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FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

WORLD AIRLINERS UPDATES ON ALL MAJOR MAINLINE JET PROGRAMMES SPECIAL REPORT

VIRGIN IN NO RUSH UK carrier ponders how to replace four-engine types but plans to take its time introducing A380 11

SAFRAN SIZES UPFallout from Goodrich takeover gives surge to French giant’s electrical power business 22

INDUSTRY CLUSTER

WICHITA’SWORKING How the US aviation capital is slowly rebuilding its reputation

flightglobal.com

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30 OCTOBER-5 NOVEMBER 2012

30 October-5 November 2012 | Flight International | 3flightglobal.com

FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

30 OCTOBER-5 NOVEMBER 2012VOLUME 182 NUMBER 5364

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Boeing debuts surveillance aircraft prototype P16. Virgin Atlantic to introduce A330-300s in 2014 as it defers A380 delivery plans to 2017 P11

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FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL

WORLD AIRLINERS UPDATES ON ALL MAJOR MAINLINE JET PROGRAMMES SPECIAL REPORT

VIRGIN IN NO RUSH UK carrier ponders how to replace four-engine types but plans to take its time introducing A380 11

SAFRAN SIZES UPFallout from Goodrich takeover gives surge to French giant’s electrical power business 22

INDUSTRY CLUSTER

WICHITA’SWORKING How the US aviation capital is slowly rebuilding its reputation

£3.20

30 OCTOBER-5 NOVEMBER 2012

NEWS THIS WEEK 6 Government cash aids AgustaWestland’s

Yeovil switch

7 Airbus stays cautious with A350 plan

8 Gearbox issue led to EC225 ditching

9 787 windows open new possibilities. Natural resonance downed hypersonic test flight

AIR TRANSPORT 10 Confused Monarch pilots strayed into

path of 737

11 Virgin in no hurry to introduce A380s. Airbus breaks down segregation for A350 cockpit

12 Cracked deflector led MD-90 to land without nose-gear. Lufthansa set to Score with standardised specs

13 Kingfisher could face legal action for ‘aircraft parting’. Converted 767s could augment FedEx new-builds

DEFENCE 14 Swiss complete evaluation of UAV

candidates. A330 boom detachment traced to back-up hoist

15 Sikorsky appeals for talks to calm Cyclone storm. US Army targets April for upgraded OH-58F flight

16 Aerial scout contenders wait on army

BUSINESS AVIATION 18 Aircraft Industries pitches revamped L-410

at Russia. Wind farm generates Bond deal

19 Gulfstream sanguine over substantial G650 backlog. Marshall corrals executive operations

TECHNOLOGY 20 Testing near for sense-and-avoid tool.

Cassidian seeks to dazzle in power management

BUSINESS 22 Safran feels the power

REGULARS5 Comment 51 Straight & Level52 Interactive54 Classified 57 Jobs 63 Working Week 61 JOB OF THE WEEK Air traffic control

officers, Marshall, Cambridge Airport, UK

COVER STORY24 WICHITA SPECIAL REPORT Rebuilding

the capital What lies ahead for the recession-hit city as its aerospace institutions adapt to regain the title of “air capital of the world”

FEATURES36 WORLD AIRLINERS SPECIAL REPORT

Plane sailing The first instalment of our two-part package looks at mainliner manufacturing and tracks the progress of conversion programmes in a struggling air cargo market

NEXT WEEK CHINA SPECIAL We set the scene for the Zhuhai air show with analysis of the host nation’s aircraft programmes and its booming market, a prime target for Western manufacturers

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PIC OF THE WEEK YOUR PHOTOGRAPH HEREAirSpace user 1-2-3-calum posted this shot of a Boeing C-17 Globemaster at the UK’s Royal International Air Tattoo. Our World Air Forces special report 2011-2012 lists 212 C-17s in the US Air Force’s active fleet. Open a gallery in flightglobal.com’s AirSpace community for a chance to feature here

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COVER IMAGECraig Hacker took this shot on the Hawker 4000 assembly line at Hawker Beechcraft’s Wichita facility. Our cover story is a locally researched analysis of the city’s aerospace industry and its prospects.See Special Report P24

I AM GLOBAL Access the free Interactive Business Aircraft Guide

flightglobal.com

CONTENTS

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

For a full list of reader services, editorial and advertising contacts see P53

EDITORIAL +44 20 8652 3842 [email protected] DISPLAY ADVERTISING +44 20 8652 3315 [email protected] CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING +44 20 8652 4897 [email protected] RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING +44 20 8652 4900 [email protected] WEBMASTER [email protected] +44 1444 445 454 [email protected] REPRINTS +44 20 8652 [email protected] FLIGHT DAILY NEWS +44 20 8652 [email protected]

THE WEEK ON THE WEBflightglobal.com

Vote at flightglobal.com/poll

Find all these items at flightglobal.com/wotw

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

36%Genuine pioneer Pure publicity stuntBrave but crazy fool

27% 37%

Total votes: 1,502

This week, we ask: What are the chances that the A350 will appear at the 2013 Paris air show? Racing certainty

Nip and tuck 50:50 at best Next to zero

Last week, we asked for your thoughts on Red Bull’s Stratos skydiver. You said:

IN THIS ISSUECompanies listedAeroservicios Especializados .......................19AgustaWestland .............................................6Airbus ....................... 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 22, 23Airbus Military ..............................................14Aircelle ........................................................22Aircraft Industries .........................................18Air Lease Corp ...............................................7Air Malta ......................................................23Alenia Aeronautica .......................................20ATR ........................................................13, 22Austrian Airlines ...........................................12Avincis ...........................................................6Avfuel ..........................................................18BAE Systems ...............................................22Bell Helicopter .......................................15, 16Blue Panorama ............................................10Boeing .........6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 22, 23Bombardier .................................................12Bond Air Services .................................6, 8, 18Brussels Airlines ..........................................12CFM International ........................................22CHC Scotia ....................................................8CHEP Aerospace Solutions ...........................23Dassault ......................................................18Diehl ............................................................20Duncan Aviation ...........................................23EADS ...............................................14, 16, 22Elbit Systems ...............................................14Embraer .............................................6, 14, 18Ethiopian Airlines ...........................................9Eurocopter ...............................................8, 18FlairJet .........................................................18General Electric ...................................6, 9, 22Gentex ...........................................................9Germanwings ...............................................12Gulfstream .............................................18, 19Hawker Beechcraft .......................................16Hindustan Aeronautics ...................................6Honeywell. ...................................................22Indra ............................................................20Interjet .........................................................10Israel Aerospace Industries ..........................14Kingfisher Airlines ........................................13Lao Central ..................................................10Liebherr .......................................................22Lion Air ........................................................12Lockheed Martin ................................6, 15, 16Lufthansa ....................................................12Marshall Business Aviation...........................19Metro Aviation ..............................................23Monarch Airlines ..........................................10Orbital Sciences...........................................22Pratt & Whitney ..............................................6PPG Aerospace ..............................................9Qatar Airways .................................................7Raytheon .....................................................23 Rolls-Royce ................................................ 6, 7Ryanair ..................................................10, 15Saab ...........................................................20Safran .........................................................22Sagem .........................................................20Selex Galileo ................................................20Sikorsky .................................................15, 16Sky Aviation .................................................10Southwest Airlines........................................23Sukhoi .........................................................10Superjet International ..................................10Swiss International Air Lines .........................12Thales ....................................................20, 22Tiger Airways ................................................12United Technologies .....................................15UTC..............................................................22Virgin Atlantic ...............................................11Yakutia Airlines .............................................10Zodiac .........................................................22

Business editor Dan Thisdell (top)

got close to a Meteor UAV while

visiting Selex Galileo in Trieste,

Italy (P20). News editor Dominic

Perry’s travels took him to

Toulouse (below), for the opening

of Airbus’s A350 final assembly

line (P7, P11), and to Yeovil, for a

briefing at AgustaWestland’s

UK production facility (P6).

HIGH FLIERSThe top five stories for the week just gone:1 SIA orders five A380s and 20 A350s, transfers 787s to Scoot

2 Airbus Military explains cause of A330 boom detachment

3 Virgin closing on selection of 747-400 and A340-600 replacement

4 Airbus advances towards first flight of A350 twinjet

5 SIA to drop nonstop USA flights as Airbus buys back A340s

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

News that the nation of Jordan had adopted a year-round

unified time zone presented a headline opportunity David

Kaminski-Morrow just couldn’t resist: “Amman for all seasons” was, inevitably, the

title he gave his Airline Business blog post. The

move, he wrote, is unlikely to

win favour with Royal

Jordanian Airlines’ passen-

gers, who “are being advised

that as a result of the

government’s plan to extend summer to include, er, winter, they’ll need to mentally add an hour to the times on their

tickets”. On The DEW Line, Craig Hoyle drew attention to

one of the winners in the UK Royal Air Force’s annual

photography competition (above): SAC Daniel Herrick’s

shot captured Hawker Hurricane IIC LF363 from the Battle

of Britain Memorial Flight close-up, seconds before passing

above Buckingham Palace during the Diamond Jubilee

celebrations earlier this year.

4 | Flight International | 30 October-5 November 2012

FLIGHT TRAINING Search the Civil Simulator Censuswww.flightglobal.com/civilsim

COMMENT


See Cover Story P24

Weather changes spectacularly on the Great Plains. A flood disappears as fast as the next drought ar-

rives. So it is with the Wichita aviation cluster. This, community, nearly a century old, has wondered if the post-2007 downturn is the hardest yet.

Severing a relationship dating from 1929, Boeing’s brand will withdraw from Wichita in 2014. Meanwhile, Hawker Beechcraft is struggling to redefine itself before it is too late. The iconic Beech brand may still endure, but in what form nobody is certain.

Yet hope remains. Aerostructures specialist and Boe-ing spin-off Spirit AeroSystems now dominates the cluster’s fortunes – and this is one of those cyclical “better” times. Wichita’s entire aviation community

rises now on the strength of Spirit’s fast-growing back-log from an increasingly diverse mix of aircraft. Wichi-ta’s plan to survive is no longer dependent solely on the whims of any single aviation market. And when the business aviation market recovers, Wichita will be bet-ter prepared than ever. Unhealthy businesses have been shed and a training pipeline for skilled labour exists.

This is good news for the aviation industry as a whole. This medium-sized Kansas city has a depth of experi-ence, skill and talent that cannot be transplanted to a lower-cost market, or replaced by new competitors with only a fraction of Wichita’s lifespan. The winds in Wi-chita are changing – this time in the cluster’s favour.

How Wichita is weathering the storm

Analysis of airlines’ fleet strategies is available via our premium news and data service: flightglobal.com/pro

See This Week P7AirTe

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The long goodbye...

Embedded in the agreement that committed Singa-pore Airlines to acquiring five more Airbus A380s

and 20 A350s was an undertaking by the airframer to buy back the carrier’s five A340-500s. In the fuss creat-ed by blue-chip endorsements of flagship airliners, this detail may have been overlooked, but it heralds an im-portant, if unsurprising, decision. Plainly, SIA has fi-nally opted to throw in the towel on its ultra-long-haul transpacific experiment. That will happen at the end of next year – and comes as little surprise.

It was a bold attempt to open up a new frontier with nonstop connections between SIA’s Changi hub and the USA, and the innovative carrier’s perseverance is to be admired. However, it was an open secret that the five-strong A340-500 fleet was failing to turn a profit when deployed on flights of up to 19h, serving Los An-geles and Newark. Even a change of strategy to all-busi-ness-class service in an effort to boost yields failed to stem the flow of red ink.

Given that SIA is not alone in its desire to abandon the A340-500 for transpacific routes – Thai Airways is also retiring its four aircraft – there is less than robust demand for the type on the second-hand market. SIA has understandably jumped at the chance to cut its losses and hand the A340s back to Airbus in return for topping up its fleets of Airbus’s newer widebodies.

So what of the future for the loudly trumpeted ultra-long-haul niche? Boeing’s equivalent 777-200LR twin-

jet – which, unlike the A340, remains in production – has achieved a degree of success serving the needs of the rapidly expanding Gulf network carriers, as well as the likes of Air Canada, Delta Air Lines and Ethiopian Airlines. However, there have been misses, too, with Air India deciding to put the majority of its -200LR fleet up for sale.

Ultra-long haul has effectively become a niche with-in a niche, as relatively few routes have been demon-strated to be capable of commanding the ticket-price premium that is essential to offset the fuel penalties. The concept was marginal at best when fuel was as low as $40 a barrel five years ago. At today’s price of $100-plus, sustainable profits seem utterly out of reach – perhaps forever.

Meanwhile questions remain over whether the trav-elling public has the stomach for remaining aloft for such a long time. The world may have to wait for a “son of Sonic Cruiser” before the ultra-long haul finds a strong foothold in the mainstream.

Ultra-long haul is now a nichewithin a niche, as few routescommand the needed premium

With its latest order, Singapore Airlines reaffirmed its commitment to the newest Airbus airliners, but the same deal dealt a severe blow to the ultra-long-haul concept it pioneered

Distant dreams

THIS WEEK

flightglobal.com6 | Flight International | 30 October-5 November 2012

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

AgustaWestland and the UK government will jointly in-

vest more than £100 million ($161 million) in the Anglo-Italian air-framer’s factory in Yeovil, UK, to turn it into a centre of excellence for civil helicopter research, de-velopment and production. The company sees the move as neces-sary to diversify the plant from its traditional defence roots in an era of reduced military spending.

Yeovil is already due to begin production of the AW169 light intermediate helicopter for the UK market, which will enter serv-ice in 2014. However, the new funding, which sees up to £46 million pledged by the UK gov-ernment from its Regional Growth Fund, will see Agusta-Westland add another civil heli-copter assembly line to the facto-ry and focus the site’s research on technologies to support its AW609 civil tiltrotor, due for cer-tification in 2016.

AgustaWestland is so far unde-cided as to which type will be produced at Yeovil. If the compa-ny is selected to provide helicop-ters for the UK’s ongoing search and rescue (SAR) contest – a deci-sion is due in March – it will ded-icate the line to producing SAR-configured variants of its AW189 medium-twin for the global mar-ket. However, should none of the

ROTORCRAFT DOMINIC PERRY YEOVIL

Government cash aids Yeovil switchMoney from the UK Regional Growth Fund will be used to help AgustaWestland plant’s transition to civil production

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AW189 test aircraft I-RAIC is based at the UK site

INDIA TO BUY AIR-LAUNCHED BRAHMOSMISSILES India’s Cabinet Committee on Security has approved an

air force proposal to buy 200 air-launched BrahMos supersonic

cruise missiles. To be carried by Sukhoi Su-30MKI strike aircraft, the

Indian/Russian-developed weapon has a range of about 157nm

(291km). A first airborne trial should be conducted before year-end,

with Hindustan Aeronautics having already modified two aircraft.

BOEING MAY INCREASE WAIT FOR RE-ENGINED 777DEVELOPMENT Boeing chief executive James McNerney on 24

October extended the length of the timing range for introducing a

new version of the Boeing 777 by at least a year. The timeframe for

entry into service of a re-engined 777 had previously been described

as “end of this decade” by Boeing officials. However, speaking on a

conference call, McNerney suggested the schedule could be even

longer. “We are looking at the end of the decade, beginning of the

next decade, kind of [entry into service], but that’s the assumption

we’re working with,” says McNerney, also chairman and president of

Boeing. “Our customers would like it then or sooner.”

EMBRAER NEARS DECISION ON NEW E-JET ENGINEPROPULSION Engine selection for a next-generation E-Jet is on

track to be decided by the end of 2012, says Embraer chief execu-

tive Frederico Curado. Embraer plans to select one of three engine

candidates before officially launching the programme next year, he

says. The Brazilian airframer’s re-engined and possibly re-winged ver-

sion of the Embraer 170/190 series has attracted three bids, includ-

ing the General Electric NG34, Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan and a

new engine from Rolls-Royce based on its Advance 2 studies.

Embraer is looking for a powerplant in a thrust class between

20,000lb (89kN) and 24,000lb, a range that falls just below the

minimum rating of the CFM International Leap series.

SEATTLE REAFFIRMS 2012 DELIVERY TARGETRESULTS Boeing posted a $1 billion profit on a 13% year-on-year

jump in revenues in the third quarter. The airframer also saw rising

costs trim net income by 6% and operating margin by 1.9 points

compared to the same period a year ago. But Boeing foresees a

strong finish to the year, and raised its 2012 sales target range by

$500 million to between $80.5 billion and $82 billion, and earnings

per share by 40 cents to between $4.80 and $4.95. The company

also reaffirms that between 585 and 600 commercial aircraft will be

delivered, including between 70 and 85 combined 787 and 747-8

handovers, divided almost equally between the two types.

ITALIAN UNIT RETURNS WITH EUROFIGHTERSOPERATIONS Eight Eurofighter combat aircraft have been assigned

to the Italian air force’s newly-reformed 18 Sqn at Trapani-Birgi air

base in Sicily. Part of the service’s 37th Wing, the unit had retired the

last of its leased Lockheed Martin F-16A interceptors in May.

BOND PARENT RESTRUCTURES TO DRIVE SAFETYMANAGEMENT World Helicopter Group, the Bond Aviation and Inaer

parent, has rebranded as Avincis and opened a new global head-

quarters in London. Chief executive James Anderson says the new

structure will enable it to drive quality and safety improvements in its

subsidiaries. “We are determined to set the standard for the indus-

try,” he says. The company is the world’s largest provider of “mission-

critical aviation services”, it says.

BRIEFING

UK SAR bidders pick the AW189, the company could add another AW169 line.

Research at the site, to be carried out in partnership with the UK’s National Composites Centre and the University of Liverpool, will initially focus on advanced fly-by-wire flight controls for its civil types, including a future applica-tion on the AW189. This will enter service in mid-2013 with a stand-ard control system – a fly-by-wire replacement will be added at a later date. Future research projects will include systems integration on the AW609 and advanced blade designs for the tiltrotor.

Despite the increasing empha-sis on the civil market, company executives were at pains to stress the continued importance of the defence sector to the plant’s fu-ture. “It is vital that we secure a number of important military contracts across the world,” says chief executive Bruno Spagno-lini. “No-one should imagine that these contracts are any less im-portant than they have been.

“They will remain the big chunk of work for Yeovil, but the more we diversify and push our civil expertise the more it chang-es the mentality.”

For more rotorcraft news and information, visit flightglobal.com/helicopters

THIS WEEK


Full-rate production looms for latest Apache modelTHIS WEEK P8

PRODUCTION DOMINIC PERRY TOULOUSE

Airbus stays cautious with A350 plan Airframer opens new final assembly line for in-development twinjet as it eyes first flight of the type by the middle of 2013

As Airbus opened its new A350 final assembly line – named

after one of the company’s found-ing fathers, Roger Béteille – on 23 October, the airframer revealed it has resolved the issues with the automated drilling process used to produce wings for the type at its UK factory in Broughton.

The problems, caused by sys-tems that were not properly opti-mised, had seen the airframer re-vert to manual drilling on the first two shipsets. But Didier Everard, A350 programme manager, says those glitches are now behind it and the automated process has re-commenced. The wings for aircraft MSN3 are “almost finished” at Broughton and wing production is back at its target speed, he says.

Everard remains confident that the first flight of the twinjet – to be performed by flight-test aircraft MSN1 – will take place in mid-2013, but he concedes problems could still arise that would delay its maiden sortie.

LESSONS LEARNEDAirbus chief executive Fabrice Brégier stresses that the airliner is prioritising maturity of each stage of production rather than the speed of the process, having learned les-sons from the delays to the A380 programme. The wing and vertical and horizontal stabilisers for MSN1 will be joined to the fuselage in early November. Assembly of the static test airframe, MSN5000, is almost complete, ready for static tests in March 2013.

Five aircraft will participate in the flight-test campaign. Three will fly without cabins installed, while MSN2 and MSN5 will be used to test the interior systems.

Next year Airbus will produce one aircraft per month from the second half of the year, increasing to two per month in 2014 and four per month in 2015, eventu-ally rising to 18 per month to-wards the end of the decade.

Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce has begun production of the first Trent XWB engines for the flight test aircraft, having already built 10 development powerplants, says Everard. One of these has

been in use on the airframer’s A380 flying testbed, where it has accumulated 144h in the air and a further 208h in ground tests. Testing in hot conditions was completed in Al Ain during the summer and cold-weather tests are planned for February 2013.

CONCERNS REMAINConcerns were raised by custom-ers of the largest variant, the -1000, that it was overweight and underpowered. Everard says Rolls-Royce has identified the modifications required to reach the increased 97,000lb-thrust (432kN) mandated by Airbus. This will be achieved through “technology insertion” to allow higher temperatures in the hot section and a larger core.

Although customer concerns remain, some have been molli-fied. Steven Udvar-Hazy, chair-man of Air Lease, says: “That’s still to be seen as far as the weight of the aircraft is con-cerned. But in the [customer] briefings over the last 24 hours it’s clear they understand the concerns and are addressing those issues and if necessary

Rolls-Royce will have make sure there’s a little extra power.”

Airbus is placing most empha-sis on the -900 and -1000 variants of the A350, amid continuing weakness in the backlog for the -800, the smallest aircraft in the family. Although Airbus envisages the -800 being the second model produced, due to enter service in mid-2016, Everard says there is still flexibility in its schedule to advance the -1000 from its entry-into-service date of mid-2017 if required. “The sequence may change, depending on the market, if there is increasing demand for the -900 and -1000.”

The A350-900 is scheduled to enter service in mid-2014 with launch customer Qatar Airways. Although sales of the type have been sluggish this year, the pro-gramme received a boost on 24 October with a commitment from Singapore Airlines for 20 A350-900s – and five additional A380s – to add to its existing order for 20 of the variant. See Air Transport P11

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The wing, fin and tailplane will be joined to the fuselage of MSN1 in early November

Airbus

The line will produce up to 18 aircraft per month

Access breaking news from the air transport sector at flightglobal.com/airtransport

THIS WEEK


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

An initial probe into the 22 Oc-tober ditching in the North

Sea of a Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma reveals strong similarities to an earlier controlled ditching involving the same type in May, with the failure of a critical gear-box component again the trigger.

A UK Air Accidents Investiga-tion Branch bulletin states the 2007-built airframe, G-CHCN, op-erated by CHC Scotia, was put down 32nm (59km) southwest of Sumburgh in the Shetland Islands on a routine flight from Aberdeen with 17 passengers and

The latest aviation safety news is available at flightglobal.com/safety

INCIDENT DAVID LEARMOUNT LONDON

EASA limits operators’ reach with expanded safety rulingThe European Aviation Safety

Agency has extended the emergency

airworthiness directive (EAD) cover-

ing the Eurocopter EC225 and

AS332 following the latest ditching

involving the type on 22 October.

However, EASA mandates a

number of checks that could prevent

journeys to the furthest oil platforms

supported by North Sea operators.

The EAD now affects all EC225s

and AS332s. It reduces the time

interval for helicopters operated

over water for downloading and re-

viewing data recorded by the air-

craft’s Vibration Health Monitoring

system. It also bans overwater

flights by any of the type if they have

no VHM system fitted, or an unserv-

iceable VHM.

For the EC225 series this inspec-

tion/download interval is reduced to

3h operation, and for AS332s the

interval is between 4.5h and 6h as

specified, depending on the variant.

The reduction to 3h threatens

the viability of the longest-range

offshore support operations be-

cause of the time taken for the

round trip.

The US Army is re-designating the Boeing AH-64D Block III

Apache as the AH-64E. The deci-sion comes as the upgraded at-tack helicopter is moved into full rate production after a successful operational test phase.

The Block III has a significant enough boost in capabilities to warrant the change in designa-tion, says Boeing’s Ray Handy, marketing manager and a pilot for the AH-64.

