AEROSPACE

www.aerosociety.com
October 2017
Volume 44 Number 10

BLADE RUNNER
EUROPE GETS SET TO FLY ITS MOST
ADVANCED AERODYNAMIC TESTBED October 2017

BUSINESS AVIATION
IN AFRICA
HYBRID-ELECTRIC
Royal Aeronautical Society

AIRCRAFT
CERTIFICATION
F-35B ON FINAL
APPROACH TO QEC
Volume 44 Number 10
October 2017 BLADE Runner Switching on electric
Europes most flight
advanced
14 aerodynamic
demonstrator gets 22
Preparing the way
for the development
set to make its first of large commercial

Zunum
all-electric powered

Airbus
flight.

Contents
aircraft.

Correspondence on all aerospace matters is welcome at: The Editor, AEROSPACE, No.4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ, UK publications@aerosociety.com

Comment Regulars
4 Radome 12 Transmission
The latest aviation and Your letters, emails, tweets
aeronautical intelligence, and feedback.
analysis and comment.
58 The Last Word
Aftermarket and supply chain clash 10 Antenna
Howard Wheeldon looks
Keith Hayward on Airbus
at 50.
at the different factors
Earlier this year saw OEMs Airbus and Boeing launch new initiatives to grab contributing to civil aircraft
a bigger share of the projected $3.2tr services and and support business. safety.
At Le Bourget, Airbus unveiled a set of new partnerships to harness and
exploit Big Data and the Internet of Things. In early July, Boeings new
Global Services division was launched and the airframer also announced
Features
an intention to in-source its avionics a shot across the bows to existing

TADTE
suppliers. Meanwhile, the acquisition of Rockwell Collins by UTC in what

BAE Systems
would be the worlds biggest ($23bn) aerospace deal has put the OEMs on 18
collision course with their biggest suppliers. On paper, this marriage should
be an easy match with little if any overlap between Rockwells avionics, IFE
and seats business and UTCs engines and propellers creating a one-stop
super-Tier One supplier. Yet the response from the airframers to news of the
arrival of this super-supplier has been frosty. Airbus has cautioned UTC to
30
keep its focus on meeting P&W GTF delivery and reliability targets a sore
Taiwan aims for space at
point for those airlines that have ordered the geared turbofan engine option First in the class latest show
for their A320neos. Boeing has been even blunter, saying in a statement: We Getting the Lockheed Martin A report from the TADTE
F-35B ready for the Royal aerospace and defence
are skeptical that it would be in the best interest of or add value to our Navys new Queen Elizabeth- technology show in Taipei.
customers and industry, hinting that it could ask regulators to block the deal class aircraft carriers.
or renegotiate existing contracts if it concluded the merger is not in its best
interests. Ironically, it is the continued OEM pressure on Tier One and below
suppliers to cut costs, drive efficiencies and raise production rates that is
helping to drive this mega-merger of aerospace suppliers. Yet a combined
Pilatus Aircraft

giant with this much influence over the supply chain (and aftermarket a top
growth area identified by airframers) is now raising alarms that the OEMs have
26
spawned a monster that they cant control. What happens when a large force
meets an immovable object? We may be about to find out.
36
Tim Robinson, Editor-in-Chief
Swedish air control
AEROSPACE tours the
NEWS IN BRIEF
tim.robinson@aerosociety.com Out of Africa
The African Business
production facility of
Swedish aircraft cabin
Editor-in-Chief AEROSPACE is published by the Royal 2017 AEROSPACE subscription Aviation Association (AfBAA) humidity system specialists
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41 Afterburner
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Book Review Editor SK17 6AE, UK aerospace-insight
Brian Riddle 50 Corporate Partners
ISSN 2052-451X Including: UK F-35B on final approach
Editorial Office Distributed by Royal Mail 52 Diary to QEC, Preparing for electric flight, Wanted:
Royal Aeronautical Society
No.4 Hamilton Place 56 RAeS Elections digital natives, In the September issue of
AEROSPACE, Greener biofuels?, Workers at
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the dawn of the new aerospace,
+44 (0)20 7670 4300
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Front cover: CleanSky2 BLADE aircraft demonstrator. (Airbus)

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 Radome
INTELLIGENCE / ANALYSIS / COMMENT

Safety first
The designers plan to incorporate a number
of safety features into the hoverbike. In the
event of main engine failure (or fuel
exhaustion), the PowerGuard system, will
use battery electrical power to drive the
main lift fans and safely land. For the US mar-
Flight control ket, the altitude will be electronically limited
to 3.7m the maximum height for which
Ridden like a motorcycle, the
certification is not required. It will also
Raptor would also
incorporate an emergency ballistic para-
include intelligent algorithms,
chute recovery system
an automatic stabilisation
system, as well as a 3D
moving map, terrain and
weather awareness system,
along with fuel and battery
monitoring parameters.

Structure
The Raptor is
constructed from
hybrid carbon
composite, resistant
to an 8G impact force.
Small wheeled
landing gear, mean-
while can absorbed
shocks of up to 10G.
NEWind Energy

4 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017

 Specifications
Passenger capacity One
Length 4.9m
Engines 330hp
Weight 300kg
Top speed 110km/h
Max hover altitude 900m
Range 150km

Power shift
The Raptor will use a hybrid power system
incorporating a 1,300cc Suzuki Hayabusa
sports bike engine, along with a 30kw
generator. While the petrol engine will drive
the main ducted fans for hovering, the
manoeuvring fans are electric. Both, along
with stabilisation and steering, are
controlled by a central control unit.

GENERAL AVIATION

Hoverbike from Poland

Revealed as a full-scale mock-up at Polands MPSO defence exhibition in September was this
Raptor VTOL hover bike from Wojnicz-based NEWind Energy. Inspired by the speeder bikes;
from Star Wars, the designers envisage a number of applications for this one-person ducted
fan aerial bike, including military, urban EMS and aero-trekking or extreme sports. Powered
by hybrid 1,300cc Suzuki engine/electric batteries NEWind Energy says that it is already
thinking about a larger two/three person hoverbike. With an estimated price tag of $65,000,
the Raptor is set to be on display at the Dubai Air Show next month.

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 Radome
AEROSPACE SPACEFLIGHT
Aviation responds after hurricanes Power on for Orion
Tropical hurricanes Harvey and Irma have caused disruption and devastation in Texas
and Florida, US, and the Caribbean. Air travel was disrupted by Hurricane Harvey causing On 18 August, NASA beyond Earth orbit. Its first
flooding in Texas, with Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport shut down in late announced the milestone unmanned flight, EM-1, is
August. A follow-on storm, Hurricane Irma, caused chaos in the Caribbean and south that it has powered up its scheduled for 2019 and
Florida with airports closed and air travel shut down. The famous planespotter airport on Orion spacecraft at will see the Orion
N
the island of St Maarten, Princess Juliana Airport suffered extensive damage. Rescue and Kennedy Space capsule spend

AS
A
relief efforts included US Center for the three weeks
Coast Guard and Air National very first time. in space on a
Guard Helicopters rescued Orion is flight around
1,000s in Texas. Meanwhile, a crewed the Moon after
relief efforts for the aftermath spacecraft being being launched
of Irma in the Caribbean have developed for NASA by NASAs new SLS
seen UK C-17s, A400Ms by Lockheed Martin (with (Space Launch System)
and Pumas, as well as Airbus Defence & Space rocket. The first crewed
RCAF C-17s and an Airbus providing the rear Service flight of Orion EM-2, is
Foundation A350XWB test Module) for deep space currently scheduled for
aircraft, deliver urgent aid. exploration missions August 2021.

AIR TRANSPORT
MoD

GENERAL AVIATION German airline Air Berlin has Ailing Air

New piston engine
speed record
On 2 September in Idaho,
warbird pilot Steve
Hinton Jr set a
declared insolvency after its
main shareholder, Etihad, said Berlin on
it would cease financial support
for the carrier. Other partners in
life support
sponsored by winglet the airline, including Lufthansa
Av manufacturers, and the German Government,
ia t
Aviation Partners, have said they will continue
io
nP

new Class C-1e also saw the supporting Air Berlin. The airline
art ne ra s

world speed company reported a loss of $919m in

record for piston-
powered aircraft
of 531mph, with
his highly modified P-51
Voodoo. The attempt,
contribute CFD 2016. With the airline close
modelling to to collapse, 200 of its pilots
modify the wing staged a sick-out, calling in
aerofoils and delay Mach sick on 12 September in protest
shockwave rise. about possible new terms.

NEWS IN BRIEF
Boeing has broken
ground on its new 40m
Sheffield factory, its first
manufacturing facility in
Europe. The plant, set
to open at the end of
2018, will supply actuator
components for 737s and
777s.
On 7 September Airbus
delivered the first Pratt
& Whitney PW1100G-
powered A321neo to
launch customer All
Nippon Airlines.
On 5 September a USAF
test pilot Lt Col Eric
Schultz was killed in the
crash of an unknown
classified aircraft on the
Nevada Test and Training
Range, northwest of Nellis
AFB. No other details have
been revealed, apart from
the USAF Chief of Staff
stating that it was not an
F-35.
ArianeGroups new
heavylift Ariane 6 rocket
has signed up its first
customer, with ESA
agreeing to launch four
Galileo satellites with the
launcher. They will be
launched by the Ariane 62
variant in 2020 and 2021.
Switzerlands Pilatus Aircraft
is to end production of the
Porter PC-6 STOL utility
aircraft in early 2019.
The aircraft has been in
production since 1959 with
over 500 produced.
United Technologies (UTC)
is to acquire aerospace
company Rockwell Collins working for the airline are
in a deal worth $30bn. The set to conduct three more
combined company is to be one-day strikes.
called Collins Aerospace
Systems. The deal is North Korea has
expected to be finalised conducted two more
in Q3 of 2018, subject to provocative missile tests,
shareholder approval. firing them over Japan.
On 29 August it launched
Thomas Cook Airlines what was thought to
pilots have carried out the be a Hwasong-12
first British pilots strike intermediate-range missile
since 1974 with a one-day over Northern Japan which
strike on 7 September splashed down in the
in a dispute over pay. Pacific Ocean. Then on
As AEROSPACE goes 15 September, it tested
to press, BALPA pilots a longer-range ICBM

6 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017

DEFENCE AIR TRANSPORT
First news from DSEI SkyWest opts for E-175s
US regional airline group West Airlines on behalf of
SkyWest Airlines has Delta Air Lines, while the
signed a deal to remaining ten will
acquire 25 be operated for
Embraer E-175 Alaska Airlines.
E jets. The The 175SC will

E m bra e
first 15 will be be able to be
in an 70-seat upgraded to

configuration
Saab exhibited a full-scale mock-up of its Gripen Aggressor trainer featuring called 175SC,
some memorable tail art. The aircraft, an unarmed new-build C variant is with the rest to
aimed at the growing Red Air training market. be in a 76-seat layout.
DPM Drone Division has revealed that an eHang autonomous flying taxi is to Fifteen of the new aircraft
be tested for the first time in the UK in early 2018. will be operated by Sky
r
the traditional
76-seat layout
at a later date. The
deal, worth $1.1bn at list
prices, will see the E Jets
delivered in 2018.

AEROSPACE
CSeries price dumping
row escalates
It has emerged that UK
Prime Minister Theresa
May has personally lobbied
President Donald Trump
to help protect 4,500 UK
Bombardier jobs in Belfast,
after Boeing pressed for
legal action against the
Canadian manufacturer
due to alleged CSeries
airliner price-dumping.
Newspaper, The Times,
reported that the PM
Saab
SPACEFLIGHT
NASA
WB-57s chase
had asked Trump to
encourage Boeing to drop solar eclipse
its complaint. For its part,
Boeing responded to the
news by stating: Boeing
had to take action, as
subsidised competition
has hurt us now and will
continue to hurt us for
During the solar eclipse of 21 August, NASA used two of its high-altitude
years to come, and we
WB-57F research aircraft to chase the phenomena across the US and
could not stand by given gather scientific data. The two much-modified Martin B-57s observed the
this clear case of illegal eclipse using powerful nose-mounted telescopes, above much of the Earth's
dumping. atmosphere.

which flew 3,700km over
Hokkado, to land in the
northern Pacific.
Russia has launched the
first Blagovest Internet
and TV communications
satellite into orbit from
Baikonur spaceport,
Kazakhstan. It was
launched on 16 August
by a three-stage Proton
booster carrying a Breeze
M upper stage rocket.
French manufacturer Elixir
Aircraft has announced
the first flight of its new
single-engine Elixir light
aircraft. The 45-minute
maiden flight took off
from La Rochelle airport
on 31 August and was
followed by a second flight
to the ULM Blois airshow
at Arodrome de Blois-le
Breuil.
Airbuss Perlan II
stratospheric glider has
set a new altitude record
for soaring of 52,172ft.
As AEROSPACE goes to
press, the Perlan II team
is currently in Tierra del
Fuego, Argentina hoping to
take the glider to the edge
of space at a height of
90,000ft.
Taiwanese carrier Eva Air
has retired its last Boeing
747-400 on a passenger
flight on 21 August from
Hong Kong to Taipei.
In service with Eva since
1992, the airline is the
latest carrier to retire the
passenger 747 model, with
United Airlines and Delta
Air Lines to phase their
747s out by the end of Peggy Whitson) and
the year. one Russian cosmonaut
from the ISS, returned to
Indonesia is set to acquire Earth on 2 September
11 Sukhoi Su-35 multirole aboard a Soyuz capsule
fighters as part of a $1.1bn landing in Kazakhstan. A
complex offset trade replacement ISS crew of
agreement with Russia. two NASA astronauts and
Half of the contracts value one Russian cosmonaut
is to be financed through a lifted off using a Soyuz on
reciprocal trade agreement, 12 September.
with a further 35% to be
paid via offsets. On 18 August, Dornier
. Seawings rolled out the
Two NASA astronauts first next-gen Seastar
(including new US time- amphibian at its facility in
in-space record holder Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.

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 Radome
AIR TRANSPORT
easyJet and Norwegian
forge network alliance
UK low-cost airline easyJet
has announced the launch
of 'Worldwide by
easyJet' a global
self-connecting
airline
partnership. The
digital codeshare
style partnership, with
launch airlines Norwegian
Airlines and Canada's
WestJet, along with Gatwick
Airport, opens up long-haul
SPACEFLIGHT
SES reveals next-gen satellite
network
Satellite operator SES is to launch what
it describes as the 'first multi-terabit
constellation' with seven Boeing high-
capacity broadband
satellites. The satellite
constellation with
30,000 fully shapeable
and steerable beams will be
placed in medium Earth orbit (MEO) some
5,000miles above the equator. First launch is
scheduled for 2021.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Airbus is planning to begin
flight testing its Vahana
VTOL air-taxi in November,
in Pendleton, Oregon.
Budget carrier Ryanair has
begun cancelling between
40-50 flights a day in a
bid to improve punctuality,
(down to 80%) which
it says is to due a large
backup of staff leave.
The UK MoD has revealed
that the British Army's
Watchkeeper UAV fleet is
8 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017
DEFENCE
Valor gets ready to spread its wings
connections and flights
through easyJet's booking
system. Seats are
already available
ea
s yJ
et
for North and
South America,
with the airline
saying it is already
in talks to add other Bell Helicopter has announced that its next-generation V-280
airlines, including Middle tiltrotor prototype is now 100% complete and ready for its first
Bell Helicopter
East and Asia-Pacific flight this autumn. One of two contenders for the US Army's
carriers to 'Worldwide by Joint Multirole Technology Demonstration (JMR-TD), it is now
easyJet'. set to undergo ground runs at Bell's facility in Amarillo, Texas.
AEROSPACE
MRJ flight test hits hitch
Flight testing of state, and saw the second
Mitsubishi's MRJ regional prototype FTA-2 divert
airliner has restarted to Portland International
after one of the Airport. The MRJ
O3b mPower four prototypes flight test flight,
suffered based at
M i t s u b i s h i Airc
an in-flight Moses Lake
uncommanded Washington,
shutdown of returned to
ra
ft
C
its left Pratt & o rp
flight on 6
Whitney PW1200G September. The
engine. The incident, on delayed MRJ is expected
21 August, occurred west to wrap-up flight test by
Boeing
of Portland, Washington the end of 2018.
now back in the air after order for 35 -1000s to 45
two previously unreported The Air Charter Engineers at BAE Systems -900s.
crashes of the drone lead Association, BACA, has have developed a cockpit
to a temporary grounding. called for an urgent windshield filter that can A Royal Saudi Air Force
review into the regulations block lasers beams and Eurofighter Typhoon
SpaceXs Elon Musk surrounding private flight protect pilots and flight crashed in southern Yemen
has teased the first cost-sharing apps and crew from laser attacks. on 13 September with the
image of the companys websites. While BACA says pilot being killed. Initial
new spacesuit for its it welcomes innovation and, Cathay Pacific and reports suggested it was
human-rated Dragon 2 while genuine cost-sharing United Airlines have not due to enemy action.
spacecraft which will take is legal, the organisation both converted Airbus .
NASA astronauts to the is concerned that, A350-1000 orders to the Orbital ATK launched a
ISS. Previewing the new without proper regulation, smaller A350-900. Cathay Minotaur IV rocket from
design on Instagram, he commercial flights will be switched six to the -900, Cape Canaveral on 26
said Worth noting that flown without an AOC, thus while deferring a further August. The rocket was
this actually works (not a compromising flight legality five. Meanwhile, United carrying an ORS-5 satellite
mockup). and safety. has swapped an existing for the US Air Force.
AIR TRANSPORT AEROSPACE
After 97 years KLM bids Fokker Rolls-Royce certification
fond farewell on the double
On 18 August, Rolls- Meanwhile, on 31 August,
Royce received the company also
EASA full flight was awarded
certification EASA
for its Trent certification

R o ll s - R o y
Russian Helicopters Kamov Ka-226T light utility helicopter 1000 TEN for its
is undergoing testing in Iran, with a focus on evaluating the engine for 97,000lb

ce
Dutch flag carrier
coaxial KLM
helicopter at Royal Dutch
very high Airlines ispreparing
temperatures up to 50C.to bid farewell to its all variants of thrust Trent
97-year association with Fokker Aircraft, with the last Fokker 70 flights set the Boeing 787. XWB-97 which
to take place this month. The final flight of a KLM Cityhopper Fokker 70 is First engines have will power the latest
scheduled for 28 October, with a London to Amsterdam service. The airlines been delivered to Boeing, Airbus A350-1000, which
first Fokker IIs were the first passenger aircraft operated by KLM, entering ready for entry into service is set to enter service this

KLM
service in 1920. this year. year with Qatar Airways.

DEFENCE Honeywell launches UAV inspections

DARPA imagines Honeywell has launched its first commerical UAV inspection
service. Honeywell's InView will use the Intel Falcon 8+ UAV
disposable missile rails and is aimed at the utility, energy, infrastructure, and oil and gas
industries.
US defence research manufacturing of up to
agency DARPA has
unveiled a technology
500 rails a month. These
rails would be armed with
SPACEFLIGHT
challenge to
industry to
either one or
two AIM-120s
INFOGRAPHIC: Cassini ends epic
DA

20year voyage with Saturn plunge

R PA

develop a low- and used as

cost, mass disposable,
produced cheap mini-
''flying missile UCAVs to
rail' able to fly for 20mins
extend the weapon range at 690mph to keep US
of tactical fighter aircraft. fighters out of enemy
The concept asks for rapid weapon kill zones.

