Winging it United front Star return

Airbus ready to Why Moscow is Reborn Dornier

fly laminar-flow bringing MC-21 amphibian will
adaptation as and Superjet be making
its oldest A340 manufacturers waves soon,
gets novel look activities under after 26-year
for EU study 12 one roof 17 hiatus 25

12-18 September 2017 flightglobal.com

FUTURE COMBAT

After the Raptor

How will a next-generation air dominance
fighter outgun Washingtons mighty F-22?

ISSN 0 0 1 5 - 3 7 1 0
3.70
3 7

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AEROSPACE SYSTEMS
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PLATFORM INTEGRATION
 CONTENTS
Volume 192 Number 5603
12-18 SEPTEMBER 2017

NEWS
THIS WEEK
Winging it United front Star return
Airbus ready to Why Moscow is Reborn Dornier
fly laminar-flow bringing MC-21 amphibian will
adaptation as and Superjet be making
its oldest A340 manufacturers waves soon,

6 Social media likes Lilium fundraising

gets novel look activities under after 26-year
for EU study 12 one roof 17 hiatus 25

7 OEM scepticism greets mega-merger

8 An-2 airworthiness expired five years before
12-18 September 2017 flightglobal.com

FUTURE COMBAT

After the Raptor fatal crash.

How will a next-generation air dominance
fighter outgun Washingtons mighty F-22?
Taxi trials prepare C919 for return to test flights
9 United goes big on smaller A350 deal.
MRJ resumes testing after engine flameout
11 Pentagon targets Silicon Valley software
Lockheed Martin

NEWS FOCUS
12 Airbus to harness fuel saving which is waiting
ISSN 0 0 1 5 - 3 7 1 0
3.70
3 7

9 770015 371297

FIN_120917_301.indd 1 07/09/2017 09:35

in the wings
COVER IMAGE 22 Raising consciousness in the battle against
As the US Air Force starts

US Air Force
pilot hypoxia
assessing requirements
for a next-generation air AIR TRANSPORT
14 More 777s, but Aeroflot delays A350s. USAF seeks more data on F-35A pilot hypoxia P22
dominance platform, this
70,000hp stress test for UltraFan gearbox
COVER STORY
Lockheed Martin graphic
15 SAS looks beyond home countries to level
gives a glimpse of what 30 Shaping its future For the US Air Force, total
playing field.
could follow the F-22 P30 GoAir defers deliveries over P&W engine air domination is a strategic imperative so
issues identifying the technologies it needs to
16 Procedural lapses caused Senegal crash. outclass rising threats beyond 2030 is an
EASA orders action on A350 fire danger urgent mission
17 Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, Irkut to be United
DEFENCE
FEATURES
18 Suppliers target Polish rotorcraft need. 26 F-22 RAPTOR Master of the air faces new
threats Lockheed Martins F-22 has been the
Lockheed Martin

Eurofighter suggests pairing Typhoon, F-16

worlds undisputed air superiority champion for
19 Kenya Longsword deal is valid, GAO says.
two decades. The US Air Force plans to make
Vixen 500E radar boosts Romanian
sure it rules the skies for years to come
demonstrator
BEHIND THE HEADLINES
21 King Stallion gains pace with LRIP deal.
Leigh Giangreco (pictured) REGULARS
Slovakias first Black Hawk makes public debut
visited Cobham in Orchard
Park, New York, to hear 5 Comment
BUSINESS AVIATION 36 Letters
about the companys work 24 VistaJet expansion plan gets $200m
to address pilot oxygen investment support. 37 Straight & Level
issues (P22). In Toulouse, Production-standard G600 makes debut 39 Classified
Michael Gubisch studied a 40 Jobs
25 One Aviation tests EA700 wing update.
laminar-flow A340 (P12)
New-generation Seastar rolled out 43 Working Week
James Mellon/FlightGlobal

NEXT WEEK A380

Irkut, Bell Helicopter

Airbus tried to change the

game with its superjumbo:
is its A380 winning after a
decade of airline service?
UAC to merge Irkut with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft P17. Bell promotes AH-1Z for Polish attack requirement P18

Download the Military Simulator

Census online now.
www.flightglobal.com/milisim
CAE offers training centres, training services, and simulation products for trainer and fighter aircraft.

flightglobal.com 12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 3

 CONTENTS

Image of
the week
A tail-mounted camera
captures a record-breaking
moment as the Perlan II
glider soars to an altitude
of 52,000ft. The Airbus-
backed project saw pilots
Jim Payne and Morgan
Sandercock make history
on 3 September, during a
flight from El Calafate in the
south of Argentina

View more great aviation

shots online and in our
weekly tablet edition:
flightglobal.com/
flight-international

Airbus
The week in numbers Question of the week

90%
Last week, we asked: Aerospace industry consolidation?
You said:

Flight Dashboard
Total votes: 559
Q2 pre-tax profit soared to SKr1.97bn ($247m) at SAS Group,
which now expects full-year profit to top 2016s SKr939m

150m
Bigger is not better
251 votes
45%

24% Only at the lower end

Flight Dashboard 174 votes

European regulators approved a bridging loan to Air Berlin

Major shake-up imminent
to facilitate an orderly wind-down of the insolvent airline 134 votes
31%

39 Flight Dashboard

Claiming a European first, Virgin Atlantic has fitted all of its

This week, we ask: Who should build the USAFs next fighter?
Boeing Lockheed Martin Northrop Grumman
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
aircraft with wireless broadband either Gogo or Panasonic Vote at flightglobal.com

FlightGlobals premium news and data service delivers breaking air transport stories with
profiles, schedules, and fleet, financial and traffic information flightglobal.com/dashboard

Download the new

theCommercial Engines Directory
Download The Engine Directory.
Download 2017 Commercial Engines Report
ow with enhanced
now dataenhanced
with updated and in-depth market
data and analysis
in-depth market analysis
flightglobal.com/ComEngDirectory
flightglobal.com/commengines
flightglobal.com/commengines13
CFM 2017 strip ad.indd 1 15/06/2017 08:52
4 | Flight International | 12-18 September 2017 flightglobal.com

19/07/2012 17:51

Stay up to date with the latest
news and analysis from the
commercial aviation industry:
flightglobal.com/dashboard
flightglobal.com
Symbiosis, strained
Boeing may have justified scepticism about consolidation in the aerospace supply chain, but
it would do well to remember the origin of the forces driving the latest wave of merger activity
I f any two companies ought to enjoy a close relation-
ship, it should be Boeing and United Technologies.
From 1929 to 1934, Boeing and UTC even belonged to
the same company United Aircraft and Transport.
Decades later, many of UTCs products, including the
electric power and generation system for the 787 and
777X, seem intrinsic to new Boeing aircraft.
But the two companies are locked in a disagreement
that extends far beyond UTCs decision to acquire
avionics supplier Rockwell Collins. Indeed, the debate
between UTC, as the propulsion and systems supplier,
and Boeing, as the aircraft designer and assembler, is
really a dispute over the forces now shaking up the
entire aerospace industry supply chain.
It is tempting to pick sides, but it is also possible to
appreciate that each has legitimate concerns.
UTC is placed in the awkward
position of competing against its
biggest client for services deals
From Boeings perspective, the OEM spends a dispro-
portionately large share of its capital on research and
development to bring new aircraft to market and as-
sumes the bulk of the risk of commercial failure, yet
struggles to claim half the operating margins enjoyed by
many of its own suppliers. That has driven a provoca-
tive new strategy, which calls for steep price conces-
sions from suppliers and involves a push deep into an
aftermarket sector dominated by those same companies.
UTC, on the other hand, is placed in the awkward
position of competing against its biggest customer on
services deals. At the same time, Boeing is asking
suppliers to assume greater risk in development, yet
Fighter update V3.1
A s the US Air Force contemplates how to field a
next-generation air dominance capability by 2030,
a key piece of the puzzle may have just come to light.
Whoever ends up making that aircraft will have to
grapple with how to design and execute short-lived
software applications within the militarys long-term
development cycles.
The solution? US defence officials say they are now
close to fully embracing Silicon Valleys iterative ap-
proach to software and electronics refresh cycles for
military aircraft, starting with the Lockheed Martin F-35.
The announcement represents a seismic shift. If ex-
ecuted properly, it could finally break military avia-
tions struggle with keeping software and electronics
COMMENT
Design Pics Inc/REX/Shutterstock
A bit of give and take
receive lower rewards in terms of pricing and aftermar-
ket opportunity. Indeed, it is these pressures that many
believe are the ultimate driver for the latest merger.
A business combining Collins avionics and infor-
mation systems with UTCs electronics and power
equipment could wield enormous pricing influence.
But it would also have more capital for innovation.
Self-interest, clearly, is driving Boeings supply
chain strategy, which is not unreasonable. But it has to
expect a similarly selfish response from the tier ones.
When Boeing complained that UTC and Collins
should avoid becoming distracted from their production
commitments, the suppliers could have and perhaps
should have responded that the launch of Boeing
Global Services is an equally needless distraction.
In the end, Boeing needs suppliers as much if not
more than suppliers need Boeing, and company
leaders would be wise to integrate that reality into stra-
tegic planning.
See This Week P7
relevant over the decade-plus cycle for developing new
airframes and engines.
That is not to suggest the new approach is a panacea.
Silicon Valley-style refresh rates work in the relatively
benign environment of an Apple iPad, but are not easi-
ly reconciled with airworthiness certification. It also
would not accelerate the timelines required to design
and test aerodynamic and propulsion technology.
But many of the electronics and sensors vital to a
modern combat aircraft have no impact on airworthi-
ness. Finding ways to refresh that technology on month-
ly or even weekly cycles could transform the militarys
ability to field a next-generation aircraft on time.
See This Week P11, Feature P30
12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 5
THIS WEEK
Keep up with the latest news and read
in-depth analysis from the business
aviation sector: flightglobal.com/bizav

BRIEFING
DEVELOPMENT STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

Social media likes

Lilium fundraising
QANTAS PICKS AIRFRAMER FOR A380 WORK
INTERIORS Qantas has selected Airbus to refurbish the for-
ward upper decks of its dozen A380s, with the airframer to in-
stall a new business lounge area between mid-2019 and the
end of 2020. A new and unique business lounge area will be $90m in additional capital for start-up will speed progress
installed on the forward upper deck, and Airbus is to develop on electric air taxi, with backing from Silicon Valley royalty
specific tailored monuments for the business and premium
economy cabins. Work is scheduled to start during the second
quarter of 2019 and be completed around the end of 2020. S tart-up aircraft designer Lilium
has closed a $90 million round
of financing, garnering support
exciting new industry, with no
other company promising the
economy, speed, range and low
SKYWEST PLUMPS FOR E175 ACQUISITION from the founders of Skype and noise levels of the Lilium Jet,
AIRLINE US regional carrier SkyWest Airlines has ordered 25 Twitter, to continue developing a says Lilium co-founder and chief
Embraer 175s, in a deal valued at $1.1 billion at list prices. The five-seat, electric-powered, verti- executive Daniel Wiegand.
Brazilian airframer says the aircraft will be listed in its backlog for cal take-off and landing (VTOL) The Lilium Jet is promised to
the third quarter, and delivered in 2018. SkyWest says 15 will be vehicle as an air taxi scheduled to deliver speeds up to 160kt
configured with 70 seats initially, and the rest with 76. enter service by 2025. (300km/h) for 1h on a single
The Series B funding an- charge of the aircrafts batteries. If
AIRBUS REPORTS QUIET SALES IN AUGUST nounced on 7 September came used as an air taxi, Lilium cites a
DATA Airbus formally recorded 10 A321s for budget airline five months after Lilium demon- 5min journey by air from Man-
Wizz Air, disclosed during Junes Paris air show, in an otherwise strated vertical take-off and tran- hattan to New York-JFK airport.
quiet August. Only two other aircraft were ordered: an sition to forward flight with an Instead of relying on quad
A320neo for US carrier Frontier Airlines, and a private A319neo. unmanned prototype of the elec- rotors or tilting engines or wings,
The agreements take Airbuss overall net orders this year to tric-powered aircraft, using a dis- the designers of the Lilium Jet
215. It delivered 399 aircraft over the period, virtually matching tributed propulsion system, the embedded 36 electric jet thrust-
the 400 transferred over the same interval a year earlier. company says. ers into the flaps along the trail-
With overall capital raised in ing edges of a forward canard and
LATE-RUNNING KA-62 DUE IN 2020 excess of $100 million, Lilium rear-mounted wing.
DEVELOPMENT Russian Helicopters intends to commence can expand its staff to 70 to pre- The flaps point the jet exhaust
certification trials of its late-running Kamov Ka-62 medium-twin pare for a scheduled first flight of downward for vertical take-off or
in early 2018, leading to approval and service entry in 2020. A a manned Lilium Jet in 2019. landing. Retracting the flaps
pair of flight-test articles have now been produced. First flight Our backers recognise that moves the direction of jet exhaust
of the 6.5t Ka-62 had originally been scheduled for 2013, but Liliums innovative eVTOL tech- to a horizontal position for high-
repeated and unexplained delays have hindered its progress. nology puts us in the lead in this speed cruise.

INDIAN MILITARY ADDS TO DHRUV BACKLOG

ROTORCRAFT Indias army and navy have signed orders for

Bell Helicopter
another 40 and one Hindustan Aeronautics Dhruv advanced
light helicopters, respectively. Their commitments are worth a
combined Rs61 billion ($976 million) over a five-year period.
The new orders follow a joint buy by the Indian coastguard and
navy for 16 Dhruvs each in March. Flight Fleets Analyzer shows
the Indian army as operating 115 Dhruvs, and the navy eight.

IRAN AIR WAITS ON NEXT ATR BATCH

DELIVERIES Iran Air is expecting to take delivery of two more
ATR 72s around September-October, Tehrans deputy transport
minister, Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, has disclosed. The Iranian
government has defined financing packages covering seven
aircraft, with the ministry stating that it has been communicating
with five financial companies in China, Norway and elsewhere
in Europe. Iran Air reached a final agreement earlier this year on
taking 20 ATR 72-600s, with an initial four delivered.
FLIGHT ASCEND BOLSTERS APPRAISAL TEAM
APPOINTMENT Flight Ascend Consultancy has recruited
ISTAT-accredited David Griffin to its valuations and appraisal
team. Based in FlightGlobals New York office, Griffin joins from
US aviation appraisal firm BK Associates, where he has served
as assistant vice-president since 2015.
ROTORCRAFT
Bell has another tilt with first V-280
Bell Helicopter has completed assembly of the first prototype of
its V-280 Valor tiltrotor. The airframer is preparing to perform an
initial ground run at its Amarillo, Texas facility, with a maiden sor-
tie planned for later this autumn. The V-280, which builds on les-
sons from the V-22 Osprey, is Bells proposal for the US Armys
next-generation vertical-lift requirement. It faces competition
from a joint Boeing-Sikorsky team, which is working on the
SB-1Defiant.