The soon-to-be E-model’s rotor blades are made of composites and the airfoil is shaped differ-ently, he says. Moreover, the en-tire drive system has been com-pletely revamped, with the engines and transmission signifi-cantly upgraded. “It’s a complete-

ly new gearbox,” Handy says. The new drive system, in many re-spects, restores performance of the helicopter to earlier days. The introduction of the D-model in the 1990s added a large amount of weight to the aircraft over the

years. “It has taken us back to the days when the Apache was a much lighter aircraft,” says Todd Brown, Boeing’s chief rotary-wing test pilot. The E-model is similar in performance to the much lighter A-model helicopter,

he adds. The Block III’s avionics have also been greatly improved. The biggest change is that the sys-tem has moved to an open-archi-tecture design. But there have also been improvements to the flight controls and flight manage-ment systems. The aircraft’s mis-sion capabilities have also been greatly improved, although Brown declines to elaborate.

However, Boeing says one of the biggest improvements in that regard is the addition of a level four manned-unmanned teaming system, which will allow the air-craft’s crew to work with un-manned air vehicles.

Full-rate production looms for latest Apache modelROTORCRAFT DAVE MAJUMDAR WASHINGTON DC

Find commentary on news from the global defence sector at flightglobal.com/dewline

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The AH-64E features a number of performance enhancements

INVESTIGATION DOMINIC PERRY LONDON

Gearbox issue led to EC225 ditchingOperators ground Super Puma fleets as AAIB probe reveals strong similarities with May incident involving the type

two crew on board. The bulletin says the crew ditched the aircraft following a warning that the main gearbox lubrication system had failed. An attempt to operate the emergency system was met with a similar failure warning, it says.

The latest AAIB report on the 10 May incident, involving an-other EC225 – G-REDW – operat-ed by Bond Offshore Helicopters, concludes the emergency system was operating correctly but had given a “false warning” of failure. The AAIB mandated Eurocopter to review the design of the system

to ensure it provides correct in-formation to pilots.

A preliminary examination of the main gearbox on G-CHCN showed, as with G-REDW, a 360˚ circumferential crack on the bevel gear vertical shaft, says the AAIB, meaning the gears that op-erate the main oil pump were no longer being driven.

A European Aviation Safety Agency airworthiness directive (AD) issued following the May ditching, ordered monitoring re-quirements on helicopters fitted with bevel gear vertical shafts of a

certain age or serial number. But it notes: “The vertical shaft fitted to G-CHCN was not within the applicability of the AD.”

In fact, two Vibration Health Monitoring sensors – on the bevel gear and the oil pump wheels – had both shown exceedence of alert thresholds in the two sectors flown immediately prior to the critical journey on the day of the accident, says the report. But, as the vertical shaft fell outside of the AD, the operator was not re-quired to download the data.

The three main North Sea heli-copter operators – CHC, Bond and Bristow – all grounded their EC225 and AS332L fleets follow-ing the incident. As Flight Inter-national went to press, the restric-tion was still in place, although EASA has issued an extended AD (see left). Eurocopter says it is working on new solutions aimed at reducing the burden on oper-ators of the 3h flight-time con-straint for the EC225.

THIS WEEK


Interjet awaits first Sukhoi deliveryAIR TRANSPORT P10

A key Boeing supplier says the airframer is considering

spreading the electrochromic dimmable window technology introduced on the 787 to other airliner types.

Boeing, meanwhile, is studying whether it should increase or de-crease the level of opacity offered

OPERATIONS MAX KINGSLEY-JONES AMSTERDAM

Ethiopian happy with 787 fuel burn but range falls shortEthiopian Airlines says its early

Boeing 787s are showing slightly

better fuel efficiency than expected,

and initial teething problems have

been overcome. However, range is

short of original promises.

“Fuel efficiency is one part of the

performance, and that is better than

we’d expected,” says Ethiopian chief

executive Tewolde Gebremariam. He

adds that the range is “not as much

as we expected”, partly blaming this

on the aircraft’s weight. He says the

airline is in discussions with Boeing

to see if this can be improved.

Speaking at the Airline Business

World Air Forum conference in

Amsterdam on 24 October,

Gebremariam said he was confident

the delivery schedule was now ro-

bust. “We’ve just received our third

aircraft and our fourth comes before

December. We will get our fifth in

March and our remaining five in

2014. There were some technical

problems at the beginning but now it

is improving, so overall we are very

happy. There were some small pilot

write-ups – initially on the engine,”

he says.

Ethiopian’s 787s are powered by

General Electric GEnx-1B engines,

and although the airline has not

been affected by the mid-shaft crack

issue, it has made one engine

change because of an oil leak.

The US Air Force Research Laboratory has pinpointed an

aerodynamic fin combined with natural resonance as the likely cause of the 14 August failure of the Boeing X-51 experimental hypersonic vehicle.

“At about 15s, inexplicably, the upper right fin became un-locked and the fin, because of the aerodynamic forces that were seen, pitched and in a few sec-

onds moved from zero angle-of-attack to full trailing edge down,” says Charlie Brink, X-51 pro-gramme manager. “The whole stack assembly started to do a very slow corkscrew.”

Having become unstuck and mobile several seconds before it was meant to, the fourth fin was uncontrollable by the time the other three aerodynamic fins were powered on–about 2s before the

booster rocket detached and fell away. “The actuator was either damaged or stuck, so for about a second and a half the booster was struggling to maintain aerodynam-ic control, and we had three fins controlling a vehicle that requires four,” says Brink. The X-51 lost control before its scramjet engine was scheduled to ignite.

While technicians quickly sur-mised the fin had become un-

stuck, the investigation ruled out an erroneous command signal or electromagnetic interference. It now appears most likely that the stack – as the vehicle plus booster is known – began to vibrate at a frequency close to that of a lock mechanism on a fin actuator.

The fourth and final flight of an X-51 is planned for late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2013.

For more on new technologies used in the Boeing 787: flightglobal.com/787

Boein

g

The carrier will receive the remainder of its Dreamliners by the end of 2014

by the dimmable windows after gathering more than a year of feed-back from passengers flying on board 787s. While the airframer remains silent on new applica-tions for dimmable windows, electrochromic supplier Gentex says its customer is indeed consid-ering new applications.

“Boeing has also expressed in-terest in utilising dimmable win-dows with other aircraft,” Mark Newton, Gentex senior vice-pres-ident and director, said in a con-ference call on 23 October.

The electrochromic technology supplied by Gentex is integrated into PPG Aerospace’s interactive

window systems on the 787. Each 787-8 requires about 100 dimma-ble windows, Newton says.

The new windows eliminate the need for pull-down shades for some cabins, giving passengers some control over the amount of light let into the cabin. Flight at-tendants can control all of the windows simultaneously.

It is not clear which Boeing air-craft is being considered, but the airframer is in the process of de-ciding the technologies that will be offered with the 777X. This re-engined and possibly re-winged version of the 777 airframe is ex-pected to heavily leverage tech-nology developed for the 787.

For passengers, dimmable win-dows are among the most visible new technologies introduced on the all-composite 787 airframe, and one of the most frequent tar-gets for comments – both positive and negative. Media reports sur-faced in June about complaints from All Nippon Airways that the windows were not dark enough, although the airline later denied making any such complaint.

But Mike Sinnett, Boeing’s 787 chief project engineer, says the 787 cabin windows are the focus of an ongoing study that could lead to tweaking the opac-ity levels.

DEVELOPMENT STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

787 windows open new possibilitiesBoeing studies feedback over opacity level as supplier Gentex says technology could appear on future airliner types

Natural resonance downed hypersonic test flightINVESTIGATION ZACH ROSENBERG WASHINGTON DC

AIR TRANSPORT


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

A Monarch Airlines Airbus A321 (G-OZBS) and a

Ryanair Boeing 737-800 (EI-DPT) came within 360m (1,180ft) of a collision on a runway at Dublin airport, an Irish Air Accident In-vestigation Unit final report on the 21 May 2011 incident states.

While the Vilnius-bound Rya-nair 737 was carrying out a cleared take-off on runway 16 at Dublin, the late-running Monarch A321, operating as flight MON7562 to Tenerife, “mistakenly taxied on to the latter part of the same runway” as it moved towards the longer runway 28, says the AAIU.

The 737-800 had almost reached take-off decision speed

(V1), but “it immediately con-ducted a high-speed rejected take-off and stopped approxi-mately 360m from the A321”.

There was no damage or injury

during the rapid deceleration from a maximum recorded ground speed of 118kt (220km/h), with an indicated air speed of 134kt, says the report.

The flightcrew of the Monarch jet blamed poor taxiway markings and confusion over their location for the runway incursion, says the report. In addition a “period of high workload” generated by a late departure may have contrib-uted to the incident, it says.

The AAIU notes that Dublin airport has put into operation a level 2 advanced surface move-ment guidance and control sys-tem, as a planned upgrade to its air traffic management on the ground, plus a number of other safety measures.

Superjet International has inau-gurated its Venice Tessera

completions facility for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet as it gears up to deliver 20 aircraft to Interjet, the type’s first international cus-tomer, during the next two years.

At a ceremony on 19 October marking the start of work on In-terjet’s first airframe – MSN 95023 – Carmelo Cosentino, Superjet International president, said it is scheduled to deliver nine aircraft to the Mexican carrier in 2013, with 11 more the following year. The airline’s second airframe, from a 2011 order for 20 SSJ100s with 10 options, will arrive in Venice before year-end, he said.

ORDERS STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

Superjet retains confidence in Blue Panorama commitmentBlue Panorama, one of Superjet

International’s few customers from

outside Russia and Asia, has had its

air operator’s certificate revoked

after it entered the Italian equivalent

of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

on 23 October.

Italy’s civil aviation regulator ENAC

has granted the airline a temporary

licence, to be renewed on a month-by-

month basis, allowing it to exert more

control over Blue Panorama’s opera-

tional management, the agency says,

adding that the airline must present

a “realistic” restructuring plan to re-

cover from unspecified “financial dif-

ficulties” over a 12-month period.

Blue Panorama and low-cost sub-

sidiary Blu-express will continue to

operate flights during the restructur-

ing. Both the airline and Superjet

International insist the financial re-

structuring will have no effect on the

carrier’s commitment for up to 12

SSJ100 regional jets. “We are posi-

tive and the order is still in the back-

log,” says Superjet International.

Keep informed of issues in aviation safety via flightglobal.com/safety

Superjet In

tern

ational

Interjet’s SSJ100s will be configured in a single-class layout

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The A321 crew blamed poor taxiway markings at Dublin airport

Confused Monarch pilots strayed into path of 737SAFETY DAVID LEARMOUNT LONDON

A full-flight simulator will be added to the site in November, with pilot training commencing in January 2013, says Nazario Cauceglia, chief executive of Su-perjet International. Instruction of ground, maintenance and cabin staff will be carried out in parallel, he adds. Interjet’s SSJ100s will be configured in a single-class layout with 93 seats.

Other customers to receive their first aircraft early next year include Sky Aviation, Lao Central and Yakutia Airlines, says Vladimir Prisyazhnyuk, presi-dent of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, the Sukhoi and Alenia Aermacchi joint venture that builds the

SSJ100. “This aircraft programme is a priority and strategic pro-gramme for us, where we will continue to invest,” says Giuseppe Giordo, chief executive

of Alenia Aermacchi. “Our part-nership with Sukhoi is stronger than ever.”

Mikhail Pogosyan, president of Sukhoi parent United Aircraft, says work is ongoing to certificate and deliver the first longer-range variant to Russia’s Gazpromavia in July, with a range of 2,470nm (4,570km), an increase over the baseline model’s 1,645nm.

A more powerful model of PowerJet SaM146 engine to sup-port the variant has already ob-tained certification from the Rus-sian and European authorities.

PRODUCTION LUCA PERUZZI VENICE

Interjet awaits first Sukhoi deliverySuperjet International plans to deliver nine aircraft to the Mexican carrier in 2013 and a further 11 the following year

Access breaking news from the air transport sector at flightglobal.com/airtransport

AIR TRANSPORT


Cracked deflector led MD-90 to land without nose-gearAIR TRANSPORT P12

Virgin Atlantic expects to de-cide soon on a type to replace

its Airbus A340-600s and Boeing 747-400s, but is in no hurry to in-troduce the A380s it has on order, with deliveries deferred to 2017.

The UK airline is introducing Airbus A330-300s and – from sum-mer 2014 – Boeing 787-9s to re-place some of its A340s, and is ex-amining potential replacements for the rest of its larger widebodies.

Virgin Atlantic chief executive Steve Ridgway told Flight Inter-national’s sister magazine Air-line Business that the airline is “rapidly moving out of four-en-gined aircraft – we have to do that because of where we see fuel costs going”.

Ridgway, who leaves the air-line next spring, says Virgin has had a request for proposals out with the manufacturers “for some time now” and is examin-ing the options. “We will make a decision relatively soon about

what we replace our remaining A340-600s and 747-400s with,” he adds.

Ridgway envisages deliveries will take place in the 2015-2020 timeframe, depending on the lease returns of its current fleet.

Types under evaluation in-clude the A350-900 and -1000, and various Boeing alternatives

including the 777-300ER and proposed new developments.

Meanwhile, with A380 deliv-eries “pushed back” to 2017, Ridgway says eventual operation of the superjumbo will depend on prevailing market conditions nearer the time.

“We don’t need to make a deci-sion about [our six A380 orders]

now, it very much depends on the state of the global economy and the oil price,” he says.

“It’s a lovely quiet aircraft but it’s very big and you need to oper-ate it on some very big trunks and you need to have a big enough fleet – we always knew we’d have a small fleet and is that fleet too small? And that is a challenge for Virgin Atlantic, but it’s not some-thing we need to worry about right now.”

Virgin was among the first cus-tomers to sign for the A380 in 2001, and was originally slated to be an early operator of the type. However, after the A380 programme delays of the mid-2000s, deliveries to the UK long-haul airline have been progres-sively deferred. “The world has changed quite a lot since then,” says Ridgway.

Pilots transitioning to the A350 from other Airbus types will

be greeted with a familiar cockpit layout, but one which brings key improvements to their work-space. Guy Magrin and Frank Chapman, experimental test pi-lots at the airframer, have been leading the design effort on the cockpit since the twinjet’s incep-tion in 2004.

Chapman says: “We have taken advantage of the technological

advancements available without changing the basic concept too drastically. We have made some changes, but it is based on the A380’s design.”

Even pilots more used to flying the A320 should notice similari-ties in the way information is pre-sented and in the location of switches, he adds.

The time required to transi-tion to the new type will be as short as five days for A380 crews,

eight days for those operating A330s, and 11 days for A320 pi-lots, says Magrin.

Information for the crew is dis-played on five screens laid out across the console, with a sixth positioned below this array.

Pilots will be able to tailor the information displayed on each to suit their operational need. This also means if one display fails in flight, the layout can be quickly reconfigured, says Chapman.

In addition, the screens at ei-ther end of the row are angled to be visible to both pilots, adds Ma-grin, reducing the tendency for the workspace to become “two separate offices”.

The two pilots are now prepar-ing for first flight of the type, due to take place using aircraft MSN1 in mid-2013. This includes flying simulated scenarios “to see how the aircraft systems are integrat-ed”, says Magrin.

Watch the video interview with Virgin Atlantic’s outgoing chief:flightglobal.com/Ridgway

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Virgin is moving away from four-engined types such as the A340

Airbus breaks down segregation for A350 cockpitDESIGN DOMINIC PERRY TOULOUSE

AIRLINES MAX KINGSLEY-JONES LONDON

Virgin in no hurry to introduce A380sUK carrier defers deliveries to 2017 as it nears decision on type to replace its Airbus A340-600s and Boeing 747-400s

AIR TRANSPORT



Indonesian investigators have concluded that a fractured wa-

ter-spray deflector prevented the nose-gear of a Boeing MD-90 de-ploying before the aircraft landed at Batam.

The crew had received a nose-gear warning on the instrument panel as the Lion Air aircraft (PK-

LIO) climbed out of Medan on 23 February 2009. Having recycled the landing-gear three times, the pilots were given an indication that the undercarriage was re-tracted and locked, and opted to continue to Batam.

However, during the final ap-proach to the airport the crew re-ceived another nose-gear warning and executed a go-around. The jet held for nearly 90min at 2,400ft (730m) while the pilots addressed the problem. Despite “many” at-tempts to extend the landing-gear, says the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee, the red warning indicator re-mained illuminated, and the crew decided to conduct an ap-proach to runway 04 without the nose-gear deployed.

Emergency vehicles laid foam on the runway to minimise the risk of fire and the aircraft – carry-ing 156 passengers and six crew –

touched down, and came to a halt, with the nose-gear retracted. None of the occupants was injured.

Preliminary inquiries discov-ered the water deflector on the nose-gear had broken, jamming the nose wheel in the retracted position. “The investigation is continuing and will include the operational procedures used dur-ing the flight to address the land-ing-gear malfunction, and analy-sis of the mode of failure of the nose landing-gear spray deflec-tor,” the NTSC says.

It says there was no mandated inspection period for the deflec-tor on the 13-year-old twinjet. The MD-90 had conducted 15,475 cycles and undergone a C-check seven months earlier.

The NTSC points out that the ground clearance of the deflector is “quite low” and taxiing could result in damage to the attach-ment point.

Lufthansa Group plans a basic, common specification for

new aircraft types at its airline subsidiaries to streamline pur-chasing, operation and mainte-nance of the future fleet.

The project is part of Lufthan-sa’s cost-cutting and revenue im-provement programme, designat-ed “Score”, and is led by the group fleet management division in Frankfurt in co-operation with Swiss International Air Lines.

While the wholly owned sub-sidiaries Lufthansa, Germanwings, Austrian Airlines, Swiss and part-owned Brussels Airlines have so far equipped their aircraft accord-ing to their individual specifica-tions, the plan is to unify fleet re-quirements and achieve savings through, for example, aggregated aircraft orders, says Volker Roth-

mann, Lufthansa manager of inter-nal employee communication.

Harmonising engine models for an aircraft type could simplify maintenance activities and spare-part provisioning, while a com-mon cockpit specification would allow shared flight training.

Mandatory aircraft documenta-tion could also be reduced with fewer equipment variations, and mid-life modifications rolled out across the fleet.

The new strategy is to be em-ployed for aircraft such as the Airbus A320neo, Bombardier CSeries and potential future or-ders for the Airbus A350 and Boe-ing 787.

The individual group airlines are working out their aircraft re-quirements, which should then be harmonised as far as possible.

Despite the effort, some differ-ences will remain. While Lufthan-sa passenger aircraft have been equipped with cargo loading sys-tems and air-conditioned cargo compartments to transport belly freight for the group’s cargo divi-sion, the costly and heavy installa-tions have not been needed so far

by budget carrier Germanwings. Swiss International Air Lines cap-tain Martin Brodbeck, who is in-volved in the project, says finding a comprehensive standard for all group airlines is a “myth”.

Budget carrier Tiger Airways’ Australian division has been

released from restrictions im-posed by the country’s civil avia-tion regulator. Tiger Airways Aus-tralia had been flying on a conditional air operator’s certifi-cate following last year’s high-profile grounding of the carrier over safety concerns.

In the wake of the July 2011 grounding – which followed inci-dents in which the carrier’s aircraft had descended below minimum altitude levels – the carrier’s oper-ations were capped. Tiger Airways Australia was permitted to only operate a limited number of sec-tors daily. But the carrier’s parent, Tiger Airways Holdings, says Aus-tralia’s Civil Aviation Safety Au-thority has issued the airline with a new air operator’s certificate “without any restrictions” associ-ated with the grounding.

“Over the last year we have worked hard to ensure that Tiger is second-to-none for safety, reli-ability and punctuality,” says the airline’s chief, Andrew David.

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Under the plan, mandatory aircraft documentation may be reduced

NTS

C

Gear bay was jammed shut

Lufthansa set to Score with standardised specsOPERATIONS MICHAEL GUBISCH LONDON

Stay up to date with the latest commercial aircraft news at flightglobal.com/flightblogger

REGULATIONS

Tiger’s Australian division let loose

SAFETY DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Cracked deflector led MD-90 to land without nose-gearLion Air MD-90 crew opted for approach with retracted undercarriage locked

AIR TRANSPORT


Swiss complete evaluation of UAV candidatesDEFENCE P14

DISPUTE SIVA GOVINDASAMY SINGAPORE

Kingfisher could face legal action for ‘aircraft parting’Leasing companies consider taking Indian carrier to court over “stripped-out components”

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Airbus insists a commitment for 15 additional A330s is still valid

Express package carrier FedEx may bolster its fleet with con-

verted Boeing 767-300 freighters next year, in addition to the 42 new-build 767 cargo aircraft it has on order.

Chief executive Fred Smith said the availability of passenger 767-300s for the conversion mar-ket, and consequent potential for fleet commonality, was a key fac-tor in ordering the factory-built freighters in the first place.

“There are squadrons of 767-300s in the passenger fleets of the world, which, beginning in 2014 and 2015, will start coming out as they’re displaced by 787s and the new Airbus [A350],” Smith says.

He described the converted 767s as having “almost identical capabilities” to the new-build air-craft it has on order. Boeing’s ina-bility to produce 767 Freighters at a higher rate, and the relative cap-ital efficiency of converted types, are driving FedEx’s interest in the reconfigured jets, said Smith.

The flexibility to integrate con-verted freighters into its fleet would allow the airline to accelerate re-tirements of older types if the cargo market continues to show weak-ness. The Boeing 767-300 Freighter provides about the same capacity as the MD-10 with a 30% reduc-tion in fuel burn and a 20% im-provement in operating costs.

MODIFICATION

Airbus grows sharklet test fleetAirbus has performed the first flight of a sharklet-equipped A321

(D-AZAK) as it begins a test campaign of the wing-tip modification on

the largest member of its narrowbody family.

The aircraft undertook a ferry flight from Airbus’s Hamburg facility

to its Toulouse plant on 23 October.

Flight testing on the modified A320 has been completed, with

EASA certification of the CFM International CFM56-powered variant

due in November. Approval of the modification on the International

Aero Engines V2500-powered A320 will follow in December.

Airbus expects certification of the fuel-saving modification on the

A321 in mid-2013, with the smaller A319 following later next year.

Keep up to date with all the latest airlines news atflightglobal.com/airlines

Airbus

Leasing companies are consid-ering legal action against King-

fisher Airlines amid reports that the cash-strapped Indian carrier has stripped out parts and compo-nents from aircraft that have been parked at various Indian airports.

The airline’s air operator’s cer-tificate was suspended by Indian regulators on 20 October after it grounded its fleet amid employee strikes on 1 October. This came after the airline, which has never made a profit, cancelled interna-tional services in March due to a cash crunch.

“Some of our aircraft are sitting at Indian airports with the compo-nents taken out. We believe that Kingfisher began to remove these components and use them on [other] aircraft when it was unable to afford to buy components,” says one leasing company executive who declines to be identified.

He adds that other lessors face similar problems, based on his conversations with his counter-parts at those firms. Several are set to begin legal proceedings in Indian courts, he says.

The airline had only two air-craft deployed on scheduled serv-ices when it grounded its fleet on 1 October. It has 38 aircraft in storage, according to Flightglo-bal’s Ascend Online database.

The Airbus aircraft include two A319s, 11 A320s, six A321s and one A330-200. It also has also parked two ATR 42-500s and 16 ATR 72-500s.

EXPOSEDLeasing companies exposed to Kingfisher include International Lease Finance, AWAS, BOC Aviation and DVB Aviation Fi-nance Asia, according to Ascend Online.

The only Kingfisher aircraft in active service is an ACJ319 (VT-VJM), owned by the Cayman Islands-headquartered CJ Leasing, and operated as Kingfisher chair-man Vijay Mallya’s personal jet.

Kingfisher’s AOC was sus-pended after it failed to “satisfac-

torily” respond to the Indian Directorate General of Civil Avia-tion’s show cause notice, which was issued after the grounding. The airline reiterates that the AOC has only been suspended, and not cancelled.

Regardless, it will not be able to resume operations for at least six months after it was excluded from India’s 2012 winter sched-ule for domestic carriers.

The carrier has commitments in place with Airbus – for five A380s, five A350-800s and 15 A330s – which the airframer in-sists are still valid until they are officially cancelled.

FLEETS KRISTIN MAJCHER WASHINGTON

Converted 767s could augment FedEx new-builds

DEFENCE


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

Switzerland has completed in-country flight evaluations of

two Israeli unmanned air vehicle types, with a decision on its medium-altitude, long-endurance surveillance requirement expect-ed to be made during 2014.