ON THE
MOVE
Nok Air CEO Patee
Sarasin has resigned. He
is replaced by NokScoot's
chief executive Piya
Yodmani.
United Aircraft President
Yuri Slyusar will take over
as President of Irkut.
Qatar Airways Group CE
Akbar Al Baker is to be the
next Chairman of IATAs
Board of Governors from
June 2018.
Boeing has elected
Caroline Kennedy as a
new Director on the Audit
and Finance committees.
UK Chief of the Defence
Staff, Air Chief Marshal
Sir Stuart Peach RAF has
been elected Chairman
of NATOs Military
Committee, taking over in
June 2018.
Qantas Group has moved
Qantas International CE
Gareth Evans to head the
Jetstar Group.
NASA

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 antenna: Global Outlook and
Analysis with
HOWARD WHEELDON

Aviation safety: no time

for complacency
T
he recent near miss incident between
a landing Air Canada flight at San
Francisco International Airport which
mistakenly lined up with a taxiway on
which four aircraft were waiting to take
off, instead of the runway, before the pilot aborted
the landing, highlights that, no matter how much
effort is put into training and that air accidents
have continued to reduce, there is no room for
complacency when it comes to aviation safety.
Air accidents are, however, increasingly rare.
In the executive summary of its 2017 report,
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) says
that: Accident statistics as reported by the ICAO in
its 2017 annual report showed a further decrease in
both number of accidents, as well as accident rate
and that, during 2016, the downward trend in the
number of [scheduled commercial flight] accidents
fell to 75 from the 182 reported for 2015. This,
according to ICAO, represented an 18% decrease.
Given that the number of scheduled commercial
departures continues to increase, a further decline
in air accident numbers is positive. Airline claims
that safety comes first are real but that doesnt
mean that the reasons why 182 people lost their
lives on commercial aircraft flights last year can be
glossed over.
Putting the accident rate into perspective,
ICAO estimated that 0.0001% of flights have
crashed in the past ten years and that this resulted
in one death for every 38,549 flights. While it is
certainly true that the number of air accidents
caused by aircraft technology issues, poor
maintenance, pilot error and lack of training, has
declined, it is also true that the number of incidents
related to terrorist actions has risen. These, along
with increased fears related to lack of global
regulation in respect of drones and the increase
in reported near incidents, remain a cause of
considerable concern. So too does the fact that, as
skies become increasingly crowded and with some
countries ATM systems already near to capacity,
the potential for air accidents is growing rather
than subsiding.
The shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines
Flight MH17 in July 2014 with the loss of 298
passengers and crew, the disappearance of
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March 2014 and
the seemingly deliberate crash by the co-pilot
NTSB
March 2015 highlight other reasons that crashes
occurred. True, hijacking of aircraft is nothing
new and governments and airlines have taken
significant action to make sure aircraft cockpits
are more secure. Airports and airlines have done a
considerable amount of work to ensure that bombs
and other devices do not get onto planes and
passenger security checks today have never been
more thorough.
While it is often difficult to perceive what
else airlines and airports might reasonably do in
respect of further improving passenger security,
aircraft maintenance, operational flight safety and
training, more still needs to be done. Flight safety is
increasingly impacted today by a range of potential
indirect issues, such as terrorist related actions, on-
board actions by passengers themselves and one
other large issue growing concerns in relation to
mental health of pilots. None of these concerns are
likely to diminish.
In recent years there has been an alarming
increase in passengers required to be removed from
aircraft due to drunken or threatening behaviour.
Passengers are not the only ones, as there have also
been a noticeable increase in reported incidents of
commercial airline pilots removed from aircraft, the
most recent reported example being a pilot who
was prosecuted for turning up at Glasgow Airport
reeking of alcohol. While such incidents are still to
be considered very rare, they can and do occur.
On 7 July an Air Canada A320 performed a late go-around after
nearly landing on a taxiway with four other airliners awaiting take-
off. With over 1,000 passengers on all the aircraft this could have
been the worst ever aviation disaster.

of Germanwings Flight 9525 into the Alps in

10 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017


The mental health factor
Incidents such as that at Glasgow Airport, together
with the dreadful Germanwings aircraft crash in
2015 have highlighted another growing problem for
the civil airline industry that of mental health of
pilots and the need to ensure that they are always fit
and mentally safe to fly.
A cross-sectional descriptive study BioMed
Central in 2016 entitled Airplane pilot mental
health and suicidal thoughts concluded that
hundreds of pilots that are currently flying are
managing depressive symptoms, perhaps without
the possibility of treatment due to fear of negative
career impacts. While a study of 3,485 pilots, of
whom 1,866 had completed the study, is limited
in value, it does confirm that a potentially serious
problem exists.
Clearly, physiological screening of pilots ahead
of every flight is both impractical, unnecessary and
risks do more harm than good because of causing
potential passenger alarm. In the UK, Class One
Medical certificates are mandatory for all flight crew.
Annual medicals are required by pilots up to the age
of 45 and then every six months up to the age of
65. Initial medical examinations include eye, hearing
test, physical examination, ECG, lung function
spirometry test, urine and haemoglobin blood test.
There is no mandatory requirement for psychological
screening whatsoever.
In the wake of the Germanwings crash, the CAA
announced an intention to review all pilot screening
procedures, that this would be co-ordinated with the
European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and that it
has requested all UK commercial airlines to review
relevant procedures. Clearly, the outcome of any
review should require not only that mood, sleep and
alcohol usage be checked but also that cognitive
issues, such as speech, mood, relationships and
lifestyle of pilots in particular, need to be better
understood.
In recent years considerable effort has been
put into crew/cockpit resource management and
the monitoring of data, which are aimed at reducing
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the risk of human error. Cockpit data monitoring
systems, including digital audio and visual recording
equipment, are all widely used to identify safety
trends that can be addressed by further training, as
well as being used by air accident investigators to
assist in specific crash incidents. THE AIRLINE
A wider concern and one that commercial
airlines must show greater concern, is the growing
INDUSTRY
IS WELL
shortage of pilots. Estimates suggesting a global
shortage of pilots likely to reach 50,000 by 2030 AWARE THAT
inevitably give rise to fears that some airlines might COMPLACENCY
take short cuts in training. The bigger fear is that
the pressure on trained pilots could further increase,
REMAINS
unless the industry embraces the problem of pilot THE BIGGEST
shortage and invests. ENEMY
Welcome as the 25% fall in the global accident
rate to 2.1 accidents per million departures from the
previous years 2.8 is, a degree of care is needed
when looking at the figures. Airline industry accident
records are littered with unfortunate spikes and it
only takes one large accident to throw everything
off-course.
The biggest enemy
Even so, compared to the dim and distant past,
an accident rate of 2.1 per million departures is
remarkable, particularly when compared to figures
40 years ago that, if they really were comparable,
would show a figure close to four times higher.
Indeed, back in 1964 when airlines carried 141
million passengers there had been a total of 87
commercial aircraft crashes and 1,597 people killed.
Last year according to the ICAO, 182 people lost
their lives in a similar number of aircraft accidents.
Improved though they certainly are, the airline
industry is well aware that complacency remains
the biggest enemy in all forms of aviation transport.
We are also reminded of the now infamous quote:
If you think health and safety is expensive, try an
accident. Attributed to Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder
of EasyJet, and used by him not in the context of a
specific air accident but rather, the Troodos Shipping
Co incident in 1991 when six people lost their lives
and more than 50,000 tonnes of crude oil spilt into
the Mediterranean Sea, such words are equally
poignant in the aviation industry just as they are
across all forms of transport.
They say that something is learned from
every aircraft crash and there is no doubt that the
sophistication and expertise that allows investigators
to get to the bottom of accident causes has
never been better. Todays technology, added to
experience gained and constant improvement in
engineering and flight safety requirement, together
with a far better understanding of human factors,
have contributed to the significant reduction in air
accidents. Safety management systems, be they on
the aircraft or at airports and air traffic control, have
also contributed.
www.aerosociety.com OCTOBER 2017
11
 Transmission
LETTERS AND ONLINE

f
Ron Howard F-35 and QE carriers

xxx

I read your obituary of Ron
Howard(1) with interest
and was surprised that it
did not include his very
valuable contribution to
the UK avionics industry
as a whole. Having been
President of the Society
of British Aerospace
Companies (SBAC), Ron
recognised that avionics
needed a way of marrying
the emerging concepts of
the avionics industry with
those of Government at the
executive level with the aim
of establishing co-ordinated
research programmes.
In this context he took a
major lead in encouraging
effective collaboration
within the avionics
industry. It is all a long
time ago but Ron brought
together the Electronic
Engineering Association
(EEA) and the SBAC in
establishing the EEA/
SBAC Avionics Systems
Third British offset(2)
I think the bits about 17-
year old LEET hackers are
ridiculous. Sorry. Might as
well go on about 17-year-
old missile engineers. Such
people are always using
tools made by their elders
and betters.
Committee (ESASC) as
the industry vehicle to
work with Government.
The dialogue between
Government and ESASC
was very wide ranging and,
as one-time Chairman, I
always found Ron to be
hugely supportive. I should
also add that he had the
most wonderful sense of
humour and a fine sense of
the ridiculous both very
important in the aerospace
industry!
Bruce Adams FRAeS
formerly of Smiths
Industries
HMS Queen Elizabeth
The HMS Queen
Elizabeth aircraft carrier(3)
represents a singular
achievement of the
British sovereign industry
and the Royal Navy. All
involved with this project
could rightly be proud
of the impressive and
BAESystems
BLADE runner(6)
All-electric flight(4) Artists impression of F-35B
taking off from deck of QE-
McParlinStephen [On
It would depend on a number class carrier.
Airbus laminar wing flow
of factors... purpose of
research] I remember the
aircraft, future environmental
early days of the programme
restrictions, cost of oil,
definition well. Keeping the @Scottmox UK [On
technological development
attachment line clean is an F-35B on final approach
rate in electrical components,
issue for laminar flow wing to QEC(7)]. Easily the best
etc. The list is fairly long.
designs. article on F-35B Ive had
Solar will only ever be
the pleasure to read.
supplementary power in
Balanced and accurate.
civil aviation. Batteries need
@Boba_H_Fett Have they
to get a LOT more power
solved the flies/bugs/rain
and energy dense (note
problem? @thepublicgets Also
the distinction between the
good reminder that total
two!), and hybrid technology
work on global develop-
needs to make gains
@StTim Not sure I would ment and manufacture will
elsewhere (aerodynamics,
like being in an inherently be 3 x value of our own
weight savings) where losses
unstable aircraft. Unlike aircraft purchases.
are inevitable (ie between
fighter jets, we dont get
engine and fan). One thing
ejection seats.
is for sure, we need more
@GoddersTwit Agreed
interdisciplinary engineers.
@NuffSaidThis Can CFD a great article by
Electrical and mechanical
always tell the truth? @RAeSTimR ... I like it
engineers are all well and
when he says Jedi-like
good, but when you have
@ProfAtkin No, not skills were required to
complex trade-offs that
enough conceptual work hover a Harrier them
exist between electrical
into how best to extend were the days...
and mechanical systems
as with electric flight, the laminarity while maintaining
lack of knowledge on either a customer-friendly aircraft.
Non-optimal solution IMO! @kilo_delta_papa Sea
discipline about the other can
More context: in 1996 I was Harriers were much
make progress slow.
shouted down for suggest- prettier. Are we going to
ing that LFC might deliver see the old FAA insignia
Joe Palmer
only 10% fuel burn reduction revived? Mailed fist? The
Airport Art (5) cf 40% claimed by others. O?
wikimedia/Bjrn Christian Trrissen

Tim Murphy graceful 21st century

An excellent article. As
a former AD nav now
working in digital on the
fringes of cyber security, it
cannot be underestimated
how serious this threat is.
Webspresso
RAF arguing for a bigger
share of the defence
budget, how unusual.
Ron5
carrier. It means that the
British shipbuilding and
ancillary industry is fully
competent and capable of
undertaking such gigantic
naval construction projects
in tune with the demands
of the modern sea warfare.
What a proud moment
for all those who burnt
midnight oil to demonstrate
this marvelous feat. A ship
worthy of its great name.
Salim Mehmud
@luimnea I actually am in-
clined to agree with you and
the practicalities of NLF will
show its a technology thats
too high-maintenance.
@MiguelCastill93 The
two exterior NLF wings
A huge 35-40 feet tall
where integrated by
Teddy Bear at Hamad
Aernnova, not by Saab and
International Airport in
GKN, that supplied just
2015.
leading edges and
Sachin Ramesh upper skins of the wings.
@rn198386 Roll on. Then
all the moans and groans
about no aircraft for the
carriers can stop. Pity we
couldnt get the planes
quicker though!
@jamesbird Ha! It is great
but the flexibility of a cats
and traps carrier still would
have preferred the C
variant personally!

12 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017


Flying for the Dark Side(8)
Cobham special missions Falcon 20 and RAF Typhoons.
@KevMarsh An excellent
article Tim. Cobham
provides excellent
training but ASDOT and
DOTC(Air) are well
overdue. Lets hope it
happens as planned!
@4Gleavy 4/5th Gen
training environment has
to be so much better than
this... #legacy
RAeS at Scampton
Air Marshal Julian Young, RAF
Air Member for Materiel and
Chief of Materiel (Air)
with Rosalind Azouzi and
Aditee Desurkar at RAF
Scampton Air Show.
@SBAP1 Honoured to
welcome @Chf_Eng_Air to
our stand this morning!
Absolute highlight of
our show! #engineering
#STEM @AeroSociety
@BoeingUK
@Chf_Eng_Air I believe
the honour was all mine!
Great STEM activity at
@ScampAirshow from
@AeroSociety
@BoeingUK boeinguk
#STEM #Engineering
@aerosociety i linkedin.com/raes
Find us on LinkedIn
Cobham
@thomas_embleton
Wish NATO had an
aggressors unit equipped
with a mix of jets and pilots
get some Polish MiGs,
RAF Typhoon Tranche 1,
some Mirages and F4s.
@Casey_stedman
My squadron uses the
VADER call sign as well
(757th AS).
DLR biofuel contrails(9)
@JeffGazzard Less. Not
zero. Impact on contrail
formation and longevity?
Who knows? And still no
sign of alternative aviation
fuel at scale anywhere.
@eqloprtntyhtr Id be
more impressed if they
could stop making
conspiracy theorists think
they were chem trails.
Combating air rage
@WayneLCarson [On
Panorama TV documentary
on drunken passengers]
Ban selling alcohol at
airports. Enforce no fly on
drunk pax trying to board.
Two drink max on aircraft.
Simple really.
Perlan 2 glider record
@Mr_Bingo_Little Thats
incredible!!! Getting a
soaring licence is a huge
dream of mine.
f facebook.com/raes
Find us on Facebook.
@RAF_Simmer And who
Brexit and EASA @sheen_alexander
said flying multis was @AeroSociety concludes
boring!? @paul2020 Clear @EASA Membership
@AeroSociety paper on critical for future
benefit of staying in EASA #UK aerospace industry
@egfe Great insight Tim ! post Brexit. Vital for (230,000 direct and
successful UK aerospace indirect jobs) post #Brexit
industry lnkd.in/g86g7rQ
@craig73webster The
guys there are brilliant,
jamming of all kinds
D P Davies Handling the Big Jets
@dda951 I read Handling
@JonLake1 Nice piece, the Big Jets years ago.
Tim! Possibly an earlier edition.
Very spot on.
@dauphinsky Great to
see what our airfield @GolddogAndrew Read
buddies get up to. Vital it!!! I practically know it by
training for a very changing heart!
world!
@MaxK_J My copy has a
BOAC 747 on it!
RAeS Canberra Branch
@ContractDog Yes I
@felipeherrera43 A must
have. Its pretty much a
have! Great resource,
must read for any aspiring
some items are very
jet pilot but agreed it does
engineer-oriented but
need updating.
nonetheless great for a
curious pilot!
@TWPILOT1 Yes I have
read it and there is a real
@kerinjoyce Great @2049197cfi Great book.
need for somebody to write
@AeroSociety Canberra Used it when instructing
an updated version dealing
brief on @DeptDefence in C-5 Galaxy at School
with #automation I very
Joint Helo School from CO House in Altus, OK. Even
much doubt that there is
and Contract Manager. used it when investigating
anybody in the #CAA who
Thanks Bruce and Mark! wing scrape incident.
could write a new version.
@aiaa
An archive audio recording of a technical interview with D P
Davies is shortly to be made available on the RAeS website.
1. AEROSPACE, September 2017, p 54, Obituaries
2. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/time-for-a-british-third-offset/
3. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/hms-queen-elizabeth-home-in-portsmouth-naval-base/
4. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/preparing-for-electric-flight/
5. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/airport-art/
6. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/blade-runner-wake-up-time-to-fly/
7. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/uk-f-35b-on-final-approach-to-qec/
8. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/flying-for-the-dark-side/
9. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/greener-biofuels/
Online
Additional features and content are available to view
online at http://media.aerosociety.com/aerospace-insight
www.aerosociety.com
www.aerosociety.com OCTOBER 2017 13
 AEROSPACE
A340 BLADE laminar flow demonstrator
BLADE Runner
TIM ROBINSON reports from Tarbes, France, as Europe's most ambitious
aerospace demonstrator gets set to take on the final frontier of
aerodynamics natural laminar flow.
A
lmost ten years after the start of the
project, a European flying lab will
take-off later this month to explore
and research the Holy Grail of
aerodynamics natural laminar flow
(NLF).
The Clean Sky 2 BLADE (Breakthrough
Laminar Aircraft Demonstrator in Europe)
demonstrator, was rolled out of its hangar in Tarbes
in the south of France at the start of September.
BLADE is a highly-modified Airbus A340 airliner
and the culmination of nearly ten years of research,
planning and ground tests by Airbus and its
industrial and academic partners on this pan-
European aerospace project. With its outer wings
removed and replaced by two new panels packed
with sensors, BLADE is set to study laminar flow in
flight to a level of detail never seen before.
If successful, its flight tests could lead the way
to a step-change in NLF aerodynamics for civil
airliners with up to 8% drag reduction for a short-
range airliner. This would translate into 5% block
fuel burn saving on a typical 800nm single-aisle
mission. Given that millions are invested each year
to improve engine fuel efficiency by an average of
1%, exploiting NLF represents a tantalising goal
for the industry in helping to meet the challenging
environmental targets set by Europes ACARE
2020.
14 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017
Airbus
Go with the flow
Advances by civil aircraft manufacturers are
sometimes taken for granted. Notes Axel Flaig, Head
of R&T, Airbus, which is the leader on this project:
Aviation has achieved a lot in the past 50 years with
more than a 70% reduction in fuel flow, and noise
down by 90%. These advances have, however, been
mostly driven by engine manufacturers, developing,
cleaner, quieter, fuel-sipping turbofans. With aero
engine development (at least for conventional
kerosene-powered turbofans) now plateauing in
terms of efficiency: The next big step is to look at
friction" says Flaig. The ball is now in the airframers
court. Flaig says that BLADEs goal is to reduce wing
friction drag by a whopping 50%.
Harnessing natural laminar flow, of course, is not
a new idea and has been around for decades, with
perhaps one of the first attempts being the North
BLADE is a Clean American P-51 Mustang. Simply put, a laminar flow
Sky project, with wing, with a different side-on profile and extremely
the A340 part of
Airbus new in-
house FlightLab
technology
demonstrator arm.

smooth surface, aims to delay the separation of the
air as it races across the top of the wing greatly
reducing drag. The longer the flow over the wing
can be smoothly laminar, sticking to the wings
surface, as opposed to turbulent, the better.
Though the basics are well understood,
converting NLF from laboratory or wind-tunnel tests
into a practical wing able to be built and survive the
rigours of everyday airline operations has proved
frustratingly elusive. NLF over a wing in the air
exists in a very fickle state and can separate into
turbulent flow by a whole range of microscopic flaws
or tiny movements, including wing contamination
(ice, grease, insects, dents) deformation (wing
flexing, joints), loose fastener heads and even
acoustic disturbances and vibrations.
These demanding requirements for an ultra-
smooth surface and stiffer wing also mean that new
design and manufacturing techniques are needed
to first, create a wing that is super slippery, and
second, build one that can be mass-produced, can
be easily maintained and retains its NLF qualities in
regular airline operations.
These challenging requirements for an industrial
wing to be used in everyday service (as opposed
to a highly prepared wing in wind-tunnel testing in
controlled conditions) explains why it is only now,
with todays sophisticated CFD flow simulation and
advances in precision manufacturing, an optimised
industrial-quality natural laminar flow wing is now
almost within aerospaces grasp. With BLADE,
Airbus is aiming for laminar flow from the leading
edge to 50% chord.
Enter BLADE
To test this, Airbus and its partners will use a heavily
modified four-engine A340 airliner (in reality
MSN001, the first A340 prototype). This has had
its outer wings replaced by two reduced sweep (20
deg) laminar flow outer wings, that are designed to
be two-thirds the size of a single-aisle airliner wings.
Each of the outer NLF wing upper skins and leading
edges (both wing sections integrated by Aernnova)
are supplied by two different manufacturers (GKN
Aerospace and Saab) with each featuring a different
construction and assembly. GKNs wing, on the
starboard, features a more conventional architecture
with a metal leading edge and composite cover.
Saabs wing on the port wing, on the other hand,
features a one-piece composite surface, with
Airbus
integrated rib feets and spar cap.
@aerosociety i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook
Airbus
In addition, the wing sections are separated and Far left, Airbus
bookended by aerodynamic pods that both keep the
NLF airflow separate from the inner wing section A340 MSN001
and are also packed with advanced sensors (see has had major
below). The A340 BLADE also features a pod on surgery to turn
the vertical tail that houses thermal sensors looking
down onto the wings. This pod is a more elegant
it into a laminar
and easier location than an earlier concept which flow demonstrator.
would have seen a sensor pod mounted on struts Above: The
above the centre fuselage. prototype was
But if the wings being tested are for a single-
aisle airliner, why use an A340? Using a large rolled out of its
four-engine design like this offers some advantages, hangar at Tarbes,
says Airbus. For one, the A340 has a natural France, at the
junction outboard of the outer engines where a new
beginning of
wing can be installed. Secondly, replacing part of
a larger aircraft's wing in an inflight flying lab, will September.
give more predictive and better safety margins than
if, for example, a smaller entire wing was swapped.
Should the results prove unexpected in some way,
the aircraft will still have most of its wing producing
lift. It is worth noting that a laminar flow wing
changes the handling qualities and performance
(stall speeds etc) and thus adding a wing to a larger
airliner provides an additional safety margin. Finally,
replacing the outer wings on an existing larger
airliner is a cheaper solution than building entirely
new wings for a smaller airliner. An A320 NLF
demonstrator, for example, would also need new
nacelles and pylons integrated a far more complex
and expensive project.
A flood of data No wool tufts
While Airbus test aircraft are no stranger to measuring airflow
advanced sensors the measurements being here the end
taken by the A340 BLADE test aircraft will break
new ground in accuracy with 87,000 parameters
pod will use HD
measured by some 2,700 sensors. Indeed, some cameras to detect
measure of how precise measurements of NLF laminar flow.
and laminar/turbulent separation need to be can
www.aerosociety.com JUNE 2017 23
 AEROSPACE
A340 BLADE laminar flow demonstrator
be gained in that lasers were rejected as not being
accurate enough. It is the most advanced flight
test installation we have ever done at Airbus says
Daniel Keirbel, the BLADE Project Leader since
2015.
To study NLF and measure laminar/turbulent
transition on the new wing test sections, thermal
cameras in a pod installed on the vertical tail will
measure tiny differences in temperature that show
where the cooler laminar-flow air breaks down into
a hotter turbulent flow.
But this is only half the story. To cross check
this laminar flow, HD cameras in the wing pods will
use reflectology to watch a zebra-like test pattern
reflected in the mirror-like wing surfaces looking to
see if separation is being caused by tiny flexes or
deformation in the wings surface. Eight cameras
will be able to see disturbances on the skin as small
as 20 microns, or almost a quarter of the width of
a human hair. Meanwhile, spread out underneath
the wings skin are waviness sensors which, like the
inside of Yale locks, can measure whether the wing
itself is distorting in tiny imperceptible ways.
Other sensors include 1,200 pressure sensors
and accelerometers with the aircraft itself is
expected to generate a staggering 4TB of data
each flight, the majority (75%) of this from the
reflectology HD cameras that will scan for tiny
changes in the aircrafts skin.
Microphones are also fitted to measure acoustic
disturbances and the A340 BLADE is also fitted
with an extremely unusual piece of equipment for a
test aircraft a loudspeaker. Such is the sensitivity
of NLF that turbulent separation can be triggered by
acoustics. Therefore Airbus will test to see what the
effect of noisy engines are on laminar flow with a
series of pure tones.
24 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017
The road to Cleaner Skies
It has been a long and winding road to get here.
The BLADE technology project, as part of the EUs
Clean Sky's Smart Fixed-Wing Aircraft Integrated
IT IS THE MOST Technology Demonstrator (SFW-ITD), has involved
ADVANCED a large number of industrial and academic partners
from around Europe, from Spain to Sweden, and
FLIGHT TEST
from Romania to the UK. All told, BLADE features
INSTALLATION 21 partners from across Europe including Airbus,
WE HAVE Dassault, Saab, Safran, Aernnova, GKN Aerospace,
EVER DONE AT Romaero and EURECAT, as well as SMEs' such as
Sertc, Asco, Aritx, FTI-Engineering and research
AIRBUS bodies like DLR, NLR and ONERA.
Daniel Keirbel Launched in 2008, BLADE saw a concept
BLADE Project Leader, freeze review in 2010, maturity reviews of the
Airbus wings between 2010 and 2014. Manufacturing of
the upper covers began in 2015, while the existing
wings were removed and new ones joined in 2016.
This year saw aircraft power on in February and
flight test instrumentation integration completed in
August.
The extensive preparation has also included
CFD testing, low-speed wind-tunnel testing, as well
as developing the flight test anti-contamination
device.
Flight test
With BLADE now handed over to the flight test
Flight Test team, the aircraft is set to fly for the first time
Engineers as AEROSPACE goes to press. The flight test
station. BLADE campaign will consist of two phases, in 2017 and in
2018, with the goal of flying around 120-150 hours.
will generate up The first phase, in Q4 of 2017, will see aircraft
to 4TB of data handling qualities assessed and the flight envelope
each flight. opened out to obtain initial results from the NLF
wing sections.
Stalls will be tested as the modification to a new
aerofoil section will change the aircrafts handling,
necessitating a careful approach. To incorporate the
NLF sections, the existing wings have also had their
slats disabled, making for a higher landing speed.
As one Airbus source noted, it will be a bizarre
aircraft to fly with wings that are two-thirds 1980s
technology and one-third, the latest cutting-edge.
optimised laminar flow design.
Interestingly, the reflectology measuring sensors
means that there are limitations due to the angle
of the Sun, with a four-hour sweet spot either side
of the zenith where the miniscule deformations
in the skin can be observed by the cameras. For
this reason, from around late October onward, the
aircraft will have to curtail flight testing (or move
south) during winter as the Sun will not be at the
correct angle.
Project engineers will start slowly, with the goal
of flying at the sweet spot for NLF Mach 0.75.
Then the speed will be increased to 0.79 and above,

