air Show Airbus signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indigo Partners for 420 A320neo and A321neos − the manufacturer’s largest single announcement ever. Valued at $49.5bn, the order will be divided up among Indigo Partners’ four portfolio low-cost airlines − Frontier Airlines in the US, JetSMART in Chile, Volaris in Mexico and Wizz Air in Hungary.

A report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts that air passenger numbers will nearly double over the next 20 years and that China will overtake the US as the largest aviation market by 2022. IATA’s 20-year Air Passenger Forecast expects passenger numbers to rise from its present level of 4bn per year to 7.8bn in 2036. India will rise to third place after China and the US.

Lockheed Martin has won a $26.3m contract to develop a high-power laser which can be used on a fighter jet. The contract is part of the US Air Force's Research Lab's Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) programme. The laser system is scheduled to be ready for testing on a fighter by 2021.

On 5 November China launched a Long March

3B rocket carrying two Beidou navigation and communications satellites. It was the first flight of this rocket type since 19 June when a problem caused the Chinasat 9A TV satellite to be deployed into a lower-than-planned orbit. Beidou spacecraft will be used as part of an eventual network of 27 global positioning and navigation satellites.

Amphibious light sport aircraft Icon A5 has

suffered its second fatal crash of 2017, when a retired baseball player, Roy Halladay, died in an A5 crash in the Gulf of Mexico on 7 November.

On 3 November, Irkut commenced the flight-test programme of its MC-21-300 commercial aircraft. The aircraft was flown on a three-hour test flight from the Gromov Flight Research Institute at Zhukovsky airfield outside Moscow.

On 8 November, regional aircraft manufacturer ATR announced it had signed a major deal with US package delivery giant FedEx Express for a firm order for 30 ATR 72-600Fs along with options for another 20. The deal is the first order for a clean

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AIR TRANSPORT

DEFENCE

Northrop Grumman has withdrawn from the US Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray competition for a carrier-based unmanned aerial tanker. The company said that the approach detailed in the RfP (request for proposals) means that a bid would not be in the ‘best interests’ of the company. The MQ-25, which traces its proposal

ATR

sheet freighter variant of the 72-600 which features

a new windowless fuselage, forward

Large Cargo Door (LCD) and rear upper hinged cargo door.

First deliveries of this new ATR

model will begin in 2020.

Northrop Grumman pulls out of MQ-25 contest

to concepts for an unmanned long-range strike/ISR platform, has been de-scoped to focus on an aerial tanker. The withdrawal of Northrop, which successfully demonstrated its X-47 UCAV demonstrator at sea in 2013, leaves Boeing, General Atomics and Lockheed Martin bidding in the competition.

Diesel-powered UAV stays aloft for five days

US-based Vanilla Aircraft has announced that its VA001 UAV has set a new record for the longest unmanned internal combustion engine flight by staying airborne for more than five days. The diesel-powered, sub-500kg UAV landed at NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, on 23 October after a flight lasting 121hr and 24min. The aircraft, with a small sensor package, also landed with three days of fuel remaining – and has a planned maximum endurance of ten days.

FedEx orders new cargo variant of ATR 72-600

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SPACEFLIGHT

Blue Origin fires up BE-4 engine

On 26 October 'New space' company Blue Origin conducted the first hot-fire ground test of its 550,000lb thrust heavy-lift BE-4 engine, designed to end US reliance on Russian rocket engines. The BE-4 will be used on Blue Origin as New Glenn rocket and will replace Russian-made engines on ULA launchers.

7i f DECEMBER 2017

Middle East carrier Qatar Airways has acquired a 9.6% interest in Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways. Qatar Airways already holds a 20% stake in the International Airlines Group, 10% of LATAM Airlines Group and 49% of Italian airline Meridiana.

BAE Systems has reported that it has successfully conducted a series of MBDA Brimstone missile live firing trials as part

of integration work with the Eurofighter Typhoon. Evaluation by the RAF is planned for mid-2018 with IOC in 2019. SpaceX has now revealed a provisional first launch deadline for its heavy-lift rocket – the Falcon Heavy. A static fire test is planned for mid-December, with a launch scheduled for no-earlier than 29 December from Pad LC-39A at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Textron Aviation has won an order for 11 aircraft from Babcock Scandinavian Air Ambulance. To be used to support air ambulance missions in Norway, the order comprises ten modified Beechcraft King Air 250 turboprops and the first medevac-configured Cessna Citation Latitude midsize bizjet.

COMAC has now shifted flight testing of its C919

airliner to Xian Yanliang, after five test flights of the first prototype from its factory in Shanghai. It has also powered-up the engines on the second of six C919 prototypes, with a flight expected by the end of the year.

United Airlines ended 47 years of 747 operations with a final jumbo farewell flight on 7 November from San Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii. Delta Air Lines, meanwhile, is set to

operate its last 747-400 service later this month on 17 December.

Saab’s new Gripen E fighter has flown its first supersonic flight. The Mach 1+ flight took place on 18 October over the Baltic Sea. .Airbus Space has been selected to build two all-electric powered geostationary communication satellites for TurkSat.

Public consultation on Heathrow re-opens

AIR TRANSPORT

@aerosociety Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

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DEFENCE

China's Shenyang Aerospace University has flown an updated version of its two-seat RX1E electric GA aircraft. The RX1E-A, which made its first flight on 1 November from Caihu airport, Shenyang,

AEROSPACE

Improved Chinese electric aircraft takes off

Airbus A330neo maiden flight

extends the previous model's endurance from

45minutes to two hours.As well as improved endurance from the previous

model which was put into production

in 2016, the RX1E-A also features a ballistic parachute for emergencies.

KC-390 in stall test incident

One of Embraer’s KC-390 military transport prototypes suffered an in-flight incident and loss of altitude during ice-shape stall testing on 12 October, with the crew returning to base early according to the manufacturer. Details were sparse and in a statement, the Brazilian OEM said that ‘decreased lift force caused an altitude loss’ with the crew recovering safely to Gavião Peixoto, Brazil. The incident is expected to have no impact on the programme schedule with the KC-390 set to enter service in 2018.

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The public consultation on the development of a third runway at Heathrow Airport has been re-opened after new evidence on sustainability and environmental impact. Fresh research from the UK's Department for Transport on impact of the

third runway on air quality and noise means that the

public consultation, initially closed in May, on the draft airports national policy statement

(NPS) has now been reopened and extended

until 19 December. Final proposals for expansion are expected to be published by the DfT in early 2018.

Airbus has flown its first A330-900neo variant on 19 October from Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in southwestern France. Powered by Rolls-Royce’s new Trent 7000 engines, the A330-900 is due to receive type certification in mid-2018 before entering service with initial operator TAP Portugal.

GENERAL AVIATION

Xinhua


The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has called upon the FAA) to add medical requirements to balloon pilot certificates. The request follows a NTSB investigation into a crash on 30 July 2016 in which a sightseeing balloon crashed into powerlines killing the pilot and 15 passengers. The NTSB report concludes that the pilot had a medical condition which impaired his judgement.

Airbus has completed the sale of MRO company Vector Aerospace to StandardAero.Vector, which supplies support for engines, components, fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft will be merged under the StandardAero name.

Scandinavian carrier Finnair is to ask passengers to voluntarily be weighed with their carry-on luggage before boarding flights from

Helsinki-Vantaa airport. The aim is to gather data for weight and balance calculations.

The German Navy is to continue flying its fleet of eight Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft until 2035. The aircraft are to undergo a $158m upgrade over the next five years to be fitted with new airborne tactical mission systems, including structural upgrades, updated cockpit

systems and new acoustic processors.

Orbital ATK successfully launched its first Minotaur-C rocket for six years on 31 October carrying ten commercial Earth-imaging spacecraft for Planet Labs. The Minotaur-C rocket is a redesigned version of the Taurus XL launcher, which failed to reach orbit in March 2011 when carrying a NASA climate research satellite.

ExecuJet has announced plans to relocate its Dubai fixed-base operations (FBO) and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations to a single facility at Dubai new Al Maktoum Airport.

Boeing and Kuwaiti aircraft leasing company ALAFCO finalised a $2bn order for 20 737 MAX 8s at the 2017 Dubai Air Show. The order was first announced at the Paris Air Show in July.

AIR TRANSPORTAEROSPACE

Bombardier has announced a new order for 31 of its CSeries aircraft plus an additional 30 options – a deal worth $2.4bn at list prices and doubling to $4.8bn if all options are taken. The as yet

UK Defence Minister Harriet Baldwin revealed that UK F-35B test pilots have now successfully completed ground-based ski-jump trials, ahead of the first at sea trials with HMS Queen Elizabeth in late 2018. The trials, carried out by British pilots in the F-35 Integrated Test Force at US Navy's Pax River base in Maryland saw “100 ski jump launches

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in nine different weapons configurations” according to F-35B test pilot Sqn Ldr Andy Edgell. Simulator work in the UK at BAE Systems Warton will now be used to de-risk the more challenging parts of the envelope, with an executive review board, approving the execution of First of Class flight trials set for March 2018.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Mystery European airline signs for CSeries

DEFENCE

Electric airliner company named top aerospace start-up

undisclosed European customer has signed a

letter of intent with a final purchase agreement expected before the

end of the year. Bombardier’s Q3

results show an increased net loss from $94m in 3Q 2016 down to $117m.

Uber to partner with NASA for VTOL aerial taxi ATM

Ride-sharing taxi service Uber is to partner with NASA to accelerate its vision of 'on demand' VTOL urban aerial mobility. It has signed an agreement

for the development of unmanned traffic management with the goal of trialling UberAir 'flying taxis' in Los Angeles in 2020.

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California-based start-up Ampaire has won the top prize in the global aerospace category in the 2017 Hello Tomorrow Global Summit Deep Tech Challenge. The start-up aims to initially retrofit turboprop models, while it is working on zero-emission electric aircraft with an innovative tailless rear propulsor.

UK F-35B ski jump tests complete

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Gavin Williamson is the new UK Secretary of State for Defence, replacing Sir Michael Fallon.

Airbus has named C Jeffrey Knittel to be the new Chairman and CEO of Airbus Americas. He takes over from current CEO Barry Eccleston in February 2018.

Euro Jet has appointed

ON THE MOVE

SPACEFLIGHT


INFOGRAPHIC: Emirates receives 100th A380

Sweden starts process to acquire Patriot SAM

AEROSPACE

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AIR TRANSPORT

Behare Hallaqi as the new Country Manager for Albania and Kosovo.

Honeywell Aerospace has named Sathish Muthukrishnan as its new Chief Digital and Information Officer.

easyJet has appointed Johan Lungren, former Deputy CE at TUI as its new CEO.

Chris Allam is to be the new UK Managing Director for MBDA.

DEFENCECranfield opens integration R&D centre

Sweden is to boost its air defences with the decision to begin negotiations to acquire the US Raytheon Patriot SAM system. Stockholm plans to add the $1.2bn acquisition of the medium range air defence system to its 2018 budget bill, with first delivery in 2020 and for the system to be operational by 2025. Raytheon has now sold Patriot to 13 customers,

with Romania the latest nation to be recently cleared to purchase the system. The decision to acquire Patriot saw the US SAM system selected over a rival offering, SAMP/T from Europe's Eurosam consortium, with both systems being trialled in a Swedish military excercise in September. Once in service, Patriot will replace the aging HAWK SAM used by Sweden.

On 18 October, Cranfield University officially opened its new £35m Aerospace Integration Research Centre (AIRC). Co-funded by Airbus and Rolls-Royce, along with contributions from the Higher Education Funding Council for

England (HEFCE), the AIRC features state-of-the-art laboratories and simulators to research next-generation ATM, UAVs, robotics and automation, along with wing and propulsion integration for future aircraft designs.

Saudi invests $1bn into Virgin GalacticThe Government of Saudi Arabia is planning to invest $1bn into commercial space company Virgin Galactic with an option

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to invest an additional $0.5bn. The Virgin Group and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia signed a non-binding

MoU. The aim is to form a partnership which will support Virgin Galactic’s human spaceflight projects, Virgin Orbit’s manufacturing and operational capabilities and develop low-cost small satellite launch systems and commercial supersonic capabilities. It also includes plans to develop a 'space-centric' entertainment industry in Saudi Arabia.


antenna:

C onfirmation during October that Airbus has done what appeared to be a fascinating life-saving deal with Bombardier, whereby the European aircraft maker would acquire a

50.01% interest in the CSeries Aircraft Limited Partnership (CSALP), a deal that would leave Bombardier and Investissement Quebec (IQ) holding just approx 31% and 19% interests respectively in the CSeries commercial aircraft programme, came not only as a complete surprise but, on the face of it, was a complete ‘volte-face’ on the part of Airbus.

Made in America?

Naturally, Bombardier will be hoping that the Airbus plan to manufacture CSeries aircraft at the Mobile, Alabama, plant in the US will negate reasons behind the US Department of Commerce decision to back Boeing’s dumping complaint and the subsequent announced intention to impose a 300% tariff on each CSeries aircraft that the Canadian-based company sells to a US-based airline. Well, if that is so, they might need to think again.

Global Outlook and Analysis with HOWARD WHEELDON

CSeries – bright future or living on borrowed time?

The Bombardier/Airbus agreement has seemingly been built around Airbus providing sales, marketing and customer support, all of which are thought likely to reduce costs, together with the intention that Airbus would also build the CSeries at its Alabama factory. Concern remains not only on what happens next in this regrettable dispute but also on whether the Airbus plan has merit and that the business case makes sense.

On the face of it, due to the EU, US and Canada being bound by a WTO Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft Parts that allows for duty-free transfer and entry of 250 specified civil aircraft parts, Airbus and Bombardier clearly believe that with Airbus taking a majority partnership in CSeries and, if intentions by Airbus are as they seem, the deal provides a neat and final solution to the vexing CSeries problems that had risked bringing parent company Bombardier to its knees.

Rules of trade

However, caution would suggest that, with Bombardier still open to the claim that trade laws have been broken, Boeing and the US Department of Commerce could well yet claim that the WTO Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft Parts no longer has meaning. If that was to occur there could still be big trouble ahead.

So what might Boeing and the US do next in this dispute? At the time of writing, neither Boeing nor the US Department of Commerce have placed any new cards on the table but, being mindful of the old adage ‘hell hath no fury as a [woman] scorned’, perhaps Bombardier and Airbus would do as well to anticipate a sting in the tail emerging from the US.

Brazilian deal?

Some have gone so far as to suggest that, with Airbus having established a much closer relationship with Bombardier, Boeing might seek to do a deal with the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. While such a scenario is, of course, possible, on balance, I am not quite sure how this might benefit, although clearly it would put some further pressure on both Airbus and Bombardier.

Throughout the Boeing/Bombardier debacle it has been little realised that approximately

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Will US carrier Delta Air Lines ever see its order for the CSeries?

DECEMBER 2017@aerosociety Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com 11i f

AIRBUS MAY HAVE SEEMINGLY GOT SOMETHING FOR NOTHING IN BUYING HALF OF CSERIES BUT THE JURY WILL BE THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND

50% of CSeries component parts are already manufactured in the US. If it was really hell bent on destroying CSeries, might the US attempt to turn the component supply tap off? Politically, such a scenario would surely be fraught with difficulty, as it would be US jobs in various states that would be hit.

More demand needed

Developed at a reported cost of $6bn, of which Airbus in theory have acquired a 50.01% stake for just $1 and, given the slow CSeries sales success outside of Canada and the Delta sale, it is hardly surprising that some commentators believe that the future for the CSeries will remain troubled. Airbus may have seemingly got something for nothing in buying half of CSeries but the jury will be the law of supply and demand.

With a total order book of 390 CSeries from 18 airline operators (including 75 ordered by Delta and a 30 firm + 30 options from an undisclosed European carrier), no matter what price Delta paid for its aircraft, the probability is that achieving break-even on CSeries is now closer to 1,000 aircraft rather than 500. Even then, much will depend on whether the US walks away from the WTO Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft and, even if it remains, I suspect ways will be found of imposing higher tariff charges on components that are outside of the list of 250 specified parts. Airbus may well have come to the rescue of Bombardier in the nick of time but that doesn’t mean Bombardier has yet won the war.

On the other side of the coin it is worth asking whether, even if Boeing and the US Department of Commerce did nothing, Airbus has damaged its own market position? Without doubt, Airbus has, by what it has chosen to do, usurped Boeing but what of the cost and risk to the European aircraft maker itself?

While, technically, doing a deal in which it has taken a majority 50.01% stake in CSeries has cost Airbus nothing, the cost of tooling a second aircraft type line at the Mobile, Alabama, plant is potentially very large. In the process, just as Boeing had done when it acquired McDonnell Douglas in the late nineties when it took on the smaller MD-82/83 aircraft development that would become the Boeing 717 which failed to sell in sufficient numbers, it seems to me that Airbus has added an airliner that, due to its size, is unlikely to sell that well. Indeed, it is worth recalling that the Bombardier CSeries effectively competes with the Airbus A319, the smallest airliner in production in the Airbus stable and for which orders over the past year have been few and far between. Now it seems, Airbus has to attempt to sell a second small commercial aircraft and one that, in this case, has been designed and built to different standards with no commonality to the larger family.

Uncertain future

Airbus has clearly taken on a huge risk in doing what it has with CSeries and, although this is probably a little different to the one that I believe Bombardier attempted to do with Boeing a year ago, an approach that was apparently turned down on the basis that it made no business sense, I wish them well.

I wish Bombardier well too and having recently missed out on the hoped for merger of its rail unit with those of Germany’s Siemens, due apparently to the latter’s reluctance to cede control of the business which in turn has allowed France’s Alstom to do a similar deal with Siemens, it would be nice to hope that the deal struck with Airbus marks the turning point for Bombardier as well. The pity is that I believe that there may be further bad news to come.

Are Boeing and Airbus about to go head-to-head over trading regulations?

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TransmissionLETTERS AND ONLINE

fOn the subject of improving future flight training, it should be remembered that airline industry practice in the past 20 years has caused a marked deterioration in basic flying skills. We are all aware that serious accidents have been caused by pilots who no longer know how to fly manually. Some airlines insist that their pilots engage the automatics immediately after the landing gear is up and that they remain on until a couple of hundred feet AGL or an autoland is carried out. Disconnecting the autopilot, unless for a very good reason, is frowned upon and in some cases, lead to disciplinary action. Any captain who is not capable of actually flying his/her aircraft manually at any time during the flight, should the need arise, can hardly be called a captain. I have been saying this since 1980 when I was an instructor and check

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Pilot training and flying skills(1)

Should drone pilots get medals?(2)

Have modern pilot training methods led to a deterioration in basic flying skills?

pilot on DC-10s. Does increased manual flight practice on a simulator deal with this problem? To a certain extent, yes – in the shape of the basic flight manoeuvres but we have to take into account the mental attitude of a captain who suddenly, with no first hand online practice of manual flying, is faced with a problem that forces him/her to manually fly the plane AND deal with the emergency that caused the problem. Only occasional

online practice of hand flying can give a pilot confidence in dealing with such situations. The trend has been in some cases for pilots to waste valuable time in an emergency that calls for manual flying, in desperately trying to get the automatics to work instead of the golden rule of ‘flying the plane’. Decision making for pilots has also deteriorated. An example of this was when I was invited to the cockpit of a Boeing 777 and one

engine suffered a drop in oil pressure with a sharp temperature rise. The captain observed this but took no action. “I can’t shut it down until the red light comes on,” he said. It did a little later, then he did shut the engine. He then, only one hour out of base, asked to be phone patched to the Director Flight Operations for permission to turn back. Such decisions are obvious and captains should be able to make them without fear of repercussions from the Head Office. If airline flight training is to be improved in the future, we must take some lessons from the past and bring some online manual flight handling into the picture and put the emphasis on pilots being captains, not minions who call for help in an emergency and say: “What do I do now, sir?”

Johnny Sadiq

No, they shouldn’t. Not unless they’re physically in theatre. Since when do we give medals for mental stress? I’ve just moved house, that was stressful, pop my medal in the post.

