Rotary-wing specialists Piasecki Aircraft is partnering with HyPoint to develop the world’s first zero-carbon hydrogen-powered piloted helicopter. HyPoint’s 650kW hydrogen fuel cell system will be incorporated into Piasecki’s eVTOL PA-890 Compound helicopter – with deliveries expected to begin in 2025.
The UK has launched an international body for non-EASA regulators, called the National Aviation Association (NAA). Talking to Flyer magazine, Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps MP said the current members include the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand with the UK as its first chair. The NAA is aiming for mutual licence recognition and harmonisation of standards.
Draken Europe is to close its Helicopter Academy in Newquay. The facility at Cornwall Airport Newquay, which offers basic, advanced and special mission (search & rescue) training, is to cease operations on 31 December.
Russia’s Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) has completed wind tunnel testing of a low-noise short-haul airliner with over-wing mounted engines. The testing incorporated optimal positioning of vortex generators to increase the coefficient of maximum lift by 5%.
AIR TRANSPORT
Eurocontrol has published a new report which warns of ‘significant and increasing risks to aviation’ from climate change in the coming years. Compiled by the Egis Group and the UK Met Office, the study was released on 6 September and says that extreme weather is predicted to increase costs for airlines with ‘horizontal flight inefficiency’ and that two-thirds of coastal or low-lying airports are expected to be at increased risk of flooding in coastal regions.
UK low-cost carrier Jet2 has placed its first order for Airbus airliners, after previously operating an all-Boeing fleet. On 31 August, it announced an order for 36 A321neos, with options for a further 24 in a $4.9bn deal at list prices. First deliveries will begin in 2023.
The US has announced that it is to ease Covid-19 air travel restrictions and open up to fully vaccinated passengers from the UK, EU and other countries from early November. The news was welcomed by US, European and UK airlines as a vital step in restarting transatlantic flights and boosting tourism and trade.
European budget carrier Ryanair has ended talks with Boeing about an order for 737 MAX 10s over pricing. The airline walked away from a deal that could have involved up to 250 of the 23seat MAX 10s, saying: “Negotiations with Boeing for a MAX 10 order have ended without any agreement on pricing”. Ryanair had been hoping to aggressively seal a deal for the MAX 10s to allow it to grow beyond 600 aircraft and take advantage of post-pandemic travel.
DEFENCE
Taiwan has announced that, on 5 September, China sent a mass incursion of some 19 military aircraft, including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers, into its airspace. The sortie saw 10 J-16s, four Su-30s and four H-6 bombers fly into Taiwan’s AIDZ (air defence identification zone) near the southern tip of the island, and is believed to be the largest aerial probe in weeks.
On 12 September, a General Atomics MQ9B SkyGuardian RPAS demonstrator made the first-ever UK A-to-B flight using GA traffic airspace. The aircraft flew from RAF Waddington to RAF Lossiemouth along civil airways while being monitored by NATS. Previous BVLOS drone flights have returned to the same airfield or starting point. SkyGuardian, the demonstrator for the RAF’s Protector RPAS, was in the UK taking part in international maritime exercises.
Rolls-Royce has been named the winner of a competition to supply new engines to re-engine the USAF’s aging B-52H bomber fleet. The deal, worth some $2.6bn will see Rolls-Royce North America provide 608 F130 turbofans, a variant of the company’s BR725 engine, from its Indianapolis, Indiana plant.
BAE Systems has been awarded a contract by US DARPA to design a full-scale demonstrator to test active flow control. The work, part of DARPA’s Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE), project, builds on previous work undertaken by BAE and the University of Manchester with MAGMA sub-scale demonstrators that removes conventional moving surfaces. The advantages of active flow control include reduced weight, maintenance and low-observability.
SPACEFLIGHT
NASA, ESA and Arianespace have jointly defined and announced the launch date of the long-delayed James Webb Space Telescope. The JWST, the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, will now launch on 18 December from French Guiana, using an Ariane 5 rocket. It was originally meant to have launched in 2007, while its costs have spiralled to $9bn.
On 17 September, three Chinese taikonauts landed in Mongolia after completing a three-month mission on the Tiangong space station, the country’s longest-ever human spaceflight mission. China plans to launch a further three taikonauts to the station later this month.
On 13 September satellite internet provider OneWeb launched an additional 34 satellites into orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz-2.1b launcher and a Fregat upper stage. OneWeb has now launched 322 of its eventual planned fleet of 648 internet satellites.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover has successfully drilled and collected the first-ever core rock sample from another planet. The sample, from Jezero Crater, has now been stored in an airtight titanium tube, where it will be available for future collection by the upcoming ESA/NASA Mars Sample Return Mission.
Meanwhile, NASA has also announced that its Ingenuity Mars helicopter had completed its 13th flight on the planet’s surface.
GENERAL AVIATION
Embraer’s urban air mobility spin-off, Eve, is to launch operations in the Asia-Pacific region with a partnership with Ascent Flights Global. Eve will provide Ascent Flights Global with 100,000hrs of flight time on up to 100 eVTOLs for key cities such as Bangkok, Manila, Singapore and Tokyo. Eve has also announced a tie-up with Australian helicopter operator Microflite. The partnership will see the two companies develop concepts for operations of eVTOLs in Melbourne, Australia.
An Italian pilot has set a new world record by becoming the first person to fly an aircraft through a tunnel. The record was set on 4 September when Dario Costa took off in an Extra 300 in a road tunnel on the Marmara Highway in Turkey and then flew all the way through a second road tunnel. The aircraft flew at a speed of around 140kt at a height of 5ft with 15ft of wing tip clearance.
Textron Aviation has completed initial ground test runs of the GE Aviation Catalyst engine which will power its new Beechcraft Denali. The new Catalyst engine will be used in demonstration flights on a Beechcraft King Air. Textron is expecting the Denali to achieve flight certification in 2023.
ON THE MOVE
Former USAF acquisition chief, Dr Will Roper will be advising the RAF on the Tempest FCAS programmes.
Airbus executive Guillaume Daudin is the new SVP at regional turboprop manufacturer ATR.
Steffan Harbarth has been named the new Chief Executive of Italian regional carrier Air Dolomiti, who takes over in January 2022.
Sweden’s Braathens Regional Airlines has appointed Maria Fiskerud as its new Head of Sustainability and Communications.
IAG Cargo has appointed Pat Dobie as Chief Customer and Infrastructure Officer and George Efkolodis as Head of Customer Experience.