with the goal of measuring in detail never-before
recorded when separation happens on a full-size
wing in flight.
Sharp-eyed observers will notice that the wing
sweep of the outer test NLF wings are around 20,
compared with 30 for the rest of the swept wing.
The reason highlights a tricky compromise for future
airliner designers optimise a wing with (shallower
sweep) that maintains laminar flow at around Mach
0.75 and save fuel, or fly faster at the usual cruising
speed of Mach 0.82-0.85 and see boundary-layer
separation as the aircraft goes faster. One solution
might be hybrid laminar-flow, either passive or
active, to suck the airflow to the wing and keep
the drag down at higher speeds. A slower, but more
fuel efficient, straighter wing thus means that the
first applications could be in narrowbody airliners
on short-haul routes, where slower cruise speeds
may not make too much of a difference compared
to long-haul.
A second phase of flight testing, in 2018, will
test the robustness of laminarity in representative
operational conditions. This will include artificially
introducing contaminants such as grease, or finding
concentrations of insects to dirty the wing, with the
goal of seeing when NLF breaks down. A 2m fixed
Krueger flap section will also be tested to act as a
possible anti-contamination device that could be
a solution for protecting the wing from insects on
take-off and landing in regular operations. A peel-
off paper strip, activated by pilots using a cable after
take-off will protect the leading edge from dead
bugs during flight tests.
BLADE also includes aspects of maintainability
with Airbus drawing on its in-house maintenance
experts to judge whether a contaminated wing can
be recognised by eyesight alone and to help define
what airline maintenance requirements might be.
Ease of maintainability will thus be a crucial
factor in selling an airliner with NLF to airline
customers in the future. Oddly, one unexpected
spin-off of Lockheed Martin F-35 in the future will
be a global pool of military maintenance technicians
with experience of looking after an aircraft with
unique coatings and a need to keep the surface
extremely smooth. Some of these will naturally
Airbus
migrate to the civil sector and therefore there may
@aerosociety i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook.com
could find its way onto Airbus next generation
single-aisle product. However, as an EU project, it is
institutions may have in the follow-on Clean Sky 3.
Summary
Thermal cameras on the
vertical tail pod will detect
cooler laminar flow airflow
compared to hotter turbulent
areas.
www.aerosociety.com
Left: close-up of the
Saab (port) one-piece
NLF wing section. Black
stripes on pod help HD
cameras measure tiny
deformations of the upper
skin.
be a body of experience well versed already in some
of the requirements for supporting NLF-winged
airliners when it finally enters the market.
Clipped wings?
Readers from the UK may note the irony that,
just as wing design, testing and development is
set to enter a new era of aerodynamics, Britain
is set to exit the EU in two years time, potentially
hampering a field in which otherwise it would be
considered a natural leader in commercialising and
productionising this technology. Airbus in the UK,
with its Wing of the Future project, is still set to play
a central role and, indeed, should BLADE prove
successful, then it is highly likely this technology
unclear what access UK companies and academic
Some companies have already begun highlighting
their European facilities and factories and stressing
that they should be considered European, rather
than UK entities.
The A340 BLADE flight tests, on Europes largest
ever flight test demonstrator are thus set to be a
landmark in aerodynamics research as the first
industrial transonic laminar flow flight test. The
sheer amount and granularity of data expected
from this testbed should prove invaluable in
helping engineers design ultra-efficient wings and
airframes for the next generation of airliners. This
sort of research, with a large flying demonstrator
or X-plane, will also help keep Airbus and the
European aerospace sector ahead of rivals, just as
the duopoly faces new entrants keen to muscle in
on Toulouse and Seattles turf.
Another spin-off benefit is that, having
developed this flying, instrumented testbed, it
could form the basis to explore laminar flow even
further, for example, with active or passive hybrid
flow solutions, or perhaps even self-cleaning
nanotechnology coatings in follow-on trials.
OCTOBER 2017 25
 DEFENCE
F-35B flight testing
First in the class
The countdown is now on for the return of UK Carrier Strike.
TIM ROBINSON reports from BAE Systems Warton on the behind the
scenes activity to make the Lockheed Martin F-35B ready for the Royal
Navys new Queen Elizabeth class.
I
n just over a year's time, one lucky UK test
pilot is set to perform a historic flight the
first landing of a new fighter aircraft on a
brand-new aircraft carrier a double first that
is a major milestone. "This is the SuperBowl
of flight test a once in a lifetime opportunity,"
enthuses RAF F-35B test pilot Squadron Leader
Andy Edgell. The majestic entrance of HMS Queen
Elizabeth into Portsmouth in August and the pride
and excitement surrounding it, is an indicator of
the importance that the first F-35B landing on the
carrier will carry.
Indeed, while next year it will be eight years
since the retirement of the iconic Harrier, you have
to go back over 50 years to 1963 when Hawker
test pilot Bill Bedford made the first jet fighter
vertical landing on an aircraft carrier on HMS Ark
Royal in the P.1127. The rest, as they say, is history
with the Harrier, Sea Harrier and AV-8 being
adopted for shipborne operations by the UK, USMC,
Italy, India, Spain and Thailand.
Fast forward to 2017 and Edgell (UK MoD
BAE Systems
First of Class Flight Trials (FOCFT) Lead Test Pilot)
is one of the UK F-35B test pilots embedded into
the JSF Integrated Test Force at the US Navys
18 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017
Patuxent River flight test centre in Maryland.
His role in the US, (like his colleagues Cdr Steve
Crockatt (RN and Team Leader), Cdr Nath Gray
(RN), Sqn Ldr Ben Hullah (RAF) and BAE Systems
own Pete Wizzer Wilson) as a developmental
test pilot is to define the edges of the envelope,
investigate handling and focus on safety.
Edgell stresses that this developmental
testing (higher, faster and, occasionally, slowest) is
separate from the F-35 work undertaken from
the RAF's 17(R) Sqn at Edwards AFB that
concentrates on weapon employment,
combat tactics and how to use the
fighter operationally.
This team (along with UK
engineers, maintainers and
support personnel from the RN,
RAF and industry) have been
busy this year conducting the
second phase of land-based F-35B
ski-jump testing at Pax River a critical stage in
proving that the F-35B is ready to go to sea in
2018. Over 70% of the ski-jumps needed have
now been completed with the team working on
the toughest challenges, such as maximum stores
asymmetry and crosswinds (one drawback of the
land-based ski jump testing at Pax River is that the
team have to wait for the wind conditions to co-
operate for the correct speed and direction.)
These pilots are also tasked with developing
and de-risking the new shipborne rolling vertical
landing (SRVL) technique which will allow higher
bring-back of stores in hot climates than the
traditional hover. This uses a straight-in approach
with the aircraft slowing from about 140kt to
approximately 60kt over the carriers stern with
the aircraft still getting some aerodynamic lift from
the wings. As well as allowing higher bring-back
weights, SRVL also has side benefits, such as
reduced wear and tear on the LiftFan and less
damage on the same landing deck spot from the
powerful rear-nozzle exhaust.
 BAE Systems
While some critics worry that it could be more
workload-intensive in bad weather or a fouled
deck, others describe it as a doddle in the sim.
One F-35B pilot is sanguine about the technique,
pointing out that a short, slow landing is nothing
new for land-based Harriers and observes: In fact, if
we were still operating Harriers now, we'd probably
be using it. It will thus be for Edgell, Wizzer and the
rest of the team to prove this concept at sea.
STOVL comes home
Then, in the fourth quarter of 2018, off the east
coast of the US, will be the main event the first
F-35B at sea testing aboard the Queen Elizabeth.
Edgell says that four pilots will be assigned to
the task, with two aircraft to be used over two
four-week periods with a break in between. With
a heavy flying schedule, a break in the middle will
be welcome for pilots, engineers and deck crew
to keep concentration at the highest. He expects
that, after getting to grips with the ship and carrier
qualifications for the pilots, the first four weeks will
see ski-jump take-offs and vertical landings during
the day/night and with the deck dry and wet to get
comfortable.
The next phase in the second four-week period,
will hopefully see the SRVL testing for real, as
well as more challenging testing, including stores,
asymmetric loads and high-deck motion STOVL
operations. Inert stores will be used in these trials,
as there is no requirement to conduct the testing
with live weapons or do firings: Weve already
proved live weapons will fall off this jet says
Edgell. Following these two trials next year, a third
development period is scheduled some nine months
later in 2019.
While this testing will mark a milestone in the
RNs next-generation Carrier Strike capability,
early in 2018 will also see the first UK F-35Bs
with 617 Sqn roar into RAF Marham. This opens
a new stealth chapter in the Services history and,
appropriately enough, the RAFs 100th anniversary
year. In July saw another UK aircraft (BK-11)
delivered to 617 at MCAS Beaufort, with the
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Suhoki
squadron expected to have 14 by the end of this
year. In another sign of a transition to a front-line
Inside the new operational squadron, the first four UK ab-initio
pilots, direct from fast-jet training at RAF Valley,
F-35B/QEC have just joined the squadron. Initial Operating
integration Capability is expected at RAF Marham by the end
simulator at BAE of 2018.
Systems Warton. These are the final steps in a journey that
started decades ago with the question: What
replaces the Harrier? and has passed through
projects like JAST, CALF, X-35/X-32 and now the
JSF are nearing the finish line and will see the RN,
RAF, MoD and industry working together to deliver
the UKs new potent carrier strike in around 2020.
Honing vertical landings in Warton
Supporting the UK developmental flight test team at
Pax River is BAE Systems, where some 50+ years
of Harrier experience is being brought together to
make the F-35B the easiest and safest VTOL fighter
ever to operate from a ship. Just opened earlier in
March, BAE Systems F-35/QEC simulation facility
at Warton, Lancashire, is a key part in testing and
de-risking fixed-wing naval operations. Simulation
and modelling is highly critical for QE and F-35B, not
just because of the increased fidelity and processing
power available but also with the UK having been
out of the fixed-wing carrier game for seven years
nothing and no detail too small is being taken
for granted. For example, CFD modelling of wind
interaction around the distinctive twin islands is
incorporated in the simulator.
BAE Systems test pilot Pete The most challenging area to model, notes
Wizzer Wilson makes a
BAEs David Atkinson in charge of the new
ski-jump with a fully-loaded
F-35B at Pax River. facility, is in the F-35Bs transition phase between
conventional wing-borne and vertical flight.
BAE says that the 2m facility, which includes a
moving platform F-35 cockpit, dome visual system
and a simulated QEC FLYCO (Flying Control), is its
most sophisticated flight simulator yet. It uses 64
processors and 1TB RAM and allows test pilots
to practice, train and rehearse safely before they
even get to the ship. The inclusion of a FLYCO in
the room next door also allows Royal Navy LSO
(Landing Signal Officers) to experience, train and
develop CONOPS in controlling F-35B launch and
recovery operations. Cameras give a gyro-stabilised
US Navy
view of pilots approach with gradient and centreline
guides marked. BAE is also trialling video gaming
www.aerosociety.com OCTOBER 2017 19
 BAE Systems
DEFENCE
Distributed simulation and training
The BAE F-35/QEC virtual reality headsets to allow LSOs to immerse
integration facility also has a
themselves in a virtual FLYCO and see exactly what
virtual FLYCO to help develop
CONOPS before the first they would see onboard the real ship.
F-35B at sea trials with QEC So, what is the value of this facility to highly
next year. experienced test pilots, some of whom have already
taken the F-35B to sea, albeit on US Navy assault
ships? Says Sqn Ldr Edgell: As testers you are
inherently cynical. However good the modelling
is, we have to do it for real. However, it builds
confidence and tells us where we need to focus our
efforts. It also potentially allows us to take bigger
steps towards the edge of the envelope.
Hands on with the F-35B
So, what is the F-35B like to fly? Thanks to the
pioneering work of UKs DERA (now DSTL/
HOWEVER QinetiQ) VAAC Harrier testbeds and test pilots
like Justin Paines and John Farley in developing
GOOD THE advanced FBW software for VTOL aircraft it
MODELLING IS, is extremely simple. Whereas the Jedi-like skills
WE HAVE TO needed to control the Harrier in the hover requires
DO IT FOR REAL. movement of throttle, nozzle control and stick and
has been likened to balancing on the top of a pencil
HOWEVER, while needing three hands, the F-35Bs fly-by-wire
IT BUILDS controls are just a sidestick and throttle HOTAS
CONFIDENCE with the flight computers doing all the hard work, (it
AND TELLS is noteworthy that the UK is the only country after
the US to have its own lines of code in the F-35
WHERE WE software).
NEED TO To assist pilots coming into land, there are
FOCUS OUR two velocity vectors a traditional one,and a
ship-shaped one showing where the ship will
EFFORTS. be. The ships speed is also entered into the flight
IT ALSO management computer via the touchscreen display.
POTENTIALLY Approaching the ship from behind at around
ALLOWS US 170kt and 500ft, once at 200ft the pilot hits the
'brake' deceleration button and the aircraft begins
TO TAKE slowing and transitioning to a hover, with the LiftFan
BIGGER STEPS engaging and the rear nozzle swivelling down for
TOWARDS THE vertical flight. Once slowed, the pilot can swing
EDGE OF THE to the left side of the ship. The aircraft's flight
computers now cleverly match the ship's speed, with
ENVELOPE the pilot pushing forward on the control sidestick
Sqn Ldr Andy Edgell (or inceptor) to go down. At 100ft and about a
UK MoD First Of Class wingspan across from the deck, the pilot is thus
Flight Trials (FOCFT) Lead ready to transition sideways over the deck, with fine
Test Pilot hovering control being provided by the moving rear
F-35 Integrated Test Force nozzle, LiftFan and the STOVL roll jets at the tips
NAS Paxutent River of the wings. At this point, with the flight controls
20 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017
engaged and the aircraft happily matching speed
with the ship, the pilot can even take their hands
off the controls a move that would most likely be
suicidal in the Harrier for the average squadron pilot.
Hitting another thumb switch on the HOTAS
throttle engages a translational controller mode,
enabling the pilot to slide across in the hover and
line up with the centreline. Once in position it
is a case of pushing forward on the sidestick to a
software-controlled stop to descend and put the
aircraft firmly on the deck. At this point, control of
the engine thrust and vertical motion has passed to
the right hand, rather than the left hand which on
the first occasion is slightly disconcerting to push
full forward on what is normally a pitch control, some
50ft above a deck.
Then, feet on the brakes and the aircraft lands
itself. Effectively with these flight controls you are
flying an aeroplane that cannot stall and where
intuitive pull back/go up and push forward/go
down still work even when hovering. Says BAE:
The control philosophy is such that the left-hand
commands go-faster/go-slower while the right-hand
commands the aircraft to go-up/go-down and go-
left/go-right. Each hand commands a response in the
same axis in both wing-borne and jet-borne flight.
Taking off is even simpler. Line up on the
centreline for the ramp. Hold feet on brakes move
throttle to detent and then to full and it will take-off,
with just rudder pedals used to keep on track. No
sidestick control movements are needed although
pilots will guard the control stick with a hand.
Interestingly, for those wondering about the
SRVL and stopping a heavy aircraft without an
arrestor wire on a short deck, this correspondent
found that the carriers deck proved remarkably
sticky with a fair bit of throttle needed to get the
aircraft moving. BAE says the modelling in the
simulator includes dry, wet and flooded decks and
it has also carried out friction studies with F-35
tyres and the deck material.
The UK F-35 supply chain
It is not just in-flight testing where the UK is deeply
involved with F-35. Down the road from Warton at
BAE Systems factory in Samlesbury is evidence of
the huge industrial and supply chain involvement
in this programme with the company machining
and building aft fuselages, horizontal and vertical
tails for almost every F-35 made. This August saw a
significant industrial milestone passed for the F-35
with the 318th rear fuselage section produced

BAE Systems
at Samlesbury rolled off the production line. This
represents just 10% of the final production total.
Inside BAE's Samlesbury facility, a highly
automated, cutting-edge facility building and
assembling precision components for F-35 the
sheer scale of the programme is apparent. After
a slow start, Samlesbury is now in the middle of
production ramp-up, as the F-35 programme goes
into high-gear supplying assembly lines in Fort
Worth, Texas, Italy and now Japan. This year it will
ship 92 aft fuselages, 78 horizontal tails and 83
vertical tails (other facilities in Australia and Canada
building the difference in HT/VT and aft fuselages).
This represents a 30% increase in the production
rate, with another 30% increase in 2018.
This is just part of the UK's involvement in the
gigantic global F-35 programme which eventually
could see over 3,000 aircraft produced. As well
as the aft empennage and wingfold for the F-35C
carrier variant, BAE provides the EW system, HOTAS
(or active inceptors) and vehicle management
computer, as well as being the lead design authority
for the fuel system, crew escape system and life
support, with 1,525 people directly employed by
BAE on the F-35. Looking wider, it is estimated
that the F-35 will sustain some 25,000 UK jobs in
500 companies when it hits peak production rate in
2020. These range from big names like Rolls-Royce
(LiftFan), Martin-Baker (ejection seat) and MBDA/
Raytheon (UK weapons integration) to smaller SMEs.
Lockheed Martin
Above: BAE Systems F-35
rear fuselage and empennage
factory at Samlesbury,
Lancashire, is currently
ramping up production.
DSTL, which has been involved from even before
tip of spear over the rest of what could be a long
With Britain set to be the home for F-35
avionics MRO in Europe, sustainment and upgrades
will also be key opportunities over the long life of
the programme. Steve Simm, from UK defence lab
F-35 in giving independent technical evaluations,
airworthiness and projects like VAAC, notes that
there are three areas that might offer opportunities
for the UK in future F-35 upgrades sensors, all
round survivability and interoperability. Can the
UK exploit some of its aerospace and defence
technology innovation to keep the F-35 at the very
service career?
Summary
This is not to say that it will all be plain sailing for
the UK and F-35. Questions still remain about
the affordability of the full buy of 138 F-35s
particularly given that being priced in US dollars
means that the jet is getting more expensive for
Britain with the MoD spending on the jet rising by
10% in the past year.
Yet the return of Carrier Strike marks a new
chapter for the UK. QE and Prince of Wales will
give the country a multirole floating airbase, able
to project power, deploy transport and attack
helicopters and operate fixed wing aircraft and,

most probably one day, UAVs. The road has been a

long one and is not over yet but, finally Great Britain
is set to return to its place as a foremost exponent
of naval air power. The UK, which in the post-WW2
Left: The final era invented the steam catapult, carrier angled deck
ASRAAM launch and landing mirror making jet carrier aviation at
as part of the sea viable, along with the iconic jump jet which
MBDA AAM's UK provided a flexibility never seen before, is thus
on the final circuit and approach to Carrier Strike.
F-35B integration Indeed, it needs to be remembered that smaller,
testing was caught cheaper Harrier and Invincible-class were originally
on camera. Note consolation prizes for the supersonic, radar-
equipped Hawker P.1154 jump-jet and the RNs
Paveway IV PGMs,
CVA-01 super carrier being axed in the 1960s. Half
also to equip UK a century later, with F-35B and QEC, the wheel has
F-35s in service. come full circle.

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 AEROSPACE
Electric flight standards

Solar Impulse
Zunum
Aurora

Switching on
electric flight
In recent years standards and regulations have lagged behind changes
in new technology but, with passenger-carrying all-electric aircraft,
the regulators are hoping to keep pace to smooth the way for their
introduction. BILL READ FRAeS reports.