Wez Healy

The RAF get medals for lesser things than flying a drone so why not?

Eric Edwards

They’ll be wanting ‘flying pay’ next...

Tim Brown

If you’re under fire and a drone pilot saves your life WHY not? The World is changing, adapt or fail.

David B Jones

It was comical enough giving them wings but a medal would be hilarious. Love the idea of a Digital DFC.

Clive Tillotson

Hang on now: a drone operator actually gets WINGS?! What on earth for?

Christian Goossen

We have been saying the same things for years now. The experts all agree that something needs to be done, urgently. But what have we done? Besides some rather exotic pilot programs in EBT, some of them with good outcomes, others with bad outcomes, not much. Initiatives like MPL and EBT, however cleverly designed and intended well, are

often misunderstood and abused by training organisations. Ill planned implementation and lack of follow up has dented the reputation of these fantastic programs. But foremost, while on certain levels these types of changes have been heavily advocated and promoted, the industry in general has failed to follow and adapt. No matter how strongly these new processes are promoted by RAeS and experts alike, and even with the simulator manufacturers carefully adapting and re inventing their tools, as long as training is profit driven, as long as students are self-funded and as long as the aviation industry is purely

cost driven with operators looking at pilots as easy to replace drivers, we will see what we are seeing today: nothing basically changes!

Kim Verbraeken

Great reading. Thanks for sharing.

Victor Fernandes

Has anyone looked at the impact that this requirement for many more pilots would have on the underlying piston engine training that makes up the preliminary training? Many times we hear that the piston fleet is becoming older and less reliable.

Dave Stanbridge

In the US the military is now calling for 1,000 retired pilots to return, therefore this only adds to the commercial shortages we are experiencing.

Lori Brown FRAeS

It’s a thing called ‘shortage’ which is basically pushing for compromises in quality training. Industry is capable of planning quality training but it’s been compromised due to ‘shortage’. In fact, out of safety and training, the latter is already made profitable by means of training cost and signing of 3-5 year bond/contracts.

Jagjit Sandhu

i f@aerosociety linkedin.com/raes facebook.com/raes www.aerosociety.com 13DECEMBER 2017

OnlineAdditional features and content are available to view online at http://media.aerosociety.com/aerospace-insight

1. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/training-for-the-new-millennium/2. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/should-drone-pilots-get-medals/

@aerosociety Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook. www.aerosociety.comi f

@BAESystemsAir Two of our engineers have had a paper on the use of anechoic chambers published in October’s @AeroSociety Journal.

Tim Peake at Cool Aeronautics

Medals for drone pilots?(2)

@David_Hambling Obviously yes but what about autonomous drones?

@DarenSorenson Mental Health With Valour Award. Sure.

A MQ-9 Reaper pilot controls an aircraft from Creech Air Force Base, Nevada.

British ESA astronaut Tim Peake talks to children at the RAeS Cool Aeronautics Day on 9 November.

Beluga XL lecture at Chester Branch

German Eurofighter replacement

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@GearuptvLizm These guys are ALWAYS worth following. @AeroSociety Proud of any involvement we’ve had with you – the work you do is invaluable for aviation.

RAeS paper on career perceptions

Pub quiz winnersRAeS conference on future of GA airfields

Paper in RAeS The Aeronautical Journal

@TrottersDan Presume UK will be doing the same then? Will we see another collaboration between the UK and Germany etc? Or could it be possible that BAE will go it alone do you think? I’d like to believe BAE would be up for designing and building their own. Wishful thinking?

@RJCasey Incredibly insightful lecture at the Chester Branch on the Beluga XL overrsize transport. Sounds like a gargantuan challenge for a gargantuan aircraft, with some interesting milestones ahead. Not looking forward to Hawarden’s runway closing though.

@shootersix Awesome ... and I’d like to speak to someone about a Beluga caviar order.

@AARCORP Proud to help inspire the next generation of aviators and astronauts through #education #DoingItRight #STEM.

@EmeraldMedia Terrific initiative @AeroSociety today 90 primary school kids from Tottenham #coolaeronautics2017 #space.

@SpacefundJo Fabulous day at @AeroSociety with #TeamTim @astro_timpeake.

@astro_timpeake One of the best #AskAnAstronaut Q&A sessions so far – thanks for the brilliant questions this afternoon #CoolAeronautics.

@jumbo747pilot Would have loved to hear this. Working on a project that will support mitigation of many of the threats facing the #GeneralAviation sector.

@roblaur32 Let’s hope they make some progress, there are far too many airfields under threat. Manston is still closed but a DCO is progressing.

@WinAir_Software Should #Drone #Pilots get medals? The @AeroSociety examines lecturer’s recent query.

@yvemor Very interesting article.

@panzermatt No

@gregbagwell Well-deserved recognition is long overdue and should be back dated to Afghanistan.

@Rob_Densmore Not killing innocent people seems like something worth ‘obsessing’ over but don’t spill your coffee over worthless lives on my behalf.

@stuartroxy They look after the good guys and they kill the bad guys. That’s got to be worth a campaign medal.

was called to debate challenges and solutions. In 2015 there were 124 licensed airfields; now two years later there are only 100, with others under threat. Unlicensed airfields, too, feel pressure from developers keen to use them for building land.

However, the time for lobbying could not be better, according to Andy Kirby of the Department for Transport. The matter has genuinely caught the attention of ministers. The Government published its consultation document Beyond the horizon – The future of UK aviation(1) in July as the start of a conversation aimed at a new aviation strategy to be published at the end of 2018. In addressing the Conference, the Aviation Minister announced the appointment of a new GA Czar by the DfT to champion the cause – name to be announced. “The fight back has begun.”

Conference Chairman, Laurie Price, set the day’s objective to gather messages from the 80 delegates to send to Government to help formulate policy in this vital sector.

14 AEROSPACE / DECEMBER 2017

GENERAL AVIATIONUK airfields

The future of UK airfields

You are just too good,” said Grant

Shapps, “the problem with General Aviation is that it does not complain, it just gets on with the job.” Consequently, its sponsoring Government department,

the Department for Transport, had not realised that GA needs its help.

The Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP was opening the RAeS conference to discuss ‘The Future of UK Airfields’ at Hamilton Place on 24 October. He has been a strong advocate for GA in the UK over past years and championed the GA Red Tape Challenge. Now he is Chair of the new All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation, already supported by 70 members from across both Houses.

Regrowing the network

Faced with increasing airfield closures, the issue of protecting and starting to re-grow our airfield network is a number one priority. This conference

THE PROBLEM WITH GENERAL AVIATION IS THAT IT DOES NOT COMPLAIN, IT JUST GETS ON WITH THE JOB

Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP

JOHN ROBERTSON MRAeS, Vice-Chair of the RAeS GA Group reports onthe RAeS conference on the future challenges and solutions for UK airfields.

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VAT. Flying training is the only UK training subject to VAT. VAT on Avgas increases cost for no corresponding Government sector investment – whie motor vehicle fuel taxation is notionally used for road programmes, there is no equivalent investment of aviation fuel tax revenues. It could be used to underwrite UK flying training. (Quoting AOPA – a mile of runway can take you to the world)

Securing Government engagement – Advice is to approach Government with “robust clarity”. Quantify arguments, provide detail, give definitions, draw comparisons with best international practice; clarify statements – don’t say “training should be cheaper”, saying “removing the 20% VAT rate” is more specific.

At the local level, the importance of good communication with local planners was a recurring theme; explaining the specific needs and opportunities of aviation helps planners to understand the whole picture. FlyPlymouth, recommended taking things one step at a time.

Aviation training contributing – Training within GA can be particularly valuable. Small aircraft operations are a microcosm of larger ones, so a budding pilot or engineer can apply knowledge gained in the GA sector for a faster and increased appreciation of commercial air transport.

Connectivity – There are currently about 500 airfields in the UK of which some 100 are licensed, plus perhaps a further 200 private farm airstrips. They are regularly used by general aviation but not, as yet, connected to provide a viable useful commercial network. Not all airfields have the same value to the network; this will be studied on behalf of the DfT following the GA Red Tape Challenge Panel recommendations, which will in turn lead to specific policy and planning recommendations.

Airfields under threat

Throughout the morning the conference heard short talks from the General Aviation Awareness Council, Light Aircraft Association (LAA), British Gliding Association, Aircraft Operators and Pilots Association (AOPA UK) and others, outlining the challenges and potential solutions. Based on topics from these talks, the afternoon was devoted to round table discussion groups who reported back with views and key policy messages for Government.

Highlights from the morning were the degree of concern regarding the closure of airfields; their vulnerability in the face of financial pressures from developers keen to develop airfields currently classified as ‘brown field’; the need for legal protection for sites and operators; the difficulties of communicating with local government planners where policy guidance between prioritising building and transport remains unclear, convincing Government at national level of the advantages of an aviation transport network based around existing airfields; and the need for airfield operators to diversify activities to build successful businesses. Looking ahead, the continuing need for a guaranteed airfield infrastructure seems clear, with new technologies such as electrically-powered, autonomous vehicles emerging that will need support; and ongoing opportunities for training and manufacturing with high skill jobs. The Conference heard of renewed calls for aviation services epitomised by FlyPlymouth’s initiative to re-open Plymouth airport and the opportunities presented by Single Engine Operations in IMC (SEIMC).

The challenges

Summary of the afternoon’s discussions and conclusions:

Securing airfields under threat – GA airfields are an essential part of the UK transport infrastructure network underwriting the UK economy, an importance recognised by Government who are commissioning a study into the value of the UK Airfield network. GA airfields will be essential to developing and hosting new technology such as electric aircraft and drones to relieve road congestion and pollution. 90% of point to point business aviation use airfields that have no regular scheduled commercial air services, there is an opportunity to improve on that.

Taxation – VAT on UK flight training – We need a level playing field, as few EU countries impose

Left: Wellsbourne Airport control tower.

A presentation from Pauline Vahey, Director of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Associaton UK.


Diversification – It is recognised that each airfield is different with no single solution for diversification applicable to all. Airfield ownership is important – if it is privately owned, that allows a degree of self-determination but at the risk of disruption with a change of ownership.

Establishing a trust was considered more secure and encourages longer-term investment, as would getting a local authority involved in partnership.

The need for concerted public engagement and communication to increase awareness of the value and purpose of GA was considered essential. Sport flying is not just for the rich but is a pastime to be enjoyed by all and provides a valuable recruiting ground for the broader industry.

A range of initiatives was proposed to encourage interest in aviation including education courses – STEM training, practical hands-on workshop training (such as at the LAA rally) and professional mentoring; and holding of public events – fly-ins, air shows etc, albeit within recognised safety guidelines. It was agreed that GA needed to do more to promote its role and importance and emulate TV programmes about airlines by producing a film about UK GA.

Environment and ecology – Airfields are currently classed as brown field sites but most airfields have significant areas of grassland, providing habitats for flora and fauna. As such they might be better classified as ecological sites.

With increasing vehicle electrification, there are opportunities for parts of airfields to be used as solar parks along with other energy saving means.

Economic development – UK GA has been in decline with an ageing clientele. Young people should be encouraged into aviation. GA’s value to the UK economy is £3bn but, with active policy and investment that could double or treble, particularly if the UK developed training programmes to meet the forecast worldwide demand for 600,000 pilots and a similar number of engineers over the next 30 years. Government should underwrite an advertising campaign to promote the value of and opportunities offered by GA to the UK economy.

Tax breaks should be offered to facilitate economic development, employment and diversification through reduction in business rates for airfields.

GENERAL AVIATIONUK airfields

In line with the Government’s objective of ‘making the UK the best country in the world for GA’, and exploiting our expertise in flight training, we should aim to make the UK the training hub for the world, promoting economic added-value aviation offers for students.

The UK is good at producing high quality manufactured components for international collaborative aerospace programmes based on its skilled workforce. The UK should capitalise on that record by investing in and marketing an increased range of aircraft components.

Community and airfields as a catalyst – Airshows are one of the top three spectator attractions in the UK, providing a family event across society.

Increased airport security means there are fewer opportunities for young people to get close to aircraft and aviation and be inspired. Yet, GA airfields provide the foundation for employment and training for engineers, pilots, electronics specialists, technicians and others. Hands on airfield work experience provides young aspirants access to the opportunities in a high tech, exciting sector. The Build-a-Plane initiatives with schools has helped focus young minds on the work of science and technology and potential careers for both genders. Youngsters inspired in this way become airline pilots, engineers and other aviation professionals bringing vital new blood into aviation.

Regulation and legal issues – There is an increasing problem and perceived risk of liability to an aerodrome operator. One airfield owner, Martin Jones, confirmed that ultimately the buck stops with him. To encourage the retention and development of the UK airfield network, it was suggested there should be a code of practice that limits the liability for aerodrome operators and provides legal protection. This could be similar to the liability protection adopted for the early airlines, before international protocols were adopted.

A change in regulation that would cost the Government nothing is a change in the £3m turnover threshold for airfields in the context of development planning. Small airfield development is heavily penalised when compared with larger airports, which means disproportionately high

From left to right: Pilot training; LAA 2017 Rally at Sywell; Plymouth Airport.

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consultation and legal fees, inhibiting investment and innovation.

Airfields – a springboard for new aviation technology and services – More permissive regulation such as permitting single-engine turboprops (SEIMCT) operations will open up new air service opportunities. Encouraging new business models like Surf Air and Wheels Up will facilitate new market development and increased UK inter regional connectivity at lower cost, while facilitating improved global hub connections from hitherto uneconomic markets.

A further area attracting considerable interest is new drone technology and electrically powered aircraft. These will require infrastructure to support their operation and future growth. The existing UK airfield network provides the space and facilities required for operation, training, development and maintenance to meet the forecast growth as and when it occurs.

In the medium term there is a potential manufacturing opportunity to meet the market requirement for small feeder airliners of 19 to 30 seats. Aircraft such as the ATR 42, Saab 340 and Dash 8-200 are ageing and will need to be replaced with new types including those that can use shorter runways, albeit smaller capacity aircraft, such as the SEIMC Cessna Caravan and PC12, may fill such a role.

Case studies

Wellesbourne Airfield in Warwickshire was introduced by Capt Bill Leary having won its case against closure three years ago. He spoke with evangelical fervour about their campaign keywords to RETAIN, MAINTAIN and ENHANCE, as a blueprint for achieving a thriving aviation business.

An earlier presentation highlighted the campaign to re-open Plymouth airport, which is looking positive with increasing local support.

Demographic profile and securing young people’s interest

Too few young people are attracted to aviation. Airfields have an important role to encourage young people to take an interest in aviation. Government

should seek to balance its education and training policy such as STEM, with that of airfield security.

The aviation community should do more to give young people hands-on flight experience as exemplified by the EAA’s Young Eagles scheme.

The increasing shortage of flying instructors must be addressed; the possibility of introducing a scheme for professional pilots to take a ‘tour of duty’ as instructor should be reviewed.

The GA voice A criticism of UK GA is that there are many, sometimes divergent, voices from different parts of the GA community, called an ‘alphabet soup’ of organisations. However, they are part of one complex whole and aviation is complex. This can leave UK GA vulnerable as detractors seek to divide the factions.

The aviation community needs a unified voice to Government and planners, to address the apparent national/local disconnect. There was a suggestion that the RAeS is well placed to act as the focal point.

Just as the GA community has numerous voices, there is a need for Government to co-ordinate its policy on aviation across different Ministries. The appointment of the DfT GA Czar should help achieve this.

In summing up, Andy Kirby of DfT referred to Government aviation policy papers over the past 15 years and notably the General Aviation Strategy in 2015. The Beyond the horizon aviation consultation this year was the first stage in securing a new Aviation Strategy by the end of 2018. Government recognises that GA has an important role within the new Aviation Strategy and encouraged the sector to respond to the next phase of the Consultation process.

In closing, Laurie Price invited anyone who considered there were key issues outstanding to forward them to the Society’s conference department, to be included in the summary of the Conference which would be forwarded to the DfT.

(1) https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/636625/aviation-strategy-call-for-evidence.pdf

From left to right: Motor glider at Wellesbourne; Shoreham Airport buildings; sunset at Wellesbourne airfield.

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James Dillon-Godfray, Head of Business Development, London Oxford Airport.

the FBO facilities for the new user base which the industry might be pursuing. There may also be a need for other ground infrastructure, such as transportation.”

SETOp rules

EASA rules for SETOps are rather different from those in US, Canada and the Antipodes, Dillon-Godfray explained. Aircraft operating these services will require in-depth engine trend monitoring and there will be more flight planning required for each scheduled route. Moreover, European rules specify the need for a safe landing site within a 15 minute gliding time, so some routes will not be permissible because of the need to have such sites all along the route.

Thus far, the Pilatus PC-12, Daher TBM 900 and 930, and the Cessna Caravan are the certified aircraft for these flights. “The operating economics will be very good so, for everyone who dismisses them there will be several more who won’t give two hoots. The massive productivity gains they offer could be


BUSINESS AVIATIONSETOPS Conference

Ready, SET, go!

If a theme tune were required for advocates of single-engine turboprop commercial service operations in Europe, those selecting it would surely look no further than the words of Sam Cooke: ‘It’s been a long, a long time coming,

but I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will’. That change is now under way, as those gathered for the SETOps Conference at the RAeS on 29 September heard from speakers looking forward to a new era.

Just because clearance has now been given for such flights does not mean there will be vast numbers of operators flooding the market. However, as James Dillon-Godfray, Head of Business Development, London Oxford Airport, noted, once in commercial service, single-engined turboprops (SETs) will be able to access three times the number of airfields than jets and 10,000 more airfields than airlines.

“These smaller airfields will be closer to the required destination and have cheaper fees. But they won’t necessarily have the capability for all-weather ops,” Dillon-Godfray remarked. “Also, few may have

Changes to European regulations mean that single-engined turbopropshave a new opportunity for commercial services, the prospects for whichwere discussed at a recent RAeS conference. BERNIE BALDWINlooks at some of the highlights.

Above left to right: A Quest Kodiak, a Daher TBM 900 and a Pilatus PC-12NG.

Opposite page below: Piper M600.

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Piper M600


market. It’s much easier to have a market and develop a product to meet the market need,” he advocated.

Kyle Martin, Director of European Regulatory Affairs for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), remarked that it had been a ‘great shame’ that two of the biggest manufacturers in this field – Daher and Pilatus – have had to export so much from Europe and that the new regulation will help their development further. “Onboard there will be new navigation apps for tablets and so on, which will help pilots automate the planning of their flights,” he noted as an example.

Looking at other aircraft which might join those currently authorised, Martin commented on the level of difficulty for manufacturers to get their aircraft approved. Giving the Piper M600 as an example, he indicated that, with a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-A engine (‘which has more than 350m flight hours’) plus a proven airframe, European clearance should be quick but he’s not sure it will be, so the process will be scrutinised closely.

Andrew Crawford, MD of New Zealand’s Sounds Air, which has operated single-engined IFR flights since 1998, warned that, while operations between small airports work well, connecting to large airports can be a problem. “Airports dislike passengers coming off PC-12s and would like to get rid of them,” he

declared. “Recently Auckland airport increased the parking fee for a PC-12

from NZ$200 a day to NZ$2,000 a day.”Finding a market where travellers were

interested in the service but were worried about owning assets, was what helped to create subscription service, Wheels Up, according to founding partner John Colucci. As for the value of such flights, he explained: “You can save more time, percentage-wise, on shorter trips. For example, on London-Paris, about three hours are saved (on the end-to-end journey), the same as on London–Tokyo by bizjet.”

Such productivity is the key message that Brian Humphries, Senior Advisor, European Business Aviation Association (EBAA), wants everyone but particularly manufacturers, to deliver. “Because they want to portray the aircraft as luxurious, the advertising is often not about working on the aircraft,” he noted, adding that the focus should be on the cost of using this travel option and the benefits and value it brings.

truly transformational for businesses,” Dillon-Godfray declared.