6 | Flight International | 12-18 September 2017 flightglobal.com


ACQUISITION STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC
OEM scepticism greets mega-merger
United Technologies unveils multi-billion-dollar move for Rockwell Collins, but Airbus and Boeing question value of deal
I f you want to know how highly
avionics and cabin systems are
valued by the aerospace industry,
consider United Technologies
(UTC) last two billion-dollar
deals: three years ago, it sold the
$7.5 billion-turnover Sikorsky
helicopter business to Lockheed
Martin for $9 billion. Now, UTC
has agreed to acquire Rockwell
Collins $8.3 billion-revenue
portfolio. The price? $30 billion.
In an aerospace industry
grappling with attempts to rede-
fine the value chain, UTCs
consummated pursuit of the
Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based cabin
and cockpit specialist h ighlights
the growing might of software
and applications in an industry
usually defined by aerodynamics
and propulsion.
The proposed combination
completes a key piece in UTCs
corporate structure, uniting Pratt
& Whitneys propulsion systems
and the aircraft systems and
flight controls of United Tech-
nologies Aerospace Systems
with Collins flightdeck dis-
plays, connectivity and interiors.
UTC would lack only the metal-
lic or composite fuselage and
wing to make an entire aircraft.
Together, Rockwell Collins
and UTC Aerospace Systems will
enhance customer value in a
rapidly evolving aerospace in-
dustry by making aircraft more
intelligent and more connected,
says UTC chairman and chief ex-
ecutive Greg Hayes.
The combination also upsets
the aircraft OEMs hopes to dis-
rupt the structure of the supply
chain. With a goal of reaching
15% operating margins a stand-
ard figure for tier one suppliers,
but almost double the aircraft
OEM norm Boeing has applied
pressure on suppliers to lower
costs, even as the aircraft design-
er encroaches into lucrative
aftermarket services previously
delegated downstream.
It also recently announced a
plan to move into the avionics
flightglobal.com
Taxi trials prepare
C919 for return to
test flights
This Week P8
Avionics firm has strong presence on 787, including head-up displays
development business.
Airbus has stopped short of
standing up an independent ser-
vices business, but is also promis-
ing higher volumes to suppliers
that lower costs.
By joining forces, a combined
UTC and Collins business could
improve their position to fight
back, preserving their margins
while growing market share. UTC
predicts the merger can yield
$500 million in cost savings
between the two companies
within four years.
As UTCs geared turbofan and
Collins newly-acquired interiors
business the former B/E Aero-
FINANCE ELLIS TAYLOR PERTH
Acquisition will create $37 billion-turnover supply-chain giant
United Technologies (UTC) plan
to acquire Rockwell Collins in a
$30 billion cash and shares trans-
action will cement its place as
one of the worlds largest
aerospace suppliers.
Collins itself recently bought
interiors specialist B/E
Aerospace, and the UTC deal
will create a supply-chain giant
with combined aerospace rev-
enues of at least $37.19 billion,
based on the 2016 figures pub-
AirTeamImages
space struggle to meet the indus-
trys rising demand, Airbus and
Boeing urged two of their top sup-
pliers to not allow the acquisition
to distract them.
Both companies are signifi-
cant suppliers to Boeing and other
OEMs, and at a time of record
industry production, their first
priority should be d elivering on
existing cost, schedule and quality
commitments for their customers
and ours, Boeing says.
Our priority and focus today
is solely on delivering aircraft,
says Airbus. Our hope is that
this [step] will not distract UTC
from its top operational priority.
lished in Flight Internationals
recent Top 100 listing.
The merger will not move the
business up the rankings, al-
though it will close on third-placed
Lockheed Martin, which had rev-
enues of $47.2 billion in 2016.
The transaction is set to be
completed in the third quarter of
2018, subject to regulatory and
shareholder approvals.
Once the deal is finalised,
Rockwell Collins will be reorgan-
12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 7
THIS WEEK
On top of that, Boeing reserves
the option to oppose a merger
between companies that supply
avionics, interiors, auxiliary
power units, electric systems and
flight controls for multiple com-
mercial and military aircraft, in-
cluding the 787 and 777X.
HEALTH CHECK
We intend to take a hard look at
the proposed combination
until we receive more details, we
are sceptical that it would be in
the best interest of or add value
to our customers and industry,
Boeing says.
Our interests and those of our
customers, employees, other sup-
pliers and shareholders are in en-
suring the long-term health and
competitiveness of the aerospace
industry supply chain. Should
we determine that this deal is in-
consistent with those interests,
we would intend to exercise our
contractual rights and pursue the
appropriate regulatory options to
protect our interests.
UTC officials argue that the
deal will benefit Airbus and
Boeing, by creating more
financial leverage to allow it to
pursue new innovations.
This will be good for our cus-
tomers, Hayes says. This will
be good for the industry because
it gives us the scale to do things
we couldnt do on our own.
ised under UTC as Collins
Aerospace Systems, which will be
led by current chief Kelly
Ortberg. Dave Gitlin will serve as
the units president and chief
operating officer.
UTC owns engine manufacturer
Pratt & Whitney and aircraft sys-
tems and sensors specialist United
Technologies Aerospace Systems.
That unit was formed through the
merger of Goodrich and Hamilton
Sundstrand in 2015.
THIS WEEK
For up-to-the-minute air transport news,
network and fleet information sign up at:
flightglobal.com/dashboard

ACCIDENT DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

An-2 airworthiness
expired five years
before fatal crash
Biplane was not built to perform manoeuvre at air show,

Imaginechina/REX/Shutterstock
regulator says, and operators were totally irresponsible

R ussian investigators have dis-

closed that the Antonov An-2
which crashed at an air show at
Comac says it has been making small improvements to aircraft 101 Balashikha, killing both pilots,
should not have been flying as its
DEVELOPMENT MAVIS TOH SINGAPORE
airworthiness certificate had ex-
sponsible attitude, stressing that
the crash occurred just in front of
the spectator line, risking injury or
death to dozens of attendees.
The authority is citing the ac-
cident as an example of opera-

Taxi trials prepare C919 pired nearly five years earlier.

Its left wing struck the ground,
tional violations in general avia-
tion, adding that bravado

for return to test flights

after the biplane (RA-35171) de- which borders on the criminal
scended and banked steeply at is contributing to accidents.
low altitude. The wing was torn It says a recent landing acci-
off and the aircraft rolled inverted dent involving a TR-301, which

C omac has resumed test activi-

ties with its first C919 proto-
type, moving the narrowbody
closer to a return to flight later this
month after a lengthy pause fol-
lowing its maiden sortie on 5 May.
The Chinese airframer says air-
craft 101 began taxi tests at
Shanghai Pudong International
airport on 6 September. The air-
craft conducted high-speed taxi
tests and also trialled its brake
system. This included perform-
ing normal brake, emergency
brake and anti-skid tests, as well
as evaluations of its back-up
brake system.
FlightGlobal understands that
the jet is likely to return to flight
testing later this month.
Aircraft 101 is scheduled to
perform a ferry flight to Xian in
September, and is required to
carry out a number of flights
around Shanghai beforehand.
before igniting.
While federal air transport reg-
ulator Rosaviatsia says the in-
is based on the An-2 followed
an unauthorised flight in the
Sverdlovsk region. The pilot,
Comac intends to conduct cer- quiry is continuing, it has sharply who refused medical assistance
tification testing of the C919 criticised the organisers of the and screening for psychoactive
across sites in Shanghai, Xian 2 September flight, which took substances, was in a visible al-
and Dongying. place at a show to celebrate the tered state of consciousness, the
The initial flight-test vehicle 70th anniversary of the An-2. regulator adds.
has not flown since its May maid- The crashed aircraft was not Rosaviatsia says 17 general
en sortie. Comac says that no supposed to [fly] at all, it says, aviation accidents have occurred
major issues have been identi- because its airworthiness certifi- this year, eight of which have re-
fied, although a number of small cate had expired in Novem- sulted in 17 fatalities. Eight air-
improvements are being made to ber2012. craft, it adds, did not have an air-
the aircraft. Although both crew held pilot worthiness certificate.
A second prototype, aircraft licences, there is no evidence of The regulator adds: In
102, is in final assembly, and official authorisation to fly the search of thrills, such pilots go
Comac is still aiming to perform a An-2, Rosaviatsia states, and the beyond the limits of what is per-
first flight later this year; the air- aircraft type is not intended to mitted, which invariably leads
craft was powered up on 28 July. engage in the aerobatics under- to the same results catastroph-
Certification and service entry taken during the flight. ic consequences and irreversi-
for the C919 are scheduled for Rosaviatsia accuses the flights ble damage to technology and
2020-2021. organisers of having a totally irre- humanlife.

ROTORCRAFT
CHC goes offshore with first H175
Restructured offshore specialist CHC Helicopter has performed its
first revenue flight with the Airbus Helicopters H175 super-medium
twin. The inaugural service linked the operators base in Aberdeen
with the Ocean Patriot platform in the North Sea on contract to
Shell. CHC Helicopter took delivery of the first of three H175s in
August. It is configured in a 16-passenger layout. CHC is also a cus-
tomer for the rival AgustaWestland AW189. The operator has des-
ignated the Aberdeen facility as its global centre of excellence for
CHC Helicopter

H175 engineering.

8 | Flight International | 12-18 September 2017 flightglobal.com


COMMITMENT EDWARD RUSSELL WASHINGTON DC
United goes big on smaller A350 deal
Chicago-based carrier converts order for -1000 variant to baseline model, but increases commitment by 10 extra aircraft
U nited Airlines has converted
a commitment for 35
A350-1000s to the smaller -900
and added 10 of the latter variant
to its overall order.
The move is not unexpected
the Chicago-headquartered carri-
er has been reviewing its eight-
year-old deal for the -1000 since
at least January, when it first dis-
closed that it was re-evaluating
its long-haul fleet requirements.
The A350 aligns with our re-
placement needs and our net-
work, says United chief financial
officer Andrew Levy. The combi-
nation of the range performance
and efficiencies make the A350 an
attractive aircraft for United.
The Star Alliance carriers
switch lifts the backlog for the
A350-900 to 673, according to
Airbuss latest order and delivery
data, while the backlog for the
-1000 contracts to 177.
United says it will replace the
majority of its Boeing 777-200ER
fleet with the incoming
A350-900s, with deliveries run-
ning from late 2022 until 2027.
The A350-900 is an outstand-
ing aircraft and an excellent re-
placement for our 777-200ERs,
says Levy in a letter to employees,
noting that some -200ERs in its
PROGRAMME MAVIS TOH SINGAPORE
MRJ resumes flight testing after engine flameout
Airframer will return prototypes to the skies in a phased manner
flightglobal.com
Pentagon targets
Silicon Valley
software
This Week P11
fleet will be 25 years old in 2023.
The carrier configures its
777-200s with up to 269 seats,
while Airbus advertises the
A350-900 as seating 325 passen-
gers in a standard three-class con-
FLEET
Challenging economics rule out 100-seaters to plug fleet gap
United Airlines has ended months
of speculation over a potential
order for 100-seat aircraft, with
the carriers president making a
firm denial that such a deal is be-
ing contemplated.
Were in a world where flying
bigger and bigger airplanes is just
better, says Scott Kirby. 100
seaters, its just hard to make the
economics work.
Mitsubishi Aircraft
US airline will replace
777-200ERs with XWBs
Airbus
figuration. However, US rival
Delta Air Lines has opted for a
306-seat layout on its A350-900s.
United operates 55 777-200ERs
with an average age of 17.5 years,
Flight Fleets Analyzer records.
Kirby says that although United
may not be able to fill a Boeing
737-700 the smallest aircraft in
its mainline fleet the costs are
still low enough that the type
makes sense. The economics of
a 100-seater are just really, really
challenging, he says.
Kirbys comments came hot on
the heels of a letter to pilots from
Uniteds senior vice-president of
M itsubishi Aircraft has re-
turned one of its MRJ proto-
types to flight testing, as the inves-
tigation into an in-flight engine
flameout last month continues.
The manufacturer was able to
restart flights with aircraft FTA-4
after it reviewed and re-inspect-
ed the regional jets Pratt & Whit-
ney PW1200G powerplants in col-
laboration with the engine maker.
Two sorties were performed on 6
September without incident.
FTA-4 is used to evaluate the
MRJs powerplant and air sys-
12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 9
THIS WEEK
The aircraft were delivered to the
carrier and Continental Airlines,
with which it merged in 2010, be-
tween 1997 and 2010. United also
operates 19 777-200s with an av-
erage age of 20.5 years.
United has options for addition-
al A350-900s that it could exercise
to replace the remainder of the 777-
200ER fleet, and retains the flexibil-
ity to convert some aircraft back to
the larger -1000 variant, says Levy.
The carrier had 40 options for the
A350 prior to the conversion.
All A350s are powered by
Rolls-Royce Trent XWB turbofan
engines.
Additional reporting by
Stephen Trimble
flight operations, Howard
Attarian, in which he indicated
that the airline was evaluating a
possible 100-seat mainline aircraft
as part of a fleet-plan analysis.
There seems to be an oppor-
tunity for an aircraft with around
100 seats to fill a gap in our net-
work, but the problems with the
complexity cost for a new fleet
type is a big concern, he wrote.
tems, as well as natural icing and
fire protection.
Mitsubishi grounded its test
fleet last month after an uncom-
manded shut down of FTA-2s
left-hand engine during a flight
on 21 August. We are still deter-
mining the cause of the malfunc-
tion, the company says.
It adds that it will resume flight
tests with the rest of its test fleet
in a phased manner, after in-
spection and verification of the
engines, and with approval from
the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau.
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TECHNOLOGY STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC
Pentagon targets Silicon Valley software
Fresh approach would attack costly and cumbersome block development cycle by adopting more agile commercial model
U S military and defence in-
dustry officials are close to
adopting Silicon Valley-style
software development and re-
fresh processes for military air-
craft, starting with billion-dollar
upgrade programmes for the
Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35.
The new strategy could be ap-
proved within months as the
F-35 Joint Programme Office
(JPO) faces the challenge of fixing
bugs in the F-35s go-to-war Block
3F software and developing the
follow-on Block 4 package of ca-
pability improvements.
F-35 software planning has en-
tered a strategic pause until
JPO employees present a new
software development plan for
consideration by top Pentagon of-
ficials in late October, says F-35
programme executive Vice Adm
Mat Winter, speaking at a Defense
News conference on 6 September.
The new strategy
could be approved
within months as the
F-35 Joint Programme
Office faces
the challenge of
fixing bugs
Meanwhile, the agile soft-
ware development technique
employed by Apple to develop
iPhone applications could be
adopted by the F-22 system pro-
gramme office (SPO), as the US
Air Force considers the develop-
ment of a stealthy transmit and
receive mode for the Link 16 da-
talink to communicate with a
future unmanned loyal wing-
man and the F-35, says Sean
Singleton, director of business
development and marketing for
the Pentagons Defense Innova-
tion Unit Experimental (DIUx).
Singleton, speaking on the
sidelines of the same conference,
says the F-22 SPO and prime con-
tractor Lockheed are open to
flightglobal.com
Airbus to harness
fuel saving which is
THIS WEEK
waiting in the wings
News Focus P12
In the case of the F-35, the JPO
will bring Block 4 capabilities
forward that do not have an im-
pact on the airworthiness, centre
of gravity or flight dynamics of
the fighter, Winter says. Such ca-
pabilities include software- and
hardware-enabled sensor up-
grades, he says. Other improve-
ments, such as adding new weap-
ons that require airworthiness
certification, would be imple-
mented later, from 2020 to 2022,
Lockheed Martin
Winter says.
Lockheed is now on track to
F-22 programme could be an early adopter of the updated method deliver the full Block 3F software
package by the end of the year, al-
making the switch, with an eye to planners could shift modernisa- lowing the USAF to begin initial
accelerating the new datalink ca- tion priorities to account for the operational test and evaluation
pability from 2021 or 2022. impact on airworthiness certifica- on the F-35A next year.
The goal of the revised strategy tion timelines. See Feature P26
is to circumvent the US militarys
costly and time-consuming pro-
cess that delivers new software in
cumbersome blocks, with devel-
opment cycles often measured in
years and frequently delayed. In-
stead, the updated approach
breaks new capabilities into
smaller increments of software
code, allowing developers to de-
liver some applications months
or years faster.
HARD STOP
The military aircraft strategy has
emerged five months after the
USAF issued a stop-work order
to Northrop Grumman on devel-
oping the software for Block 10.2
of the Air Operations Center
(AOC), a network of air warfare
command centres around the
world. Instead, the USAF started
working with DIUx in July to
form partnerships with Silicon
Valley firms to deliver the same
capabilities within a year.
DIUx will bring the agile
methodology that weve done
with AOC to military aircraft,
Singleton says. Were bringing
in Silicon Valley into these large
weapon systems.
As the strategy shifts from a
ground-based operations centre
to aircraft software, programme
12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 11
NEWS FOCUS
TECHNOLOGY MICHAEL GUBISCH TOULOUSE
Airbus to harness fuel saving
which is waiting in the wings
EU-backed project will used modified A340 to research drag-reducing laminar-flow designs
A irbus is about to start flight-
testing an A340 that has been
fitted with experimental laminar-
flow wing sections under a partly
EU-funded technology project.
The objective of the Break-
through Laminar Aircraft Dem-
onstrator in Europe (BLADE) ef-
fort is to assess the industrial
feasibility of natural laminar-flow
wings as opposed to hybrid
laminar flow, which is artificially
induced through hardware on
future aircraft.
The theory and potential bene-
fits of achieving a laminar rather
than turbulent airflow in the
boundary layer around wings
have been known for 20 years.
But Axel Flaig, senior vice-
president research and technolo-
gy for Airbuss commercial air-
craft division, said on 30 August
in Tarbes, where the A340 has
been modified, that the technolo-
gy had so far not been practically
applied, because it had not been
possible to produce on an indus-
trial scale wings that were
smooth enough to achieve a lami-
nar airflow and aerodynamically
robust enough to sustain the de-
sired effect in daily operations.
The laminar air flow can be
disturbed by gaps and steps es-
Port wing leading edge is integrated with upper composite surface
12 | Flight International | 12-18 September 2017
pecially around conventional, re-
tractable slats along a wings lead-
ing edge fasteners, surface
deformations and even contami-
nation through dirt, de-icing fluid
and rain droplets.
This laminar
boundary is very
sensitive to small
disturbances
Axel Flaig
Senior vice-president research and
technology, Airbus
To make this [laminar flow]
happen you need very high [de-
sign and manufacturing] toler-
ances, says Flaig. And you
need to make this wing robust
against contamination because
this laminar boundary is very
sensitive to small disturbances.
On the A340-300 MSN 001,
the first A340 to fly in October
1991 Airbus has replaced the
entire wing section outside the
outboard engines with a laminar-
flow section that has a different
geometry and, crucially, a shal-
lower sweep, giving the aircraft a
distinctive kinked-wing plan-
form. The wingtips have been fit-
Airbus
For up-to-the-minute air transport news,
network and fleet information sign up at:
flightglobal.com/dashboard
ted with pods containing sensors,
including video cameras. And
the attachment structure to the
A340s existing wing has been
covered by fairings to accommo-
date further sensors and separate
the air over the laminar-flow sec-
tion from that across the conven-
tional wing.
The new wing section contains
no fuel system, but is otherwise
fully functional and includes the
aircrafts two ailerons on each
side. The interior structure is me-
tallic, while the upper wing sur-
face where laminar flow is to be
achieved is carbonfibre-rein-
forced plastic.
Different construction tech-
niques were employed for the
leading edge and upper wing
skin to assess feasibility of differ-
ent manufacturing approaches.
On the port wing, the leading
edge is integrated with the upper
wing surface in a single D-nose
carbonfibre panel provided by
Swedish programme partner
Saab which has internal attach-
ment points to avoid any external
fasteners from the leading edge to
just forward of the ailerons. On
the starboard side, a metallic
leading edge is joined with a car-
bonfibre upper wing surface sup-
plied by UK composites special-
ist GKN Aerospace.
Flaig describes the port side as
a more elegant solution, but ex-
presses hope that the starboard
wing will fulfil aerodynamic re-
quirements as its more conven-
tional construction is less de-
manding and costly to build.
The laminar-wing sections are
not equipped with slats, and
those on the remaining conven-
tional wing have been deactivat-
ed. This will reduce the A340s
capability to operate at high
pitch-up angles, and take-off and
landing speeds will be higher
than usual. Flaig says this will
pose no problem, as the aircraft
which has a maximum take-off
weight of 275t will not weigh
more than 150t for test flights.
Part of the effort will be to as-
sess a Kruger flap for the laminar-
flow wing to provide both high
lift for take-off and landing, and
leading-edge shielding. The team
will install a fixed Kruger flap ap-
proximately 2m (6ft 6in) in
length on a section of the laminar
wing, and remove the device for
high-speed tests. Additionally,
coatings are being evaluated to
reduce wing contamination, es-
pecially by insects.
PURE RESEARCH
Airbus insists there is no link to
any possible future aircraft pro-
gramme. However, the tests are
clearly aimed at maturing tech-
nology for a potential next-gener-
ation narrowbody.
While the A340s standard
wing has a sweep of about 30,
which is linked to achieving a
cruise speed of Mach 0.82-0.84
for long-haul flights, the laminar
wing has a sweep of about 20.
Airbus says the test aerofoil is op-
timised for cruising at M0.75.
Natural laminar-flow at a 30
sweep angle is impossible be-
cause of the instability of the
flow, Airbuss flight-lab project
flightglobal.com