F
ollowing widespread publicity generated
by the 40,000km round the world odyssey
of the Solar Impulse 2 experimental solar-
powered aircraft in 2015-2016, one of the
most asked questions from the general
public was: When will we see the introduction of
large passenger-carrying electric-powered aircraft?
The answer given by informed experts who knew
something about the research and technical
advancements still needed before commercial
electric aircraft become a practical proposition, was:
no time soon. However, while the first commercial
passenger flight on an all-electric aircraft is still some
way off into the future, development of electrically-
powered aircraft has begun to move much faster than
was originally anticipated.
(Taurus G4, EADS/Airbus Cri-Cri and E-Fan2.0), Top from clockwise: The XV-
24A LightningStrike Created
ultralights (ElectraFlyer Trike), multiple rotor rotary by Aurora Flight Sciences
wing (Volocopter) and even a VTOL jet (Lilium). and partners Rolls-Royce and
Up to now, all these electrically-powered aircraft Honeywell, the Solar Impulse
have been relatively small in size, either being and its solar skin and the
Zunum Aero-4 hybrid-electric
unmanned or only able to carry a limited number of
airplane.
people. However, plans are now afoot to develop
much larger electric-powered aircraft. Airbus has
abandoned plans to develop a larger version of the
E-Fan to work on a project to develop a hybrid-
electric version of a demonstrator using a BAE 146
regional jet. Meanwhile, Boeing is one of a number
of companies supporting Zunum Aerospace in its
development of a hybrid business aircraft.
More-electric aircraft
Zu
nu

The past ten years has seen the development of

m
Ae
ro

a series of new electrically-powered aircraft, powered Meanwhile, the development of small electric
s
pa
ce

either by batteries, solar cells or a combination of
both. These new aircraft have included solar-powered
UAVs (QinetiQ/Airbus Defence Zephyr), power-
assisted gliders (EGenius), fixed-wing light aircraft
aircraft has been accompanied by technological
Zunum Aerospaces concept
upgrades to larger commercial aircraft in which
for electric commuter/
electrically-powered systems have been used to business aircraft variants.
replace equipment previously powered by bleed air

22 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017

from the engines, including cabin pressurisation, air
conditioning and de-icing. Electric power is also being
used to replace pneumatic and hydraulic systems,
such as flight controls, brakes and landing gear. One
of the major pioneers of these more-electric aircraft
systems has been the Boeing 787 which uses
electric systems to replace those previously powered
by hydraulics or bleed air from the engines.
The dead hand of regulation?
A complaint often heard in discussions about new
aerospace research and technology has been
the slow development of regulations. While new
technology can develop at a fast pace, the time
needed to develop new production standards and
introduce new safety and certification rules by the
regulators which will actually permit the new product
or process to be used in a commercial aircraft are
much slower. Examples of this in the aerospace
industry have been seen in the development of
composites, 3D printing and in flying cars.
Standards to the rescue
However, in the case of fully-electric aircraft, the
standards and regulatory authorities are planning to
keep pace with the cutting edge of technology, to
help co-ordinate their development and reduce the
time needed for their introduction into service. One
organisation current very active in the development of
electric aircraft is SAE International, an international
global standards developing organisation that
advances self-propelled vehicle and system
knowledge in a neutral forum for the benefit of society.
David Alexander, Director of Aerospace
Standards at SAE, explains how the organisation is
helping to pave the way for electric aircraft: While
standardisation may not be seen as one of the most
exciting aspects of aviation, it is becoming more
high profile, as it is more used and needed by the
regulatory authorities. Certification authorities are
looking towards more performance-based industry
standards and industry is playing a much greater role
in the regulatory process. Rather than waiting until
a product is mature and then describing it, industry
is using the standardisation process to develop a
consensus on practices and standards for technology
that is not yet proven. Its an environment in which
industry is working collaboratively with various
industry stakeholders, regulatory authorities and
responsible military agencies.
One of the great things about our work is
that we have the regulators and industry together.
Regulators such as the European Aviation Safety
Agency (EASA) are very keen to meet industry
as early as possible in the process to hear what
theyre looking at and what theyre hoping to do and
then starting thinking about whether the existing
regulatory framework and existing rules will allow
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them to address that or approve that particular
technology or product or whether they should start
thinking of something a bit more creative.
Sharing knowledge
There are sometimes problems when companies
researching new technology are not keen to share
their findings with each other which may result in
duplication of effort. That is definitely an issue,
agrees Alexander. Different companies have
different cultures regarding intellectual property (IP)
and sharing. Its natural. Technology developments
in industry will happen at a different pace with
different objectives depending on the organisation
and their ambitions. Theres always a sweet spot
in standardisation where its early enough in the
development of a particular technology, product or
process for the standardisation process to be used
in a very productive way for the industry to set out
some basic principles that will enable all of them
to be faster, particularly when youre looking ahead
to certification but late enough in the process that
companies are willing to come together and sit round
the table and share what they have with partners,
customers and suppliers.
Steering towards electric aircraft
To facilitate the development of new commercial
electric aircraft, SAE International has created
the Electric Aircraft Steering Group (EASG). The
Group meets online every month and twice a year
face to face and includes representatives from
major aerospace companies and organisations,
including Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer,
WHILE EASA, FAA, GE, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin and
STANDARD- Rolls-Royce. The aim of the Group is to: strategically
ISATION MAY identify, landscape and co-ordinate the various
standardisation activities necessary to support full-
NOT BE SEEN
electric and more electric aircraft applications at the
AS ONE OF THE top level system, subsystem and component levels.
MOST EXCITING Currently, the EASG is working on defining the
ASPECTS OF standardisation landscape needed to support the
power and infrastructure backbone for electric
AVIATION, IT aircraft and system functions, to develop a matrix of
IS BECOMING existing or in-progress standards which will highlight
MORE HIGH where work is still needed and to liaise with existing
PROFILE, AS standard developing committees. The EASG is
looking at such subjects as types of vehicle, energy
IT IS MORE and power storage, hybrid/electrical propulsion,
USED AND more electric engines, safety, power generation,
NEEDED BY THE maintenance, operations, testing, controls, power
electronics and modular open architecture.
REGULATORY
AUTHORITIES
Work in progress
David Alexander
Director of Aerospace The development of larger all-electric aircraft is
Standards, already well advanced. The more that people are
SAE working on the more-electric systems, the more
www.aerosociety.com OCTOBER 2017 23
 AEROSPACE
Electric flight standards
ElectraFlyer
progress we are making towards an eventual all-
electric aircraft, said Alexander. We already have
many electric systems on aircraft, including electric
actuators for flight controls, brakes and landing
gear, as well as (on bleedless engines) APU start,
cabin pressurisation, engine start and ice protection
systems. One recent example is the electric brakes
on the new Bombardier CSeries regional jet.
Bombardier says that these brakes have proved
ElectraFlyer
more reliable compared to hydraulic systems
which is very promising for the future.
Weve already started with the use of electric
power in more-electric aircraft, says Alexander.
Already weve produced reports, recommended
practices and some standards on such topics as
higher voltage applications, electric braking and
electric acuation.
The shape of electric aircraft to
ElectraFlyer
come
While it is not the purpose of this article to look in
detail how a future all-electric aircraft might look,
the current focus of the SAEs deliberations does
provide some general pointers.
It is likely that the engines will be mounted
in different places on the wing or fuselage with,
possibly, a number of multiple distributed power
Floridas Electric Aircraft electric engines. The electric engines will turn
Corporation has developed a
propellers which will make the aircraft fly slower
set of pioneering electrically-
powered aircraft. than a jet aircraft.
Top: ElectraFlyer-ULS,
ElectraFlyer Trike,
Power of the Sun?
ElectraFlyer-C Prototype.
Where will the electricity come from from batteries
or from solar-electric cells? Currently, its likely to
come mostly from batteries, says Alexander. Power
generated from solar cells is limited by the amount
of surface area you can fit them onto and also the
availability of sunlight. A commercial electric aircraft
will have to fly at night as well as in the day.
The shape of the wings is also under discussion.
Pure solar-powered aircraft, such as the Solar
Impulse 2, were fitted with very long thin wings
designed both to keep the aircraft aloft and to
maximise the number of solar cells. However, such
long straight wings would make an aircraft very slow
Dirk Schwarz
The Airbus E-Fan.
24 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017
and also have a very wide wingspan which might not
fit into a conventional airport gate. Airport space is
going to still be at a premium, said Alexander.
Hybrid aircraft
As more research is conducted into larger electric
aircraft, one factor that is becoming clearer is that
the first passenger-carrying designs are unlikely
to rely solely on electric power due to safety
considerations. What happens should the batteries
run out or fail to work? How could an electric aircraft
cope with a longer route diversion as a result of
an airport or airspace closure? There is also the
problem that aircraft need to use a lot of power for
take-off and climb out which would take a lot of
power from the batteries at the beginning of a flight.
It would also take longer to reach take-off speeds,
so an all-electric aircraft might require a longer
runway.
Because of these concerns, current research is
focusing on hybrid designs which would also have
conventionally powered engines as well as electric
engines. Because a hybrid aircraft does not rely on
one source of power, it would be easier to certify
from a safety point of view. The need for redundant
systems is certainly there, says Alexander. No
matter how proven battery technology is in 15 or
20 years, youve still got that ability to switch should
anything happen.
An example of a hybrid design can be seen with
Airbus development of the E-Fan into the hybrid
power E-Fan Plus which flew in the summer of
2016. Fitted with a thermal combustion engine in
the rear cockpit that can generate enough electricity
to sustain the E-Fan Plus in level flight at maximum
cruise speed in addition to charging its lithium-ion
batteries.
Size is everything
Another characteristic of a future all-electric aircraft
would be its size and range. Current research
suggests that, while electric propulsion is feasible
for larger aircraft, there is an upper limit beyond
which they would become technologically and
economically impossible. At the moment we are
only focusing our attention on medium-sized short couple of years is looking at the transport of lithium
range aircraft, said David Alexander. Nothing that batteries in air cargo and ICAO asked us to develop
Ive seen or heard suggests that industry would be a packaging standard for which we are hoping for a
confident to develop anything above a short-range final draft by the end of the year.
regional aircraft running with some form of hybrid
power. While the E-Fan is propelled by two 60Kw Technology breakthroughs needed
power fans, a 747-sized aircraft would need up to
90Mw to take-off, which one of my colleagues has However, the development of standards cannot
calculated would need a power equivalent to 4m guarantee the creation of larger electric-powered
laptop batteries. aircraft. The development of such aircraft also
depends on the development of new technology
Where do the batteries go? which does not yet exist, including major
improvements in the energy density of batteries
The e-Genius is a manned
Another area of research is where the batteries to and even high efficiency, more powerful electric
electric aircraft, developed by
power the aircraft might go. Should they be in the the Institute of Aircraft Design motors capable of producing jet-like propulsion.
wings where jet fuel is stored in conventionally- at the University of Stuttgart. New designs will depend on new batteries being
powered aircraft or in the fuselage? In a hybrid
powered aircraft, batteries in the wings would
make the wings heavier and space there might still
be needed for liquid fuel. Storing batteries in the
fuselage would take up space which could be used
for seating passengers or storing luggage. David
Alexander says that the answers to such questions
still lie in the future. The jury is still out there in
terms of what the manufacturers want, he said.
At present were not particularly concerned with
how the shape of the aircraft might look but we are
interested in safety and operational considerations.
Should the batteries be recharged in situ on
the ground or taken out to be replaced by fresh
batteries? How easy will it be to install or remove
batteries for recharging? In terms of battery life, it is
better to have a slower recharge to maximise battery
Andreas Doerr

life. Recharging the batteries within the aircraft

will take time and low-cost operators like to utilise
aircraft several times a day.
We also have to consider the concentration
and proximity of batteries to other critical systems.
Currently, our standardisation work is looking developed which do not exist at present, says
at environmental and installation requirements Alexander.
rather than on physical fitting. While operators Other technical advances are also needed in
and manufacturers would eventually like to have a cooling technologies, high power density electronics
choice of interchangeable batteries, that is a later and new high temperature-resistant lightweight
consideration. materials.

Battery safety But will they make money?

Related to this issue are concerns over battery A final important factor is that of economics. Not
safety, particularly with high energy batteries, such only must a commercial electric aircraft be safe to
as lithium ion which run the risk (as was evident in fly, it must also make money for an airline. Investing
the early days of the 787 in service) of catching fire. in a completely new paradigm for air travel must
A lot of work is being done now to ensure the safety make economic sense, said Alexander. He admits
of batteries, assures David Alexander. The 787 that current low oil prices are not helping. Talking
did have problems with lithium batteries and that to people in the industry, there is obviously a lot of
is still a concern. Its not so much that the battery thrust towards electric aircraft when fuel price is
technology itself is not safe but the way they are high, he says. With low oil prices, fuel consumption
used. The battery manufacturers are working hard is less of an economic driver and an all-electric
and we have hope and expectation that they will find aircraft is not currently going to be competitive.
a solution. Interestingly, one of the most high profile However, this may change in the future as fuel
activities that weve been working on over the past becomes more expensive.

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 BUSINESS AVIATION
Africa

Out of Africa
Pilatus Aircraft
AfBAA

How business aviation in the fast-growing African market is set to soar.

RADY FAHMY, CEO African Business Aviation Association (AfBAA),
reflects on the first five years of this organisation.

F
ive years ago, the African Business
Aviation Association was launched at
the business aviation industrys leading
European event, the European Business
Aviation Conference and Expo, EBACE.
Joined by ten fellow founding members, the
Founding Chairman Tarek Ragheb and myself, Chief
Executive Officer, Rady Fahmy, announced the
formation of an Association that would act as a pan-
African voice to advocate the benefits of business
aviation to the continents nations.
The Associations vision is focused on
establishing business aviation as an asset that is
recognised, valued and supported by governments,
their respective Civil Aviation Authorities,
enterprises, entrepreneurs and business leaders
across Africa, from north to south, and east to west.
The Association uses a variety of mediums including
advocacy, events, communications and networking
relationships, to promote the understanding and
benefits that the industry brings to the continents
economic development and prosperity.
Development potential
Africa remains a continent with the potential for
significant development. The African Economic
Outlook 2017 states that medium term prospects
are favourable and notes that entrepreneurs have a
key role to play in its economic acceleration. As with
many international countries, several African nations
have suffered from the fall in commodity prices,
yet the majority of the continents non-commodity
based economies continue to grow. Data coming

26 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017

 Asian Sky Group
Opposite page; Main picture:
Pilatus PC-24
Lower pictures (from left
to right): AfBAA Founding
Chairman Taerek Ragheb;
CEO AfBAA Rady Fahmy;
AfBAA launches the Ethiopia
Chapter at its first Country
Roundtable; and
Segun Demuren, Nuno
Pereira, Gavin Kiggen and
Rady Fahmy.
out of the World Bank and the
World Economic Forum this
year both indicate that a number
of non-commodity producing countries
including Morocco, Cte dIvoire, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal and Tanzania
are exhibiting economic resilience. These
nations are recognising that diversification is key to
economic growth and looking to renewable energy,
manufacturing and industrialisation as platforms for
success.
Africa is also experiencing a rapid urbanisation
with the WEF suggesting that by 2050 the African
population will have grown to 2.2bn, of which 80%
will be living in cities. The population continues to
get younger with 70% of the population aged under
30 years of age. The WEF also notes that there are
around 200 African innovation hubs, 3,500 new
tech-related ventures and $1bn spent in venture
capital each year indicating an innovative business
community. Africa will continue to grow and the
opportunities are abundant for international and
continental business.
Oil power
In terms of business aviation, it was initially the
hydrocarbon markets that spurred the sectors
growth. There was a rapid rise in business jet
use in countries such as Nigeria and Angola
until fluctuating oil prices took their toll. Jet sales
have slowed, partly due to slowing economies in
these nations, but also because the initial capital
expenditure had been made investing in new aircraft
in the previous decade. Prior to this, Africa was a
dumping ground for old jets, however, these days
serious businesses maximise their jets, not buying a
new one each year, but making sure the assets are
delivering good returns on their investment.
We are also seeing business aviation growth
from other sectors. Medevac operations delivering
passengers to centres of medical expertise; a rise
in UAVs being used for functional tasks such as
surveying, mapping, delivering badly needed medical
supplies; and within tourism itself theres increasing
demand for sight-seeing flights and shuttle services
between safari destinations and principal airports.
There is also diversification in the regions hit by
@aerosociety i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook
the commodity price downturn. In
Nigeria, the mining business is
beginning to really develop and we
imagine that well see a higher call for rotary
services in this area as exploration continues.
Angola is upping its interests in agriculture
which, with vast swathes of land to be
managed, requires aerial transportation.
The diversification within industries
such as mining, agriculture,
finance, construction
and telephony are
also maximising the
efficiencies offered.
One of the fascinating
things about Africa is that it
is made up of 54 countries, it is
not one country, and consequently
the countries developmental pace
surges and recedes at different rates
making it a challenge to
always predict where the
next growth element will
come from.
East African lead
The landscape has
shifted recently with East Africa undergoing
economic development. With less dependency
on hydrocarbon wealth it has perhaps even more
opportunities than in other established business
aviation markets like Western Africa or Southern
Total number of Africa.
In fact, according to the WEF Ethiopia is the
business jets
worlds fastest growing economy and it is therefore
operating in no surprise that AfBAA launched its first Country
African countries Chapter in Addis Ababa in 2016. When AfBAA
in 2015 (from launched, Ethiopia wasnt deemed to be an active
area but it has become incredibly vibrant and
ASG Africa we want to support the potential. The Ethiopian
Business Jet country chapter operates under the guidance of
Fleet Report). AfBAA, but focuses on supporting and enabling the
predicted development by providing a platform for
stakeholders who have an interest in the country
to debate and discuss challenges and solutions for
sustainable development.
Ethiopia is home to the African Union (AU)
and is increasingly attracting business interest
from the international community, partly fuelled by
the rapid growth of its national carrier Ethiopian
Airlines. AfBAA held its third regional symposium
in Addis Ababa and it was clear that the AU had
focused on commercial aviation development, as
opposed to business aviation. After attending our
symposium, ministers openly agreed that business
aviation was an area that needed their attention.
This change in Ethiopia perfectly reflects the
power of AfBAA and our approach to advocating
for the sector.
www.aerosociety.com OCTOBER 2017 27
 EAN
BUSINESS AVIATION
Africa

develop training offerings that can be delivered

Commercial growth
Commercial airline growth is also one of the strongest
factors supporting the sustained development of
business aviation in Africa as business and leisure
travel is developing beyond country borders. With
a burgeoning middle-class analysts suggest that
well over 100m Africans now manage discretionary
income and have heightened travel requirements.
This in turn drives economic growth that requires
infrastructure support. However, commercial aviation
is still very restricted on the routes that can be flown.
Often if you need to get from point A to point B you
must fly via point C and D. What should be a simple
two-hour flight between countries can turn into a day-
long voyage. This is driving a rising demand for the
benefits of business aviation from those developing
commercial enterprises.
through credible training organisations at international
and continental levels.
JAA TO and AATO are well known, active
entities in Africa, and it is anticipated the MoUs will
support AfBAAs ongoing aim of developing the
understanding by African operators, regulators and
governments about the value of business aviation.
AfBAA plans to initiate a signature Business Aviation
101 course, that will create awareness about the
specific requirements of the business aviation sector in
Africa, and how it differs from the commercial market.
With these new relationships in place we are
Nigerias EAN better positioned to improve access to standardised
Aviation offers information, provide credible courses continent
wide, and encourage African professionals to be
a modern FBO trained in, and then subsequently work in, African
lounge and holds business aviation. As part of our training commitment
IS BAH status. we have encouraged our members to adopt and
adapt international safety standards to convey
the commitment the continents suppliers have to
providing international levels of service.

Business facilitator
The continents executives are realising that executive
aviation is not a luxury but a facilitator in conducting
business as the benefits of privacy, security, time
saving, efficiency and productivity are realised.
Conversely the legacy of these strong airlines,
including Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, and the
upcoming RwandAir, equates to the need for highly
trained and qualified human resources.
This remains a key theme for AfBAA, the
recruiting, training and retention of skilled workers. The
association has a very active training committee which
THE
has made great strides in the past year as it has drawn CONTINENTS
attention to the needs of the market. It is an area full BUSINESS
of challenges, that we share with the commercial AVIATION
airline sector. Finding the right people, with the right
skills to build the African aviation community.
SECTOR IS
The continents business aviation sector is OFTEN HELD
often held back owing to a lack of understanding BACK OWING
of its benefits, sometimes from within aviation itself. TO A LACK OF
To strengthen our commitment to educating the
African business aviation sector AfBAA signed two UNDERSTANDING
significant Memos of Understanding (MoU), with OF ITS BENEFITS,
leading international aviation training organisations SOMETIMES
earlier in 2017. The agreements with the Association
of African Aviation Training Organizations, AATO and
FROM WITHIN
the Joint Aviation Authorities Training Organisation, AVIATION
JAA TO, enable AfBAA to identify, design and ITSELF

28 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017

 The first dedicated African business
aviation show, AfBAC EXPO will take
place at ExecuJet South Africas
Lanserias facility on 29 Nov -1 Dec.
Zipline
Zipline humanitarian medical
UAV delivery service is an
example of aviation innovation
now taking place in Africa.
Textron
@aerosociety i Find us on LinkedIn
Improving safety
Weve seen significant improvements in the
ground infrastructure in some countries since we
launched, while in others nothing has changed at all.
However, if we talk generically there is certainly a
Execujet
greater awareness about safety, the value of safety
management systems and how to effectively use
them. We are delighted to see that a couple of our
members have invested time, money and training
into improving their offering. Bestfly now holds IS-
BAO accreditation while EAN, and ExecuJet hold
IS-BAH accreditation. The value of safety cannot
be underestimated and there is a perception that
African safety standards are lower than elsewhere,
our mission is to alter this perception and support our
members in reaching world-class operating standards.
Passion continues to support the growth of
business aviation in Africa. We are pleasantly
surprised to receive feedback about the dynamism
of our conferences and events, that the rooms are
always full not just of people, but of people with
passion for what they do. They are committed to
making Africa respected as an aviation community
and will continue to contribute their own valuable
time, as well as their business acumen, to improving
the industry.
Wide membership
Five years on, AfBAA welcomes 119 members
representing the full gamete of aviation. OEMs,
international trip planners, fuel providers and
manufacturers sit alongside Africa-based operators,
FBOs and suppliers. Many have continued to
grow and evolve along with the Association by
augmenting the network, experience and knowledge
AfBAA brings to them. One of our proudest
achievements is the networking opportunities we
provide through the series of symposia, forums
and events that we organise which brings together
stakeholders to be educated, informed and inspired.
Informal information exchange is vital.
AfBAAs sterling portfolio of events which
launched in Morocco four years ago with our first
regional symposium, really adds value to member
networking and expands the knowledge base. This
year, to mark our fifth anniversary, we launched
AfBAC Expo, Africas first dedicated exhibition,
static and conference which will take place at
Lanseria International Airport, Johannesburg,
South Africa, from 29 November until 1 December
2017. The conference objective is to inspire and
inform through a variety of mediums including
presentations from industry leaders, dynamic panel
discussions from experts in their field, as well as
a selection of workshops that will discuss current
topics affecting business aviation development in
Africa. Training sessions on safety and regulation
f Find us on Facebook.com www.aerosociety.com
will run in parallel, as will an afternoon session
dedicated to the booming area of remotely piloted
aerial systems, RPAS.
Five years of progress
In our five years, we have achieved much, and brightly
shone the spotlight on the potential for business
aviation in Africa. We have generated collective
energy, experience, and resources to support,
improve, and fuel the continued growth of African
Business Aviation. We have achieved this thanks
to the participation of our members both national
and international. After all, Africa does not operate
in global isolation. All have contributed to creating
a professional, effective, credible organisation that
is dedicated to upholding the long-term vision and
values of AfBAA, and all those it represents. To
ensure this continued development into the future,
we believe it is crucial that we continue to create
frameworks on which the future of African business
aviation can be laid out. The Association is committed
to identifying, addressing and implementing solutions
across a range of critical issues, which support the
sustainable growth of our industry.
We are actively seeking solutions to simplify
the aviation experience for business aviation users.
We recognise the need to improve the quality of
human capital through efficient access to safety
management system information and specialised
training. We will continue to advocate on behalf of
our industry at national, regional, intra-continental
and international levels. Most importantly, as
business cannot develop strategy without facts,
we will continue to identify and report on industry
trends and topics
Sunny future
Looking forward we only see sunshine on the
horizon. We are working closely with IBAC to
become members, we will continue to expand our
events collection and for our members we will be
creating new benefits. We plan to establish several
valuable white papers and research projects that
will enhance strategic decision making. We will
continue to remain focused on our overall guiding
vision, and are committed to the continent for the
long term.
OCTOBER 2017 29
 SHOW REPORT
TADTE 2017

Taiwan aims for

space at latest show

TADTE
TADTE

At the TADTE (Taipei Aerospace & Defence Technology Exhibition)

show held recently in Taipei, a focus on finding joint partners, as well as
developing national capabilities to conduct low-cost space research, was
very much in evidence. ANDREW DRWIEGA reports.