Israel Aerospace Industries’ Heron 1 was tested from mid-September, followed by flights with Elbit Systems’ Hermes 900 in early October .

Both air vehicles were demon-strated in a variety of flight enve-lopes, with the process having involved personnel from Switzer-land’s air force and Armasuisse defence procurement agency.

The test flights were performed from Emmen air base over central Switzerland and the Jura region,

Armasuisse says. The Swiss armed forces intend to acquire two systems of the selected type to replace their current Ruag Ranger UAVs, 16 of which were in air force service as of late last year.

Now down to two bidders, the nation’s evaluation process origi-nally involved 11 systems from nine manufacturers.

Each with a maximum take-off weight of about 1.2t, the Hermes 900 and Heron 1 air vehicles can deliver a respective flight endur-ance of 36h and 45h, say their manufacturers. This compares with the 275kg (605lb) Ranger’s roughly 4h maximum.

Airbus Military has identified the cause of an in-flight refu-

elling boom detachment involving an A330 multirole tanker trans-port in early September, and says the incident was the result of a unique set of test circumstances.

The EADS-designed boom structure detached from the air-craft during a customer pre- acceptance flight on 10 Septem-ber, before falling in a remote part of Spain from 27,000ft (8,230m).

No-one was injured in the inci-dent and the tanker – one of three destined for delivery to the Unit-ed Arab Emirates – landed safely at Airbus Military’s Getafe site, near Madrid.

Airbus Military says a unique addition to the boom developed for the customer was being tested. A back-up boom hoist intended to allow the structure to be retracted in the event of a failure to its pri-mary system was being used, but its effects were unexpectedly countered by the main system until a failure and separation oc-

curred. The set of circumstances being tested during the sortie could not have happened under normal operating conditions, the company says. Procedures have been drawn up to prevent a repeat.

Spain’s INTA airworthiness au-thority is expected to lift a set of precautionary operating restric-tions that was issued to other op-erators of the A330 boom system, including Australia and Saudi Arabia, neither of which selected a back-up hoist capability.

Meanwhile, talks continue to-wards a delivery schedule for the UAE’s new tankers. The Gulf state was to accept its first two modified A330s in September and Decem-ber, according to an Airbus Mili-tary schedule released in May.

Initial operational test and eval-uation activities conducted with its first aircraft earlier this year includ-ed successful in-country boom contacts made with Lockheed Mar-tin F-16 combat aircraft and hose and drogue refuelling work with Dassault Mirage 2000 fighters.

IN-FLIGHT REFUELLING CRAIG HOYLE LONDON

A330 boom detachment traced to back-up hoist

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The Hermes 900 underwent in-country test flights during October

UNMANNED SYSTEMS ARIE EGOZI TEL AVIV

Swiss complete evaluation of UAV candidatesBern to choose between Hermes 900 and Heron 1 for its medium-altitude, long-endurance surveillance requirement

Keep up to date with defence aviation news from Israel atflightglobal.com/arielview

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Israel Aerospace Industries’ Heron 1 has a flight endurance of 45h

DELIVERIES

Mauritania gets first Super TucanosEmbraer has delivered its first EMB-314 Super Tucano light attack

aircraft to the Mauritanian air force, under a deal announced earlier

this year. Handed over at the Brazilian company’s Gavião Peixoto site

in São Paulo state on 20 October, the aircraft will be used for border

surveillance missions, Embraer says. Images released by the com-

pany reveal that the north African nation’s Super Tucano configuration

includes an electro-optical/infrared sensor turret and centreline hard-

point for air-to-surface weapons beneath the fuselage, plus wing-

housed cannons. Mauritania’s purchase was announced by Embraer

in March, but the manufacturer has not formally revealed how many

aircraft its contract is for. However, Flightglobal’s MiliCAS database

records the sale as being for three Super Tucanos.

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Aerial scout contenders wait on armyDEFENCE P16

WEAPONS

F-35 drops first AIM-120 AMRAAMWeapons testing with the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

has achieved the first in-flight release of a Raytheon AIM-120

AMRAAM medium-range air-to-air missile. The instrumented round

was jettisoned from an internal weapons bay on conventional take-

off and landing test aircraft AF-1 over the US Air Force’s China Lake

test range in California on 19 October.

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Canada’s long-running CH-148 Cyclone maritime helicopter

procurement saga – which could leave prime contractor Sikorsky li-able to pay compensation totalling almost C$90 million ($91 million) – looks no closer to resolution.

Although a fourth helicopter in an interim configuration recently arrived at the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 12 Wing Shearwater base in Nova Scotia, there is still no delivery date set for its initial batch of six aircraft.

Ottawa had originally stipulated that the interim rotorcraft should arrive in 2008, but delays forced this back to November 2010, with fully compliant Cyclones to arrive from June 2012. In its most recent update, Canada’s Department of National Defence said that six in-terim aircraft would be delivered by the end of this year.

But in a third-quarter earnings call on 23 October, Greg Hayes, chief financial officer of Sikorsky parent company United Technol-ogies, said that problems remain with the contract. The company is “well on its way” to completing the respective five and 19 helicopters planned for delivery in 2012 and 2013, but significant stumbling blocks remain to their acceptance.

“Until we have an agreement with the Canadian government in terms of the final configuration and an interim configuration, we really can’t ship anything. We need to continue to work with the Canadi-ans to find a win-win here.”

Ottawa’s procurement body, Public Works and Government Services Canada, says it will only “take delivery of an interim aircraft when the related contractual re-quirements are met”. It says that Sikorsky is so far liable for compen-sation of C$8 million due to the delay to the interim helicopters.

A further sum of up to of C$80.5 million will be payable for late de-livery of helicopters in the final configuration. “Senior govern-ment officials are meeting with Sikorsky leadership regularly to review progress. Sikorsky has reconfirmed its commitment to deliver helicopters at no addition-al cost to the Crown,” it says.

Ten air force technicians have received maintenance training on the S-92-derived type, but pilot training has yet to start. Canada in 2004 ordered 28 CH-148s for C$5 billion, including support.

The US Army has finished building its first converted

Bell OH-58F Kiowa Warrior at its prototype integration facility, with the helicopter soon to be in-strumented before making its first flight in April 2013.

Unlike most other military projects, the army designed and built the new variant of the armed scout itself. “It’s the first time that the army has been the system in-tegrator for a new mission design series or new aircraft,” says Lt Col Mat Hannah, the service’s prod-uct manager for the OH-58F. “That in itself is a huge role. It saves about $37 million in devel-opment costs.”

Prepared by the army’s Avia-tion and Missile Research Devel-opment and Engineering Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the pro-totype came in at 1,630kg (3,590lb); 24kg below its weight target and about 90kg lighter than the service’s current OH-58D, Hannah says.

The reduction was made pri-marily by using fewer and more efficiently routed wires and a lighter surveillance sensor.

The army will build three ini-tial test examples, with the sec-ond to be delivered next March. Its first production qualification aircraft will enter build in Janu-ary and be handed over by the end of 2013.

Work should then be trans-ferred to the Corpus Christi Army Depot in Texas, with low-rate production to start in March 2015 and the first operational squadron expected to be fully equipped by 2016.

The army will buy 368 OH-58F upgrades, Hannah says, initially by converting D-model aircraft but also later by modifying A- and C-model Kiowas currently being remanufactured as Ds straight to the enhanced standard. Some new attrition replacement aircraft which are due to be built from next year may also be manufac-tured directly as Fs.

Building the aircraft at the Corpus Christi depot will save the army about $551 million, with each conversion to cost be-tween $4 million and $5 million, says Hannah. See Defence P16

Read all the latest news from the global rotorcraft industry at flightglobal.com/helicopters

ROTORCRAFT DAVE MAJUMDAR WASHINGTON DC

US Army targets April for upgraded OH-58F flight

PROCUREMENT DOMINIC PERRY LONDON

Sikorsky appeals for talks to calm Cyclone stormManufacturer insists further negotiations needed to agree configuration of Canada’s overdue maritime helicopter fleet

Initial CH-148s are being used to support technician training

Roya

l Canadia

n A

ir F

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

Contenders for the US Army’s prospective Armed Aerial

Scout (AAS) programme used the service’s annual AUSA convention in Washington DC to showcase proposed successors to the Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warrior. Voluntary flight demonstrations are also con-tinuing, with the army to decide in December whether to launch an acquisition programme.

In mid-October, incumbent supplier Bell launched a roughly two-week flight demonstration activity with its Block II OH-58, says business development man-ager Stephen Eppinette. Bell ar-gues its upgraded aircraft, which uses a more powerful Honeywell HTS-900 turboshaft engine, the rotors and transmission from its 407 model and a 427-sourced tail, offers a lower cost, lower risk op-tion than potential competitors.

An incremental upgrade strat-egy is being offered to the army, with the Block II standard to be

eventually enhanced to a Block III version featuring more power and a new rotor system. Boeing has already completed a flight demonstration of its AH-6i. Con-ducted from its Mesa, Arizona fa-cility, this included simulating a number of likely missions, in-cluding night-time sorties.

Mainly aimed at international customers, the AH-6i’s handling qualities represent what Boeing intends to offer for AAS. The cockpit will be based around the army’s AH-64 Apache Block III attack helicopter. Meanwhile, the airframer has started work on its first AH-6 for Saudi Arabia, with delivery scheduled for 2014.

EADS North America demon-strated two aircraft in Alamosa, Colorado from 24 September to 3 October – one a straight modifica-tion of the US Army’s UH-72 La-kota utility helicopter, the other a Eurocopter EC145 T2 acting as a stand-in for a more powerful

AAS-72X+ model. “This answers the mail in terms of what the ar-my’s looking for,” says EADS North America chief executive Sean O’Keefe.

The only company proposing a clean-sheet design for the AAS tender, Sikorsky is offering its S-97 Raider high-speed com-pound helicopter and has started building two prototypes. These are to move into final assembly by the middle of next year with ground and flight testing in 2014.

“We’re in detailed design right now,” says Doug Shidler, Sikor-sky’s S-97 programme manager. “And because we’re a rapid pro-totype programme, as we’re going through detailed design, we’re also building parts.”

Sikorsky says that it is com-mitted to building the S-97 re-gardless of the US Army’s deci-sion on the AAS programme. The Raider programme is 75% funded by Sikorsky and 25% by its supplier partners.

Boeing has test-flown a proto-type for the Enhanced Medi-

um Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System (EMARSS) aircraft it is developing for the US Army.

Modified by Summit Aviation “to replicate the design of the EMARSS aircraft’s external fuse-

lage”, the Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350ER risk reduction prototype made its 70min debut flight on 6 October.

The prototype will be used to validate the flight and handling qualities of the modified twin-tur-boprop, and to acquire supple-mental type certification from the

US Federal Aviation Administra-tion. Boeing EMARSS programme manager Randy Price says that the future certification “supports the airworthiness release to be issued by the Army Engineering Directo-rate”. He adds: “We can focus sub-sequent testing of the engineering and manufacturing development aircraft on the mission systems ca-pabilities and operational aspects and qualification of the platform.”

In addition to flying its proto-type, Boeing is under contract to deliver four developmental test aircraft to the US Army, plus two low-rate initial production ex-amples. Follow-on orders are also expected to replace the serv-ice’s current King Air-based RC-12 Guardrail signals intelli-gence aircraft.

The USA’s advanced precision-kill weapon system (APKWS)

is to be demonstrated on fixed-wing tactical aircraft.

Work to modify the 2.75in (70mm)-diameter, laser-guided rocket’s control fin extension sys-tem has been completed, says John Watkins, BAE Systems’ director of precision guidance solutions.

A potentially six-month period of testing will start next year, in-cluding as part of the Pentagon’s Joint Capability Technology Dem-onstration programme.

If deemed useful, the APKWS could be fielded with Boeing AV-8B Harrier II and F/A-18, Fairchild Republic A-10 and Lockheed Martin F-16 combat aircraft. The round is already op-erational with US Marine Corps Bell AH-1Z attack and UH-1Y utility helicopters.

ROTORCRAFT DAVE MAJUMDAR & ZACH ROSENBERG WASHINGTON DC

Aerial scout contenders wait on armyRivals use AUSA convention to highlight respective offerings to succeed venerable OH-58 Kiowa Warrior inventory

EAD

S N

ort

h A

merica

EADS North America demonstrated the UH-72 and EC145 T2

Boein

g

The modified Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350ER flew for 70min

MISSILES

APKWS set for fixed-wing test

Boeing debuts surveillance prototypeTESTING DAVE MAJUMDAR WASHINGTON DC

DEFENCE

For running commentary on defence aviation news, visit flightglobal.com/dewline

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BUSINESS AVIATION


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

FLAIRJET MILESTONELondon Oxford airport-based

business charter and manage-

ment company FlairJet com-

pleted its 20th Embraer aircraft

acceptance and/or delivery at

the end of September. Since

2009, FlairJet has been respon-

sible for delivery flights or ac-

ceptances of eight Phenom

100s, 10 Phenom 300s, a

Legacy 600 and an Embraer

Lineage for itself and third-party

customers. This year has been

the busiest so far, it says, with

FlairJet personnel carrying out

the technical acceptance of

seven new aircraft.

FALCON FIGURESDassault delivered 43 Falcon

business jets in the first nine

months of the year and clinched

orders for 37 of its top-end fam-

ily of aircraft during the same

period. The tally is an improve-

ment on the same period last

year, when the French airframer

clinched orders for 30 Falcons

and delivered 35 of the twin

and tri-engined aircraft.

Dassault says it plans to

deliver 65 aircraft this year.

GULFSTREAM GAINGulfstream plans to increase

employment at its base in

Brunswick, Georgia, by about

20% – equivalent to 35 positions

– in the next year to support grow-

ing volume in completions work.

The facility – based about 75

miles (120km) from the airfram-

er’s Savannah headquarters –

specialises in maintenance and

refurbishment on Gulfstream’s

large-cabin fleet, including the

G550, G500, G450, G350, GV

and GIV business jets.

FUELLING FBO GROWTHAvfuel has added London City

Airport Jet Centre as its fourth

branded fixed-base operation

(FBO) in the UK, joining loca-

tions at Belfast, Birmingham

and Luton. The US company

says it plans to add more FBOs

in the UK, and several new

mainland European-branded

dealers, in the coming months.

IN BRIEF

Czech manufacturing and engi-neering company Aircraft In-

dustries plans to build a modified version of the Let L-410 twin tur-boprop, designated the L-410 NG, which should fly next year, the company says. The new aircraft will be targeted at passenger trans-portation, government VIP, corpo-rate and special-missions markets.

The new aircraft – a further de-velopment of the L-410 UVP-E20 – features a wing structure with integral fuel tank built with new production technology, the Kunovice-based company says.

The new aircraft boasts a maxi-mum take-off weight of 7,000kg (15,430lb) – up from 6,600kg in its predecessor – a payload in-crease of 200kg, to 2,000kg, and a

doubling of the front luggage compartment size thanks to a nose extension.

The new aircraft will be pow-ered by two General Electric H80-210 turboprops driving AV-725 propellers, boosting cruise speed from 208kt (386km/h) to 227kt and “radically increasing hot and high performance”, the company claims.

Fuel capacity will be increased from 1,300kg, to 2,450kg, increas-ing range from the current 1,400km to 2,600km.

The unpressurised L-410 NG will have an all-glass cockpit, but an avionics supplier has not yet been chosen. The aircraft will also have extensive use of com-posites in its secondary structures

to reduce weight. The new design will have an increased operation life, with a minimum of 30,000 flight hours and 30,000 landings.

Aircraft Industries plans to fly the first L-410 NG at the end of 2013, leading to European certifi-cation in 2015. Aircraft Indus-tries, 51%-owned by Russia’s Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company since 2008, is based on the old Let factory, which pro-duced the Let-410, jet trainers and sport aircraft in the 1970s.

Russia will be the initial target market for the new aircraft, but the Czech company also sees potential demand in India and Vietnam.

Gloucestershire airport has ex-tended its runway in a bid to

attract more business aviation traffic to the UK site. “Although only 12m [39ft] of ad-ditional tarmac has been laid, the removal of obstacles nearby and the creation of an overrun means the landing distances available for aircraft have increased by up to 150m,” says Darren Lewington, the airport’s head of operations.

The airport has about 70,000 movements a year – the bulk of the activity from general aviation aircraft. “Business aviation move-ments make up around 5% of the take-off and landings, but they generate 30% of our revenue,” Lewington says. “With the closure of [Bristol’s] Filton airport at the end of the year, there is already additional demand from corpo-rate aircraft flying to the southwest of England. We are ideally placed to serve high-net-worth individu-als in this region.”

Bond Air Services has begun operations supporting the

Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm 25km (16m) off the coast of Suffolk, England. The operation is the first of its kind in the UK, says Bond.

Gloucestershire-based Bond will use a Eurocopter EC135 T2e helicopter operating from a pur-pose-built facility at Lowestoft port, Suffolk. Greater Gabbard is the world’s largest offshore wind farm, with 140 turbines.

Under the contract, Bond will provide helicopter services to transport maintenance techni-cians by hoist to the turbines of the wind farm.

“Safety is our number one pri-ority at all times, and by using helicopters it means that we can get greater access to the turbines in conditions which may have been otherwise impossible by boat,” says Stephen Rose, off-shore wind generation manager at Greater Gabbard.

UPGRADE HOWARD GETHIN MOSCOW

Aircraft Industries pitches revamped L-410 at RussiaImproved NG iteration of Czech twin turboprop will offer increased payload and range

For breaking news from the business aviation sector, visit flightglobal.com/bizav

Bond A

ir S

erv

ices

Bond’s Eurocopter EC135 allows greater access to the turbines

OPERATIONS KATE SARSFIELD LONDON

Wind farm generates Bond deal

AIRPORT

Local expansion to fill Filton gap

BUSINESS AVIATION


Testing near for sense-and-avoid toolTECHNOLOGY P20

Export credit agency the Export-Import Bank of the United

States (Ex-Im) has approved a loan guarantee of more than $50 million for an order from Mexico’s Aeros-ervicios Especializados (ASESA) for six Sikorsky S-76D helicopters.

The deal is the first under the export credit agency’s new quali-fied adviser programme, which is designed to expand support for the sale of business aviation air-craft manufactured in the USA to international customers. Air-Finance Leasing was ASESA’s adviser for the transaction and ar-ranged the loan. Apple Bank is the lender.

“The qualified adviser pro-gramme is a great example of a public-private partnership, so fre-quently held up as a model for how the government can partner with the private sector,” says AirFinance managing partner Kirsten Bartok.

The order is the first from Mex-ico for the delayed S-76D, accord-ing to Flightglobal’s Ascend On-line database.

ASESA is scheduled to take de-livery of the helicopters from the second quarter of 2013, it says. It will use the aircraft to support off-shore platforms operated by Mexi-can conglomerate Pemex.

“This will mark the beginning of a long-lasting relationship between ASESA and Ex-Im Bank for the coming years,” says Humberto Lobo, chief executive of ASESA parent Grupo Lomex.

Ex-Im launched the programme at European business aviation show EBACE in May to address the limited availability of commer-cial bank loans for foreign buyers of US-made business aircraft.

Gulfstream will deliver the first completed G650s to cus-

tomers “within the next few weeks” as it moves to address a five-year backlog for the ultra-long-range type.

But despite the large orderbook for the the new twinjet, Gulf-stream does not plan to consider increasing the production rate for the G650 until it reaches its pro-duction “battle rhythm”, says Jay Johnson, chairman and chief ex-ecutive of parent company Gen-eral Dynamics.

Speaking to analysts in a third-quarter earnings call on 24 Octo-ber, Johnson said pilot training classes for the first aircraft have been completed and the company is “marching along smartly” to-wards the first delivery from its completion centre to a client.

The airframer, based in Savan-nah, Georgia, had originally planned to deliver 17 aircraft to customers this year, but a delay in achieving certification from the US

Federal Aviation Administration – which it eventually obtained on 7 September – will reduce that fig-ure, says Johnson. It is scheduled to hand over a further 33 aircraft in both 2013 and 2014, he says.

“To change that, to wick it up, based on the demand, based on the five-year backlog is certainly something we are desirous of doing, but we’re not going to turn the rheostat up until we’ve hit, as I call it, our battle rhythm, and we’re just not there yet.”

During the quarter, its aero-space division, which includes the Jet Aviation completions and maintenance business, recorded turnover of $1.8 billion, with earnings of $261 million.

Profitability was “modestly lower” at Jet, says Johnson, “as the business works aggressively to confront overhead absorption issues exacerbated by the Euro-pean debt crisis”, which have hit aircraft ulitisation and MRO work. The business continues to

trim the size of its operations in slower markets, he adds, and is taking “positive steps forward”.

At the end of the quarter, Gulf-stream’s backlog stood at just over $16 billion, including approxi-mately five years of G650 produc-tion and around 18 months of G450 and G550 deliveries.

The third quarter was Gulf-stream’s strongest of the year for orders so far, “driven by several multi-aircraft deals placed by North American companies”. Year-to-date, North American cus-tomers represent nearly 60% of Gulfstream’s order book, it says.

Despite the ongoing weakness in Europe, Johnson expects the company to book several multi-aircraft “international deals” in the coming months.

Gulfstream will display both its newly certificated jets, the G650 and G280, at NBAA in Orlando.

PRODUCTION DOMINIC PERRY LONDON

Gulfstream sanguine over substantial G650 backlogAirframer in no hurry to raise production rate as first delivery of new ultra-long-range jet nears

Cambridge airport and Mar-shall Business Aviation have

centralised all their executive aviation operations under a single managing director.

This includes responsibility for the development of its busi-ness aviation strategy and man-

agement of the UK airport’s facili-ties, as well its fixed-base operations, currently operated under a franchise by ExecuJet.

Heading the operation will be Steve Jones, who was appointed to the post of managing director of Marshall Business Aviation and

charter operation Marshall Execu-tive Aviation in May this year.

“This change is designed with our customers in mind and sup-ports the plan to grow our overall business aviation traffic and create an important and successful busi-ness aviation hub,” he says.

Marshall corrals executive operationsSTRATEGY

FINANCING

Mexican S-76D deal gets export credit backing

For all the news and action at the NBAA air show, visit flightglobal.com/NBAA

A delay in FAA certification led Gulfstream to reduce the number of G650s it will hand over this year

Gulfstr

eam

“The qualified adviser programme is a great example of a public-private partnership”KIRSTEN BARTOK Managing partner, AirFinance

TECHNOLOGY



First test flights are imminent for a European effort to develop an

automated sense-and-avoid mid-air collision avoidance system that would help overcome safety con-cerns preventing use of unmanned aircraft in civilian airspace.

The so-called MIDCAS system, being ground-tested at Selex Gali-leo’s unmanned systems labora-tory in Ronchi dei Legionari, near Trieste, Italy is expected to fly by year-end aboard a manned air-craft operated by France’s DGA aeronautical technology agency.

Initial tests, in which the sys-tem will provide the pilot with instructions rather than operate the aircraft’s control surfaces di-rectly, will be designed to provide data to validate simulations being run on the ground in Ronchi.

The performance of infrared, electro-optical and other sensors, which have yet to fly, will also be validated. An ADS-B receiver is also included, and Selex thinks that could eventually be the main component of a practical system.

If the manned flights – with one or two live aircraft posing as intruders to be avoided – are suc-cessful, programme partners in-cluding Saab, Sagem, Thales, Indra and Diehl will begin minia-turising components for integra-tion with an Alenia Aeronautica Sky-Y UAV. Selex Galileo un-manned systems and simulators vice-president Furio Bozzola ex-pects that fully autonomous sys-tem to fly before the end of 2013, but the real test of the system, he adds, is expected before the end of 2014 – with a Sky-Y flight across controlled airspace.

The programme, started in 2009 and 50/50 funded by the EU and the industrial partners, is al-ready a year behind schedule, and Selex admits one of the great-est challenges lies ahead – to “close the loop” and go from a manned demonstrator to a fully integrated unmanned system.