Wingtip pods carry sensors and cameras to
measure airflow and structural movement
leader Thierry Fol tells Flight-
Global. You have to make a deci-
sion: either you would like to
have natural laminar flow so you
have to slow down in order to
have a less important sweep
angle or you keep the 30 in
order to fly at Mach 0.85, but
have something to stabilise the
turbulent flow.
Fol says high-speed flight
would require a hybrid laminar-
flow system that produces a suc-
tion effect around perforated wing
surface areas. The required low
pressure could either be produced
by redirecting air inside the aero-
foils a passive system; or
through an active pump system.
Flaig acknowledges that a
speed reduction to M0.75 would
not be acceptable for long-haul,
and that aircraft designers would
have to adopt a hybrid laminar-
flow system. But he argues that it
could be acceptable on shorter
routes, as A320-family aircraft
typically cruise at M0.78. We
think it doesnt make a big differ-
ence, he says.
While the boundary airflow on
conventional wings tends to be-
come turbulent just aft of the
leading edge, the BLADE pro-
grammes objective is to achieve
laminar flow along 50% of the
flightglobal.com
More 777s, but
Aeroflot delays
A350s
Air Transport P14
Airbus
chord length, which Flaig says
would halve wing friction drag.
Based on an 800nm (1,480km)
sector, this could reduce overall
aircraft drag by 8% and fuel burn
by up to 5%.
if lift is compromised on the lam-
SWEET SPOT
A central aspect of the research is
to find a sweet spot between po-
tential savings and a sufficiently
robust laminar flow that can be
sustained in daily operations. As
natural wing flexing can break up
the laminar flow, the team wants
to determine how much move-
ment can be tolerated before the
flow becomes turbulent.
In order to measure the wings
flexibility, the fairing around the
old and new wing joint has been
finished with a stripe pattern. A
set of eight video cameras in each
of the two wing-tip pods will
monitor the pattern and its reflec-
tion on the laminar wings sur-
face to determine the aerofoils
movement. This will be com-
bined with data from interior sen-
sors on the wing spar to assess
the structures movement.
Meanwhile, infrared cameras
on top of the vertical tailfin will
monitor the laminar flow over the
wing. BLADE project leader Dan-
iel Kierbel explains that the lami-
NEWS FOCUS
nar flow area can be visualised
because the flow cools the wings
Natural laminar flow
at a 30 sweep angle
surface which is being warmed
by sunlight at a slower rate than is impossible because
turbulent air. He adds that flight
tests will need to be interrupted of the instability of
from October, as the sun will be the flow
at too low an angle during winter Thierry Fol
to sufficiently heat the wing. Flight-lab project leader, Airbus
Flight-test engineer Philippe
Sve says the A340 will be a bi-
zarre aircraft to fly, as its original tive under Europes Clean Sky re-
wing is a 1980s design, while the search effort there were evalua-
outer, approximately 9m section tions to use a smaller aircraft,
has a newer, more radical shape. reveals Flaig. He says this would
The flight-test programme will have meant building a complete-
concentrate on aircraft handling, ly new wing and would have
and then move on to laminar been very expensive.
flow evaluations.
At a later stage, Sve says the EFFICIENCY DRIVE
team wants to alter the wing, in Flaig says the BLADE project rep-
order to assess the laminar flows resents the largest part of Airbuss
robustness. There is no intention estimated 330 million ($392
to damage the wing, but tests will million) contribution to the EUs
include the application of stick- approximately 4.2 billion Clean
ers to simulate gaps, steps and Sky 2 initiative a 10-year pro-
surface deformations around riv- gramme until 2024 that includes
ets. On one side, Airbus has in- other projects to mature technol-
stalled a speaker system to gauge ogy for more efficient aero en-
the potential effects of engine gines, helicopters and onboard
noise on the laminar flow. systems. Some 20 other contribu-
Sve says the A340 provides tors are involved in the BLADE
an optimal testbed, as its legacy scheme, including Dassault, Ro-
wing provides stability and safety manias Romaero whose re-
sponsibility included production
inar section. We will be able to of the wing-tip pods and Span-
do whatever we want, he says. ish aerostructures specialist
Its better to have a test wing that Aernnova, which assembled the
doesnt alter the full physics of two laminar wing sections.
the wing. Clean Sky 2 is half-funded by
During the early planning the EU, and Flaig says Airbus
phase the BLADE project was would not be able to pursue an
launched in 2008 as part of the undertaking such as BLADE on
Smart Fixed-Wing Aircraft initia- its own.
Picture - credit style
Airbus
Modified outboard sections include ailerons, but slats are not fitted
12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 13
AIR TRANSPORT
FLEET DAVID KAMINSKI-MORRIOW LONDON
More 777s, but Aeroflot delays A350s
Boeing widebodies will bolster flag carriers long-haul operation, as first deliveries of Airbus big twins pushed to 2019
R ussian flag carrier Aeroflots
board has approved the pur-
chase of a further six Boeing
777-300ERs, while also appear-
ing to push back deliveries of its
Airbus A350-900s.
Its new 777s will be delivered
from the second quarter of 2018,
with deliveries running to the
first quarter of 2021.
The airline had indicated in
May that it was considering tak-
ing the additional GE Aviation
GE90-powered twinjets.
Aeroflot says the approval will
significantly strengthen its
long-haul capabilities, adding
that it is aiming to improve links
to remote Russian regions and
connections between Europe
andAsia.
However, under a revised fleet-
modernisation schedule, the first
of the A350-900s will now not ar-
rive until 2019.
Aeroflots previous plan had
PROPULSION MICHAEL GUBISCH LONDON
70,000hp stress test for
UltraFan power gearbox
R olls-Royce has tested its Ultra-
Fan gearbox to a load of
70,000hp (52,200kW) at its site in
Dahlewitz, near Berlin.
This record is a great achieve-
ment for the team, and Im proud
weve managed to get there so
quickly, states chief technology
officer Paul Stein.
Our power gearbox technolo-
gy is central to the success of the
next generation of Rolls-Royce jet
engines and Im pleased to see us
pushing back engineering bound-
aries with this work.
High-power testing of the dem-
onstrator gearbox was begun in
May on a purpose-built rig at
R-Rs facility near the Ger-
mancapital.
The UK manufacturer aims to
cut fuel burn by 5% through de-
14 | Flight International | 12-18 September 2017
Airline will use the new additions between Europe and Asia and to remote destinations within Russia
shown that five A350s were due
to arrive next year, with three
more being delivered in 2019 and
two in 2020.
But the latest schedule shows
three aircraft are to be handed
over in 2019 and three more in
2020; no reasons are given for
thechange.
Aeroflot had originally ordered
coupling the fan from a new en-
gine core, which is being sepa-
rately developed under the
Advance programme, with its
own target of 20% fuel savings.
The objectives for the gearbox
are to optimise fan and engine
core speeds and to avoid any
need for a low-pressure turbine
on a post-2025 powerplant.
R-R notes that the planetary
gearbox has been designed to ac-
commodate loads up to
100,000hp and that future dem-
onstrators are expected to
achieve these levels.
However, the next batch of
tests on the current demonstrator
will be concentrated on lower-
power functions such as endur-
ance and reliability, the engine
manufacturersays.
For up-to-the-minute air transport news,
network and fleet information sign up at:
flightglobal.com/dashboard
AirTeamImages
22 A350s but only 14 remain, ac- yond, suggesting a current overall
cording to Airbuss backlog data, commitment to 19 of the type.
following the cancellation of The airline has also firmed de-
eight of the smallest -800 variant. tails of a lease contract for 20 Suk-
The airline recently signalled hoi Superjets with VEB-Leasing.
plans, however, to increase its Aeroflot will take the aircraft
A350 order to 28 aircraft. under typical 12-year leases, it
Its revised schedule indicates says. Deliveries began last month
an intention to take 13 A350s and will run until July 2018.
over the course of 2021 and be- See Feature P34
Airbus
AIRLINE
Hong Kong Airlines joins XWB club
Lessor AerCap has handed over Hong Kong Airlines first Airbus
A350-900, making it the 15th operator of the widebody twin. The
carrier is to receive a further three A350s via AerCap: a second
will arrive in November, with another pair to follow later. Hong
Kong Airlines will eventually take 21 A350s 15 direct from
Airbus and six from lessors configured in a four-class, 334-seat
layout. After initially being deployed on regional routes, the car-
riers first A350-900 will enter long-haul operations in December,
flying to Los Angeles.
flightglobal.com