T
he 14th biennial Taipei Aerospace
& Defence Technology Exhibition
(TADTE) was staged at the Taipei World
Trade Centre (17-19 August) and
organised by the Taiwan External Trade
Shiann Jung Yu, Deputy
Development Council (TAITRA). The show featured
Director General,
141 national and international exhibiting companies
National Applied
that are predominantly involved in air, naval, land,
Research Laboratories
unmanned and space. International participants
stands by a full-size
included Rockwell Collins, Harris, Lockheed Martin,
model of the recently
General Dynamics Mission Systems, Honeywell
launched Formosat-5
Aerospace and Chemring, among others.
satellite.
One of the main special interest exhibits was
the SpaceTech area, which comprised organisations,
companies and universities involved in all aspects
of satellite development, sensor development and
space research. Other areas included Drone Taiwan
2017, which was dedicated to unmanned systems
for mainly civil applications and featured a netted
UAV flying zone.
The opening was performed by Vice President
Chien-Jen Chen who gave a welcome address in
which he stated that technological developments
made by TADTE companies gave him confidence
Via author
defence development, he praised the National
Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology
(NCSIST), noting that many new projects were on
show at the exhibition, including a Taiwanese-made
submarine which would be operating within a decade
(a model of it was being shown in the dedicated
NCSIST diplay area for the first time).
Taiwans NCSIST area presented numerous
displays, including a model of the XAT-5 Blue
Magpie advanced jet trainer which is scheduled
for service entry in 2019. In February this year,
$2.2bn of contracts were signed between the
Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF), the National
Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology
(NCIST) iNCSIST and Taiwans Aerospace
Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) for
the development and production of 66 jet trainers.
Based on the AIDC F-CK-1 Ching Kuo Indigenous
Defense Fighter (IDF). It still requires some
structural modifications to reduce weight and up
to four wing-tip configurations are currently under
review.
Also on display was an NCSIST ASRD MALE
UAV, together with a Taiwanese-developed

about the future contribution of aviation and defence simulation system for ground control operators and
towards the nations economy. In the area of general pilots.

30 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017

 All images TADTE

Upward to the stars four-metre multi-spectral resolution images. The

main payload was developed domestically by a team
The Taiwanese government has set a course including NSPO institutions and commercial partners:
to grow its indigenous defence and aerospace ITRC (Instrument Technology Research Center),
platforms, often as a result of frustrations caused by CIC (National Chip Implementation Center), CSIST
International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). While (Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology),
it has a plethora of defence ambitions, one sector AIDC (Aerospace Industrial Development
that is visibly taking off is its satellite development Corporation), CIS (CMOS Sensor Inc), and CAMELS
programme which has been under way for over two Vision Technologies.
decades.
On 24 August at 11:51am Taiwans latest
Earth observation satellite was blasted into orbit
from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at
Vandenberg Air Force Base (AFB) in California.
Advanced Jet Trainer
It was deployed using a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch
Via author
vehicle which deployed the satellite approximately 11
minutes after launch into its targeted orbit.
The Formosat-5 satellite is the latest of its
kind to be sent into space by Taiwan's National
Space Organisation (NSPO) and replaces the older
Formosat-2 which was launched in May 2004 and is
now at the end of its lifetime. It is unique in being the
first satellite to be completely designed by Taiwanese
industry through NSPO.
The cost of the launch was around $23m with
the Taiwanese satellite being the only payload
onboard. Weighing around 450kg, it is a Low Earth
Orbit (LEO) satellite and will operate around 720km
The new Advanced Jet Trainer a collaboration between ASRD within NCSIST.
from Earth. There was originally another satellite
Contracts for the new Advanced Jet Trainer for the Taiwan Air Force were signed
due to go on the same launch but its timeline was between the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF) and the National Chung-Shan
advanced and moved to an Indian launcher instead. Institute of Science and Technology (NCIST) in February this year. The ROCAF
Formosa-5 is a high resolution, Earth remote require around 66 trainers which are based on the Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF).
optical sensing satellite that uses a remote sensing As yet there is no set date for first flight.
imager (RSI) to provide two-metre panachronic and

@aerosociety i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com OCTOBER 2017 31


SHOW REPORT
TADTE 2017
The Formosat-7 is a
Taiwan-US collaboration
between Taiwan's National
Space Organisation and the
US National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) to provide a
12-satellite constellation
measuring atmospheric and
ionosphere soundings.
Taiwans satellite
programme
NSPO was founded in 1991 by the Taiwan
government under the Ministry of Science and
Technology with the aim of developing a national
space programme for Taiwan, explained Shiann-Jeng
Yu, Deputy Director General of NSPO, talking to
AEROSPACE at the organisations stand at this years
Taipei Aerospace & Defence Technology Exhibition
(TADTE 2017).
Yu explained that the Formosat-5 project began
in 2009. The bus and payload are both built by
NSPO. The sensor is the most critical element and
the hardest part that had to be built by Taiwans
industry. He revealed that one satellite programme
typically takes around five years to develop through
to launch. NSPO does not build satellites specifically
for military use, said Yu. There was hope that the
Formosat-6 satellite would have a launcher built by
the Ministry of Defence but that did not happen.
The original plan was to source the sensor
A Reconfigurable from the international community but, due to ITAR
Combat Simulation restrictions, it meant that internal resources had
to be identified and used. In addition to the main
System (RCSS)
sensor payload, an advanced ionospheric probe
from NCSIST (AIP) has been included which was developed by the
based on a National Central University (NCU). This will be used
generic helicopter to examine the influence of the ionospheric physical
cockpit features a parameters on space climate and communication.
cylindrical screen Most of the research is for government, around
with 7 metre 90%, with only 10% being open to domestic and
international users, said Yu.
diameter and 200 The sequence of satellite development has
degrees horizontal progressed numerically. Formosat-1, an Earth
field of view. observation satellite weighing just over 400kg, was
launched by Lockheed Martin in January 1999 and
was decommissioned in July 2004. As Yu points
out: it was a science experiment, with a colour
Via author
motion sensor to monitor oceans, a developmental
step towards Ka-band communications, as well as
ionosphere research.
Formosat-2 (being replaced by Formosat-5) was
a high-resolution photographic surveillance satellite
launched in May 2004 on a Taurus XL rocket. It had a
remote sensing imager that could provide resolution
to 8m, and black and white resolution to 2m.
Formosat-2 was very successful in that it produced
32 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017
Via author
more than 2.5m images over 12 years of operation
before it was decommissioned in August last year.
Formosat-3, a collaborative project between
NSPO and UCAR (University Corporation for
Atmospheric Research) in the US, was initiated in
December 1997 to launch a constellation of six
micro satellites which would collect atmospheric
remote sensing data for operational weather
prediction, climate, ionospheric and geodesy
research (and which is now being replaced by
Formosat-7).
Formosat-7 is a joint project between the
United States and Taiwan which supplied the space
bus and satellite operation control centre. We
wanted to build a high resolution satellite with a
synthetic aperture radar with both civil and military
applications. It still weighs less than 450kg and uses
a constellation of 12 remote sensing micro satellites
to collect atmospheric data for weather prediction
and for ionosphere, climate and gravity research.
The programme will eventually comprise a
12-satellite constellation for atmospheric and
ionospheric measurement (replacing the six
satellites of Formosat-3). Another US satellite will
make up the other part of the payload which will be
launched by a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The
projects cost is estimated at around $3bn Taiwanese
dollars ($100m).
Software development has been key to the
whole satellite programme, said Yu. Miniaturisation
has played an important part in terms of software for
the satellite and the Taiwanese ground control centre
has also benefited from a software upgrade which
will carry it through the Formosat-5 and Formosat-7
projects.
One of the main missions Formosat-7 will deliver
is to further advance global weather analysis and
prediction. This will again be achieved through the
collection of atmospheric and ionospheric data. The
12-satellites constellation for an operation mission."
As for the future, Yu said: We are trying to get
approval for our future programme. We want to build
a micro satellite weighing only 200kg. It will give a
1m resolution for civil use but cannot comment on
any possible military application. We want to build
higher resolution satellite with SAR application for
combined civil/military use. The launch vehicle for
future projects is likely to be SpaceXs Falcon Heavy,
which was chosen by the US Air Force.
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 SHOW REPORT
TADTE 2017

Right: An anti-UAV Defence

SpaceX

Via author
System (AUDS) based on
an integrated UAV catcher
vehicle with threat alert
radar detection, electro-
optical imaging and GPS/RC
jamming in a management
system. The detection will
operate up to 4km while the
remote system suppression
is up to 2km although GPS
signal interference reaches
Formosat-5 is deployed in sun synchronous out to 10km. The UAV
orbit at 723km. catcher has a range of 1km.

Sounding rocket
research
The HTTP-3 Sounding Rocket Project, backed by
the Advanced Rocket Research Centre (ARRC), is
a collaboration between professors and students of
the National Chiao Tung University to produce a two-
stage rocket that will reach 100km. Sounding rockets
typically fill the research void from the maximum
height of weather balloons that go up to 50km above
the Earth, to beyond 300km where regular space
activity takes over.
Although Taiwans rocket research programme
began in 1997 under the NSPO, it can be
categorised into three phases. The first ran from the
inception date to 2003 and involved three sounding
rocket launches. The second, from 2003 until the
end of 2018, saw 10-15 launches in the early days
with many failures and has been hampered by a lack
of funding which has gradually seen it devolve to a
relatively amateur team of professors and students.
In recent times there has only been one successful
launch three years ago of a single stage rocket which
achieved a height of several tens of kilometres.
However, the team is currently working towards a
more reliable two-stage rocket for a possible launch
date to be established next year. If the project is
successful, it would be used to launch cube sats and
Via author
micro sats (cube sats are miniaturised satellites for
space research that are made up of multiples of 10
10 10cm cubic units).
Tsung-Lin Chen, one of the project leaders within
the department of engineering and science at the
Chiao Tung University, explained that: we see the
future space market for this type of rocket as huge
launching small satellites up to around 500km. Next
years launch of a two-stage rocket will reach over
100km.
The project has involved a core of six to seven
professors in the university backed by a variety of
students as they pass through during their academic
lives. Being academic and not commercial, they
always face the twin challenges of lack of funding
and not having teams working all day, every day on
the project.
Alongside NSPO in the SpaceTech area of
TADTE was a company called Liscotech, who are
producing a MicroEye high performance camera
system for use in micro sats.
The MicroEye imaging system can provide
5.5m monochrome image or 11m colour at a
distance of around 500km through an 8 megapixel
colour sensor. It would be installed in a 2U
CubeSat alongside NSPOs x-band transmitter.
Applications would include disaster warning, farming,
environmental management, as well as military
surveillance.

34 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017

 REGISTER NOW!

The Autumn UK recruitment fair dedicated to aerospace and aviation

L I V E l 2 0 1 7

RAeS, No.4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ

Friday 10 November 2017

Business Class exhibitors include:

Premium Economy exhibitors include:

@RAeSCareers http://bit.ly/2gqrAbD #CIALIVE17

 TECHNOLOGY
Aircraft humidity systems
Swedish air
control
BILL READ FRAeS visits Swedish aircraft cabin humidity control specialists
CTT Systems to see the products being made and to discover the secrets
of the companys success.
N
ykping is a small town in central
Sweden near the Baltic coast
between Norrkping and Stockholm.
The town boasts a picturesque
river, a medieval castle and
the headquarters of CTT Systems, a Swedish
company specialising in the manufacture of aircraft
humidification and dehumidification systems. Tucked
away in a small industrial estate, CTTs facility is
responsible for the management, marketing, testing,
final assembly and after-sales service for all its
aircraft systems.
CTT manufactures two different but
complementary aerospace humidity control
36 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017
CTT Systems
products the zonal drying system which prevents
condensation from forming inside aircraft structures
and the humidification system which increases
humidity inside the aircraft cabin to improve
passenger comfort. The company supplies systems
for installation on new aircraft, retrofits for aircraft
already in service and systems for VIP aircraft.
These include zonal dryers for the Boeing 737,
787, 777X, Airbus A320, A350 and A380 and
humidifiers for the 787, 777X, A320, A350 and
Irkhut MC-21. Despite its relatively small size, CTT
now has OEM 2000 products installed in aircraft
operated by 50 airlines and on more than 600
products retrofitted in 30 airlines.
 CTT Systems
Above: More passengers create more water.
Left, opposite page: Cutaway of a CTT zonal dryer.
Everything under one roof
The top floor of the building contains CTTs
administrative departments, including technical,
finance, quality, engineering, customer support
and product design. We are not a design
organisation but we do all the design ourselves,
explains CTTs VP Sales & Marketing Peter
Landquist. When were working on a system for
a new aircraft type we design everything in CAD.
Using Pro Engineer 3D software, we can create
designs for units in different aircraft, together
with structural and electrical installation, as well
as testing. We talk to aircraft manufacturers
such as Boeing and Airbus to try to get as much
information from them as possible and ask if we
can send a team to see the aircraft. Sometimes
we have to buy technical drawings but the
problem is that you cant see all the different
design options. It is often faster if you go to
the aircraft where you can get more accurate
information.
CTT is also an EASA 21 production facility.
When we do retrofits, we work with Lufthansa
Technik (LHT) in Hamburg which acts as our
design organisation, says Peter Landquist. We
do the work, LHT looks at what we have done and
then they seek the necessary approval from the
European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Water on the plane
The first humidity control product made by CTT
is the zonal drying system. During flight, the
differences in temperature between the inside
and outside of an aircraft create large amounts
of condensation. Each passenger adds to this
by exhaling around 70 grams of water an hour.
Water created on the inside skin of the aircraft
can cause damage to the insulation and be a
nuisance to both passengers and crew, while the
extra weight of water costs the airline in higher
fuel consumption.
Depending on the number of passengers,
operation and climate zone, condensation can
increase the aircraft weight by over half a ton.
How much water you have in an aircraft depends
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CTT Systems
Zonal drying units are often installed in the crown area for
widebodies and in the cargo area on narrowbodies.
on the use of an aircraft the more passengers
you have, the higher the humidity level you get,
comments Peter Landquist. If you are operating
in Northern Europe where you have long cold
winters, then the aircraft never dries out. The
fuselage material doesnt make much difference
you still get condensation forming on both
metal and composite surfaces.
CTT has tackled this problem with its Zonal
Drying System which prevents excess moisture
from being formed by producing dry air with
a low dewpoint. Using the drying system we
prevent the moist air from reaching the aircraft
structure, explains Landquist. We do this by
taking the moisture out of the crown area and
creating a constant flow of air. The process can
be compared to what happens when you dry out
a wet towel outside the reason it is drying is
because dry air is passing through it.
Zonal dryers consist of a cylinder fitted to a
fan which draws in air through one end. The air is
diverted into two streams, 80% of the air passing
through a rotating glass fibre sorption rotor fitted
From top: Absorption rotors
with axial holes. The holes are filled with silica waiting to be fitted into zonal
gel crystals which absorb moisture, so that dry air drying units; An empty zonal
emerges from the other end. The remaining 20% drying rotor; A digital plan
of the air is heated up to around 110deg C which for a retrofit designed to fit
into the crown of a Boeing
also passes through the drum. As the drum slowly
777; Retrofit zonal dryer for
rotates at around 10-11 laps per hour, water from the Boeing 787 showing the
the moist air is absorbed into the crystals which exits for dry air and heated air;
are then dried out again by the heated air. Zonal dryers for the Airbus
It is a constant process, producing dry air and A350.
regenerating the rotor, Landquist explains. The
water remains in the aircraft but it is vapour rather
than liquid. When the aircraft is in flight, the trick
is to produce air with a dewpoint lower than
the -25deg C outside. Our system can reduce
condensation by 75-80% but there will still be
some condensation because the dry air cannot
reach all the areas of the aircraft. However, once
the aircraft lands, the system is operating as long
as there is power on the aircraft and continues to
evaporate the condensation.
Many aircraft fitted with CTTs zonal drying
system only need one basic unit but the ducting
needs to be customised for different aircraft. The
A320, 737 and 757 only need one unit but the
A330 and the 787 use two and the 747-8 four.
www.aerosociety.com OCTOBER 2017 37
 TECHNOLOGY
Aircraft humidity systems
Comforting first class and business
passengers
The second of CTTs product line are humidifiers.
While the job of zonal dryers is to remove water
from inside cabin structures, the aim of the
humidifier unit is to put it back again into areas
of the passenger cabin which are too dry. Cabin
humidity is dictated by the number of people
within the cabin, explains Landquist. Its a little-
known fact that the air quality in Economy class
is generally a lot better than that in Business or
First. The optimum comfort zone is between 20
to 50% relative humidity but in most First class
cabins it is around 5%, 7-10% in Business and
12% in Economy. A large VIP aircraft cabin will have
significantly lower humidity than a first class cabin
due to the fewer number of passengers. CTT claims
that its CAIR Humidification System can change the
relative humidity to 22% in First and Business and
16% in Economy.
The heart of a humidifier unit is a glass fibre
honeycomb pad through which the air passes. The
pad is fitted with a tubing system which sprays
water onto the pad from the aircrafts potable water
supply. To avoid the risk of refilling the whole aircraft
with moist air, the unit is fitted with a software
controller that speaks to the main controller located
on the zonal dryer, so the drying system needs to
38 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017
CTT Systems
Left: A diagram showing
the principle of a humidifier
adding moisture to dry air.
Right: The cabin
humidification system is only
used during flight while the
zonal drying system is used
both in the air and on the
ground.
no build-up of any bacteria while the complete
From left to right: A CTT
humidifier unit case being
assembled by hand; A pad
ready for insertion into a
humidifier; Peter Landquist
demonstrates how the pad is
inserted into the humidifier
case.
CTT Systems
function to enable the humidifier to operate. The
water is sprayed on the pad for 1-1.5 seconds and
then the pad is dried, says Landquist.
The humidifiers are controlled by a CAIR control
unit (CCU) that can communicate with the aircraft
system or with a cabin-management system. The
CCU also communicates with the zonal drying
system for on/off functions. Some of the water is
automatically drained after each operation to ensure
water system is disinfected and drained at regular
intervals.
Under test
CTTs Nykping facility also includes areas
dedicated to testing, both for developing new
products and for testing existing ones. We test
everything very carefully before we deliver it,
says Landquist. In the testing area we can create
different temperature and humidity conditions. We
have to do this because the big OEMs, such as
Airbus and Boeing, require that we do significant
testing to see how the unit performs under different
conditions. We have to design the system so we
dont get too much of a pressure drop, so every
system is designed with a margin. If you go above
that margin, then you have to recalibrate that
system. Sometimes airlines have to cool down the
cabin and we have to test that this wont cause any Top right: An A350 cabin
freezing conditions. When we retrofit aircraft we humidifier and cabin crew rest
humidifier under test.
have to know what limits we have to work within, Lower right: Zonal drying
such as pressure, temperature and humidity levels. systems fitted to different
We also look at the lifetime of pads and for any aircraft types.
signs of leakage. In addition to proving the system
to the OEMs and airlines, we learn from the testing
as well and the more testing we can do, the better
we can develop.
There are also testing areas where the humidity
systems are shaken for prolonged periods of time or
subjected to very cold temperatures to simulate the
conditions that might be experienced in flight.
CTT also has a computer programme which
can calculate different humidity levels for aircraft
not fitted with its systems, compared to aircraft
with the system. We can enter numbers for the

CTT Systems
airflow, relative humidity, cabin pressure and number
of passengers per cabin zone - allowing for a 70g
evaporation rate for each passenger, Landquist
remarks. Using this programme, we can show
airlines not only that their premium cabin area is dry
but also how dry.