However, the timing could prove fortuitous. Bozzola and col-leagues at Selex’s UAS depart-

ment admit a protocol for inte-grating UAVs into civil airspace has been “five years away” since 1998, but they are encouraged to see the US Federal Aviation Ad-ministration “moving fast”, with 2015-2016 being talked about as a point when some civil or police UAV operations could begin.

Some of that progress is com-ing from Afghanistan, where air traffic controllers have experi-ence of dealing with mixed use of UAVs and manned aircraft.

Flying over congested Europe-an airspace would be an entirely

different challenge, but the Afghan experience may feed US and Eu-ropean efforts to open their skies to mixed use. Talk of 2015-2016 may prove to be over-optimistic, but a mid-decade opening of civil airspace would certainly be wel-comed by UAV makers such as Selex Galileo. With US and Euro-pean military demand ramping down as forces end missions in Afghanistan, a second sales front cannot come too soon.

Cassidian’s pursuit of new technologies suitable for use

with unmanned air systems has branched out to cover more effi-cient energy management and data relay techniques.

Work on the programmes – named Tethys and Dazzle respec-tively – stems from investments likely to total more than £3 million ($4.8 million), says Gary Clayton, Cassidian’s UK research and tech-nology manager. Tethys, a roughly two-year research effort with fund-ing of £600,000, seeks to develop an intelligent power management system which should deliver a more than 30% efficiency improve-ment. “We are looking at the en-docrine and hormone model of the human body, so we can direct power only where and when it is needed,” Clayton says.

About half complete, the proc-ess has moved from mathematical modelling performed with the Uni-versity of Aberystwyth to live dem-onstrations using a 3.6m (12ft)-long

unmanned boat, operated in Cardi-gan Bay off the west Wales coast. “The technology on the boat will prove that the modelling results and real-life experimental data have a correlation,” says Clayton, who describes some early work as “really encouraging”.

There are no plans to fly the system on a UAV, but Cassidian believes it could be used on types such as EADS’s hand-launched Tracker, as well as future all-elec-tric, high-altitude platforms.

About £2.5 million – from the EADS Foundation Wales initia-tive between the company, the Welsh government and the Uni-versity of Cardiff – has been allo-cated to Dazzle. This is research-ing the potential use of optical lasers to relay surveillance infor-mation, potentially removing the

need for UAVs to carry some heavy and power-consuming communications equipment.

Also involving the University of Glamorgan, the effort is looking into the feasibility of an un-manned platform carrying six or seven modulating retro reflectors to add information to a laser beam transmitted from the ground be-fore returning it in modified form.

A transfer rate of 10Mb/s should soon be demonstrated from a range of 1.3nm (2.5km) under favourable environmental conditions, and Clayton believes a 100Mb/s rate – sufficient for multiple video channels – could be achieved later in the pro-gramme. Cassidian and its part-ners have identified a “very promising solution” to beam-tracking issues, he adds.

Access our extensive coverage of unmanned air systems at flightglobal.com/uav

PROGRAMMES DAN THISDELL RONCHI DEI LEGIONARI

Testing near for sense-and-avoid toolProgramme partners in push to ready autonomous collision avoidance system in time for UAV green light, due mid-decade

Finm

ecc

anic

a

A Sky-Y UAV will be used to demonstrate the system

Cassid

ian

Tethys may suit EADS’s Tracker

Cassidian seeks to dazzle in power managementENERGY EFFICIENCY CRAIG HOYLE LONDON

BUSINESS


Good week

Bad week

Aircraft finance is among the sectors covered by our premium news and data service Flightglobal Pro: flightglobal.com/pro

Good week

Bad week

ORBITAL SCIENCES

Some air got let out of a

good set of third-quarter

results for the small rock-

ets and space systems

maker with news that first

flight of its Cygnus cargo

capsule has been de-

layed until March or April

2013. Cygnus, (pictured)

should dock with the

International Space

Station on its first flight,

atop an Orbital Antares

rocket – a type that has

yet to fly. For the quarter,

revenue was up 9% to

$342 million and operat-

ing profit jumped 27% to

$24.7 million.

ATR The turboprop mak-

er won a Silver Dolphin

award for communication

marketing at the Cannes

Corporate Media & TV

awards for a short film

promoting its fuel-

efficient alternative to jet

travel. Gold awards went

to a Brazilian mining

company and Danish

wind farmers, but ATR’s

silver had it in good com-

pany, alongside BMW

and a feel-good-about-

Scotland campaign by

troubled UK bank RBS.

Brand image director Elio

Baino says video is “in-

creasingly important”.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS DAN THISDELL LONDON

Safran feels the powerIn satisfying regulators’ worries about its Goodrich takeover, UTC has created a rival

Much speculation during the past six weeks has gone into

how rivals may or may not have reacted had BAE Systems and EADS been able to see through their proposed mega-merger. But the biggest deal in aerospace his-tory that has actually happened has led directly to a potentially significant realignment.

When US and European com-petition authorities approved United Technologies’ $18 billion acquisition of Goodrich this sum-mer, one condition they set was that UTC – parent of aircraft electrics and systems giant Hamil-ton Sundstrand – sell Goodrich’s electrical power systems business.

Last week that deal was sealed. And, buyer Safran believes that combining its electrical systems expertise with the generation and distribution management capa-bilities of Goodrich Electric Power Systems will transform it into a rival to Hamilton Sund-strand, now known as UTC Aero-space Systems. If Safran is right, the €310 million ($404 million) cash it will pay for GEPS may turn out to be one of the best deals of the decade.

The deal is expected to close sometime around year-end, and for the time being business will carry on as usual at GEPS, which employs about 460 people at its headquarters at Pitstone Green, Buckinghamshire, and 100 in Ohio. For 2012, revenue should come in at some $200 million, half from the aftermarket.

But the long-term plan is to take on UTC when the time comes to design the next generation of air-liners, particularly the narrowbod-ies which will almost certainly do away with relatively heavy and high-maintenance hydraulic and pneumatic systems in favour of “more electric” architecture.

With that target in mind, the timing of Safran’s GEPS purchase looks fortuitous. According to Jean-Pierre Cojan, Safran’s execu-tive vice-president for strategy, the company will need between

It is only going to get more complicated

Airbus

ATR

Orb

ital S

cience

s

five and 10 years to integrate GEPS and press ahead with a heavy research and development programme dedicated to electrics – just in time to be ready with a complete generation-to-activation offering for the aircraft that will replace the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 Max in 2025-2030.

CLEAN SHEETS BECKONBoeing’s 787 is probably the most-electric aircraft flying today – with a Hamilton Sundstrand cabin air system and electric brakes from Safran’s Messier- Bugatti-Dowty – but the big op-portunity for electrics will come with clean-sheet aircraft.

Safran is already a major player in aircraft electrics, apart from supplying brakes to the 787. Its Aircelle subsidiary supplied the Airbus A380 engine nacelles, with an electrical thrust reverser actuation system developed with Honeywell. Also with Honey-well, Safran is developing the “Electric Green Taxiing System” powered nose-wheel.

At the generation end, its Snec-ma division and CFM Interna-tional joint venture with General Electric are major suppliers of main engines. In between, Sa-fran’s Labinal unit is a leading supplier of wiring, and the group is also strong in power electron-ics, the conversion of input power to appropriate end-use voltage and frequency.

GEPS’s expertise is in overall

electric system design and man-agement of power distribution.

Safran is not, of course, the only potential rival to UTC. Zodiac is a key Boeing partner, providing the 787’s power distri-bution system. Thales provides Boeing with the 787’s electrical power conversion system, and is working with Airbus A380 cabin air system supplier Liebherr on integrated power and air systems. And Thales, periodically ru-moured to be in all-French merg-er talks with Safran, supplies the variable-frequency power genera-tion system for the A380 – in tan-dem with Goodrich.

However, Cojan contends Sa-fran is now best-placed to rival UTC as a complete system sup-plier. Apart from some physical power-switching equipment, with GEPS on board Safran will genuinely have an end-to-end ca-pability, including ram air tur-bine emergency generation.

And, the company’s record of managing multinational enter-prises is extremely good. CFM is literally a business school case study in how to run a cross- cultural joint venture. Aircelle, Labinal and Messier-Bugatti-Dow-ty are also examples. “We are abso-lutely confident we can integrate these businesses,” says Cojan.

Ultimately, this integrated ap-proach is attractive. The best de-signs, Cojan contends, come from teams that truly understand an entire system.

BUSINESS


Rebuilding the capitalSPECIAL REPORT P24

AIRBUS ‘SUPPORTS 210,000 US JOBS’MANUFACTURING Airbus plans to double its annual $12 billion

spend with US suppliers in the coming years, according to the air-

framer’s Americas chairman Allan McArtor. Addressing a group of

Southern California manufacturers, McArtor said the company wants

to “forge new partnerships” to create new contracts and new jobs,

including in the Los Angeles area. McArtor said Airbus – which will

assemble A320s on a new assembly line in Mobile, Alabama from

2016 – spends upwards of 40% of its procurement dollars yearly

with more than 400 US suppliers in 40-plus states, including more

than $1 billion in Southern California. And, he added, US Commerce

Department figures suggest that spending equates to the support of

some 210,000 American jobs.

SOUTHWEST TARGETS $100M COST CUTSAIRLINES Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines aims to slash spend-

ing by $100 million in 2013, even as it expects cost pressures to

ease next year. Chief executive Gary Kelly says the airline hopes to

bring down supplier costs and create more efficiencies in its supply

chain. Lay-offs are not on the cards, he adds, but he says staff who

leave will not be replaced. The Dallas-based carrier turned a third-

quarter 2011 loss of $140 million into a $16 million profit this time.

Revenue was flat at $4.31 billion.

RAYTHEON BOLSTERS CYBERSECURITY CAPABILITYACQUISITION Raytheon has extended its cybersecurity offerings in

wireless communications, vulnerability analysis, reverse engineering

and device driver development for intelligence, US defence depart-

ment and federal agency clients with the acquisition – for an undis-

closed price – of Greer, South Carolina-based Teligy, a specialist in

transitioning prototype and proof-of-concept cyber products into de-

ployable solutions. Co-founders Vic Gunter and Jason Yates will re-

main with the company. Raytheon classifies Teligy as its 11th

cyber-related acquisition since 2007.

CHEP CHIPS IN FOR EPS FRANKFURTMAINTENANCE Zurich-headquartered CHEP Aerospace Solutions

has acquired family-owned Frankfurt Rhein-Main airport-based cargo

and galley equipment repair services provider eps-Aircraft Services

for an undisclosed sum. Erika Bühring-Koss will remain in charge of

eps. The move follows a recent acquisition from Nordisk Aviation

Products in Copenhagen, and the opening of an owned repair facility

in Doha, Qatar. CHEP now has more than 50 repair stations.

AIR MALTA TURNS FIRST HALF OPERATING PROFITAIRLINES Air Malta made an operating profit of €400,000

($522,000) for the six months to September, turning round losses of

€8 million at the same stage last year. The airline says the interim

result highlights reductions in its fuel and personnel costs, which

offset a steep year-on-year decline in passenger numbers, by

500,000 to 1.05 million. Air Malta has reported a net loss for all but

one of the past eight years, including €30 million in 2011.

MARSHALL OF CAMBRIDGE MAKES MARK IN LONDONINDUSTRY The former Council Room at the Royal Aeronautical

Society headquarters at 4 Hamilton Place in London has been re-

named the Marshall of Cambridge Room, in recognition of the contri-

bution the family-owned company has made to aviation since 1929.

Marshall contributions include the design for the droop nose and

visor on Concorde, a painting of which hangs in the room.

BUSINESS BRIEFSPEOPLE MOVESBoeing, Duncan Aviation, Metro Aviation, Southwest Airlines

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“It’s been a fantastic experience. I’m very proud of all the things we’ve achieved”STEVE RIDGWAY is getting ready to

step down after 14 years of running

Virgin Atlantic. Read the full

interview in Flight International’s

sister monthly Airline Business: flightglobal.com/ab

Smith: Boeing Saudi Arabia

Babbitt: Southwest labour

managing director in Saudi Arabia. Retired Mexican naval officer Rodolfo Rodriguez has joined parts and services provider Duncan Aviation as Mexico regional manager, following the retirement of Enrique Ortega. Metro Aviation has appointed Terry Palmer as director of training; Metro will open a new training facility at its Shreveport, Louisiana headquarters next month for its 250 pilots and 250 support personnel. Former Eastern Airlines pilot and FAA administrator Randy Babbitt has joined Southwest Airlines as senior VP of labour relations.

US Air Force Major Gen (Ret) Tony Przybyslawski is now executive director of marketing for Air Force network, space and strategic systems at Boeing. He will be based in Colorado Springs and manage senior customer relationships with the USAF and US Army in Colorado Springs, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Omaha and Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. He will also be Boeing’s executive focal for the United States Air Force Academy, where he was a class of 1976 graduate. Also at Boeing, Chris Smith has been promoted to VP and defense business

Boein

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flightglobal.com 30 October-5 November 2012 | Flight International | 25

WICHITACOVER STORY

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Recession – combined with the exit of Boeing and a missed opportunity with Airbus – has brought hard times to Wichita, which in happier days was dubbed the “air capital of the world”. But local manufacturers and suppliers have plenty of fight left in them yet. New facilities and programmes are being pursued by the likes of Bombardier and Cessna with the goal of optimised positioning when economies rebound, while investment in training is intended to keep seasoned players at the cutting edge of technological innovation. For our special report, Stephen Trimble visited the city to learn how its diverse aerospace institutions have adapted to straitened circumstances – and what the future is likely to bring

REBUILDING THE CAPITAL

CONTENTS26 Life after Boeing How Wichita is responding to a defensive blow28 Waiting in the wings Airframers prepare for better times30 Limited by location Airbus looks elsewhere for A320 final assembly31 Survival of the fitters Subcontractors bid to adapt and diversify 33 Staying sharp Training is prioritised

(Clockwise from top) Spirit is a Wichita success story; NCAT offers students hands-on training; and Airbus has an engineering centre, but not a final assembly line, in Kansas

McGinty Machine: pressing ahead


“We haven’t seen a ripple effect as far as employment goes because [Boeing] made their announcement early this year,” says Debra Teufel, managing director for business development at the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition.

Steve Wade, Boeing’s site leader in Wichita, estimates the vast bulk of jobs being eliminat-ed will not be removed from the payroll until the second half of 2013. Even then, he does not expect staff reductions to have a signifi-cant impact on Wichita’s unemployment sta-tistics. “I think everybody that wants a job is going to have a job,” Wade says. “The majority of our people that are staying here are retiring. We have a very ageing workforce and that was something we had been [trying to address in] the previous years anyway.”

Wichita’s aviation cluster has endured many hardships, but never the departure of one of its founding aircraft manufacturers. However, when Boeing no longer participates directly in the aviation business in Wichita, its economic impact will live on via a vast net-work of suppliers. In fact, Boeing’s presence is expected to expand, with outlays to Kansas-based suppliers growing from $3.2 billion this year to $4.9 billion in 2014 or 2015, says Steve

sion to shutter its last Wichita factory – after spinning off the commercial division in 2005 to form Spirit AeroSystems – also stoked fears about Wichita’s continued viability as one of the last great clusters of aviation manufactur-ing. “I think [Boeing’s site closure] has a psychological impact on this city, simply be-cause this plant and this relationship goes back to Bill Boeing buying the plant from Lloyd Stearman in 1929. That’s a big psycho-logical deal,” says Jeff Turner, chief executive of Spirit Aero Systems and a Kansas native.

At the time of Boeing’s announcement, the city’s general aviation industry was still mired in recession and now hopes for a tanker-fuelled jobs spurt were also gone, to be fol-lowed within two years by the more than 2,100 jobs still on Boeing’s payroll at Wichita.

ECONOMIC INTEGRATIONCould the perennially boom-and-bust avia-tion cluster in this land-locked city, far re-moved from the closest industrial or logistical hub, survive yet another bust, and this time of a founding manufacturer and anchor tenant? Ten months later, the answer is an unqualified “yes”. John O’Leary, Airbus site leader in Wi-chita, says the decision has had an effect on the community, but it is not as damaging to the cluster “beyond the fact that it’s a very emotional thing”.

Indeed, the programmes tasked to Boeing’s defence site limited its economic integration with the overall cluster. It has been decades since Boeing mass-produced bombers at the plant. The focus of the site had moved to sup-port maintenance activity on specialised mili-tary aircraft fleets, including the VC-25, also designated as Air Force One when the US president is on board.

MANUFACTURING

Life after Boeing Wichita is determined to thrive in spite of the airframer’s planned departure from its historic factory in 2014 STEPHEN TRIMBLE WICHITA

More than any other company, Boeing made Wichita the “Air Capital of the

World”. Beech, Cessna and Lear certainly played their part, but Boeing brought the mass production of B-29s here in the Second World War, B-47s and B-52Hs in the Cold War and finally the major fuselage sections for all of its commercial airliners. Around Boeing’s factory in the southeast corner of the city a network of hundreds of mom-and-pop machine shops arose, many still active today. But Boeing’s corporate logo is set to disappear from its his-toric Wichita factory in 2014, leaving the com-pany without a direct presence in the commu-nity for the first time in 85 years.

When Boeing announced its decision in January, the news was received with shock and even anger. The indignation of commu-nity officials was provoked partly by Boeing’s broken promise to modify 767s into US Air Force KC-46 tankers at its Wichita factory. State and local officials gamely lobbied Con-gress and the White House on Boeing’s behalf, with Boeing estimating its eventual victory would bring 7,500 jobs and an annual boost of $388 million to the state. But Boeing’s deci- Boeing mass-produced B-52s in Wichita

Spirit AeroSystems’ production campus in Wichita retains responsibility for the 737 fuselage from its pre-spin-off days

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WICHITASPECIAL REPORT

South Carolina; and HondaJet in Greensboro, North Carolina. But Turner notes the decision to build a factory in Kinston had nothing to do with Wichita’s competitiveness, and every-thing to do with its geography. “For the A350

we went to North Carolina because we were going to ship big product by sea, and shipping big product by sea from Wichita is challeng-ing,” he says. Turner also defends Wichita’s competitive standing in the increasingly glo-balised aerospace industry. “Over the last 20 years we’ve offloaded a lot of work,” Turner says. “We have a global supply chain. There are parts of the world that 15 years ago were highly attractive to offload work [to] because of labour rates that are now more expensive than if we do it here.”

The good news for the Wichita aviation

Wade. The vast bulk of that increase will come from galloping production rates at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, where output has reached a 12-year-high and rising. Outside of Seattle, the biggest beneficiary of that produc-tion ramp up is Spirit AeroSystems’ produc-tion campus in Wichita, which retains respon-sibility for the 737 fuselage and major sections of the 767, 777 and 747 from its pre-spin-off days. Spirit AeroSystems also builds the Sec-tion 41 of the 787’s nose. For most suppliers in the cluster, losing Boeing’s defence opera-tion is less noticeable than the increasing rev-enues flowing in from Spirit.

“We didn’t want to see it happen, but I don’t know of any machine shop that had all their eggs in that basket, or even half their eggs in that basket,” says Ed Ball, vice-president of sales and marketing for Wichita-based Metal Finishing, referring to Boeing’s exit. “Now if Spirit [AeroSystems] pulled out you would see turmoil like you’ve never seen.”

TORNADO STRIKEOn 14 April, a massive tornado rolled over the Spirit AeroSystems complex. Amazingly, a skeleton crew of about 250 workers on a weekend shift escaped unharmed, but several buildings sustained severe damage. Produc-tion was halted for a week, and damage is still visible six months later. In the end, major cus-tomers did not seem concerned about the risk to such a strategic supplier. “If anything, I think the way we were able to recover gave them confidence,” Turner says. “The plant has been here since 1929. Taking a direct hit like we did, I’d be willing to bet it isn’t going to happen again for a little while.”

In August 2011, Boeing launched the 737 Max programme to re-engine and update its existing narrowbody product, rather than launch an all-new airframe. The decision meant Spirit AeroSystems would continue building 737 fuselages – with output rising from 420 to 504 airframes per year by 2014 at planned production increases – in Wichita for at least 10-15 more years. At the same time, Spirit AeroSystems has made it clear that it will look beyond Wichita as it wins new busi-ness for suppliers other than Boeing. It has not made a decision, for example, on where it will manufacture the composite fuselage of the Sikorsky CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter, which remains in an extended development phase.

Perhaps more ominously, Spirit AeroSys-tems decided to exclude Wichita from its larg-est new programme in years. Instead, it opened a factory in Kinston, North Carolina, to build fuselage structures and wing leading edges for the Airbus A350XWB. That decision made Spirit AeroSystems only the latest manufac-turer to establish new aerospace manufacturing sites in the US southeast, along with Airbus in Mobile, Alabama; Boeing in North Charleston,

cluster is it makes no economic sense for Spir-it AeroSystems to move the Boeing product lines elsewhere, and Boeing plans to continue building the same aircraft for at least another decade, perhaps longer. The appeal of low-cost manufacturing in other non-unionised US states or developing countries still fails to compete with the Spirit AeroSystems’ work in Wichita. “If you look at this industry, it does not cluster itself in low-labour-rate entry-level job environments and I frankly don’t see that changing,” Turner says. “It’s a highly en-gineered product, and it’s a highly engineered process, but it’s not totally automated. You’ll never be able to put this factory in and have it stamp out the parts.”

At some point, Boeing will make another all-new aircraft. Most likely, the next new air-frame will be launched in the mid-2020s to replace the venerable 737. At that time, Spirit AeroSystems will have to compete on price and experience with the rest of Boeing’s sup-ply chain, including a rapidly growing work-force in Charleston. “Now that we are an inde-pendent company, we know what market rates are for product and this is a very efficient and effective factory,” Turner says. “Will it be long term? I think it will be long term.”

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Spirit also builds Section 41 of the 787’s nose

“Now that we are an independent company… this is a very efficient and effective factory”JEFF TURNER Chief executive, Spirit AeroSystems



Hawker Beechcraft, meanwhile, is under-taking a different sort of preparation for an eventual market recovery and has tried to launch only one product recently: the re- engined Hawker 400XPR. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in May, exchanging a $2.5 billion debt for an equivalent owner-ship stake by its creditors. It then signed an agreement to enter exclusive negotiations with Superior Aviation Beijing to sell the non-defence business for $1.89 billion, but the deal fell apart by mid-October. It is now working to emerge from bankruptcy later this year as Beechcraft, having disposed of its Hawker-branded line of business jets.

In early September, Hawker Beechcraft chairman Bill Boisture said current market conditions could force the industry to con-tract. “We hope, pray and work like crazy for a bigger market, more buyer interest,” Boisture says. “If there’s not enough market size after you’ve worked, prayed and hoped, then the consolidation and restructuring of businesses takes place.”

In the light and very light jet segment, for instance, the three Wichita manufacturers have been challenged since 2009 by Embraer, which entered the market with the Phenom 100. In two more years, Honda Aircraft could deliver the first HondaJet in the segment.

Bombardier’s Learjet factory complex in Wi-chita’s southwest quarter is growing – in

size, if not yet in output. Production of Learjet’s super-light category aircraft remains stalled at roughly half of its 2007 peak, but construction projects under way will expand the site on the edge of Mid-Continent airport by 20% and pro-duce a new paint hangar, delivery showroom and production flight building. If it seems in-congruous to see facility construction boom-ing at the same time that aircraft production remains stagnant, you have never worked in the general aviation business.

Ralph Acs, Bombardier’s vice-president and general manager of Learjet production, seems to expect the question and has a re-hearsed answer, referencing the first business jet Bombardier ever developed in Canada. “When we go all the way back to the Chal-lenger 300 days, it was developed in a down market. The whole notion here is, it’s an op-portunity,” Acs says. “The opportunity is, as we come out of this down market, to truly have fresh, new products available.”

SECRET LAUNCHBombardier is not just opening buildings in Wichita. It is also launching jets. The all-com-posite fuselage Learjet 85 was conceived in 2007 and is closing in on first flight next year, but that was launched at the height of the last general aviation market cycle. Even as the market remained flat in 2011, Bombardier also launched the Learjet 70/75 programmes in se-cret, finally revealing them at the EBACE con-vention last May. Last month, Acs hinted that a smaller derivative of the Learjet 85 could soon emerge as well.