STRATEGY DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON
SAS looks beyond
home countries to
level playing field
Carrier will station nine aircraft at external bases in London
and Malaga, with new Irish air operators certificate pending
S AS Group intends to station
nine Airbus A320neos at ex-
ternal bases, and has applied for a
new air operators certificate in
Ireland in preparation for
thetransition.
The company is aiming to con-
duct its first flights from the bases
located in London and Malaga
at the beginning of its new fi-
nancial year in November.
SAS says it has recruited the
management team for the Irish op-
eration, as well as most of the ad-
ministrative personnel and some
flightcrew. Preparations are pro-
gressing as planned, it says.
The bases, external to its core
Scandinavian operations, are in-
tended to give SAS access to the
same lower labour costs from
which its competitors benefit.
SAS says it needs to secure
the profitability of key traffic
flows and take advantage of the
same preconditions as its ri-
FLEET AARON CHONG SINGAPORE
GoAir defers deliveries over P&W engine issues
I ndias GoAir will take three
fewer Airbus A320neos than
planned during its current finan-
cial year due to the ongoing is-
sues with Pratt & Whitneys
PW1100G engines.
A source familiar with the mat-
ter tells FlightGlobal that the low-
cost carrier is now targeting a
fleet of 34 A320s at 31 March
2018, down from the 37 an-
nounced by chief executive Wolf-
gang Prock-Shauer in June. GoAir
expects to induct two or three
Neos in September.
The source blames the fall in
fleet size on the delays in fixing
flightglobal.com
Procedural lapses
caused Senegal
crash
Air Transport P16
vals, otherwise SAS will be
forced to reduce its production
and discontinue routes.
While start-up costs for the
new air operators certificate and
bases will have an initial negative
impact on earnings, the company
believes the benefits will gradu-
ally emerge as operations evolve.
When the bases are fully op-
erational, we expect them to have
ENVIRONMENT
Neo drives Leap forward in carbon dioxide emissions reduction
Analysis of carbon dioxide emis-
sions by SAS Group has found
that the figure for its Airbus
A320neos amounted to just 60g
per passenger in July.
The company says this repre-
sents the lowest-ever monthly
result for a single aircraft type in
the carriers fleet.
SAS has taken delivery of 11
PW1100Gs have delivered better-than-promised fuel consumption
problems with the PW1100G.
GoAir, along with fellow Indian
low-cost carrier IndiGo, has seen
Unit costs should rival those of low-cost competitors, the airline says
the same underlying unit cost as
our low-cost competitors, the
carrier says.
SAS has turned increasingly to
leisure traffic to expand its net-
work, and expects leisure pro-
duction this year to be about dou-
ble its level of five years ago.
A320neos, with three more due in
its fourth quarter, which ends on
30 November. Another seven will
be handed over in 2017-2018
and seven in 2018-2019.
It says the A320neo has carbon
dioxide emissions per passenger-
kilometre around 18% lower than
comparable previous-genera-
tionaircraft.
AirTeamImages
its PW1100G engines suffer from
premature degradation of the
combustor chamber lining, and
12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 15
AIR TRANSPORT
Airbus
It says 15% more passengers
were carried on leisure routes in
the third quarter of 2017 than in
the previous equivalent period.
Over the summer period it has
opened nine routes, including
services to Ibiza, Lisbon, Malaga,
Malta and Olbia.
The company has ordered a
total of 30 A320neos, all of them
to be fitted with CFM
International Leap-1A engines.
SAS is also pressing for wider
access to biofuel, stating that the
present offering is limited. The
company has been using biofuel
on its services from Stockholm
and Oslo.
premature wear of the number
three bearing seal.
Meanwhile, the source says
GoAir expects that the final fixes
to its five in-service A320neos
will be implemented by the end
of 2018.
Despite the issues, the carrier
is seeing better-than-promised
reductions in fuel consumption
on the PW1100G-powered air-
craft of 16% to 18%, above the
12% to 15% promised by P&W.
Flight Fleets Analyzer shows
GoAir has a fleet of 24 A320s, in-
cluding five Neos, and has a fur-
ther 144 A320neos on order.
AIR TRANSPORT
ACCIDENT DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON
Procedural lapses caused Senegal crash
Senegalair BAe 125 kept in operation without restrictions despite earlier incidents indicating problem with instrumentation
F ailure to comply with airwor-
thiness procedures allowed a
British Aerospace 125 to be flown
with an altimeter defect before a
mid-air collision over Senegal.
None of the seven occupants
survived after the Senegalair BAe
125 struck the wing-tip of a Ceiba
Intercontinental Boeing 737-800
on 5 September 2015.
Senegalese investigation au-
thority BEA found the BAe 125
had been involved in a serious
conflict with an Arik Air 737 six
weeks earlier, in July 2015, during
which the two aircraft had been
closing on opposing headings at
about the same altitude.
It determined that the BAe
125 crew had told air traffic
control that their aircraft was
flying at 32,000ft, while the 737
pilots insisted both aircraft were
DIRECTIVE DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON
EASA orders action on A350 fuel tank fire danger
A irbus A350 operators have
been ordered to urgently
address a potential threat to fuel
tanks arising from overheat fail-
ure of a hydraulic pump.
The A350-900 is designed
with a hydraulic fluid cooling
system located in the fuel tanks.
But analysis of an overheat
failure mode of the aircrafts hy-
draulic engine-driven pump has
determined that it can generate a
16 | Flight International | 12-18 September 2017
at 31,000ft. The incident took
place in reduced vertical separa-
tion minima (RVSM) airspace,
where adjacent cruise levels are
1,000ft apart.
BEA states that, less than two
weeks earlier, a 200ft discrepancy
between the BAe 125s primary
altimeters had been observed by
the crew.
Senegalese regulations prohibit
operations in RVSM airspace with
a discrepancy greater than 75ft.
Even after the Arik incident,
says BEA, the altimetry problem
was not listed in the aircrafts
technical log.
Multinational air navigation
agency ASECNA did not submit
an incident report on the Arik
conflict until more than a month
later. ASECNA recommended in-
spection of the aircraft.
fast temperature rise of the
hydraulic fluid, says the Europe-
an Aviation Safety Agency.
If the aircrafts fuel-tank
inerting system is inoperative,
adds EASA, an uncontrolled
overheat of the hydraulic fluid
could potentially ignite the
tanks fuel-air mixture.
Airbus has responded by un-
dertaking an in-depth revision of
the A350s master minimum
For half-year analysis of airline safety
and losses worldwide in 2017, go to:
flightglobal.com/safety2017
BEA says the aircraft was kept
in operation without technical in-
tervention and without restric-
tions, up until the fatal collision.
Investigators found that a tech-
nician responsible for airworthi-
ness, and authorised to approve
the release of the aircraft, left the
airline on 15 August. His replace-
ment was officially employed by
the company on 17 August but,
says BEA, his licence had still to
be validated by Senegalese civil
aviation authority ANACIM.
He was therefore not permit-
ted to work on aircraft with Sene-
galese registration, the inquiry
says. The BAe 125 was on the
Senegalese register as 6V-AIM.
BEA says that the aircraft
should not have been returned
to flight from the date of the
original technicians departure.
equipment list, the document
which determines the extent to
which crucial aircraft systems
can be permitted to be inopera-
tive before flight.
EASA says the revision incor-
porates restrictions to avoid un-
controlled overheat of the hydrau-
lic system, and amended a
number of items to no go status.
Under an emergency airworthi-
ness directive, the agency has or-
Business jet struck
the wing-tip of
Ceiba 737-800
AirTeamImages
But the BAe flew again on 29
August and, two days later, raised
further concerns from ASECNA
when a 1,000ft discrepancy was
detected between the aircrafts
assigned altitude and that shown
on Dakar radar.
Although ASECNA also sub-
mitted a report on this incident, it
was not sent until 8 September
three days after the collision.
BEA says that rigorous appli-
cation of regulations covering the
technical condition of the aircraft
would have prevented it from
flying with altimetry problems.
It points out that the aircraft
was declared airworthy despite a
critical abnormality. The inquiry
also notes other procedural weak-
nesses, including the failure to
authenticate fully the BAe 125
first officers licence.
dered immediate implementation
of the master minimum equip-
ment list changes for the A350.
Among the systems affected
are air conditioning packs, hy-
draulic monitoring controls, and
fuel-tank inerting.
EASA says the directive,
which covers all A350-900
airframes, is an interim docu-
ment and further related action
could follow.
flightglobal.com
 Suppliers target
Polish rotorcraft
AIR TRANSPORT
need
Defence P18

RESTRUCTURING DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, Irkut to be United

Subsidiaries to be brought into single division as parent seeks efficiency gains to boost commercial share to 45% by 2035

R ussias United Aircraft (UAC)

plans to combine airframer
Irkut with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft
under a programme to unify civil
aircraft manufacturing.
Irkut produces the MC-21,
while Sukhoi Civil Aircraft
builds the Superjet 100.
UAC, which owns large stakes
in several individual aircraft
production organisations, is es-
tablishing the new civil division
as part of a restructuring effort.
The company is trying to
simplify its operation and in-

crease efficiency in order to hike

the share of civil products in its
portfolio to 45% by 2035.
It also wants to ramp up its
civil production to 100-120
aircraft per year. Projects still

under development include the

revamped Ilyushin Il-114

regional turboprop and a long-
haul twinjet to be produced
jointly with China.
UAC will cut layers of man-
agement and centralise func-
tions to reduce costs, while the
unification will also enable it to
achieve better continuity and
simplicity in certification.
As part of the management
overhaul, UAC president Yuri
Slyusar will take over as presi-
dent of Irkut on which the uni-
fied civil division will be based
while current Irkut chief Oleg
Demchenko will be retained as
first vice-president and general
designer.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft will be-
come the platform for marketing,
sales and aftersales activity, cov-
ering all civil aircraft produced
by the division.
It has separately disclosed
that it will undergo a manage-
ment change, with current presi-
dent Vladislav Masalov being
replaced by A lexander Rubtsov,
the head of lessor Ilyushin Fi-
nance. Masalov will be moved to
another position, says UAC,
without elaborating.
The airframer says that, follow-
ing a 1 September meeting, the
New MC-21-300 made its maiden flight in May and is scheduled to enter service with Aeroflot in 2019
board opted to terminate the
employment agreement with
Masalov from 4 September.
Masalov has been in the role
for barely six months, having
suddenly succeeded Kamil
Gaynutdinov who himself had
only occupied the position for
five months.
Slyusar states that the old
structure of UAC is becoming
less adequate to address new
challenges.
PROPOSAL
Moscow will make sure that its domestic carriers buy local
Airlines based in Russia will need
to have a proportion of domesti-
cally-produced aircraft in their
fleets in o rder to obtain an oper-
ating c ertificate under a new
Russian government proposal.
The ministry of transport is put-
ting forward changes to federal
aviation regulations intended to
stimulate the use of new Russian-
built aircraft in the countrys com-
mercial air transport sector.
It is proposing to amend the
minimum fleet criteria for an op-
We do not compete internal-
ly, with one another, as in the
old days, he adds. We compete
on a global field, with global
partners. Without unity, there is
no competitiveness.
The company adds that both
Airbus and Boeing have
undergone similar transforma-
tions in order to strengthen their
market position.
UAC says it is intending the
unification to be part of the tran-
erating certificate, requiring air-
lines to have at least three
domestically-produced aircraft
no older than five years, the
ministry adds.
This change, it says, will
encourage those Russian air-
lines planning to operate sched-
uled services to increase the
number of newly-developed
Russian-built aircraft.
Federal regulations currently
set the minimum fleet for sched-
uled airline operations at eight
Irkut
sition to a single share.
Under international account-
ing standards the company
turned in a loss of Rb6.6 billion
($114 million) for the first half of
this year an improvement on
the previous figure of Rb7.3
billion after increasing reve-
nues by 51% to just under Rb180
billion.
Meanwhile, the companys
gross profit doubled, to Rb44.4
billion.
aircraft, all of which must have at
least 55 seats.
Russias government has been
attempting to reinforce the coun-
trys aircraft-production industry,
and defend the internal market in
the face of sustained pressure
from foreign manufacturers.
This strategy has focused on
development of the Irkut MC-21
and Sukhoi Superjet 100, while
the government is also support-
ing plans to restart manufacture
of the Ilyushin Il-114.

flightglobal.com 12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 17

DEFENCE
TENDER BARTOSZ GLOWACKI KIELCE
Suppliers target Polish rotorcraft need
Rival manufacturers use MSPO show to promote potential candidates for 32-unit Kruk attack helicopter requirement
W ith Poland poised to
launch the tender process
for a new fleet of Kruk attack
helicopters, potential suppliers
used the MSPO show, held in
Kielce from 5-8 September, to
promote their candidates.
Warsaw wants to acquire 32
new attack helicopters, with an
initial batch of three required by
2022 to support training activities.
It plans to award a contract by the
end of the third quarter of 2018.
Analysis and concept defini-
tion phases have already been
completed, along with technical
dialogue, with four bidders.
Airbus Helicopters/Heli Invest
Services are offering the Tiger;
Turkish Aerospace Industries and
PZL widnik the T129, and Bell
Helicopter and Boeing are pro-
moting their respective AH-1Z
and AH-64E models in conjunc-
tion with the US government.
We are open for Polonisation
of the AH-1Z, but first the Polish
government must formulate re-
quirements, how many helicop-
ters will be acquired, and what
support package would be pro-
vided, says Bell international
military business development of-
ficial Mike Gleason. After that we
can start dialogue with the US
government and US Marine Corps
MARKETING BARTOSZ GLOWACKI KIELCE
Eurofighter suggests pairing Typhoon with F-16
Consortium says all options are on the table, including local assembly
18 | Flight International | 12-18 September 2017
about the FMS [Foreign Military
Sales] procedure.
We are able to co-operate with
Polish aviation companies,
Gleason says. Establishing a
MRO facility in Poland and in-
digenous training capabilities is a
minimum of our offer.
Bell says AH-1Z deliveries
could start 30-34 months after a
final agreement. More helicop-
ters means more opportunity for
Polonisation, but a configuration
other than the USMCs will be
costly to develop and integrate,
says Joel Best, senior manager Eu-
rope, Bell military programmes.
Separately, Bell on 14 August
delivered its first AH-1Z to an ex-
port customer, under a 12-aircraft
deal with Pakistan.
BIDS
Warsaw reviewing two offers for eight-unit CSAR competition
Polands defence ministry is pro-
cessing two bids linked to a re-
quirement for eight combat
search and rescue (CSAR) heli-
copters, and is also starting to
consider a future need for multi-
role rotorcraft.
Col Dariusz Pluta, chief of the
defence ministrys armament in-
spectorate, says an Airbus
Helicopters/Heli Invest Services
Crown Copyright
For insight and analysis of the latest
developments in the defence sector, visit:
flightglobal.com/defence
Bell says AH-1Z deliveries could start 30-34 months after agreement
Promoting the AH-64E, Patrick
Druez, Boeings team leader for
Apache Poland, says the compa-
ny is also awaiting Warsaws re-
quirements for the Kruk deal.
consortium and PZL widnik
part of Leonardo are pursuing
the CSAR deal with the special
forces. The companies are pro-
moting the H225M and AW101,
respectively.
Both bidders are also in conten-
tion for an opportunity to supply
the Polish navy with eight anti-sub-
marine warfare (ASW) and SAR
helicopters, pitching the same
T he Eurofighter consortium is
promoting its Typhoon as the
Polish air force examines its fu-
ture combat aircraft requirements.
Eurofighter Typhoon aug-
ments existing capabilities and
further complements a powerful
deterrence against any potential
threat to Polands borders, says
head of marketing Raffael Klasch-
ka. The Typhoon with the [Lock-
heed Martin] F-16 Block 52+ will
be a perfect combination.
Klaschka says a selection by
Bell Helicopter
Deliveries could begin 30-32
months after a contract award.
Polish AH-64Es will be main-
tained in Poland, with Boeing per-
sonnel support, Druez says.
types. A PZL Mielec/Sikorsky team
is also pursuing the deal, offering
the S-70B Seahawk.
Negotiations about CSAR
helicopters were finished and in
early September a RFI [request
for information] will be sent to all
bidders, Pluta says. For the
ASW/SAR helicopters, initial of-
fers were submitted and we are
starting technical dialogue.
Warsaw would bring new and
additional opportunities to Po-
land both from a military and
economic perspective, from as-
sembly and manufacturing to
support and maintenance. All
options are on the table.
Poland can integrate and cer-
tificate weapons, pods and other
equipment, he adds. We be-
lieve we can deliver an attractive
and cost-effective solution, and
are able to co-operate with
everycompany.
flightglobal.com