Free maintenance
CTTs Nykping facility also includes a maintenance
department which repairs used units and then tests
them on its own test rig. Typical repairs include fixing
issues such as broken fans, gearboxes or heaters. OUR BUSINESS
This department is deliberately separate from the CASE TO
production area, so that there is no risk of an old AIRLINES IS
part being used in a new unit, states Landquist. BASED ON FUEL
Some airlines can get their units repaired for free if
they are still under warranty (the one for the 787 is
SAVINGS AND
four years) while those carriers with units more than INCREASED
four years old have to pay for repairs. LIFETIME OF
AIRCRAFT
OEM options COMPONENTS
CTTs systems are either installed new by the OEM AND
or as retrofits. Our systems dont come as standard INSULATION
on new aircraft except for the 787, airlines still have Peter Landquist
to order the system separately, Landquist explains. CTT, VP Sales &
For example, our equipment can now be ordered Marketing 300s, in July from Pobeda Airlines for 14 Boeing
with the 737NG and Boeing will install it as BFE on 737-800s and in August from Novair for two Airbus
the production line. We are hoping that it will also A321neos.
be available as an option for the 737 MAX, as weve Our business case to airlines is based on
got MAX operators interested in buying the system. fuel savings and increased lifetime of aircraft
components and insulation, concludes Peter
Air drying is good business Landquist. However, we are having some problems
because the fuel price is too low, so the savings
Business for CTT continues to look good with made by reducing aircraft weight are not high
the company winning a number of additional new enough. We are currently concentrating on the
contracts this year. In January CTT was selected low-cost airlines that operate in a cold environment
by Boeing to provide humidification systems for where more condensation is generated. However,
the flight deck, crew rests and premier class cabin we think our time is coming for other parts of the
zones for the new 777X. Orders for zonal drying world, as more airlines are flying high density aircraft
systems were received in May from AZUR Aviation CTT VP Sales & Marketing which carry an excess of between 300-350kg of
for two Boeing 757-200s and seven Boeing 767- Peter Landquist. water.

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ONLINE VISITOR THE DESTINATION
REGISTRATION FOR AEROSPACE
NOW OPEN

1 2 - 16 NOV E M BER 2 0 1 7
DWC, DUBAI AIRSHOW SIT E

W W W. DUBA IA IRSH OW.AE R O

Afterburner
www.aerosociety.com

Diary
21-22 November
Commercialisation of
Space: Realising UK
Goals for Innovation
and Growth
2017 Presidents Conference

SpaceXs Dragon cargo craft is seen during final

approach to the International Space Station. The
commercial spacecraft launched on 19 February and
carried about 5,500lb of experiments and supplies.
NASA.

42 Message from RAeS 44 Book Reviews 50 N

- President
I would like to encourage all of our members to
consider how our programme of events can be more
inclusive and hence more effective for all of us. For
example, last year the Presidents Conference on
Technology in Aerospace, raised a wide range of
issues for the future.
- Chief Executive
Coming up this month we have the Sopwith
Lecture in London when Tony Wood FRAeS, COO
at Meggitt, will look at the concepts of uncertainty
and disruption and how the aerospace and defence
industry are facing those challenges.
 ew Corporate Partners
Two new companies join the Societys Corporate
Russian Aviation, Space Flight, and Visual Culture,
VC10 Icon of the Skies and The Avro 748. Partner Scheme.
52 Diary
47 Library Additions Find out when and where around the world the
Books submitted to the National Aerospace Library. latest aeronautical and aerospace lectures and
events are happening.
48 IT FLIES UK
The 2017 IT FLIES UK competition at The 56 Elections
University of Manchester was the most international New Society members elected in the past month.
yet.

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 Afterburner
Message from RAeS
OUR PRESIDENT
ACM Sir Stephen Dalton
This summer has seen a fascinating range of
developing aerospace concepts take significant
steps forward and many of them have been
showcased at the various airshows around the
globe. With the first deployment of the Lightning
IIs (F-35) here in the UK and Europe, the
demonstrations of new airliners, such as the Airbus
A350 variants, and the announcement that new
corporate jets, such as the Gulfstream 600, are
in production, the aviation industry is clearly still
growing and developing.
Indeed, there are a number of major trade
shows, such as Dubai 2017, still to come this
year and in Singapore in early 2018. The big
aircraft and aero-engine manufacturers use these
shows to demonstrate their aircraft/engines
performance and, while any potential purchaser will
look to analyse the performance figures in much
more detail away from the air show, the smaller
component level manufacturers and suppliers
value and use these shows to raise their profile.
These trade shows allow the SMEs to demonstrate
to manufacturers and customers alike that they
have a great deal to offer and can be effective and
valuable partners by using innovation and employing
unique skills and knowledge to enhance aircraft
and business performance. Equally, the Royal
Aeronautical Society uses its extensive programme
of lectures, conferences and seminars to offer
ALL operators, manufacturers, suppliers, logistics
companies and academics the opportunity to raise
and discuss relevant issues with their peer groups
across the aerospace discipline and beyond.
I would like to encourage all of our members
to consider how our programme of events can
be more inclusive and hence more effective for
all of us. For example, last year the Presidents
Conference on Technology in Aerospace, raised
a wide range of issues for the future. Of particular
note was the fascinating session on safety and
non-cognitive failure among decision makers and
THE ROYAL operators, leading to an animated discussion on
AERONAUTICAL the role of pilots and computers in safely handling
aircraft emergencies. As we prepare for this years
SOCIETY HAS THE Conference on Greater Commercialisation of Space
OPPORTUNITY and the broader access to space that technology
TO PROJECT THE is increasingly going to allow, I would like to think
that our membership has a great deal to offer. Many
FUTURE USES
of our members have the expertise to help ensure
OF SPACE AND that the global community is ready and prepared for
TO RAISE THOSE greater and greater use of space. We should be able
ISSUES THAT to put forward coherent advice and impartial opinion
on what is needed to guide and assist governments,
NEED manufacturers and commercial operators as they
ADDRESSING seek to propel more and more of us into the space
INTERNATIONALLY dimension and to take advantage, responsibly, of
42 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
A feature on Saturns rings known informally as Bleriots propeller.
The photograph was taken by the Cassini probe on 12 April. Are
the last few days of the Cassini mission the end of the beginning
to one aspect of early spaceflight?
the, as yet unrealised, opportunities that will come
from greater commercial approaches to the use of
space. As we watch the amazing images of Saturn
taken in the last few orbits of the Cassini probe, we
are watching the end of the beginning to one aspect
of early spaceflight. Over the next few years, there
will be many more nations and commercial players
seeking to maximise the use of space vis--vis the
UKs Government intent to establish a commercial
spaceport and for such actors to take advantage of
what space offers, scientifically, technologically and
yes, economically as well. The Royal Aeronautical
Society has the opportunity to project the future
uses of space and to raise those issues that need
addressing internationally, if the drive for greater
commercial use of space is to be to the benefit of
all and not the source of unnecessary and wasteful
disagreement among those entering this fantastic
world of discovery and potential.
At the recent New Fellows Reception, I and
members of the Council had the opportunity to
personally welcome the newly elected Fellows to the
Society. In discussions, we identified to them that
the Council and the Medals and Awards Committee
are constantly looking for opportunities to recognise
the extra work of RAeS members in promoting
the aerospace community and our Society. While
not every case/individual contribution can be
recognised, we are keen to seek recommendations,
particularly from the Societys Fellows and then,
judged against the excellent work of our members,
to identify and honour those specific members
who have made an extraordinary contribution to
our profession and/or our Society. I would like to
encourage such nominations by and across our
membership; there is so much great work being
done and so few opportunities to recognise those
special contributions by our members.
OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Simon C Luxmoore
As Sir Stephen has referred to in his editorial,
this years RAeS Presidents Conference will
explore the key role space plays for the wider
society and role of commercial space activities
in contributing to government ambitions
for innovation and growth in the UK space
economy. I hope many of our members will join
us in London from 21-22 November, especially
as we will host the 2017 RAeS Awards
Ceremony on the evening of 21 November to
celebrate excellence and achievement across
the global industry.
THE 2017 YOUNG Coming up this month we have the Sopwith
PERSONS Lecture in London when Tony Wood FRAeS,
CONFERENCE COO at Meggitt, will look at the concepts of
TOOK PLACE ON uncertainty and disruption and how the aerospace
and defence industry are facing those challenges.
6 SEPTEMBER The following month we welcome Alan Joyce
AND WAS FRAeS, CEO of Qantas to give the Brabazon
ENTITLED Lecture. I hope many of our members will be able
to join us for these events and participate in some
THE FUTURE
interesting discussions and networking.
AEROSPACE The 2017 Young Persons Conference took
WORKPLACE place on 6 September and was entitled The
Future Aerospace Workplace. The conference
programme provided delegates with a series
of interactive lectures delivered by a wide
range of experienced speakers from across
the aerospace industry. Workshops and
presentations managed to cover a huge variety
of subjects, including aircraft maintenance,
cockpit design, additive layer manufacturing
and 3D design. The event was a great
success and attracted over 100 early-career
professionals from a diverse range of aerospace
organisations. Many thanks, once again, to Willis
Lease Finance Corporation for kindly sponsoring
the event.
Although autumn is only just beginning, were
starting to get ready for Christmas with our
range of merchandise and Christmas cards on
sale via our online shop at www.aerosociety.
com/shop and well be hosting Christmas
parties at No.4 Hamilton Place throughout the
festive season. If you are looking to organise an
event for your clients or colleagues, then get in
touch to find out about our delicious seasonal
menus to celebrate the end of the year.

RAeS 2018 MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS

Membership Grade 2018
Subscription Rate
Fellow or Companion 347
Fellow or Companion 20% discount 278
Member 234
Member 20% discount 187
Associate Member 145
Associate 133
E-Associate 47
Affiliate 120
Student Affiliate 0/45
Apprentice Affiliate 0/45
Baseline Rate 120
Administration Fees
Grade Application Transfer
Fee Fee
Fellow or Companion 146 53
All other grades 73 53
Notes
1. CPI Rate Average 12 months to July 2017 1.9%.
2. 2017 Membership Subscriptions increased by CPI (rounded up/down to
nearest ).
3. Members who have or will be reaching normal retirement age in 2018 are
entitled to pay subscriptions at the Baseline Rate.
4. Members who have or will be retiring during the course of the year can apply
for the 20% discount on their subscriptions. Note if the 20% discount takes
the subscription below the Baseline Rate then the Baseline Rate will apply.
5. Student (full time) and Apprentice Affiliates can either choose online
membership only (Free) or membership which includes a subscription to the
Societys AEROSPACE publication at 45pa see the Societys website for
more information.
6. Members have the option to pay their subscriptions by Direct Debits either in
one sum in January 2018 or in ten monthly instalments from January 2018.
Note 1: Please note the admin fees are paid in advance and are non-refundable.
Note 2: Employees working for companies which belong to the Societys
Corporate Partner Scheme have the Entry and Transfer Admin Fees waived
check www.aerosociety.com/Corporate for details.

2018 Engineering Council Registration Fees

2018 Annual Fees 2018 Entry Fees
Category CEng IEng EngTech/ CEng IEng EngTech/
ICTTech ICTTech
Full 39.00 33.00 19.00 50.70 42.80 17.50
Interim 13.90 13.90 13.90 10.40 10.40 10.40
Reduced 17.60 14.70 8.40 - - -

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 Afterburner
Book Reviews
RUSSIAN AVIATION, SPACE FLIGHT, AND VISUAL CULTURE
Edited by V Strukov and
H Gosclio
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2 Park Square,
Milton Park, Abingdon OX14 4RN, UK. 2017.
295pp. 100. ISBN 978-1-1389-5198-3.

Between the Wright brothers first flight in 1903

and Lindberghs solo Atlantic crossing in 1927,
air transportation came of age. In Russia, another
upheaval was in progress that had far-reaching
political and social consequences. After the
failure of 1905, in 1917 the Bolshevik revolution
succeeded and, by the mid-1920s, Stalin ruled.
In the years that followed, the USSR sought to
use aviation and then space as symbols of Soviet
modernity.
Russian Aviation, Space Flight, and Visual
Culture explores how these themes have been
depicted in Russian films, animation, art, architecture
and digital media. The extended introduction by the
editors Vlad Strukov and Helena Goscilo traces a Left: Front cover of First International
coherent path from the ancients association of the Aeronautical Exhibition held in St Petersburg
sky with divinity, via the Icarus myth, avian symbolism 1911 organised by the Imperial Russian
in literature and the modernity of the avant-garde. Technical Society. Right: Front cover of Nasha Stikhia (Our Sphere) No1 August 1920 published by
the Air Department of the South Russian Army. RAeS (NAL).
They conclude with the hypothesis that flight in
Russian culture not only defines the celestial space
but, more pragmatically, has been used to expand
the ideology and represent geopolitical aspiration.
The case studies that make up the remainder
of the anthology attempt to theorise visual
culture in an era of transition from analogue to
digital technologies and propose ideas about the ROYAL AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY
relationship of contemporary Russia, both with its No.4 Hamilton Place, London W1

Aviation Book Fair

own past and with other countries and their pictorial
traditions.
Soviet and post-Soviet eras are treated
separately. Part one of the book chronicles the
saga of flight expressed in painting, drawing, Monday, 20 November 2017 11am 6pm
sculpture and architecture. Part two concentrates
on the narrative found in the moving images of film,
animation and computer gaming.
This rather esoteric collection of essays recalls
that among the many triumphs of Soviet aviation
and space flight there have also been some tragic
failures. But aviators and cosmonauts have always
been held in high regard, in part because they have
provided the Soviet state and its successor with
iconic heroes with which to promote the governing
regime as forward-looking and futuristic.

Andrew Lovett 100s of donated aviation books, biographies,

FRAeS memoirs and magazines for sale
FREE ADMISSION
T +44 (0)20 7670 4345
E conference@aerosociety.com

44 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017

VC10 ICON OF THE SKIES

BOAC, Boeing and a Jet Age The first Vickers VC10,

Battle
By L Cole
Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Books, 47
Church Street, Barnsley, S Yorkshire S70 2AS, UK.
2017. 240pp. Illustrated. 25. ISBN 978-1-47387-
532-6.
This is an enthusiasts book written by an enthusiast
albeit a well-informed and diligent researcher. The
technical evolution of the VC10 is superbly detailed
and full of insight. Its weakness as a book on the
British aircraft industry in the 1950s and 1960s
is to fall into the trap of so many books about the
period to lament the what might have been and development
to assert an alternative future centred on a series of
cancelled aircraft projects.
Lance Cole starts with a solid review of
the context in which the VC10 was launched,
primarily the impact on industry and of BOAC of
the combined affect of the Comet failure and the
cancellation of the Vickers V.1000. He also sets
the scene for the problematic relationship between
Vickers and BOAC with a brief history of the airlines
imperial roots.
G-ARTA, makes its maiden
The authors strongest chapters are in his
description of the design and development process
flight at Weybridge on 29
June 1962. RAeS (NAL). the critical interplay of some gifted individuals
and a design team working at the top of its game.
I would have liked some insight into Vickers cost
estimation problems that Sir George Edwards
admitted the company got so very wrong and
which formed the heart of later problems with both
The authors customer and the Government.
The political context is not so well drawn
strongest and less than dispassionate. In particular, I was
chapters disappointed that the author did not get to grips
are in his with the links between the VC10 and Vickers
description of growing financial problems and the merger with
English Electric to form British Aircraft Corporation
the design and (BAC) and the pressure applied on BOAC to adapt
its order. The author might well have looked to the
process National Archives at Kew for some of these aspects.
the critical But this is to carp too much. Coles book ends
strongly with what is the wonderful paradox of the
interplay of VC10. Although not a commercial success for the
some gifted manufacturers and bad-mouthed by the customer in
individuals and its early days, it was a truly wonderful aircraft to fly
and fly in!
a design team
working at the Professor Keith Hayward
top of its game FRAeS FAAEF

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 Afterburner
Book Reviews
THE AVRO 748

The Full Story of the 748,

Andover and ATP
By R J Church
Air-Britain (Historians), Unit 1A, Munday Works
Industrial Estate, 58-66 Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1RA,
UK. 2017. 304pp + diskette. Illustrated. 34.95
(Air-Britain members); 47.50 (non-members).
ISBN 978-0-85130-492-2.

When the prototype Avro 748 took to the air on 24

June 1960 few would have predicted that, over the
next 28 years, the 748 would prove so successful
that a total of 381 civil and military versions of the
aircraft would be manufactured. Regrettably, the
748s successor, the ATP, failed to emulate it and
only 65 were built.
This large tome details the history, flight testing,
production, sales, airline service and continuing
development of the 748 and the RAFs Andover
under Hawker Siddeley and British Aerospace. It
further examines and amply illustrates 748 licence
production agreed in July 1959 with the Indian
Government, even before the 748 had flown.
The Indian aircraft were initially provided in kit
form but later full-scale manufacture was taken
on by Hindustan Aeronautics. A total of 88 were
constructed in India, many of which are still active.
Projected versions of the 748 and the ATP
are not overlooked and three-view drawings show
examples of civil, military, STOL and jet 748 variants
that never left the drawing board.
With the ATP (Advanced Turboprop) BAe sought Main picture: The prototype
British Aerospace 748-2B,
to emulate the solid success of the 748. The ATP
G-BGJV.
was a larger, re-engined and updated aircraft but Above: Merpati Nusantara
entered a competitive market in which it failed to Airlines put its first of
make much headway. A small number remain in five ATPs into service on
passenger service but with the addition of a freight Indonesian domestic routes
on 4 March 1992.
door the ATP has shown its mettle. The author RAeS (NAL).
provides a similarly detailed and well-illustrated
survey of the ATP as he has done for the 748.
Richard Churchs comprehensive, well-illustrated
history of the 748, Andover and the ATP does full
justice to them. I strongly recommend this book to
those interested in the types.
Stephen Skinner