It is a familiar story in any downturn cycle, and particularly in this one. The three Wichita-based general aviation manufacturers are using the downturn to clean house and prepare themselves for a market recovery, if it comes.

Cessna has taken a similar course to its smaller rival Learjet. The largest of the three Wichita-based general aviation manufacturers is set next year to introduce the M2 light jet and high-speed Citation Ten, then deliver the super-light Latitude and super-midsize Longi-tude in two-year intervals.

BUSINESS JETS

Waiting in the wingsNew facilities and programmes demonstrate the readiness of local airframers to bounce back after a plummet in production volumeSTEPHEN TRIMBLE WICHITA

SOURCE: General Aviation Manufacturers Association

Number of aircraft

WICHITA MANUFACTURING OUTPUT

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

20111996

Learjet Hawker BeechcraftCessna

The Learjet 70 and 75 are being manufactured in Wichita



Hawker Beechcraft claimed more than one-quarter of all deliveries in 2005, but could be crowded out of the market completely by the end of 2013. In theory, another company could acquire the Hawker-branded product line, which includes the Hawker 4000, 900XP, 800XP, 400XP and 200. But some analysts think the line-up, which accounted for 52 com-bined deliveries in 2011, will not survive the bankruptcy process. “We think it is more like-ly that most of the operations will be shut down,” writes JP Morgan analyst Joseph Nadol in a recent research note to investors.

The renamed Beechcraft will focus on the company’s turboprop and piston aircraft prod-ucts, which include the Baron G58, Bonanza G36 and four basic models of the King Air – C90, B200/250 and 350.

RECOVERY DELAYWhile Hawker Beechcraft finalises the terms of its restructuring, Cessna and Learjet are concentrating on being ready for the market recovery. It may, however, take another two years before the recovery in the light to mid-size business jet sector really takes hold.

Scott Donnelly, chief executive of Cessna par-ent Textron, could not summon much optimism for a market rebound in business jets in 2013. “The way I would see it in 2013, at this stage of the game, is going to be very much a repeat

of the 2012 market,” Donnelly says. “So the bulk of what’s out there, the bulk of the activi-ty that has to happen in terms of selling air-craft, is going to involve getting orders for air-craft. So that’s the way we’ve been playing here for a while and I think at this stage of the game, that would be my view of how 2013 [will] play out.”

Even so, neither Cessna nor Learjet seems to be hedging its bets on a market recovery in 2014. “From a strategic perspective – you know we’re in the down-market – we’ve lev-eraged it with respect to our factory and our processes within the factory,” Acs says. “We’re leveraging that with the development for the 70/75. The resources, to be honest, that we’ve been able to get during the last 18 months [have been] excellent. So we’ve been able to build a strong, capable team.”

Clyde Cessna first started building aircraft in Wichita in 1916, five years after the first air show was held in a field outside town. Beech Aircraft was founded in 1932, and Learjet

commenced operations 30 years later. Each is well acquainted with the boom-and-bust cy-cles of the general aviation market, but the se-verity and length of the current one still caught them by surprise.

“To be honest, nobody really thought this down period was going to be this long. It is long. It is difficult. It is painful. There is no doubt about all that,” Acs says.

For Learjet, the downcycle meant falling from 80 aircraft deliveries in 2007 to only 28 three years later. Shipments improved to 43 in 2011, but remain far below the four-year aver-age of 73 deliveries in 2005-2008.

Market downturns are foiling product strat-

egies conceived in more bountiful times. Lear-jet has recently announced an indefinite pro-duction pause for the Learjet 60XR. Cessna showed even worse timing in launching the large-cabin Citation Columbus in 2008. It would have occupied a category of the market that is currently in high demand, but financial concerns forced Cessna to suspend the project in 2000 and cancel it later in the year.

“It’s so cyclical [historically], and they’ve been used to these ebbs and flows in sales. I think this is a different downturn than any of them have experienced before,” says Debra Teufel, managing director for business devel-opment for the Greater Wichita Economic De-velopment Coalition.

Boisture agrees with that assessment. His company has watched as the US market espe-cially has transformed into a mature market, where aircraft sales are mainly linked to fleet replacement instead of growth. The difference is partly down to the US economy, and partly the result of new aircraft financing policies that require down payments of 20-30%, compared to just 5-10% only a few years ago. “Do I think it’s a normal cycle? No, I don’t,” Boisture says. “I think it’s a shift and a paradigm change.”

While painful, such stagnant periods can lead to positive changes. If companies are not distracted by bankruptcy restructuring, as in Hawker Beechcraft’s case, they have the oppor-tunity to prepare for the next cycle. Idle re-sources can be put to use in re-imagining how the company builds jets in peak production pe-riods. There is time to become acquainted with and to learn how to use the latest new aviation and manufacturing technologies.

“There’s been a lot of time and effort in this community devoted to composite materials, and how we make the aircraft more efficient and lightweight,” Teufel says. “A lot of invest-ments made in technology will probably mean fewer people working on the factory floor, but on the back of that there has to be people programming the machines, and so what it will ultimately mean for totally em-ployment remains to be seen.”

In Learjet’s case, the focus during the down-

“Nobody really thought this down period was going to be this long. It is long. It is difficult. It is painful”RALPH ACS Bombardier’s vice-president of Learjet production

SOURCE: General Aviation Manufacturers Association

Number of aircraft

WICHITA'S SHARE OF WORLDWIDE MANUFACTURING AS EMBRAER ENCROACHES

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

20111996

Worldwide EmbraerWichita

Bom

bard

ier



turn was not only on new aircraft design. The company also worked on redesigning how it builds the aircraft. For instance, the Learjet 75 will be assembled in a way that reduces its cycle time by 42%.

TIME SAVINGSThat reduction was accomplished by focusing on eliminating out-of-sequence work. One ex-ample is the installation of the main cabin door and the over-wing exit door. Learjet previously waited to install both doors until after the air-craft was fuelled before its first take-off, consid-ered necessary because the airframe tends to twist slightly after it is loaded with fuel. But Learjet engineers found a way to perform the installations on the assembly line, potentially saving several hours of extra labour.

Such incremental improvements are why Learjet maintains a strong presence in Wichi-ta, even as it outsources work. Bombardier has made a practice of outsourcing aerostructures work to internal and external partners, and it initiated that process on the Learjet 85 pro-

Airbus delivered a harsh message on 6 Au-gust to a Wichita aviation cluster hoping

for good news. About 150 eager suppliers, who spent $55 each to attend an Airbus-host-ed summit, could not be blamed for feeling optimistic. They were being invited to discuss supplier opportunities by an airframer whose parent company has a stated goal of increas-ing its US economic footprint by 75% in eight years. Besides, Airbus is now a local compa-ny, having opened an engineering centre in Wichita in 2002. But Airbus officials quickly doused suppliers’ expectations.

There is an “Airbus Way” to supplier man-agement, and it does not involve direct rela-tionships with the type of small company that forms the bedrock of the Wichita aviation clus-ter. Airbus is happy to deal with Spirit AeroSystems, but such a tier one supplier is as far down the supply chain as it prefers to go.

“Every company goes about things a differ-ent way,” says John O’Leary, vice-president of engineering at Airbus Americas. “When we bring engineers in here they have to learn the Airbus way of doing the engineering and de-livering the product. So can we go through that learning curve with companies? Yes, ab-solutely. Does it make sense with a Spirit AeroSystems? Yes, absolutely it does. Does it make sense with a mom-and-pop machining company? It’s probably not worth it for that mom-and-pop machining company.”

It is a philosophy Airbus applies all over the world. Even so, the strategy may be harder to accept in an aviation cluster such as Wichita, where such mom-and-pop suppliers were dealing directly with major aircraft makers for 40 years before Airbus existed.

Whether directly or indirectly, the Wichita cluster still figures large in Airbus’s corporate plan to embed itself industrially in one of the largest markets for its products. At the same time, Airbus’s decision illustrates both Wichi-ta’s unique selling points and its limitations. A key limitation is, simply, geography. Land-locked and 274km (170 miles) from the nearest port – Catoosa – Wichita was quickly ruled out of Airbus’s search for an A320 final assembly plant, which ended in Mobile, Alabama. “It was purely geography,” O’Leary says. “Wichita

STRATEGY

Limited by locationWichita being 274km from the nearest port was a factor in Airbus deciding not to locate an A320 final assembly plant thereSTEPHEN TRIMBLE WICHITA

1917 Brothers Clyde and Roy Cessna pro-

duce the $6,000 Comet

1923 Walter Beech becomes manager of

Swallow Airplane Manufacturing, with

Lloyd Stearman as his chief designer

1925 Beech, Stearman and Cessna form

Travel Air Manufacturing, but the trio quick-

ly splinters

1926 Lloyd Stearman moves to California

and creates Stearman Aircraft

1927 Cessna breaks off to form Cessna

Aircraft Company with Victor Roos

1929 After returning to Wichita two years

earlier, Stearman Aircraft is acquired by

Boeing

1932 Walter and Olive Ann Beech found

Beech Aircraft

1941-1945 The Second World War spawns

an aircraft boom, with Beech building

7,430 aircraft, Boeing 9,890, and Cessna

5,359 in Wichita in four years

1962 Bill Lear opens business jet factory

in Wichita

1980 Raytheon Aircraft buys Beechcraft

1990 National Institute for Aviation

Research is dedicated

1990 Bombardier acquires Learjet

1992 General Dynamics sells Cessna to

Textron

2002 Airbus opens engineering centre

2005 Boeing divests Wichita division,

which is renamed Spirit AeroSystems by

new owners Onex and Goldman Sachs

2007 Raytheon Aircraft is divested and be-

comes Hawker Beechcraft under new own-

ers GS Capital Partners and Onex Partners

2012 Boeing announces defence opera-

tions in Wichita will cease in 2014

WICHITA AEROSPACE TIMELINE

gramme. The composite fuselage is produced in a new factory in Querétaro, Mexico. The composite wing panels are built at Bombar-dier’s factory in Belfast, then shipped to Queré-taro to be attached to ribs and spars. Then, wing and fuselage assemblies are trucked to Wichita, where both will be assembled and receive en-gines, control surfaces and landing gears. Wi-chita is also where the Learjet 85 will begin and complete its flight-test programme next year.

That division of labour within Bombardier on the Learjet 85 is no accident, with Wichita performing the highly engineered tasks that are its core competency. “It’s a real skill to get through all the functional tests and systems in-stallation,” Acs says. “At the end of the day, where you do your final assembly is where you’re going to do your flight testing, is where you’re going to deliver your aircraft. This is the baseline. The Learjet is here, our growth is here, our investment is here.” It has become a new organisational model in the Wichita cluster. Low-skilled work by OEMs and even some sup-pliers is exported to lower-cost factories, but the assembly and delivery tasks requiring higher-value skill and experience is kept on site.

Hawker Beechcraft has opened sites in Mexico and even threatened to move final as-sembly to Louisiana, but received concessions from local governments and unions to remain in Kansas. “We’ve forged a way to stay here,” Boisture says. “We’ve outsourced lower-com-plexity jobs to lower-cost areas, particularly in Mexico. That allows us to stay with the trained, highly skilled craftsmen that we have here for final assembly and delivery of air-planes, because we’ve been able to alter our cost base enough. I think it’s much more likely at the macro level for there to be consolidation than there to be destruction.”

SOURCE: Labor Market Information Services, Kansas Deptartment of Labor in co-operation with Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Deptartment of Labor

Number employed

AEROSPACE EMPLOYMENT IN WICHITA

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

50,000

20121990



The McGinty Machine Company is 64 years old, and Mike McGinty has run the business

for exactly half that time. The burly Kansas na-tive inherited the drill and press shop from his father in 1980, which happened to be the same year the industry’s fortunes changed forever. The 1970s were a golden era for Wichita’s gen-eral aviation companies, with overall deliveries by US manufacturers peaking in 1978 at more than 17,800. In less than two years, however, the general aviation boom had ended.

Shipments dropped almost by half to about 9,400 by 1981, then halved again in 1982 and continued falling for the rest of the decade. McGinty Machine and its like were in the middle of it. Like most Wichita suppliers at that time, McGinty was tied almost exclusive-ly to a single manufacturer. “We were 95% Cessna at the time,” he recalls. “I got a notice from Cessna. It said: ‘Stop all work’.” It is not an uncommon notice in the boom-and-bust

cycle of Wichita’s aviation cluster. Survival does not depend on avoiding the bust years, which seem inevitable, but on the degree to which suppliers can adapt and diversify.

The business – launched in McGinty sen-ior’s Wichita garage in 1948 – had grown fairly prosperous by 1980, but the sudden downturn caught everyone by surprise. For McGinty Ma-chine’s new owner, the finances looked bleak. “We had a debt charge back then of $25,000 per month, when you’re only bringing in $50,000 or $25,000 [per month],” he says. “So basically I had to get in the car and go down and do some selling.” McGinty also remem-bers coming in at midnight and working the machines until 07:00. “That’s what you have to do as a small business owner.”

Hard times teach bitter lessons, and one McGinty remembers from that period is typi-cal: he should have fired more of his staff.

“Basically I had to get in the car and go down and do some selling”MIKE MCGINTY Owner, The McGinty Machine Company

the Airbus A380 programme. At the time, O’Leary was working for Raytheon, now Hawker Beechcraft. O’Leary recalls: “One of them called me some years after that and said, ‘You know, we’re going to establish an engi-neering centre in Old Town [Wichita]. Are you interested in joining us?’ I said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ That’s how I got started.”

The original plan called for simply opening an office in Wichita to recruit engineers to work in the UK, but there were few takers. In-stead, Airbus decided to move its engineering databases to the Wichita cluster and establish the site as a hub for all of its engineering activ-ity in the USA. A staff of 27 in 2002 has grown to 350, with the head-count doubling in the past four years. The engineers work on aero-structures for virtually all Airbus commercial aircraft in production, with roughly 85% of the activity concentrated on wings.

Ten years after starting to grow in Wichita, Airbus is now approaching the maximum ca-pacity it intends for the site. “I hope so,” says O’Leary, “because we’ve been growing like gangbusters. That begins to wear you out. We’re at 350 [people]. If you walk around the building, you’d say, you probably have got room for 50 more. It’s getting pretty tight.”

Airbus still plans to hire more engineers in the USA, but probably not nearly as many from the Wichita cluster. “We have to venture outside Wichita,” he says. “We have to figure out how to use suppliers where those people are. Just in the sense that we didn’t want to move to Europe, there’s people in Greenville, South Carolina, or Dallas, Texas, that don’t want to move.”

wasn’t even on the list because of geography.” Wichita’s lack of access to the sea was also cited by Spirit AeroSystems as its reason for opening a factory in Kinston, North Carolina to make parts for the Airbus A350XWB. Kinston’s prox-imity to the port of Newburn is also convenient for the future A320 factory in Mobile. “You can have components [delivered] into Mobile. Then, the same barge can go [to Europe] through Newburn,” O’Leary says.

INCREASING STRESSLeft unspoken is the near absence of industri-al unions in the US southeast. Aircraft manu-facture in the Wichita cluster has a long histo-ry of labour conflict. A truce seemed to arise between management and unions in the wake of the post-2007 downturn in the general avia-tion market. But there are signs of increasing stress in labour relations, with the Interna-tional Association Machinists and Aerospace Workers voting to strike earlier this month against Bombardier Learjet.

However, Airbus’s presence in Wichita is owed to the cluster’s most attractive resource: a highly skilled workforce. “On the positive side, it takes a certain mindset and a certain capabil-ity to build an airplane,” O’Leary says. “That knowledge, that capability, that culture exists in Wichita, Kansas, and in the supply chain.”

The availability of that workforce is what brought Airbus to Wichita in 2002. O’Leary says the story actually began in the mid-1990s, when Raytheon Corporate Jets moved the Hawker 1000 and 800XP from Arkansas to Wi-chita, bringing several British engineers to Wi-chita, who then returned to the UK to support

SUBCONTRACTORS

Survival of the fittersFor suppliers, staying in business depends not only on riding out the bust years, but on adapting and diversifyingSTEPHEN TRIMBLE WICHITA

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Airbus opened an engineering centre in Wichita in 2002



streak” line of business. “If you want to talk about stress, this is the stress job,” he says. On-demand, quick-turnaround jobs remain a competitive strength in the Wichita cluster, even if materials involved are typically out-sourced for serial production.

McGinty plans to expand by opening a fac-tory in Wichita next year aimed at supporting serial production of parts. “On the production side our niche is going to be stringers, seat tracks, beams and longer parts. That’s what our core competency is going to be.”

The general aviation sector has been in a profound slump since deliveries last peaked in 2007, and McGinty’s business has suffered proportionately. But, like many suppliers in Wichita, he senses a shift in the winds. From July to September, McGinty increased his pay-roll from 30 to 42. “What you’re seeing is gen-eral aviation going down and commercial aviation going up. Now, in the next three years, maybe four, you’re going to see com-mercial aviation going down and general avia-tion going up. What I just said, there’s not studies on it. It’s just my experience,” he says.

All distances on the Great Plains are meas-ured in minutes, not miles, and it is a 10min drive down West Kellogg Street – an express-way that divides Wichita’s north and south districts – to another family-owned aerospace machining shop, one of dozens in the city.

Randall Voegeli founded Exacta Aerospace in 1978, but has turned day-to-day operations

over to his sons, Ben and Casey. Exacta opened when Randall Voegeli was still work-ing at Learjet, with a shed equipped with a Bridgeport milling machine. It now produces more than 4,500 different parts a year for Cessna and Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

The role of companies such as Exacta in the supply chain is rapidly evolving. It is no long-er enough for a Wichita-based machining shop to simply build a small metal part which is shipped to be attached to slightly larger ones. OEMs want these type of shops to move up the supply chain, integrating several parts into a single assembly.

At Exacta, for example, Casey Voegeli shows a fan cowl assembly for the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000, one of two engine types that power the Boeing 787. “An assembly like that – it’s a nice size, but that’s going to get attached to something else. It’s going to grow from there,” he says. Exacta wants to keep growing along with the assembly.

Exacta started to move into the assembly

“I was a rookie at it. I tried not to lay off people. But business has to make a profit, so I probably kept people on longer than I should have. It made it harder for us to come back.”

The general aviation market never recov-ered its 1970s-era form. Deliveries dwindled to a low of 928 by 1994, less than 6% of its peak 16 years earlier, albeit of a more valuable mix of mostly turbine-powered aircraft, ac-cording to the General Aviation Manufactur-ers Association. Seventeen years later, general aviation shipments by US airframers had barely recovered, with only 1,215 reported industry-wide in the USA in 2011.

SPREADING RISKLike any of Wichita’s surviving suppliers, McGinty Machine got through that downturn and others by diversifying its customers and increasing its sophistication. Even in the depths of the early-1980s recessions, McGinty invested in new and more advanced tooling machines and drills. Eventually, other clients placed orders. First, it was Boeing’s commer-cial division in Wichita, which is now Spirit AeroSystems. As Spirit AeroSystems has di-versified since it was established in 2005, so has McGinty’s orderbook. He now builds parts for Airbus, Gulfstream and Sikorsky, but de-livers them to Spirit AeroSystems.

McGinty Machine is mostly known as a shop that specialises in building parts on quick turnarounds, also known as a “blue

“All the OEMs want to be an integrator. That scares me, that they don’t even want to deal with a shop our size”CASEY VOEGELI Director of business operations, Exacta Aerospace

A metal finishing operative in action

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In a moment of feverish brainstorming in 2002, Cessna executives, desperate for

trained aviation mechanics, considered taking over an abandoned Wichita hotel and convert-ing it into a dormitory. The residents would learn in a Cessna classroom in the morning and in the afternoon work on a then-booming

TRAINING

Staying sharpAdvances in modern aircraft manufacturing have imposed a different set of demands on Wichita’s aerospace workforceSTEPHEN TRIMBLE WICHITA

assembly line. The idea died as soon as some-one worked out the cost, recalls Mike Ed-wards, who then managed Cessna’s training department. “That didn’t transpire,” he says.

But such is the urgency for skilled labour, even in an aviation manufacturing hub boast-ing a 30,000-strong labour pool, it seems there are always too many workers in the lean times, and too few in the good times. On top of that timeless dynamic, the advances of modern aircraft manufacturing have imposed a different set of demands on the workforce. There was a time when a mechanically savvy worker with no formal education could find employment anywhere in the aviation indus-try – those days have long passed.

Even an entry-level worker on a final as-sembly line in the era of digital-based aircraft manufacturing needs formal training and cer-tificated skills. When the last great boom for general aviation erupted in 2002, no such for-

The NIAR was conceived as a world-class resource in aerospace sciences

business almost 20 years ago, well before many of its peers. “That kind of got us thinking: ‘If we are doing this, and no one else is doing it, maybe we need to put more focus on assem-bly.’ Then our thought became, ‘Who is going to control the assembly?’ because assembly is a lot harder to [transfer to another supplier] than a part is. So the bigger the assembly the harder it would be to move that statement of work.”

NEW SKILLSExacta pursued its strategy by training its workforce in the 1990s. Certification courses for new skills, such as applying sealants, were taught by Boeing’s commercial division in Wi-chita. In 2005, Exacta purchased a new, larger building and the move has kept Exacta com-petitive. However, the owners still worry that they are not moving fast enough.

“All the OEMs want to be an integrator,” Voegeli says. “That scares me that they don’t even want to deal with a shop our size and we’re one of the bigger ones in Wichita. Maybe the OEMs only want to deal with a Spirit or a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. That scares me. But we have a place. I can [see] where our size fits and makes sense.”

The same trend holds true among the city’s metal processing shops, a close-knit web of firms specialising in treating materials in the process of manufacturing. Metal Finishing (MFCO), located on the banks of the Arkansas river that cuts through the western half of Wi-chita, started out as an specialist in anodising, a process used to make aluminium more re-sistant to corrosion and harder to damage.

“What we’ve done is we’ve gone from sim-ply anodising the part to the first step, which was: ‘Let’s put in a paint shop, let’s prime.’ Now we’ve gone to part-marking. Now we’ve gone to top-coat. We’ve evolved that way,” says Ed Ball, vice-president of sales and marketing.

There are probably a dozen metal process-ing companies in Wichita, each with a niche. Handshake agreements dating back decades have set certain boundaries. A company such as MFCO can specialise in processing, but heat-treating is left to other firms.

But globalisation is creating opportunities for companies to re-examine their roles. MFCO, for example, has established a facility in Chihua-hua City, Mexico, where it combines alumini-um processing with heat-treating, but its core business remains in Wichita. Processing costs may be lower elsewhere, but the level of skill is more difficult to duplicate. “You can’t go to class and you can’t learn [metal processing skills],” Ball says. “You can learn the principles, but to actually do it on a line? It’s a skill that is learned through doing it. It’s like our hard-chrome shop. You wouldn’t believe the weird things they do to make things work. You’re fol-lowing a specification. You’re following a tech-nique – but you have to tweak things.”

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mal education was available in Wichita, except via on-the-job training programmes. The five Wichita-based OEMs – Boeing, Bom-bardier, Cessna, Hawker Beechcraft and Spirit AeroSystems – decided that needed to change. “The five competitors came together,” says Edwards, now dean of manufacturing technology at the school formed in response.

KEEPING PACEUnited by a single cause, leaders of the five airframers called on the state to establish a technical school dedicated to training a new cadre of aviation workers. They argued that other clusters already boasted technical schools with strong aviation manufacturing training programmes. Wichita’s workforce needed to keep pace or be overtaken. Besides, 20,000 experienced, skilled aviation workers in the Wichita community are expected to re-tire in the next 20 years, and something need-ed to fill that gap.

The result was the National Center for Avia-tion Training (NCAT), which trains up to 1,300 workers per year in the manufacture of aerostructures, avionics and composites, among other disciplines. It is equipped to offer students hands-on training in the latest aviation manufacturing technology, including five-axis drilling machines and an autoclave for heat-curing composite structures.