PROCUREMENT LEIGH GIANGRECO WASHINGTON DC
Kenya Longsword
deal is valid, GAO
investigation finds
Lawmakers objection to selection of L3 armed cropduster
over rival Iomax dismissed despite claims of big price gap
A US Government Accounta-
bility Office (GAO) report
found no fault in a proposed For-
eign Military Sales (FMS) deal for
Kenya, but the US lawmaker
spearheading an investigation
into the L3 Technologies contract
opportunity is not satisfied.
In January, the US State De-
partment approved a possible
$418 million FMS contract with
Kenya for up to 12 Air Tractor
AT-802L Longsword aircraft and
two AT-504 trainers, with L3
serving as the prime contractor.
Its backing for the transaction
cited the types short-field capa-
bility and use of precision-guided
munitions, saying this would
serve the nations close air sup-
port mission in the fight against
CONTRACT CRAIG HOYLE LONDON
Vixen 500E radar boosts Romanian demonstrator
L eonardo has been chosen to
provide its Vixen 500E ac-
tive electronically scanned
array radar in support of an ad-
vanced trainer research activity
inRomania.
Announcing the deal on 29
August, the European sensor pro-
vider said the Vixen 500E has
been chosen by Romanias na-
tional institute for aerospace re-
search (INCAS) for its new trainer
technology demonstrator pro-
gramme, IAR-99 TD.
The project is based on a Ro-
manian air force IAR-99 Soim,
which will be modified by
INCAS together with aircraft
manufacturer Avioane Craiova,
it says. It identifies the aircraft in-
volved in the activity as the Soim
programmes thirdprototype.
flightglobal.com
King Stallion gains
pace with LRIP deal
Defence P21
al-Shabaab militants and buttress
the air forces ageing Northrop
F-5 fleet.
Pricing terms in L3s original
proposal to Nairobi expired in
June, but the US Air Force grant-
ed a request by the Kenyan gov-
ernment to extend the offer until
16 September, after national elec-
tions held in August. A final con-
tract has not been announced.
But North Carolina Congress-
man Ted Budd, whose district in-
cludes Iomax, Air Tractors rival in
the armed cropduster market,
called foul on the Kenya order.
Iomaxs Archangel already flies
with the United Arab Emirates air
force, while the Kenya deal marks
the Longswords first selection.
L3 proposed a $365 million
Research institute INCAS is adapting an IAR-99 Soim prototype
INCAS general manager Cata-
lin Nae says the institute is con-
ducting the IAR-99 TD project to
fully test and further develop
technologies for an advanced
Nairobi specifically requested a purchase based on adapted AT-802L
aircraft deal to Kenya, excluding
ordnance, while Iomax quoted
$234 million for the same num-
ber of Archangel aircraft, a source
tells FlightGlobal.
Budd has previously ques-
tioned L3s relationship with the
USAFs acquisition engine, Big
Safari, and launched an investi-
gation into the Air Tractor con-
tract earlier this year.
While the recent GAO report
concludes that Kenya did not im-
properly select the Longsword,
he points out that the investiga-
tion excluded interviews with
Leonardo
trainer, with enhanced sensing
and combat capabilities.
While the radar acquisition is
being made in support of this re-
search, Leonardo believes a suc-
12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 19
DEFENCE
BillyPix
Kenyan officials. A report on a
Kenyan arms sale that did not in-
volve speaking to Kenyan offi-
cials is virtually useless, he says.
Im looking forward to continu-
ing to pursue oversight of this
deal, and examining why the US
contracting system would steer
our allies in Kenya towards a
contract that is inflated by $130
million for an aircraft that has
never flown in combat.
Kenyas request for a sole-
source acquisition was motivated
by specific interest in Air Tractor,
the GAO report states.
cessful outcome could lead to
further opportunities.
The sale of the Vixen 500E
could lead in future to Roma-
nias fleet of IAR-99s being retro-
fitted with the new radar as part
of a wider upgrade programme,
itsuggests.
Flight Fleets Analyzer records
the Romanian air force as having
an active fleet of 18 IAR-99s,
which range from 16 to 29 years
old. The service is the only opera-
tor of the Rolls-Royce Viper-en-
gined type.
We see further commercial
potential outside of Romania,
and are looking forward to work-
ing with INCAS to address this,
says Leonardo Airborne and
Space Systems managing director
Norman Bone.
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PRODUCTION LEIGH GIANGRECO WASHINGTON DC
King Stallion gains pace with LRIP deal
Low-rate production launched under $304m contract, as heavy-lift helicopter heads for US Marine Corps service entry
S ikorsky has been cleared to
begin assembling the first two
production examples of the
CH-53K King Stallion under a
$304 million contract awarded
by the US Navy.
The Lockheed Martin-owned
airframer will deliver two of the
heavy-lift rotorcraft, which has a
maximum take-off weight of
39,900kg (88,000lb), to the US
Marine Corps in 2020 under the
low-rate initial production (LRIP)
Lot 1 contract. The US Depart-
ment of Defense approved the
King Stallions production and
deployment phase in April 2017,
clearing the way for the order.
Assembly will be performed in
Stratford, Connecticut, with the
first LRIP deal also covering the
ROTORCRAFT IGOR BOZINOVSKI SILAC AIR BASE
Slovakias first Black Hawk makes public debut
T he Slovak air force has pub-
licly displayed one of an ini-
tial pair of Sikorsky UH-60M
Black Hawks as it begins the pro-
gressive retirement of its current
Russian-built inventory.
Displayed at the SIAF 2017 air
show, held at Silac air base near
Zvolen in central Slovakia in
late August, the new helicopter
is part of a $261 million modern-
isation effort.
Acquired direct from the USA
using Washingtons Foreign Mili-
tary Sales (FMS) mechanism, the
two Black Hawks were delivered
to Presov air base in June, before
officially joining the air forces 1st
Helicopter Sqn on 3 August.
Download the 2017
Wo r l d A i r Fo r c e s R e p o r t
w w w. f l i g h t g l o b a l . c o m / w a f
flightglobal.com
Raising consciousness
in the battle against
pilot hypoxia
News Focus P22
CH-53K is also being offered to export prospects Germany and Israel
provision of spare parts and
logistics support.
The USMC plans to replace its
fleet of CH-53E Super Stallions
with 200 King Stallions, with four
early production aircraft due to be
Two further examples will ar-
rive in 2018, with the remainder
to be handed over in 2019 under
a nine-aircraft deal.
Configured in a utility trans-
port configuration, the UH-60Ms
are able to accommodate 11 fully
equipped troops, as well as two
rear crew and two pilots.
The Black Hawks join a cur-
rent fleet of eight Mil Mi-17
helicopters, which are used for
troop transport and search and
rescue missions.
Although five of the Mi-17s are
capable of providing air support
using their 23mm machine guns
or rocket pods, there is no plan to
arm the incoming Black Hawks.
Lockheed Martin
delivered this year. The USN
estimates an average unit price of
$87 million, if all 200 CH-53Ks are
ordered by the Marines.
While the K-model remains
similar in shape to the legacy
However, Bratislava says it will
analyse this requirement as part
of a long-term development plan
for its armed forces.
New UH-60M was put on display at SIAF air show at Silac air base
12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 21
DEFENCE
CH-53E, it represents a full trans-
formation of the heavy-lift heli-
copter. The new version features
three GE Aviation T408 engines,
a new transmission and rotor
blades, a composite fuselage and
clean-sheet avionics.
Sikorsky is also eyeing export
opportunities for the King Stal-
lion, with Germany and Israel the
most clear-cut opportunities.
Berlin intends to replace its
fleet of 81 CH-53GA/GS helicop-
ters, with a request for proposals
anticipated in mid-2018, leading
to a contract award in 2019.
Deliveries would begin in 2023.
Tel Aviv, meanwhile, is looking
for deliveries to start in about 2025
as it begins the replacement of its
23-strong CH-53 Yasur fleet.
Under the FMS programme,
four crews received training in
the USA in 2016. Two more
crews are currently in training.
Igor Bozinovski
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
NEWS FOCUS
SAFETY LEIGH GIANGRECO WASHINGTON DC
Raising consciousness in the
battle against pilot hypoxia
US services call on Cobham to help determine cause of persistent oxygen supply issues
E ven as the US Air Forces
Lockheed Martin F-35A
soared above Le Bourget in June,
oxygen issues had grounded the
same aircraft back home at Luke
AFB, Arizona.
Just weeks before the conven-
tional take-off and landing Light-
ning II was set to make its Paris air
show debut, the USAF an-
nounced it would cancel F-35A
flying operations at Luke AFB fol-
lowing five separate oxygen depri-
vation incidents in a month.
Pilots had reported experienc-
ing hypoxia-like symptoms, al-
though the air force would later
characterise the incidents as
physiological events (PE) that
could include hypoxia, hypocap-
nia or hyperventilation. The
Arizona base houses 55 F -35As,
but the issue applied to only 48 of
those aircraft.
A range of symptoms were re-
ported, from slight dizziness and
disorientation to tingling and
coldness in the extremities but
the pilots were trained to recog-
nise the problems and landed
safely using the aircrafts back-up
oxygen system.
When the USAF announced
the grounding on 9 June, it set an
optimistic return-to-flight date of
just three days later. But Lukes
aircraft did not return to normal
Fears over equipment have restricted US Navy training on the T-45
22 | Flight International | 12-18 September 2017
flying operations, at altitudes
above 25,000ft, until 30 August.
At Le Bourget, USAF officials
insisted the oxygen issue was
isolated to Lukes jets. A pilot
survey that began at the base in
May later expanded across all
F-35 pilots. The survey also
examined the aircrafts low-rate
initial production numbers as a
possible common thread, as well
as software variants.
Every flight is a
physiological event
were putting
people in an extreme
environment
Ryan Mayes
Biomedical engineer, US Air Force
Research Laboratory
When Lukes F-35As returned
to the skies last month, their pi-
lots did so without the root cause
of the PE identified. But officials
at the base have been able to rule
out some contamination risks,
such as suspected higher levels of
carbon monoxide on the hot and
congested Arizona flightline.
Meanwhile, the US Navy is also
attempting to grasp at the elusive
cause of PE plaguing its pilots, in-
cluding oxygen issues on its Boe-
US Navy
For insight and analysis of the latest
developments in the defence sector, visit:
flightglobal.com/defence
ing T-45 Goshawk trainers. Al-
though the service allowed its
instructors to resume flying the
type in April under a restricted
envelope that excluded using its
on-board oxygen generation sys-
tem (OBOGS), Naval Air System
Command (NAVAIR) officials
later said that students would not
be trained until an air supply fix
was implemented in July.
In June, the USN rolled out a
comprehensive review of PE on
its T-45s and Boeing F/A-18 fight-
ers, which concluded that the
OBOGS on both aircraft are not
able to provide clean, dry air to pi-
lots, and can allow contaminants
to escape into their breathing air,
potentially causing hypoxia.
The service found that pressuri-
sation issues caused most of the
oxygen problems for F/A-18 pi-
lots, while the OBOGS emerged as
the culprit on the Goshawk.
SPECIFIC SYSTEMS
Those findings may have nar-
rowed the scope of the navys hy-
poxia problem, but the report did
not single out a specific system or
environmental condition that
would cause a hypoxia event or
pressurisation malfunction.
On 3 August, the USAF began
OBOGS testing that will continue
until the end of this year. Work-
ing with the F-35 Joint Pro-
gramme Office and the Naval
Medical Research Unit (NAMRU)
in Dayton, Ohio, a team of engi-
neers and statistical analysis ex-
perts at the 711th Human Perfor-
mance Wing at Wright-Patterson
AFB, Ohio, are testing OBOGS
that have never been flown be-
fore, in order to compare their
baseline performance with sys-
tems which have experienced in-
cidents at various simulated
cabin altitudes, aircraft altitudes,
and breathing demand flows.
The two services have long
battled, and to some extent ac-
cepted, oxygen issues as part of
the risk their pilots must take.
Between 2003 and 2008, the
USAFs F-22 fleet experienced
six incidents, followed by anoth-
er dozen by 2011. The service
stood down the Raptor fleet and
directed its S cientific Advisory
Board to study the F-22s life-sup-
port system. The board could not
determine a root cause, but found
that the supply or quality of oxy-
gen may contribute to pilots
symptoms. The USAF returned
its a ir-superiority fighters to nor-
mal operations in 2013, after
modifying life-support systems.
Historically, the air force has
taught pilots to recognise the
symptoms of hypoxia, loss of
consciousness induced by g forc-
es, or fumes in the cockpit, says
Ryan Mayes, a biomedical engi-
neer at the US Air Force Research
Laboratory (AFRL). But pilots
keep experiencing unexplained
events that are not necessarily
caused by those factors.
Every flight is a physiological
event were putting people in an
extreme environment, Mayes
says. The way to eliminate PE is
to better characterise what might
drive PE. Part of our function is
informing and defining the risk.
Following a request from the
flightglobal.com

USAF School of Aerospace
Medicine, the service awarded
Cobham, which manufactures the
OBOGS, a contract in 2016 to
develop a new method for moni-
toring pilot breathing and physi-
ology. In addition to the AFRL,
the company has briefed NAMRU
and NAVAIR on its aircrew-
mounted physiologic sensing
(AMPS) technology, which
connects to the CRU-94 integrated
terminal block that sits about 18in
from the pilots mouth.
AMPS examines the oxygen
concentration, gas flow, tempera-
ture and pressure in the breathing
gas, whether through OBOGS or
a liquid oxygen system. In early
June, Cobham delivered the first
sets to Wright-Patterson AFB,
where validation and verification
testing began. Preliminary tests
show AMPS is still capable of
sensing in a high-g environment,
which can often stress electron-
ics, says David Burch, a biomedi-
cal engineer at the AFRL.
The oxygen sensor is an opti-
cal sensor, so any type of fluctua-
tion in the boards changes the
distance that the light has to go,
he says. Were dealing with very
sensitive components. Right now
the system looks very good.
Cobham first developed the in-
flightglobal.com
VistaJet expansion
plan gets $200m
investment support
Business Aviation P24
halation sensor block portion of
AMPS, and then created the ex-
halation block by re-packaging
the system and adding a carbon
dioxide sensor. The inhalation
block measures oxygen pressure,
gas flow to the pilot and aircraft
acceleration to determine wheth-
er the life-support system is per-
forming within specifications.
Fingers are being
pointed at the oxygen
system. But theres a
lot more going on in
the cockpit
Rob Schaeffer
Environmental systems product director,
Cobham
Rob Schaeffer, product director
for environmental systems at
Cobham, told FlightGlobal at the
companys Orchard Park, New
York facility that before AMPS,
no sensor looked at the pilots
breathing or overall health. So
the pilot for all intents and pur-
poses has been the sensor.
AMPS collects data on the oxy-
gen concentration, but does not
measure contaminants in the
OBOGS. Along with the sensor
blocks, Cobham created a digital
Some USAF Lightning IIs were
grounded on 9 June, after five
pilots reported symptoms
US Air Force
upgrade to the CRU-99 oxygen
monitor the solid-state oxygen
monitor (CRU-123) which deliv-
ers data on temperature and oxy-
gen pressure to T-45 pilots.
DATA SPEED
While the USAF has been able to
measure oxygen levels, the service
has never been able to quickly re-
cord the data for speeds that are
relevant to physiology, Burch
says. Also, even though technolo-
gy is not yet mature, the service
has faced challenges getting moni-
toring culturally accepted.
We have not really grown up
in a flying world where its a part
of the weapon system, says
Mayes. So part of us reaching out
to groups like the test pilot school
is to start to think about how pi-
lots can use this.
The USAF put pulse oximeters,
which measure the amount of ox-
ygen in the blood, on F-22 pilots,
but Schaeffer says Cobham wants
to go further, by taking a three-
phase approach to the PE issue:
monitor, predict and protect.
The monitoring phase starts
with the AMPS inhalation and
exhalation block, which collects
data on a large cross-section of pi-
lots that should help the services
draw conclusions on oxygen is-
12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 23
NEWS FOCUS
sues. While measuring gas going
into the pilots mask is critical,
the exhalation side measures the
amount of carbon dioxide, which
helps Cobham understand inci-
dents such as hyperventilation
and hypocapnia.
Schaeffer says that based on
preliminary data, PE could be
linked to a lack of oxygen at alti-
tude, or even cockpit pressure.
A lot of fingers are being
pointed at the oxygen system, he
says. I dont disagree. However,
theres a lot more going on in the
cockpit that the oxygen system
may not be the root cause of.
MORE AUTONOMY
Once the USAF and Cobham
amass a library of data, the com-
pany can develop a predictive al-
gorithm to help pilots make deci-
sions, Schaeffer says. The
company plans to integrate the
technology into its next-genera-
tion emergency oxygen system.
Cobham plans to propose that
technology for the USAFs smart
aircraft digital breathing regulator
(SDBR). In July, the service re-
leased a request for information
seeking a technology that would
enable autonomous control of the
regulator using aircraft state, in-
flight environment, and pilot
physiological state information.
The system would notify pilots
and allow the breathing regulator
to take corrective action before
the pilot or jet is compromised.
The [SDBR] monitoring sys-
tems will access, predict, and ini-
tiate the flow of oxygen to the
pilot using external input param-
eters, the request says. The tac-
tical version shall account for
both altitude and acceleration-
induced hypoxia and head-level
blood flow and blood oxygen
changes.
Despite decades of testing on
oxygen systems, pilots are likely
to always experience PE, Mayes
says. Its hard for us to character-
ise and mitigate an unknown
something with an unknown
cause, he says. So the first step
in that is trying to define the
cause. Once we have done that
Im optimistic AMPS will be an
important part of that and we can
move on to whats next, whether
thats mitigation or training.
BUSINESS AVIATION
APPROVAL
KATE SARSFIELD LONDON
Blackhawk wins
certification for
engine upgrade
U S engineering company and
aftermarket specialist Black-
hawk Modifications has received
US supplemental type certifica-
tion for its XP67A engine upgrade
on the Beechcraft King Air 350,
and is working on similar approv-
als for the 350ER and 300 variants
of the twin-engined turboprop.
The upgrade replaces the
types 1,050shp (783kW) Pratt &
Whitney Canada PT6A-60A en-
gines with 1,200shp PT6A-67As,
boosting maximum cruise speed
by up to 40kt (74km/h).
The re-engined twin can also
climb from sea level to 35,000ft in
18min in hot conditions, says
Blackhawk more than twice the
rate of the baseline model.
The upgrade package includes
a five-blade composite propeller
from German manufacturer MT,
which Blackhawk says delivers
significant reductions in noise
and vibration levels while im-
proving overall performance.
Blackhawk is now adapting
the XP67A upgrade for the King
Air 350ER and 300, with certifi-
cation scheduled for late 2017
and early 2018, respectively.
DEVELOPMENT KATE SARSFIELD LONDON
Production-standard G600 makes maiden flight
G ulfstreams G600 business jet
has entered the final stages
of its certification campaign, fol-
lowing the debut flight of the fifth
and final test aircraft a produc-
tion-representative example fea-
turing a full interior.
During the 2h 55min sortie on
29 August, the large-cabin, long-
range aircraft (N600G) reached an
altitude of 51,000ft and a speed of
Mach 0.8, the airframer says.
The goal of including a pro-
duction aircraft in our flight-test
programme is to ensure we deliv-
er the most functional, comforta-
ble and reliable cabin environ-
24 | Flight International | 12-18 September 2017
CHARTER KATE SARSFIELD LONDON
VistaJet expansion plan gets
$200m investment support
Private equity backing will let company expand, with additional purchases due from 2019
L uxury charter operator VistaJet
has secured $200 million in
investment from the private eq-
uity firm Rhne Capital, as part of
a strategy to strengthen its bal-
ance sheet in preparation for fur-
ther expansion.
The injection, which is made
up of $150 million in cash and
$50 million in secondary acqui-
sitions, gives Rhne a 7.5%
stake in the Malta-headquartered
company, which is valued at
more than $2.5 billion.
VistaJet founder and chairman
Thomas Flohr describes the deal
as a major vote of confidence in
the firms strategy and business
model, and says it puts VistaJet
in a strong position to expand its
market share.
Flohr has no immediate plans
to spend the cash, however. We
dont need the money now, he
explains. The golden rule is to
raise investment when you dont
need it.
VistaJet owns and operates 72
Bombardier business jets 29
Global 6000s, six Global 5000s,
The fifth airframe will be used to validate interior build and design
ment for our customers, says
Gulfstream president Mark
Burns. Our extensive testing
will validate design and perfor-
Keep up to date with business
aviation news and analysis at:
flightglobal.com/bizav
VIP operators 72-strong Bombardier fleet includes 29 Global 6000s
six Challenger 850s, 10 Challeng-
er 605s and 21 Challenger 350s. It
will take delivery in mid-Septem-
ber of another Global 6000, mark-
ing the final aircraft from a 2014
order with the Canadian airfram-
er for 50 large-cabin, long-range
and super-midsize aircraft.
We dont expect to place an-
other order until 2019, says
Flohr. Our current plan is to ex-
pand our service offering and to
continue to grow our customer
base. The existing fleet will ena-
ble us to do that.
VistaJet recorded a 30% rise in
Gulfstream
mance, so we can provide a cabin
that exceeds expectations.
The G600 flight-test campaign
kicked off on 17 December 2016
VistaJet
turnover for the first half of the
year, driven by the increasing
popularity of its subscription-
based programme. The flagship
service accounts for nearly two-
thirds of the companys revenues.
Vistajet has also launched
VistaJet Direct, a smartphone and
desktop app that gives customers
priority access to empty aircraft
and one-way flights at preferen-
tial rates, for an annual member-
ship fee of $10,000.
It is the only end-to-end book-
ing app in business aviation,
says Flohr.
with the maiden sortie of the first
prototype. The test fleet has
logged 800h across 180 flights,
and the programme is on track to
secure certification and service
entry in the second half of 2018.
The G600 was launched in Oc-
tober 2014 alongside the smaller
and shorter-range G500, which is
earmarked for service entry later
this year. The pair feature Pratt &
Whitney Canada PW800 engines
breaking from a half-century of
exclusive partnership with Rolls-
Royce fly-by-wire controls and
an industry-first application of
active control sidesticks.
flightglobal.com