Richard Koe, Managing Director of WINGX Advance, reported that, over the past year, there has been an approximate 4% increase in the number of business aviation flights in both North America and Europe. In fact, the figures for Europe have beaten the level of activity in 2008 for the first time since the economic crash that year. Small jets have been powering this with more than 5% growth.

Koe noted that charter flights are creating the growth (under Part 135/AOC). Although turboprop and piston activity makes up approximately 40% of all such flights across Europe, the shares vary wildly across different countries.

“The certified aircraft have great flexibility,” Koe commented. “They have had 15%-20% year-on-year growth during summer 2017 in Europe. Only 10% of this is AOC (Air Operator Certificate) though. Within AOC activity, the August figure showed 70% growth. Additionally, these target aircraft are mainly operating during the week, whereas business jets have around 25% of their operations during the weekend.

With the discussion moving on to the next step now that SET IMC (instrument meteorological conditions) has been approved, Murray Law of the British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA) emphasised that, after accepting the industry maxim that safety is also paramount, any operation has to be commercially viable.

Cash prop

On the safety front, Law noted that in Brazil, there have been more than 5m hours of operations on 260 SET aircraft and, up to now, there have been no fatalities due to mechanical problems, pilot error and weather being given as the causes for 14 lives lost in accidents.

The question was raised as to whether one or two pilots should fly such services. Law argued that both are viable but that for single pilot operations, “anyone who spends $2m on an aircraft is not going to put it in the hands of a rookie”.

Regarding the financial aspect, Law was quick to stress that operators should not just rush into offering services in the belief that uptake will automatically be there. “Make sure you don’t have a product driving the

ONCE IN COMMERCIAL SERVICE, SINGLE-ENGINED TURBOPROPS (SETS) WILL BE ABLE TO ACCESS THREE TIMES THE NUMBER OF AIRFIELDS THAN JETS AND 10,000 MORE AIRFIELDS THAN AIRLINES.James Dillon-GodfrayLondon Oxford Airport

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The Future of Business Aviation Event, 24 April 2018, RAeS No.4 Hamilton Place, London W1

that had been implemented since his appointment. Giles Huby, MD of Copernicus Technology, spoke about ‘No Fault Found’ and ‘Fault not Found’ and how his company had developed test sets that were able to detect defects in systems that only last nanoseconds. He explained how a persistent defect was isolated in a wire bundle in one of the helicopters involved with oil rig support by using one of their test sets. He also spoke of their involvement with the US Department of Defense with the identification of intermittent fault detection and the formation of a joint-service working group, examples were given of considerable savings on avionic components suffering intermittent faults.


MRONew technology and innovation

Teaching MRO new tricks

Held on 5 September, the Airworthiness and Maintenance Group’s Conference was opened by Daniel Olufisan, Chairman of the Group, explaining and outlining the proceedings of the

day which involved a very busy programme of 12 speakers.

Detecting defects

The first speaker was Michael Adams, VP MRO Services Etihad Airways Engineering, who introduced the conference to his role and the philosophy behind his position and improvements

TREVOR GURD FRAeS from the RAeS Airworthiness and MaintenanceGroup reports on how the MRO industry is increasing efficiency andreducing costs using new technology and innovative solutions.

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Copernicus Technology


Advance notice of problems

A presentation given by Dr Ip-Shing Fan, Senior Lecturer in Enterprise Systems, spoke of the implication of digital aviation for airline and MROs. Pointing out the advantages of the digital communications in real time between the aircraft to the airline operations and the MRO stations, to plan solutions and solve issues as the aircraft lands, adding more effective use of equipment and down times.

LEAN principles

The presentation by Hadi Mohamed Shakir, Chief Technology Officer, GI Aerospace, covered the application of LEAN principles in a continued airworthiness management organisation (CAMO). Applying the LEAN processes and digital solutions can lead to cost saving and improved standards by the elimination of waste, maximising value through balancing work load and cutting out inefficient processes. Further values can be extracted by applying additional software solutions for predictive analytics, taking aircraft maintenance from a reactive model towards a proactive model of aircraft maintenance.

Damian Murphy from the University of Limerick, and Principal Trainer at Acclino, explained how, by using the LEAN principles, the time of an ‘A’ check on an A330 was reduced considerably. Using the analytic process of LEAN to look at inconsistent and unreliable procedures, the process could be streamlined, including redesign and repositioning of the aircraft equipment and surroundings during the check to reducing down times. These examples have been taken up by other airlines. Damian also spoke about ‘giving ownership’ to the problem and allowing solutions to be put forward. He gave an example in which a new wheel change vehicle was required which was put to the engineers who came up with new designs and details and even a purpose-built mobile workshop.

Automated tool control

Graeme Robertson, VP Airframe Services at Etihad Airways, gave a presentation on creating a business case for automated tool control technology based on staff efficiency and return of financial investment, together with the rearranging of the hangar equipment, demonstrating the advantages of staff involvement and ownership in the implementation of these improvements. He also added that staff engagement initiatives to safety management systems, lean hangar floor processes and the realisation of undiscovered talent, are also factors which, although less obvious, are just as important to any maintenance organisation.

Maurice Pelt, Lecturer-Researcher at the Amsterdam University of Applied Science, spoke about data mining in MROs. In co-operation with

Copernicus Technology intermittent fault detection and isolation system (IFDIS) testing an F-16 line replaceable unit (LRU).

Acclino has applied LEAN principles to aircraft maintenance.

Aircraft Logistics Information Systems.

Acclino

Lockheed Martin


the aviation industry, the University has initiated a two-year applied research project to see if using fragmented historical maintenance data can decrease maintenance costs and increase aircraft uptimes. The research is based on CRISP-DM (cross-industry process for data mining) methodology. By using case studies in different MRO markets it was possible to look at such topics as the optimal moment to change tyres depending on cycles, weight and runway lengths and the prediction of the likelihood of unplanned repairs and the duration of planned maintenance checks.

Mapping maintenance manuals

Another presentation, from Cranfield University, introduced a mapping tool to automate the matching process, as the maintenance information is presented in a wide variety of similar formats. While the main source of information is the aircraft manufacturer’s maintenance manual, each airline has their own Approved Maintenance Programme and work tasks would be re-structured to reflect

MRONew technology and innovation

the airline’s maintenance policy and customisation. At the moment, the matching process is labour intensive and takes considerable time and cost. It was pointed out that using this mapping tool can greatly reduce the time spent on matching tasks, significantly reducing the cost of bidding.

The presentation from Christopher Geiger, Chief Engineer at Lockheed Martin, covered The Next Generation in Aircraft Logistics Information Systems, which provided an overview into the latest concepts and technologies.

David Bruce, VP MRO DHL Supply Chain, spoke about the importance of the supply chain in supporting the aircraft maintenance organisation and how it is evolving. At present, the methods and setups have been around for many years, performing a good service, but the demands of aviation and aircraft maintenance, are placing increased financial and competitive pressures on organisations. It is a requirement for the supply chain to have a key role in these, supporting the changes and looking to future needs. An insight was given into how DHL is approaching these challenges with airline and MRO customers by introducing new technology in the supply chain design to build on today’s processes

From survey to new cabin design

Bernard Randerath, VP Design Engineering and Innovation at Etihad Airways, spoke about a survey conducted by the airline on the ‘wants and needs of today’s travellers’ and how

this was used to design a new cabin upgrade. There were many factors to be considered, such

as comfort, cabin environment and passenger expectation for the latest in cabin technology to

be at hand. Randerath explained how these factors were incorporated into the design – the Part 21J department producing the design in co-operation with the airline and the OEM and presenting it to the authority for approval – as well as locating suppliers. While the upgrade design is progressing, it is important that the MRO is informed, so that the planning and scheduling of the programme can move on and any implications it would have on the maintenance inputs. It was pointed out that there were many challenges to be solved between the original requirement and the aircraft leaving the MRO with the cabin upgrade and how these were overcome.

Ali Baghchehsara, R&D Engineer, VDev Systems and Services, covered the Integrated Vehicle Health Management System (IVHM) and how it can be developed to bring predicted scheduling modules to service and operation and use unexpected failures to build into the maintenance programme and reduce costs.

Lufthansa TechnikLufthansa Technik

CRISP-DM methodology. (Smart Vision Europe)

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test programme interrupted by ‘that’ crash (or more accurately a hard landing) on the second test flight which saw the Airlander receive light damage to the flight deck and cabin. “We did slightly bend the ship,” admited Barber ruefully. The incident, with no injuries at all, resulted in an investigation by correspondence by the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). It also saw organisational, training and CRM changes, along with enhanced risk identification at HAV, as well as technical changes to the vehicle.

Repaired and upgraded (it now has inflatable ‘fangs’ to prevent cabin damage in the future, along with other improvements, such as mooring line retrieval, improved presentation of heaviness, centre of gravity (CoG) and airspeed to the pilot), it returned to flight on 10 May this year with a flight lasting lasting nearly three hours and flew two more flights this year, the latest being on 4 July. So far, the total flight time now adds up to 11hrs and 30mins.


AIRSHIPSAirlander flight testing

Expanding the envelope

How do you go about flight testing the world’s biggest aircraft? Speaking at a Royal Aeronautical Society Flight Test Group Lecture on 14 September, Andrew Barber, Certification and

Flight Test Engineer (FTE), Hybrid Air Vehicles, gave an overview of flight test progress with the Airlander 10 over the past year and a half. He revealed that it had now completed the first phase of European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approved initial Airworthiness Release trials and HAV has received EASA approval to move onto the second phase, which will see longer, higher flights and more crew carried. He also revealed that the ‘frequency of the flights should start accelerating’, as HAV opens up the flight envelope. This next phase is imminent and will take place ‘before the end of the year’.

First flying on 17 August 2016, to date, the Airlander 10 has undertaken five flights, with the

At a RAeS Flight Test Group Lecture, Hybrid Air Vehicles detailed the flight test progress and next steps in flying one of world’s biggest and most innovative aircraft – the Airlander 10 hybrid airship. TIM ROBINSON reports.

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Handling

Unlike traditional lighter-than-air craft, Airlander in its current configuration handles much like a conventional aircraft, with a short ground roll to take-off and land. Enhanced thrust vectoring in the future will open up full VTOL capability.

On the ground, Airlander is also easier to handle than traditional airships, thanks to being slightly heavier than air. Vehicles such as the tracked mobile mooring mast, which, along with a tail ‘rollerskate’, allows the ship to weathervane into wind.

It’s all very gentle, all very slow, says Barber – take-off is made with the front engines vectoring thrust downward at less than 25kt. Touchdown is made with the aim of landing at 75ft per minute descent speed and about one and a half degrees nose up attitude, with the airship then gently settling on its skids. Equipped with control surfaces on the rear vertical and horizontal fins, Airlander also has thrust vectoring propulsor vanes that give slow-speed control (invented by one of the Cambridge PhDs working for HAV). While the airship has an aircraft-style control stick, this controls yaw rather than roll and the pilot has no rudder pedals. While the rest of the cockpit is conventional (two Garmin PFDs), engine gauges and power levers, two other gauges (showing hull pressure) indicate that this aircraft is somewhat different than others.

In flight, the experience is described as ‘eerily quiet’, according to HAV Chief Test Pilot, David Burns, who also enjoys an unparalleled view with floor to ceiling windows. Test flights this year have strayed no further than 10miles away from Cardington as far as Millbrook in the west, Henlow in the south and Tempsford in the NE. With only test flights taking place on a permit to fly, Airlander does not fly over congested areas, such as Bedford to the north.

Flight test data (approximately 4,000 data items) during these excursions is downlinked to around a dozen HAV engineers in the mobile command centre – a converted bus fitted out with mission control equipment. This, with flight test engineers stations (propulsion, structures and electrical) test director and test safety officer, acts as HAV’s ‘NASA Mission Control’ during the test flights.

HAV also uses a flight simulation training device, with touch screen displays and flight

The Airlander 10

For those unfamiliar with what now seems to be a regular tourist attraction in Bedfordshire (Barber jokes that every test flight has caused traffic jams as word spreads that a flight is imminent), HAV’s Airlander is a UK-designed and developed 92m long hybrid non-rigid airship. First flown as an axed US military project in 2012, it was taken to the UK and modified into the Airlander 10 at Cardington, the UK’s spiritual home of airships. Despite its ‘lighter-than-air’ designation, the Airlander is slightly heavier than air, aiding

ground handling. While helium provides buoyancy, Airlander’s

aerodynamic shape, says Barber,

“generates lift” and is “a lifting body like the Space Shuttle.” Equipped with four-ducted fan engines (two at the front pivot for thrust vectoring), fly-by-light controls and inflatable

‘skids’, the result is an air vehicle with unique

properties – slow

(almost) silent flight, long

endurance (up to five days), 10,000kg of cargo and the ability to land almost anywhere.

While airships may make some think of the1930s, in reality the Airlander is at the cutting edge of innovation. Its skin and pressure hull draws from the latest in materials science and spacesuit technology, while the fly-by-light control system not only saves weight but is impervious to lightning strikes.

Airlander is ultra-safe in other ways. Barber notes that presenting the safety system case to EASA was ‘quite difficult’, as there are ‘hardly any catastrophic cases’ that can be imagined for a lighter-than-air craft – almost everything is only ‘hazardous’. Even losing all avionics, he explains, would turn it from “an airship into a free balloon, which would then gently drift to earth.”

CHRIS DANIELS, MARKETING MANAGER AT HAV, SAYS HE SEES AN ‘UNLIMITED’ MARKET FOR THE PASSENGER AIRLANDER, ADDING THAT HE COULD SELL “THREE YEARS WORTH OF PRODUCTION IN A HOUR” TODAY IF IT IT WAS CERTIFICATED


dynamics and system models produced in-house to de-risk flight testing, with take-offs, landings and trimming all rehearsed beforehand.

Slow and steady wins the race

Five flights so far may not sound like much but it is important to remember three things. First is that HAV is flight testing an entirely new mode of transport – a hybrid airship – and are thus breaking new ground in aeronautics. Though today wind-tunnels, CFD modelling and simulations are extremely useful and have a level of fidelity that previous generations of aircraft designers would have been amazed at, they do not tell the whole story – particularly when there are no similar aircraft to learn from. As a result, the team is maintaining a cautious and a progressive approach with safety as a primary consideration. Weather restrictions and the need for very calm conditions for early flights also accounts for the prudent approach.

Second, is that each flight is, by other prototype standards at this very early stage of flight testing, quite long – with the three flights this year lasting around three hours each. In later flights this will expand to five and then eight-hour flights and, eventually, 48hr marathons, which (bar one-off record flights like Rutan’s Voyager which spent nine days aloft in a round-the world flight) will be unprecedented for manned aviation. In service, flights of up to five days will be possible.

Third – these two factors (a whole new type aircraft and extended test flights) means that each flight is producing data which requires a staggering amount of analysis by HAV’s small team - this data crunching requires ‘weeks’ rather than ‘days’. Flights

AIRSHIPSAirlander flight testing

over this summer have included more handling investigations and trialled new landing techniques, according to HAV’s Barber.

However, other lessons so far have proved encouraging. In particular, HAV has found that, thanks to the Airlander’s tough multilayer skin of Vectran weave, Tedlar, Mylar and polyurethane, the airship has proved more weather-resistant than predicted, with fewer visits inside the hangar and most maintenance done outside.

Future test plans

Looking ahead, the upcoming phase of flight tests, AWR 2a, will see the envelope expanded with day VFR flights – with the maximum altitude increased from 4,000ft to 7,000ft, the speed from 40kt to 50kt and the flight time extended to five hours, with the Airlander able to roam 75miles from its base. On these flights, four occupants (two pilots/two mission specialists/FTEs) will be carried, up from just the Chief Test Pilot and a FTE on the first five flights. Although the Airlander is capable of single-pilot operations, so far all flights have been flown with two on board – a pilot and FTE.

These flights will also see the Airlander flown not just to assess its qualities as a flying machine but as a mission platform. Barber revealed that cost-sharing customer trials will see mission equipment added to Airlander for flight testing in roles such as persistent wide-area surveillance and ISR. In comparison with ISR, other platforms, such as Reaper UAV, HAV points out the Airlander’s massive payload, volume and its electrical power capacity. (Indeed, Barber observed in his lecture that in WW1, WW2 and as recently as 1962, the Royal Navy and then the US Navy used airships for anti-submarine and maritime patrol.) First customer demos, says HAV, will be for ‘governmental’ customers.

Following on from this, an anticipated second phase (AWR 2b) of customer trials will see the Airlander flown at night under VFR rules, the ceiling raised to 10,000ft with the speed increased to 60kt. Flight time will also be increased with the goal of eight-hour sorties. More mission equipment too, says Barber, will be added for this phase.

Finally, AWR 3 will see ‘record breaking’ flights,

On 26 October Airlander announced partnership with Henry Cookson Adventures to provide ultra-high-end travel to locations such as the Grand Canyon or African Savannah and other exotic and exceptional locations. The luxury expedition company will demo the airship in 2018.


with Airlander flying in instrument meteorological conditons (IMC) and FIKI (flight into known icing conditions) to prove the Airlander’s all-weather capabilities. Barber points out that most airships certificated today are VFR only, with the only airships allowed to fly IFR developed by the team at Cardington. It will also see the pilots shut down two of its engines to cruise on the rear two, extending the flight time to 48 hours. Ceiling will be raised to 16,000ft, while on these flights up to nine occupants will be able to be carried. The third phase of flight testing will also see restrictions on range lifted completely. “We will be doing some very interesting things then,” hints Barber.

Indeed, the upcoming phase of longer flights, both day and night, the need for space and a requirement for access for customers, means that HAV is now moving from its home at Cardington to a new location later this year. Currently it shares the airfield with a film company that uses its giant hangar as a sound stage for blockbuster movies such as Star Wars The Force Awakens, Harry Potter and Batman. With movie sets keen on privacy these days, this obviously means extra restrictions on who can visit – and HAV having its own facilities at a new site will enable it to expand and grow in the future, without worrying about the neighbours. Cardington, though the home of lighter-than-air aviation is also fairly cramped – especially when one considers that, at some point in the future, HAV may need space to test and fly multiple Airlanders.

Interestingly, Barber also noted the rise of social media and its effects on flight test. The size and location of Airlander means it is carried out in the full glare of the public. HAV, therefore, maintains an active social media presence which is useful in engaging, interacting and quickly responding and rebutting false rumours. HAV, he says, is thus helping to ‘re-educate the world’ which perhaps takes aviation for granted, and is therefore unused to a completely new type of air vehicle being tested.

Demonstration flights

This phase of approved flight tests, AWR2a, crucially allows the company to conduct display and demonstration flights, which means that Airlander can fly customer trials. Already, the giant airship has attracted a significant amount of interest from

potential customers who were eager to see what it can do and its possibilities. In fact, Chris Daniels, Marketing Manager at HAV, says he sees an ‘unlimited’ market for the passenger Airlander, adding that he could sell “three years worth of production in a hour” today, if it it was certificated.

Indeed, from speaking to HAV, it is clear it has had to manage expectations from perhaps some over enthusiastic individuals who perhaps underappreciated the need for a cautious and phased flight test campaign. Early test flights for government, parapublic and military customers will thus pave the way for more commercial and civil customers.

Opening up Airlander 10 to customer demonstrations (along with potentially an Airlander appearance at the Farnborough Air Show in the summer of 2018), thus could kickstart a surge of fresh commercial and military interest in the opportunities that may emerge from of this new type of aircraft. Could that be humanitarian airlift? Cargo delivery to remote regions? Persistent (crewed or uncrewed) ISR platform? Maritime patrol? AEW? Drone mothership? Carrier onboard deliver? Luxury aerial cruise liner? TV expedition filming platform, Aerial scientific platform? (One recent proposal in a Royal Astronomical Society publication is to use the Airlander 10s (in UAV mode) to study cosmic radiation levels for up to three weeks at a time. Indeed, even at this early stage, Airlander has already contributed to a UK research project, Safepilot Weather Watch, aimed at developing a 3D route and weather planner for manned and unmanned aviation.

While first flights are without doubt important, this next phase and the opportunity to show the world what it can really offer, in term of roles and missions is set to be highly significant for HAV.