46 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017

Library Additions
BOOKS
AERODYNAMICS
Advanced Flight Dynamics
with Elements of Flight
Control. N K Sinha and N
Ananthkrishnan. CRC Press,
Taylor & Francis Group, 6000
Broken Sound Parkway NW,
Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL,
33487-2742, USA. 2017.
Distributed by Taylor & Francis
Group, 2 Park Square, Milton
Park, Abingdon OX14 4RN,
UK. 348pp. 60. [20%
discount available to RAeS
members via www.crcpress.
com using AKQ07 promotion
code]. ISBN 978-1-138-
74603-9.
AIR TRANSPORT
Missing Aircraft: an Issue
Facing Air Transport
(English-French text). AAE
Dossier 41. Academie de lAir
et de lEspace (AAE), Ancien
observatoire de Jolimont, 1
avenue Camille Flammarion,
31500 Toulouse, France
(http://www.academie-air-
espace.com). 2017. 42pp.
15. ISBN 978-2-913331-
70-9.
In response to the
inflight disappearance of the
Malaysian Airlines MH370
Boeing 777 on 8 March
2014, the findings of an AAE
working group established to
reviewed issues concerning
the technical status of
aircraft positioning systems
and air-ground aircraft
communications.
FLIGHT TESTING
Hucknall: the Rolls-Royce
Flight Test Establishment.
D Birch. The Rolls-Royce
Heritage Trust, PO Box 31,
Derby, DE24 8BJ (E heritage.
trust@rolls-royce.com; T
+44 (0)1332 240340).
2017. 414pp. Illustrated.
45 (Rolls-Royce Heritage
Trust members), 60
(non-members) inclusive of
postage/packing. ISBN 978-
1-872922-43-0.
Find us on Twitter i Find us on LinkedIn
GAS DYNAMICS
Real Gas Flows with High
Velocities. V Lunev. CRC
Press, Taylor & Francis Group,
6000 Broken Sound Parkway
NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton,
FL, 33487-2742, USA. 2017.
Distributed by Taylor & Francis
Group, 2 Park Square, Milton
Park, Abingdon OX14 4RN,
UK. 735pp. 59.99. [20%
discount available to RAeS
members via www.crcpress.
com using AKQ07 promotion
code]. ISBN 978-1-138-
11614-6.
HISTORICAL
Reinventing the Propeller:
Aeronautical Speciality
and the Triumph of
the Modern Airplane.
Cambridge University Press,
University Printing House,
Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge
CB2 8BS, UK. 2017. 368pp.
Illustrated. 90. ISBN 978-
110-714286-2.
R J Mitchell at
Supermarine: from
Schneider Trophy to
Spitfire Revised edition.
J K Shelton. Standon Books,
The Lodge, Standon Hall, Maer
Lane, Standon, Staffordshire
ST21 6QZ, UK. 2017. xviii;
353pp. Illustrated. 27.50.
ISBN 978-0-9956781-0-1.
George Hartley Bryan
Prophet without Honour?:
Ballard Matthews Lecture,
Bangor University, 2
November 2011. T J M
Boyd. Orphean Press, 10
Heath Close, Polstead Heath,
Colchester CO6 5BE, UK.
2017. 42pp. Illustrated. ISBN
978-1-908198-18-1.
A concise biography of
G H Bryan and his pioneering
research undertaken with
William Ellis Williams into
aerodynamic stability which
culminated in the publication
of his classic book Stability
in Aviation (Macmillan and
Co, Limited. 1911) and of his
relations with F W Lanchester.
f Find us on Facebook
HUMAN FACTORS
Aviation Psychology and
Human Factors Second
edition. M Martinussen and
D R Hunter. CRC Press, Taylor
& Francis Group, 6000 Broken
Sound Parkway NW, Suite
300, Boca Raton, FL, 33487-
2742, USA. 2017. Distributed
by Taylor & Francis Group,
2 Park Square, Milton Park,
Abingdon OX14 4RN, UK.
347pp. 92. [20% discount
available to RAeS members
via www.crcpress.com using
AKQ07 promotion code]. ISBN
978-1-4987-5752-2.
PROPULSION
Fundamentals of Rocket
Propulsion. D P Mishra.
CRC Press, Taylor & Francis
Group, 6000 Broken Sound
Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca
Raton, FL, 33487-2742, USA.
2017. Distributed by Taylor &
Francis Group, 2 Park Square,
Milton Park, Abingdon OX14
4RN, UK. 461pp. Illustrated.
89. [20% discount available
to RAeS members via www.
crcpress.com using AKQ07
promotion code]. ISBN 978-1-
4987-8535-8.
Powering the Eagle ... Over
90 Years and Counting:
Pratt & Whitneys
Inspirational Women.
N Allen. American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics,
Reston, VA. 2017. 139pp.
Illustrated. ISBN 978-162410-
383-4.
A pictorial history of the
key contribution which the
female employees of Pratt &
Whitney have made over the
decades to the success and
development of the company,
concluding with concise
biographical profiles of the
companys current and recent
eminent women managers and
engineers.
SERVICE AVIATION
The Royal Flying Corps,
the Western Front and the
Control of the Air, 1914-
1918. J Pugh. Routledge,
Taylor & Francis Group, 2 Park
Square, Milton Park, Abingdon
OX14 4RN, UK. 2017. xviii;
190pp. Illustrated. 105. ISBN
978-1-1389-5198-3. 978-1-
472-45972-5
SPACE
NASA Mercury 1956
to 1963 (all models): an
insight into the design
and engineering of Project
Mercury Americas
first manned space
programme. Owners
www.aerosociety.com
Workshop Manual series.
D Baker. Haynes Publishing,
Sparkford, Yeovil, Somerset,
BA22 7JJ. 2017. 204pp.
Illustrated. 22.99. ISBN 978-
1-78521-064-8.
Illustrated throughout
with numerous photographs
and other diagrams, a detailed
description of the engineering
design of the pioneering
American space capsule
(including its structure and
electrical/environmental
control/attitude control/
communications/rocket/
astronaut systems), concluding
with a chronological summary
of its missions and the launch
vehicles used.
Outposts on the Frontier:
a Fifty-Year History of
Space Stations. J Chladek.
University of Nebraska Press,
1111 Lincoln Mall, Lincoln
NE 68588-0630, USA. 2016.
Distributed by Combined
Academic Publishers Ltd,
Windsor House, Cornwall
Road, Harrogate HG1 2PW,
UK. 494pp. Illustrated. 33.
[25% discount available to
RAeS members via www.
combinedacademic.co.uk using
CS314FLIGHT promotion
code]. ISBN 978-0-8032-
2292-2.
STRUCTURES AND
MATERIALS
Aerospace Materials
and Technologies. Vol 1:
Aerospace Materials.
Edited by N E Prasad and
R J H Wanhill. Springer. 2017.
586pp. Illustrated. 112. ISBN
978-981-10-2133-6.
Additive Manufacturing of
Metals: the Technology,
Materials, Design and
Production. L Yang et al.
Springer. 2017. 168pp.
Illustrated. 64.99. ISBN 978-
3-319-55127-2.
SYMPOSIA
Guidance, Navigation and
Spaceflight Mechanics
2016: Proceedings of the
26th AAS/AIAA Space
Flight Mechanics Meeting
held 14-18 February 2016,
Napa, CA (4 vols). Advances
in the Astronautical Sciences
Vol 158. Edited by R Zanetti
et al. Univelt, PO Box 28130,
San Diego, CA 92198, USA.
2016. 4762pp + CD-ROM.
Illustrated. $810. ISBN 978-0-
87703-633-3.
Attitude Determination
and Control of ITASAT
CubeSat, Unscented
Evolution Strategies for
Solving Trajectory Optimization
Problems, Interplanetary
Parking Method and its
Application to Dual Launch
Trajectory Design of Multiple
Explorers, Potential Effects
of a Realistic Solar Sail and
Comparison to an Ideal Sail,
A Nonlinear Controller for
Low Thrust Stabilization
of Spacecraft on CRTBP
Orbits, Feasibility Regions
of Boundary Value Problems
of Low-Thrust Trajectories,
Transfers to a Sun-Earth
Saddle Point: An Extended
Mission Design Option for
LISA Pathfinder, Active
Vibration Suppression
in Flexible Spacecraft
during Attitude Maneuver,
Interplanetary Nanospacecraft
Travel Capabilities, Maven
Navigation Overview, Mission
Design Considerations for
Mars Cargo of the Human
Spaceflight Architecture
Teams Evolvable Mars
Campaign, Jupiter Tour
of the Jupiter Icy Moon
Explorer, Trojan Asteroid
Mission Design, Orion Entry
Monitor, Boundary Model
for Satellite Breakup Debris
Clouds, Control of High
Fidelity Linearized Model for
Satellite Formation Flight
Using Aerodynamic Drag,
Study on Impact Experiment
of Hayabusa2 Mission,
Delta-V Assisted Periodic
Orbits around Small Bodies,
Initial Navigation Analysis
for the Europa Multiple Flyby
Mission Concept, Space
Object Collision Probability via
Monte Carlo on the Graphics
Processing Unit, GTOC8
and Absolute Navigation
Performance of the Orion
Exploration Flight Test 1 are
among the subjects discussed.
For further information
contact the National
Aerospace Library.
T +44 (0)1252 701038
or 701060
E hublibrary@aerosoci-
ety.com
OCTOBER 2017 47
 Afterburner
Society News
IT FLIES UK
ATLAS carries off
first prize
IT FLIES since its inception in 2000, has been
held at several different locations, including
universities, the Empire Test Pilots School and the
Royal Aeronautical Society. The competition format
of the entries giving a ten-minute design project
presentation followed by a test flight of their aircraft
design is challenging, and has produced some great,
practical and innovative ideas, especially in the past
two years.
This years Competition was held for the first
time at The University of Manchester. As three
teams from the US and The Netherlands flew in to
compete, this proved to be an excellent location with
great facilities and the international airport close
by. With students from several different countries
present a friendly, international atmosphere was
prevalent during the day, conversations were in
English, French, Dutch, and Spanish but the
students had a common thread the love of aircraft.
As usual, a brilliant competition, this time with
students from The Amsterdam University of Applied
Sciences winning three prizes. Test pilot judges
were Dave Southwood and Gordon McClymont from
The Empire Test Pilots School. Our judge for the
project presentations was Mike Southworth from
the Royal Aeronautical Societys Flight Simulation
Group.
Dave Southwood, who has judged for a number
of years, remarked: This years IT FLIES competition
featured some very strong and fascinating entries.
It was a multi-national event with teams from
The Netherlands and the US, as well as from the
full range of the UK. There was a philosophical
difference in the context of the entries from each
nation. The UK entries were models derived from
internal university department requirements,
the original concept for the competition. The
Netherlands entries were simulator models of
designs from a different university and the US entry
from Dayton was a model developed as part of the
design process for a future crop spraying aircraft.
This variety added so much to the richness of the
competition. As ever, the scope of the aircraft types
modelled resulted in marked differences in what the
students managed to achieve in the time available.
Simpler, low-speed aircraft models were able to
be developed in greater depth to a higher level of
fidelity than the supersonic and variable geometry
types. However, the teams that attempted to come
to terms with the very capable supersonic modelling
of the current Excalibur software learned at least as
much by tackling a greater breadth of stability and
48 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017
control characteristics over a wider flight envelope. Dave Southwood in the
cockpit.
This competition was, once again, a fascinating
flight testing opportunity for the judges.
Students from The University of Manchesters
Flight Simulation Society played a large role in the
organisation of the day and also rounded up the
international and visiting UK teams for a meal the
evening before.
The winner was Sam Le Poole from the
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences with
ATLAS, an unmanned blended wing body cargo
freighter. This was the first time that students
from Amsterdam had competed in an IT FLIES
competition. Sam said:
I am very honoured to say that I won the IT
FLIES competition 2017 in Manchester. It was
the first time the University of Applied Sciences of
Amsterdam took part in this competition.
After a great educational day with presentations
and flight testing of seven different models, it turned
THIS VARIETY
out that the ATLAS had the best handling qualities ADDED SO
and won the competition. MUCH TO THE
This success, of course, also reflects on
the students of the Faculty of Aerospace of the RICHNESS OF THE
Technical University of Delft, who made the original COMPETITION. AS
design. Another factor of success is the tests which EVER, THE SCOPE
were performed on the simulators in Amsterdam.
The flight tests were executed by a real (test) pilot. OF THE AIRCRAFT
Because of the test by real pilots, the feedback TYPES MODELLED
is very useful and is used to improve the handling
qualities. It was a great learning experience.
RESULTED
Second place went to the other Amsterdam IN MARKED
entry, Mike Hartmans E-SPARC an electrically DIFFERENCES
sustainable propelled aerobatic racing aircraft
designed with Red Bull Air Races in mind. Gordon
IN WHAT THE
McClymonts test pilots notes on this design ended STUDENTS
with: Would like to buy one!! MANAGED TO
Sam and Mikes aero lecturer at AUAS is Raymond
Teunissen who is a member of the RAeS Flight ACHIEVE IN THE
Simulation Group and an ex-KLM training captain. TIME AVAILABLE
 Hunter Johnston and Jacob Korczyk from The and student membership of The Royal Aeronautical
University of Dayton, Ohio, brought over their entry Society Sam Le Poole, Amsterdam University of
from IT FLIES USA this year the appropriately Applied Sciences
named SWARM, a crop duster aircraft created and
designed for an industrial client. This design was Second Prize
entered over at Dayton in April but, having refined 300 and also the 200 prize for The Most
the design from the US test pilots comments, it Innovative Design
enabled Dave Southwood to make a couple of low Mike Hartman, Amsterdam University of Applied
altitude spray runs over Heathrow! Sciences
Very many thanks to our sponsors this year, the
Royal Aeronautical Society Flight Simulation Group Third Prize
(second and most innovative design prizes), and The Copies of The Aviation Historian
Aviation Historian (third prize). Ugne Kiudulaite and Ruta Marcinkeviciute, The
As ever, the combination of their project University of Manchester, single-engine, closed-
presentations, plus the test flights of their aircraft The Harrier Trophy is wing aircraft.
designs, showed the students more of a real world presented to Sam Le Poole.
scenario after all, paper designs dont always Prize for the Best Project Presentation
translate into practical solutions. It is also noticeable Copies of John Farleys book A View from the Hover
that, over the 17 years that the Competition has Hunter Johnston and Jacob Korczyk, The University
been running, there is a growing interest in flight of Dayton
simulation and its purposes and even as a career
opportunity. This year, in particular, it has been a real Finally, a huge thank you to all our judges
pleasure to work with so many talented and capable for giving up their time, and to the University of
students. Manchester for hosting the lunch, and for their
impeccable organisation of the day.
The official results
Marion Neal
First Prize Marketing Director
1,000 from Merlin Products Ltd, the Harrier Trophy Merlin Flight Simulation Group

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Find us on Twitter i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com OCTOBER 2017 49

 Afterburner
Corporate Partners
NEW PARTNERS
FROST & SULLIVAN
Chiswick Park Building, 566 Chiswick High Road,
London W4 5YF, UK
T +44 (0)20 8996 8500
E enquiries@frost.com
W www.frost.com
Contact
Scott Clark, VP Consulting Aerospace, Defence
& Security
The Frost & Sullivan Aerospace, Defence and
Security (AD&S) business works with both
government organisations and aerospace and
defence companies, from platform primes,
subsystem suppliers through to the supply
chain, providing market research and insights to
support planning, new product development and
business capture. Our research programme is
exclusively focused on growth opportunities for
our clients, requiring an innate understanding
of our customers capabilities and portfolio. The
breadth of industry coverage means we can take
learnings across multiple sectors and apply them
to an AD&S context and real-world situations.
ORIENS AVIATION LTD
Building 510, Churchill Way, London Biggin Hill
Airport, Kent TN16 3BN, UK
T +44 (0)20 3770 3828
E info@oriensaviation.com
W www.oriensaviation.com
Contact
Charlotte Wroe, Office Manager
As exclusive, British Isles, Pilatus distributor,
Oriens Aviation is a relatively new business,
founded and run by an experienced aircraft owner
and pilot, with a passion for flying, quality, value
and exceptional customer service. We are ready
and keen, to exceed your expectations!
Heres why the Swiss-built Pilatus was, hands-
down, the winning product for us to support: The
Swiss as a national, pride themselves in producing
products of the highest quality in a competitive,
global market and they pride themselves in
Pilatus, which is a revered household name, with
Contact:
the average Swiss citizen.
Simon Levy
Head of Business Development
E simon.levy@aerosociety.com
T +44 (0)20 7670 4346
M +44 (0)7775 701153
50 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017
EVENTS
Please note: Attendance at Corporate Partner Briefings is strictly
exclusive to staff of RAeS Corporate Partners.
Monday 2 October 2017 / London
Punching above our weight the role of FlybeO
O and E Dregional airline industry
Kthe
Y B
in a rapidly evolving European F U LLmarket
airline
I Sby Christine
Corporate Partner E N T
Briefing Ourmires-Widener FRAeS, Chief
H I S EV Flybe
T
Executive Officer,
Wednesday 8 November 2017 / London
Partnering with UK MoD to deliver weapon capability now and into the future
Corporate Partner Briefing by Keith Garden BA FRAeS, Portfolio Programme
Director & Deputy MD UK and Rear Admiral Simon Charlier CBE FRAeS,
Senior Defence & Political Adviser UK, MBDA Missile Systems
Sponsor:
Thursday 23 November 2017 / London
Overview of the sub 150-seat market (title tbc)
Corporate Partner Briefing by John Slattery FRAeS, President & Chief
Executive Officer, Embraer Commercial Aviation
Monday 4 December 2017 / London
Corporate Partner Parliamentary Reception
House of Commons
www.aerosociety.com/events
For further information, please contact Gail Ward
E gail.ward@aerosociety.com or T +44 (0)1491 629912
THE AIM OF THE RAeS Corporate Partner Scheme
CORPORATE The RAeS is the ONLY professional body
PARTNER dedicated to the entire aerospace community.
SCHEME IS TO It retains a sense of history and tradition,
while maintaining its energy and relevance and
BRING TOGETHER ability to contribute to todays environment and is
ORGANISATIONS ideally placed to face the challenges of the future.
TO PROMOTE By joining the Societys Corporate Partner
Scheme, your organisation aligns itself to the
BEST PRACTICE Charter of the Royal Aeronautical Society and
WITHIN THE demonstrates a commitment to professional
development of engineering and technical staff
INTERNATIONAL within the aerospace community.
AEROSPACE
SECTOR AIM
The aim of the Corporate Partner Scheme is to
bring together organisations to promote best
practice within the international aerospace sector.
With over 200 members worldwide, the scheme
provides a respected and recognised independent
forum of discussion and information exchange
on issues facing the aerospace sector, as well as
providing unique networking opportunities with
influential figures in the industry, government and
public sector.

Royal Aeronautical Society
International General Aviation
Design Competition 2017/2018
This is the second in a series of competitions aimed at
promoting major innovation in the General Aviation aircraft
sector.
The task is to demonstrate design innovation either for an
existing or potentially new general aviation market. The
competition focus is manned flying machines. (They could
be autonomous but passenger-carrying). The scope of the
innovation can range from an entire aircraft to a specific
component or system which could be incorporated into an
existing airframe. Propulsive and lift generation systems
may be of any type.
The scope is constrained to meeting the requirements of
the CAAs E Conditions which enable the rapid design,
build and experimental flight testing of piloted aircraft up
to 2,000kg maximum mass within the UK.
Entries are invited for this competition from everyone;
students, enthusiasts and professionals. You may enter as
an individual or a team. We encourage entries from teams
of engineering students and youth organisations.
Want to enter?
Just send an email titled design competition to conferences@aerosociety.com to receive an entry pack
Find us on Twitter i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook
GENERAL AVIATION GROUP
Your entry will be assessed using the following criteria:
Radical innovation
Potential application or market
Industrial design (including functionality, aesthetics
and ergonomics)
Reasonable estimates of mass, aerodynamics,
stability, control, performance, life-cycle costs and
environmental impact.
You dont have to address all of these issues but will score
better if you do.
However, account will be taken of the entrants
background experience, so all can win a prize.
The entries will be judged by a team of professional
aeronautical engineers. The winners will be announced at
the RAeS General Aviation Groups Design Conference in
November 2018.
The final date for entries is midnight on 30 June 2018.
www.aerosociety.com OCTOBER 2017 51
 Afterburner
Diary
EVENTS www.aerosociety/events LECTURES www.aerosociety/events

5 October
Technologies Against Late Detected Earth Impacting Bodies
John R Pearce, Corresponding Member of RAeS WS&T
Committee
Weapon Systems & Technology Group Lecture

9 October
Digitalisation
Conference

11 October
Handley Page Lecture
Dr Bill Brooks, Technical Director, P&M Aviation
Named Lecture

12 October
Aircraft Noise Can we Build Community Tolerance?
Conference

16-17 October
CFD and MDO State of the Art and the Future
Aerodynamics Group Conference

16 October
Lanchester Lecture: The Discovery and Prediction of Vortex
Flow Aerodynamics The Lockheed Martin F-35 assembly line at Fort Worth, Texas. Jonathan Evans will discuss F-35
Dr James Luckring, Senior Research Engineer, NASA Langley manufacture and delivery at Farnborough on 17 October and in the John Boyd Dunlop Lecture at
Research Center Coventry on 18 October. Lockheed Martin.
Aerodynamics Group Named Lecture

18 October ADELAIDE Systems, 5000 Solihull Michael Mansell. 7pm.

Sopwith Lecture: The concepts of uncertainty and disruption University of South Australia, Parkway, Birmingham Business 8 November Branch AGM
and how history has much to teach us Building MM 1-05, Mawson Park, Birmingham B37 7YN. followed by The filmmaker pilot
Tony Wood, Chief Operating Officer, Meggitt Lakes Boulevard, Mawson Pre-registration and photo ID how drone technology has
Named Lecture Lakes, SA 5095. 5.30pm. required. opened our eyes. Jonathan
24 October State rescue 21 December Richards, cameraman, director
18-19 October helicopter pilot. Kevin Berry, Development and operation and editor.
Realising Market Opportunities Pilot, MAC State Rescue of the English Electric 13 December Trawler
UAS Group Conference Helicopter Service. Lightning. Richard Norris, Man Memorial. Peter Naylor.
MoD/Crown copyright (2017)

28 November Adelaide Founder member, Lightning Joint lecture with IMechE.

Airport airside tour.
BEDFORD
ARA Social Club, Manton
Lane, Bedford. 7pm. Marylyn
Wood, T +44 (0)1933
353517.
11 October Technology,
innovation and changing
product strategies in
aeronautics and aviation. Prof
Chris Atkin, RAeS Past-
President.
8 November Lights,
19 October camera, data optical
Watching, Killing: The Evolution of RAF Drone Warfare in measurement techniques for
the modern wind tunnel. Neil
the 21st Century
Stokes, Aircraft Research Ltd.
Dr Peter Lee, University of Portsmouth Reader in Politics
13 December Airlander:
and Ethics and Assistant Director (Academic) at Royal Air
imagine the possibilities. Paul
Force College Cranwell
Hammond, Hybrid Air Vehicles.
Air Power Group Lecture
BIRMINGHAM,
24 October WOLVERHAMPTON AND
Future of UK Airfields COSFORD
Conference National Cold War Museum,
RAF Museum Cosford,
24 October Shifnal, Shropshire. 7pm.
The 1957 Defence Review: The Riddle of the Sandys Chris Hughes, T +44 (0)1902
Historical Group Seminar 844523.
19 October Regaining the
10 November World Water Speed Record for
Careers in Aerospace LIVE Britain. Nigel MacKnight.
16 November The
development of aero engine
All lectures start at 18.00hrs unless otherwise stated. control systems. Chris Weir,
Conference proceedings are available at Engineering and Technology
www.aerosociety.com/news/proceedings Executive, Rolls-Royce Control
Systems. Rolls-Royce Control
Preservation Group.
BOSCOMBE DOWN
Lecture Theatre, MoD
Boscombe Down. 5.15pm.
Visitors please register at
least four days in advance
(name and car registration
required) E secretary@
BoscombeDownRAeS.org
10 October 30th Sir Henry
Tizard Lecture: Britain and the
Jet Age: 1945 to 1965. James
Holland.
7 November Competition
gliding. Brian Birlison.
21 November F-35B ski
jump testing. Gordon Stewart.
5 December Reaction
Engines. Gerrie Mullen.
BRISTOL
Concorde Room, BAWA
Leisure Centre, 589
Southmead Road, Filton,
Bristol. 6.30pm. Anna Pugh,
T +44 (0)117 9361643.
19 October The Faradair
BEHA: The future of domestic
air travel. Neil Cloughley,
Managing Director, Faradair.
BROUGH
Cottingham Parks Golf Club.
7.30pm. Ben Groves, T +44
(0)1482 663938.
11 October 63rd Sir
George Cayley Lecture. From
VSTOL to ASTOVL and stealth.
Robert Blackburn Building, Hull
Univesity. 7pm.
CAMBRIDGE
Lecture Theatre 0, Cambridge
University Engineering
Department, Trumpington
Street, Cambridge. 7.30pm.
Jin-Hyun Yu, T +44 (0)1223
373129.
12 October Tiltrotor
technologies. Dr Andrea
Angelo, Leonardo.
2 November Gravitational
waves Pathfinder and LISA.
by Christian Trenkel, Airbus
Defense & Space. Joint lecture
with IMechE and IET.
23 November Advanced
fast-jet helmets STRIKER
II. Kevin Hill, BAE Systems,
Rochester.
14 December The C-17
and aeromedical airlift. Sqn
Ldrs Chris Powell and Jon
Vollam, No99 Squadron, RAF.
CANBERRA
Military Lecture Theatre, ADFA.
6pm.
10 October Joint briefing
by CASA and ADF on
regulating unmanned aircraft.
14 November Branch AGM.
CARDIFF
Swansea University. 7pm.
E lecture@raescardiff.org.uk
18 October RR F-35B lift