“It was pure individual leadership on the part of these OEMs,” says Tony Kinkel, NCAT presi-dent. “The next generation of workers have got to be better trained and better prepared. And each of [the OEMs] individually probably can’t do a good enough job to retain world domi-nance. We need an entity [where] all they do is to become the best in the country in training.”

The concept was based on the National In-stitute for Aviation Research (NIAR), a branch

but the bulk of its $53 million appropriation from the Kansas state legislature did not need to be spent until the market collapsed. The school finally opened on 27 October 2010, at arguably the very bottom of the post-2007 general avia-tion industry bust. “The tremendous political leadership that it took to invest in these resourc-es when they were going through the worst pos-sible time is unbelievable,” says Kinkel, himself a former state legislator in Minnesota. “It turned out to be the best time to invest because we could go nowhere but up.”

BURSTINGWichita does not need another general avia-tion boom to justify the existence of NCAT. While the general aviation industry struggles to recover to pre-2008 levels, demand for skilled labour is bursting in the commercial aviation sector. Alone among the five major OEMs in Wichita, Spirit AeroSystems never had a lay-off during the global financial crisis. Now it is hiring new workers by the hundreds each year to keep pace with demand. Not sur-prisingly, Jeff Turner, Spirit Aero Systems chief executive, is an NCAT board member and one of its biggest champions. He is haunted by a vision of an ageing skilled workforce retiring en masse by the end of this decade, with a lack of qualified labour to replace them.

Spirit AeroSystems no longer builds air-craft using drill presses on flat templates. That kind of work is outsourced to cheaper loca-tions. The company builds modern aircraft with advanced tooling, using numerical con-trol machines and five-axis drills programmed using 3D, digital blueprints.

“A technically trained and proficient work-force for the future is really important,” Turner says. “If we ever lose the skilled capable work-force, that’s what can destroy this cluster, be-cause ultimately it is the workforce that does the design and the build of the products.”

of Wichita State University founded in the 1990s. It brought a world-class resource in aerospace sciences, with benefits shared be-tween Wichita-based airframers. The manu-facturers wanted a similar, pooled resource that could deliver hundreds of skilled workers to the assembly line every year in good times, and allow employees a place to upgrade their skills in the bad times. The curriculum is cus-tomised to the specific employer and student. The school uses a different set of entrance tests for students based on the needs of a particular company. Students are offered instruction only in the areas where they fall below a stand-ard on the entrance test.

“We are tremendously specialised in meet-ing your needs exactly where you are,” Kinkel says. “We don’t say you didn’t pass our plate test, now you go take our 16-semester course. It’s tailored to exactly where you’re deficient.”

If the NCAT lacked anything, however, it was good timing. The school was conceived at the height of the last great general aviation boom,

Flightglobal’s dedicated training channel can be found at flightglobal.com/training

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The NIAR’s curriculum is customised to a specific Wichita-based airframer or student

NCAT trains up to 1,300 workers a year in various aerospace manufacturing skills

LEVIUS, CITIUS, FORTIUS

flightglobal.com

WORLD AIRLINERSSPECIAL REPORT

36 | Flight International | 30 October-5 November 2012

Mainline jet makers have passed numerous milestones this year, with Boeing’s 747-8I entering service, 747-8F deliveries topping 20, Singapore Airlines taking the last of the 19 A380s it has ordered thus far, Airbus opening its A350 final assembly line, and a deluge of orders intensifying the battle of the re-engined narrowbodies. In the first instalment of our two-part World Airliners package, we assess the state of play in each segment of mainliner manufacturing, and track the progress of conversion programmes in a tough cargo market

PLANE SAILING


WORLD AIRLINERSMAINLINERS

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CONTENTS38 And then there were three… Bombardier joins the narrowbody fray40 Playing catch-up A350 progresses 43 Boeing’s X-Factor Renewing the 77744 Giants’ steps Big issues for ultra-large airliners46 Heavy burden Widebody conversions48 Out of the darkness Narrowbody conversions 50 Dream vs reality Russia’s ambitions

(Clockwise from main) A Cargolux 747-8F slicing the air; what the A320neo will look like in MEA colours; Air India’s first South Carolina-built 787; a Transaero 777; and a conversion candidate, the 777-200ER


DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

As Airbus and Boeing bicker over the relative merits of the A320neo and 737 Max, the steady progress of Bombardier’s CSeries could put another serious contender in the mix

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE...

Middle East Airlines has a preliminary deal with Airbus to purchase 10 A320neos

SINGLE-AISLE DATA CHECK

A320 family Current 737 CSeries

First flight Feb 1987 Feb 1997 Due 2012

First delivery Mar 1988 Dec 1997 Due 2013

Orders (total/2012) 8,628/336 7,033*/910 138/5

Deliveries (total/2012) 5,264/317 4,188/310 0/0

Backlog 3,104 2,845 138

2012 monthly output 35.2 34.4 N/A

NOTES: *Includes 739 Max aircraft. Total 737 production is 7,320 aircraft including 3,132 -100/-200/-300/-400/-500/-T43As

Airbus, Boeing orders/deliveries data at 30 September, except Boeing's current-year orders data, at 10 October

SOURCE: Manufacturers

Just as the Boeing 737 Max started moving this year from being a concept aircraft to a paper one, the rival Airbus A320neo began shifting from paper to metal.

Before the middle of the year Boeing’s three-member Max family had been heavy on graphics – illustrating the size, shape and dis-tinctive wing-tip design of the type – but light on performance data.

The Max’s capabilities became clearer when Boeing revealed that the baseline 737-8 variant would raise the current 737-800’s maximum take-off weight by 3,180kg (7,000lb) and extend its range by 540nm (1,000km).

This increase would take maximum take-off weight to just over 82t, compared with the 79t listed by Airbus for the A320neo, while the 3,620nm range will approach the A320neo’s 3,700nm.

Solid Max numbers inflamed the transat-lantic battle of economic claim and counter-claim that had been a largely one- sided affair as Airbus pitted the A320neo against its own estimates of the Max’s performance.

Airbus has started producing the first parts for the A320neo, focusing initially on the pylon that needs to support the larger CFM International Leap-1A or Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines. The airframer is already turning out A320s with wing structures modi-fied to accommodate the sharklet wing-tips that are undergoing flight testing.

It has insisted that the re-engined A320neo,

which will have sharklets as standard, will restore a 15% advantage of fuel-burn per seat over the winglet-equipped 737-800 that the original A320 had over the 737-400.

While technological evolutions have left the current A320 and 737-800 evenly matched on fuel-burn per seat, the European airframer estimates that the A320neo – fitted with the CFM International Leap-1A – can achieve a 15% improvement through a 7% gain in the engine core, another 7% from the larger fan, and 1% from powerplant integration.

The sharklet wing-tips would provide an-other 2.4% although this would essentially serve to wipe out a 2.7% loss from the weight gain of 1.8t and higher drag.

Fan diameter has become central to the scrap over economics, with Airbus seizing on the limited ability of the Max to accommodate an increase in engine size.

COMPARISON SLIGHTSAirbus argues that the Max could gain a 6% fuel-burn saving over the current 737 from core improvements on the corresponding Leap-1B engine, but crucially insists the re-stricted fan will add only 4%, with another 0.5% from integration benefits. Throwing in the penalty from drag, and heavier structural reworking, and Airbus estimates that the Max cuts the current 737 fuel-burn by 8%.

Airbus chief operating officer for customers John Leahy has suggested that Boeing would have to “heavily discount” to “make those numbers match”. Boeing’s latest list prices

show a $7-13 million premium for the Max family compared with $8-10 million for the A320neo variants.

But Boeing has put up a robust defence, putting the A320neo’s basic improvement on the A320 fuel burn per seat at just 12%, a re-sult of higher weight and drag penalties de-tracting from a 14% saving through better en-gine technology.

It claims that the 737 Max will similarly gain 14% from the engine and another 2% from the split winglets and reshaped aft fuse-lage, losing 3% to weight and drag, to give an overall 13% gain in fuel-burn per seat on the 737-800. While this already exceeds Airbus’s improvement on its baseline A320 airframe, Boeing believes – unlike its rival – that the starting positions are not equal, and that the

WORLD AIRLINERSNEW NARROWBODIES

flightglobal.com 30 October-5 November | Flight International | 39

Airbus

SINGLE-AISLE SPEC CHECK

A318 CS100 A319 (& Neo) 737-700 CS300 A320 (& Neo) 737-800 (Max 8) 737-900ER (& Max 9) A321 (& Neo)

MTOW (t) 68 58.2 75.5 70.1 63.3 78 79 85.1 93.5

Seats (two-class) 107 110 124 126 130 150 162 180 185

Range (km) 5,950 5,460 6,850 6,370 5,460 6,100 5,770 6,050 5,950

List price in $m 67.7 61.8 80.7 (88.8) 74.8 76.4 88.3 (96.7) 89.1 (101) 94.6 (107) 104 (113)

SOURCE: Manufacturers. NOTE: Airbus range figures assume sharklets are fitted

The Airline Business team blogs on operators’ fleet plans at flightglobal.com/abblog

737-800 already has a 7% advantage, giving the Max a clear lead over the A320neo.

Boeing also dismisses the fan-size argument by pointing out that the 737 has a larger wing area but is structurally lighter than the A320, and therefore requires less thrust. It claims the A320neo “pays the economic price” for the thrust demands of the larger A321neo. Boeing will nevertheless maximise the powerplant gain by extending the 737 Max’s nose-gear, al-lowing it to fit a 1.75m (5.74ft) diameter fan, at the expense of a blister fairing under the for-ward fuselage to house it.

Airbus is aiming to introduce the A320neo in the second half of 2015, while the Max will arrive in 2017.

While the A320neo’s popularity was under-scored during 2011, Boeing has piled on Max orders in response. Alaska Airlines opted for 37 of the type in October, taking the Max back-log to 858 and pushing Boeing’s overall gross orders over the 1,000 mark for 2012.

Neither Boeing nor Airbus sees the Chinese-built Comac C919 – which has been gradually amassing commitments from Chinese custom-

ers – as posing a threat for at least a decade, although the twinjet has attracted attention from Western companies, among them Inter-national Airlines Group and Ryanair, pre-pared to take a closer look at the project.

Bombardier, in particular, has been culti-vating a close relationship with the C919, ex-ploring potential areas of technological co-operation with its own CSeries family.

The Canadian airframer remains something of a wild card as the CSeries approaches first flight. While Airbus, in particular, has pointed to the slow pace of orders for the type, the Ca-nadian airframer is making steady progress, having completed the structural test fuselage in September, ahead of production of the first flight-test airframe.

Bombardier has also discussed the possibil-ity of a higher-density, 160-seat version of its CS300, which would pitch the type against the A319neo and the smallest 737 Max variant.

Low-cost carriers are among the target group for this version and AirAsia has been holding talks over a potential order for 100 of the type. The airframer has secured 138 orders for the CSeries among total commitments cov-ering 352 aircraft.

Bombardier, which has been conducting ex-tensive systems assessment – including virtual flights – on its Aircraft Zero test rig, had been intending to fly the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G-powered jet by the end of this year, but con-cedes that this could slip into early 2013 – tight-ening the window before service entry of the CS100, planned to take place in the same year.

For the flight-test programme Bombardier will build five aircraft but full CSeries produc-tion will take place in a new final assembly centre designed to construct 100 per year.

Neither Boeing nor Airbus sees the Chinese-built Comac C919 as posing a threat for at least a decade

WORLD AIRLINERSNEW NARROWBODIES

flightglobal.com40 | Flight International | 30 October-5 November


Airbus is racing to ready its A350 XWB, after a delay, as coverage of the in-service Boeing 787 fleet spans four continents a year on from launch of revenue operations

PLAYING CATCH-UP

Air France-KLM has a deal in place to buy up to 60 Airbus A350 XWBs

Airbus

Airbus’s A350 started taking on a rec-ognisable form this year as the air-framer’s various manufacturing centres started shipping the twin-

jet’s major structures to the final assembly line in Toulouse.

The forward fuselage and cockpit arrived at the line just before the end of last year and the delivery of the centre fuselage in early April meant that Airbus, while not quite making the first-quarter target, could formally begin as-sembling MSN5000, the static airframe.

Airbus also received the rear section in April, enabling it to roll out the full-length fuselage a few weeks later as it transferred the static air-frame to a separate station for wing attachment.

Completing the wings has proven more of a headache than expected for Airbus – still smarting from the cracking problem that

forced it to rethink bracket designs on the A380 – owing to a prolonged period refining the automated drilling process.

This slower pace has eventually resulted in a shift of the entry into service date, which has moved to the second half of 2014, but Airbus nevertheless hopes to keep the maiden sortie of the first flying A350, designated MSN1, on course for mid-2013.

Airbus’s UK plant, at the time of the drilling issue, was working on three sets of wings – those for the MSN5000 static airframe and MSN1, as well as a wing being built especially for damage-tolerance tests in Germany.

MSN5000’s wings have been joined and the aircraft also has its stub vertical fin. The air-craft will shortly be moved to the same test building previously used for the A380.

Structural assembly of MSN1’s first wing was finalised in August and it has been trans-ferred to Bremen, Germany, where it is being fitted with flight-control and high-lift surfaces, before being transported to Toulouse for mat-ing with the fuselage. Airbus UK will next deal with the wings for MSN3.

MSN1’s forward fuselage, the cockpit of which is already fitted with avionics equip-ment, has been on the Toulouse line since July, when the airframer also began power-on tests.

A350 development also advanced in July in the crucial powerplant testing, when a second phase of work started on the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine on the A380 testbed.

The engine, which the manufacturer says is beating fuel-burn performance of the A380’s

Airbus hopes to keep the maiden sortie of the first flying A350, designated MSN1, on course for mid-2013

WORLD AIRLINERSA350 VS 787


NEXT-GENERATION WIDEBODY DATA CHECK

A350 XWB 787

First flight Mid-2013 Dec 2009

First delivery H2 2014 Sep 2011

Orders (total/2012) 558/3 838/-22

Deliveries (total/2012) 0/0 26/23

Backlog 558 812

Airbus, Boeing orders/deliveries data at 30 September, except Boeing’s current-year orders data, at 10 October SOURCE: Manufacturers

For analysis of the latest developments in aircraft programmes including the A350 and 787, visit flightglobal.com/flightblogger

comprising nearly two-thirds of the 558 A350s on order – and the first to fly.

One year after putting its new twinjet into airline service, Boeing is on the verge of having 787s operating in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe as it works to ensure it can ramp up production to meet a backlog that still ex-ceeds 800 airframes.

Boeing has started shifting 787s from its second production line in South Carolina. The first airframe has been delivered to Air India in October and the type is still bringing in orders – outselling, in gross terms, the 777 and 747 over the first nine months of the year.

These orders have included another batch from launch operator All Nippon Airways, which this year cited preliminary figures indi-cating promising early fuel-burn results com-pared with the carrier’s 767-300ERs.

UNEXPECTED PROBLEMSTechnical issues involving the type had been relatively minor before both engine types sep-arately encountered problems – now resolved – linked to seemingly innocuous manufactur-ing changes: gearbox corrosion on Rolls-Royce Trent 1000s and cracking of the fan midshaft in the rival General Electric GEnx.

Boeing is aiming for a monthly production rate of five 787s by the end of this year, dou-bling to 10 by the end of 2013. It will build three per month in South Carolina by that point. At the main 787 production plant in

Everett, the airframer has activated a surge line to cope.

But with the delivery of 787s starting to re-semble a routine affair, the airframer is not only concentrating on development of the stretched 787-9 but also looking towards tim-ing a commitment to the proposed 787-10X.

The 290-seat 787-9 is due to enter service over the first half of 2014 and pre-production prototype sections feature in the airframer’s build and test plans this year.

Wing-box manufacture for the -9 is under way at Japanese firm Fuji Heavy Industries’ Handa plant, which started up a third produc-tion line for the component in July in order to meet Boeing’s 10-per-month production de-mand for the 787.

Rolls-Royce will offer an improved Trent 1000 for the -9, known as Package C, upon serv-ice entry, which will also become standard on the -8 later in 2014. The manufacturer has also detailed a further development of the Trent 1000, designated the 1000-TEN, intended for service entry in 2016 and designed to be fitted across the 787 family – including the -10X.

Rival GE has this year secured certification for a higher-thrust version of the 787’s GEnx and has also been upgrading the powerplant through a performance improvement package, PIP2.

While confident that the 320-seat -10X will be in strong demand, Boeing is still deliberating over the timeframe in which to secure launch approval for the type, partly to avoid jeopardis-ing the ramp-up of the -8 and initial production of the -9 but also because the manufacturer is juggling with the potential development sched-ule of a modernised 777. But the airframer has indicated that -10X approval could be sought by the end of 2012 or in early 2013.

Trent 900s, is nearing completion of the test regime having undergone icing tests in north-ern Canada and hot-weather operation trials in the United Arab Emirates.

Airbus has hit a plateau in terms of A350 sales, which it attributes to a lack of early slots for the twinjet family and the two-year post-ponement in developing the largest model, the A350-1000, which will not enter service until 2017.

But the airframer appeared to overcome resistance towards the -1000 from Middle Eastern carriers by securing Cathay Pacific as a new customer for the type, through an agreement that offset cancellations by Etihad Airways and tipped net A350 orders into positive figures.

Airbus is still insisting that it will build the smallest family member, the A350-800, de-spite poor sales and its efforts to maximise slot value by convincing -800 customers to mi-grate to the -900, the most popular model –

The first Boeing 787 built in South Carolina has been delivered to Air India

NEXT-GENERATION WIDEBODY SPEC CHECK

787-8 A350-800 787-9 A350-900 A350-1000

MTOW (t) 228 259 251 268 308

Seats (three-class) 250 270 290 314 350

Range (km) 15,200 15,800 15,800 15,000 15,600

List price ($m) 207 246 244 278 321


WORLD AIRLINERSA350 VS 787

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NIALL O’KEEFFE LONDON

It may have a newer widebody in service, but Boeing is under pressure to renew its 777, while 767 freighter sales continue and Airbus has increased the A330’s range

BOEING’S X-FACTOR

Boeing is studying options to revamp its hot-selling 777 twinjet

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With its 787 a year in service, Boe-ing appears to be bearing down on a launch decision for its pro-posed 777X – intended to re-

fresh its highly successful twinjet programme and render obsolete the Airbus A350-1000, due for first delivery in 2017.

Several airlines, including Emirates and Qatar Airways, have expressed interest in the 777X, which will stretch the fuselages of the

LAST-GENERATION WIDEBODY DATA CHECK

767 A330 777-200LR/300ER/F

First flight Sept 1981 Nov 1992 Feb 2003

First delivery Aug 1982 Dec 1993 Apr 2004

Orders (total/2012) 1,105/19 1,225/39 805/17

Deliveries (total/2012) 1,034/20 908/71 479/62

Backlog 69 317 326

2012 monthly output 2.2 7.9 6.9

Airbus, Boeing orders/deliveries data at 30 September, except Boeing's current-year orders data, at 10 October


LAST-GENERATION WIDEBODY SPEC CHECK

767-300ER/F A330-200 A330-300 777-200LR 777-300ER A330-200F 777F

MTOW (t) 187/185 240 240 347 352 233 348

Seats (three-class)/payload (t) 218/52.7t 253 295 301 365 70t 102t

Range (km) 11,100/6,030 13,900 11,900 17,400 14,700 7,400 9,070

List price ($m) 183/185 209 231 291 315 212 296


Andrew Doyle’s feature on engine options for the proposed Boeing 777X can be read at flightglobal.com/777Xpower

existing 777-200ER and 300ER. The new air-craft will also have new engines and composite wings, and is intended to deliver a fuel-burn improvement of at least 10%. An end-of-dec-ade service entry date is in prospect.

On the decision between delivering a prod-uct sooner or holding off to include newer technology, Boeing vice-president of business development and strategic integration Nicole Piasecki has said: “Our customers are really comfortable with our decision to put the most advanced engine technology onto this 777,

and that means, by definition, that’s really end of [the] decade. Are we comfortable with that? Yes. Because it’s going to be so much better. It’s going to [render] obsolete the A350-1000 before the A350-1000 is even delivered.”

Emirates president Tim Clark has called on Boeing to “get the job done” on the 777X, and is keen on the proposed new aircraft replacing 777-300ERs set to exit the fleet circa 2017.

But while former Boeing Commercial Air-planes chief Jim Albaugh had said the air-framer was targeting a board launch decision by end-2012, his successor Ray Conner has moved away from upholding this timeline.

In an August letter, Teal Group analyst Rich-ard Aboulafia referred to what he calls Boeing’s “back-pedalling”, saying: “Boeing maintains that the 777-300ER is as good, if not better, than the A350-1000, and therefore, it can delay the 777X. The 777-300ER may be a superb plane, but the market still prefers newer models.” Pointing out that Cathay, a major 777 operator, had defected to the A350-1000, Aboulafia added: “That was a predictable event, and more defections are likely.”

However, speaking in September, Piasecki was non-committal: “We are not being specific on timing; we do have some more work to do.”

Meanwhile, Boeing has – remarkably – managed to rack up more net orders for the 767 than for the 777 so far this year, thanks to Fed-Ex’s 15-unit 767-300F order, logged in June.

WEIGHT GAINIn July, rival Airbus unveiled a programme aimed at improving the performance of its A330 family by raising the maximum take-off weight of the type in order to increase its com-petitiveness against the Boeing 787.

The airframer raised each A330 model’s weight to 240t – from 238t for the -200 and 235t for the -300 – to offer greater range and payload capability, first on the -300 and sub-sequently on the -200 and -200F.

The 240t -300 will offer 400nm (740km) extra range with 300 passengers and carry nearly 5t more payload than its 235t predeces-sor. The 240t -200 will fly 270nm further with 246 passengers and carry over 2.5t more pay-load than the 238t version. Entry into service of the boosted -300 is due in mid-2015. Additional reporting by Ghim-Lay Yeo

WORLD AIRLINERSWIDEBODIES


NIALL O’KEEFFE LONDON

Boeing has passed major 747-8 milestones, with the -8I in service and -8F deliveries beyond 20, while Airbus is sticking to a target of 30 A380 handovers for 2012

GIANTS’ STEPS

Boeing’s 747-8 programme passed a major milestone on 1 June, when the Intercontinental passenger variant en-tered revenue service with Lufthansa,

flying from Frankfurt to Washington DC. By the end of September, the German air-

line had received three of its 20 ordered 747-8Is. A total of four aircraft of the type had been delivered to undisclosed VIP customers, the first having been handed over in February. Cargolux took delivery of the first 747-8 Freighter in October last year, and by Septem-ber 30, Boeing’s -8F output had reached 23.

But there have been setbacks along the way. On 4 October, General Electric ordered in-spections on all 120 GEnx engines operating on Boeing 747-8s and 787s to check for instal-lation errors of a component now linked to an engine failure in China in September.

The service bulletin calls for a one-time in-spection of the first stage low-pressure turbine (LPT) nozzle, a non-rotating part that directs the air flow into the trailing LPT stages. GE is-sued the bulletin four days after completing a teardown inspection of a GEnx-2B turbofan that was damaged during a rejected take-off by an AirBridge Cargo 747-8 in Shanghai.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the US Federal Aviation Administration initially linked the incident to two other LPT failures of GEnx engines in late July and early

Airbus has delivered 20 A380s this year – and is aiming at a figure of 30 for the full year

August. These were caused by cracks on the forward end of the fan midshaft, which con-nects the LPT to the inlet fan. But closer in-spections of the AirBridge Cargo engine re-vealed no cracks or fractures of the fan midshaft, which pointed to an installation problem within the LPT itself.

GE has emphasised the GEnx engine fami-ly’s reliable safety record, despite the high-profile contained engine failures on the 747-8 and 787. The engine fleet has achieved a dis-patch rating of 99.9% with 225,000 flight hours in less than two years of service.

In September, the fan midshaft cracking and fracturing incidents were traced to a new, lead-free coating that allowed the component to corrode rapidly under certain conditions. GE switched to a leaded coating already used

on the GE90 to correct the problem. To ensure the performance of 747-8s delivered from 2014 will be “within 1%” of the original tar-get, Boeing, in conjunction with GE, is work-ing on a package of engine, aerodynamic and weight improvements to address all the is-sues. The 6-12 November issue of Flight Inter-national will include a full technical descrip-tion of Boeing’s 747-8.