Summary

In short, after a setback last year, HAV is on the cusp of opening up the envelope further, with an accelerated flight test programme and customer demonstration flights the next major milestone in the project.

Though some may have been impatient to see faster development, it needs to be remembered that HAV, although drawing on some of the world’s most experienced airship experts and cumulative knowledge, is pioneering a new type of flight here. In this race, it will be slow and steady progress that eventually succeeds.

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The scale of the problem was outlined by Capt John Billington from aviation training provider CAE, who explained that the number of pilots needed around the world was expected to rise from its present total of around 290,000 to 440,000 in 2027. This would require 225,000 new pilots, comprised of 150,000 additional pilots and 105,000 just to replace pilots who had retired. Of these, 90,000 would be needed in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region, followed by 85,000 in the Americas, 50,000 in Europe and 30,000 in the Middle East and Africa.


AIR TRANSPORTPilot training

Training for the new millennium

On 26-27 September, the RAeS hosted its annual international flight training conference which, this year, examined the problem of how the airline industry can recruit

an increasing number of new pilots while at the same time harmonising and maintaining the quality of training standards. The conference featured presenters from a wide area of expertise, including aircraft operators, manufacturers, trainers and regulators.

A recent RAeS conference looked at the future challenges facing aircraftoperators of how to recruit more pilots and a radical rethink of trainingmethods. BILL READ FRAeS looks at efforts to address the coming pilotshortage.

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The role of command

Capt David Newbery, Vice Chairman of licencing and workstream division of International Pilot Training Association (IPTA) explained how much of the focus on solving future pilot shortages was concentrating on ab initio training, while command training was being neglected. “While there is plenty of industry guidance on pilot competencies and training, there is none for command pilots,” he stated. “The traditional career paths to command are also changing, for example, fewer pilots are coming up from the military. In certain countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia, new generation pilots are being trained first on multi-crew licences (MPLs), then 1,500 hours later they get an ATPL and then could end up in the left-hand seat of a widebody. We are also seeing command pilots with less experience and experience used to be one of our prerequisites. Younger command pilots are not inferior but may have confidence issues when they have to work with older crew.”

John Billington identified three main sources where the new pilots might come from, namely aviation-focused flight training academies and universities; military and business aviation; and small regional flight clubs and schools. However, between 2012 and 2015, only the supply of pilots from training academies had risen while those from the other two categories had declined.

Re-evaluating pilot training

Recent years have seen a radical rethink of the way pilots are trained and hired as an alternative to the minimum number of flying hours rules that currently govern how they are hired by airlines. CAE’s John Billington explained how the past two decades had seen the introduction of new training methods which focus on evidence-based training (EBT), core competencies, interaction and teamwork and data beyond the flight envelope.

Mike Varney, President, EBT Foundation, added how the principle of EBT was to look at positive performance on the flight deck. “You have an experience, reflect on it, draw conclusions and then put theory into practice,” he said. “This should be measurable, so we can see what crews do well and enable them to develop resilience in the learning environment. As we get data on things we can see, we also find more things that we can’t see.”

Introducing EBT

Capt Phil Cullen, Chair of EASA Rulemaking, explained how the introduction of EBT is a lengthy process. First the curriculum needs to be sorted out, then the trainers trained and finally the pilots. It also needs to cover pilots on a wide variety of different aircraft from commercial aircraft to helicopters. EBT for training for pilots of business jets is not expected to be completed until 2020.

Capt Richard Lenz and Capt Markus Held from Lufthansa Airlines talked about the experience that Lufthansa has had following a management decision from the Lufthansa Group to implement EBT. The process of introducing EBT began in 2016 and is still in progress. One of the first tasks was to harmonise the different approaches taken by the different airlines that are operated by the Lufthansa Group. The next stage was to train 600 type-rating instructors (TRIs) and type rating examiners (TREs) who will then train 6,500 pilots. The preparation for EBT has now been completed for Lufthansa’s ab initio and type-rating training but has not yet been implemented into recurrent training and checking which is still working on the pass-fail system. The first Lufthansa Group airlines are expected to begin implementing EBT in 2018.

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International training provider CAE predicts that an additional 225,000 new pilots will be needed over the next ten years.


Pre-screening

The issue of pre-screening training applicants also came up in a number of other presentations. Since pilot training is so expensive, argued the presenters, would it not be better for both airlines and individuals to discover whether a person is suitable pilot material before they take on the time and financial commitments of training? According to Rod Wren, CEO, Wings Alliance and Director Bristol Groundschool, around 50% of flight school graduates are not selected for airlines. “We need to train the right people,” he said. “Self-selection does not work. Instead, selection should be based on pilot core competences. Airlines need to engage with the flight training industry.” “We need to look at the person first before we look at their skills,” agreed Andy Smyth.

Social and gender imbalance

As was highlighted in last year’s RAeS pilot training conference, there is still a major inequality in the numbers of female pilots compared to male pilots. Dave Froggatt from easyJet explained how gender equality was one of the aspirations of the airline but there was still a long way to go with only between 6-8% of the airline’s pilots being female. One problem, he explained, was that many of the female pilots wanted to have more flexible working conditions to fit in with family commitments and it was difficult to fit this in with the work commitments of a training captain.

Another topic addressed by the presenters was the problem of how to encourage young people from different backgrounds and ethnic groups to become the pilots of the future. Declan Donoghue said that, from the point of view of ATOs, it would be advantageous if young people interested in flying as a career could get an independent assessment as to whether they were suitable candidates before applying and obtaining finance for a training course.

Apprenticeship opportunities?

Andy Smyth, Early Talent and Apprenticeships Manager, TUI Group, looked at how the Government’s new apprenticeship scheme could be used to use to help train new pilots who can’t afford the cost of training. Currently, there is no apprenceship scheme for pilot training because

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AIR TRANSPORTPilot recruitment and training

the current rules have an upper limit of £27,000 for the cost of training – which is far less than the cost of training a pilot. There is also a rule that an apprentice may not contribute to the cost of training. “We are trying to work with Government to change the rules so that we can create an apprenticeship as a pilot,” said Smyth. “Ideally, we’d like to lift the levy cap so that apprenceship pays the whole bill but another option could be to share the cost through a student loan – which doesn’t have to be paid off as immediately as a commercial loan. We also need to look at accessibility and social mobility, so that there is an equal opportunity for everyone to train as a pilot. ”

Smyth was also in favour of pre-screening before training to ensure that the candidate was suitable before committing to the cost of training. He also predicted that apprenticeships for airline pilots would challenge existing training models. “The government will challenge the costs of training,” he declared. “Training providers will need to offer a new training model.” He concluded by saying how, if successful, pilot training apprenticeships would begin with ab initio to first officer training and move to captains later.”

The shape of training to come

Jacqui Suren, Head of Regulation and Training Development at L3 Commercial Training Solutions, looked at how pilot training might develop during the 2020s. There were three main trends, she explained, the first of which relates to changes in the way training is conducted. “Until recently, the system was based on practical and theoretical training in which you had to learn and recall unrelated facts,” she said. “However, recent years have seen an increasing move towards output-based holistic training systems which no longer just look at facts but utilise a wide range of learning styles.”

The second future trend is that young people entering the industry today have had different educational experience based on digital devices, the Internet, apps and social media. The third change will be in the way that training is conducted, with more emphasis on electronic manuals, diagrams, animations, videos, virtual reality and ‘gamification’. There may also be an increasing use of computers in enabling, monitoring and marking training courses.

There is still a major inequality in the numbers of female pilots compared to male pilots.

Images from left: Augmented reality glasses can be used for interactive training (left); helicopter pilot training simulator (CAE) (centre); 2017 RAeS Pilot Training conference (right).


The shape of training to come

Lori Brown, Associate Professor at Western Michigan University College of Aviation was unable to be present at the conference due to the hurricanes in Florida but her presentation on the use of augmented reality (AR) to improve training efficiency was given by Capt Sanjay Sapra, Manager Pilot Training Programs at Etihad Airways. Augmented reality, which operates using interactive headsets which project images inside wireless goggles and headsets which can combine the real world with virtual images, can be used to create virtual workshops or cockpits without the need for large spaces or investment in simulators. Using AR, pilots can practice procedures at any time and any place – including places where there isn’t much room. The AR glasses can also be controlled by hand gestures, as well as being monitored by instructors who can see what a student is doing and interact with them. AR also be used for training cabin staff – Lori Brown’s presentation include an example of a flight attendant using AR headsets to interact with virtual anxious passengers.

Flying Training Manager Capt David Owens, Airbus, called for ‘disruptive thinking’ to create new ways of training pilots. He said that many organisations were restricted by barriers such as traditional ways of doing things, individuals who didn’t like change, complacency, regulations and fear of change. “Everything we do must be an enabler not a barrier,” he said. Owens explained how people learned in two different ways – by learning and by experience. He also remarked how many people now relied on the Internet as their first choice for information but they needed to filter that data with a ‘heathy distrust’, as not everything on Google or YouTube was either true or accurate.

Big data is watching you

One subject that kept coming up at the conference was the increasing role of information and how it should best be used. As already mentioned above, new training systems will be able to analyse and grade a pilot’s performance during training. As technology progresses, more and more information

is being generated on how pilots behave in training courses, in simulators, while flying aircraft and even outside work. There were two views on this. One was that it was a good idea, as having more data on pilots would show how they were progressing in knowledge and skills over time and this information could be used to replace existing training methods. Harry Nelson, Operational Advisor to Product Safety at Airbus conducted an imaginary interview with ‘Commander Aviona’ who worked for a company called Interglobal Link specialising in the atmospheric, space and transportation business in 2030. In this predicted future, unmanned systems have not replaced pilots but personal data has become essential to all aspects of work. Aviona has been constantly monitored for 26 years and began her career after taking state and airline-sponsored aptitude and psychological tests. Gender is no longer an issue, as pilots are selected for their skills and competences. Every aircraft still has a commander who monitors aircraft, crew and environment and managing operational risks. However, there is now a new level of pilot above commander – the ‘master pilot’ who also has a role as a mentor and teacher to others.

However, some speakers did comment that there was also a downside to the future trend towards increased personal monitoring. During the discussion sessions, the question was raised that over-analysis of training sessions could result in more harm than good – for example playing back recordings in debriefing sessions in which a pilot made a mistake. The speakers’ opinion was that, if such analysis was used with care, it could be effective. However, there was also a risk of it being used as a tool for humiliation. It was important for both pilots and instructors to talk about things that happened but it was only in circumstances where they both missed something crucial that would be necessary to look at a recording.

There is also the question of privacy. While future scenarios show pilots happily accepting being monitored and recorded during both training and flying – and even elsewhere in their lives - some individuals may not be comfortable with being watched so closely.

Sense of urgency required?

Concluding the conference, Harry Nelson from Airbus, expressed concerns as to whether the present approach to pilot training would achieve the three objectives of: getting the ‘biggest bang from bucks’ in terms of costs, maintain safety levels or create a sustainable quality of pilots. “I am an optimist but we need to face up to the fact that we’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. “The world is changing and we need to move faster than this.”

A longer, more detailed, report of this conference can be found on: https://www.aerosociety.com/news/training-for-the-new-millennium/

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Augmented reality training devices can be used almost anywhere.

EVERYTHING WE DO MUST BE AN ENABLER NOT A BARRIER.

Capt David OwensFlight Training ManagerAirbus

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talk focused on the use of non-contact 3D scanning techniques for reverse engineering, quality inspection, 3D design, rapid prototyping and component testing using the GOM scanner measurement system. The GOM precision 3D optical mobile scanner uses two high resolution digital cameras to capture the data. A structured light emitting diode projector passes a fringe pattern across the surface of the object, which is picked up by a sensor which creates a high density point cloud of surface measurements. Software is then used to automatically process the data into a polygon mesh, which can be directly imported to a 3D model.

The talk gave an excellent insight into how the technology is used through a selection of case studies, such as the scanning of a full Supermarine Spitfire aircraft based at the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.

Future Dassault

This was followed by a talk from David Faulkner from Dassault Systemes on ‘Engineering in the Age of Experience’. The talk focused on the software tools used by engineering functions and how engineers and designers have had to adapt the way they work in response to Industry 4.0 which is revolutionising


AEROSPACERAeS Young Persons Conference

On Wednesday 6 September, over 100 young members descended upon London for the annual Young Persons Conference, organised by the RAeS Young Persons Committee. Delegates

attended from various aerospace companies and universities from across the country. The theme was ‘The Future Aerospace Workplace’ and explored the technologies of the future aerospace workplace and how their introduction will change working practices in the years to come. The event delivered a series of lectures followed by interactive workshop sessions whereby delegates could gain hands on experience with some of the presented technologies. It also provided a unique opportunity for young members to network with other young members and industry experts.

3D scanning

The day began with a presentation on the use of 3D scanning applications for the current and future aerospace industry. This was presented by Daniel Lainchbury and Quintus Dickinson from Physical Digital. Physical Digital specialises in scanning applications for the automotive, aerospace, medical, marine, military and power generation sectors. The

The RAeS Young Person’s Conference explored future technologies that will change the face of future employment within aerospace, JAMES HAMILTON reports.

Future aerospaceworkspace

Quintus Dickinson, Physical Digital.

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state of the art factory dedicated to conducting collaborative research into reconfigurable digitally assisted assembly, component manufacturing and machining technologies. The Factory 2050 is part of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Campus based at the AMRC and is home to the Integrated Manufacturing Group. The Group is developing ways of meeting demand for high variation and mass customisation, using intelligent machines and processes that monitor and optimise operations, techniques to shorten lead times and ramp production up and down rapidly, ways of handling and making sense of big data, human machine collaboration and techniques for digitally assisted assembly.

After a networking lunch, the delegates were then split into three smaller groups to attend interactive workshop sessions in which they were able to gain some hands on experience with some of the technologies presented. The first and second workshop gave delegates the opportunity to try the virtual and augmented reality headsets with both a manufacturing and assembly application from the Factory 2050, followed by a demonstration of the use of this technology in the Future Cockpit Concept, as demonstrated by representatives from BAE Systems and Rockwell Collins. A workshop session was also run on working with cross cultural teams. With increased communication and opportunities for mobility across the world for young people, the workshop aimed to give delegates an appreciation of the role that culture can play in a business environment and introduce some tools to recognise and overcome potential issues.

The workshop sessions were followed by a talk on the use of additive layer manufacturing (ALM) within the aerospace industry by Dr Rhys Morgan from the Royal Academy of Engineering. This talk discussed the basics of additive manufacturing, including the process of building 3D objects layer by layer, the types of technologies and the opportunities and challenges associated with this manufacturing method. Some example case studies were then presented highlighting where additive manufacturing is currently used in the aerospace industry, as well as an outlook into how this technology will be further developed for use in the future aerospace workplace.

This was followed by a presentation of the Future Cockpit Concept by George Nicola from Rockwell

the manufacturing process. Industry 4.0 is described as the fourth industrial revolution and introduces the ‘smart factory’ concept in which cyber-physical systems monitor the physical processes of the factory and make decentralised decisions. This brings much higher levels of automation and digitalisation to the production line which are able to complete complex tasks to deliver cost reductions and result in higher quality goods and services.

The talk then discussed how these technologies were being merged into the latest development from Dassault Systemes, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, which has been built to answer customer and industry specific needs. This forms a suite of focused apps that are integrated and built around industry practices and processes. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform provides intuitive navigational access to all integrated applications, including social and collaborative apps, 3D modelling apps, content and simulation apps and information and intelligence apps. The social and collaborative apps are a new concept and enable the creation of communities in which people can be connected and information shared. The goal of this platform is to bridge the gap between all functions within a development process including engineering, manufacturing, marketing, sales and services to reduce the time to bring products to market and reduce development errors.

Augmented and virtual

The next topic focused on augmented and virtual reality in the future aerospace workplace, presented by Michael Lewis from the Advanced Manufacturing and Research Centre (AMRC). The talk discussed some demonstrative examples of how both augmented and virtual reality are being used in an assembly environment. These demonstrations are part of the Factory 2050 which is the UK’s first

Above: Delegates at The RAeS Young Person’s Conference held at RAeS HQ at No.4 Hamilton Place W1.

Lower page: Augmented reality at Airbus.

Bottom: A Physical Digital scan of a full size Supermarine Spitfire.

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Collins and Jean Page from BAE Systems. This presentation provided an insight into the upcoming technological developments that will be used in future cockpits. The first part of the presentation focused on Rockwell Collins’ head-up displays (HUD) and head-up guidance systems (HGS) technologies. These systems display flight information in the pilot’s forward field of view, eliminating the need to continually transition from head-down to head-up positions during critical phases of flight. Rockwell Collins’ head-up vision systems combine HUD technologies with advanced situational awareness via real-time synthetic and multispectral infrared cameras for unparalleled vision. A 2010 study by the Flight Safety Foundation found that 38% of all accidents were likely or highly likely to have been prevented if the pilot had a HUD, which demonstrates the need for this technology in the cockpits of the future.

Further technologies that might be seen in future cockpits were presented, including helmet-mounted information displays and three-dimensional audio, providing increased situational awareness to potential threats and location of nearby aircraft. This, along with gesture and conversational technologies, could provide more intuitive ways of interacting with the cockpit and increased awareness. The talk also included an insight into the process of human factors

FACTORY 2050 IS THE UK’S FIRST STATE OF THE ART FACTORY DEDICATED TO CONDUCTING COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH INTO RECONFIGURABLE DIGITALLY ASSISTED ASSEMBLY, COMPONENT MANUFACTURING AND MACHINING TECHNOLOGIES

AEROSPACERAeS Young Persons Conference

evaluation and how this feeds into the development of future cockpit concepts. It was discussed how eye tracking technologies were being implemented in future cockpit designs for accident reviews, physiological monitoring and training to aid in human factor evaluation and the development of safer and more intuitive cockpits.

Aircraft maintenance

The final topic focused on technology strategy and enhancements in aircraft maintenance presented by Graeme Brown from British Airways. This presentation covered the technology that airlines are using to enhance aircraft maintenance to enable more efficient and effective ways of working. This includes technological enhancements in communication and integration of systems, such as making information available to engineers on the ground before aircraft have even landed, through the use of mobile devices. Aircraft manuals, materials, procedures and all other information can be integrated onto these mobile devices to reduce the time for an aircraft to be stuck on the ground and hence provide a better service to their customers. The presentation discussed the other technologies airlines are using and how these will be further developed in the future, as well as how manufacturers, such as Airbus and Boeing, are helping airlines maintain aircraft in a more proactive manner through the use of predictive maintenance.

The day ended with a panel discussion, providing delegates with the opportunity to ask questions based on the presented topics followed by a closing discussion. A network evening reception was then held to give delegates an opportunity to network with other young members in an informal environment.

The event provided an excellent overview of the technologies of the future aerospace workplace from the viewpoint of a variety of different aerospace functions and sectors. These exciting new breakthroughs have clear benefits to the industry that justify their introduction. One of the key learning points of the day was the use of vast amounts of information and data, highlighting how this can be collected and utilised to benefit both the cost, quality and safety of activities within the aerospace industry, from the engineering of components to the piloting of aircraft themselves. It was also demonstrated how many of these future technologies are already being employed within the workplace and that we may be using these ourselves in the near future. It is clear however, that further training and development will be required to enable the technologies to be widely adopted in the aerospace industry. Maybe we will be using these future technologies sooner than we think…

Above: Delegates at The RAeS Young Person’s Conference.

Above right: Future Cockpit Concept.

Below: Rockwell Collins HUD System.

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If you are a young member, the Young Persons Committee organises a number of events each year. The full event calendar can be found at https://www.aerosociety.com/get-involved/young-persons-network/events. You can also get involved with social media, by joining the Royal Aeronautical Society Young Members Group on Facebook, where you can find information about Society events, volunteering opportunities, as well as related aerospace topics and items of interest.

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2018 Honours, Medals & Awards

The Society’s Honours, Medals and Awards are open to everyone in and supporting the global aerospace community – from senior professionals to students and graduates.