DEVELOPMENT KATE SARSFIELD LONDON
One Aviation tests EA700 wing update
Adapted Eclipse testbed completes first outing with design, ahead of maiden sortie for VLJs largest variant next year
A n aerodynamic, proof-of-
concept wing intended for
One Aviations in-development
Eclipse EA700 very light jet (VLJ)
has flown for the first time. The
structure was attached to a modi-
fied EA500 testbed (N990NE) for
the 1h30min sortie performed on
1 September.
During the flight, One Aviation
says its chief test pilot Jerry
Chambers evaluated the experi-
mental aircrafts manoeuvring
and basic flying qualities at alti-
tudes up to 15,000ft. The VLJ per-
formed flawlessly and the test re-
sults were as expected, it says.
Alan Klapmeier, chief execu-
tive of the Albuquerque, New
Mexico-based airframer, calls the
debut sortie a key milestone in
the path to making a very good
airplane a great airplane.
AMPHIBIAN KATE SARSFIELD LONDON
New-generation Seastar rolled out
D ornier Seawings has rolled
out its first new-generation
Seastar amphibian, and is prepar-
ing the twin-engined turboprop
for its maiden sortie in the first
half of 2019.
The programme milestone was
marked at a formal ceremony on
18 August at Dorniers German
final assembly facility in Ober
pfaffenhoffen, near Munich. It
First flight of the 12-seat, twin-engined turboprop is due in 2019
flightglobal.com
Master of the air
faces new threats
Fighters P26
Fuel tanks are moved to the wing root, lifting capacity by 265 litres
The EA700, formerly known as
Project Canada, was launched in
2016 as an upgraded version of
the EA550 the latest iteration of
the EA500, which it will replace.
The wing is one of a handful of
design changes and improve-
came more than 26 years after the
original programme was moth-
balled due to financing problems.
Despite the company securing
US and European certification in
1991 for the 1 2-seat model, no
aircraft were ever delivered.
The Seastar was acquired in
2013 by Chinese companies
Wuxi Communications Industry
and Wuxi Industrial Develop-
Dornier Seawings
BUSINESS AVIATION
One Aviation
ments that are being incorporated
into the $3.6 million EA700,
which is expected to make its first
flight next year. The wing has
been lengthened by 61cm (24in)
on each side and fuel tanks moved
from the tips to the root, to allow
ment, although the Dornier fami-
ly retains a minority stake.
The new aircraft boasts a num-
ber of improvements over the
original. These include a rede-
signed and upgraded interior, a
Honeywell Primus Epic 2.0 avi-
onics suite, a stern hydro-thruster
for improved water manoeu-
vring, corrosion-resistant tricycle
landing gear, a hydraulic electri-
cally steerable nose gear, and five-
blade composite propellers de-
signed by MT.
Type certification for the up-
graded model is expected in 2020.
China is expected to be a key
market for the Seastar. Speaking
at the roll-out, Dornier Seawings
chief executive Amy Pan said
that as the country opens up and
develops, the Pratt & Whitney
Canada PT6A-135A-powered
type will be able to seize oppor-
tunities and play a significant
role in the general aviation indus-
try on a global scale.
12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 25
the aircraft to carry another 265 li-
tres (70USgal) of fuel. Upswept
wingtips will be also be added.
Other improvements to the
EA700 include a longer, lighter
cabin, thanks to a 35cm stretch to
the fuselage, and an extra win-
dow. Williams International
FJ33-5A-12 engines replace its
predecessors Pratt & Whitney
Canada PW610F turbofans, while
a Garmin 3000 flightdeck replac-
es the EA550s IS&S installation.
The EA700 is projected to have
a 1,470nm (2,720km) range
320nm more than the current de-
sign and will be able to climb to
its 43,000ft operating ceiling in
just over half the time of the
$3million EA550.
Flight Fleets Analyzer lists a
global fleet of about 300 EA500
and EA550s.
UPGRADE
KATE SARSFIELD LONDON
Europe certifies
Supervan 900s
swept propeller
T exas Turbine Conversions
(TTC) has secured European
supplemental type certification
for the Hartzell four-bladed, light-
weight, composite, swept propel-
ler designed specifically for its
Supervan 900 single-engined tur-
boprop.
Introduced in 2008, the Su-
pervan is a re-engined version of
the Cessna 208 Caravan, featuring
a Honeywell TPE331-10/12JR
turbine in place of the Pratt &
Whitney Canada PT6A-114/A.
The Denison, Texas-based en-
gineering and modification com-
pany secured US approval for the
new propeller in May.
When coupled with the
TPE331 engine, the propeller
generates up to 30% more static
thrust, cuts fuel consumption
and gives the aircraft a great per-
formance bump, says TTC.
FIGHTERS
STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC
T
wenty years after the first flight of a
production aircraft on 7 September
1997, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Rap-
tor remains unchallenged as the
worlds top air superiority fighter. Remarka-
bly, the F-22 dominates despite some startling
gaps in its arsenal which are only now being
addressed as the US Air Force looks to keep it
relevant beyond 2060.
Nothing in the air seemed remotely compa-
rable when the F-22 first flew over Marietta,
Georgia, two decades ago, but the Raptor
quickly inspired imitators. Russia unveiled
the less stealthy but super-agile Sukhoi Su-57
formerly identified as the T-50 in 2010, fea-
turing internal weapons bays and a multi-axis
Master of the air
faces new threats
Lockheed Martins F-22 has been the worlds undisputed air superiority champion for
two decades. The US Air Force plans to make sure it rules the skies for years to come
26 | Flight International | 12-18 September 2017
thrust vectoring system. In 2011, China finally
revealed the AVIC Chengdu J-20, with a nose
and engine inlets resembling the Raptors.
Meanwhile, in Germany, India, Japan, South
Korea and Turkey fifth-generation fighters are
moving from drawing boards into early devel-
opment stages.
Still, no aircraft in production or develop-
ment yet combines the three capabilities that
make the F-22 stand out. Powerful Pratt &
Whitney F119 engines can vector jet exhaust
in the pitch axis and take it to Mach 1.5 with-
out afterburners for more range. Integrated
avionics fuse data from the Northrop Grum-
man APG-77 radar and BAE Systems ALR-74
electronic warfare suite on to a common dis-
play, including inputs from the same sensors
on other F-22s via the intraflight data link. Fi-
nally, radiation absorbent materials and a
stealthy airframe design featuring leading
edges of the wings and horizontal tails set at
the same angle that make the F-22 still the
hardest combat jet to track on radar.
AIR SUPERIORITY
Newer aircraft designs, including the Lock-
heed F-35, boast one or even two of these
qualities, but none owns the F-22s unique
package of all three.
After 20 years, the F-22 still rules the sky,
Air Combat Command (ACC) chief Gen Mike
Holmes tells FlightGlobal in an emailed state-
ment. Continuous updates and dedicated
training have maintained that edge, but our ad-
versaries are hard at work to close the gap. Fu-
ture deterrence will depend on developing new
flightglobal.com

ways to maintain Americas air advantage.
Despite that unequalled performance pack-
age, the F-22 achieved initial operational ca-
pability in December 2005 missing some ca-
pabilities a helmet-mounted cueing system
(HMCS) and infrared search and track (IRST)
sensor that even a decade ago counted as
standard equipment for a modern fighter. As
Lockheed delivered the last of 195 F-22s in
May 2012, those gaps remained unaddressed,
even as other USAF and US Navy fighters, in-
cluding Boeings F-15C and F/A-18E/F Super
Hornet, stood ahead of the F-22 in the queue
to receive the US militarys most advanced
air-to-air missiles: Raytheons extended-range
AIM-120D AMRAAM and back-flipping
AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder.
But the F-22s time is coming. Initial opera-
Twenty years after first flight, a fleet size
US Air Force
of just 183 is the F-22s main limitation
flightglobal.com
Upgrades to keep Raptors combat-ready for the next 45 years are the USAFs next challenge
tional test and evaluation began in August on
Increment 3.2B, a software upgrade that will
finally add the AIM-120D and AIM-9X Block
II to its weapons stations, the F-22 programme
office confirms to FlightGlobal. Increment
3.2B also improves the ALR-74s ability to ge-
olocate targets accurately based on their elec-
tromagnetic emissions. The current schedule
calls for wrapping up testing by next April,
then beginning installations on 150 F-22s
from mid-2019 to autumn 2022.
As Increment 3.2B installations begin, the
F-22 programme office plans to address more
gaps in the F-22s technology. As of now, add-
ing a potentially radar signature-compromis-
ing IRST sensor to detect engine exhaust heat
from other aircraft is not on the priority list.
When asked about an IRST upgrade, the pro-
gramme office responds: No new require-
ments or technology solutions have been de-
termined or finalised at this time.
A funded requirement exists, however, to
add an HMCS to the F-22, allowing pilots to
select targets by turning their heads rather
than the aircrafts nose. Adding the AIM-9X
Block II in mid-2019 would be compromised
by the lack of such technology, as the F-22
would be unable to exploit the weapons full
capabilities without helmet-mounted cueing.
The USAF came close to funding an HMCS
upgrade in 2013, but budget cuts stopped the
effort.
Updated HMCS capability requirements
will be developed and finalised in 2018 in
preparation for a pre-engineering and manu-
facturing development programme start in
early 2019, the programme office says.
The final decision for selecting the HMCS
could be delegated to the F-22s prime con-
tractor, according to Lockheed.
As product support integrator for the F-22,
Lockheed Martin would be tasked by the air
forces F-22 system programme office to run
the competition, evaluate the various prod-
ucts submitted, select the winning design,
F-22 RAPTOR
US Air Force
develop all of the requisite integration for the
new system, and ultimately install all of the
software and hardware modifications re-
quired to add the new capability to the air-
craft, the company tells FlightGlobal.
After Increment 3.2B and HMCS upgrades
are completed, the F-22 will continue operat-
ing for decades. The F-35A achieved initial
operational capability last year and now the
USAF is studying how to field a penetrating
counter-air (PCA) system by 2030, but the
F-22 should remain in operation for decades
to come. The last F-22 is currently planned to
be retired after 2060, the ACC says.
Keeping the aircraft relevant in combat for
the next 45 years is the USAFs next challenge
with the F-22 fleet. As the aircraft approaches
a 20-year anniversary of operational service in
2025, the USAF will be looking to launch a
potentially wide-ranging refresh of avionics,
sensors and weapons.
Continuous updates and
dedicated training have
maintained that edge, but our
adversaries are hard at work
Gen Mike Holmes
Commander, Air Combat Command
The F-22 will not require any major struc-
tural upgrades to operate out to [2060] and
Air Combat Command has a notional plan for
an F-22 mid-life update [MLU] around the
2024 timeframe, Lockheed tells FlightGlob-
al. The USAF releases long-term budget plans
in six-year increments, so no such require-
ment appears in the most recent spending
roadmap.
The ACC confirms, however, that an MLU
for the F-22 is possible within a decade.
We are in the beginning stages of looking
at mid-life upgrade options, the ACC says.
They will likely entail computer hardware,
avionics and sensors, along with a detailed
12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 27
 Find your next deal with
the worlds most comprehensive fleets database