52 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017

system. Gareth Jones, Rolls-
Royce.
15 November Airlander.
Chris Daniels, Hybrid Air
Vehicles. USW Conference &
Events Services, University of
South Wales, Pontypridd.
6 December Lightning.
Rhys Phillips. Queens Campus,
Cardiff University.
CHESTER
Room 017, Beswick Building,
University of Chester, Parkgate
Road. 7.30pm. Keith Housely,
T +44 (0)151 348 4480.
11 October XX177
Hibernations in the machine.
Alan OConnor, former MoD
Type Airworthiness Authority
(TAA) for the Hawk T1.
8 November Beluga XL
oversize transport for the
21st century. Mark Cousin,
former Head of Directorate
and Beluga Chief Engineer
and currently Head of Group
Demonstrators, Airbus CTO,
Airbus.
CHRISTCHURCH
Cobham Lecture Theatre,
Bournemouth University, Talbot
Campus, Wallisdown. 7.30pm.
Roger Starling,
E rogerstarling593@btinternet.
com
26 October How the UK
investigates aircraft accidents
and serious incidents. Scott
Wilson, Senior Inspector, AAIB.
23 November The quest
for a flyable spacecraft. John
Gough, Weybridge Branch.
14 December The
Icarus Project. Dr Angelo
Niko Grubiic, University of
Southamption.
COVENTRY
Lecture Theatre ECG26,
Engineering & Computing
Building, Coventry University,
Coventry. 7.30pm. Janet Owen,
T +44 (0)2476 464079.
18 October John Boyd
Dunlop Lecture. F-35
manufacture and delivery the
current situation. Jonathan
Evans, Operations Manager
F-35 Assembly, BAE Systems.
9 November Annual
Dinner and Talk. Capt
Bryan Pill, Mission Aviation
Fellowship. Citrus Hotel,
London Road, Ryton on
Dunsmore, Coventry.
6 December Powering
the Airbus A400M, the Rolls-
Royce TP400. Jerry Goodwin,
Chif Engineer, Rolls-Royce
TP400.
CRANFIELD
Vincent Auditorium, Building
52a, Cranfield University. 6pm.
Craig Lawson, E C.P.lawson@
cranfield.ac.uk
17 October Reaction
Engines hypersonic propulsion.
Rob Davies.
Find us on Twitter i Find us on LinkedIn
DERBY
Nightingale Hall, Moor Lane,
Derby. 5.30pm. Chris Sheaf,
T +44 (0)1332 269368.
18 October The Rise of
the bomber (how Britain nearly
lost the Battle of Britain). Greg
Baughen.
15 November Queen
Elizabeth-Class aircraft carriers
Flagships for the Future. T
M Dannatt. Joint lecture with
EMESP.
FARNBOROUGH
BAE Systems Park Centre,
Farnborough Aerospace
Centre. 7.30pm. Dr Mike
Philpot,
T +44 (0)1252 614618.
17 October F-35: the
challenges of one-a-day
manufacture. Jon Evans,
BAE Systems, Military Air
(Samlesbury).
14 November Green
Lecture. The MoD Aircrew
f Find us on Facebook
Systems research programme.
Prof Chris Goff, DSTL and
Sarah Day, QinetiQ.
5 December
Aerodynamics of future
commercial aircraft. Rob
Greg III, Boeing Commercial
Airplanes.
GLOUCESTER AND
CHELTENHAM
Safran Landing Systems,
Restaurant Conference Room,
off Down Hatherley Lane.
7.30pm. Gary Murden, T +44
(0)1452 715165
17 October F-35B
Lightning II Rolls-Royce Lift
System, Gareth D Jones, Head
of Engineering, Rolls-Royce
Defence UK.
21 November
Airlander, Chris Daniels,
Head of Partnerships and
Communications, Hybrid
Air Vehicles Ltd.
19 December Electroflight
www.aerosociety.com
high performance electric
flight. Roger Targett, CEO,
Electroflight.
HAMBURG
Hochschule fr Angewandte
Wissenschaften Hamburg,
Hrsaal 01.12 Berliner Tor 5
(Neubau), 20099 Hamburg.
6pm.
12 October Hybrid Air
Vehicles the Airlander
project. Chris Daniels,
Head of Partnerships and
Communications Hybrid Air
Vehicles. Joint lecture with
DGLR, VDI and HAW.
HATFIELD
Lindop Building, Room A166,
University of Hertfordshire,
College Lane, Hatfield. 7pm.
Maurice James, T +44
(0)7958 775441.
25 October Modern
ejection seats. Dave Robinson,
Martin-Baker.
The Airbus family of
commercial jet aircraft.
Jrgen Thomas HonFRAeS,
will describe Airbus, the
realisation of a visionary
dream, in the Willy
Messerschmitt Lecture in
Munich on 22 November.
Airbus.
22 November From Easy
Jet to Costa Froth. Andrew
Harrison, ex CEO, easyJet and
Whitbread.
13 December African
bush flying. Capt Brian Pill,
MAF.
HEATHROW
British Airways Theatre,
Waterside, Harmondsworth.
6.15pm. For security passes
please contact Dr Ana Pedraz,
E secretary.raeslhr@gmail.com
or T +44 (0)7936 392799.
12 October Future space
strategy. Mark Swan, CAA
Director and Group Director of
Airspace Policy.
9 November Personal
experiences of the T2 and T5
openings. Andy Garner, LHR
T2 Operations & Programme
Director.
14 December The role of
a Rolls-Royce test pilot. Phil
ODell, Rolls-Royce.
LOUGHBOROUGH
Room U020, Brockington
Building, Loughborough
University. 7.30pm. Colin Moss,
T +44 (0)1509 239962.
10 October MQ-9
Reaper UAV operations. Paul
Clark, UAS Flight Operations
Manager, QinetiQ.
7 November Bloodhound
Land Speed Record. Daniel
Jubb.
5 December Corporate
jet cabin evolution. David
Velupillai, Marketing Director,
Airbus Corporate Jets,
Toulouse.
MANCHESTER
7pm. Bryan Cowin, T +44
(0)161 799 8979.
4 October UAS
technologies past, present and
future. Dr Rashid Ali. Salford
University, Newton Building,
Room 233. 5pm.
22 November Flying for
science. Prof Guy Gratton.
Manchester Metropolitan
University (MMU). 6pm.
6 December Recent
developments in Martin-Baker
ejection seats. Phil Rowles.
Manchester University.
MEDWAY
Staff Restaurant, BAE
Systems, Marconi Way,
Rochester. 7pm. Robin Heaps,
T +44 (0)1634 377973.
OCTOBER 2017 53
 Diary
18 October Airfix modelling.
15 November John
Shepherd Lecture. BAE
Systems Hawk.

MELBOURNE
Flight Deck Bar and Grill, 37
First Avenue, Moorabbin, Vic
3194. 7pm.
11 October Hargrave
Lecture. Starlets and
Australian aerospace. John
Corby, designer of the Starlet
light aircraft.

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

MUNICH
Deutsches Museum Mnchen,
Ehrensaal. 7pm.
22 November Willy
Messerschmitt Lecture.
Airbus Von der Realisierung
eines visionren Traumes.
Herr Dipl-Ing Jrgen Thomas.
Voranmeldungen an Hon
Secretary (secretary@
raes-munich.de) bis zum
15 November notwendig.
Begrenzte Anzahl von Pltzen.
OXFORD
Magdalen Centre, Oxford
Science Park, Oxford. 7pm.
Nigel Randall, E oaktree.
cottage@btinternet.com
21 November IAF Vintage
Flight. Mike Edwards, Chief
Adviser to Indian Air Force and
Royal Jordanian Air Force.
PRESTON
Personnel and Conference
Centre, BAE Systems, Warton.
7.30pm. Alan Matthews,
T +44 (0)1995 61470.
11 October BAE Systems
future or similar. Dave Short,
Engineering Director, Combat
Air, BAE Systems.
8 November Synergistic
Air Breathing Rocket Engine
(SABRE). Sophie Harker, BAE
Systems Warton.
13 December Memories
of the Moor flight testing for
the Cold War. Dennis Morley,
ex Flight Test Engineer HSA/
BAe Holme Upon Spalding
Moor.
PRESTWICK
The Aviator Suite, 1st Floor,
Terminal Building, Prestwick
Airport. 7.30pm. John Wragg,
T +44 (0)1655 750270.
9 October Post WW2
aircraft development. Richard
Gardner.
13 November Taranis
flight testing. Jon Wiggall. Joint
Hawker P1067 Hunter prototype, WB188, the first of nearly 2,000 produced. Richard Gardner will discuss post-WW2 aircraft
development at Prestwick on 9 October. James Holland will discuss Britain and the jet age in the Sir Henry Tizard Lecture at
Boscombe Down on 10 October. RAeS (NAL)..
lecture with IMechE.
11 December Flying for
life. Tim Allen.
QUEENSLAND
Hawken Auditorium,
Engineering House, 447
Upper Edward Street, Spring
Hill, QLD 4000. 6.30pm.
21 November Flight
planning yesterday, today
and tomorrow. Capt Allen
Dickinson, Head of Flight
Operations Systems, Flight
Operations, Qantas Airways.
SHEFFIELD
AMRC Knowledge Transfer
Centre, Brunel Way,
Advanced Manufacturing
Park, Rotherham. 7pm. E
raesenquiries@amrc.co.uk
31 October 100 years
of Brough John Newton and
Steve Blee, BAE Systems.
28 November Inaugural
Sir Eric Mensforth Lecture.
From ancient origins to
the worlds most advanced
SX casting foundry. Steve
Irwin, Associate Fellow:
Manufacturing Casting
Processes, Rolls-Royce.
Sir Eric Mensforth Building,
Sheffield Hallam University.
12 December Yorkshire
Air Ambulance Service. Tracey
Gregory.
SOUTHEND
The Royal Naval Association,
79 East Street, Southend-on-
Sea. 8pm. Sean Corr, T +44
(0)20 7929 3400.
10 October An
independent RAF, inspiration
or aberration? Greg Baughen,
Author and Historian.
14 November The air war
over Korea 1950-1953. Sqn
Ldr Mike Pugh-Davies (Retd).
12 December Gone
bush! recollections of a bush
pilot. Capt Paul Catanach, Line
Training Captain, TAG Aviation.
SWINDON
The Montgomery Theatre,
The Defence Academy of the
United Kingdom, Joint Services
Command Staff College,
Shrivenham. 7.30pm. New
attendees must provide details
of the vehicle they will be using
not later than five days before
the event. Photo ID will be
required at the gate (Driving
Licence/Passport). Advise
attendance preferably via email
to raeswindon@gmail.com or
Branch Secretary Colin Irvin,
T +44 (0)7740 136609.
4 October The Rosetta
mission landing on a comet.
Dr Andrew Morse, University of
Southampton.
1 November PanAm
103 Lockerbie accident
investigation. Mike Charles,
Lead Investigator AAIB.
6 December Never drive
faster than your guardian angel
can fly. Sqn Ldr (retd) Derek
J Sharpe.
SYDNEY
The Powerhouse Museum,
500 Harris Street, Ultimo,
NSW 2007. 6pm.
18 October 59th Sir
Charles Kingsford Smith
Lecture and Annual Branch
Dinner. Future direction of
commercial aviation, including
the developing trends in
low-cost carrier operations
and the inter-relationship with
full-service operators. Jayne
Hrdlicka, CEO, Jetstar Group.
TOULOUSE
Symposium Room, B01, Airbus
HQ/SAS, 1 rond point Maurice
Bellonte, 31707 Blagnac.
6pm. Contact: Pass@RAeS-
Toulouse.org for a security pass.
17 October Drones Ethics.
Prof Jean-Marc Moschetta,
Institut Suprieur de
lAronautique et de lEspace
(ISAE). Joint Lecture with the
3AF Rgion Midi-Pyrnes.
14 November Subject and
speaker TBC.
12 December Flight
tracking. Claude Pichavant,
Airbus.
WASHINGTON DC
Embassy of New Zealand,
37 Observatory Cir NW,
Washington, DC. 6pm.
5 October Commercial
unmanned systems. Panel
Discussion.
9 November Counter-UAS
(military) panel discussion.
British Embassy, 3100
Massachusetts Avenue NW,
Washington, DC.
WELLINGTON
26 October The Skyhawk
in RNZAF service post-Kahu
update. Steve Moore.
YEOVIL
Dallas Conference Room 1A,
Leonardo Helicopters, Yeovil.
6.30pm. David Mccallum,
E david.mccallum@
leonardocompany.com
19 October The RAF
Halton Aircraft Apprentice
Scheme. Gp Capt Min Larkin.
16 November The AW101
for Norway. Steve Vellacott.
YEOVILTON
The Nuffield Sports Centre,
RNAS Yeovilton. 6.30pm.
Lt Marc Stone RN, T +44
(0)1935 456241.
28 November Bush flying
operations. Bryan Pill.
Copy date
for the next issue
of AEROSPACE is
3 October.

54 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017

 Avro Lancastrian, G-AGLS, Nelson, takes off from
Westland WS-55 Series 2. Heathrow on the first commercial flight. Miles M39B Libellula, U-0244.

The Journal of Aeronautical History

The aim of the online Journal of Aeronautical History is to cover topics particularly relating to the history of aeronautics and space
science. These include the history of air and space vehicles, power plants and equipment, histories of aeronautical organisations
and enterprises, biographies of people who have contributed to aeronautical and space activities, accounts of particular episodes,
incidents, campaigns and commercial developments, and the development of aeronautical knowledge and space science. Since
2010 it has published 29 papers on topics ranging from Halleys calculations in 1691 on the feasibility of manned flight to the
development of satellite communications systems for civil aviation and all of these are freely available on the publications page of the
Societys website.

The editors would welcome more material and encourage authors to submit papers. All contributions are reviewed, and to date the
great majority have been judged suitable for publication.

If you are interested, please contact Dr Kit Mitchell at kitmitch@googlemail.com

Meeting your event needs

in the heart of London
Home to the Royal Aeronautical Society, No. 4 Hamilton
Place is a stunning venue, centrally located in Mayfair,
with a choice of event spaces. The venue offers:

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No. 4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ

 Afterburner
Elections
FELLOWS Charles Cade
Kahagala Hewage
Ciaran McAndrew
Harry Price SOCIETY OFFICERS
Gordon Andrews Damith Thilanka
Jonathan Baliff Kasagala E-ASSOCIATES President: ACM Sir Stephen Dalton
John Bayley Simon Dixon President-Elect: Rear Admiral Simon Henley
Bicky Bhangu Lucy England Irisa Chiu
Eamonn Brennan Neil Fleming Vincente DAmbrosio BOARD CHAIRMEN
Ian Fairclough Jason Gill Christopher Frazer
Michael Gadd Damion Hadcroft Ben Gibson Learned Society Chairman:
Stuart Hill Jordan Hunter Thomas Grant Air Cdre Peter Round
Simon Hocquard David Lednicer Phillip Knight Membership Services Chairman:
Rodney Irvine Alessandro Migliaccio Joshrun Mann Philip Spiers
Thomas Jordan Philip Moore Ryan Mason Professional Standards Chairman:
Nigel McKenna Matthew Shields Oliver Spriggs Prof Jonathan Cooper
Dean Moore Richard Simkins Matthew Stubbs
Steven Murray John Tennick Eddie Wilson-Chalon DIVISION PRESIDENTS
Nigel Pamby Daniel Wilkie
Kirsten Riensema AFFILIATES Australia: Andrew Neely
Anil Sabharwal ASSOCIATE
MEMBERS New Zealand: John MaciIree
Bob Simmons Joerg Oberhofer Pakistan: AM Salim Arshad
Richard Varvill Naree McNeill South African: Dr Glen Snedden
Cameron Stewart STUDENT AFFILIATES
MEMBERS
ASSOCIATES Isaac Caletrio Berridge
Sakhr Abu Darag
Andrew Arnold Richard Lynch
Sacha Ghebali
Martin Mitev
WITH REGRET
The RAeS announces with regret the deaths of the
The newly reassembled following members:
French Air Force Mirage IV
was on show at the Yorkshire Alwyn Edward Atkinson Affiliate 95
Air Museums annual Allied
Eric John Butcher IEng AMRAeS 88
Armed Forces Memorial Day
on 3 September. The event Peter John Gerard Hollier MRAeS 86
included representatives
from the US, Russia, David Henry Gason Ince DFC FRAeS 96
France, Germany, Finland,
The Netherlands and the Alan Jones MRAeS 57
Commonwealth.
Bruce Kevin Jones FRAeS 63
Roy Clifford Parsons CEng MRAeS 90
TRUSTEE TALK John David Price MRAeS 81

At the Trustees second meeting of the Council year and my second meeting as David John Smith AMRAeS 52
Chair, I am pleased to report that the Society continues to maintain a strong and John Peter Tanswell Affiliate 91
stable position in its financial reporting.
The Trustees reviewed its governance position against the now-published Michael Henry Lewin Waters CEng MRAeS 89
third edition of the Charity Governance Code (the Code) and I am happy to
report that following a mapping exercise against the key recommendations,
the Society can demonstrate its compliance. To maintain governance best
practice, we would continue to monitor our progress against the Code making
improvements where appropriate.
Following on from the last Trustees meeting, there was a continued
discussion around the Societys risks. The Trustees agreed to hold annual and
detailed discussions around risks to ensure we are mitigating but also accepting
certain risks in meeting the Societys strategic goals and by extension our
Charitable Purpose and Objects. The Trustees also approved the Risk Register
presented at the meeting.
At the last Trustees meeting, we approved the Societys registration as an
End Point Assessment for the Trailblazer Apprenticeship initiative we have
been successful in our application and will be shortly included on the register.
The Trustees received its standard reports from the Boards and Committees
of the Board of Trustees. The RAeS was among the exhibitors at the DSEI (Defence and
Security International) show at the London ExCel on 12-14
September. Seen here answering an enquiry from a visitor to the
Martin Broadhurst OBE MA CDir FIoD FRAeS stand are RAeS Membership Development Officers, Neeral Patel
Chairman, Board of Trustees (left) and Emily Self.

56 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017

Greener by Design Conference UAS Conference

REALISING MARKET
AIRCRAFT NOISE - HOW CAN WE OPPORTUNITIES FOR DRONES
BUILD COMMUNITY TOLERANCE?

LONDON / 12 OCTOBER 2017 LONDON / 18 - 19 OCTOBER 2017

This one-day conference
For nearly 10 years Unmanned
focusses on aircraft noise
Aircraft have been seen, at
and the challenge of getting
least by some, as the major
community engagement,
new growth sector in aviation.
understanding and ultimately
tolerance at a time of growing
The annual UAS Group
and modernised airspace
conference will include
operation near our busiest
presentations from the
airports.
organisations that are leading
these developments as well
Keynote Speaker:
as those that are building
Lord Callanan,
commercial success upon the
Aviation Minister,
results.
Department for Transport

www.aerosociety.com/events www.aerosociety.com/events
Sponsors
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Society Conference Presidents Conference

COMMERCIALISATION OF SPACE
FUTURE OF UK AIRFIELDS

REALISING UK GOALS FOR INNOVATION AND GROWTH

LONDON / 24 OCTOBER 2017 LONDON / 21 - 22 NOVEMBER 2017

The Society wants to help The 2017 Presidents

the sector answer some of conference will give
the key questions outlined in innovators, manufacturers,
the UK Governments draft operators and users the
Aviation Strategy. opportunity to engage in an
unbiased discussion with
We are pleased that Rt Hon government, regulators,
Grant Shapps MP will open investors and educators
this conference and we will on the growing impact of
cover the key issues facing commercial space activities
UK airfields and aim to to the benefit of the UK
provide practical solutions economy and society in
and ways forward. general.

www.aerosociety.com/UKAirfields www.aerosociety.com/space2017
Sponsors
Sponsorship opportunities are available for this conference.

Please contact conferences@aerosociety.com for more information.

 The Last Word
COMMENTARY FROM
Professor Keith Hayward
FRAeS
Airbus 50 Years of Collaboration
J
ust over 50 years ago, France, Britain
and Germany signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) launching a 250-seat
airliner designated A300, the Airbus. It would
have two newly designed Roll-Royce
engines and the three nationalised airlines
would buy it. With little ceremony (but some protests
from BEA) a potential all-British competitor, the BAC
2-11 was quickly dumped. Three years later the same
Labour Government bailed out of the programme and
was a whisker away from supporting a more direct
competitor the BAC 3-11.
With Concorde costs hurtling skywards and sales
prospects moving in a diametrically opposite direction
and, facing the appalling consequences of the Rolls-
Royce bankruptcy, the new Conservative Government
kicked the 3-11 into touch. The two remaining Airbus
governments stuck with the A300 and paid for a
lovely Hatfield-designed wing to keep it in the air.
DIRECT Ten years later, with a newly nationalised
POLITICAL company looking for a civil project, a Labour
Government placeman as chairman of British
ENGAGEMENT Aerospace backed his professional board and chose
HAS DIMINISHED officially to re-join the Airbus instead of a politically
(ALTHOUGH better favoured American option. Within another
PERHAPS NOT decade, convincing a highly sceptical Mrs Thatcher
that even more money for a fly-by-wire Airbus A320
WITHOUT SOME was not going to be another Concorde, Chester
FUNDAMENTAL and Bristol were up and running towards a massive
LONG TERM commercial success.
CONSEQUENCES,
WHICH AS SEEN A personal interest
IN RETROSPECT, I must declare an interest: the Airbus programme
A GERMAN provided me with material for two peer-reviewed
articles and a substantial chunk of two books, as well
VETO IN THE as some media exposure. Visiting Toulouse provided
NAUGHTIES my first factory tour and an extraordinary good lunch.
OF A POSSIBLE As a result I have been observing Airbus for all of my
MERGER WITH professional life.
More than just a subject, the programme has also
BAES MIGHT satisfied an ideological preference for advocating
PROVE TO HAVE appropriate investment by the state in high
BEEN technology activity. This can get dangerously close to
58 AEROSPACE / OCTOBER 2017
a policy of picking winners and the history of UK
public investments in high technology has had too
many losers for comfort. However collaborative civil
aerospace bidding for a mainstream airline market
intuitively offered the right combination of high value
technological returns and profitability.
Such engagement is anathema to the Chicago
School economic theory that infused the World Trade
Organization (WTO) subsidy code and drove US
opposition to European repayable launch investment
schemes. Yet, as several recent studies have noted
(echoing arguments presented back in the 1970s),
even the US has actively stimulated technological
innovation through Federal funding largely in the
form of a defence R&D budget. The results have
included much of solid-state electronics and many of
the building blocks of the IT age.
Airbus looking at a centenary of
production
As far as Airbus is concerned, it has become one arm
of a global duopoly and a core European aerospace-
defence transnational company. Direct political
engagement has diminished (although perhaps not
without some fundamental long-term consequences
which, as seen in retrospect, a German veto in the
naughties of a possible merger with BAeS might
prove to have been).
Half a century onward, Airbus might yet have
to face the ultimate test of a politically independent
company: to terminate a member of its airliner family
before its technological time. Ending the A380 may
still be a long way off but time and money is running
out. There would be political consequences driven
by lost employment and a bundle of public money
will ensure that Heads of Government will have
interests in maintaining the status quo. But this is
neither 1967 nor 1971: Airbus is more than one
aircraft and has an order book worth billions of dollars
stretching out decades ahead. With or without the
A380, Airbus has more than enough to keep it in the
Sporty Game for the foreseeable future.
 15 Reinventing Space
th

Conference
2426 October 2017 Glasgow, Scotland
The Space Industry is constantly changing
how do we keep up to date with current
thinking and innovations?
RISpace focuses on technological
trends and how they are increasing the
commercialisation of space. Sessions
include lower cost launch systems, mega-
constellations and a range of novel satellite
applications for LEO and beyond.
RISpace brings together industry, agency, government, financiers,
academia, and end users in an unparalleled, catalytic environment.

www.rispace.org

Reinventing Space is organised by The British Interplanetary Society

2729 South Lambeth Road, London SW8 1SZ, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7735 3160 www.bis-space.com

City of
Glasgow