Do you know an individual or team that has made an outstanding contribution to aerospace and merit recognition? Nominate them today. The nomination form can be found on our website www.aerosociety.com/medalsandawards. The closing date for the 2018 round is 31 March 2018.

For further information call Scott Phillips on +44 (0)20 7670 4303 or email [email protected]

The most prestigious and long-standing awards in global aerospace honouring achievements, innovation and excellence.

Above: Aero built 3,665 L-29 Delphins between 1960 and 1974 for air forces all over the world allied to the Soviet Union. There are still many, like this one, flying in the civilian world.

Below: The L159T2EX is a company demonstrator, built in partnership with Boeing in 2002 as a new lead-in-fighter-trainer. It now acts as a pattern aircraft for the Czech Air Force L159T2 upgrade.

No one knew what was going to happen but it became obvious that Aero was not going to continue with delivering aircraft at such a pace to the so-called Russian Pact countries. So it had to start looking at Western markets which were already over-subscribed.”

The company endured some pretty difficult times over the next decade or so. It survived on selling 150 or so surplus and some new production L-39s. Algeria bought seven L-39Cs which were delivered between 1990-1, then 17 L-39ZAs between 2002-04 originally destined for Nigeria. Bangladesh acquired eight L-39ZAs in 1995, the new Czech Republic purchased six new L-39MS in 1992, Egypt took delivery of 48 newly developed L-59Es during 1993/4, Lithuania purchased two L-39ZAs in 1998 originally destined for Nigeria, Thailand received 40 L-39ZA/ARTs which were upgraded with Elbit Systems avionics during 1993-97, Tunisia took 12 L-59Ts in 1995-6 and Yemen purchased 12 L-39Cs, originally destined for USSR in 1999/2000.


DEFENCEAero Vodochody

Aero Vodochody on the rise again

During the Cold War, the USSR relied on Czechoslovakia’s Aero Vodochody to supply the bulk of its jet trainers. Between 1953 and 1990, the Prague-based company delivered

3,665 L-29 Delphins and 2,865 L-39s, representing around 70% of the world’s jet trainer production at that time. At one point, in the mid-80s, there were 250 aircraft coming off the production line a year – imagine that today!

It is an impressive legacy for a company with 13m flight hours to its credit, and today there are still 600 L-39/L-59 and L-159s flying.

However, the Velvet Revolution of late-1989 when a peaceful transition of power, from communism to democracy took place in Czechoslovakia, it all changed. It saw the Soviet business dry up.

In late October, Aero’s Pavel Sedlacek, who has been with the company since 1991, explained to AEROSPACE: “For Aero it was a transition period, when the old proven Russian market disappeared.

Aero Vodochody was once the sole supplier of jet trainers to the USSR and its many allies, before the market collapsed following the 1989 Czech Velvet Revolution. Today, led by a new Italian management team, the future is looking rosier. ALAN WARNES charts the fall and rise of a company set to celebrate its centenary in 2019.

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An Iraq Air Force L-59 Super Albatros.

An IQAF L-159 departs Balad on 12 June last year on its first combat mission, armed with two Mk82 500ib bombs.

The last of the 48 L-159s which went into storage in the mid-2000s. They were all preserved to ensure they remained in good condition, and it worked well because most are now flying.


Enter the ALCA

Around the same time, Aero was looking to go a step further with an advanced light combat aircraft (ALCA), to fulfil the Czech Air Force’s air defence requirements. By 1993, the MiG-23ML was obsolete and a replacement was a priority.

To minimise the cost, the L-159 as the project was designated, would need to be based on the existing L-59 airframe. With the increased weight, a new engine was needed to provide around 25% more thrust over the L-59’s DV-2. It led to the Garrett-AlliedSignal (now Honeywell) F124-GA-100 turbofan engine, based on the TFE731 being selected on 10 June 1994.

Developing the L-159 introduced both the Czech Air Force and Aero to NATO standards and an opportunity to reap the benefits the experience would give them for future developments. A radar was integrated for the first time into a L-39 derivative. The Italian FIAR Grifo-L, a very popular system in the mid-90s with its multiple target and track-while-scan capabilities, was to become the brains of the new jet.

Aero began work on the two prototypes in 1994 with the dual-seat L-159, 5831 rolled out on 12 June 1997. The Czech Government subsequently announced a deal for 72 single-seat L-159As on 4 July. Aero test-pilot Miroslav Schutzner flew the L-159B two-seater for the first time on 2 August 1997 and the L-159A single-seater, 5832 on 18 August 1998.

After joining NATO in 1999, the Czech AF cut its need for 72 single-seat L-159s to 24 and the remaining 48 were put into storage. Later, in 2006, the Czech MoD signed a deal with Aero to convert four of the stored L-159s into two dual-seat L-159Ts, which eventually rose to five. Another two-seater, 6073 was the basis of a new lead-in-fighter-trainer in a partnership with Boeing which had acquired 35% of the company in 1998. It made its first flight on 1 June 2002. Today, 6073 is a company demonstrator used to develop the Czech Air Force dual-seat L159T2 upgrade currently

Developing L-59 and L-139

In a bid to attract Western interest, the company developed a newer fourth generation trainer that would boast more capabilities than the original L-39 Albatros. The re-branded L-59 Super Albatros came with a new integrated weapons delivery and navigation system (WDNS) supplied by US-based Flight Visions. Aero also offered a wide range of avionics options tailored to meet customer’s specific requirements. Egypt was keen for a new lead-in-fighter trainer for its F-16 and Mirage 2000 fleet and purchased 48 L-59Es in 1993. However, issues with the new Lotarev DV-2 engine saw two aircraft lost and, despite suggested fixes for the problems, the aircraft were withdrawn from use. According to the company’s current Chief Business Officer (CBO), Massimo Ghione, it wasn’t Aero’s finest hour and it had been difficult for the current Italian management to engage with the Egyptian Air Force until recently.

Tunisia ordered 12 L-59Ts in 1994 for weapons training, which are also used for armed patrol. They still fulfil both roles and six aircraft have recently been overhauled at Aero.

The company put the experience it gained from the L-59 into good use. Knowing the future lay in a westernised L-39, it replaced Russian-style instruments with Western ones to attract Western air forces. A new Garrett-AlliedSignal (now Honeywell) TFE731 engine to replace the L-39’s Ukrainian AI-25TL, was also integrated. A WDNS designed by Flight Visions used on the L-59, along with Bendix King tactical displays was developed for the L-139. A head-up display (HUD)and electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) were integrated into the front cockpit and a HUD repeater screen in the rear. The Czech-built VS-2 zero-zero ejection seats which had been used by the Czech Air Force’s L-39MS would continue as the escape system.

On 8 May 1993 the prototype aircraft, 5501 flown by Ladislav Schneideren and Stanislav Vohanka made its first flight. Later it was entered in the USAF’s Joint Primary Aircraft Training Systems (JPATS) bid but was beaten by the Beechcraft Raytheon T-6 Texan II.

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underway, and is referred to as the L159T2EX. The work evolves around new avionics in the front and rear cockpit and updates to the Grifo radar.

First sale for 15 years

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, support for the L-39s dwindled which led to many air forces working with other companies in Israel, Romania and Ukraine. It is an issue that the current Italian management team led by former Alenia CEO, Giuseppe Giordo, is trying to fix.

The Czech MoD and Aero tried to sell the stored CzAF L-159s but with little success. Even when Czech and Slovak private equity group Penta acquired Aero Vodochody in January 2007, nothing happened on the L-159 for another seven years.

At the Farnborough Air Show on 14 July 2014, Draken International, which supplies tactical flight support or ‘Red Air’ to the US military, announced its intention to acquire 14 of the L-159As with options for a further 14, although the deal was later cut to 21. This was the first export ALCA deal, which in Draken service is designated the L-159E, and led to the first jet being formally handed over on 30 September 2015. Today, they are providing a significant boost to the Florida-based company, regarded as the largest privately owned air force in the world. It already flies the L-39 Albatros, MiG-

DEFENCEAero Vodochody

21bis, MB339CB and A-4K/N. Today, 12 of the jets have been delivered.

Draken is intending to work with Aero Vodochody and its L-159s by offering a ‘Red Air’ service to European air forces in the same way it works with the US military. It has led them to partner with Babcock, CAE and Cobham as part of a bid for the UK’s Air Support to Defence Operational Training (ASDOT) contract, an MoD initiative that is planning to see civilian contractors fulfil the aggressor role by January 2020.

Iraq

While Iraq had shown interest in the L-159s for a couple of years, the invasion of Iraq by Islamic State during September 2014 led the Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) agreeing a deal in June 2015. The first two of ten single-seat L159As were delivered in November 2015 with the remainder following by the end of 2016. Three batches of IQAF pilots have been trained on two IQAF L-159T1s at Aero Vodochody, which will be delivered in early 2018.

The ten L-159s are operated by 115 Tactical Squadron at Balad Air Base and have flown 418 combat missions against Daesh (Islamic State), while dropping 859 Mk82 (500lb) bombs. Pilots and ground personnel at the base have been mentored by the Czech Air Force’s Air Advisory

An IQAF L-159 sits on the ramp at Balad after a training sortie.

One of the two dual-seat L-159s for the IQAF departs Aero Vodochody during a training sortie.

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Team. While Aero’s technical team provides maintenance support, with the first aircraft now going through a two-year inspection.

The IQAF Commander, General Anwar Hamad Amin told AEROSPACE in September that they have made a valuable contribution: “We are grateful to Aero for handing the first jets over, just 88 days after the contract became effective.”

Czech business

All but one of the 48 stored L-159s to grace the Aero hangars have now been delivered, leading to the production of new L-159s. Chairman and CEO, Giuseppe Giordo told AEROSPACE in September: “We are very optimistic about the single-engine, more

economical advanced light combat aircraft (ALCA). We are relaunching the aircraft at a time when many air forces are looking at curbing their operational costs.”

After building its first ever export L-159 for the IQAF last year, Aero Vodochody is now assembling three new dual-seat L-159T2s. They are part of a deal with the Czech Air Force that will also see its five existing L-159T1s upgraded to the same

standard by the end of 2019. They will feature new cockpit avionics including four 7in x 5in multi-function displays (MFDs) instead of the existing 4in x 4in ones, new Grifo radar the T1s didn’t have, as well as wet-wings. The first jet (s/n 6085) is now in an advanced stage of production at the company’s Prague site.

The remaining 16 of 18 single-seat L-159s delivered to the Czech Air Force in the early to mid-2000s are in need of modernisation. A targeting pod is a top requirement. Aero Vodochody has offered a comprehensive upgrade package to the Czech Air Force that would address such obsolescence.

Aero’s CBO, Massimo Ghione, told AEROSPACE: “It includes a complete new fourth generation+ avionics package, targeting pod, improvements to Grifo radar, a new self-defence suit, wet wing and wing-tip air-to-air missile launchers, a fixed air-to-air refuelling probe, full NVG configuration in the cockpit and a helmet-mounted display.”

No decision has yet been made by the Czech Air Force (CzAF), while the

IQAF might show some kind of interest.

L-39NG – new generation Albatros

With the L-39Cs now approaching the end of their service-life, the company has set about developing and designing the L-39NG. It led a prototype demonstrator, 2626 with a modified Williams FJ-44 engine making its first flight on 14 September 2015.

One option Aero is offering to customers is to upgrade its existing L-39C airframes with the new Williams FJ-44-4M powerplant and new avionics, which will see them designated the L-39CW.

Meanwhile, structures for the first three L-39NGs are now being assembled at Aero. The first pre-series aircraft is expected to fly in the third quarter of 2018 and delivered in full trainer capability during late-2019 to launch customer, LOM Praha. Certification is expected in November 2019, while the first flight of an aircraft with light attack capabilities is expected in June 2020.

Marco Venanzetti who previously served as Alenia Aermacchi Senior VP, Flight Operations until joining Aero as Executive Vice-President L-39NG in August 2016, told me: “The basic light attack L-39NG will have five hard points – one on the centreline and two under each wing. The basic configuration which we are going to clear will have two 350 litre wet-tanks, Mk 81 (250lb)/82 (500lb) laser-guided/free-fall bombs, CRV-7 unguided/guided rocket launchers and single/twin-barrel gun-pod which will be available on the centreline, as well as on two under-wing pylons, should the customer need more fire-power. This benchmark will satisfy 80% of our customers.”

Below: Two Czech Air Force L-159s in formation.

A brand new L-159T2 fuselage, one of three ordered by the Czech Air Force, seen on the production line at Aero Vodochody in September. The CzAF has contracted Aero to upgrade its five operational two-seaters to the same configuration.

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No.4 Hamilton PlaceNo.4 Hamilton Place is a magnificent, central London venue for wedding ceremonies and receptions. It has a picturesque, heated roof terrace with views over Hyde Park, making it a stunning location for your celebrations. With the elegant old-world grandeur of the Edwardian Town House and its wonderful location in Mayfair, it is an incredible setting for one of the most important days of your life.

The team at No.4 Hamilton Place have a passion for quality and style, demonstrated by their personal service and creative expertise, ensuring that your wedding will be a truly memorable day.

For more information visit www.4hp.org.uk or contact the Venue Team on 020 7670 4314 or [email protected] | No. 4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ

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41DECEMBER 2017

Afterburner

42 Message from RAeS- President“The RAeS is a society made up of over 23,000 members in over 67 Branches around the world. We have members from many different aerospace related backgrounds across multiple industries and organisations and yet our Council, Professional Boards and general membership is still missing out on the skills, capability and professional contribution from many groups of people.”

- Chief Executive“Last month we honoured the winners of the Society’s 2017 Medals & Awards and recipients of Centennial Scholarships at a presentation ceremony and reception on the first evening of the President’s Conference. It was a great occasion to recognise the outstanding achievements of individuals and teams across our industry and celebrate excellence in aerospace.”

44 Book ReviewsIn-flight Simulators and Fly-by-Wire/Light Demonstrators, Junkers G 24, K 30 and G 31 and The Right Flyer.

47 Library AdditionsBooks submitted to the National Aerospace Library.

48 The Awards criteria – a (re)fresh start for 2018

The 2018 round will be the first to reflect the recommendations of the 2017 Review of the Honours, Medals, Awards and Written Paper Prizes scheme approved by the Council at its meeting on 4 September 2017.

50 NAL Sound ArchiveThe latest historic recordings to be added to the National Aerospace Library’s Sound Archive.

52 DiaryFind out when and where around the world the latest Society aeronautical and aerospace lectures and events are happening.

55 New Corporate PartnersThree new companies join the Society’s Corporate Partner Scheme.

56 ElectionsNew Society members elected in the past month.

www.aerosociety.com

i fFind us on Twitter Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

The third Bell X-1 (46-064), known as Queenie, is mated to the Boeing EB-50A (46-006) at Edwards AFB, CA. Following a captive flight on 9 November 1951, both aircraft were destroyed by fire during defuelling. NASA.

National Aerospace Library Sound Archive The National Aerospace Library’s growing Sound Archive now features interviews with leading US test pilots: Chuck Yeager, Scott Crossfield, Pete Knight, Emil Sturmthal, Dick Johnson and Al White (see pp 50-51).

No.4 Hamilton PlaceNo.4 Hamilton Place is a magnificent, central London venue for wedding ceremonies and receptions. It has a picturesque, heated roof terrace with views over Hyde Park, making it a stunning location for your celebrations. With the elegant old-world grandeur of the Edwardian Town House and its wonderful location in Mayfair, it is an incredible setting for one of the most important days of your life.

The team at No.4 Hamilton Place have a passion for quality and style, demonstrated by their personal service and creative expertise, ensuring that your wedding will be a truly memorable day.

For more information visit www.4hp.org.uk or contact the Venue Team on 020 7670 4314 or [email protected] | No. 4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ

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42

Message from RAeSOUR PRESIDENT

ACM Sir Stephen Dalton

THE COUNCIL IS VERY KEEN TO HEAR YOUR VIEWS AS TO WHAT IT IS THAT WE, AS A PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY, CAN DO TO ENCOURAGE GREATER INVOLVEMENT FROM ALL SECTIONS OF SOCIETY


Afterburner

RAeS HERITAGE ASSETS

RAeS Presidential portraits

The RAeS is a society made up of over 23,000 members in over 67 Branches around the world. We have members from many different aerospace related backgrounds across multiple industries and organisations and yet our Council, Professional Boards and general membership is still missing out on the skills, capability and professional contribution from many groups of people. It is clear that people from many sectors of the community, when looking at their career choices, either do not feel that they have the opportunity to consider the aerospace sector or are not attracted to the aerospace disciplines as the basis for their careers. For example, there would seem to be a significant paucity of young students entering aerospace professions from some socio-economic groups, from ethnic minorities and among young females. In the last month, the Council has been considering what we can do to encourage and attract more members from these groups to want to enter our amalgam of professions and help our Society. The Council is very keen to hear your views as to what it is that we, as a Professional Society, can do to encourage greater involvement from all sections of society especially from those groups who have not, to date, consistently and regularly sought careers in aerospace. We need to understand why different groupings feel attracted to the discipline but, equally importantly, why others do not. We need to analyse if there is any element of our collective behaviour or approach to aerospace and the associated careers that is alienating potential apprentices and students. As we seek to advise colleagues and staff, either individually or collectively, do we, even subconsciously, do so in a way which impacts on their commitment, aspirations and plans. As an example of the Council’s intent to try and better understand the factors which can adversely impact on some peoples’ choices of careers, we will be conducting a workshop in the New Year on

whether ‘unconscious bias’ may be impacting on how supervisors, managers and careers advisors could, unwittingly, be adversely impacting significant sections of our future working community. The major concern is that, in this unintended way, aerospace (and other) sector professionals maybe denying the sector the talents and potential of a talented pool of high calibre individuals. Worth a thought and maybe some action in your organisation?

There is no shortage of air transport initiatives being announced. The Dubai autonomous air taxi system, Airbus’ autonomous quadcopter and the ‘Uber-style’ air taxi scheme recently inaugurated in the Channel Islands. Boeing’s 777X aircraft with its revolutionary folding wings and the agreement between Airbus and Bombardier in the production of the CSeries aircraft with its equally impressive design elements are making ground breaking changes to the manufacturing of new airliners. The future passenger demand would seem to indicate that speed of flight is not the absolute requirement but point to point travel, with greater availability and use of regional airports, is important to more people as they look for convenience and greater efficiency in their travel. Equally, there is an increasing demand for aircraft designs to be more and more environmentally conscious. Hybrid and electric-powered aircraft are rapidly being developed and, despite some concerns that current capability in this area is limited, there can be no doubt that, with significant greater efficiency being designed into current jet and ducted-fan engines by Rolls-Royce et al, the focus on the need to reduce the environmental impact of national and international flying will lead to significant further improvements in design and efficiency over the next few years. Perhaps, the area that could deliver significant beneficial effect to our environment is further detailed international study into the avoidance of contrails?

As part of the Society’s work to conserve and build a digital archive of our heritage assets, portraits of the Society’s Past Presidents have been photographed and will shortly be released for digital display. Members visiting No.4 Hamilton Place over the past few months may have seen some familiar faces from this century’s Presidents on the screen in front of the Bill Boeing Lecture Theatre.

If any family members, friends or institutions connected to past RAeS Presidents wish to consider displaying their portraits in relevant buildings and venues, please contact Emma Bossom on [email protected]

Right: Sir Sydney Camm, RAeS President 1954-1955, by Frank Eastman. Far right: Sir George Edwards, RAeS President 1957-1958 by George Haig. RAeS (NAL).

Simon C Luxmoore

THE SOCIETY HAS SUBMITTED EVIDENCE TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY INQUIRY INTO BREXIT AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR UK BUSINESS (AEROSPACE)

OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE

DECEMBER 2017 43

Last month we honoured the winners of the Society’s 2017 Medals & Awards and recipients of Centennial Scholarships at a presentation ceremony and reception on the first evening of the President’s Conference. It was a great occasion to recognise the outstanding achievements of individuals and teams across our industry and celebrate excellence in aerospace. The nominations for 2018 awards are open now and I encourage all of our members to consider colleagues and peers who would be worthy of recognition by the Society. Find out more at www.aerosociety.com/2018Awards.