72,000

Find out more and request your demo at

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 F-22 RAPTOR

analysis of the supportability of the sys-

tems and sub-systems.
Of course, the PCA programme is likely to
draw on multiple research and technology ef-
forts under way by industry and the Air Force
Research Laboratory, including adaptive
cycle engines, directed energy weapons and
so-called sixth-generation missiles. How such
technologies will be applied to the U SAFs
existing stealth fleet, including the F-35A and
F-22, remain to be seen. So far, the service has
made no commitments.
Incorporating such technologies in the
F-22 implies extensive design changes. Some
concepts for sixth-generation missiles incor-
porate MBDA Meteor-style variable-flow
ducted rockets (VFDR), for example, with sig-
nificantly wider missile body diameters than
the tightly packed, six AIM-120s inside the
F-22s weapons bay. But the USAF remains
open to any changes that the ACC requires.
Should the air force choose to pursue this
requirement and its integration on to the F-22,
the [system programme office] would follow

our standard process for integrating new
weapons capabilities on to the airframe, to in-
clude VFDR technology accommodation, if
appropriate, the programme office says.
If the F-22 fleet suffers from any gaps in air-
to-air technology today, the USAF is yet to
have been tested. When a Syrian Sukhoi Su-22
was shot down in June 2017, becoming the US
militarys first air-to-air kill of a manned air-
craft since 1999, the credit belonged to an
F/A-18E pilot. But the F-22 has hardly been
idle. Of 238,533 flight hours logged by F-22s
since December 2005, nearly 5% 11,583h
occurred in combat, according to data the ACC
provided in mid-August.
Air Combat Command has
a notional plan for an F-22
mid-life update around the
2024 timeframe
Lockheed Martin
The F-22s sensors allow it to play a role
that USAF officials have likened to an Ameri-
can football quarterback, designating targets
and directing other aircraft in to strike.
In other cases, F-22 pilots act alone. The
air superiority fighter has dropped 1,171
bombs in anger either 907kg (2,000lb)
GBU-32 Boeing JDAM munitions or 113kg
GBU-39 Boeing small diameter bombs to-
talling 422,000kg of ordnance.
The F-22s prowess in the air-to-ground
role comes from a historically circuitous lega-
cy. The programme that led to the F-22 actu-
ally started in the early 1970s as studies for a
new aircraft to replace the Republic F-105
and General Dynamics F-111 two masters of
New armaments including sixth-generation missiles could dictate a weapons bay redesign
intermediate-range strike. But the early stud-
ies evolved as the Soviet Union introduced
the Su-27 and RAC MiG-29 to counter the
F-15 and Lockheed F-16. The USAF diverted
the strike mission to the stealthy Lockheed
F-117 and the F-15E, while the advanced tac-
tical fighter programme concentrated on de-
veloping a dominant air superiority fighter.
BUDGET PRESSURE
A decade after the USAF selected the F-22 in
1991, however, the programme faced a budg-
etary crisis. In a relatively lean era for defence
spending, Congress mandated a buy-to-budg-
et strategy for the F-22 programme, which
meant any increases in development costs
had to be funded by debits to the production
accounts. That legal constraint set up a down-
ward spiral of rising costs and declining
quantities, as the programme of record con-
tracted from 750 aircraft in 1991 to 341 a dec-
ade later. By 2002, a new Defense Planning
Guidance recommended cutting production
to 180. In response, USAF leaders then-sec-
retary of the air force James Roche and chief
of staff Gen John Jumper reintroduced the
Raptor as the F/A-22.
This newly dual-role aircraft would re-
ceive billions of dollars of new investment to
add a capability to carry eight GBU-39s inter-
nally and a ground moving target indicator
mode to the APG-77. Those capabilities
made the F-22 more relevant in operations
over Syria, but in 2004 it was not enough to
spare the programme from further budget
cutbacks. In a sweeping cost reduction plan
US Air Force
outlined in a 23 December 2004 memoran-
dum called PBD 753, the then-defence secre-
tary, Donald Rumsfeld, cut F-22 production
to 183, nearly matching the 180 units recom-
mended in the 2002 guidance document,
with a few units tacked on to maintain full-
rate production on the final assembly line.
Today, the F-22 production fleet still
stands at 183 aircraft, despite three aircraft
lost to crashes throughout the history of the
programme. That number includes 137 com-
bat-coded F-22s, 15 test aircraft and 31 train-
ing aircraft.
Twenty years after first flight, it is fleet
size more than any lack of weapon or sen-
sor capability that is the F-22s biggest
combat limitation. In 2012, Lockheed care-
fully placed each piece of production tool-
ing in storage, with video recordings of ma-
chinists explaining how each part of the
F-22 comes together. But any hope of re-
starting production has faded. The USAF
concluded three months ago that such a
move was unaffordable, at $50 billion to
build 194 more F-22s.
Instead, the USAF is making do with exist-
ing resources. The single F-22 kept in flyable
storage is now being upgraded to return to ser-
vice as a test aircraft, raising that portion of the
fleet to 16 aircraft. In addition to 137 combat-
coded F-22s upgraded to Block 30/35 aircraft,
13 of the Block 20 F-22s used for training and
testing are being upgraded to the more capable
Block 30/35 standard. The last three Block
30/35 conversions will be complete by the
end of the year, according to the ACC.

flightglobal.com 12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 29

COVER STORY

A Shaping
s the US Air Force approaches pro-
duction on its Northrop Grumman
B-21 bomber and eyes full opera-
tional capability for its Lockheed

its future
Martin F-35A, the service is examining the
future of air superiority with its next-genera-
tion air dominance (NGAD) concept.
Last April, the USAF wrapped up its 2030
air superiority study, which assessed its limi-
tations against future airpower threats. While
the study did not name particular adversaries,
the document included a picture of Chinas
AVIC Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter. More For the US Air Force, total air domination is a strategic
broadly, the USAF has warned against the
growing threats in an increasingly complex
imperative so identifying the technologies it needs to
anti-access/area denial environment. outclass rising threats beyond 2030 is an urgent mission
The study, led by Brig Gen Alexus
Grynch Grynkewich, also criticised tradi-
tional platform-based acquisition practices, LEIGH GIANGRECO WASHINGTON DC The gaps identified in the study have al-
instead favouring a strategy to develop proto- ready allowed the USAF to shift its resources
types that can be transitioned into develop- in NGAD. In the presidents proposed fiscal towards areas that will enable future air su-
ment as they mature. year 2018 defence budget, the programme periority, says Col Tom Coglitore, concept
picked up some research and development development lead for the Air Superiority
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE steam. The USAF proposed a significant in- 2030 effort. That is evident in the FY2018
Even with the unorthodox acquisition prac- crease to NGAD, from $21 million in FY2017 budget and will allow the air force to plan 30
tices of US President Donald Trump, who to $294 million in FY2018. years out, he says.
has ruffled the feathers of both Boeing and With the 2030 study completed, the air force Both the USAF and industry have used the
Lockheed executives with his critiques of is now in the middle of the NGAD analysis of phrases NGAD and PCA penetrating coun-
the Air Force One recapitalisation and the alternatives (AOA). The additional research ter-air almost interchangeably to describe
F-35 programme, the administration appears funding will allow the service to analyse future the air dominance concept, though service of-
to have invested its confidence and dollars threats, informed by the 2030 study. ficials only recently clarified the semantics.

30 | Flight International | 12-18 September 2017 flightglobal.com


This Lockheed Martin concept is a spark
Lockheed Martin
for imagination rather than a hard clue
as to the appearance of a future fighter
Specifically, the term penetrating in the
counter-air description appears antithetical to
the air forces characterisation of the aircraft
as a standoff platform.
The nuance is, as youre standing off with
your vehicle, youre still seeing deep with
your sensors, Dave Bujold, director of fixed-
wing programmes for Boeing Phantom
Works, tells FlightGlobal. I think thats what
theyre really talking about when they talk
about a standoff capability on NGAD.
NGAD has always referred to the pro-
gramme element in the budget as well as the
AOA, which will determine attributes for
PCA, Coglitore says. There are several capa-
bilities within the NGAD concept, and PCA is
one of them, he says. PCA will provide a full
spectrum of operations, from high- to low-
end, so the concept could pursue both stand-
off and a stand-in capability, he adds.
When Grynch speaks, he doesnt talk
about specific platforms, Coglitore says. We
usually talk about a family of capabilities
which came out of the ECCT [air superiority
enterprise capability collaboration] team, that
he led, so there are several different capabili-
ties. PCA is one of those.
Although the air forces quibble over names
looks like another example of Washingtons
acronym alphabet soup, the slippery charac-
terisation of PCA or NGAD seems to encapsu-
flightglobal.com
NEXT-GENERATION AIR DOMINANCE
late where the programme is heading. Unlike
past USAF fighter jet acquisitions, NGAD
may not shape up to be one fighter-type plat-
form. Over the past year, Grynkewich es-
chewed both the terms fighter and sixth-
generation platform. That may also hint at an
effort to distinguish PCA from the maligned
F-35 programme.
Grynkewich told reporters that PCAs re-
quirements as an air superiority platform,
rather than an air-to-ground aircraft, would
make it more difficult to find commonality
across the services.
The nuance is, as youre
standing off with your
vehicle, youre still seeing
deep with your sensors
Dave Bujold
Fixed-wing programme director, Boeing Phantom Works
In an air superiority mission, its funda-
mentally a different set of problems, he says.
So for the navy its about fleet defence, some
limited power projection. For the air force, its
how do I go wherever I need to go in the
world, and I need air superiority to do that.
While he admits the future platform may
end up with an F designation in the end, he
says PCAs range, persistence and lethality
will not look like todays fighters, which still
embrace 20th-century warfare tactics.
USAF officials still have not identified
where PCA fits in such as whether it could
look more like a fighter or a bomber al-
though longer range and survivability will re-
main key attributes. Both Boeing and Lock-
heed NGAD concept art feature tailless
supersonic aircraft, but the companies say
that is just one option.
Like its rival Lockheed Martin, Boeing is exploring tailless concepts for enhanced survivability
Whether or not that future fighter would
have those features is to be determined, Bob
Ruszkowski, director of air dominance and
strike systems at Lockheeds Skunk Works,
tells FlightGlobal. Although I think you could
safely say that aircraft that have enhanced sur-
vivable characteristics, many of them dont
have tails. Were in the midst of exploring
these different technologies the illustration is
more or less to spark the imagination.
PCAs range will outstrip an F-22s, but
Grynkewich is not sure whether its range
would be greater than that of a bomber. He
also referred to his ideal platform as a sensor
shooter, which would allow salvos not only
from PCA, but would also enable any standoff
weapon in the air forces inventory.
When we think about air superiority, we
dont think about fighter jet combat any-
more, Grynkewich told an audience on Capi-
tol Hill in July. We need to think about how
its a network of capabilities that come togeth-
er in order to achieve that air superiority. If
technology was at the point where you could
just make one system that could do all of that
in some package, like the Death Star or some-
thing, maybe youd want to do that, maybe
you wouldnt.
FRESH APPROACH
Depending on the AOAs outcome in a years
time, PCA could step back from previous
fighters emphasis on stealth. Rather than
focus on stealth alone, as the air force has
with the F-22 and F-35, PCA could gravitate
toward a mix of capabilities, such as speed
and electronic warfare, which complement
each other.
Coglitores comments echoed the ECCT
studys critical look at recent USAF procure-
ments and seem to point to an NGAD concept
that will break away from the traditional devel-
Boeing
12-18 September 2017 Flight International | 31
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opment cycle that has characterised the
services recent fighter and bomber acquisi-
tions. Coglitore has also said NGAD could be
more than one platform. The ECCT flightplan
included Air Force Research Laboratory un-
manned air vehicle concepts, such as the Low
Cost Attritable Strike Demonstration and the
Pentagon Strategic Capabilities Offices Arse-
nal Plane concept, which could take an aircraft
like the Boeing B-52 out of inventory to create
a larger airborne magazine.
If you look at the capability were looking
to pursue, its more than just a fighter. I look at
it more as a weapons or sensor truck, he
says. Those folks who say its a fighter are
looking at it old school versus how we have
looked at it for several years now.
Ruszkowski says the jury is out on PCAs
configuration until the AOA is revealed. But he
still sees fighters as part of the USAFs future
and envisages them working in concert with
unmanned platforms. However, he does not be-
lieve the air force is ready to employ a Loyal
Wingman a concept that aims to multiply a
manned fighters capabilities by teaming it with
an autonomous jet as part of PCA.
DEVELOPMENT NEED
They have a long way to go, not only on the
military side but on the civilian side, to be
able to train more freely with unmanned sys-
tems, he says. Theres a lot of work going on
with unmanned regulations with the FAA.
You have to be able to train with those sys-
tems, and to be able to train you have to more
readily transit civil airspace.
As the USAF examines which technologies
could buy their way onto a platform by 2030,
the service is also taking a critical look at
some of the capabilities that have been just
around the corner for decades. While the air
force has long sought the unlimited magazine
One possibility for the services future capability could be an enhanced version of the F-35A
flightglobal.com
NEXT-GENERATION AIR DOMINANCE
The USAF is concerned with growing and increasingly complex threats, such as Chinas J-20
that direct energy could bring to an aircraft,
Coglitore says the service wants to chase gaps
in capabilities, not technologies. There is no
requirement to field a laser on an aircraft for
the NGAD concept, but the AOA will help de-
termine how easily those technologies could
be integrated onto a platform, he adds.
As part of the USAFs effort to break away
from tired acquisition practices, the services
head of Air Combat Command hinted at a
rapid acquisition plan for PCA earlier this year.
That plan would allow the air force to pur-
chase PCA aircraft in batches and add capabili-
ties, such as directed energy, along the way.
I want directed energy as soon as I can get
it and as soon as it works. Not a moment be-
fore and not a moment after, Grynkewich
says. When that moment happens, we need
to have in place the ability to incrementally
US Air Force
Imaginechina/REX/Shutterstock
improve upon whatever platforms exist.
As with all AOAs, the air force is weighing
up whether to include legacy systems or even
change concepts of operations for the next-
generation air dominance concept. But the
defence industry, which is also providing the
air force feedback on the AOA, seems keener
to capture another major defence acquisition
programme than update existing systems.
If you look at how they do AOA, they look
at doing things as surprisingly simple as
changing the doctrine to see if they can ac-
complish the mission, or doing better train-
ing, Bujold says. Theyre [also] looking at a
material option, and Boeing stands ready to
support the decision to go after a new materi-
al option.
For Lockheed, the AOA might bring out the
possibility of enhancing existing F-35s. Al-
though some have characterised PCA as an
F-22 replacement, pointing to its emphasis on
air superiority, Ruszkowski believes that is a
narrow approach. Although he will not com-
ment on PCA directly, he says the F-35 is not
primarily an air-to-ground machine.
F-35 is going to have a long service life
and it will be modified over time: capabilities
will be added to it, he says. There might be
more in the future whether the aircraft
could be modified to fill other mission roles, I
think thats to be determined depending on
how requirements unfold.
Boeing is also leveraging its expertise from its
work on the missions systems on both the F-22
and the F-15 for its PCA venture. In May, Boe-
ing officials hinted that technology developed
on the Advanced Eagle could make its way onto
PCA. Boeings bid would not necessarily have
the same outer mould line, but it would lever-
age the F-15s updated mission computers and
advanced radars, Bujold says.
12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 33
 AIRLINERS
Big twins twilight?
With an ageing fleet, competition from newer types and poor prospects for freighter
conversions, a growing number of parked 777s are heading only for the scrapyard
ELLIS TAYLOR SINGAPORE
A
lthough there have been some
small signs of life, a growing num-
ber of Boeing 777-200s and -300s
appear to be headed for the scrap-
yard amid rising supply and poor interest in
the secondary market.
It has been a tough few years for the wide-
body twin, with availability of -200/-200ERs
and -300s rising following Malaysia Airlines
dumping of its 777-200ERs in 2015 and the
collapse of Transaero in the same year. Still, a
number of those aircraft were picked up by
other Russian operators, such as VIM Airlines
and Rossiya.
The situation was not helped when, the
same year, Delta Air Lines then-chairman
and chief executive, Richard Anderson, said
his airline had been offered 777-200s for less
than $10 million.
Emirates is among a number of carriers
AirTeamImages
which have begun reducing the size of
their 777 fleets over the past year
34 | Flight International | 12-18 September 2017
There was little indication airworthy air-
craft with life left were trading at such levels,
however. Values for the type have yet to reach
that level, but Flight Values Analyzer data
shows that the 777-200ERs values have de-
clined faster than other twin-engined wide-
bodies down about 45% since January
2014. That compares with declines of about
30% for 767s and Airbus A330s over the
same period.
LIMITED MARKET
A large factor in that is the lack of a major sec-
ondary operator for 777-200s and -300s. A
small number have transitioned to budget,
charter and ACMI operators, but these are ex-
ceptions rather than the rule.
Clearly the relative illiquidity of these
types in todays market has had a significant
impact on values, says Flight Ascend Con-
sultancy head of consultancy Rob Morris.
The supply of used 777s without operators
has been growing over the past year, with All
Nippon Airways, China Southern Airlines,
Emirates and Singapore Airlines already
drawing down their 777 Classic fleets. More
carriers could also dump aircraft in the com-
ing year, with Flight Fleets Analyzer indicat-
ing that at least 23 aircraft will come to the
end of their leases in 2018.
Some aircraft have been picked up by Boe-
ing Capital Corporation. Fleets Analyzer
shows that between August 2015 and the end
of July it will have bought four 777-200s, and
is also scheduled to take three aircraft from
China Southern Airlines.
While Boeing Capital has managed to tran-
sition some of those aircraft to new operators,
it has also retired two jets, and to date 43 Clas-
sic 777s have been retired, representing 7.5%
of the fleet.
This is not unnatural given that the 777-200
flightglobal.com
 BOEING 777

fleet age ranges from three to 22 years, which Boeing 777 in-service fleet 1995-2017
places the older aircraft at the inflexion point of
In-service fleet
the widebody survivor curve, says Morris.
1,500
Although the trend for the 777 Classic is
towards retirement and part-out, some full-
service carriers still see life in the type. 1,200
British Airways and United Airlines have
both announced major cabin refits for their 900
777-200s and -200ERs. Fleets Analyzer shows
that a number of 777-200s coming to the end 600
of their leases over the next few years with
Air France and KLM look to be likely candi-
300
dates for lease extensions.
From next year, Cathay Pacific will take five
0
ex-Emirates 777-300s it has bought from Aer- 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
199 199 199 199 199 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 201 201 201 201 201 201 201 201
Cap to replace its five 777-200s. They will join
Source: Flight Ascend Consultancy
12 other -300s in its fleet, with all 17 aircraft
powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines. 777-200/ER/LR 777-300/ER 777F

Those aircraft will be reconfigured to in-

crease their capacity to 396 seats and will be de-
ployed on regional services. The upgauging will Boeing 777 parked fleet 1995-2017
be achieved largely through switching the econ-
Parked fleet
omy cabin from a 3-3-3 seating layout to 3-4-3.
80
Morris expects that the Cathay transaction
is likely to be a one-off, driven by a desire to 70
increase capacity on regional routes amid a
60
dearth of slots at Hong Kong International air-
port over the next few years. 50
Asahi Aviation also recently brokered the 40
sale of another Trent-powered 777-300 on be-
30
half of a Japanese investor. While the new
owners identity was not disclosed, Asahi told 20
FlightGlobal that it intends to offer it for lease.
10
Some carriers have also chosen to increase
0
the seating density of their 777-200s, which 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
199 199 199 199 199 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 201 201 201 201 201 201 201 201
lowers the types unit costs. Scoots 777-
Source: Flight Ascend Consultancy
200ERs, which have now been replaced by
787s, operated with 402 seats in a dual-class 777-200/ER/LR 777-300/ER 777F

layout close to the capacity of most 747-400s.