The other contestant in the market for very

Delivery of a 747-8F to Nippon Cargo Airlines marked the 747-8’s Japanese debut

WORLD AIRLINERSVERY LARGE AIRLINERS

flightglobal.com 30 October-5 November | Flight International | 45

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VERY LARGE AIRLINER DATA CHECK

A380 747-8F 747-8I

First flight Apr 2005 Feb 2010 Mar 2011

First delivery Oct 2007 Oct 2011 April 2012

Orders (total/2012) 257/4 70/0 41/5

Deliveries (total/2012) 84/17 23/14 7/7

Backlog 173 81 27

2012 monthly output 1.9 1.6

NOTE: Airbus, Boeing orders/deliveries data at 30 September. SOURCE: Manufacturers

VERY LARGE AIRLINER SPEC CHECK

A380-800 747-8F 747-8I

MTOW (t) 560 448 448

Seats (three-class)/payload (t) 525 140t 467

Range (km) 15,700 8,130 14,800

List price ($m) 390 352 351


Watch high-definition footage of a Malaysia Airlines A380 flying at the Farnborough air show at flightglobal.com/a380inaction

flight. Certain jets which have had lower panel rib boom sections replaced are subject to a slightly different inspection regime. EASA deemed the revised inspection order an “inter-im action” pending approval of a permanent solution to the cracking problem, identified after cracks were initially discovered in a Qan-tas example and further inspections turned up problems on additional aircraft.

Lufthansa, meanwhile, has had its own is-sues with the A380. The German carrier has experienced a number of incidents of odours in the cabin air of Rolls-Royce Trent 900- powered A380s, but cautions that it is not clear whether all of the events involved en-gine oil fumes. It plans to introduce onboard equipment to measure potential contamina-tion levels on an ad hoc basis.

The carrier asked Rolls-Royce to develop a modification, which has now been installed on several engines in the airline’s 10-strong A380 fleet. The modification comprises a cover for the bleed air extraction outlet, which should stop oil particles from entering the cabin air system. It is based in principle on a similar shield that was developed for Trent 500 engines on the Airbus A340-600.

The cabin odour issue appears to arise during engine start-up. Lufthansa is developing a new start-up procedure together with Airbus and

Rolls-Royce, whereby the bleed air supply to the cabin will be temporarily interrupted as the en-gines spool up. This procedure has yet to be ap-proved, however. In the meantime, airline tech-nicians are manually cleaning the affected engine areas at short intervals to avoid any re-sidual oil outside the regular lubrication system.

Lufthansa has contracted German research centre Fraunhofer Institute to develop porta-ble measuring equipment to determine cabin air contamination levels.

For all the A380 programme’s travails, dis-patch reliability appears to be going in the right direction. At September’s ILA air show in Berlin, Airbus underlined the positive ef-fect of retrofit measures on various systems. A380 marketing head Richard Carcaillet said that these had raised the dispatch reliability rate by a percentage point, to 99.3%, from the beginning of 2012.

The improvement had been notable during the course of delivery of the past 25 aircraft, he said. Modifications had been made to sys-tems such as landing-gear door sensors which, he says, were “a bit too twitchy” as well as fuel pumps, electro-hydraulic actuators and door systems.

large airliners, Airbus, has delivered 20 A380s this year – and is aiming at a figure of 30 for the full year. Emirates is set to get five more in 2012, while Thai Airways, Malaysia Airlines and Korean Air are also due to receive exam-ples. A met target of 30 would bring total A380 deliveries to 97 over the full life of the programme. Singapore Airlines has already received its initial complements of 19 A380s.

WING MODIFICATIONSBritish Airways, due to receive its first super-jumbo in July 2013, has opted to ensure its A380s are delivered from the outset with full-life wings, incorporating the modifications developed in the wake of a bracket-cracking problem on the type. The airline, which is tak-ing a new 575t higher-weight version of the aircraft, will have the affected wing-rib brack-et components replaced at Toulouse.

BA’s A380 schedule enables the carrier to take advantage of the repair as well as the in-troduction of the permanent production wing from 2014. Airbus expects the permanent A380 wing fix to secure certification towards the end of this year.

The European Aviation Safety Agency had, in June, determined that repetitive inspections were required on Airbus A380s to check for the cracking problem. Its directive was updated to require high-frequency eddy current inspec-tions at intervals of 560 cycles, as well as an initial inspection within 1,300 cycles of first

Thai Airways International received its first A380 in September

WORLD AIRLINERSVERY LARGE AIRLINERS


PETER CONWAY LONDON

FedEx has placed a big order for new 767-300s

In less straitened times, the delivery of Boe-ing’s 50th 747-400 freighter conversion in July would have been cause for celebra-tion. But the arrival of the aircraft at Ever-

green International airport in July must have been a bittersweet moment for the US airfram-er, as it was also the last in its current order-book. Rival Bedek, part of Israel Aircraft In-dustries, is also coming to the end of its backlog. The reasons for this are not hard to see: a depressed global economy and a stag-nant or slightly declining air cargo market, which has particularly hit the Asia to USA and Europe sectors on which 747 freighters are largely deployed.

Boeing has also fallen victim to its own suc-cess, in that the rollout of its new 747-8 and 777 freighters into a stagnant economic environment has led to overcapacity. This has not been helped by an increase in long-haul belly capaci-ty for cargo, as passenger fleets – particularly in emerging economies – continue to expand.

So is the 747-400 conversion, launched with such fanfare in 2004, coming to a prema-ture end? Not surprisingly, neither Boeing or Bedek think so, but both seem resigned to a temporary hiatus. “When we look at the mar-ket in the near term we see overcapacity in large freighters, which will probably last for one-and-a-half to two years,” says Dan da

question is whether new ones will take their place once the downturn ends. On the other hand, Boeing’s latest World Air Cargo Fore-cast for 248 converted freighters of above 80t in the next 20 years only implies about 12 conversions a year in this category. Boeing’s share of that might be six to seven aircraft, a fairly modest ambition.

While it waits for 747 demand to recover, Bedek and Boeing continue to work on plans for a 777 conversion, with both companies ex-pecting feedstock to be at the right price in 2015 or 2016. In fact, Boeing floated plans for a 777-200ER conversion as long ago as 2009, and da Silva says it has been talking to a growing group of customers about its technical charac-teristics. Bedek also seems to be edging towards

HEAVYBURDENA depressed global economy and stagnant air cargo market have hit demand for widebody conversions

Silva, Boeing vice-president freighter conver-sions. “So 2013 will be a difficult year beyond demand already sold.”

Jack Gaber, Bedek corporate deputy vice-president and general manager for marketing and business development, compares the cur-rent situation with that in 2008-2009. “Then, there was complete silence for a year and a half, but it was followed by a very strong come-back.” But Gaber’s reasons for optimism would not cheer Boeing. He says major carriers and leasing operators are not happy with the 747-8, finding it hard to fill and expensive to buy. “For the price of a 747-8, we can give you five 747-400 conversions,” he points out.

EFFICIENT AIRCRAFTAs it happens, Cathay Pacific, launch custom-er for the 747-400 conversion, is busy making the opposite choice – selling or leasing its conversions to focus on its new 747-8s. How-ever, da Silva insists this should not be seen as lack of confidence in the conversion.

He says the large line-haul operators will naturally tend towards the newest and more efficient aircraft, but cites the example of air-craft such as the DC-8, which were in demand as freighters among secondary carriers and in emerging markets, long after they were phased out by more mainstream operators.

Many secondary carriers have folded in the past few years, however, and the big

WORLD AIRLINERSWIDEBODY CONVERSIONS


Boeing has floated plans for a 777-200ER conversion

“When we look at the marketin the near term we seeovercapacity in largefreighters, which will probablylast for one-and-a-half to twoyears”DAN DA SILVA Vice-president freighter conversions, Boeing

Temporary dip or long-term trend? Weakness in the cargo market is analysed at flightglobal.com/cargomkt

a decision. “We continue to look at it, and it seems we will do it, but feedstock will not be the right price till 2016-2018,” says Gaber.

Airbus, however, has launched a product in the past year – subsidiary EADS-EFW an-nounced a A330 conversion programme on 15 February. Both -200 and -300 conversions are being offered, but the -300 is expected to gain the early demand. It would offer a pay-load of 60-61t, with a range of 3,600nm (6,660km), while the -200 would offer 59t over 4,000nm. This compares with 65t over 4,000nm or 70t over 3,200nm for the factory-built A330-200F. The -300s will only achieve the above performance if they are later than 2000 vintage, as earlier models have a lower maximum take-off weight that would reduce range to 2,300nm. John Howey, director of sales – aircraft conversions for EADS-EFW, insists this is not a problem, however.

“Some customers do not need the range, and others have younger aircraft in their own fleet that they would convert,” he says – a pos-sible reference to Qatar Airways, which showed strong pre-launch enthusiasm for the conversion. Besides, Howey adds, by the time the programme gets started, some of the later -300s will be getting old enough.

What might be an issue for express custom-ers is finding large enough block sizes of feed-stock, however. The -300, with its greater vol-ume, is expected to appeal more to such

customers, but they will want to order reason-able numbers of them at a time. It must have been a disappointment to EADS-EFW that FedEx recently placed a big order for new 767-300s, suggesting it might standardise on this type as a replacement for its MD-10s, A300s and A310s. Howey, however, remains optimistic that as a strong customer for Airbus conversions in the past, FedEx will at some point place further orders with EADS-EFW.

ATTITUDE CORRECTIONA further issue for the A330 conversion will be its cost, which will inevitably be higher than the industry is used to because the nose-down attitude of the A330 – it dips slightly towards the front – will need to be corrected, as it has to be on the production freighter, and as it is a more modern aircraft, more engineer-ing design has to go into the conversion. EADS-EFW has not officially confirmed the price, but it is expected to be around $16 mil-lion for the A330-300, which compares with $10 million for the A300-600.

That and the high price of A330 feedstock creates a window of opportunity for its rival, the 767-300 conversion, but demand still re-mains slack. Bedek has done a few 767-200s for DHL this year, but its 767-300 programme is quiet. Boeing has had no orders for its -300s since completing seven for launch customer All Nippon Airways in November 2010.

Both companies expect more demand in the coming year or so, however, as the 787 continues to roll out and feedstock prices ease. Gaber is particularly hopeful of express orders, with FedEx, UPS and DHL all now fly-ing the type, while da Silva sees potential in the carriers still flying DC-10s.

One last wildcard is a new proposal from US company LCF Conversions to instal lifts in A340-300 aircraft to enable their ordinary lower hold cargo doors to be used to load freight on to the main deck. This, it says, would enable the aircraft to be used as a 65t freighter, with a range of 5,400nm, albeit with cargo lim-ited to a height of 1.65m (64in). With no need to make structural changes to the aircraft, the conversion would cost $6.5 million, with feed-stock now available at $9-14 million.

Disadvantages include the higher fuel burn of the A340, and longer loading times com-pared with a freighter with a maindeck cargo door. But the concept could provide a simple way to perform freighter conversions on next-generation widebodies without having to tackle the greater complexities of their engi-neering when compared with older airframes. LCF is already talking about a 777 conversion of the same type, but the proof will be whether it attracts any customers.

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WORLD AIRLINERSWIDEBODY CONVERSIONS

flightglobal.com48 | Flight International | 30 October-5 November

737-400 feedstock prices are coming down

OUT OF THE DARKNESS

Something interesting is happening in the narrowbody freighter conver-sions market. Aeronautical Engineers Inc (AEI) of Florida – has seen a run

of new orders for Boeing 737 conversions. That is a little surprising given the global economy is in the doldrums, air cargo is suf-fering from overcapacity and freighter opera-tions are under threat from falling yields and growing belly capacity.

So where are the orders coming from? The answer is: an interesting mixture of customers. In 2012 AEI has had two orders from Russian carrier Atran, a fifth and sixth order from Avia-tion Capital Group, three for lessor ASL, and one for Air Incheon, a South Korean start-up. All of these orders were for the 737-400 variant.

While this hardly constitutes a flood, it sug-gests that there is some vibrancy at this end of the market that is not being matched in wide-body freighters. “I can’t explain it,” says Rob-ert Convey, vice-president sales and market-

PETER CONWAY LONDON

There has been a surprising upsurge of interest in narrowbody freighter conversions lately, though a new entrant is likely to split the market

ing for AEI. “Our hangar has never been so busy. I thought it was a bubble, but now we are setting up inductions for February and March, so it seems to be continuing.”

One possible reason for the relative buoy-ancy may, perversely, be the increase in belly capacity as passenger carriers continue to ex-pand. “The traditional widebody freight routes are getting large amounts of new belly capacity, and that is why the widebody freighter operators are suffering,” Convey says. “But at the other end it still has to be dis-tributed to the final destination, and that is where our freighters come in.”

Other reasons may be that regional markets in emerging economies are more resistant to the global chill, or that aircraft that used to perform feeder work are being squeezed out. Examples include the 727, excluded from major gateways in Australia under new noise regulations, and Russian aircraft such as the Antonov An-12, An-26 and Ilyushin Il-76 that are increasingly being banned even in African countries on safety grounds.

Demand from the big three express opera-tors is also a not insignificant factor. The ASL aircraft are destined for subservice at DHL, and the Atran ones will fly for UPS. Convey points to demand from the Brazilian post of-fice and Nigerian government too – both mar-kets relatively immune to cold winds from the global economy.

Last but not least, 737-400 feedstock prices are coming down. Of its 12 aircraft backlog – six under conversion and six orders, Convey says all but two – destined for Africa – are 737-400s. “There is still a small premium compared to the -300, but in the last six to nine months -400 prices have come into the right zone,” he says.

LION’S SHAREDespite all this, one might question if it is a boom for 737s, or a boom for AEI. The com-pany does seem to have the lion’s share of the available market in the past year or so. Bedek admits that it is a year since it did a 737 con-version, and its joint venture on the type with

WORLD AIRLINERSNARROWBODY CONVERSIONS


AEI says the Boeing MD-80 conversion is ideal for less developed countries

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To read Peter Conway’s analysis on whether weakness in the cargo market is temporary or long-term, visit flightglobal.com/cargomkt

“We will deliver a dozen 737s this year, and we will soon be announcing enough orders to keep us occupied all next year”KEVIN CASEY Pemco president

GAMECO, of China, has now lapsed. The company says it is “now reviewing ways to reposition itself in the 737 market, including other strategic partnerships”.

Meanwhile, Pemco was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from March until July, as it attempted to shed a loss-making opera-tion in Dothan, Alabama. Kevin Casey, Pem-co’s president, insists that it never affected its conversion business, however, and on 4 Octo-ber it announced a deal to convert two Inter-national Lease Finance-owned 737-400s for China Postal, to add to seven already convert-ed by Pemco in its fleet.

“Demand is exceptional, even by our stand-ards as the market-leading 737 programme. I have never seen it so busy,” Casey says. “We will deliver a dozen 737s this year, and we will soon be announcing enough orders to keep us occupied all next year.”

Convey also predicts a strong 2013, though he expects the 737-400 programme to face some stiff new competition. Fortunately, that competition will be coming from AEI’s own latest product, the Boeing MD-80 conversion.

The prototype for this freighter had its first flight on 28 September, and Convey is hoping to get its supplemental type certificate by the start of November. From May next year he hopes to have two or three lines running for the type. The company is also rumoured to be close to announcing a conversion programme for the MD-90, which would have one extra pallet and greater range. With feedstock avail-able for less than $1m and the conversion costing just $0.5m, the MD-80 has a similar payload and range to the 737-400, but with a smaller cross-section, which means it cannot take 3.18m (10.4ft) pallets laterally, and can carry only eight of these, or 12 2.74m pallets.

AEI reckons that given the freighter’s low cost, operators will put up with this disadvan-tage, and also predicts that with its high-mounted engines and relatively low main-deck (making for easy loading) it will be ideal for operations in less developed countries. No orders have been publicly announced for the aircraft, but Convey says it has 15 aircraft lined

up for customers from the USA, South Ameri-ca, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. “We are holding off announcing their names until we get our STC,” he says, holding to a prediction of more than 200 MD-80 conversions, and ad-mitting it will take away some of the 737 mar-ket. “There is not an unlimited number of op-erators, so they will divide between the two types. It will be interesting to see who goes for which,” he says.

MARKET DOMINATIONA step up from the 737, the 757 conversion market continues to be dominated by the order for 89 for FedEx, which is being steadily worked through by ST Aerospace. Outside of this, the two players are Precision Conver-sions, of Oregon, and Pemco, the latter certify-ing a 757-200 combi earlier this year, with four delivered so far.

Precision has also just completed its combi, which is undergoing flight tests, the first of two planes for Air Transport Services Group that will fly for the US Air Mobility Com-mand. Military uses apart, Brian McCarthy, vice-president marketing and sales at Preci-sion, sees a market for the combi in remote re-gions of the northern hemisphere, for example in Russia or Canada: “any place with long thin routes, especially where there are seasonal changes in passenger load, so you can keep cargo strong and hedge your bets”.

Apart from the combi, Precision converted four other 757s this year, two for SF Express, of China, one for ATSG and a fourth one for an undisclosed Russian customer. The company is in the process of completing certification in Russia, and McCarthy has high hopes for this market. Otherwise, Precision says enquiries are coming from South America, the Philip-pines, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia, as well as China, where the company is plan-ning to open a second line at joint venture TAECO next to meet expected demand. Mc-Carthy sees the aircraft, with its 2,800-3,200nm range, as being ideally suited to the sector lengths in China.

As with the 767, a problem for the 757 has been feedstock but McCarthy says values have been falling recently in the expectation that American Airlines and United are about to re-tire significant numbers of the aircraft from their fleets. Many are the more modern ver-sion of the aircraft with winglets, and McCa-rthy is therefore pleased to have just received certification to convert such aircraft. “They can add 10,730lb of payload [4.9t] or increase the range by 200nm,” he says. “That is enough to fly from Clark Air Base [in the Philippines] to Hawaii, and I expect these aircraft to be a big part of the feedstock pool in the future.”

WORLD AIRLINERSNARROWBODY CONVERSIONS



Russia has a long way to go to realise its grand vision for national civil airframe manufacturing, with output low and new programmes still to prove themselves

DREAM VS REALITY

United Aircraft handed over only a pair of Antonov An-148s in 2011

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MS-21 DATA CHECK

MS-21

First flight Due 2015

First delivery Due 2017

Orders (approx) 200


MS-21 SPEC CHECK

MS-21- 200ER

MS-21- 300ER

MS-21- 500ER

MTOW (t) 67.6 76.2 87.2

Seats (two-class) 150 181 212

Range (km) 5,500 5,000 5,500

NOTE: Longest-range versions shown. SOURCE: Manufacturer

For the full story on China’s airliner programmes, see the next issue of Flight International and our Pro service: flightglobal.com/pro

Russia’s ambitions in the civil aero-space sector are still running far ahead of industrial and market reali-ty. United Aircraft delivered seven

commercial jets last year – five Sukhoi Super-jet 100s and a pair of Antonov An-148s – and aimed to hand over 33 of these two types in 2012 – but pace of production remains slow.

Aeroflot has been steadily taking delivery of its Superjets, with a total fleet of 10 by Septem-ber, but plans to hand over launch operator Ar-mavia’s second and final Superjet suffered a setback when the two sides became embroiled in a dispute that left both aircraft parked at Moscow’s Zhukovsky airfield. However, the dispute was resolved and on 2 October, Arma-via took back its first Superjet 100 “after the so-lution of the airline’s financial issues”. The two sides have “agreed the terms” for the first air-craft and signed a preliminary six-month lease agreement, while “continuing to discuss” the situation with the second aircraft.

Transaero, one of five Russian airlines that ac-count for 60% of the nation’s passenger traffic, gave a timely boost to the Superjet programme with an order for up to 16, as Sukhoi reeled from the fatal loss of a prototype during an Indone-sian demonstration flight in May. Mexico’s Interjet, a key overseas customer, also firmed op-tions on additional Superjets this year.

Sukhoi has also been under pressure re-garding funding for production ramp-up, an in-depth Russian audit committee analysis states, particularly since federal budget provi-sions cannot be allocated to aircraft pro-grammes post-certification. The audit com-mittee said the future of the programme is under threat, although Sukhoi insisted its fi-nances are being restructured.

Irkut is making progress on development of the twinjet MS-21 family but the modernised Tupolev Tu-204SM remains largely in limbo, with few sales prospects. State-run Ros-tekhnologii gave the Irkut MS-21 its most high-profile lift this year by confirming its

order for 35 of the twinjets – a mix of 18 of the 150-seat -200 and 17 of the 181-seat -300 – for its leasing arm Aviakapital-Servis, from 2022. The lessor is taking MS-21s fitted with the Aviadvigatel PD-14 engine.

Tests on the technology demonstrator were completed in September. Aviadvigatel says operability of components, including those involving specialised technological manufac-turing, “was validated”, and engine perform-ance “complied with the simulation model”. But the production schedule for the twinjet family appears more fluid following the dis-closure that first flight for the Pratt & Whitney PW1400G-powered version, due to enter serv-ice in 2017, had shifted to 2015.

Aeroflot has become a likely initial operator of the type as a result of the Rostekhnologii order and the scaling-down of an early agree-ment by Malaysian company Crecom Burj, which originally intended to take 50 of the type. This has enabled Irkut to revise its deliv-ery plans and offer the aircraft to Aeroflot much earlier. Irkut has also sealed an aftermarket, maintenance and training pact with the carrier. Aviakapital-Servis signed its first agreement for the MS-21 in August 2011, comprising a deal for 50 firm and 35 optioned aircraft.

Tupolev delivered a VIP Tu-204-300 to the Russian government this year but has battled to secure a launch customer for its Tu-204SM, with an on-off agreement with Red Wings, but

the programme’s future remains uncertain. Ilyushin Finance had shown interest but dropped out following delays, and while Syrian Arab Airlines signed for the type, po-litical unrest in Syria has piled further doubt on its prospects. But the Aviastar plant at Ulyanovsk, which manufactures the Tu-204, has been gaining work from the Superjet pro-gramme, performing interior fitting.

Aviadvigatel has also developed an upgrade version of the PS-90 powerplant, designated the -A3U, which is being offered as a re-engin-ing option to Tu-204 and Tu-214 operators.

Russian carriers Rossiya and Polet operate the Antonov An-148 and are due to be joined this year by Angara Airlines, but only a handful are in service. Several are still undergoing as-sembly and airframer VASO has been working to improve aftersales support. Meanwhile, Avi-akor has been quietly delivering twin-turboprop Antonov An-140s under a three-year Russian defence ministry contract. It plans to assemble six this year but says the high price of the type and limited production capacity – fewer than 11 per year – are countering interest. Large, con-solidated orders would reduce production costs, says Aviakor, and its plant could be con-verted to build 30 per year, given funding of some Rb3.5 billion ($100 million).

WORLD AIRLINERSRUSSIAN TYPES

STRAIGHT&LEVEL


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

100-YEAR ARCHIVEEvery issue of Flight from 1909 onwards

can be viewed online at flightglobal.com/archive

France funds fliersSo far the French National Fund

has produced £70,000 which,

with the £300,000

voted by the

Chambre to buy

300 aeroplanes,

makes a total of £370,000 to

spend on aeroplanes this year.

The greater part of the 300

machines has already been

delivered and will all be handed

over before the end of the year.

Woeful weatherFlying was severely

handicapped by bad weather

during the week at

Newcastle’s flying

club and the six

machines were

rarely on the tarmac. The fleet

now consists of three Gypsy

Fs, a Tiger Moth, a Puss Moth,

and a Swallow.

DC-7C ditchesAll 103 occupants were

rescued when a Northwest

DC-7C ditched on

a flight from

McChord AFB,

Washington, to

Anchorage, Alaska. The

aircraft stayed afloat for

22min and rescue aircraft and

boats were given ample

warning that the DC-7C was

ditching. The emergency was

caused, it is reported, by a

runaway propeller.