We look forward to welcoming Martin Rolfe FRAeS, Chief Executive Officer, NATS, as our lecturer for the Society’s 2017 Wilbur & Orville Wright Lecture on Tuesday, 5 December. Martin will explore the challenges facing air traffic management around the world and provide insight into what the future may hold for this important sector of the UK economy.

The Society is now on the register of approved End Point Assessment Organisations for the new Apprenticeship Framework and has begun working with a number of companies to finesse the required procedures and documentation. Anyone interested in discussing assessment of their apprentices or training as an assessor should contact Lynn Beattie at [email protected].

Rosalind Azouzi and Simon Whalley arranged a very successful event to recognise the Society’s careers service 20th Anniversary hosted at Westminster, with keynote speakers Dame Rosie Winterton MP and Michelle Donelan MP. The Society published a new paper on Public Perceptions of Careers in Aerospace and Aviation at the Society’s careers service 20th anniversary Parliamentary reception which revealed what young people from outside

the industry think about the opportunities in and pathways into the sector, and explores how young people seek information to help make decisions about their future careers. The paper also makes recommendations to Government and Parliament for the completion of forthcoming industrial, sector and careers strategies. The celebration was well supported by those who have been involved with the Society over time and particularly pleasing to see so many young persons as well as volunteers and many of our stakeholders.

The Society has submitted evidence to the House of Commons Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy inquiry into Brexit and the implications for UK business (aerospace). In addition to providing written evidence to the Committee, the Society provided a more detailed verbal briefing to the Clerk of the Committee on the impacts of Brexit on aerospace and aviation, particularly regulation, research funding and collaboration and market access, to name a few.

Members interested in standing for council in the 2018 election to be held next spring can now find the details at www.aerosociety.com/councilelection. This is an opportunity for you to contribute to your Society by ensuring there is a diverse set of skills and knowledge representing all sectors of the aviation and aerospace community, which allows your Society to put forward key strategic issues as well as provide impartial advice on areas within the sector. I urge you to give careful consideration on whether you could serve your Society in this very significant role. Nomination must be submitted no later than 31 January 2018.

Our wonderful venue has also been enjoying some recognition recently winning Best Content Marketing at the Hire Space Awards and by being awarded silver at the London Venue Awards for Best Summer Party Venue.


On 11 October at the Preston Branch lecture: ‘BAE Systems future or similar’, by David Short, there was a presentation of Fellowships to three people whom the senior members of the branch committee had nominated through the Presidential Invitation Route. Scott Phillips, RAeS Head of Regional Affairs, left, presented certificates to Dr David Bailey, Chief Executive, North West Aerospace Alliance, and to Paul Mellor, Technical Director at Hyde Aero Products Ltd. Branch Chairman Mike Elston looks on. Steve Vandersteen, Military Air & Information Airframe Supply Chain Director at BAE Systems, had also received an Honorary Fellowship but was not present for this occasion. BAE Systems photo.

PRESTON BRANCH NOMINATES FELLOWSHIPS

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Book Reviews


Afterburner

Vought F-8C Crusader. The F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire flight research project validated the principal concepts of all-electric flight control systems now used on nearly all modern high-performance aircraft and on military and civilian transports. NASA.

flown at other research organisations and international collaborations.

The text provides detailed technical case studies and historical information on several DLR flight demonstrators, both fixed-wing and rotary-wing. This includes modified versions of an HFB 320 Hansa business jet, a VFW 614 twin jet, a Bölkow Bo 105 helicopter and a Eurocopter EC 135. However, perhaps the most fascinating sections of the book are two chapters that provide a comprehensive compendium of, firstly, in-flight simulators and then fly-by-wire/light demonstrators that have been flown and tested around the globe. This, again, covers demonstrators of both the fixed-wing and rotary-wing varieties and even includes descriptions of numerous flying bedstead projects used in early vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) development.

Projects dating as far back as the late 1940s are summarised, such as the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory (later Calspan) effort in modifying a Vought F4U-5 to have a split rudder (through independent movement of each rudder section, the F4U-5’s directional stability and yaw damping could be manipulated). Throughout the text, the reader will also find some interesting anecdotes. There is, for example, the account of a certain Neil Armstrong

This book is an impressive body of work and the editor and contributing authors should be commended on the level of detail provided

IN-FLIGHT SIMULATORS AND FLY-BY-WIRE/ LIGHT DEMONSTRATORS

A Historical Account of International Aeronautical ResearchEdited by P G HamelSpringer. 2017. 345pp. Illustrated. £112. ISBN 978-3-319-53996-6.

Fly-by-wire has become so ubiquitous in aerospace that, with the possible exception of general aviation, it would be a surprise for a new aircraft to be launched today without it. However, it has been a long journey to this point. The state of the art in fly-by-wire is where it is today in no small part due to 60-plus years of aeronautical research establishments around the world testing flight demonstrators to prove the theory and technology. Often, the primary aim has been improved aircraft performance or manoeuvrability through a reduction in natural aerodynamic stability. Artificial stability is then provided through the fly-by-wire system to achieve the handling qualities desired by the pilot. To this end, many of the flight demonstrators developed by research establishments have had variable stability, allowing the aircraft’s stability characteristics to be deliberately altered during flight.

Some variable stability aircraft have also been developed with the purpose of simulating a different aircraft entirely. NASA’s C-11A Shuttle Training Aircraft, a Grumman Gulfstream G-2 business jet modified to simulate the Space Shuttle and used to train astronauts for the extremely steep approaches on re-entry, is a noteworthy example of just what can be achieved with these so-called in-flight simulators.

This book provides a historical account of the aircraft that have been developed and flown as in-flight simulator and fly-by-wire/light demonstrators (fly-by-light likely to be the next technological leap from fly-by-wire to find its way onto future production aircraft). The editor, Peter Hamel, was from 1971 to 2001 the Director of the Institute of Flight Mechanics at the German Aerospace Center DLR, formerly DFVLR. This put him at the helm of one of the pioneering research establishments in the field of fly-by-wire and in-flight simulation. He describes in the preface that this text resulted from a former colleague and test pilot at DLR suggesting that it would be a good idea to document the knowledge and experience acquired by DLR in this subject. While the focus is predominantly on the work at DLR, the scope of the book expanded from its original brief to include details of demonstrators

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This VFW614, D-ADAM, ATTAS (Advanced Technologies Testing Aircraft System) test aircraft was retired in December 2012. RAeS (NAL).

JUNKERS G 24, K 30 and G 31

worldwide commercial success. Of course, there were developmental problems needed addressing, such as loose engine cowlings and cracked centre engine mountings.

This book is packed with detail and aeronautical history and I urge the serious aerophile to obtain a copy. There are photos on virtually every page and also drawings, coloured side views and 21 pages of appendices. Happily, there is an index, mainly concerned with the many airlines and countries that used the G 24 etc.

Tony Kay

Stepping StonesBy L Andersson et al

EAM Books EEIG, 3 Gatesmead, Haywards Heath RH16 1SN, UK (E [email protected]). 2016. 192pp. Illustrated. £30 (inclusive of UK postage/packing). ISBN 978-0-9573744-2.

This is another Junkers tour-de-force by these authors and, once again, the book is a masterpiece of details and interest. It concentrates on the famous Junkers G 24 tri-motor aeroplane and its derivatives.

The Junkers G 24 was the first all-metal, three-engined monoplane to enter airline service, which it did in 1925. The preceding six years saw other three-engined airliners enter service but they were all of less-modern wooden or mixed construction. The G 24 was followed by the Ford Trimotor airliner which was very similar and also used corrugated alloy skinning. Its similarity caused Junkers to sue Ford for infringement and this case was lost by Ford on two occasions.

The Junkers design team, under Ernst Zindel, had to cope with not only technical issues but were restricted by post-WW1 Versailles Peace Treaty rules on payload and performance to avoid being declared a military type. As a result, the first J 24s were deliberately underpowered but with the hope that more power could be added later on.

It is, therefore, all the more remarkable that the aircraft went on to become such a resounding

who, on a flight of a Lockheed NT-33A that had been modified to simulate the X-15, managed to break the sidestick clean off (thankfully there was a safety pilot onboard) and still had the sidestick in his hand when he returned to the operations building. He apparently fixed the sidestick himself and re-installed it in the aircraft in time for the first flight the next morning.

This book is an impressive body of work and the editor and contributing authors should be commended on the level of detail provided. While billed as a historical account in the title, the case studies describing projects carried out at DLR have a level of technical information that wouldn’t be out of place in a textbook. This may make some sections of the book a little hefty for the general reader but will appeal to engineers and others practicing in the field.

If nothing else, this text will leave the reader with an appreciation of the immense level of ingenuity, collaboration and persistence employed on flight demonstrator programmes over the past 60 years.

A technology like fly-by-wire would not be where it is without it.

Dr Stephen CarnduffMRAeS

Above: Junkers G 24, S-AABG. RAeS (NAL).

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46

Book ReviewsAfterburner


THE RIGHT FLYER

This weighty volume deals with events in France between 1906 and 1909, with respect to the successful achievement of powered flight in Europe and in particular the activities of Gabriel Voisin and Henri Farman

Gabriel Voisin, Henry Farman and the archetype of aeroplanesBy R Winstone

Faustroll (www.faustroll.co.uk). 2017. 349pp. Illustrated. £39.95 plus postage/packing.

This weighty volume deals with events in France between 1906 and 1909, with respect to the successful achievement of powered flight in Europe and in particular the activities of Gabriel Voisin and Henri Farman – as well as, to a lesser extent, those of Louis Blériot. It purports to pose the question, implied in its title: which of the two was the superior design, the American Wright or the French Voisin/Farman? In doing so, it discusses and describes the differing features of the two designs in considerable detail.

The question having been put, the author does not attempt to supply an answer, although the reader may well detect a certain unwritten partiality in favour of the French contender (albeit mitigated by the fair-minded approach generally adopted). With such a difficult question thus set to one side, perhaps wisely, the work is best seen as serving a more general purpose, that of providing us with a valuable addition to the historiography of early flying in Europe, in the form of a meticulously detailed account of the chequered path taken by the two Frenchmen, severally and together, on their way to success.

It is clearly the result of a very extensive research into archives and other contemporary records. The text contains innumerable quotations

by the different actors, from Archdeacon to Farman himself, and is further illuminated by copious photographs, the majority of which have hitherto remained unpublished. Both these features contributing greatly to the book’s intrinsic value. Its appearance will furthermore go a little way towards redressing the unfortunate imbalance between the many English-language accounts of aeronautical activities in Great Britain in those early years and those relating to events on the other side of the Channel, when the struggle for the conquest of the air was so much more dynamic and advanced than the rather tardier efforts being made in this country at that time.

In addition to the wealth of photographs, the main account is assisted by the inclusion of no fewer than 17 mini-biographies of various protagonists, from Chanute to Lanchester, from Santos-Dumont to Esnault-Pelterie and even including Farman’s little-known mechanic, Maurice Colliex, as well as the first English pilot, Moore-Brabazon, who, needing an aeroplane, had at the time no choice but to go abroad and patronise M Voisin.

The book is not without its blemishes: some typos and other minor flaws suggest a need for more rigorous editing, while, unaccountably, a number of the photographs lack the comfort of any kind of caption. Nevertheless, it throws a useful and highly detailed light on the achievements of the French pioneers, at a time when corresponding efforts in other parts of Europe were still largely ineffectual.

Malcolm HallCEng MRAeS MCIL

Left: The Voisin biplane belonging to J T C Moore-Brabazon. 1908. RAeS (NAL).

Right: Roger Sommer’s Farman at the Doncaster Aviation Contest, 15-22 October 1909 at Doncaster Aerodrome. RAeS (NAL).

DECEMBER 2017 47

Library Additions


AIR TRANSPORT

Dear Sky: the planes and people of North Korea’s airline. A Mebius. The Eriskay Connection (www.eriskayconnection.com). 2017. 124pp. Illustrated. €39 plus postage/packing. ISBN 978-94-92501-30-1.

A compilation of uncaptioned photographs showing exterior and interior views of the Tupolev Tu-154B (P-552)/Tu-134B-3 (P-813), Antonov An-148 (P-671) and Illuyshin Il-62M (P-885) operated by Air Koryo, the state-owned airline of North Korea.

Aircraft Design and Construction

Introduction to Engineering: a Project-Based Experience in Engineering Methods. M L Post et al. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Reston, VA, USA. 2017. Distributed by Transatlantic Publishers Group, 97 Greenham Road, London N10 1LN, UK. xix; 317pp + USB data card. Illustrated. £106. [20% discount available to RAeS members on request; E [email protected] T +44 (0)20 8815 5994]. ISBN 978-1-62410-459-6.

A project-based textbook for engineering students using as a case study the design of a hypersonic trans-atmospheric vehicle.

HISTORICAL

W&R Local Aviation Collections of Britain: In search of treasures the UK’s nationals envy. K Ellis. Crecy Publishing, 1a Ringway Trading Estate, Shawdowmoss Road, Manchester M22 5LH, UK. 2017. xxxii; 352pp. Illustrated. £18.95. ISBN 978-1-91080-911-2.

A detailed county-by-country survey of the

numerous aviation museums in the UK incorporating a number of individual aircraft histories of the exhibits on show.

Dornier Do 335 Pfeil/Arrow. J R Smith et al. Crecy Publishing, 1a Ringway Trading Estate, Shawdowmoss Road, Manchester M22 5LH, UK. 2017. 288pp. Illustrated. £50. ISBN 978-1-90653-750-0.

Beginning with a concise overview of the evolution of Dornier aircraft designs, a detailed history of the fastest piston-engined aircraft produced by Germany during WW2 which was to serve a number of roles (day/nightfighter/reconnaissance/trainer), the volume which concludes with various project design studies associated with the Do 335 being illustrated throughout with numerous photographs and other diagrams.

Focke-Wulf Fw 200: the Condor at War 1939-1945. C Goss. Crecy Publishing, 1a Ringway Trading Estate, Shawdowmoss Road, Manchester M22 5LH, UK. 2017. 288pp. Illustrated. £50. ISBN 978-190653-754-8.

Illustrated throughout by over 400 contemporary photographs, a detailed operational history of the Focke-Wulf four-engined medium range airliner design (which first flew on 6 September 1937) which was subsequently adapted during WW2 by the Luftwaffe as a military anti-shipping and

maritime reconnaissance aircraft, concluding appendices recording individual aircraft losses, shipping attacks, personnel and units.

LIGHTER-THAN-AIR

Balloon Madness: Flights of Imagination in Britain, 1783-1786. C Brant. The Boydell Press, Boydell & Brewer, PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK. 2017. 348pp. Illustrated. £25. [25% discount available to RAeS members via www.boydellandbrewer.com using BB503 promotion code at the check-out. Alternatively call Boydell’s distributor, Wiley, on +44 (0)1243 843 291 and quote the same code]. ISBN 978-1-78327-253-2.

PROPULSION

America’s First Rocket Company: Reaction Motors, Inc. Library of Flight series. F H Winter. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Reston, VA, UK. 2017. Distributed by Transatlantic Publishers Group, 97 Greenham Road, London N10 1LN, UK. xx, 301pp. Illustrated. £39. [20% discount available to RAeS members on request; E [email protected] T +44 (0)20 8815 5994]. ISBN 978-1-62410-441-1

SERVICE AVIATION

The Origins of American Bombing Theory. C F Morris. Naval Institute Press, 291 Wood Road, Annapolis, MD 21402, USA. 2017. 259pp. Illustrated. $34.95. ISBN 978-1-68247-252-1.

Hemingway in Wartime England: His life and times as a war correspondent. D Wise. Janus Transatlantic. 2017. (Can be ordered via www.amazon.co.uk). 240pp. Illustrated. £8.90. ISBN 978-1974459230.

A detailed account of the writer Ernest Hemingway’s

experiences as a WW2 war correspondent for Collier’s magazine (from his arrival at Foynes on 18 May 1944 aboard a BOAC Boeing 314A flying boat G-AGCA through to his departure from England with the US Third Army on 18 July 1944), during which time he was assigned to the Royal Air Force and US Navy, recording the personnel, airfields, aircraft, squadrons and operations (including the D-Day assault viewed from a landing craft at Omaha beach) he witnessed at first hand.

Neglected Skies: the Demise of British Naval Power in the Far East, 1922-42. A Britts. Naval Institute Press, 291 Wood Road, Annapolis, MD 21402, USA. 2017. 259pp. Illustrated. $34.95. ISBN 978-168247-157-9.

SPACE

The Earth Gazers. C Potter. Head of Zeus Ltd, 5-8 Hardwick Street, London EC1R 4RG, UK. 2017. 464pp. Illustrated. £25. ISBN 978-1-78497-432-9.

Men of Space: Profiles of the Leaders in Space Research, Development and Exploration Vols 1-8. S Thomas. Chilton Company – Book Division/Chilton Books, Philadelphia. 1960-1968.

xx, 235pp; xix, 238pp; xxi, 247pp; xviii, 238pp; xvi, 300pp; xx, 286pp; xviii, 279pp; xviii, 235pp. Illustrated.

A historically important compilation reference work of informative biographical essays reviewing the lives and careers of Krafft A Ehricke, Robert H Goddard, Bernard A Schriever, John Paul Stapp, Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, James A Van Allen, Wernher von Braun, Theodore von Kármán, John von Neumann and Charles E ‘Chuck’ Yeager (Vol 1); A Scott Crossfield, Thomas F Dixon, Walter R Dornberger, Hugh L Dryden, W Randolph Lovelace II, William H Pickering, Simon Ramo, Edward Teller, Robert C Traux and Fred L Whipple (Vol 2); James H Doolittle, C Stark Draper, Louis G Dunn, Don D Flickinger, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, Arthur Kantrowitz, William F Raborn Jr, Harold W Ritchey, Alan B Shepard Jr and H N Toftoy (Vol 3); Jack Armstrong, Robert R Gilruth, Samuel Herrick, John R Pierce, Malcolm D Ross, William Shockley, Harrison A Storms and Hubertus Strughold (Vol 4); John H Glenn Jr, Albert R Hibbs, Richard B Kershner, Homer E Newell, L Eugene Root, Robert C Seamans Jr, Charles H Townes and Roger S Warner Jr (Vol 5); Philip H Abelson, Melvin Calvin, Frank D Drake, Sidney W Fox, John C Lilly, Orr E Reynolds, Carl Sagan, Harold C Urey, Stanley L Miller and Wolf Vishniac (Vol 6); Joseph V Charyk, Robert F Freitag, Herbet Friedman, Harry Goett, Virgil I Grisson, Andrew G Haley, James P Henry, Robert J Parks, Donald L Putt and Edward C Welsh (Vol 7). The final volume (Vol 8) includes autobiographical recollections of Jacob Ackeret, Pierre Auger, Arthur C Clarke, A V Cleaver, Robert Esnault-Pelterie, Sir Bernard Lovell, Marcel Nicolet, Hermann Oberth, Eugen Sanger, Leslie R Shepherd and Count Guido von Pirquet, alongside the history and organisation of the International Astronautical Fedration (IAF), COSPAR (Committee on Space Research), ESRO (European Space Research Organization), ELDO (European Space Vehicle Launcher Development Organization) and Eurospace concluding with a global review of space programmes.

BOOKS

For further information contact the National Aerospace Library.T +44 (0)1252 701038 or 701060E [email protected]

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Society NewsAfterburner


THE 2018 ROUND OF THE SOCIETY’S HONOURS, MEDALS AND AWARDS IS ALREADY OPEN FOR NOMINATIONS WITH A FINAL DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF NOMINATION FORMS OF 31 MARCH 2018

The Society’s Honours, Medals, Awards and Written Paper Prizes are the global aerospace community’s most prestigious and long-standing awards honouring achievement, innovation and excellence. The Royal Aeronautical Society has been honouring outstanding achievers in the global aerospace industry since 1909, when Wilbur and Orville Wright came to London to receive the Society’s first Gold Medal. Over the years, celebrating aerospace achievers in this way has become an annual tradition. The Society’s Honours, Medals and Awards programme recognises and celebrates individuals and teams who have made an exceptional contribution to aerospace, whether it is for an outstanding achievement, a major technical innovation, exceptional leadership or work that otherwise further advances aerospace art, science or engineering.