But those cabin changes do not come
cheaply. One industry source tells Flight-
Global that the cost is about $10 million per
aircraft, and that has to be weighed against the
expected operating life.
The relative illiquidity of
these types in todays market
has had a significant impact
on values
Rob Morris
Head of consultancy, Flight Ascend Consultancy
Added to that are complications around the
Classics engine choice. The majority of the
aircraft are fitted with Trent 800s, but GE Avia-
tion GE90s and Pratt & Whitney PW4000s
were also offered. For some potential opera-
tors, that makes it difficult to source aircraft
with the same engines.
The industry has also been critical of what it
sees as inflexibilities and high costs for most of
the Trent engines that have been tied into pow-
er-by-the-hour agreements. Nonetheless, one
source notes that as more Trent-powered aircraft
are parted-out, it is possible that more engines
with green time on them could enter the market.
TRENT LONGEVITY
Ascend senior analyst Richard Evans points
out that fewer Trent-powered aircraft have
been scrapped. Proportionately more P&W
aircraft have been parted-out, which may
reflect trading of engines, and help lower
overhaul costs, he says.
Most widebody types have historically
found a second life as freighters, but so far
there has been little progress on a conversion
programme for Classic 777s.
Boeing started studies in 2008 for a poten-
tial conversion programme, which could see
it offer a converted 777-200ER with a payload
of about 81t significantly lower than the
103t payload of the 777-200LR Freighter.
That study appears to have gone nowhere,
with concerns about issues of cost, timing and
suitable feedstock of aircraft for conversion.
In the OEMs absence, Israel Aerospace In-
dustries (IAI) Bedek division has stepped in.
In April, it announced that it had secured a
launch customer for its planned 777 freighter
conversion line. Although the customers
name has not been disclosed, IAI expects the
first conversion will be completed by mid-
2020, based on the expectation that a contract
would be signed at mid-year, with develop-
ment taking three years.
While significant, many observers feel that
the 777 converted freighter will face a number
of challenges. The first will be replacing the
composite floor beams with steel ones to
allow it to carry freight.
Then, there is a big question mark over
who will take the aircraft, given an environ-
ment where Boeing is fighting hard to sell
new-build 777-200LRFs and 747-8Fs.
That leaves the future of the 777 Classic
fleet looking rather bleak, particularly as more
efficient and capable aircraft continue to push
them out of the global fleet. Clearly, the type
is heading rapidly into its twilight years.

flightglobal.com 12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 35

LETTERS flight.international@flightglobal.com

Editors reply: Thanks to Mr

We welcome your letters on any
aspect of the aerospace industry.
Please write to:
The Editor, Flight International,
Quadrant House, The Quadrant,
Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS, UK
Or email:
flight.international@flightglobal.com
The opinions on this page do not
necessarily represent those of the editor.
Letters without a full postal address sup-
plied may not be published. Letters may
also be published on flightglobal.com
and must be no longer than 250 words.
Plotting a path
for good cause
Theres an interesting trend
among operators and manufac-
turers, where they use applica-
tions like Flightradar24 and
FlightAware to get the attention
of users and the media by flying a
unique flight pattern.
CONCORDE Davis for pointing this out.
A missed market opportunity? Al Blackman did indeed start his
career with American Export
I have just finished reading an excellent book Concorde: New Airlines (part of the American
Shape in the Sky. Export Lines shipping company).
As we all know, this aircraft failed to sell as anticipated. Apart The airline was absorbed into
from a single reference to its possible use as a transatlantic American Airlines at the end of
parcel carrier with FedEx, there is no mention of it being devel- the war, so Mr Blackmans
oped for other markets, as is common with todays commercial service has been continuous.
airliners.
Was there ever any consideration to a military application?
John Davies Cheaper option
Barrow-upon-Humber, UK In your flight test of the Cirrus
SF50 Vision (Flight Internation-
al, 22 August-4 September), you
say that the aircraft is the cheap-
est jet on the market, with a price
tag of $2.3 million. This is true
for the market segment the Vi-
sion is aimed at, but it costs far
more than the Sonex Aircraft-
produced SubSonex kit-plane.
This single-seat jet can be built
and flown for around 100,000
($130,000).
Steve Moody
Leamington Spa, UK

We have seen this recently
with Boeing plotting a 787 over
the USA, and a pilot flying a very
creative flightpath across New
Zealands Northland region to
raise awareness of prostate and
testicular cancer.
We also had Air New Zealand
on 3 September operating a spe-
cial 787-9 flight on behalf of local
charity Koru Care which it has
been supporting for more than 30
years. The aircraft took 50 chil-
dren with critical medical condi-
tions, such as cancer and heart
disease, on a mystery journey
that drew a 237nm (440km)-long
and 260nm-wide heart shape
across New Zealand.
In a global first, the airline says
it live-streamed the top-secret
route in partnership with Flight-
radar24, and gradually revealed
the heart-shaped flight plan
during a Facebook Live broadcast.
Could Concorde have been adapted for military purposes?
Many of the children had never
been on an aircraft before, let
alone the Dreamliner, and this
gave these brave kids the chance
to experience the excitement of
flying.
Peter Clark
Auckland, New Zealand
Staying fitter
Regarding the piece in Straight &
Level (Flight International, 1-7
August) detailing Al Blackmans
75 years as a fitter: technically
his job may have always been the
same and he never had to fill out
a second application, but it was
not always with American
REX/Shutterstock
irlines. The carrier never had
A from the 2004, 11th edition (and
flying boats, so one presumes
that his first employer was Amer-
ican Export Airlines, about the
time it started transatlantic ser-
vice with the Vought-Sikorsky
VS-44 in June 1942.
AEA became American
Overseas Airlines (AOA) in No-
vember 1945, and a month later
was merged into American Air-
lines. AOA continued to fly the
Atlantic as such until American
sold the operation to Pan
American in September 1950.
Evidently Mr Blackman
remained with American.
John Davis
Wichita, Kansas, USA
High definition
In his response to my letter about
the meaning of the word over-
sight (Flight International, 8-14
August) Alan Curry is quoting
highly abbreviated) Concise
Oxford English Dictionary.
If he were to refer to the more
comprehensive, two-volume
Shorter OED (or the 20 volumes
of the full OED) he would appre-
ciate that there are indeed two
meanings of the word oversight.
He might also consult the Oxford
Dictionary online to be similarly
enlightened.
Incidentally, there is no such
thing as an American version
of the OED only British original
texts printed in the USA, for sale
in the USA.
Malcolm Bowden
via email

Check out Flight Internationals Image Store

Browse or customise a gift or memento from our CUTAWAY ARCHIVE
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PlaneCutaway.indd 1 09/02/2017 12:28

36 | Flight International | 12-18 September 2017 flightglobal.com

From yuckspeak to tales of yore, send your offcuts to murdo.morrison@flightglobal.com
An image thats
hard to shake off
As if pranging a Bombardier
Q400 by prematurely retracting
the landing-gear wasnt
embarrassing enough, Google
Maps appears set to prolong the
pilots discomfort in its latest
landscape update.
The Luxair Q400 involved in
the mishap during take-off
from Saarbrcken on 30
September 2015 is clearly
shown in the aerial photos of the
airport, being attended by
emergency vehicles after it
skidded to a wheel-less halt on
the runway. Investigators found
the hapless pilot had been a bit
too quick on the draw with the
landing-gear lever as the
turboprop departed for
Hamburg. Probably not one for
the family album.
Flying solo
Did Captain Speaking mean this
as a profound Brexit-Britain
statement as our aircraft began
its approach over the North Sea
to Stansted? Now Europe is
behind us, we are descending
into the United Kingdom.
South-wet
When Houstons William P
Hobby airport was hit by
Hurricane Harvey, it forced base
carriers including Southwest to
make dramatic changes to their
operations. However, we
suspect this particular image is
probably what a certain
president would call fake nooz.
No-frills on floats: how airline might have dealt with flooding
flightglobal.com
Ever get the feeling youre being looked down upon?
Early to bed
Think airline lie-flat beds are
new? This photo posted by
Croydon airport Londons
main gateway in the 1930s and
now a listed terminal and
museum shows an Imperial
Airways de Havilland DH.91
Albatross from 1938 outfitted for
transatlantic horizontal comfort.
Sadly, the war put paid to the
development.
Sea Furys back
The Fly Navy Heritage Trusts
repowered Hawker Sea Fury
T20 has returned to flight, three
years after an engine failure
compelled pilot Lt Cdr Chris
Gotke to make a belly landing
during the RNAS Culdrose Air
Day, for which he was awarded
the Air Force Cross.
The Royal Navy Historic
Flight-operated aircraft,
developed in the war and the
navys last propeller-powered
fighter returned to the skies at
North Weald on 1 September.
STRAIGHT&LEVEL
Google
Staying in
I have only 30 bottles of
spirits in the place,
declared an off-
licence holder in
an East End
suburb last
week. The chief reason for
his depleted stock was the
increased demand for
stimulants for consumption
at home resulting from the
air raids.
Weighty matters
The British Minister of
Production was able to tell
America that, on
this basis [per
head of
population],
Britain had produced
approximately twice the
weight of combat aircraft
Croydon Airport
that they had during the
first quarter of the
presentyear.
Daddy, I cant get on Snapchat
Linking Pakistan
After the emergency landing, It was announced in
the Trust launched an appeal to Rawalpindi on September 4
buy a new Bristol Centaurus 18. that Pakistan
plans to
establish a
Reconnected communications
It is a quarter of a century since satellite link between its
the British Airways dirty tricks widely separated provinces
scandal, so it is nice to see that of East and West Pakistan,
there has been rapprochement thus becoming the only
with Sir Richard Bransons country except Japan to use
empire. The wi-fi provider in a satellite for internal
the BA lounge at Gatwick? None communications.
other than Virgin.
Flat Farnborough
Like most of the interesting
Armageddon off aircraft at the show,
If you ever fancied experiencing Farnborough 92
a North Korean air show, last never really got
year may have been your only off the ground.
chance. After launching in 2016, Exhibitors and
the Wonsan International Air visitors wearied by the
Festival was due to take place recession talked about
again on 23-24 September, future business more in
featuring aircraft from flag- hope than in expectation.
carrier Air Koryo, Korean
Peoples Army Air Force jets 100-YEAR ARCHIVE
and a national beer showcase, Every issue of Flight
no less. Its website remains live, from 1909 onwards
but reports say the event has can be viewed online at
been cancelled for geopolitical flightglobal.com/archive
reasons.
12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 37
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38 | Flight International | 12-18 September 2017 flightglobal.com


WORK EXPERIENCE CORDULA PFLAUM
Set for the long haul at Lufthansa
As a captain and instructor with the German flag carrier, Cordula Pflaum regularly flies the newest
additions to the fleet and trains other pilots in the finer points of a constantly changing profession
Have you always wanted to be
apilot?
Since I was 11 years old and I
was determined to follow
thatdream.
Tell us about your career to date
I started at the age of 19 with Luf-
thansa Aviation Training in Ger-
many. A two-year training period
followed in Bremen and Good-
year, Arizona, USA. I then be-
came first officer with Lufthansa
with ratings on the Airbus A320,
A310 and A300. A short stint as
senior first officer on the Boeing
MD-11 offered an insight into fly-
ing for Lufthansa Cargo. I ob-
tained my upgrade to command-
er in 2005 on the A320. After
three years of flying as captain
for Condor Berlin, I was promot-
ed to long-haul on A330/A340s
at Lufthansa, based in Munich.
In 2009 I was selected by the air-
line as type rating instructor and
type rating examiner on the
A330/A340-300 and -600. Dur-
ing this time I was part of the
start-up team for enrolling Luf-
thansas first A350.
What have been the highlights?
Inducting the A350 into the Luft
hansa fleet. As the airliners first
female long-haul check captain I
enjoyed receiving the type rating
at Airbus in Toulouse. Today we
operate four of the type.
What have been the lowlights?
When I finished my training in
1992, Lufthansa had frozen pilot
recruitment due to the Iraq war.
This freeze lasted for over two
years, so I wasnt able to start fly-
ing with the airline until the end
of 1994.
PlaneCutaway.indd 1
flightglobal.com
Among other roles, Pflaum is an examiner on several Airbus types
What aircraft has been most
enjoyable to fly?
The A350. It has the most ad-
vanced interface structure of any
model I have experienced so far.
Tell us about your current role?
At the moment I fulfil several
functions at the company. I
mainly work as captain, instruc-
tor and examiner on the A330,
A340-600 and A350, but I also
work as a trainer and supervisor
in the advanced human factors
department at Lufthansa Avia-
tion Training. Here I teach lead-
ership and customer relationship
management skills to flightcrews
from a host of airlines. Last but
not least, I support the crisis inci-
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WORKING WEEK
roles to perform, such as manag-
ing regulations and monitoring
the boarding process. For exam-
ple, if the pilot sees that the flight
time is 20min shorter than ex-
pected, he/she can decide to
delay the departure with the
co-operation of the hub control
centre and air traffic control in
order to load late baggage onto
the aircraft. Instances of diver-
sion landings due to unruly pas-
sengers or medical cases are also
on the rise. The final decision to
divert the aircraft is always taken
by the pilot. Fatigue risk man-
agement is becoming an increas-
ingly important issue as the
ranges of long-haul aircraft ex-
pand and maximum flight times
for pilots grow. The commander
has to take care of himself and
his crew.
Lufthansa Where do you see your career 10
years from now?
In 10 years time I will be 57
years old. If I am still in good
As the A350s first shape and pass my medicals
female long-haul with no problems, I will be work-
check captain I ing in the same field. I would like
to be even more involved in the
enjoyed receiving the process of developing and moni-
type rating at Airbus toring the training standards for
pilots at Lufthansa, for example
as chief training captain. n
dent stress management team Looking for a job in aerospace?
from the Mayday Foundation as Check out our listings online at
a co-ordinator in crisis interven- flightglobal.com/jobs
tion, to help crews deal with in-
cidents that have happened at If you would like to feature in
work. Working Week, or you know
What are the key challenges someone who does, email
facing commercial airline pilots your pitch to kate.sarsfield@
today? flightglobal.com
Nowadays pilots have many
09/02/2017 11:46
12-18 September 2017 | Flight International | 43
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