More from MirA “fourth-generation” space

station, Mir 2, will be launched

after 1992, the

Soviet Union has

revealed. The

remote-sensing

module designed to dock with

Mir will not fly until “late 1988

or early 1989”, says former

cosmonaut Valeri Ryumin, now

chief of manned spaceflight.

Rex

Featu

res

Last chance to see…

Valediction for the VulcanSad confirmation reaches us that the last airworthy Avro Vulcan bomber will complete its final flying season next year.

The departure from the skies of XH558 has, of course, been long predicted and only the valiant fundraising efforts of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust has kept the aircraft delighting the crowds at air shows for so long.

However, 2013 will be its valedictory season as the bomber is reaching the end of its finite flying life.

Since its restoration in 2007, XH558 has been seen by more than 10 million people at 60 air shows and other locations, including during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The Vulcan’s retirement is not inevitable. Another £200,000 ($320,000) would have been needed to modify the aircraft’s wings and increase her flying life, but Vulcan to the Sky Trust chief executive Dr Robert Pleming has told supporters such an effort would not be worth it.

“We know that you would do your upmost to fund this work, but for a number of reasons we have decided not to ask you to take this risk,” he says.

So next summer, if you are in the UK, see and hear one of the Cold War’s true surviving icons in its natural environment for the last time… if you can.

publicity. Its aircraft are identifiable only by a single red stripe – there is no other insignia – and they ferry passengers from a secure terminal at a far corner of the city’s airport.

Thanks to Andrew McLaughlin for the photograph.

Faster FelixImpressive though Felix Baumgartner’s recent jump was from a balloon more than 38km above the earth – a stunt that saw him fall faster than the speed of sound at one point – it was not as physics-defying as media network NBC suggested.

“Fearless Felix travelled faster than the speed of light,” the MSNBC website caption proclaimed.

Steady on…To NBAA this week, where, among the cocktail bashes and pool-side splashes is an invite to a party being hosted by UAT. It is launching an unusual attitude training course for pilots at the convention.

We suspect some of the NBAA delegates who tread the cocktail circuit a bit too enthusiastically may need some help in coping with unusual attitude themselves.

Canteen cultureIn a magnificent demonstration of the multi-party integration on which its entire operation depends, Airbus’s canteen in Toulouse gave a certain amount of grief to the host of a press pack which, having toured the assembly line in mid-October, had taken the opportunity to drop in for lunch.

Something about the canteen in question being allocated to Airbus France while the host was officially from Airbus Central Entity.

When it’s tricky to sort out the workshare between the kitchens, it’s hardly surprising that the EADS-BAE merger proved too much to swallow.

Where in the world?Book a flight with this Australian travel agency (left) and you might find yourself on a proper mystery tour.

The seemingly generic aircraft photo World Flight Centre has chosen for its publicity is none other than a Janet Boeing 737.

Janet is the charter airline that shuttles employees from Las Vegas to the US government’s highly secretive Area 51 in deepest Nevada. Janet – its radio callsign – doesn’t go in much for

Andre

w M

cLaugh

lin

Boeing somewhere nice?


COMING UP

INTERACTIVE

2012 Engineering Undergraduate Student of the Year Monica Hew

The 2013 Flightglobal Achievement Awards will be

held at Musée de l’Air et de

l’Espace, at Le Bourget, during

the Paris Air Show on Tuesday

18 June. The awards will be

launched early next year, and

there will be five accolades up

for grabs. Aviator, Innovator and

Leader of the Year are chosen by

flightglobal.com users, while

Flightglobal editors select the

Lifetime Achievement winner.

The Boeing Engineering Student of the Year is decided by a panel

of former Boeing engineers.

THE INDUSTRY’S FINEST

Full entry details on flightglobal.com/coverphoto

Do you want to feature on the cover of the world’s best aviation magazine (yes, that’s us)? Enter the annual Flightglobal photo competition by posting your top images on the AirSpace galleries on flightglobal.com

The closing date is 30

November. Our judges

will then choose the best

image to feature on the

cover of the 18 Decem-

ber issue, with the best

of the others appearing

in our special photo-

spread inside.

Photos can be on any

aviation theme. All we

ask is that they must

have been shot during

2012 and that you

provide us with details of

the image, of which you

must own the copyright.

PICTURE PERFECTWIN OUR PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION AND...

COVER YOURSELF IN GLORYDESTINATION DUBAIWith NBAA taking place this

week, the next big business

aviation meet-up is the Middle

East Business Aviation

Association convention in

Dubai in mid- December

(below). We will be there to

bring you all the news, images

and video from the event via

our landing page on flightglo-

bal.com. If you are visiting the

show, we will be publishing

three editions of Flight Daily News, so look out for our

red-suited distribution team

when you come into the ven-

ue each day for the latest

breaking stories.

CHINA CALLINGAre you a pilot who fancies

working in arguably the

world’s fastest growing avia-

tion market? Relocating to

China may seem like a cul-

ture shock for many, but the

pay and rewards are attrac-

tive, and Chinese cities are

much more welcoming to

Westerners than they would

have been a decade ago. In

our 6 November Zhuhai spe-

cial issue, we will be running

an extended feature on pilot

recruitment, with articles on

some of the airlines most

active in the market and a

selection of job ads.

PLAY IT SAFEThere is still time to book

your place at Safety in

Aviation North America, the

latest in our successful series of safety conferences.

The event is in Montreal on

5-6 November and full speak-

er and fee details are avail-

able on flightglobalevents.

com/safetyna2012

INTERACTIVE

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54 | Flight International | 30 October - 5 November 2012 flightglobal.com

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Isle of Man GovernmentDepartment of Economic Development

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58 | Flight International | 30 October - 5 November 2012 flightglobal.com

RECRUITMENT ADVERTISEMENT FORCIVIL SERVICE VACANCY

CIVIL AVIATION DEPARTMENT(1) Senior Operations Officer

(Senior Operations Inspector)Salary: Master Pay Scale Point 45 (HK$87,340 approximately US$11,197* per month) to Master PayScale Point 49 (HK$100,625 approximately US$12,900* per month) (See Note 1).(*Based on exchange rate of HK$7.8 = US$1) (subject to fluctuation)

Entry Requirements: Candidates should have (a) (i) a current Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence (ATPL) (Aeroplane) with a current ClassOne Medical Certificate and eight years’ relevant post-licence experience and at least 5000 hours of commercial transport flyingexperience of which a minimum of 3000 hours should be on civil transport multi-engine aeroplanes; OR (ii) an International CivilAviation Organization (ICAO) contracting state’s Commercial Pilot’s Licence (CPL) (Aeroplane) with Multi-engine Instrument Rating;and a minimum of seven years’ post-licence experience in civil aviation management and operations or as a regulator; and have passedthe ATPL examinations; AND (b) strong command of written and spoken English.

Duties: A Senior Operations Officer (Senior Operations Inspector) is mainly deployed on flight operations matters including – (a)conducting station facilities, ramp and base inspections, and other safety oversight inspections of the Air Operator’s Certificates (AOC)holders to ensure that the operator’s documentation with respect to operations and training manuals, and all other instructions tooperating staff are in compliance with the established policies and standards; (b) observing professional pilot training, monitoringstandards and ensuring that the training is carried out in accordance with all relevant legislation; (c) examining persons for appointmentas authorized examiners for the grant of Private Pilot Licence and handling matters on Flying Training Organization and groundtraining courses; (d) investigation of aircraft accidents and incidents; and (e) assisting in the formulation of policies and requirementson flight standards and operations matters. (Notes: Post holders are required to travel extensively on duty and work irregular hours).

(2) Senior Operations Officer(Helicopter Operations Inspector)

Salary: Master Pay Scale Point 45 (HK$87,340 approximately US$11,197* per month) to Master PayScale Point 49 (HK$100,625 approximately US$12,900* per month) (See Note 1).(*Based on exchange rate of HK$7.8 = US$1) (subject to fluctuation)

Entry Requirements: Candidates should have (a) (i) a current Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence (ATPL) (Helicopters) with Class OneMedical Certificate and not less than 3000 flying hours in command of helicopters of which 2000 hours should be in command oftwin-engine helicopters; and (ii) not less than 12 years’ relevant post-licence experience of which not less than five years should be asan Aircraft Rating and Instrument Rating Examiner or in other regulatory duties; OR (b) an International Civil Aviation Organizationcontracting state’s Commercial Pilot’s Licence (CPL) (Helicopters) with Instrument Rating; and a minimum of seven years’ post-licenceexperience in civil aviation management and operations or as a regulator; and have passed the ATPL examinations; AND (c) strongcommand of written and spoken English.

Duties: A Senior Operations Officer (Helicopter Operations Inspector) is mainly deployed on helicopter operations matters including -(a) monitoring of the operating standards of helicopter operators in Hong Kong; (b) monitoring standards of crew training andassociated training facilities, operations and training manuals, pre-flight briefings, flight planning facilities and the adequacy of staffingand accommodation; (c) observation of tests conducted by operators’ examiners for the issue/renewal of authority to sign certificateof test and type rating tests forms; (d) investigation of aircraft accidents and incidents; and (e) assisting in formulation of policies andrequirements on flight standards and operations matters. (Notes: Post holders are required to travel extensively on duty and workirregular hours).

Notes:(1) Subject to the prevailing situation, candidates with additional experience may be granted increments for previous relevant

experience in the civil aviation field in excess of the stipulated minimum.(2) For the purpose of heightening public awareness of the Basic Law (BL) and promoting a culture of learning of BL in the community,

assessment of BL knowledge will be included in the recruitment for all civil service jobs. Results of the BL test for degree/professionalgrades will be one of the considerations to assess the suitability of a candidate but will not affect his/her eligibility for applyingfor civil service jobs. As a general principle, the main consideration for suitability for appointment remains a candidate’squalification, experience and caliber.

(3) Candidates should submit their application forms together with an Experience Resume by mail to the enquiry address on orbefore the closing date for application. The Experience Resume can be downloaded from the Civil Aviation Department’s website.(http://www.cad.gov.hk/english/recuitment.html)

Terms of Appointment: A new recruit will normally be appointed on civil service agreement terms for three years. He/she will berequired to serve on agreement terms for at least 3 years before they can be considered for appointment on the prevailing permanentterms.

Fringe Benefits: Upon satisfactory completion of the full agreement period, you will be granted a gratuity for the period of service.In addition, in compliance with the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance, the Government will arrange to make contributionsfor the appointee to a registered mandatory provident fund scheme (MPF scheme). The gratuity payable for the agreement will be thesum which, when added to the Government’s contribution to the said MPF scheme, equals 15% of the total basic salary of thesubstantive office drawn during the period of agreement. 18 days of annual leave, medical and dental benefits are also provided. Forhousing benefits, there is a Non-accountable Cash Allowance, currently at HK$27,870 per month (approximately US$3,573* per month)subject to periodic revision.

Closing Date of Application: 26 November 2012.

See General Notes opposite

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EADS unites a leading aircraft manufacturer, the world’s largest helicopter

supplier, a global leader in space programmes and a worldwide leader

in global security solutions and systems to form Europe’s largest defence

and aerospace group. More than 133,000 people work at Airbus, Astrium,

Cassidian and Eurocopter, in 90 locations globally, to deliver some of

the industry’s most exciting projects.

We’re currently looking for Stress Engineers, Design Engineers and

System Engineers as well as other talented Engineers and Technicians

at all levels to actively participate in our leading edge programmes.

Right now is a defining time for EADS companies, which means an

excellent opportunity for you to join us and help shape the future

direction of our business.

For a career that will offer plenty of new challenges, excellent opportunities

for personal and professional development as well as competitive

compensation and benefits visit www.jobs.eads.com

Join EADS. A global leader in aerospace, defence and related services.

Let your imagination take shape.

General Notes :(a) Persons who are not permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) may also apply for this vacancy

but will be appointed only when no suitable and qualified candidates who are permanent residents of the HKSAR are available.(b) Applications from serving civil servants in the Senior Operations Office (Senior Operations Inspector)/Senior Operations Officer

(Helicopter Operations Inspector) rank of Civil Aviation Department would not normally be considered.(c) As an Equal Opportunities Employer, the Government is committed to eliminating discrimination in employment. The vacancy

advertised is open to all applicants meeting the basic entry requirement irrespective of their disability, sex, marital status, pregnancy,age, family status, sexual orientation and race.

(d) Civil service vacancies are posts on the civil service establishment. Candidates selected for these vacancies will be appointed on civilservice terms of appointment and conditions of service and will become civil servants on appointment.

(e) The entry pay, terms of appointment and conditions of service to be offered are subject to the provisions prevailing at the timethe offer of appointment is made.

(f) The information on the maximum pay point is for reference only and may be subject to changes.(g) Fringe benefits include paid leave, medical and dental benefits, and where appropriate, assistance in housing.(h) Where a large number of candidates meet the specified entry requirements, the recruiting department may devise shortlisting

criteria to select the better qualified candidates for further processing. In these circumstances, only shortlisted candidates will beinvited to attend recruitment examination and/or interview.

(i) It is Government policy to place people with a disability in appropriate jobs wherever possible. If a disabled candidate meets theentry requirements, he/she will be invited to attend the selection interview/written examination without being subject to furthershortlisting.

(j) Holders of academic qualifications other than those obtained from Hong Kong institutions/Hong Kong Examinations andAssessment Authority may also apply but their qualifications will be subject to assessments on equivalence with the required entryqualifications. They should submit copies of their official transcripts and certificates by mail to the above enquiry address.

(k) Civil service vacancies information contained in this column is also available on the GovHK on the Internet at http://www.gov.hk.(l) Towards the application deadline, our on-line system would likely be overloaded due to large volume of applications. To ensure

timely completion of your on-line application, it is advisable to submit the application as early as possible.

How to Apply: Application Forms [G.F. 340 (Rev. 6/2012)] can be downloaded from the Civil Service Bureau of the Hong Kong SpecialAdministrative Region’s (HKSAR) web site (http://www.csb.gov.hk). On-line application can also be made through the said web site.Candidate must state clearly the details of professional qualification obtained on the application forms and attach the ExperienceResume.(See Note 3) Completed forms, together with the Experience Resume, should reach the above enquiry address of the recruitingdepartment on or before the closing date for application. If candidates fail to provide the Experience Resume, their applicationsmay not be considered. Candidates who are selected for interview will normally receive an invitation in about six to eight weeks fromthe closing date for application. Those who are not invited for interview may assume that their applications are unsuccessful. Forfurther information or an application form, please write to The Administration Division, Civil Aviation Department, 46/F, QueenswayGovernment Offices, 66 Queensway, Hong Kong (Fax No. (852) 2868 9867) or e-mail to [email protected], quotingreference CAD PR/5-25/62 (2012).

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flightglobal.com 30 October -5 November 2012 | Flight International | 61

Cambridge Airport is expanding its operations and positionshave arisen for Air Traffic Control Officers.

The airport is situated only 3 miles from the world-famous Cityof Cambridge and serves one of the UK's fastest growingregions, renowned for education, technology and innovation.

The ideal candidates will need to have experience of working ina mixed traffic environment in class G airspace. They will beable to remain flexible and show high levels of initiative in oftenchallenging and varied traffic situations. The ideal candidates willhold valid UK ratings for ADI, APP and APS, although considerationwill be given to applicants holding ADI and APP only.

Met Observers Certificate and OJTI endorsements wouldbe advantageous.

Candidates must be flexible, have good IT skills, able to workshifts and operate effectively in a small and friendly team.

For more information on this vacancy and to apply go towww.marshallaerospace.com

Opportunities for AirTraffic Control Officers

Marshall Aerospace

marshallaerospace.com

An Equal Opportunities EmployerNo agencies please.

There are always new challenges on the horizon

Design Surveyor - Avionics

£50,745 pa

Gatwick

For further information, please visit www.caacareers.com

APPOINTMENTS – CIVIL AVIATION DIRECTORATE

Transport Malta’s Civil Aviation Directorate is seeking applications from interestedpersons to fill the following positions:

Flight Operations Inspector

Ref: PAHRO/08/2010/ 34 - ETC/230/2011The appointed person will be responsible for providing professional input in thedevelopment and implementation of a comprehensive programme for maintaininga civil aviation oversight of Maltese aircraft operators.

The selected candidate must be in possession of: a Current JAR-FCL Airline TransportPilot License with type rating on large transport or corporate jet aircraft; aminimum of 5,000 hours as pilot-in-command of civil or military aircraft; at least fiveyears experience as a Flight Operations Inspector within a Civil Aviation Authorityor operational management as an airline pilot and designated examiner, or traininginstructor, or as a military pilot where equivalent experience in air transportoperations would have been acquired; experience in auditing techniques and otherrelated skills and qualities.

Job Descriptions are available from Transport Malta’s Human Resource Unit (email:[email protected])

Interested persons are kindly requested to submit an application and a detailed CVonly by email (as one pdf document) to: [email protected] by 13thNovember 20122012. Emails are to indicate the position being applied for and thename of the applicant in the subject.

Applications will be acknowledged and treated in strictest confidence.

B717 CAPTAINS

Volotea is the newest low cost airline in the European region.

We launched in April 2012 with a vision to connect small and

medium European cities, using a modern growing �eet of B717s.

To support our continuous growth, we have a limited number of

Captain Vacancies for a minimum of three consecutive summer

contracts based in one of our French, Italian or Spanish bases.

A company partially sponsored type rating is provided to the

right candidate. Our requirements are:

�Minimum 6000 hours Total Flight Time.

�Minimum 3000 hours as Pilot in Command on Glass Cockpit

Commercial Jets.

�Valid JAA ATPL and unrestricted Class 1 medical.

�English language �uency – Level 5

�European passport

We are especially interested to hear from experienced pilots

who have recently retired from a long term Captain career and

are willing to �y for three or more summers in a very exciting

environment where Pilots work the extra mile to make our

airline the most successful new LCC operation in Europe.

To apply, please email your CV to

[email protected]

Closing date for applications is 15th November 2012.

www.flightglobal.com/jobs

FIN_301012_057-061:Flight Rec Template Q& 25/10/12 11:01

62 | Flight International | 30 October-5 November 2012 flightglobal.com

FIND THE RIGHT MATCHAVIATION RECRUITMENT SERVICES

WWW.JET-PROFESSIONALS.COMTel: 0041 58 158 8877

Recruitment Support to the Aviation Industry

T: +44(0)1483 [email protected]

aviation recruitment

To advertise in this Employment Services Index

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

email [email protected] note that calls may

be monitored for training purposes

Flight InternationalLeaders in the provision of

technical personnelRebecca Anderson & Kelly Rossi

T: +44(0)141 270 5007F: +44(0)141 270 5555

E: [email protected]

www.firstpeopleaviation.com

GCT GroupWorldwide specialist for Aerospace Engineering, Certification & Management Servicese: [email protected]: +49 (0) 8153 93130w: www.garner.de

www.aircraft-commerce.com

+44 (0)1403 240 183

Global Aerospace contractpersonnel and work packagese: [email protected]

t: +44(0)20 8799 8916w: www.strongfield.com

Contract and Permanent recruitmentfor the Aviation industry

David Rowe, Alastair Millar, Jodie Green, Ian Chapman

Tel: +44 (0)1737 821011Email: [email protected]

www.cbsbutler.com

Ǧ ��

Ǧ��

Ǧ ��

Ǧ ��

+353 1 816 [email protected]

www.parcaviation.aero

Looking for on contract basis consultants withworking experience gained from aircra�

manufacturers’ customer services business,incl. maintenance & engineering, supplychain management, aircra� parts service,technical publica�ons, training, opera�on

support and supplier contract management.

Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 20 8643 3981www.3oac.com

Three Oaks Avia�on Consultancy Ltd.AVIATION RECRUITMENT

WORLDWIDE

T: +44 (0)1483 748252E: [email protected]: www.wynnwith.com

wynnwith

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

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

Tel 0049-(0)40-866-258-10 Fax 0049-(0)40-866-258-20

RECRUITMENT FOR AVIATIONEASA E-LEARNING COURSES

Tel: +44 (0) 1284 700676Email: [email protected]

www.e-techs.co

Email: recruitment@sigmaaviationservices.comwww.sigmaaviationservices.com

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

Email: recruitment@sigmaaviationservices.comwww.sigmaaviationservices.com

Recruiting Stress, Design and Fatigue & DT engineers for our offices in:

Amsterdam Bangalore

BristolGlasgow

HamburgSeattle

[email protected]

www.ctcaviation.com/ctcflexicrew

CTC FlexiCrewHigh flyers, on demand

Seeks Type Rated PilotsLocations UK & Worldwide

Flexible & Permanent Positions

Engineering Consultants

www.matchtech.de/careers

+49 (0)711 707 30 400

WORKING WEEK


If you would like to feature in

Working Week, or you know

someone who does, email your

pitch to [email protected]

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

Watt: has an affinity with air cadets at Grangemouth 1333 Sqdn

Aviation for a new generationWORK EXPERIENCE JIM WATT

Tays

ide A

viation

Jim Watt is managing director of Tayside Aviation in Dundee, Scotland, and the flying school is linking with the local Air Training Corps squadron to provide flying experience to young people who could otherwise not afford it

When Tayside Aviation start up and what is your role there?Tayside Aviation was established in 1968 and at that time operated from a portable cabin on the edge of the Riverside playing field, long before there was an airport at Dundee. My role as managing director is varied and never dull. I am also accountable manager for the flying schools and the Part 145 and Part M aircraft mainte-nance facility. I regularly fly all our 18 aircraft, both single-en-gined and multi-engined, includ-ing the delightful Grob 115.Describe a typical working dayToday, I flew our TB10 to our other school at Fife airport to meet with its instructors. I then flew back and forecast engineer-ing maintenance for the week. We deliver the flying scholarships for the Royal Air Force, so I delivered an arrival briefing to the new ca-dets. They come to us for two weeks of training with the objec-tive of getting them to fly solo. This briefing is important to get the mindset ready for flight train-ing. In the afternoon, there is often a meeting with the airport author-ity to discuss airspace co-ordina-tion with the regular users. Late in the afternoon, I usually have a flight with a student.Tell us about the Air Training Corps schemeI have an affinity with the air ca-dets at Grangemouth 1333 Sqdn as it is my home town. I have vis-

ited the unit several times and have always been so impressed by the dedication of the adult team and how they nurture, above all, “good citizens”. They are involved in a project to install a full-size replica Spitfire at the former site of Grangemouth aero-drome. This vision has motivat-ed the unit and allowed the ca-dets to learn about the history of their town during the war years. Many Polish pilots were killed during training and these young-sters tend the graves of the Polish pilots buried at Grangemouth cemetery. There is a statistic that an air cadet is 17 times less likely to get in trouble with the police,

and I see that when adults and senior cadets go on to become ex-cellent role models. Why do you think it is important to give young people a taste of aviation in this way?I never take for granted what a privilege it is to fly every day. I feel it is important we support the air cadets wherever possible. The initiative to adopt an aircraft is an effort to provide flight-train-ing experience for this unit since they have raised the funding themselves. It is planned to re-register the aircraft – a PA28 War-rior III (G-BXOJ) – as G-GATC, and it now sports the air cadet motto: “venture adventure”. Fly-

ing opportunities are important incentives to senior cadets so it is important to recognise how valu-able this is for the ATC itself.What state is the flight-training market in? Globally, airlines are going to need many more pilots, but start-ing a career in flying is expen-sive. The flying school at Dundee trains about 50 private students per year, as well as having more than 200 flying scholarships. Tayside runs the full-frozen ATPL modular training pro-gramme, which is 45% cheaper than a full integrated course. It trains pilots for partner airline Loganair, which also uses our simulator for pilot selection. The current climate is very good and Tayside has had its busiest year so far with a significant increase in students. Since 2010, there has been a steady increase in de-mand for pilots and our pilot placement programme is an ex-cellent apprenticeship, which al-lows pilots to gain the valuable “handling skills” needed for an airline such as Loganair.

Opportunities for Design Engineerswww.jobs.eads.com

eSolutions

Discover the full range of services and support at EmbraerCommercialAviation.com/Support.

Happy to help. Anytime.

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