Dr Mike SteedenCEng FRAeSPast-President 2009-10Chair, Medals and Awards Committee 2011-17

The awards criteria – a (re)fresh start for 2018 and beyond

HONOURS, MEDALS, AWARDS AND WRITTEN PAPER PRIZES

The 2018 round of the Society’s Honours, Medals and Awards is already open for nominations with a final deadline for receipt of nomination forms of 31 March 2018 (https://www.aerosociety.com/get-involved/recognition/honours-medals-and-awards).

The 2018 round will be the first to reflect the recommendations of the 2017 Review of the Honours, Medals, Awards and Written Paper Prizes scheme approved by the Council at its meeting on 4 September 2017.

The merger of the Specialist, Specialist Group and Named Awards into a single, streamlined Specialist Award category was described in the November 2017 issue of AEROSPACE (pp 48-49). This article draws attention to changes to the awards criteria agreed by the Council. In part the changes were necessitated by the merger. However, they are also intended to ensure that the criteria are clear and easy for all involved to understand.

The revised criteria will assist the Medals and Awards Committee in maintaining good governance of the scheme, and those nominating in respect of the scheme’s expectations. They are also intended to lay out clearly in writing what has become custom and practice in assessing nominations and formulating recommendations.

As required by the Society’s Charter, recognition for ‘contributions to the advancement of Aerospace Art, Science and Engineering’ remains the focus of the revised criteria. To assist proposers in formulating nominations it is made clear that, while leadership or long and/or meritorious service in themselves do not qualify for recognition, they may do so when demonstrated to have had a particularly significant impact in advancing Aerospace Art, Science or Engineering.

The revised criteria are available on the Society’s website at https://www.aerosociety.com/media/7208/2017-revised-criteria-v-14-approved-040917.pdf Those considering proposing colleagues for recognition in the 2018 Awards Round, or in subsequent years, are strongly recommended to review them. Any questions arising can be addressed to Scott Phillips at No.4 Hamilton Place, on +44 (0)20 7670 4303 or by email to [email protected].

Presentation of the first Gold Medal of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain to Wilbur and Orville Wright ‘for their distinguished services to Aeronautical Science’ at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Great George Street, London SW1, 3 May 1909. From left: E S Bruce, Dr Shaw, Lt Col Templer, Col Trollope, Wilbur Wright, E P Frost (President), Orville Wright, J C Inglis, Major B F S Baden-Powell and Sir Hiram Maxim. RAeS (NAL).

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Above left: Farnborough Branch President and RAeS Past President, Sir Donald Spiers HonFRAeS, left, presents the maquette of Samuel Cody to Prof Chris Atkin FRAeS, RAeS immediate Past President. Above The Cody maquette in its place in the Foyer to the Bill Boeing Lecture Theatre.

The Society would like to hear from members who are interested in standing for the Council in the 2018 elections to be held next spring. Only by having a good number of candidates from all sectors of the aviation and aerospace community can the Council benefit from a variety of backgrounds and experience.

As members will be aware, the Council now concentrates on the outward facing aspects of the Society’s global activities. Indeed, as the Society becomes ever more global, it is critically important that our offerings to members, to Corporate Partners and especially to the public — indeed the whole of the aerospace sector that we serve — are of the highest quality. To lead output of the highest quality we need members of Council from every part of the aeronautical community and this is where you come in.

As such, please give serious thought to whether you could serve the Society in this most important role. If you are interested, or require further information, please visit our website at http://aerosociety.com/elections or contact Saadiya Ogeer, the Society’s Governance and Compliance Manager, on +44 (0)20 7670 4311 or [email protected].

Please note that all nominations must be submitted no later than 31 January 2018 at 23.59 GMT.

COUNCIL ELECTIONS 2018

Would you like to help guide the Society?

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2018 RAES COUNCIL ELECTIONS ARE NOW OPEN

CODY MAQUETTE GOES ON DISPLAY AT No.4

At Farnborough on 16 October 1908, Samuel F Cody achieved the first sustained flight of a powered heavier-than-air aircraft in the United Kingdom. Taking off from a point close to the then Army Balloon factory, he flew for a total of 460 yards before colliding heavily with the ground while veering to avoid a group of trees. Over the following five years he continued to develop and refine the design of his aircraft, perfect the art of controlling it in flight and greatly extend flight duration until, in 1913, like many other early aviators, he was killed in a flying accident caused by a major structural failure. In 2013, to mark the centenary of his death, a life-size statue of Cody, funded by donations from individuals and local organisations, was created by sculptor Vivien Malloch and installed at the entrance to the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum, close to where the historic first flight took place. Meanwhile, in 1909, the Society had awarded him its Silver Medal in recognition of his achievements to that point. Other than this, to date there had been no visible recognition in Society headquarters of this major pioneer of British aviation and our first pilot. The Farnborough Branch of the Society felt that a fitting way of remedying this would be to purchase the sculptor’s ‘maquette’ model of the iconic full-size statue, using funds raised from within the Branch, and present it to the Society for permanent display in a prominent position at

Hamilton Place. On 16 October 2017 (appropriately on the 109th anniversary of the first flight), the maquette was formally presented to the Society by Sir Donald Spiers, President of Farnborough Branch, immediately preceding the 2017 Lanchester Lecture. It was received on behalf of the Society by Professor Chris Atkin, immediate Past President, and after the lecture was duly placed in its new home, on the mantelshelf in the Foyer to the Bill Boeing Lecture Theatre at No.4 Hamilton Place.

Farnborough Branch presents Cody maquette to Hamilton Place

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50

Society News


Afterburner

The 1931 RAF High Speed Flight in front of a Supermarine S6B. The High Speed Flight was formed to compete in the Schneider Trophy contest. From left: Flt Lt E J Linton Hope, Lt G L Brinton RN, Flt Lt F W Long, Flt Lt G H Stainforth, Sqn Ldr A H Orlebar, Flt Lt J N Boothman, FO L S Snaith and Flt Lt Dry (engineer). Both John Boothman, who won the 1931 race, and Leonard Snaith are featured in forthcoming releases discussing the Schneider Trophy contests. RAeS (NAL).

The National Aerospace Library – as described in AEROSPACE April 2017 (p 53) – is developing a digital sound archive which brings the voices of the past (pilots, engineers, scientists etc) ‘alive’ once more to inspire and inform current and future generations.

These historic recordings are being released on the Royal Aeronautical Society’s SoundCloud site alongside the podcasts of recent main Society lectures (just click on the arrow button to ‘Play’).

www.aerosociety.com/podcast

Available to listen so far are extended interviews with Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown, Chuck Yeager, Scott Crossfield, Handel Davies, Al White, Bill Humble, Pete Knight, Dick Johnson, Philip Lucas, Peter Bugge, Col Emil ‘Ted’ Sturmthal, Harald Penrose, John Morton, D P Davies, John Cunningham and Jeffrey Quill.

Digitalised from the funding received through the Royal Aeronautical Society Foundation, the Library has, in addition, an archive of over 100 historic sound recordings (a real ‘Who’s Who’ of aviation’s personalities and great names over the decades dating back to recordings made in the

NATIONAL AEROSPACE LIBRARY

1940s stored on old 78rpm gramophone records, magnetic reel tapes and cassette tape and being in many cases the only record which the Society has of a particular speech or lecture).

The first batch of these historic recordings which have recently just been released feature some of the ‘giants’ in aviation history and include Sir Frederick Handley Page’s October 1961 lecture ‘The Birth of the World’s First Big Aeroplane’, a 1967 recording of Igor Sikorsky and a 1969 interview with Sir Barnes Wallis.

Future planned recordings to be released over the coming months will feature speakers focusing on many other subjects, including:

History of the Royal Air ForceIncludes recordings of Sir Dermot Boyle; ACM Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté; AM Sir Victor Goddard; Gp Capt Hamish Mahaddie; Commander G A Rowan-Thompson

Endurance FlightsWg Cdr Norman Macmillan ‘The First Flight Round the World’; Capt J C Kelly-Rogers ‘Atlantic Flying Twenty-Five Years Ago’; John Grierson ‘Polar Aviation’

National Aerospace Library Sound Archive

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Schneider TrophyFl Lt J Boothman; W A Cox; Grp Capt L S Snaith; Air Cdre F R ‘Rod’ Banks

Flight TestingA W ‘Bill’ Bedford; Lt Col C E ‘Chuck’ Yeager; Lt Col R White

History of British Aircraft Firms Sopwith (Sqn Ldr John Crampton); Miles Aircraft (Don L Brown); Saunders-Roe (H Knowler); Gloster (Hugh Burroughes); Supermarine (Alan N Clifton), Martinsyde (J M Bruce)

Aircraft Structures and AeroelasticityN J Hoff; Prof A R Collar; Prof S Timoshenko

The voices of Dr Theodore von Kármán, Sir Victor Goddard, Col John Glenn, Herr Silvius Dornier, Sir George Edwards and Sir Geoffrey Ingram Taylor are among the many other famous names included in the sound archive for future release.

A number of favourable comments/interest have been received via email and social media from around the world about the National Aerospace Library Sound Archive project which has attracted numerous ‘listens’ (over 5,000 to date) – an audience which is bound to grow as the digital archive expands.

For any enquiries about the National Aerospace Library Sound Archive please contact the librarians at Farnborough (T +44 (0)1252 701038/701060; E [email protected]).

The librarians would wish to acknowledge the valuable assistance of Mike Stanberry FRAeS for all his work in editing the sound recordings.

Please note that if these recordings or extracts from these recordings are to be reproduced in any way (book, journal article, website etc), acknowledgement should be made to the ‘Royal Aeronautical Society (National Aerospace Library)’ as being the source of the original.

Above: North American XB-70A Valkyrie. Ted Sturmthal was a test pilot on this programme and later flew in the Rockwell B-1A on its first flight. His interview is already available to listen to. NASA.

Left: Robert M White, who flew the North American X-15 to Mach 6 and to 314,750ft, will be featured in a forthcoming lecture recording. NASA.

Below left: An interview with Supermarine test pilot Jeffrey Quill is already available to listen to. RAeS (NAL).

Below right: The largest aircraft built in the UK at the time, Handley Page O/100 third prototype, 1457. Sir Frederick Handley Page, right, describes the design and manufacture of his WW1 bomber in a recently added RAeS lecture given shortly before his death. RAeS (NAL).

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Afterburner


DiaryEVENTS

5 DecemberWilbur and Orville Wright Lecture: Advancing Aviation, Keeping the Skies SafeMartin Rolfe, Chief Executive Officer, NATSNamed Lecture

12 DecemberAerospace Medicine Grand Round: Medical Risk in AviationAerospace Medicine Group Conference

12 DecemberStewart LectureJim Vanderploeg, Chief Medical Officer, Virgin GalacticAerospace Medicine Group Named Lecture

6 FebruaryMaximising the Value of Air Weapon SystemsWeapon Systems & Technology Group Conference

21 FebruaryAeroChallenge 2018Young Persons’ Committee aeronautical quiz

1 MarchIs there a future for MRO?

24 AprilHuman Performance – Pilots: the Next 40 Years?

24 AprilThe Future of Business AviationNetworking Event

9 MayRAF Weapons – Past, Present and Future

10 MayRAeS AGM and Annual Banquet

All lectures start at 18.00hrs unless otherwise stated. Conference proceedings are available at www.aerosociety.com/news/proceedings

www.aerosociety/events

52

LECTURESrequired) E [email protected] December — Reaction Engines. Gerrie Mullen.9 January — Nova Systems – future symbology. Jools Lee and Mark Purvis.6 February — Heavy Aircraft Test Squadron – End of an era? Colin Froude.20 February — Joe Morrall Award Lectures. Young Persons’ competition.

BROUGHCottingham Parks Golf Club. 7.30pm. Ben Groves, T +44 (0)1482 663938.13 December — Trawler Man Memorial. Peter Naylor. Joint lecture with IMechE. Robert Blackburn Building, Hull Univesity. 7pm.10 January — Memories of the Moor flight testing for the Cold War. Dennis Morley, ex Flight Test Engineer HSA/BAe Holme Upon Spalding Moor.7 February — Mission Aviation Fellowship – operational bush flying. Capt Bryan Pill.

CAMBRIDGELecture Theatre ‘0’, Cambridge University Engineering Department, Trumpington Street, Cambridge. 7.30pm. Jin-Hyun Yu, T +44 (0)1223 373129.14 December — The C-17 and aeromedical airlift. Sqn Ldrs Chris Powell and Jon Vollam, No99 Squadron, RAF.18 January — Solar Orbiter – mission to the Sun. Kyle Palmer, Airbus Defence and Space. Lecture Theatre 2.1 February — 18th Sir Arthur Marshall Lecture. Air Battle Training Centre. AM Stuart Atha RAF. Churchill College, Storey’s Way, Cambridge. 6pm.

BAY OF PLENTYClassic Flyers, 9 JeanBatten Drive, Mt Maunganui. 6pm.8 December — Scale model aero engines. Bill Janes.

BEDFORDARA Social Club, Manton Lane, Bedford. 7pm. Marylyn Wood, T +44 (0)1933 353517.13 December — Airlander: imagine the possibilities. Paul Hammond, Hybrid Air Vehicles.10 January — Exploring Mars: past, present and future. Prof John Bridges, Leicester University. Joint lecture with Bedford Civils.14 February — Maximising the value of air weapon systems. Michael Hersey, Lockheed Martin UK.

BIRMINGHAM, WOLVERHAMPTON AND COSFORDNational Cold War Museum, RAF Museum Cosford, Shifnal, Shropshire. 7pm. Chris Hughes, T +44 (0)1902 844523.21 December — Development and operation of the English Electric Lightning. Richard Norris, Founder member, Lightning Preservation Group.18 January — Chasing Bears in the Phantom. Capt Nick Anderson, Virgin Atlantic and ex-RAF fighter pilot.15 February — Principles of aircraft ejection seat engineering. Philip Rowles, Chief Engineer, Martin-Baker.

BOSCOMBE DOWNLecture Theatre, MoD Boscombe Down. 5.15pm. Visitors please register at least four days in advance (name and car registration

CANBERRAKing O’Malley’s Bar in Civic. 6pm.12 December — Branch Social Evening.

CARDIFFBAMC. 7pm. E [email protected] December — Lightning. Rhys Phillips, Research Engineer, Airbus Group Innovations. Queens Campus, Cardiff University.17 January — Engine power – Where will it come from in the future? Conrad Banks, Rolls-Royce Defence.21 February — Policing from the air – tales of a helicop. Gary Smart.

CHRISTCHURCHCobham Lecture Theatre, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Wallisdown. 7.30pm. Roger Starling, E [email protected] December — The Icarus Project. Dr Angelo Niko GrubiŠic�, University of Southamption.25 January — Helicopter air-to-air refuelling. Andy Strachan, Leonardo.22 February — Flight – the human factor. Ashley Morgan, FAST archivist.

COVENTRYLecture Theatre ECG26, Engineering & Computing Building, Coventry University, Coventry. 7.30pm. Janet Owen, T +44 (0)2476 464079.6 December — Powering the Airbus A400M, the Rolls-Royce TP400. Jerry Goodwin, Chif Engineer, Rolls-Royce TP400.17 January — Three-dimensional printing and digital technology. Kevin Smith,

English Electric Lightning F3, XP702, coded ‘N’ of 11 Squadron, Royal Air Force landing at RAF Finningley, Yorkshire. The development and operation of the Lightning will be discussed by Richard Norris at Cosford on 21 December. MilborneOne.


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Consultant Global TCT.15 February — Meggitt Lecture and Dinner. Holiday Inn Coventry South, London Road, Ryton on Dunsmore, Coventry.

CRANWELLDaedalus Officers’ Mess, RAF Cranwell. 7.30pm. For non-pass holders notification of intended arrival should be made to the Branch Secretary.11 December — 617 Squadron in 10 objects. Jim Shortland.5 February — Whittle Lecture. Celebration of the jet. Hannah Beevors, Red Arrows photographer.

DERBYNightingale Hall, Moor Lane, Derby. 5.30pm. Chris Sheaf, T +44 (0)1332 269368.24 January — Towards virtual, self-designing aircraft. Paul Tucker.

FARNBOROUGHBAE Systems Park Centre, Farnborough Aerospace Centre. 7.30pm. Dr Mike Philpot, T +44 (0)1252 614618.5 December — Aerodynamics of future commercial aircraft. Rob Greg III, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.16 January — Airlander airships. David Stewart, Hybrid Air Vehicles.13 February — Cody Lecture. Flying the Shuttleworth aircraft. Paul Shakespeare, Empire Test Pilots School.

GLOUCESTER AND CHELTENHAMSafran Landing Systems, Restaurant Conference Room, off Down Hatherley Lane. 7.30pm. Gary Murden, T +44 (0)1452 715165.19 December — Electroflight high performance electric flight. Roger Targett, CEO, Electroflight.16 January — Stealth attack helicopters. Jeremy Graham, Chief Engineer (Ret’d), Leonardo Helicopters.20 February — Delivering mission critical services – Partners Evening. Alex Stobo, Director of Operations Mission Critical Services Onshore – Aviation Babcock International Group and Paul Westaway, Director of Customer Services.

HAMBURGHochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg, Hörsaal 01.12 Berliner Tor 5 (Neubau), 20099 Hamburg. 6pm.11 January — Airbus Aerodynamics – integrating excellence. Dr Klaus Becker,

Aerodynamic Policies & Strategies, EGA-Germany, Airbus. Joint lecture with DGLR, VDI and HAW.

HATFIELDLindop Building, Room A166, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield. 7pm.Maurice James, T +44 (0)7958 775441.13 December — African bush flying. Capt Bryan Pill, MAF.24 January — Advanced materials. Philip Irvine, Cranfield University.14 February — Student lecture competition.

HEATHROWBritish Airways Theatre, Waterside, Harmondsworth. 6.15pm. For security passes please contact Dr Ana Pedraz, E [email protected] or T +44 (0)7936 392799.14 December — The role of a Rolls-Royce test pilot. Phil O’Dell, Rolls-Royce.11 January — Additive manufacturing in the aerospace industry. Stuart Jackson, Business Development Manager, Renishaw plc.8 February — F1 aerodynamics: modelling for performance. Dr Steve Liddle, Principal Aerodynamicist, Renault Sport F1.

LOUGHBOROUGHRoom U020, Brockington Building, Loughborough University. 7.30pm. Colin Moss, T +44 (0)1509 239962.5 December — Corporate jet cabin evolution. David Velupillai, Marketing Director, Airbus Corporate Jets, Toulouse.16 January — The real story of the Comet disasters. Paul Withey, Rolls-Royce.6 February — Graphene – the new material for aviation. Dr Matthieu Gresil, School of Materials, Manchester University.20 February — The Airlander airship project.

MANCHESTER7pm. Bryan Cowin, T +44 (0)161 799 8979.6 December — Recent developments in Martin-Baker ejection seats. Phil Rowles. Manchester University.15 January — High-speed transport: evolution or revolution. Prof Kostas Kontis. RVP Manchester Airport. 8pm.7 February — Digital aircraft. Paul Stephenson. Room 233, Newton Building, Salford University.

MEDWAYStaff Restaurant, BAE Systems, Marconi Way, Rochester. 7pm. Robin Heaps, T +44 (0)1634 377973.

11 December — Flying for life. Tim Allen.15 January — Availability contracting. Sean McGovern.12 February — Bush flying. Paul Catanach.

QUEENSLANDVictoria Barracks, Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, QLD 4000. 5.30pm.6 December — End of Year Drinks and SGM.

SHEFFIELDAMRC Knowledge Transfer Centre, Brunel Way, Advanced Manufacturing Park, Rotherham. 7pm. E [email protected] December — Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service. Tracey Gregory.

SOUTHENDThe Royal Naval Association, 79 East Street, Southend-on-Sea. 8pm. Sean Corr, T +44 (0)20 7929 3400.12 December — Gone bush! – recollections of a bush pilot. Capt Paul Catanach, Line Training Captain, TAG Aviation.9 January — Flying the Bf109. Flt Lt Charlie Brown, Flying Instructor, RAF Cranwell.13 February — Air operations in Afghanistan. Wg Cdr Paul Morris (Ret’d).

STEVENAGEFusion Restaurant, Airbus

The dining area aboard an Airbus ACJ319 operated by Acropolis Aviation. David Velupillai will discuss corporate jet cabin evolution at Loughborough on 5 December. Airbus.

17 January — QEC, The journey back to carrier strike.

MONTREALConference Room 3 (CR3), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) headquarters, 999 Robert-Bourassa Boulevard, Montréal, Québec H3C 5H7. 6pm.7 December — 14th Assad Kotaite Lecture. The Honorable Robert L Sumwalt III, Chairman, United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

MUNICH5.30pm.1 February — Volocopter – manntragender Multikopter als Lufttaxi der Zukunft. Jan Zwiener (Senior Systems Engineer Volocopter.

PRESTONPersonnel and Conference Centre, BAE Systems, Warton. 7.30pm. Alan Matthews, T +44 (0)1995 61470.13 December — Memories of the Moor flight testing for the Cold War. Dennis Morley, ex Flight Test Engineer HSA/BAe Holme Upon Spalding Moor.

PRESTWICKThe Aviator Suite, 1st Floor, Terminal Building, Prestwick Airport. 7.30pm. John Wragg, T +44 (0)1655 750270.

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Afterburner

DiaryTOULOUSESymposium Room, B01, Airbus HQ/SAS, 1 rond point Maurice Bellonte, 31707 Blagnac. 6pm. Contact: [email protected] for a security pass.12 December — Flight tracking. Claude Pichavant, Airbus.23 January — 26th Gordon Corps Lecture. safety aspects of the space shuttle and the International Space Station. Prof Claude Nicollier, ESA astronaut, École Polytechnique, Fédéral de Lausanne.20 February — Rolls-Royce Mini-Lecture Competition.

YEOVILWestland Entertainment Venue, Yeovil. 6.30pm. David Mccallum, E [email protected] December — Thunderbolts & Lightning! Are they really frightening? Rhys Phillips, Research Engineer, Airbus Group Innovations. Ticket only event.

Lightning strikes behind a Boeing B-52H Stratofortress at Minot Air Force Base, ND. Rhys Phillips will give a light-hearted discussion on lightning and how aircraft are protected from it at Cardiff on 6 December and Yeovil on 13 December. USAF.

THE NATIONAL AEROSPACE LIBRARY FARNBOROUGHAviation and Aerospace past, present and future

Owned and operated by

Find out more at: W www.aerosociety.com/nal T +44 (0)1252 701038, E [email protected] or visit us at Farnborough Business Park based at the historic former RAE site in Farnborough, Hampshire

Over 100,000 books, periodicals, pamphlets and documents chronicling man’s dream to conquer flight

Defence and Space, Gunnels Wood Road, Stevenage. 6pm. Matt Cappell, E [email protected] December — Robotic arm for use in future space missions. Elie Allouis.

SWINDONThe Montgomery Theatre, The Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Joint Services Command Staff College, Shrivenham. 7.30pm. New attendees must provide details of the vehicle they will be using not later than five days before the event. Photo ID will be required at the gate (Driving Licence/Passport). Advise attendance preferably via email to [email protected] or Branch Secretary Colin Irvin, T +44 (0)7740 136609.6 December — Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly. Sqn Ldr (ret’d) Derek J Sharpe.10 January — Alcock and Brown. Cyril Mannion.7 February — Unmanned aviation support. Sqn Ldr Nick Harrington.


Corporate PartnersNEW PARTNERSCDG, A BOEING COMPANY2401 E Wardlow Road, Long Beach, CA 90 807, USAT +1 562 608 2001E [email protected] www.cdgnow.comContact Calsee Hendrickson, VP Business Development & Commercial BusinessCDG offers services and solutions that encompass aircraft engineering and operations, including Engineering Design & Manufacturing Services, S1000D Technical Publications Authoring Services and Software, and eLearning solutions. CDG leads Boeing Technical Data Services, which includes technical authoring and illustration services across commercial and military programmes. CDG authors and maintains Boeing Illustrated Parts Catalogues and Databases and authors AMMs, CMMs, Service Bulletins, Task Cards, and other documentation. CDG’s Inmedius Spectrum™ suite is Boeing’s S1000D authoring toolset. It includes tailored tools to manage IPC and IPD authoring and global parts data. CDG also develops multimedia training courses for Boeing employees and aerospace suppliers.

HENRY JOHNSON – EGETRA GROUP5 Rue Marc Seguin, CS 50436, Goussainvill Cedex, 95 194, FranceT +33 1 39 94 7777E [email protected] www.egetra.comContact Susanna Savoia, Executive Co-ordinator

Established in 1870, our activities are air and sea freight, road transportation, logistics and customs brokerage. We have dedicated departments for aerospace, pharma, edition, wine and spirits and international moving.

Henry Johnson has been well known in aerospace for over 70 years and is a member of the Aviation Logistics Network, ALN, boasting more than 100 partners worldwide.

We ensure 24/7 AOG handling, airport assistance, hand-carry, oversize transportation, aircraft engines transportation, drop shipments to/from all destinations, chartering, time definite services, logistics including storage, picking, distribution, temperature control, hazardous material packing, customs brokerage, ATA carnet, and insurance.

Our clients are airlines, manufacturers, MRO specialists, raw material and component producers.

SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT UK REGION LTDVoyager House, 142 Prospect Way (1st floor), London Luton Airport, Luton, UKT +44 (0)1582 724182E [email protected] www.signatureflight.comContact Lucy Lonergan, Manager: Project, Marketing & Business Development

Signature Flight Support, a BBA Aviation plc company, is the world’s largest fixed-base operation (FBO) and distribution network for business aviation services. Signature services include fuelling, hangar and office rentals, ground handling and a wide range of crew and passenger amenities at strategic domestic and international locations. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Signature currently operates at more than 220+ locations in the US, Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. For more information, please visit: www.signatureflight.com.

EVENTSPlease note: Attendance at the Parliamentary Reception and Corporate Partner Briefings is strictly exclusive to staff of RAeS Corporate Partners.

Monday 4 December 2017 / LondonCorporate Partner Parliamentary ReceptionHouse of CommonsSponsors:

Thursday 18 January 2018 / LondonCorporate Partner Briefing by Eric Bernardini, Managing Director London, AlixPartners

Thursday 10 May 2018 / LondonAnnual BanquetCorporate tables and individual tickets availableSupported by:

Further briefing dates to be advised.

www.aerosociety.com/eventsFor further information, please contact Gail WardE [email protected] or T +44 (0)1491 629912

THE AIM OF THE CORPORATE PARTNER SCHEME IS TO BRING TOGETHER ORGANISATIONS TO PROMOTE BEST PRACTICE WITHIN THE INTERNATIONAL AEROSPACE SECTOR

Contact:Simon LevyHead of Business DevelopmentE [email protected] +44 (0)20 7670 4346M +44 (0)7775 701153

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56

Elections


SOCIETY OFFICERSPresident: ACM Sir Stephen DaltonPresident-Elect: Rear Admiral Simon Henley

BOARD CHAIRMEN

Learned Society Chairman: Air Cdre Peter Round

Membership Services Chairman: Philip Spiers

Professional Standards Chairman: Prof Jonathan Cooper

DIVISION PRESIDENTS

Australia: Andrew NeelyNew Zealand: John MaciIreePakistan: AM Salim ArshadSouth African: Dr Glen Snedden

Afterburner

Tony AbbeyCraig AlcockSaiful BaharGeoffrey BoothMark BruntonSteve BuckinghamGregory BulkleyPaul CheethamBlythe CrawfordJohn DixonGreig DohertyDavid DownieGraham DuguidAlan EvansBryan FinlayJoseph ForsterMark GeogheganNathan GrayPeter GriffithChristopher HamarDavid HesterPeter HothamRichard HowardMalcolm HumphriesRobert KennedyIan LangTimothy LintottPhilip Lintott-ClarkeChristopher LongJohn PalmerMaria PuggioniPaul RoseArif SaleemDuncan SmithMichele SoriceJacqui SurenDavid TaylorChristine (Chris) ToomerPeter VincentConor WhelanZhang XinguoShan Zhong

Mubbashar AhmadMichael AlcockGeoff BainSteven BlayneyLuke BostonRichard BrewsterKevin BridgeDavide BruzziDavid BuckmasterAlan CharlesworthAndrea CiniAlexander ClarkAlistair ConeTony CorkeryPaul DenhamIan DeningtonAlexander DiepeveenDavid EastMarian Eder

FELLOWS Scott EldridgePeter EtheridgeRobert FieldingDavid FillinghamStuart GatesMaroof GhansarAlan GibbDavid GoodwillJim GreenBen HansonSophie HarkerMartin HermesConor HickeyMatthew HindesMartyn HodgettsTaiyib HussainDarren JeanStephanie JonesGeoffrey JonesMichael JumpMarcel KaegiFaraz KhanBidur KhanalOndrej KlosJakob KurpierzAndrea Llamedo

QuidielloCristiano LoccoPhillip LoughlinLeonardo LupelliAndrew MacdonaldAamir MairajRaffaello MarianiCiaran McAndrewWilliam MichaelsBurnley MosesDeborah PayneBrett PittawayJames PughRaja Mohan Ravi Oliver Rizi-ShorvonStuart RobinsonAntonio RomanoPaul SippittRichard SmithDmytriy StepchenkovAndrew TaylorSakthivel

ThirumalaisamySteven TiddDerek UnderwoodZoe VerseyMark WalkerSharon Zhaohuachen

WangEmma WatsonJohn WatsonPeter WenhamWilly WestgaardAdam WhiteJade WhittleThusitha

WickramasingheDaniel YoungStuart YuleMichael Zaytsoff

Matthew BellAndrew DavisonCis Guy M De

MaesschalckSmriti HamalMichael LoveringEvan MeyrickVictor MwongeraAnna PuterlaMustafa RashadSimon ReeveKelvin RichardsSvend SickerPaul Wicks

Alison BarrettPeter BrangamSara GaglioneHasnain GhazanfarHebbur Gurumurthy

GowthamDarren SarathNeil StaniforthJoeri StoopAmeed VersaceJohn-Ryan WarnickPhilip Wekhomba

Ashley BarnesDaniella BarnettEdward BarnicoatThomas BinningtonMichael BristoweRobert CalderonKwan FergusMario FerraroThomas HyattJennifer JoblingKa Yan KwokScott McQuaidHaja Abdoul Kathar

Mougamadou Soultane

Joshua O’KeefeMatthew ParryOliver SteelsAnisha Varughese

Christopher Chapman

Margaret ClotworthyGeorge CookAaron HumphriesColin JonesJafar MasriTapfuma MasukuEsteve Mateu Guiu

STUDENT AFFILIATES

WITH REGRET

Jeremy James Danton Brown CEng MRAeS 82

Kenneth John Davies CEng MRAeS 81

Pierre Gordon Jean Freullet FRAeS 81

Willy Richard John Hockin OBE FRAeS 66

Leonard John Scott Houston MRAeS 85

Prof John Court Levy FREng FRAeS 91

Albert Cecil Marriner Affiliate 83

Leonard John Martin Affiliate 88

John Patrick McNulty CEng MRAeS 85

Maurice William Melville AMRAeS 95

Capt Keith Edwin Sissons AMRAeS 87

The RAeS announces with regret the deaths of the following members:

Guy AllisonRhoda ByrneBenjamin FosterAlfred HillHualong HuFelix LambertPolina OvsyannikovaRoss Parkinson

ASSOCIATES

AFFILIATES

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

E-ASSOCIATES

MEMBERS

Date for your diary5 December 2017 — Wilbur and Orville Wright Lecture: Advancing Aviation, Keeping the Skies SafeMartin Rolfe FRAeS, Chief Executive Officer, NATS

Copy datefor the next issue of AEROSPACE is 30 November.

Apply online now: www.aerosociety.com/login

Don’t forget

Your Membership Renewal

or find out more: [email protected]/ +44 (0)20 7670 4384/4400

The next closing date for upgrade and professional registration applications is 30 January 2018

Have you renewed your membership subscription which is due on 1 January 2018? If you have any questions, please get in touch!

50 YEARS OF MEMBERSHIP

Eric Allen MRAeSKenneth Bonney

FRAeSDavid Burrett MRAeSSydney Cowley MRAeSEdwin Holweger

MRAeSKenneth Malcolm

MRAeSRoy Pedlar MRAeSClive Rustin FRAeSIan Sharland MRAeSRoy Sparrow FRAeSDavid Wyatt MRAeSHerbert Brocklesby

FRAeSGeoffrey Dilbey

AMRAeSThomas Rowlands

FRAeSColin Watkinson

AMRAeS

Allan Sutton MRAeSRobert Ward FRAeSGerald Elphick MRAeSRichard Forder MRAeSPeter John Gambardella

MRAeSIan Geraghty MRAeSPaul Herring MRAeSHaydn Lewis MRAeSMichael Moss MRAeSMahahettige Perera

FRAeSDavid Pollard MRAeSMichael Salter FRAeSPaul Sampson FRAeSRoger Taplin FRAeSRodney Tribick MRAeSGraham White

MRAeSDavid Whitehead

FRAeSWilliam Belton FRAeS

Robin Baker MRAeSKevin Donnelly MRAeSDavid Dryell MRAeSMichael Elliott MRAeSRobert Hatcher MRAeSBrian Humphries

FRAeSAlan Dyson Hunt

AMRAeSThomas Keates FRAeSPhilip Kerrison MRAeSRodney Lampton

MRAeSAnthony O’Neill FRAeSClive Radley MRAeSStuart Schofield

MRAeSGraham Skinner FRAeSMartyn Smith MRAeSGeoffrey Snelgrove

MRAeSJohn Startup MRAeS

The Society would like to congratulate the following members who have reached 50 years of membership during 2016-2017

Following his lecture to the Society, ‘Principia – A Journey of a Lifetime’ on 9 November, ESA astronaut Tim Peake was presented with his Honorary Fellowship certificate and Geoffrey Pardoe Space Award which he was unable to collect last year.

An audio version of this lecture is available from www.aerosociety.com/news/audio-principia-a-journey-of-a-lifetime/ or via iTunes.

Tim Peake at No.4

Political space

There is perhaps inevitably a political dimension lurking even in this kind of space stuff. With China and India chucking satellites and landers at the Moon, a lot of their motivation is about demonstrating national prestige and a wider competence that hints of military capabilities. The original Sputnik not only presaged a world of communications satellites it also helped to trigger US fears of a ‘missile gap’ by demonstrating that a rocket that could insert a satellite into orbit could also deliver a nuclear warhead.

Which is where I join the doubters – I am not an enthusiast of manned space, the apotheosis of prestige space programmes. I am not convinced that the bulk of scientific return from manned space are merely about how to keep people alive and healthy in orbit or on longer flights to the Moon and beyond. Now, this is not to say that I don’t find entertainment at the sight of Matt Damon trying to grow potatoes on Mars, or George Clooney being flung into oblivion. I also lapped up the original Foundation series and the other great space operas. I am simply not convinced of the cost effectiveness of conventional manned space programmes. The prospect of some very rich men spending their money on the activity – especially if this also includes ways of drastically lowering the cost of accessing space for all types of applications – does mitigate my churlishness about astronautics. But when it threatens to deprive the scientific community of resources to mount future Cassini missions a red mist descends.

Recent trends in NASA’s budget imply a shift away from robotic space and a politically inspired hint of embracing Mars as an immediate target for the next ‘big push’, just as John Kennedy announced his commitment to land a man on the Moon “within a decade”, sending space policy into a very high-cost technological dead end. This is the worst kind of Hollywood-inspired policy making.

So Cassini completed its mission in literally a blaze of glory. A NASA-ESA co-production as the Cassini-Huygens, the satellite and its Titan lander was the first to orbit Saturn and has been transmitting wonderful

pictures and data since 2004. This must be seen as a complete vindication of the robotic approach to the serious study of the Solar System – a hundred per cent scientific return but with lots also learnt about the technology and operational management of automated exploration.

The earlier Voyager 1 and 2 satellites are now travelling beyond our neighbourhood in inter-stellar space. With their cargo of Earth sounds and images, as well as locational data, they too are still transmitting information back to their distant home world. This has entered the realm of science fiction. Captain Kirk and his chums encountered a Voyager after a collision with another vehicle turned it into a killer. There was also a story of aliens meeting Voyager, which ended with the chilling words “new place for lunch?”

Mission value

To my mind this is the true magic and the wider value of spending money on space technology. Relatively cheap and still capable of stirring enthusiasm and popular support – remember the fate of the poor Beagle followed sympathetically by a large TV audience. ESA’s comet lander (and one for the UK to cheer) was also a stunning success even if it did not quite land in the right place. Nevertheless, the technical challenges posed by these missions were the kind of value-added activity that a modern economy should be engaged in. It also stimulates cutting edge space technologies and processes that do spin-off directly into both commercial space applications and generate terrestrial value. These are the missions that produce new concepts in artificial intelligence and robotics that will create high-value jobs and 21st century industries.

The Last Word

Let’s hear it for unmanned space exploration

Professor Keith HaywardFRAeS

COMMENTARY FROM

I AM NOT CONVINCED THAT THE BULK OF SCIENTIFIC RETURN FROM MANNED SPACE ARE MERELY ABOUT HOW TO KEEP PEOPLE ALIVE AND HEALTHY IN ORBIT OR ON LONGER FLIGHTS TO THE MOON AND BEYOND


www.aerosociety.com/events

Sponsorship opportunities are available for this conference.

Please contact [email protected] for more information.

Aerospace Medicine Symposium

AEROSPACE MEDICINE GRAND ROUND

MEDICAL RISK IN AVIATION

LONDON / 12 DECEMBER 2017

This year’s symposium will use clinical cases and real world experiences to explore the complexities of medical risk in aviation.

This year’s conference will take the form of a ‘Grand Round’ and act as a forum for aerospace professionals to share and discuss the latest advances in aerospace medicine.

www.aerosociety.com/events

MARTIN ROLFE FRAES, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NATS

Wilbur and Orville Wright Named Lecture and 2017 RAeS Honours

ADVANCING AVIATION, KEEPING THE SKIES SAFE

LONDON / 5 DECEMBER 2017

The Wilbur & Orville Wright Lecture is the principal event in the Society’s year.

The 2017 Lecture will explore the challenges facing air traffic management around the world and provide insight into what the future may hold for this important sector of the UK economy.

Prior to the Lecture, the RAeS 2017 Honours will be presented.

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RAeS Merchandise

2017 CHRISTMAS CARDS

BUY YOUR SOCIETY CHRISTMAS CARDS NOW

FOUR DESIGNS AVAILABLE

Alternatively, email us at [email protected] or call us on +44(0)20 7670 4345

Christmas Tree Design (right)

- Spitfire

- Red Plane

- Plane over lake

All cards are available for £6 for a pack of 10.

www.aerosociety.com/WSTConference

Weapon Systems and Technology Conference

MAXIMISING THE VALUE OF AIR WEAPON SYSTEMS IMPROVING THROUGH LIFE COSTS AND CAPABILITY OF WEAPONS ACROSS ALL THE DLODS

LONDON / 6 FEBRUARY 2018

Sponsorship opportunities are available for this conference.

Please contact [email protected] for more information.

With the cost of weapon systems and their integration onto platforms, a smaller inventory is inevitable to cover a wide range of capabilities. Defence Lines of Development offer a framework to study opportunities where cost benefits can be achieved. The conference seeks to identify areas where best value can be achieved through the life cycle of the weapon system.

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